British KTM MXGP riders Shaun Simpson and Adam Sterry are both non-starters for the weekend’s opening Faenza MXGP round in Italy.

Hitachi KTM new boy Sterry, who went down hard then was run over at the recent MX nationals at Landrake, is believed to have had a crash in testing this week so is sitting out the event to fully recover.

Simpson is also not fully recovered from crashes at the Latvian GP and will miss all three Italian rounds at Faenza which start on Sunday.

He said: ‘“It’s disappointing to share this news but I’ve been doing all I can to be fit after we had to withdraw from the GPs in Latvia and I’m still not right. I cannot react as quickly or as naturally on the bike as I want, and I know I’d be at a big disadvantage in MXGP at the moment. The only solution is to continue working and waiting. It’s such a shame to miss so many chances to race in one week and for the damage that it’s doing to my points total in the championship but I’m faced without much of a choice at the moment. We had a great Grand Prix in Holland earlier in the year where we showed we can still run top five in the world and that’s the goal to aim towards again. A big, big thanks to my sponsors and all the fans out there: I’m sorry I’m not on track yet but I’m desperate to be back as soon as possible.”