Hector Barbera will continue to ride for the Ducati factory MotoGP team at next weekend’s Australian Grand Prix, having replaced the injured Andrea Iannone in Japan.
Iannone suffered a back injury in practice for the Misano race and was forced to miss it, before pulling out of an attempted return at Aragon.
Barbera was named as Iannone’s replacement at Ducati for the Japanese Grand Prix, temporarily moving over from Avintia Racing.
He started from the third row of the grid at Motegi but fell during the race, eventually finishing in 17th place.
Barbera has now been confirmed as Ducati’s second rider alongside Andrea Dovizioso at Phillip Island for the Australian GP, as Iannone misses another round.
“For me it was a fantastic opportunity to ride the 2016 Desmosedici GP and race for a factory squad like the Ducati team and so I want to thank both Ducati and Avintia Racing for giving me this opportunity,” he said.
“It was a great experience and I am very happy that I have been given another chance next week at Phillip Island.”
