Minutes after Yamaha announced that Maverick Vinales had signed a two-year deal to switch from Suzuki, the Ecstar-backed squad revealed they have picked up Andrea Iannone for the 2017 and 2018 MotoGP seasons.

Iannone was ditched by Ducati yesterday in favour of Andrea Dovizioso to partner reigning world champion Jorge Lorenzo, which left Iannone out in the cold.

“We are happy to have enrolled Andrea in our Team for the next two years. He is one of the top riders in MotoGP™ and he is also very passionate and motivated; which fits into our racing philosophy. Our technical project is continuously improving since our debut in 2015 and we are working hard to make our GSX-RR very competitive so that it can fight consistently close to top and victory as soon as possible,” said Suzuki team boss Davide Brivio.

“We wanted a rider that could help Suzuki continue its road to the top. Andrea is a fast rider who has the hunger for success and his riding style could suit our machine’s characteristics, therefore giving us good hopes for a positive partnership. Being in his fourth year in MotoGP™ he’s also an experienced rider from which the whole Team will benefit.”