AMA Superbike champion Josh Hayes will stand in for the injured Colin Edwards at Tech 3 Yamaha in this weekend's Valencia Grand Prix. It will mark the American rider's debut in MotoGP.
Edwards will have to miss the race, which would have been his final start for the team before leaving for Forward Racing next year, as he recovers from surgery on arm injuries sustained in the Malaysian GP crash in which Marco Simoncelli lost his life.
Hayes, 36, was already scheduled to test for Tech 3 following the Valencia race. He rides a Yamaha backed by Tech 3's title sponsor Monster in AMA competition, and was offered the test chance as a reward for the form that saw him take the 2010 and '11 titles.