MotoGP: Vinales signs with Yamaha, Iannone moves to Suzuki

Silly season came early this year in MotoGP as Jorge Lorenzo announced his departure from Yamaha after the end of the 2016 season of MotoGP. Since the Spaniard signed a two year contract with Ducati in April, Yamaha has been on the lookout for their second rider. The tuning fork team has finally found its second rider, Maverick Vinales, who will partner Valentino Rossi for the next two years.

Vinales made his World Championship debut with the 125cc class in 2011 and took his first championship title in 2013 in the Moto3 class. The Spaniard has also been crowned the ‘Rookie of the Year’ three time in 2011 (125cc), 2014 (Moto2) and in 2015 (MotoGP).

Some reports suggest that aside from Vinales, Yamaha was also trying hard to sign Dani Pedrosa; however, Honda successfully managed to retain him for the next two years as well. HRC announced the renewal of Pedrosa’s contract last week.

Ducati signing Lorenzo and renewing Andrea Dovizioso’s contract for the next two years left Andrea Iannone to find refuge in the seat vacated by Vinales at Suzuki. Suzuki is yet to confirm its second rider for the 2017 season but Aleix Espargaro is likely to stay on with the team.

This is what the top 4 teams in the 2017 MotoGP season will look like:

Yamaha: Valentino Rossi and Maverick Vinales

Honda: Marc Marques and Dani Pedrosa

Ducati: Jorge Lorenzo and Andrea Dovizioso

Suzuki: Andrea Iannone and Aleix Espargaro (unconfirmed)