Joan Mir Still Absent For Suzuki, His Position In The Thai MotoGP Is Filled By Danilo Petrucci

Danilo Petrucci. (photo: Instagram.com/@petrux9)

JAKARTA - Italian rider Danilo Petrucci will return to MotoGP. He will replace Joan Mir on the Suzuki team.

Petrucci's official announcement is believed to be made in the next few days.

Petrucci will race in the Thailand 2022 MotoGP series this weekend. He filled in for Mir who still had to be sidelined due to an ankle fracture.

The Spaniard had an incident in an accident at the start of the Austrian MotoGP race last August.

Since the incident last August, Mir has gone through four series in a row starting from San Marino, Aragon, Japan, and most recently the Thailand series. Mir's recovery process is also expected to be long due to the difficult condition of his broken leg.

In fact, the Japanese factory team had wanted Petrucci since the race in San Marino, but that didn't happen because at that time Petrucci was still competing in MotoAmerica.

Suzuki then appointed Kazuki Watanabe to race at Misano then switched to Takuya Tsuda to perform at Motegi yesterday. Meanwhile, in Aragon, Suzuki did not field a substitute rider after Mir retired in the free practice session.

"I think it's a good idea to have Danilo here, back in MotoGP," said Suzuki boss Livio Suppo, some time ago quoted by The Race.

"Everyone loves Danilo and it would be nice to give him this opportunity, of course not with the future."

"But anyway, I thought it was a good idea. Unfortunately for some reason, it didn't happen, but we tried. Finally, I understand Danilo is fighting for the title, and after that, he will race in America. I understand", he said.