Silva set for second chance
Just two races after being demoted from race to test rider by the Avintia Blusens team, Ivan Silva will make his MotoGP return in this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix.
Silva was to be replaced by World Superbike rider David Salom for the remainder of the season, but Avintia has now reversed its decision. Salom was left at the tail of the field during his rain-affected appearances.
"As you can imagine I am very pleased to get back to MotoGP with the team," said Silva, who recently finished runner-up in the European Superstock 1000 Championship, held at Albacete.
"I am not familiar with the [Motegi] track but I am excited after the race in the European championship. I felt competitive again in Albacete. I enjoyed myself and I was very close to become champion again.
"This has given me strength and even if I have to prioritise work I can assure you that the remainder of the season will be totally different from what has been seen so far."
Silva, who briefly swapped the FTR frame for a carbon fibre Inmotec design earlier in the season, has scored points on four occasions with the Kawasaki powered machine, including a best finish of twelfth (twice)
In related news, Inmotec has announced that it will be back on the MotoGP grid with Avintia at the Valencia finale and following post-race test. It is assumed that Silva will again try the latest iteration of the frame, while team-mate Yonny Hernandez continues on the aluminium FTR design.
Hernandez is hoping he can threaten the CRT leading Aspar Aprilias this weekend - the Columbian having again finished third in class, behind Aleix Espargaro and Randy de Puniet, at the previous Aragon round.
"I am happy with the latest result and I want to repeat it. I finished third in the CRTs again at Motorland and I scored points," said the Columbian. "That's the least I want to achieve in Japan but honestly my true objective is to win.
"It is not an easy track and we'll have to wait until we see how the motorbike is going but if we have enough time to find out the right setting-up, then nothing should be dismissed."
