Petrucci - a double MotoGP race winner for Ducati, who has just finished runner-up in the MoꦜtoAmerica Superbike championship - has been given the last-minute Suzuki chance due to Joan Mir’s ongoing ankle injuries.

“Probably the nicest man in the𓄧 paddock is coming back, what are the expectations for Danilo Petrucci on the Suzuki?” asked Podcast host Harry Benjamin.

“Well, if it's absolutely baking hot at Burira🐬m, then he should be well prepared for it ha🌳ving done the Dakar!” said former Grand Prix rider and British champion Keith Huewen.

“Thailand will be a bit like Motegi, no recent data, and the track grip will have changed since 2019 due to the extreme weather: The heat, the humidity, the mo🦄nsoon rain.

“But to jump on a Suzuki, that he has never even tested before, at a place like Buriram, I can’t see he will do anything near th♊e front I’m sorry to say.

“His best bet might be bad weather. If 𝓰it rains and is consistently wet all the way through the weekend, Petrucci might be the man that can ma♐ke it work.

“But it’s a very tall order. It’ll come down to whe🐓ther he jumps on that bike on Friday and it suits him. If he feels at home on it.

“If that’ওs the case, Petrucci might fi𒊎nish in the top ten.”

wuqian0821.com MotoGP editor Peter McLaren added: “Having spent his Grand Prix career on V4s at Ducati and then KTM, it’ll bꦍe interesting to see how he gets on with the Inline 4 at Suzuki, a corner-speed typဣe of bike.

“But I also thi🧔nk🤡 the weather will play a big part in how his weekend goes.

“The bikes that he’s ridden in the past year alone - jumping from the KTM MotoGP bike to the KTM Dakar bike, winning a stage on that, then go🌌♎ing to MotoAmerica on a Ducati Superbike and fighting for the title – show he's got the ability to adapt to different machines quickly.

“So if it all clicks with the Suzuki, if he feels comfortable and confident straight away, on what might well be a low grip track - and we know how well he goes in the rain! So who knowsཧ? He's got nothing to lose.

“I think it's great to hav♍e Petrucci back. On the other hand, it’s a 𝓀real shame for Joan Mir, but the priority has to be his fitness. Maybe Petrucci will also be needed for Phillip Island, but let’s hope that Mir can return strongly for Suzuki’s final races in MotoGP.”

Petrucci won’t be th𒐪e only substitute at Buriram, with HRC test rider Tetsuta Nagashima, who crashed out of a MotoGP debut last weekend at Motegi, called up in place of injured country𒆙man Takaaki Nakagami at LCR Honda.

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