Source: Supplied.

Italian mainstay Andrea Dovizioso will retain his position in Ducati’s factory MotoGP team alongside Jorge Lorenzo in 2017, the Bologna brand has confirmed.

Dovizioso, 30, has been with Ducati since 2013 and has played an integral role in developing the current Desmosedici. He will remain in red through 2018.

“I am very satisfied to have reached this agreement with Ducati and to be able to continue the adventure begun back with them in 2013,” Dovizioso commented.

“In the last few years we have worked with a lot of commitment and we have succeeded in taking the Desmosedici GP to an excellent competitive level and so I am convinced that soon we will obtain the satisfaction that we deserve.”

The 2016 championship will therefore be teammate Andrea Iannone’s final season with the Ducati Team. Also Italian, after two years in the factory-supported Pramac Racing outfit, he moved to the factory team in 2015.

“Obviously I am sorry that my time with Ducati will draw to a close at the end of this season, but I am grateful to the Bologna manufacturer for the opportunity it has given me in the last few years,” Iannone said, now linked to Suzuki for 2017.

“I made my MotoGP debut with Ducati and I have grown up with them, always succeeding in improving my level of performance. In the remaining races I will give my all, as I always do, because I am convinced that we can achieve some great results.”

Ducati Corse general manager Luigi Dall’Igna said it was a difficult decision to part with Iannone, effectively making way for reigning world champion Lorenzo.

“It’s never easy to take a decision like this one, especially when you have two great riders like the two Andreas in your team,” Dall’Igna explained.

“We are very happy that Dovizioso has agreed to stay with us for the next two years and together with him we can continue the successful work we began four years ago in order to reach the ambitious aims we have set for ourselves.

“We are sorry for Andrea Iannone, who at the end of the season will no longer be a part of the team. Andrea has carried out an important job in these years and has made a significant contribution to the development of the Ducati Desmosedici GP.

“For this reason we would like to thank him and we will provide him with our maximum commitment in the next rounds of the championship, in order to obtain the prestigious results that are for sure within his reach.”