Petronas Sprinta have this morning announced that Xavi Vierge will remain in their Moto2 operation for the 2021 season.

The Spanish rider joined the team for the 2020 season and his best race result of this season came at the San Marino GP, where he finished fourth and the team their best Moto2 result to date.

“Thank you so much to the team for believing in me and keeping me for another year, I am so happy. From the moment I joined I felt so comfortable with all the team and my crew; this is one of the reasons why I want to continue with them,” said Vierge.

“Moto2 is a difficult class and I think staying with the same team, bike and crew will be crucial for us. This year, even though it has been a strange season, we have made progress each race, getting closer to our objectives and if we continue like this next year it will be amazing.

“We have made some mistakes but we learn from them and improve for the future. For now, our objective stays the same: to be in the top-five every race, to fight for podiums and victories, and then we see how we can finish this championship.

“Of course next year will be the same, but we want to be in the top positions every race to fight for the championship.

It does beg the question though as to what happens to either John McPhee or Jake Dixon. The team have taken on Darryn Binder in Moto3 and will want to keep Khairul Idham Pawi as the team is Malaysian.

McPhee’s move into Moto2 is a natural progression for the Scotsman but Dixon is now making big steps forward so team boss Johann Stigefelt has some big decisions on his hands in the next few weeks.