Andrea Iannone has confirmed on Thursday ahead of the MotoGP Italian Grand Prix that he will leave Suzuki at the end of the season, paving the way for Moto2 rookie Joan Mir to take his place.
Iannone joined the factory Suzuki squad last season after being dropped by Ducati in favour of triple premier class champion Jorge Lorenzo.
After a difficult season in adapting to the GSX-RR netted him just 13th in the standings and no podium finishes, Iannone has made a much stronger start to his 2018 campaign, with back-to-back podiums in Texas and Spain putting his seventh in the current points table.
Despite this marked improvement in form, Iannone hasn't done enough for the Hamamatsu factory to keep him on alongside Alex Rins – who penned a two-year extension with the team prior to the Le Mans race.
Speculation in recent weeks has strongly linked Moto2 sensation Joan Mir to the second GSX-RR, with Honda reportedly failing to take up an option on a pre-contract it had signed with the reigning Moto3 world champion to put him in the garage next to Marc Marquez next year.
With Iannone confirming his departure from Suzuki, this has only heightened rumours of Mir replicating former Suzuki rider and current Yamaha man Maverick Vinales' career path by spending just a single season in Moto2 before stepping up to MotoGP on a GSX-RR.
Ducati's Jorge Lorenzo had also been linked to the second Suzuki seat, but now looks likely to make to a return to Yamaha on a satellite machine.
Iannone has expressed his desire to remain in a factory surrounding, with links to Italian squad Aprilia doing the rounds.
Current Pramac rider Danilo Petrucci confirmed at Le Mans that he has an offer from Aprilia, but has been hotly tipped to replace the outgoing Lorenzo at the factory Ducati team next year.
With Honda seemingly missing out on Mir's services, Dani Pedrosa's chances of remaining an HRC employee for at least another season have taken a big boost.
