Honda Australia has been forced to withdraw its direct factory support from the countey's Superbike series citing the global economic crisis as the reason.
Although the manufacturer stated last year that they would continue to participate in road racing, the unpredictable economic climate has forced a review of the extent of their involvement.
We have a long history of supporting racing at the elite level, so making a decision to reduce our involvement was far from easy, said Honda’s General Manager, Motorcycles, Tony Hinton.
“The key elements of our business are the sales of our motorcycles through servicing our dealer network and providing product at the most competitive price for consumers.”
“We will therefore be focusing 100% on these areas in the coming months.”
But customer team Motologic will continue in the championship with Glenn Allerton on board the all new CBR1000RR.
“Motologic are extremely focused on back to back wins. We can deliver more to our new and existing sponsors given the reduction in Honda’s involvement and it provides us a great opportunity to continue to build our reputation as the pre-eminent specialist in race bike preparation and custom modifications to street bikes,” said team boss Paul Free.
“Our experience and success in preparing Honda motorcycles over the past seasons has made Honda a logical choice for 2009.” said Paul Free, Director of Motologic.
