Honda MotoGP test rider Hiroshi Aoyama will substitute for the injured Jack Miller at the Marc VDS squad in next weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi.
Australian Miller suffered a fracture to his right tibia in a training accident while out riding his trials bike in Spain last Friday.
Miller – who is 12th in the standings on 56 points after the Aragaon round – underwent surgery, in which a plate and eight screws were fitted to correct the fracture, on the subsequent Saturday and was forced to pull out of the upcoming Motegi race.
In his place comes 2009 250cc world champion Aoyama, who last rode full-time in the premier class in 2014 with Aspar Honda and has since aided development of the RC213V as an HRC test rider.
Aoyama has also made several appearances as a replacement rider, most recently as Dani Pedrosa’s stand-in at the Japanese and Malaysian races last year when the Spaniard suffered a broken collarbone in a crash during practice at Motegi.
“Firstly I want to wish Jack a speedy recovery and I hope he will be fit to race in his home Grand Prix at Phillip Island,” Aoyama said.
“It’s never nice to replace an injured rider but I hope that I can do a good job for both Jack and the team in Motegi.
!I also want to thank Michael Bartholemy (team boss) and Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS for giving me the opportunity to race once again in front of the Japanese fans.
“I have not raced yet this season, so it will take some time to get back the feeling.
“The fact that I already know a lot of the crew, having worked with them in the past, will help a lot, as will having a rider with Tito’s experience on the other side of the box.
“I am looking forward to the weekend ahead.”
Bartholemy has expressed his gratitude to Aoyama for accepting the role as Miller’s replacement in such a short space of time, and is confident the Japanese rider will adapt to his surroundings quickly.
“Firstly I’d like to say a big thank you to Hiroshi for stepping in at the last minute to replace Jack in Motegi and to HRC for arranging everything at such short notice,” he said.
“I am looking forward to welcoming Hiroshi into the team this weekend. It won’t be completely new for him, as he’s worked with many of our technical staff previously, so we start already from a good position.
“I am sure he will do a good job for us this weekend and I hope he enjoys this opportunity to race once again in front of his home crowd.”
Miller has already begun physiotherapy on his right leg at his training base in Andorra, and hopes to be back in action for his home round at Phillip Island in two weeks’ time.
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