Jason O’Halloran will make his grand prix debut in the Moto2 class at Silverstone this weekend. Image: Samsung Honda.

Jason O’Halloran will bolster Australia’s presence in the MotoGP paddock at Silverstone, making his grand prix debut as a surprise replacement for injured Moto2 rider Mike di Meglio at the JiR team.

Di Meglio crashed out of the Moto2 race at Brno and will be sidelined for up to a month, leading the team to draft in a rider with experience at the Silverstone track.

25-year-old O’Halloran, who raced to a podium finish in last weekend’s British Supersport feature race at Cadwell Park, was enthusiastic about the unexpected opportunity.

“I’m really looking forward to the weekend,” he said. “The Moto2 championship is a series I look up to and follow closely. It will be an honour and a privilege to be part of it.”

O’Halloran remains realistic about his prospects given the steep learning curve of going from a production-based Honda to the prototype.

“It will be hard to predict any results just yet, as I’ve never even sat on a Moto2 machine, let alone ridden one, but I think coming from Supersport is probably easier than coming from the Superbike class,” he added.

“Either way, I’m coming to Silverstone this weekend off the back of two good results in British Supersport so my confidence is high and I’m looking forward to working with the team and learning the bike session by session.”

O’Halloran will join countryman Ant West as the second Aussie in the Moto2 World Championship field.