The PBM team yesterday issued a press release confirming Damian Cudlin to replace Yonny Hernandez at Aragon and Phillip Island. Cudlin will race the PBM chassis, while Michael Laverty will take over the Aprilia ART machine vacated by Yonny Hernandez in the PBM team. The press release appears below:
Cudlin To Replace Hernandez At PBM, Laverty To Ride ART
Following the announcement last week regarding Colombian Yonny Hernandez being released from the PBM contract in order to join Pramac Ducati, the team has decided to restructure for the remainder of the 2013 MotoGP World Championship.
Replacing Hernandez is 30-year-old Australian Damian Cudlin who will ride the team's Rapid Solicitors and Minxflix.com-sponsored PBM machines at both Aragon this weekend and then three weeks later at his home Grand Prix at Phillip Island.
With lots of experience including in the Australian championships and more latterly World Endurance, Damian won the 2010 IDM German Supersport Championship and in the same year, made his debut with a superb seventh place at Sachsenring. He made his MotoGP debut in the 2011 Japanese Grand Prix with Pramac Racing and raced in Moto2 at Assen and Sachsenring last year also.
British rider Michael Laverty, who has campaigned the CRT-specification PBM machine all season, will switch to the proven Aprilia ART machine for the remainder of the season. The former British Supersport champion tested the machine at Misano last week and is hoping to improve the team's results over the final five Grands Prix.
Phil Borley, Technical Director: "PBM are looking forward to working with Damian at the Aragon and Phillip Island GPs where he will race the PBM bikes. With his experience and knowledge, we hope to continue the development of our bike and have a positive weekend together. Unfortunately we will not have the chance to test before the race and so the first sessions will be important for Damian to acclimatise to the bike, the Bridgestone tyres and carbon brakes. Our target will be to improve Damian's feeling in each session and give him a bike he is confident to race. Michael will switch to the ART bikes for the next races, as his feeling was positive when he tested them after the Misano race and we are interested to see if we can improve on our recent results."
Round 14 of the MotoGP World Championship takes place on September 28/29 at Aragon. For more information, please visit the team's website www.pbmuk.net and www.motogp.com.
