Australian Broc Parkes lands MotoGP ride with Paul Bird Motorsport for 2014 season Parkes makes the step up to MotoGP in 2014. AUSTRALIA'S long-running streak of riders in MotoGP will continue in 2014, with Broc Parkes signing to ride for Paul Bird Motorsport. The 31-year-old has been announced as part of the team's two-pronged attack on the MotoGP title, the independent Wales-based squad. PBM will use Aprilias in MotoGP's sub-class for customer machinery, Parkes and teammate Michael Laverty set to do battle with the likes of 2006 world champion Nicky Hayden and former World Superbike champion Colin Edwards in what was known as the CRT class. The move is a big step up for Parkes, who won the local Formula Xtreme FX Superbike championship, along with taking a second place for the Yamaha Austria Racing Team at the iconic Bol d'Or endurance race and a wildcard ride for them at the World Superbike finale. Parkes snared 18th and 12th at this year's Jerez World Superbike round. After a journeyman career since graduating to World Superbikes in 2001, including a pair of runner-up finishes in the World Supersport title, the PBM ride marks the highly-experienced Australia's debut in MotoGP. "Firstly, I'd like to say a massive thanks to Paul Bird for the opportunity to work with his team once again," Parkes said. I'm really looking forward to it. This is the premier class and it's every rider's dream to race in MotoGP. I know this is going to be a tough season but I'm certainly up for the challenge, I can't wait to get started. Parkes has prior experience with the team, racing for them in World Superbikes in 2009. After two years of developing their own PBM machine, team owner Paul Bird hopes the pairing of Laverty and Parkes will help the team continue to move forward. We've done a lot of spade work in MotoGP over the past two seasons so the plan is to build on that and work with our partners and Michael and Broc are very capable of delivering! Bird said. Parkes, hailing from the Hunter Valley in New South Wales, looks set to be Australia's sole rider on the grid. Parkes effectively replaces Damian Cudlin who finished out last season at PBM, while Bryan Staring has been replaced at Gresini Honda by Moto2 runner-up Scott Redding. Pre-season testing gets underway in Malaysia in February ahead of the opening round of the 2014 MotoGP World Championship in Qatar on March 23.