Ducati test rider Michele Pirro will stand in for the injured Jorge Lorenzo for the remainder of the MotoGP Malaysian Grand Prix, as Lorenzo has withdrawn through injury.
Lorenzo has been out of action since fracturing his left wrist in a heavy crash during FP2 in Thailand, and has since undergone surgery to correct the injury.
The Spaniard was replaced in last weekend's Australian Grand Prix by Nieto Ducati rider Alvaro Bautista, who finished just an impressive fourth after fighting for much of the race in the podium battle.
Pirro was unavailable for Phillip Island due to a private test in Valencia on the GP19, though Ducati confirmed during the Australian weekend he would be drafted in for Sepang should Lorenzo still be unfit.
Lorenzo was passed fit to ride on Thursday and completed 22 laps on Friday, but was last and three seconds off the pace, and has decided to withdraw once more.
A brief statement from Ducati via its Twitter read: “Michele Pirro will replace Jorge Lorenzo for the rest of the Malaysian GP weekend.
“Yesterday Jorge tried to ride but he felt pain and this morning the situation of his left wrist has not improved.
“So he has decided in agreement with the team not to continue in Sepang.”
Lorenzo had surgery just eight days ago on his left wrist, and only took the cast off two days prior to Friday practice at Sepang.
The Spaniard hoped to use the Sepang weekend to get readjusted to the GP18 to be able to fight for a strong result on his Ducati swansong outing at the final in Valencia in two weeks, before making his Honda debut two days later in the first pre-season test.
This weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix will be Pirro's second race outing this year and his first since he was 15th at the San Marino Grand Prix at Misano in September.
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