Czech rider Karel Abraham - absent from the Jerez World Superbike round due to ‘illness’ - has signed to ride for the Aspar MotoGP in 2017.

Abraham, whose father owns the Brno circuit, has had a tough year with the Milwaukee BMW team but has pulled a GP ride out of the wallet, er, hat.

“I am really pleased to come back to MotoGP. I started to work on this goal as soon as I knew there was a possibility,” he said.

“I am really happy: coming back to Ducati, which is my favourite bike, and also thinking about my first season with them, which was my best season.

“It’s an honour to be a part of this team, which is so famous in the paddock, so professional and so good, and together with Ducati I believe we can make a very good connection, I’m really looking forward to that.”