Itoh honoured by Ducati call.

Bridgestone test rider Shinichi Itoh had admitted he is honoured to be given the chance to race for the Ducati Marlboro Team in the inaugural Turkish Motorcycle Grand Prix this weekend.

With regular rider Loris Capirossi missing the race due to injuries sustained in his fall at Phillip Island, the team has elected to run the former 500 GP racer alongside Carlos Checa at the brand-new Istanbul Park Circuit and the 38-year-old Japanese rider said he was honoured to have been given the call.

"It is a great honour to take my place in the Ducati Marlboro Team for the Turkish GP," he said. "I know it won't be an easy weekend but I'm looking forward to racing alongside all the full-time MotoGP riders and I will do my best. I have good experience of the Desmosedici, having done many tests with the bike."

Ducati MotoGP project leader Livio Suppo admitted he was disappointed that Capirossi won't be competing in Turkey, but added that he was happy with the decision to bring in Itoh for the weekend.

"We are obviously sad that we don't have Loris with us this weekend, but at the same time we offer a very warm welcome to Itoh-san," he said. "He has done some great work doing tyre tests for us this year, and it will be really nice to see a Japanese rider race a Ducati for the first time in MotoGP. It will also be a good opportunity to test Bridgestone tyres with Itoh at this new circuit."