HRC test rider Stefan Bradl will make his first MotoGP race weekend appearance since 2016 at the German Grand Prix this weekend, after Franco Morbidelli withdrew due to ongoing injury issues.
Morbidelli suffered a fractured third metacarpal in a fast crash during FP3 for the Dutch TT two weeks ago, and was forced to miss the remainder of the Assen weekend.
The Marc VDS rider was declared fit on Thursday afternoon to race in Germany, and ended FP1 22nd with a 1:23.379s.
However, Morbidelli has decided to sit out the rest of the Sachsenring weekend to continue recovery, as he feels his hand isn't strong enough to safely complete the event.
Bradl stepped up to MotoGP in 2012 with LCR Honda as reigning Moto2 world champion, before switching to Forward Racing for the 2015 season.
However, due to uncertainty within the Forward team when team owner Giovanni Cuzari was arrested over allegations of tax evasion, the one-time premier class podium finisher joined Aprilia as Marco Melandri's replacements midway through the 2015 season.
The German remained with the Noale factory for 2016, but lost his ride at the end of the year and made an ill-fated switch to World Superbikes with the Ten Kate Honda squad for the 2017 season.
Disappointing results and injury blighted his maiden WSBK campaign, and he was not retained by Ten Kate for 2018.
Bradl was signed by Honda as its official test rider for this year, and was set to make his first appearance with HRC as a wildcard at the Czech Grand Prix at the start of August.
Suzukia's Andrea Iannone topped the first practice session of the Sachsenring weekend this morning by 0.390 seconds from Honda's Marc Marquez.
