Bastiani🌜ni’s ongoing shoulder i🔯njury will rule him out of the French MotoGP, opening the door for a familiar face.

Fo🍎rmer factory Ducati rider Petrucci will return to the championship.

Petrucci said: "I🔯 am thrilled to be back racing in MotoGP, although I am sorry that Enea has to miss anoth⛄er race. In Le Mans with the Desmosedici GP, I won my last race in MotoGP.

"It will be an ho🦩nour to be able to try the world campion bike and wear tౠhe suit that I won with in the past. It is an indescribable emotion, and I can't wait to get back on track with the Ducati Lenovo Team. Thanks to Barni for letting me take this opportunity and to Ducati for thinking of me!"

Bastianini added: "I am sorry that I will not be able to participate💞 in the French GP in Le Mans, where I took a fantastic victory last year, but, unfortunately, I am sti𝓀ll not fully recovered.

"After Le Mans, the World Championship will have a three-week stop during which I wil🌃l do everything I can to recover in time for my home round a༺t Mugello, scheduled for June."

Petrucci is a former winner of the French MotoGP, having claimed glory three years ago𒁏. His most recent MotoGP appearance was last season, in Thailand, for Suzuki.

This year h🎃e is riding in 🧜WorldSBK with Ducati and Barni Racing.

The big🌞ger picture, for Bastianini, is that his hopes for the MotoGP championship are fading before he’s complet𝐆ed more than a single racing lap in 2023.

He sustained a broken shoulder blade on the opening lap of the first sprint race, in Porti🐟mao, whꩵen Luca Marini crashed into him.

He didn’t need surgery but missed two rounds, before coming back 👍last weekend in Jerez.

However, Bastianini was ꦓin such pain during last Friday’s practice that he opted to withdraw again.

Still without a point this seas🍒on, he is 87 points behind his teammate - the reigning champion Francesco Bagnaia - who leads the MotoGP standings.

That gap ♛is likely to extend again in Le Mans leaving Bastianini’s title hopes looking de🌱sperate.

91 points is the biggest-ever margin that a r𝔍ider that has overcome to win the title - and yes, that was Bagnaia last se🌜ason.