Pol Espargaro and Yamaha Will Go Their Separate Ways

News from Catalunya today is that Pol Espargaro and Yamaha Racing will go their separate ways at the end of the 2016 MotoGP Championship season, effectively also ending the younger Espargaro’s tenure in the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 garage.

It is not clear yet where Espargaro will go for the next season, though that decision and announcement could happen as swiftly as this race weekend in Barcelona. Similarly, it is also not clear who will replace Pol Espargaro with a Yamaha contract in the Tech 3 garage, for next season.

Paddock gossip suggests that Pol Espargaro will join his current teammate, Bradley Smith, at KTM. The Austrian brand is moving into the MotoGP Championship next season, and is looking both for fast and technically minded riders. KTM would have that in Espargaro and Smith.

As for Pol’s replacement, Johan Zarco is widely tipped to be Yamaha’s next Moto2 recruit. The French rider has already caught the eye of Hervé Poncharal, so there’s some help there in the French Connection.

We wouldn’t be surprised to see this rider shuffle get wrapped up by the end of the Catalan GP, though with the way this silly season has been going, anything could happen. Stay tuned GP fans.