Pol Espargaro will remain with the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team for the 2016 MotoGP season after signing a one-year contract extension with Yamaha. The Spaniard has held onto his factory deal, ensuring he will remain with the satellite squad for a third season.
Espargaro has thanked the Japanese manufacturer for their continued faith in him and believes the continuity will be important heading into a season of change for MotoGP in 2016.
“I’m happy, because renewing my contract with a factory like Yamaha is always going to be fantastic. Yamaha gave me the opportunity to make my debut in MotoGP and together, I think we had a really good first season. This year we are working hard to improve our results that have not been as strong as we would have liked at this point of the year. However, next season there will be some important changes in the category, such as the alterations to the technical regulations and especially, the changing of the tyre supplier. From my point of view, the less you change with regards to the team and the bike, the easier it will be to adapt to all of this.”
After a difficult start to 2015, Espargaro helped Yamaha to their first Suzuka 8 Hour victory in 19 years alongside Bradley Smith and Katsuyuki Nakasuga with the Spaniard hoping the recent good news, on and off the track, will help finish the year on a high.
“Despite some tricky moments this year, I know the bike and I know I can continue to work well together with Yamaha and Tech3 in order to achieve our goals. This announcement is also fantastic following the success at Suzuka, where we undertook some really good work together that concluded in the victory which was great for Yamaha and also for my confidence. Therefore, I hope that this result and the renewal of my contract will help me for the nine races that we still have left in 2015, which is the most important thing for me to focus on right now.”
Tech 3 team principal Herve Poncharal has welcomed the news and hopes to see Espargaro rediscover the form which took him to top satellite honours in 2014.
“I am obviously more than delighted to announce that Pol Espargaro is going to remain with us for a third year in MotoGP. We have had an incredible two seasons together and for me personally, it is like Pol has been here forever and certainly is a big part of our team. We love him and I really hope that next year he can show his true potential and get as close as possible to the top of the MotoGP World. Now, we hope that we can have a strong second half to 2015 in order to prepare for next season, which will be a key year for him and all of us. It goes without saying that we are very happy and proud that Pol will race in the Monster Yamaha Tech3 colours for one more year.”
