MOTOGP: Barbera gets factory Ducati call-up

Avintia MotoGP satellite rider Hector Barbera will stand in for the injured Andre Iannone for the factory Ducati outfit in this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix.

Iannone fractured his T3 vertebra in a practice crash at Misano last month and had been eyeing a return at Motegi. However, the Italian has elected to spend another race on the sidelines and while Ducati originally said it would not replace Iannone, it has called up Barbera.

The Spaniard is 10th in the standings on a GP14.2, and will race one of Ducati's current bikes next year.

Barbera has been replaced at Avintia for the weekend by Mike Jones, the reigning Australian Superbike Champion, who will make his debut.

Jones contested a round of the World Superbike Championship at Phillip Island earlier this year, and races for a team co-owned by former Ducati MotoGP rider Troy Bayliss in Australia.

Ducati's regular stand-in, test rider Michele Pirro, is otherwise occupied in Spain, starting work on Ducati's 2017 bike at Valencia.

Originally on Autosport.com