Gibernau woe as team quits MotoGP
Added on Monday, July 13th, 2009 by Carole Nash Editor | One Comment
Gibernau woe as team quits MotoGP
Sete Gibernau’s MotoGP swansong is over after Grupo Francisco Hernando announced that they would be withdrawing from MotoGP racing with immediate effect.
The Ducati privateer team cited economic pressures for the decision to withdraw from MotoGP after just eight rounds of the season, leaving veteran rider Gibernau without a team for the remainder of the season.
The 35-year-old made a surprise return to grand prix racing this season with the satellite team but has struggled to make an impact on the championship, scoring just 12 points to put him 17th in the rider’s standings.
A statement released by the team stated: “This decision is down to the global economic situation, and Grupo Francisco Hernando has decided to focus their investment on their projects as promoters and constructors.”
Gibernau later his disappointment and surprise at the decision: “I am the most surprised at this decision,” said the Spaniard. “Everybody in the team has fought to go forward with this project.
“On a personal level it was a big gamble, but the project was reaching higher and higher goals with the passing of each race. It is a shame that, just as we were getting close to picking up the results that we were after, we have had to pull out.”
The team is the second this season to withdraw from the championship, with Kawasaki pulling out of MotoGP earlier this year, only to return on a limited scale with the Hayate Racing team. It is widely expected however that Hayate will themselves pull out of the championship for 2010 due to a lack of factory support.
Loading ...
One Comment
Robbie
July 13th, 2009GP is all but over with the cost, so i would love to see Rossie ,Stoner, Edwards, Dobbie and the reat all at it in world superbike or better still in World Supersport now that would be some race.