Italian Enea Bastianini, hit in the shoulder at the end of March in Portugal, will miss the French Grand Prix on May 14 and will be replaced by his compatriot Danilo Petrucci, his Ducati team announced on Friday.
Bastianini, Moto2 world champion in 2021 and 3rd in the MotoGP championship in 2022, missed the first four rounds of the season due to this injury following a fall during the sprint of the Portuguese Grand Prix at the Portimao circuit.
He had tried to return last week for the Spanish Grand Prix, before giving up after free practice.
To replace him, Ducati called on Petrucci, 32 years old and former rider of the Italian brand between 2015 and 2020. Without handlebars last season, he had done a freelance for Suzuki at the Grand Prix of Thailand, which he had placed 20th.
Petrucci signed one of his two MotoGP victories at the Le Mans circuit in 2020.