Cal Crutchlow will replace Franco Morbidelli, who had knee surgery at the end of June, for the next three races of the MotoGP world championship, the Yamaha-Petronas team announced.
Morbidelli, 13th in the drivers' championship after nine races, is recovering from surgery on the meniscus and anterior cruciate ligament of his left knee.
He will miss the Styrian GP on 8 August, the Austrian GP on 15 August - both held at the Spielberg circuit - and the Great Britain GP on 29 August at Silverstone.
The Roman centaur will then be replaced by British Crutchlow, 35, who retired at the end of last season with the Honda-LCR team. "After considering all the options, we decided together with Yamaha to replace Franco with Cal Crutchlow. He is a renowned and experienced rider, currently a test rider for Yamaha. As an independent team, this is the kind of situation where we can really help the team. Yamaha, "said Razlan Razali, Yamaha-Petronas Team Principal.