Paul Bird Motorsports will field Michael Laverty and Broc Parkes in the 2014 MotoGP championship.
Laverty, 32, rode for the team during this year’s campaign, claiming a best result of 13th at Jerez. Parkes, meanwhile, will make his MotoGP debut, having spent the majority of his career competing in World Superbikes or Supersport, in which he has twice finished runner-up.
The 31-year-old Australian, who raced for PBM in WSBK in 2009, replaces Yonny Hernandez, who signed a full-time deal with Ducati’s satellite Pramac squad last month.
“We learned so much in year one that I’m delighted [team owner] Paul [Bird] has given me the opportunity to continue with the project,” Laverty said. “Everyone has told me that year two is much easier so the aim is to put into place what we have learned and to raise our game accordingly.
“The class is going to be a lot tougher with the new production bikes but our aim is to consistently score points.”
Parkes said moving into MotoGP would be the realisation of a dream, adding: “Firstly, I’d like to say a massive thanks to Paul Bird for the opportunity to work with his team once again; I’m really looking forward to it. This is the premier class and it’s every rider’s dream to race in MotoGP.
“I know this is going to be a tough season but I’m certainly up for the challenge, I can’t wait to get started.”
Bird said his new pairing would help the team deliver on the groundwork it has put in place over its first two seasons in the category.
Provisional 2014 MotoGP entry list# Rider Team Bike Class4 Andrea Dovizioso Ducati Ducati Factory5 Colin Edwards Forward FTR/Yamaha Open6 Stefan Bradl LCR Honda Factory7 Hiroshi Aoyama Aspar Honda Open8 Hector Barbera Avintia FTR Open9 Danilo Petrucci Ioda tba Open17 Karel Abraham Cardion AB Honda Open19 Alvaro Bautista Gresini Honda Factory26 Dani Pedrosa Honda Honda Factory29 Andrea Iannone Pramac Ducati Factory35 Cal Crutchlow Ducati Ducati Factory38 Bradley Smith Tech 3 Yamaha Factory41 Aleix Espargaro Forward FTR/Yamaha Open44 Pol Espargaro Tech 3 Yamaha Factory45 Scott Redding Gresini Honda Open46 Valentino Rossi Yamaha Yamaha Factory63 Mike di Meglio Avintia FTR Open68 Yonny Hernandez Pramac Ducati Open69 Nicky Hayden Aspar Honda Open70 Michael Laverty Paul Bird PBM/ART Open93 Marc Marquez Honda Honda Factory99 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha Yamaha Factorytba Broc Parkes Paul Bird PBM/ART Opentba tba Ioda tba Open
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