Yonny Hernandez will ride the second Pramac Ducati for the remainder of the season after Paul Bird Motorsport agreed to his release. Ben Spies looks set to sit out the rest of the campaign due to injury but with Ducati reserve rider Michele Pirro already booked in for testing, the team have turned to Hernandez.
The Colombian tested the GP13 on Monday at Misano and the prototype machine made an instant impression with Hernandez now looking forward to his debut with the team at Aragon.
“I am happy because this bike has much more power compared to the one I was used to, the electronics are totally different and I need to change my riding style to be faster, but today I rode the best bike of my life. I need to work hard, to learn a lot because the electronics are really different from CRT. I need to work hard on the feeling, and I’ll do my best. I need to do a lot of kilometres to achieve a good pace for the race, but I am faster than with my other bike.”
“It’s too early to say anything, I need more time to learn, and to improve. I feel good physically right now, for a first day it has been not so bad. I need to understand this bike that is really different from mine and it has a lot of power too. I really thank Pramac and Ducati for the opportunity they have given me.”