Suzuki has named Kazuki Watanabe as Joan Mir’s replacement for the San Marino MotoGP round.
Mir sustained fracturing to his right ankle, as well as ligament damage, after a Lap 1 highside in the Austrian Grand Prix, last weekend.
With the Spaniard advised to rest for 15 days, he was ruled out of the Misano event, but Suzuki test rider Sylvain Guintoli was also injured already due to an incident in the Suzuka 8 Hours.
The Hamamatsu marque has thus called upon a rider who finished third in that Suzuka round of the Endurance World Championship (EWC), namely Watanabe.
“First thing’s first, I would like to wish Joan a speedy recovery from the injury he suffered, he’s a great rider to watch and I hope he’ll be back on track soon,” said the 31-year-old.
“I was really pleased to receive the call about substituting in Misano, it will be amazing to try the MotoGP bike around that track.
“I will do my best to perform well and give something back to the team who have given me this chance.”
Watanabe has five grand prix starts to his name, all in the 250cc/Moto2 class in 2009 and 2010.
He is currently third in the All Japan Road Race series, riding a GSX-R1000R for Yoshimura Suzuki RideWin.
Suzuki Ecstar Team Manager Livio Suppo said, “We are very sorry that Joan won’t be able to race in Misano and we wish him a fast recovery.
“Meanwhile we’re pleased to welcome Kazuki Watanabe to our team.
“He has a lot of experience with Suzuki and he is putting together a strong season in the All Japan series; he also got third at the Suzuka 8 hours just a few weeks ago.
“The GSX-RR will be a very different challenge, but we will do our best for Watanabe-san in order for him to get the maximum out of this experience.”
Mir is expected to move to Repsol Honda at the end of the year, when Suzuki shutters its MotoGP programme and also that of the EWC.
Practice at Misano starts on Friday evening (AEST).
Discussion about this post