Roberto Merhi has been sidelined from this weekend’s S5000 round at the Vailo Adelaide 500 due to a serious case of the infamous ‘Bali belly’.
Kaleb Ngatoa is on his way from his native New Zealand to fill the breach in the Team 88 entry for the final round of the season.
Merhi made a stopover in the Indonesian tourist island of Bali but has not continued his journey and instead ended up in hospital.
The Spaniard advised the team yesterday afternoon and Ngatoa accepted the call-up last night.
“Roberto has been pretty unlucky,” said Team 88 owner Albert Callegher today.
“It’s such a shame that he is unable to be here. However, it’s great that Kaleb – who has won in the category before – was available and able to hot-foot it to Adelaide by tonight.
“He of course ran with Team BRM throughout most of the 2022 season, so it shouldn’t take him long to get comfortable – though this will be his first visit to Adelaide.
“We all wish Roberto well for a speedy recovery and hope we can see him here during 2024.”
Merhi has made multiple starts previously in S5000, including this year’s season-opener at Symmons Plains.
Ngatoa is a two-time race winner in the category and, more recently, has been contesting NZ’s Formula Open Series.
He broke the Formula Pacific lap record that had stood for over three decades, set during the Formula Atlantic heyday by Craig Baird, in his most recent start at Manfeild Circuit Chris Amon.
Round 3 of Formula Open takes place this weekend, with Ngatoa pulling out in order to race at the Adelaide Parklands Circuit.
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