Danilo Petrucci will make a one-off return to the factory Ducati MotoGP outfit for next weekend’s French Grand Prix as Enea Bastianini continues to recover from an injured shoulder.
Bastianini has been absent from premier class competition since sustaining a fracture in his right shoulder following a clash in the season-opening Portuguese GP sprint race with VR46 Ducati’s Luca Marini, though he elected to make his return in last weekend’s Spanish GP having missed the Argentina and North America weekends.
Having completed Friday practice at Jerez off the pace, Bastianini decided to miss the remainder of the event as he continued to suffer discomfort with the shoulder, the Italian now electing to skip the French outing as well with view of a return to full-fitness for his home race at Mugello in three weeks time.
Petrucci admitted that while he is “thrilled” to be returning to the squad with which he both of his MotoGP victories – his last coming at a sodden Le Mans in 2020 – he is “very sorry” that it had to come at the behest of the injured Bastianini.
“I am thrilled to be back racing in MotoGP, although I am sorry that Enea has to miss another race,” said Petrucci.
“In Le Mans with the Desmosedici GP, I won my last race in MotoGP.
“It will be an honour to be able to try the World Champion bike and wear the suit that I won with in the past.
“It is an indescribable emotion, and I can’t wait to get back on track with the Ducati Lenovo Team.
“Thanks to Barni (Ducati World Superbike Team) for letting me take this opportunity and to Ducati for thinking of me!”
Petrucci’s last appearance in the premier class was last year as a stand-in rider at Suzuki for the injured Joan Mir at the Thailand GP, the Italian’s last full season coming in ’21 with the Tech 3 KTM outfit.
His Tech 3 stay come off the back of a pair of campaigns with the factory Ducati team, Petrucci losing his berth at the Bolgona-based marque after it decided to replace him with now-KTM rider Jack Miller following an overall sub-par ’20 campaign.
He currently resides in the World Superbike Championship with the factory-supported Barni Ducati organisation, his best result being fifth in the opening race of the Indonesian round at the Mandalika International Circuit.
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