Aspar confirms SIC, Yamaha MotoGP deal

The Angel Nieto Team, owned by former racer Jorge Martinez ‘Aspar’, has reached an agreement with the Sepang International Circuit to form a new MotoGP team, which is expected to receive backing from Petronas, and has taken up the satellite Yamaha team.

The long-rumoured deal will see SIC take over the grid places of the Spanish team, which joined MotoGP on satellite Ducati machinery in 2010.

The team then rotated through Aprilia and Honda bikes before returning to Ducati from the start of 2016. Alvaro Bautista and Karel Abraham currently form the team’s line-up, with SIC currently competes in both the Moto2 and Moto3 classes. Martinez has been retained as a Sporting Advisor to the team from 2019.

Yamaha has confirmed a signing of memorandum of understanding with SIC which will see the team run the Japanese manufacturer’s bike in a planned three-year deal.

Riders for the new team are still to be announced, but Dani Pedrosa and Franco Morbidelli are rumoured to be the favoured line-up.

While rookie Morbidelli has said it ‘would be a great thing’ to join the team, Pedrosa must decide if he wants to continue racing after spending his whole MotoGP career at Repsol Honda.

Pedrosa’s choice is also likely to be linked to the specification of the Yamaha machines.

While Tech3 – which is leaving Yamaha to join KTM next season – received year-old bikes, it is assumed that Pedrosa will want the latest 2019 M1s.

Wilco Zeelenberg – who worked with Jorge Lorenzo during his Yamaha career – is being linked to the role of Petronas team manager, while Maverick Vinales’ crew chief Ramon Forcada could also play a part in the new project.