Michael Laverty will get the opportunity to race against younger brother Eugene at this weekend’s Sachsenring MotoGP as he replaces Marco Melandri after the Italian split with Aprilia yesterday.

Michael has been one of two test riders for the factory team - the other being Max Biaggi - this season and is looking forward to being back in the premier class and potentially dicing with Honda-mounted Eugene on Sunday.

“I got the call yesterday morning and have been rushing about trying to organise everything. The bike is a little different in terms of chassis from what I am used to but the brakes and tyres are the same so hopefully it won’t take long to get up to speed,” said Laverty, speaking to bikesportnews.com.

“I would like to get somewhere close to where Alvaro has been with the bike this year which means I could be close to Eugene. It will be nice to have another pair of brothers racing in the same class.”