Alex Marquez will remain with the Marc VDS team in the Moto2 World Championship for a fourth seasons after agreeing a new one-year deal to remain with the Belgian outfit.
Alex, younger brother of triple MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez, stepped up to the intermediate class with Marc VDS in 2015 after winning the Moto3 world championship the previous season.
However, Marquez found the transition tough and didn’t score his first podium finish in the class until the 2016 Australian Grand Prix.
2017 has proven to be his best yet in Moto2, winning his first race at Jerez and backing that up with another dominant victory on home soil at the Catalunya Grand Prix.
After eight races, the Spaniard sits third in the standings on 113 points, 35 points adrift of team-mate Franco Morbidelli at the top, who himself will step up to MotoGP next season with Marc VDS.
“I’m happy to announce that I’ll continue with Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS in Moto2 next season,” he said.
“I want to say a big thank you to the team for believing in me and I hope I can repay their faith in me with more wins this year and an even stronger 2018 season.
“For me there was no better place to go; this is the best team for me and I really feel part of the family here.
“The stability that staying with the same team brings is also important, so I’m happy that my crew will remain unchanged for 2018.
“To know where you’re riding the following year so early in the season is good for the confidence, so now we can focus solely on the next races and closing the gap to the two riders ahead of me in the championship standings.”
Marquez will be joined by current Moto3 championship leader Joan Mir next season, who signed a three-year deal with the team during the Catalunya weekend.
Elsewhere on the Moto2 grid, Sky VR46 rider Francesco Bagnaia – who had interest from Aspar Ducati to move up to MotoGP in 2018 – will remain in the intermediate class for one more season with the Valentino Rossi-backed outfit.
