Red Bull has been forced to shorten the Rookies Cup to eight races at six MotoGP rounds for 2009 and has canned the AMA Rookies Cup in America entirely.
The firm is blaming the global economic crisis for the decision and has shouldered as much of the load as possible to cover both the technical as well as operational efforts of running the MotoGP Cup but there will simply not be enough spares and technical support available to keep the U.S. series at a high level in 2009.
Series spokesman Peter Clifford said: "This is not a happy situation for anyone concerned. The positive is that the Rookies Cup will continue and the aim remains to give as many riders as possible the chance to progress towards the highest level of Grand Prix racing.
"Red Bull wished to thank Alpinestars and Dorna for their unwavering support in these difficult circumstances and deeply regrets the unavoidable disappointment that this brings, particularly to those involved in the US Cup."
The calendar is now:
May 2nd / 3rd Jerez - Spain (double header)
May 30th Mugello - Italy
June 27th Assen - Netherlands
July 18th Sachsenring - Germany
July
25th Donington - England
August 15th /16th Brno - Czech Republic
(double header)
Two pre season tests each lasting two days are planned on March 26th - 27th Estoril - Portugal and March 30th - 31st Jerez - Spain.
