Pramac has officially confirmed that Ducati test rider Michele Pirro will replace Danilo Petrucci until his return from a second round of hand surgery. Petrucci, who had impressed during pre-season testing on the team's Desmosedici GP15, sustained multiple fractures in his right hand during a testing fall at Phillip Island last month, but travelled to Losail to try and compete in the season opener. Initial results were positive, but Petrucci was left in pain at the end of FP3 and a subsequent X-ray showed a dislocated bone segment of the third metacarpal, meaning some fractures that had been sealed by surgery had re-opened under the stress of riding. Petrucci underwent a second operation...
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