From Friday, Broc Parkes, born December 24, 1981 in New South Wales (Australia), will be riding Jonas Folger's Yamaha M1 in the Tech3 team.
His first experience of Grands Prix dates back to 1999 during a wild card at Phillip Island in 125cc. At the time, the 125cc riders were Noboru Ueda, Lucio Cecchinello, Marco Melandri, Youichi Ui, Roberto Locatelli, Gino Borsoi, Emilio Alzamora, and Arnaud Vincent, Frederic Petit and Randy De Puniet for the French. Qualified penultimate on a Scot Walker Racing Honda, he finished the event in 23rd position, which, after all, is not so bad for a first.
But in the world of MotoGP, the 35-year-old Australian rider is best known for having completed a full 2014 season at the helm of the PBM of the Paul Bird Motorsport team, alongside Michael Laverty, before the boss decided to leave the category. after having tried in vain to sell his tickets…
Obviously, a PBM (née ART, née Aprilia) was not the best at that ultimately not so distant era, and the number 23 concluded its season with an honest 11th place at Assen as its best result.
Finally, the 2004 and 2007 SuperSport World Vice-Champion will make an appearance during the 2015 Valencia Grand Prix on the ART of the Ioda Racing team. Qualified 25th, he will not cross the finish line.
But apart from his Grand Prix season, Broc Parkes alternated years in Supersport, Superbike, British Superbike and Endurance. This is also thanks to his place within the YART (Yamaha Austria Racing Team), alongside Kohta Nozane, that he lands in the Tech3 box for his home Grand Prix, alongside Johann Zarco.
Broc Parkes : “I would of course like to thank the Monster Yamaha Tech3 team for giving me the incredible opportunity to race at my home Grand Prix, in front of everyone who supports me, my fans and my family. I'm really looking forward to getting on the Yamaha YZR-M1 at Phillip Island and giving it my all! »
Hervé Poncharal: “Here comes the Australian Grand Prix which will be another interesting race for the entire Monster Yamaha Tech3 team. Due to Jonas Folger's unfortunate illness, we will have a new driver joining Tech3. He is a local boy from Australia and his name is Broc Parkes, who is already a Yamaha and Monster Energy sponsored rider. He has already tested the M1 on Michelin tires on this track so everything will not be completely new for him.
We are more than happy to welcome Broc and give him the opportunity to show his true potential. Obviously an Australian rider will bring more media attention to the team and that's something that's going to be exciting for us.
Phillip Island is still a very special circuit that many MotoGP riders consider to be the best track in the world. It's incredible, with fabulous scenery, and there are lots of enthusiastic fans here in Australia too. So let's start Friday and hopefully the weather will be kind to us. »
