Yamaha Factory MotoGP has announced a two-year extension of the contract they currently have with pilot Maverick Viñales. The Catalan driver will thus continue driving for the team until the end of the 2020 season. 

“I feel extremely happy because I will continue on my own team. This season will be my second with Yamaha”– explained Maverick Viñales in a press release by the Yamaha Factory Moto GP team. 

At the end of the current contractual period between the pilot from Rosas and the team from Iwata, the professional relationship between both parties will, therefore, extend to cover a total of six years since the arrival of Maverick to the team in 2017.

It was in that year that he finished third in the MotoGP World Championship, and one year later he got the fourth position. 

During his time with the team, Viñales has taken a total of six victories and 19 podiums onboard the Yamaha YZR-M1, as well as nine pole positions and seven fastest laps. 

This agreement marks the start of the pilots’ market moves forecasted for 2021, due to the fact that at the end of 2020 most contracts in the grid come to an end, with the exception of that of Tito Rabat and Avintia. 

Maverick Viñales, happy with the deal

“I am very excited. I think that if we continue to work really hard we’ll be going in the right direction. It was very important for me to announce this agreement before the start of the season because I am really motivated and want to be fully focused on the 2020 season”. – Continued the Spaniard. 

Viñales has also explained how his place is in Yamaha, where he feels completely at home:

“I don’t want to spend a lot of time thinking about the future. There was no reason to leave Yamaha where I feel completely at home. Yamaha is giving me a lot of support and, as I said before, here I have my own team which is something that I really need right now. We need to keep up the hard work and be very strong”. – asserted Viñales -. 

Regarding his goal as the main pilot of the Iwata squad he has been very clear:

“Our main objective is to be world champions and try to give Yamaha back the honour of being number one. I’ll do the best I can. It goes without saying that I’ll give my all so that our team feels proud”.

“I want to thank Yamaha for their trust in me. They give me a great deal of confidence and I truly believe in our collaboration. He ended by saying: “I believe that we’ll grow rapidly together and together we’ll continue onwards and upwards”.

Quartararo to replace Rossi

Yamaha has announced Valentino will be replaced by Fabio Quartararo in 2021. The Italian legend wants to wait up to mid-2020 in order to decide if we´ll remain on the track or if he retires. The Japan squad could give him a factory bike in 2021. 

The French rider will move on from the Petronas satellite team where he shined last year. His achievement of Rooky of the Year has placed him as one of the few rivals able to challenge the dominance of Marc Márquez. 

In fact, Marquez himself has signalled Quartararo as his main rival after having defeated him on several head-to-heads last season. Those words, however, might have only been intended to put some extra pressure on The Devil’s shoulders, as the Frenchman is informally known. 

Images of Maverick Viñales: Yamaha MotoGP