Isaac Viñales to join Tech3 Moto2 squad for 2016

The Tech3 Racing Team is delighted to announce that Isaac Viñales will ride the second Mistral 610 for the 2016 season where the young Spaniard will make his debut in the fiercely competitive intermediate Moto2 class.

The promising 21 year old is currently competing in the light weight Moto3 series yet he will make the step up to the 600cc four stroke bikes for next year’s World Championship where he will ride the Tech3 Team’s self designed and built Moto2 bike. Viñales was born and raised in Llançà, Girona and began racing motorcycles at a young age.

His talent was spotted early on and he was accepted into the Red Bull MotoGP academy in 2006. The following year he did not race due to injuries, but he bounced back strongly and determinedly won the 125cc Pre GP Evo championship one season later. He then competed in the Spanish 125cc championships for two years before moving to the Moto2 series in his home country where he finished in 5th overall after winning at Valencia.

His hard work saw him move up to the Moto3 World Championship in 2012 and after taking some considerable steps forward every year, he undertook his most successful season to date in 2014 where he clinched three podium finishes in the tightly contested class.

The first outing for him on the Mistral will be at the Jerez test in November where he will sample a World Championship Moto2 bike for the first time. The Tech3 Racing team and Viñales both confidently look towards the new chapter full of confidence and with high hopes for the upcoming season.

Isaac Viñales :
“It goes without saying that I am really happy about reaching this agreement with the Tech3 Racing Team and I am looking forward to contesting in the 2016 Moto2 class aboard the Mistral 610. It’s going to be a step up and definitely a different stage for me in the new category so I will have a lot of things to learn. In addition, this move also means that my career is moving forward so I must firstly say thank you to the team and also to the sponsors for making it happen. I’m definitely thrilled to start this new adventure with the Tech3 Racing Team who are a great team with a lot of experience and I can’t wait to get going at the first test in Jerez.”

Herve Poncharal – Team manager:
“It’s more than a pleasure to announce the signature of Isaac Viñales with the Moto2 Tech3 Racing Team. I have been following him for a few years and I’ve always been impressed by his speed so it’s a dream for me to have Isaac in our team for the 2016 season. We tried to sign him last year, but due to contractual circumstances we couldn’t find an agreement. So finally this season, we managed to convince him and we are all very happy about the outcome. He is also a good friend of Xavi Vierge and so I think the communication between them will work well with regards to the Mistral and the pairing will be solid. We believe he is going to be strong as soon as the season kicks off as we have an intensive winter testing programme lined up which I am sure will help him to get up to speed with the Moto2 bike. It’s great to announce the final line up of the Moto2 team for next year and now we can run the last three races of 2015 with a free mind and we can start looking forward to the first post season test.”

Source: Tech3 Communications