Belgian Herck will miss the opening round of the championship after breaking his hand in the GP2 Asia event in Bahrain, where he jarred his hand on the steering wheel after striking a kerb.
The 19-year-old is receiving specialist treatment in order to return to full fitness as quickly as possible.
Ricci will be his replacement until he is fully fit.
The Italian, who will be making his GP2 debut this weekend, raced in the Champ Car Atlantic series in 2007, finishing in sixth place in the standings.
"We're obviously disappointed that we're not able to start the season with our two regular drivers, but we're pleased to welcome Giacomo to the team for the first round and we hope that he'll quickly settle in to the team," said team boss David Price.
"Without any GP2 experience Giacomo has a tough task ahead of him especially with so little track time that we have at these F1 meetings, but we'll give him as much help as possible to bring him up to speed.
"It will be the first time that any team has raced with the new GP2 car, so from that perspective Giacomo will be at no disadvantage."
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