Moto2: Scott Redding signs for 2013
Scott Redding will remain in the Moto2 World Championship after re-signing for the Marc VDS team alongside Mika Kallio.
The British teenager is enjoying his best grand prix season to date, with four podiums from the 14 rounds so far held, and made his MotoGP debut during a private test for Ducati in early August.
Feedback from the test was positive, having reported lapped within two-seconds of the top Ducati rider in July's Italian Grand Prix, and Fausto Gresini also expressed premier-class interest.
But the talk came to nothing and Redding, whose physical statue has often left him facing a frustrating straight-line disadvantage, has signed-up for a fourth successive season in Moto2 with Marc VDS.
"Where I'll ride next year has been something of a distraction recently, so I'm happy to have signed for my fourth season with the Marc VDS Racing Team and now I can focus on these last three races," said Redding.
"So far I've stood on every step of the Moto2 podium but the top one, and that has to be the target before the end of the year."
Redding is currently fifth in the championship, 34 points ahead of team-mate Kallio.
Kallio, a title contender in both 125 and 250cc racing, joined Marc VDS on his return to the intermediate category in 2011, following two years in MotoGP. The Finn has so far taken two Moto2 podiums.
"I'm happy to be staying with the Marc VDS Racing Team next season. I had a couple of other options for 2013, but a third year here was the best of them all, so I'm pleased that we managed to work everything out," said Kallio.
Marc VDS, which switched from Suter to Kalex machinery for the start of this season, will continue with Kalex in 2013.
Marc VDS will also field young Belgian rider, Livio Loi, in the 2013 Moto3 Championship, having had their application for a grid slot confirmed in Malaysia.
Loi, who hails from Helchteren in the Flemish part of Belgium, impressed in the Red Bull Rookies Cup this year, taking a race win and two podium finishes in his debut season, in a series that has become a breeding ground for future grand prix stars.