Michele Pirro will replace injured Loris Baz in the Avintia Racing team at the Grand Prix of Catalunya. The Italian rider has been the official test rider for Ducati since 2013, but he has been always in touch with the competition doing several wild cards and some other races replacing injured riders in the past few years both MotoGP™ and World Superbike. The last time out was in the Italian Grand Prix at Mugello and he finished the race in the top 10 riding a Ducati Desmosedici GP16. But in the seventh round of the MotoGP™ World Championship, scheduled for the 3rd to the 5th of June at Circuit Barcelona-Catalunya, Pirro will race the Avintia Racing GP14.2, one bike that he also knows really well.
Agustin Escobar (Avintia Team Racing Manager): "First of all I want to wish a speedy recovery to Loris. We are looking forward to see him back in our garage, because is part of our family and we’ll be supporting him for his come back, hopefully in Assen. And I want to say big thanks you to Ducati for letting us Michele Pirro to replace Loris in the next race. We couldn’t find a better rider and I think that will be very important that he rides our bike in Barcelona. He is a fast riders and he knows all the Ducati bikes. It will be interesting to work together and I’m sure that he will give some valuable information tour engineers to improve theb bike set up and the electronics.”
Michele Pirro: "I'm happy to be at in the race in Barcelona. I'll be riding a GP14.2, a bike that I haven't ridden for about two years. I will do my best to help the Avintia team. For them it is the home race and I will give my best to make a good result. The week will be challenging because until Wednesday, I am committed to Misano in a test with the Desmosedici GP; however I am ready . I hope to help as much as possible to do a good GP for the team. I wish Loris all the best to come back soon and in better shape because he has had a bad injury; also thanks to the Avintia team for this opportunity and Ducati for its increasingly strong support."