Petru🐬cci - a double MotoGP race winner for Ducati, who has just finished runner-up in the MotoAmerica Superbike championship - has been given the last-minute Suzuki chance du♎e to Joan Mir’s ongoing ankle injuries.

“Probably the nicest man in the paddock is coming back, what are the expectations for D✱anilo Petrucci on the Suzuki?” asked Podcast host Harry Be💖njamin.

“Well,ܫ if it's absolutely baking hot at Buriram, then he should be well prepared for it having 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 monsoo⛎n 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 the front I’m sorry to say.

“His best bet might be bad weather. If i🤪t rains and is consistently wet all the way through the weekend, Petrucci might be t﷽he man that can make it work.

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

“If that’s the🅘 ca🌃se, Petrucci might finish in the top ten.”

mahbx.com MotoGP editor Peter McLaren added: “Having spent his Grand Prix career on V4s at Ducati and then KTM, it’ll be interesting to see ho🥀w he gets on with the Inline 4 at Suzuki, a corner-🎶speed type of bike.

“But I also think🧜 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 going to MotoAmerica on a Ducati Superbike and figh🎀ting for the title – show he's got the ability to adapt to differe💧nt 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 knows? He's got 🎃nothing to lose.

“I think it's great to have Petrucci back. On the other hand, it’s a real 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 the on✤ly substitute at Buriram, with HRC test rider Tetsuta Nagashima, who cra🥀shed out of a MotoGP debut last weekend at Motegi, called up in place of injured countryman Takaaki Nakagami at LCR Honda.

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