Kawasaki have, this morning, confirmed they will not be fielding a factory team in the 2009 MotoGP Championship leaving John Hopkins and Marco Melandri without rides.
Despite last-minute talks with Dorna's Carmelo Ezpeleta yesterday, the firm believes they cannot justify spending the money on racing when Japan's economy is in turmoil. It is not clear yet whether Kawasaki will allow Jorge Martinez to run a Kawasaki customer team.
Kawasaki is contracted to supply bikes to the series until 2011, so will have to pay massive penalties if they don't. One way is to have a customer team like Martinez's Aspar outfit running ZX-RRs until the contract runs out.
Another is the current team manager Michael Bartholemy will fully take over, using the slightly-developed 2008 bikes with spares backing from Kawasaki.
It would seem, however, that Paul Bird's World Superbike team is safe for the time being after the factory said they will continue racing mass-produced motorcycles.
A statement from the factory reads:
Amid quickly changing business environment, Kawasaki has been promptly taking countermeasures to cope with the situation. As the world economy is not likely to recover in a short period due to the major impact of the financial crisis, Kawasaki decided to suspend its MotoGP racing activities from 2009 season onward and reallocate management resources more efficiently.
Kawasaki will continue racing activities using mass-produced motorcycles as well as supporting general race-oriented customers.
Kawasaki would like to thank all the fans and all those who have forwarded us great help.
Mr.Yoshio Kawamura, the Managing Director of Kawasaki Motors Racing B.V. deeply appreciates the contribution and the dedication brought by staff members of the MotoGP team.
