Avintia Racing and Frenchman Mike Di Meglio have reached an agreement for the 2008 125cc World Champion to ride in MotoGP™ in 2014.

Moving up from the Moto2™ category after recovering from injury in the second half of 2013, Di Meglio will be teammate to Hector Barbera in the premier class this year.

Di Meglio has ridden the Spanish team’s FTR-Kawasaki already, having tested the bike in post-season run-outs in November.

He is now looking forward to pre-season testing in February at Sepang in Malaysia with his new team.

Di Meglio stated: "I am delighted to have the opportunity to make my debut in the MotoGP class, and I want to thank Avintia Racing. I tried the bike in a test at Brno last year, and when I got back on the FTR in Valencia I could see that the bike had undergone a major evolution. This makes me very optimistic about what we can achieve this season. I still have a lot of work to do both with my riding style and the bike, but I know I’ll have major support behind me and a very professional team."