Maverick Vinales officially signs for Movistar Yamaha alongside Valentino Rossi
Yamaha confirmed via an official statement today that Maverick Viñales will ride for the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP team for 2017 and 2018.
Viñales, who is presently fifth in the MotoGP Championship standings, will partner 9-time World Champion Valentino Rossi, whose contract renewal was already announced in March this year.
Maverick Viñales, born in Figueres (Spain) on 12th January 1995, made his World Championship debut in 2011 in the 125cc Class. His racing career highlights include the victory of the Moto3 World Championship in 2013 as well as 3 ’Rookie of the Year‘ awards in 2011 (125cc), 2014 (Moto2) and 2015 (MotoGP).
Previous to the Yamaha statement being released Suzuki official confirmed that Vinales would leave the squad at the end of season 2016, and later confirmed that Andrea Iannone would join Suzuki for MotoGP season 2017-2018.
Davide Brivio – Team Suzuki MotoGP Manager
“We are happy to have enrolled Andrea in our Team for the next two years. He is one of the top riders in MotoGP and he is also very passionate and motivated; which fits into our racing philosophy. Our technical project is continuously improving since our debut in 2015 and we are working hard to make our GSX-RR very competitive so that it can fight consistently close to top and victory as soon as possible.
“We wanted a rider that could help Suzuki continue its road to the top. Andrea is a fast rider who has the hunger for success and his riding style could suit our machine’s characteristics, therefore giving us good hopes for a positive partnership. Being in his fourth year in MotoGP he’s also an experienced rider from which the whole Team will benefit.”
