Tito Rabat’s rumoured move to the Avintia Ducati MotoGP team is all but signed and sealed for 2018 while incumbents Loris Baz and Hector Barbera have two more races to prove their worth.

Rabat has been replaced in the Marc VDS squad by Moto2 star Tom Luthi but speculation has been rife he could join Avintia ever since it was announced Franco Morbidelli would move up from Moto2 and occupy the seat Jack Miller is leaving.

“We are speaking with riders and with Tito from several races ago. We can say the deal is almost done. There are some little details but maybe next race or in Aragon we could make the announcement. It is not signed yet but everything is going well,” said team communications manager Jose Maroto.

“For the second bike everything is not so clear because my boss wants to give a chance to Loris and Hector to demonstrate they can keep the seat, so he gave them until Aragon to get some good results. In the last two races, Loris has been strong, making it into Q2 and he was ninth in the last race in Austria.”