Avintia announces Granado for Jerez MotoGP Test
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Avintia has confirmed a new addition to the team at the forthcoming Jerez MotoGP test, but the rider named was Eric Granado rather than Johann Zarco.With Karel Abraham announcing his split from Avintia on Saturday, and Marc VDS signing Augusto Fernandez as Alex Marquez’s Moto2 replacement on Sunday, Zarco is now destined for Avintia in 2020.But the Avintia statement made no mention of the Frenchman (or indeed Abraham) saying only that they will ‘reward’ Granado for handing the team two MotoE victories this season ‘by giving him the opportunity to ride the Ducati GP18 during the test.’It must be remembered that, despite a challenging start to the year, Granado concluded the first MotoE season in a meritorious third position overall, overcoming the adversities that had to face throughout the year.’Our desire as a team is to offer the riders of our structure what they deserve and this is a great opportunity to see the potential and feelings of this young pilot in MotoGP.’Granado is set to remain with Avintia in MotoE next season and is therefore not in contention for the ex-Abraham MotoGP seat – underlined by his use of the old GP18 at Jerez, rather than the GP19s tested by Tito Rabat and Abraham at Valencia last week.But the lack of any Zarco-Avintia announcement suggests a final deal is still to be completed and/or that the Valencia ankle injury means the Frenchman is currently unfit to test.Should Zarco miss the Jerez outing, on Monday and Tuesday, he would need to wait until Sepang in February for his first Ducati laps.Avintia had planned to give Granado a MotoGP debut in place of the injured Rabat at the Malaysian Grand Prix, but it was cancelled for unspecified reasons. One factor that counted against Granado was the lack of any prior MotoGP track time, something that will now be addressed.
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