Cudlin gets PBM ride in Aragon and Philip Island

Damian Cudlin will be the man to replace Yonny Hernandez in the Paul Bird Motorsport team at this weekend’s Aragon Grand Prix.

The Australian will ride PBM’s own Aprilia-powered chassis, that Michael Laverty has been riding this season, with Laverty, now on the full-specification ART bike formerly ridden by Hernandez.

Cudlin has one one MotoGP appearance to his name, coming back in the 2011 Japanese Grand Prix in Motegi. However despite his single appearance in MotoGP, Cudlin has raced in the Moto2 series on the odd occasion.

“PBM are looking forward to working with Damian at the Aragon and Phillip Island GPs where he will race the PBM bikes,” said team technical director Phil Borley. “With his experience and knowledge, we hope to continue the development of our bike and have a positive weekend together.

“Unfortunately we will not have the chance to test before the race and so the first sessions will be important for Damian to acclimatise to the bike, the Bridgestone tyres and carbon brakes. Our target will be to improve Damian’s feeling in each session and give him a bike he is confident to race.

“Michael will switch to the ART bikes for the next races, as his feeling was positive when he tested them after the Misano race and we are interested to see if we can improve on our recent results.”

Cudlin is only expected to be required for two races, with BSB title contender Alex Lowes being linked with a ride at the end of the season once his BSB commitments finish, and the young Brit could cap a fine year with two appearances in MotoGP.