With the MotoGP season well on its way, Yamaha won’t have much longer to reach an agreement with a team that is willing to become their satellite team in MotoGP, after KTM snatched Tech3 from the Japanese manufacturer.
Lin Jarvis, Yamaha Factory Racing director, needs to make a decision as soon as possible, but things seem to be almost done between Yamaha and the Angel Nieto Team led by Jorge Martinez Aspar.
In an interview to Cadena SER in Spain, Jorge Martinez confirmed that Yamaha is looking for Petronas sponsorship, and things are almost done between the two companies.
The deal between Yamaha and Petronas also involved the signing of Jorge Lorenzo to his team, and negotiations were going well until Lorenzo, in a surprise decision, decided to sign with Honda to join Marc Marquez at the Repsol Honda team.
The move of Lorenzo to Honda could have broken the deal between Yamaha and Petronas, but Aspar says that the project continues even without the triple MotoGP champion onboard.
The Angel Nieto Team manager has now switched his focus to Dani Pedrosa, saying that after securing the deal with Yamaha and Petronas, the rider will be the next step, and Pedrosa is someone he would enjoy racing in the new Yamaha satellite team.
But Pedrosa, according to the latest rumors, isn’t too keen on racing much longer. He raced for Honda his entire career in grand prix racing, 18 years to be precise, and at the age of 32, the Spanish rider is more inclined to retire from racing than to stay in MotoGP and accept signing with Yamaha.
This weekend’s MotoGP race in Barcelona seems to be the deadline for all these rumors to be confirmed, or not. And iMotorbike is following this to bring you the latest updates in MotoGP!