Franco Morbidelli and Fabio Quartararo have both been officially presented as the riders for the new Petronas Yamaha Sepang Racing team which will enter MotoGP from next year.
Marc VDS MotoGP rookies Franco Morbidelli and Thomas Luthi arrive at this weekend's Silverstone round boosted by a day of private testing at Misano on Sunday.
Stefan Bradl will make his first MotoGP start since 2016 after being called up to replace in the injured Franco Morbidelli for the remainder of his home German Grand Prix.
Franco Morbidelli hopes to make a return to MotoGP action at this weekend's Sachsenring round. The Marc VDS Honda rider fractured the third metacarpal in his left hand during Saturday morning practice at Assen, ruling him out of the Dutch race.
Dani Pedrosa and Franco Morbidelli insist nothing has been finalised regarding their 2019 MotoGP plans, amid growing rumours they are to join a new Petronas-backed satellite Yamaha team.
Marc VDS Honda MotoGP rookies Franco Morbidelli and Thomas Luthi head for the start of the European season at Jerez needing a step forward with the set-up of their RC213Vs.
Moto2 champion Franco Morbidelli kicked off his MotoGP career with a 'better than expected' twelfth place, as the top rookie, in the Qatar season opener.
Officially, Yamaha is still to decide if it will even run a satellite MotoGP team in 2019, following Tech3's switch to KTM. At last weekend's season-opening Qatar Grand Prix, Yamaha Racing managing director Lin Jarvis said that he 'hoped' to find a replacement, but added:
Thomas Luthi is aiming for a steady start to get up to speed with Marc VDS Honda as he prepares for his rookie MotoGP campaign at the first official test in Sepang.