Reale Avintia Racing has confirmed it has extended its contract with Tito Rabat for another two seasons, taking the Spaniard's deal through to 2021.
The former Moto2 World Champion was out of contract after the current season but has enjoyed a string of stronger performances in recent races, which has seen him score the majority of the team's points total.
The news ends speculation that Rabat, who has 14 points to his name compared to team-mate Karel Abraham's three, was seeking a WSBK ride.
The team also confirmed it is negotiating with a "major sponsor" which will help realise its "ambitious" plans to run current spec bikes next year.
"I'm very happy that I signed for two more years with my team," said Rabat. "The best news is that we are going to have factory bikes from 2020, which is crucial to our goal of fighting for top positions in every race.
"The MotoGP class is more competitive than ever and you need to have the best machinery to get good results. I want to thank Raúl [Romero] for his confidence in me.
"We had a difficult start into this year, but we got stronger in the last few races. Knowing that I will continue for two more seasons is a boost to my confidence and I’m sure I‘ll be back stronger in the second half of the championship."
Team CEO Romero added: "It is a pleasure to announce that Tito will continue with us for the next two seasons. There has been a lot of talk about Tito’s future and the future of the team, but with this announcement we made it clear that we are moving forward together and that we will be stronger than ever before.
"The team grew steadily since we arrived in MotoGP and the next step is to get factory machines, the same way as all the other independent teams in the championship. We are working on this right now and we are also in negotiations with a big sponsor that perfectly matches the size of the project we are planning for the upcoming seasons."






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