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