Motorcycling - KTM to partner Tech3 MotoGP team from 2019

LONDON (Reuters) - KTM will replace Yamaha as partners to the French-run Tech3 MotoGP team from 2019, the Austrian motorcycle manufacturer said on Monday.

(Reuters)

The move means KTM, which already has a factory team, will have four bikes on the starting grid next year.

The deal will run for three years, said Tech3 boss Herve Poncharal.

"We always tried to be the official Yamaha junior team but it was never really the case," Poncharal told the official MotoGP website (www.motogp.com). "That will be the case where we are going."

The privately-run team announced last month that they were ending their partnership with Yamaha after more than 20 years together. Their current riders are Frenchman Johann Zarco and Malaysian newcomer Hafizh Syahrin.

(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Christian Radnedge)