Current LCR Honda Rider Alex Rins will leave the Honda side for a new MotoGP seat with Monster Energy Yamaha. Rins will race along side Fabio Quartararo in 2024. Franco Morbidelli will be leaving the team at the end of the 2023 season. He is rumored to be making a move to Mooney VR46 Racing but the move has not yet been confirmed. Whether Morbidelli will make a lateral move in MotoGP or potentially join another team out side of the series is yet to be confirmed. We will keep you updated as this story develops.
Notes from Yamaha…
Lin Jarvis Managing Director, Yamaha Motor Racing
“We are delighted that Alex is joining the Yamaha line-up, and we warmly welcome him to the Yamaha MotoGP group.
“We expect Alex to be a great asset. He has vast experience as a MotoGP rider and is known to be a natural talent and a multi-time MotoGP class race winner. He already has experience with two other MotoGP manufacturers and has ridden bikes with similar characteristics to the YZR-M1, which should help him adapt quickly to our bike. His win in COTA earlier this year underlines his speed, hunger, and determination to succeed.
“Alex has been away from the MotoGP paddock for a while due to the injury he sustained at Mugello, but we are confident that he should be fully recovered and up to speed for the 2024 season. We are really looking forward to working with him and believe that he will collaborate well with Fabio and enhance the total performance of the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team.”
Lin Jarvis Continued on the Departing Morbidelli
“First and foremost, I want to thank Franky for his hard work and dedication ever since he started with the Factory Team and also long before that when he was a Satellite rider for Yamaha. The Yamaha and Morbidelli partnership led to some great results, including an outstanding vice-champion title in 2020.
“It‘s a shame that the last two years didn‘t play out the way we both wanted and hoped for. We discussed the possibilities to continue our partnership, but ultimately we decided that 2024 would be a moment to make a change, both for Yamaha and for Franky.
“The team will proceed to fully support Franky in every way we can to close out our time spent together in the best possible way.”