Riders told of Kawasaki decision
Added on Friday, January 2nd, 2009 by Carole Nash Editor | No Comments
Riders told of Kawasaki decision
Kawasaki’s impending quit from the 2009 MotoGP world championship has been confirmed to members of the Kawasaki team. John Hopkins revealed that he received a phone call from team manager Michael Bartholemy conforming that the speculation surrounding the issue is true, however, official confirmation has not yet occurred.
The news was delivered to all members of the team and its personnel on December 29th. An official announcement is expected to be made on January 5th which should see Kawasaki provide an explanation as to why they will be leaving. Factors that are expected to have contributed significantly to the quit are disappointing results and the economic downturn which has had a direct impact on the sport.
25-year-old rider John Hopkins, who is currently returning to full health following an operation to remove metal plates from his leg, will be frozen out of MotoGP as a result of this decision.
Although the decision seems to be happening in a matter of days, Hopkins stressed that no official decision has been issued to the team, saying: “I heard it’s up in the air, but I haven’t heard anything confirmed yet”.
The impending decision has been clouded too, with speculation as to whether there will be an impact on the World Superbike team.
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