He may be the oldest of four debutants on this year’s MotoGP grid, but Australian Broc Parkes isn’t about to let age be a barrier to success.
The 32-year-old will race for Paul Bird Motorsport at this weekend’s season-opening round in Qatar, alongside Michael Laverty on the team’s Aprilia-powered ART machine.
His debut as a full-time rider in the premier class comes 15 years after his one-off wildcard outing in the 125cc category at the 1999 Australian Grand Prix.
“It’s going to be tough for sure but I intend to make the most of this opportunity given to be by PBM,” said Parkes, who’s previously raced for the team in World Superbikes.
“To continue the run of Australians racing in MotoGP is fantastic too and I’m really looking forward to going racing this weekend in Qatar.”
The New South Welshman, from the Hunter Valley, will be joined by three other rookies in 2014 – 22-year-old reigning Moto2 world champion Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech3), 21-year-old Moto2 runner-up Scott Redding (GO&FUN Honda Gresini), and 26-year-old Mike di Meglio (Avintia Racing).
With countryman and former full-time competitor Bryan Staring dropped by Gresini Honda late last year, Parkes will be the only Australian contesting this year’s championship.
PBM, running in MotoGP’s newly-introduced Open category, enjoyed solid time on track during pre-testing and technical director Phil Borley is hopeful the British-based team can be a real force in their third season in the top class.
“With Michael’s year of experience and Broc’s rapid adaption to GP riding, we have two riders that are able to compete for points and help us continue to develop the PBM bike,” Borely said.
“Although our overall goals are realistic, our main target is to continue improving and reduce the gap to the top positions.
“We feel that we have made some progress during the pre-season testing we have completed and are now looking forward to the first race.”
Practice for the Qatari Grand Prix begins early Friday morning (AEDT), with qualifying to follow on Sunday and the race at 6am (AEDT) Monday.
