Biaggi and Pramac join Honda Pons.

It has been announced that Max Biaggi and his Pramac sponsor have signed an agreement with Honda Pons to run the Italian and his RC211V motorcycle in next year's MotoGP World Championship.

The Roman Emperor returns to Honda after four years with Yamaha, and his arrival in the team managed by former two-time World 250cc Champion Sito Pons has been possible through the intervention of Pramac.

The Italian industrial giant, run by the Campinoti family, has already competed in this year's MotoGP Championship with Tetsuya Harada, and had signed a three-year agreement with Biaggi to ride a Honda four-stroke bike in the MotoGP World Championship - but didn't have a franchise and therefore needed to 'join forces' with an existing team for next season.

With Pons' 2002 riders Loris Capirossi and Alex Barros having moved to Ducati and Yamaha respectively, Sito had two spare seats for next season - and after negotiations with Pramac - one of these has now been filled.

Pramac Owner, Paolo Campinoti, expressed his delight at having secured a top class outfit to run his star rider.

"We are very pleased to have reached an agreement with Honda Pons so that our rider may compete in the 2003 Championship," Campinoti said. "Our goal is to compete at the highest level possible and we feel that the combination of Max with Pramac and Honda Pons is a winning formula that will be a real contender for the World Championship."

West Honda Pons was the leading team in the 2001 season and this year finished third in the Team classification. Its technical staff, headed by Technical Director Antonio Cobas, has earned widespread praise for its work with the RC211V in the final phase of this season.

Team Owner Sito Pons was enthusiastic at having the world number two riding for him next season - and believes that the tie-up between Pons, Pramac and Biaggi could land the world crown in 2003.

"Max is a fantastic rider, a born winner, and we are convinced that in the right team with the right bike he will be World Champion," said Sito. "Max certainly has the skill and attitude to be World Number 1 and our job now is to give him the best equipment and support to achieve this goal. We know that there is a lot of work to do, but everyone in the team is relishing the challenge.

"Max joining the team is a real cause for excitement for us and everyone is looking forward to seeing him on the RC211V in the first preseason testing sessions," added Pons, whose team took two GP victories this season with Barros.

"Next season's championship promises to be a thrilling affair and no-one should bet against Max taking Valentino's crown," warned Sito.

In the next few days the name of the second rider and the team structure for 2003 will be announced. It is strongly rumoured that current Repsol Honda star Tohru Ukawa will move to the Pons team to make way for incoming AMA champ Nicky Hayden.