After weeks of speculation and rumours, it has finally been confirmed that Maverick Vinales will depart the Suzuki Team at the end of the season to partner Valentino Rossi at Yamaha for 2017 and 2018.
Vinales, who has impressed during his second year in the premier class, will replace the outgoing Jorge Lorenzo, who will join Ducati next season.
The Spaniard’s rise through the classes has been very quick, with Vinales only making his 125cc class debut in 2011. He won the Moto3 world title in 2013 after a dramatic three-way battle during the final race at Valencia, where Vinales was just able to get to the front. After one year in the Moto2 class in 2014, Maverick jumped up to the MotoGP class with the Suzuki team, finishing the year in 12th and also winning the rookie of the year prize.
Maverick now has arguably the fastest bike on the grid, so it will be interesting to see how he gets on with the Yamaha. Also interesting will be seeing who replaces Vinales at Suzuki, with Andrea Iannone highly linked with the ride. Other riders include Johann Zarco, who will be riding for Suzuki at the Suzuka 8 hours.
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