Source: Supplied.

Pol Espargaro will continue with the Monster Yamaha Tech3 Team aboard the Yamaha YZR-M1 in the 2016 MotoGP World Championship.

Yamaha has signed Espargaro to a one-year contract extension, the 24-year-old Spaniard set for a third consecutive year in the premier class with Yamaha.

“I’m happy because renewing my contract with a factory like Yamaha is always going to be fantastic,” Espargaro said. “Yamaha gave me the opportunity to make my debut in MotoGP and together, I think we had a really good first season. This year we are working hard to improve our results that have not been as strong as we would have liked at this point of the year.

“However next season there will be some important changes in the category, such as the alterations to the technical regulations and especially, the changing of the tyre supplier. From my point of view, the less you change with regards to the team and the bike, the easier it will be to adapt to all of this.

“Despite some tricky moments this year, I know the bike and I know I can continue to work well together with Yamaha and Tech3 in order to achieve our goals. This announcement is also fantastic following the success at Suzuka, where we undertook some really good work together that concluded in the victory which was great for Yamaha and also for my confidence.

“Therefore, I hope that this result and the renewal of my contract will help me for the nine races that we still have left in 2015, which is the most important thing for me to focus on right now.”

Espargaro is currently ninth in the world championship standings, following his seventh place finish at Indianapolis on Sunday.