The decision has been amicable with Aprilia wishing the Italian rider a prosperous future.

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In his place on the grid will be Aprilia development rider Michael Laverty, who has also been racing full-time in the British Superbike Championship for Tyco BMW.

Despite the Irishman spending most of this season on a S1000RR Superbike, Laverty is familiar and comfortable with Aprilia’s RS-GP machine, and is excited to take over Melandri’s seat in the Aprilia GP racing team.

“Competing against the regular guys racing MotoGP is a tough task, but I am relishing the opportunity,” Laverty said.

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The GoPro Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland round of GP continues this weekend. Look out for the full race report in the next edition of AMCN, out 23 July.