Michel Fabrizio will swap Aprilia for Honda in this weekend’s World Superbike meeting at Istanbul Park after signing for the PATA Honda squad. The Italian will step in for the injured Jonathan Rea who is recovering from the broken femur sustained at the Nurburgring.
Fabrizio’s place at Red Devils Roma will be taken by MotoGP race winner and former Moto2 champion Toni Elias but Michel is delighted to have been given this opportunity, albeit in unfortunate circumstances.
“I am very happy to come back to the Honda CBR after my earlier experience with the DFX Honda Team. To race with the Ten Kate boys in the Pata Honda team is a real honour for me and, of course, I will do my best to get Jonathan’s machine near to the front. I would also like to take this opportunity to wish Jonathan a fast recovery from his injury and I would like to thank the whole Honda Superbike team for their hard work to fix the bike in time for me to race in Istanbul.”
After his injury problems earlier in the year, Leon Haslam finally feels he is fully fit as he looks to spearhead the Honda challenge in Turkey.
“I’m really excited about going to race in Istanbul, even though some of the other Superbike riders have ridden there before. I’ve seen a few of the GP races there on video and it looks pretty awesome, but I won’t really know how it is until I get out there on the bike on Friday morning. We made some more progress last time in Germany but, although I was hanging on to the back of the leading group in race two, we still had some issues. But I do feel like I’m finally in a position – both physically and with the bike – to be fighting for podiums again. We need a few more things to fall into place for that to happen, but we’re nearly there.”
