Gresini Honda's Marco Simoncelli will remain with the team and keep his HRC status for the 2012 MotoGP season, the squad announced today and he will get a full factory RC213V to race next year.

Simoncelli was thought to be in a fight with Andrea Dovizioso for the last of the factory Honda budget and it now remains to be seen what will happen to the soon-to-be-ex-Repsol Honda man.

"To be wearing the colours of Team San Carlo Honda Gresini for another year and riding a Honda RC213V gives me a lot of satisfaction. To be kept on as part of project that Honda HRC are so supportive of in collaboration with Team San Carlo Honda Gresini gives me a lot of confidence and all the motivation I need to show that I can be amongst the best in MotoGP again. 2012 will be an important season for me and I want to give all those people who have believed in this project plenty to get excited about," said the large-barnetted Italian.