Yonny Hernandez replaces Spies

In a surprising move, Yonny Hernandez has been appointed by Pramac Ducati to replace Ben Spies for the remainder of the 2013 season. 

We told you on Friday that Spies would be out for the rest of the season, and Hernandez was released from Paul Bird’s team in order to ride the Ducati GP13 after he went to the Francesco Guidotti requesting the ride.

Test rider Michele Pirro couldn’t stand in for Spies for the three flyaway races as he has testing duties to fulfil, and he will be concentrating on the new GP14 leaving Hernandez to race the final five races. 

“Yonny is an interesting rider,” said Francesco Guidotti, Team Manager for Pramac Racing Team to the official Motogp.com website.

“He came to us, asking for the chance of replacing Ben for the next few races. An agreement has been found with his actual team, PBM, and (on Monday) he will be ready to test for the new challenge. The test is not just a test; it is to prepare him to arrive in Aragon with some experience on our bike.”

Early suggestions are that Damien Cudlin, Tommy Hill or John Hopkins could come in onto the Paul Bird ART for the final five races of the season, and as ever, as soon as we know anything we will let you know.