Former Moto2 race winner Jordi Torres will continue to deputise for the injured Tito Rabat in this weekend's MotoGP Thailand Grand Prix, the Avintia team has confirmed.
Torres was called into replace controversial Rabat stand-in Christophe Ponsson for the Aragon round last week, and impressed on his debut MotoGP outing after finishing just half a second from teammate Xavier Simeon despite riding the two-year-old Ducati GP16.
Rabat, who has been absent since Saturday at Silverstone after suffering a horror leg injury in a wet FP4, indicated he would like to return to action for Thailand, and has been released from hospital in Barcelona.
However, according to a team statement, the Spaniard still needs a few more weeks recovery before contemplating a return to action.
Torres will once again take over Simeon's GP16s at Buriram, while Simeon will ride Rabat's vacant GP17s.
“After the great experience of Aragon, where I had to absorb a lot of information over the weekend to adapt to my riding style to the MotoGP category, it s fantastic to have another chance and to get back on the bike in Thailand,” Torres said.
“I know the circuit very well, because we have been racing there in the last four years of the World Superbike championship.
“It’s a track that I like and I where I had good races. We will have to make the best of FP1 on Friday to catch up with the others and to keep improving.
“I must get down to the maximum lean angle and learn how to pick up the bike on the corners exits as quickly as possible.
“There are many things that I figured out in my head and now it’s time to apply this knowledge to the bike. Let’s see if I can ride more smoothly and if I can score a decent result on Sunday.”
This weekend's Thailand Grand Prix will mark the first in the country for MotoGP, though the field is armed with some experience of the Buriram circuit after three days of testing there in February.
Torres races at Buriram early in the year with MV Agusta in the World Superbike Championship, securing a 10th-place finish in the first race of the weekend before crashing out of the second one.
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