Motorpoint Yamaha boss Rob McElnea has been forced to stand down his British Superbike team over the winter in order to re-group and find some more backing for the 2012 after what he describes as a hard season.

McElnea has had four different riders so far this year, starting with Loris Baz and James Westmoreland before losing both of those and replacing them Tommy Bridewell and Alex Lowes - it hasn't been the cheapest of years for the former 500GP rider.

"It hasn't been easy season for any of us and yes we can't afford to keep the guys on over the winter. We do want to be here next year so again we will spend the closed season looking for some more support to go alongside the Motorpoint backing, which we are pretty certain will remain with us. We want to stay positive and come out next year in the best shape possible." said McElnea, speaking to bikesportnews.com at Silverstone.