Espargaró to replace Canepa again at season finale

Tuesday, 3 November 2009

The Pramac Racing team will field Aleix Espargaró again at the Gran Premio Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana as Niccolò Canepa has not recovered from injury in time for the last race of 2009.

A disappointing end to his debut MotoGP season sees Niccolò Canepa miss out on this weekend’s action at Valencia as he continues to recuperate from injury and Aleix Espargaró steps in again to ride the satellite Ducati Desmosedici GP9.

Espargaró, who replaces Canepa full-time in MotoGP next season, has made three guest appearances for the Pramac Racing team already this year and gets the nod again for round 17 having successfully substituted for his Italian counterpart in Malaysia – after Canepa crashed at Phillip Island in the previous GP and had to have a skin graft on an elbow injury.

Canepa was hoping for one last premier class ride before he leaves MotoGP and had waited until the last possible minute to give the injury time to heal, but doctors have advised him against taking part at Valencia. “I am very sad that I will not be able to ride this weekend as I really hoped to compete in this last Grand Prix of the season and to end it with a good result,” said the young rookie.

“I want to thank the Pramac Racing team, Paolo Campinoti and Ducati Corse for the fantastic experience I have had this year,” continued Canepa. “Now I will have to think about getting back at to my best physical condition and to get back on track in my next sporting adventure.”

Canepa’s loss is Espargaró’s gain and the Catalan rider will therefore get the opportunity to compete for the first time as a MotoGP rider on Spanish soil, after the three solid races at Indianapolis, Misano and Sepang.

“First of all I want to wish Niccolò a quick recovery and I hope to see him back on track really soon,” stated Espargaró. “For me this will be a really special weekend, as it will be my first appearance as a premier class rider in Spain. I will be racing in front of my fans and I don’t want to disappoint them.”

“In the races I’ve ridden with the Pramac Racing team so far I went quite well but I still have to improve a lot to compete for better positions. Naturally I still need some time, I am still the rider with the least experience in this category and I have a lot to learn.”