The chances of Andrea Dovizioso retaining his Repsol Honda ride for 2012 look to have taken another knock with the news that - unlike team-mates Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa - he will not test the new 1000cc bike in Monday's post-race test at Brno.
Stoner is the only Honda MotoGP rider to have tried an early version of next year's bike, during a private test at Jerez in mid-May.
Despite Pedrosa missing the test due to injury, Dovizioso wasn't invited to take his place and instead Stoner rode for both days.
During its official preview for this weekend's Czech Republic Grand Prix, Honda stated that Pedrosa and Stoner - who already have a contract in place for 2012 - will be the only riders on the new bike at Brno:
"After this weekend's race, the Repsol Honda Team will make use of a testing day at the Brno circuit, using the opportunity to further develop the 1000cc 2012 machine. Contracted riders Dani Pedrosa and Casey Stoner will test the bike in the one day test on Monday August 15."
Having signed Stoner for this season, Honda was forced to run a third Repsol bike for Dovizioso, who had met contractual requirements for a further year at the team.
The Italian, who has been with the factory HRC squad since 2009, is tipped to move to a satellite RCV team in 2012, possibly with continued factory support, thus replicating countryman Marco Simoncelli's situation at Gresini.
Former 125cc world champion Dovizioso - a Honda rider throughout his full-time GP career - has taken 13 podiums, including one win, since joining MotoGP in 2008. He is currently third in the 2011 standings, behind Stoner and Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo.
Pedrosa, who missed three rounds through injury, is 33 points behind Dovi in fourth.
Yamaha has also confirmed that its MotoGP riders will test next year's bike during Monday's official test.
Ducati, which has conducted more 1000cc testing with MotoGP riders than any other manufacturer, is yet to confirm which riders will be testing which bikes at Brno.
source: crash.net
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