Budget problems and waning sponsors may see another team take a nose dive and pull out from next year’s MotoGP season.
Daniel Epp owner of Interwetten Honda MotoGP team (and has team in the 125cc and Moto2 series) has informed Honda and probably Dorna and IRTA, that they no longer have the funding to continue racing in MotoGP next season, which also leaves Hiroshi Aoyama without a ride.
The problem is the economic crisis (it still exists, despite what our governments tell us) which has seen sales of motorcycles hit rock bottom record lows and sponsors who are no longer willing to invest large amounts of money in motorcycle racing, and add that manufacturers are asking enormous sums of money to lease their prototypes (which are returned at the end of the year to be crushed) to privately run teams.
A typical example is Honda, who asks for 2.
8 million euros to lease one RCV’s, while Ducati asks for 2.
4 million for one of their Desmosedici’s.
The manufacturers continue to defend themselves saying that between design and development, engine maintenance (the cost of maintenance for pneumatic valve engines is sky high) while the privateers rightly suspect that the manufacturers are funding their factory teams with the satellite teams money and thinking more and more often, if it makes sense to continue spending money to run a team that is only a number on the grid and can very rarely compete for the podium.
With rumors that Suzuki will be fielding only one rider next season in MotoGP (in SBK’s Batta will be fielding only Michel Fabrizio) Dorna will certainly be hard at work trying to fill the grid with at least 18 bikes, but if Epp’s team is pulling out, we’ll be seeing only 16 riders and certainly not enough to warrant MotoGP to still be called the premier class.