]Zarco has grabbed the headlines with a series of stunning performances including second place last time out at his home GP in France. But German 125, Moto3 and Moto2 GP winner Folger hasn’t been that far behind, though his results have suffered with relatively poor qualifying and a lack of speed in the early laps.

All the same he has finished out of the top ten only once, with a best of sixth in Argentina … and is the only MotoGP rider to have scored points in every race this year.

“It’s a great relief to have a signed contract for next year already – but I’m aware more must come from my side,” he said.

Team chief Hervé Poncharal said: “Zarco doing so well has put Jonas a little in the shadow, but he feels good with us and we feel good with him. We have a lot of confidence that he can improve a lot.”

Folger, Italian MotoGP 2017