Aspar renews Ducati satellite MotoGP deal for 2018

The Spanish squad has been a Ducati customer since last year, having previously run Open-class Honda bikes, and currently fields a year-old GP16 for Alvaro Bautista and an older GP15 for Karel Abraham.

Aspar's new agreement includes an option to run two GP17s - currently used by works Ducati riders Jorge Lorenzo and Andrea Dovizioso, as well as Pramac's Danilo Petrucci - or to continue the existing arrangement of running two different-spec bikes.

A decision on this will be taken later in the year, according to a team statement. It is understood Aspar's rider line-up will be a factor in determining its bike set-up for 2018.

Team boss Jorge 'Aspar' Martinez said: "It is excellent news that we will continue for another season with Ducati, as much for the professional relationship we have with [technical chief] Luigi Dall’Igna and all his staff as for the material they provide.

"We believe that we can still grow more but first of all I hope to be able to give Ducati and our sponsors plenty to celebrate this season, because we have two riders who are proving to be very competitive."

Ducati sporting director Paolo Ciabatti added: "We are very satisfied to have reached an agreement with the Aspar Team and to announce the continuation of our association with the Spanish team through the MotoGP World Championship of 2018.

"The Aspar Team worked very well with Ducati in 2016 and also this year, with important results already for both riders. For that reason we are very happy to continue collaborating with Jorge Martinez next season.”

Bautista currently lies 14th in the MotoGP standings, having taken fourth place in Argentina, while Karel Abraham is 18th with a best finish of 10th in the Termas de Rio Hondo race, where he qualified second.