Moto2: 125GP champ Marquez makes Moto2 move

Newly-crowned 125GP champion Marc Marquez will race in the Moto2 World Championship next season with the backing of Repsol and CatalunyaCaixa, it has been announced.

The 17-year-old, who won ten races on the way to the 2010 125GP crown, will race a Suter chassis prepared by Moto2 newcomers Monlau Competition, a team run by his own personal manager Emilio Alzamora.

Though Marquez will be Monlau's sole rider in 2011, the team will come with significant backing from prominent MotoGP sponsor Repsol - which also backed Marquez's 125GP campaign - and the CatalunyaCaixa bank.

A two-year deal for Marquez, the team will see several notable names join the operation with Santi Hernandez becoming chief mechanic having worked with Valentino Rossi and Sete Gibernau in the past.

Marquez, who makes his Moto2 debut at Jerez this week, will join fellow 125GP graduates Pol Espargaro and Bradley Smith in graduating to the class.