Honda has this morning confirmed that former MotoGP World Champion Joan Mir will join Marc Marquez in the factory team next season.

Mir has been rumoured to be top of HRC’s shopping list even before Suzuki announced it would quit the blue riband series earlier this year. He has signed a two-year contract.

A short statement reads:

Honda Racing Corporation is proud to announce the signing of Joan Mir. The 2020 MotoGP World Champion established himself as a World Champion-level talent from his first full season in Moto3 in 2016. In 2017 the #36 lifted the lightweight class crown aboard a Honda before moving to the intermediate class the following year.

Alongside two World Championships, the Spanish rider has claimed 12 Grand Prix wins and 33 podiums. The 24-year-old will compete aboard the Honda RC213V in the Factory Team on a two-year contract alongside Marc Marquez.

Mir’s current Ecstar Suzuki team-mate Alex Rins will also join Honda next season as he replaces Alex Marquez in the LCR squad.

Current rider Pol Espargaro has already been announced as a works KTM rider for the next two seasons.