Cal Crutchlow to join LCR Honda after terminating contract with Ducati

The Briton appeared to end speculation over his future when announcing last month that he would continue to ride for the Italian team.

However, a brief statement from Ducati on Saturday confirmed Andrea Iannone will come in to replace Crutchlow and race alongside Andrea Dovizioso next year.

It read: "Ducati Corse announced today that it has reached an agreement with its factory rider Cal Crutchlow to terminate, ahead of time, the contract that ties the British rider to the Italian team in MotoGP for 2014 and also for next season.

"The two factory Ducati Team riders for 2015 will now be Andrea Dovizioso and Andrea Iannone."

LCR Honda subsequently announced the signing of Crutchlow, who had previously been linked with Suzuki.

A statement from the team read: "LCR Honda Team is pleased to officially announce that British rider Cal Crutchlow will join [Lucio] Cecchinello's squad in 2015 MotoGP campaign riding the Honda RC213V Factory Spec.

LCR CEO Cecchinello added: "We want to thank Cal for his trust in our 2015 racing project and we are excited to line up with new team colours thanks to the cooperation with CWM. In the meantime we will keep working hard to end the current season in the best way."

Crutchlow has endured a tough campaign in 2014, claiming just one top-six finish to date.