Fabrizio looking forward to return

Kallio has moved across to the factory Ducati team to replace Casey Stoner, who will miss the next three rounds, so Superbike racer Fabrizio will make another appearance in MotoGP.

The 24-year-old Italian rode for the WCM Aprilia team in 2004 and made a one-off outing for the Gresini Honda team in 2007, as well as another at Donington Park in 2006 when he was injured in a practice crash and missed the race.

"I want to thank Ducati and Pramac for this gift," said Fabrizio. "Brno is my favorite track and therefore the right place to come back riding a MotoGP 800 after the last time at Sachsenring 2007.

"I know that I can't expect a lot because the GP9 is much different compared to my 1198 F09. The priority is to have some fun and enjoy a different weekend. All the best to Casey, wishing him to be back in top form as soon as possible."

Pramac team boss Paolo Campinoti added: "As soon as we found out that Casey wouldn't ride for the next three races, together with Ducati Corse managerial staff we decided that our rider Mika Kallio would have ride with the Ducati official team after the good results achieved with us.

"As a consequence we were looking for a valid substitute for the Finnish rider and Ducati's proposal to take Michel Fabrizio was the optimal choice. The Roman rider, even if still young, has a great experience and we believe he can conquer good results."