Fabio Quartararo will join Britain’s Danny Kent at the Speed Up team for his second season in the Moto2 World Championship in 2018 after signing a two-year deal.
French rider Quartararo moved into the grand prix ranks with the Estrella Galicia squad in Moto3 in 2015 as the reigning double CEV champion.
After a decent debut year, in which he secured two pole positions and two second-place finishes in Austin and the Netherlands, Quartararo switched to the Leopard team for a difficult second season in the class.
Signed by Sito Pons‘ team to step up to the Moto2 class for 2017, the 18-year-old Frenchman has shown decent form – scoring four top 10 results – and currently lies 16th in the standings on 41 points.
However, Quartararo‘s performances have not been enough to keep him in the Pons stable for 2018, with the Spanish outfit securing the services of Hector Barbera and Lorenzo Baldassarri.
Quartararo’s future team-mate, 2015 Moto3 champion Kent agreed a two-year deal with Speed Up ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix.
The Briton parted ways with Kiefer Racing in Texas at the start of the year, and has since made two wildcard appearances in Moto3 with Red Bull KTM Ajo, while also deputising for the injured Iker Lecuona at Interwetten in Italy.
He had been due to ride in place of the injured Marcel Schrotter at Dynavolt at the Red Bull Ring, but pulled out following practice after suffering whiplash in a collision with Marc VDS‘ Alex Marquez.
Current Speed Up rider Simone Corsi will make a switch to the Tasca squad for next season, while his compatriot Stefan Manzi will move from Sky VR46 to Forward Racing, swapping places with fellow VR46 Academy member Luca Marini.
Tech3’s Remy Garnder also announced prior to the Aragon weekend that he would be remaining at the French squad to partner the incoming Bo Bendsneyder.
