Tito Rabat Moves up to MotoGP for 2016 Season

The first piece of the Marc VDS / Estrella Galicia puzzle has officially been put in place. Today, the team announced that Tito Rabat will be moving up to race for the team in MotoGP for 2016. Rabat will take the place of the departing Scott Redding, riding a factory-backed Honda RC213V.

Rabat got his first spin out on the bike on Monday after Aragon, ostensibly as a reward for winning a title, but the suspicion was always that the team had done this to allow Rabat to get at least a feel for the bike ahead of next year.

That this was the only announcement from the team is something of a surprise. The original plan, we understand, was to announce the entire line up all in one go.

This was intended to make life easier for the team and its many sponsors, allowing them to coordinate their announcements.

However, when asked about progress on this, team sources made it clear that the intention was still there, but that getting all of the deals done, contracts signed and sponsors ready was a little like herding cats.

More news is likely to emerge from the Marc VDS team in the next week or so, including announcements of Jack Miller to race alongside Rabat, on similar material, the arrival of Franco Morbidelli in Moto2, and Enea Bastianini partnering Jorge Navarro in Moto3.

This article was originally published on MotoMatters, and is republished here on Asphalt & Rubber with permission by the author.