Alex de Angelis to join Gresini Honda

Alex de Angelis will ride in the Gresini Honda squad in next year’s MotoGP world championship. An official announcement is expected on Monday after tomorrow’s Estoril GP in Portugal, with the Italian rider quitting the world 250 championship to follow Jorge Lorenzo and Andrea Dovizioso into the premier class.

It has long been rumoured that de Angelis would move, though he has also been strongly linked to the D’Antin Ducati squad. The 23-year-old has won one GP in 125 starts. Lorenzo has already signed a deal with the Fiat Yamaha squad to partner Valentino Rossi in 2008, while Dovizioso will be on a Honda RC212V as well next season in one of the worst kept secrets of the season.

His Scot Honda 250 squad will merge with the current Konica Minolta team. That leaves Shinya Nakano out, though the Japanese rider could partner de Angelis in the Gresini squad, with Honda keen to retain his services and see him back on Bridgestone tyres in ’08. A switch by Nakano to the Gresini team would leave Toni Elias having to chase a ride in the D’Antin Ducati squad, where he is a leading candidate.