Gino Rea, Wagner join new MV Agusta team

Gino Rea has confirmed he will continue to compete in the World Supersport Championship next season after penning a deal to ride an MV Agusta F3 alongside Aiden Wagner for upstart outfit GRT Racing.

The British rider, who returned to the Supersport fold in 2015 with the CIA Landlords Insurance Honda team after a stint in Moto2, ended the year a creditable sixth overall with one podium to his name.

However, with the PTR-run squad favouring an all-new line-up in 2016, Rea will get his hands on an MV Agusta F3 prepared by GRT Racing, which will step up to World Supersport full-time next season having made a single wild-card appearance with Miroslav Popov in Jerez.

"I am very excited and eager to start working with the GRT Racing team," he said. "When I first started speaking with the team, I was filled with confidence that they will everything it takes to give me a good package and so far they have gone above and beyond to put everything in place for 2016. I hope to repay their efforts and bring them the results they are seeking next year. It will be a building year for all of us as a team but I see no reason why we can't be at the very sharp end and potentially challenging for wins."

Rea will be joined in the team by former Australian champion Wagner, who paertnered Rea at CIA Landlords Insurance Honda in the closing rounds of the season after his original ride with Intermloto Kawasaki fell through.

GRT Racing, which will be headed up by former racer Mirko Giansanti, swells the number of MV Agusta entries on the 2016 WSS grid to six.