Paris (AFP)
Spanish MotoGP rider Joan Mir has extended his contract with Suzuki for the 2021 and 2022 seasons, two weeks after teammate and compatriot Alex Rins, the team said in a statement on Saturday.
"This pair constitutes a solid and competitive unit for Suzuki, which looks to the future and aims for high results," she explains. "This announcement allows us to keep an eye on the future and shows the confidence that the Suzuki Ecstar Team places in its young driver."
Rins, Moto3 champion in his second World Cup season in 2017, made his debut in the queen category of motorcycle speed in 2019. The 22-year-old driver then placed 12th in the world championship.
The 2020 MotoGP season, which should have started in March, is on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic. Its CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta hopes for a recovery "end of July in Europe", probably without spectators and with a limited number of people on the paddock.
Before Mir and Rins at Suzuki, six-time Spanish world champion Marc Marquez extended him by four years, until the end of 2024, with Honda.
Yamaha has re-signed with the Spanish Maverick Vinales for the 2021-2022 seasons and above all announced the replacement of the Italian Valentino Rossi by the French Fabio Quartararo from 2021.
For Rossi, who celebrated his 41st birthday on February 16, this announcement is not necessarily synonymous with the end of his career.
"I will have to vote without having participated in any race. Anyway, I want to continue," said the one who has the possibility of exchanging mount with Quartararo by joining the Yamaha-SRT satellite team, during of an online interview last week.
"Imagine that we are not running this year. It would be fairer to play another season and stop after this one. I therefore hope to continue in 2021!", He insisted.
Another driver also has a contract for next season: the Spanish Tito Rabat at Avintia until the end of 2021.
© 2020 AFP