The Angel Nieto Team has confirmed Alvaro Bautista will replace the injured Jorge Lorenzo at the works Ducati MotoGP team in next weekend's Australian Grand Prix.
Lorenzo suffered a fractured left wrist in a heavy crash during FP2 for the Thai Grand Prix two weeks ago, and subsequently withdrew from the Buriram event in an attempt to recover for this weekend's Motegi race.
However, Lorenzo only completed an out-lap in FP1 on Friday in Japan before once again opting to withdraw, after scans on Thursday revealed a complete fracture to the bone rather than the initially diagnosed hairline fracture.
Ducati confirmed via its Twitter page on Sunday morning Lorenzo would fly home to recover and would miss next weekend's Australian Grand Prix as a result, with rumours emerging Bautista could stand in for him.
After finishing fifth on Sunday at Motegi, the Nieto team confirmed Bautista will join the works Ducati squad at Phillip Island as Lorenzo's injury relief.
“I want to thank the Angel Nieto Team, [team boss] Jorge Martinez and all his crew because they let me compete with the official Ducati team in the Australian GP,” said Bautista.
“I also want to thank Ducati for the opportunity to work in their box. It will be a weekend in which I will try to learn and work as best I can, with no objective in mind.
“It is an illusion to be able to compete with a factory, and to do it with Ducati is a dream come true.”
Phillip Island will mark the first time Bautista has ridden for a factory outfit since 2016, when he formed part of Aprilia's line-up.
Bautista will depart MotoGP at the end of this season for the World Superbike Championship, joining the works Ducati team aboard the all-new Panigale V4 alongside ex-MotoGP rider Chaz Davies.
The Nieto team is yet to confirm who will join Karel Abraham at Phillip Island next week in place of Bautista.
