The decision by Kawasaki to curtail their MotoGP program was made known to team members and riders well before Christmas, but the fact that the official Kawasaki press release that was expected Monday, January 5, was not issued indicated that, at very least, Kawasaki are reconsidering that decision.
When notified of Kawasaki’s intention to withdraw, Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta, contacted 125-250 team owner Jorge Martinez about the possibility of having Martinez take over the running of the orphaned Kawasaki bikes, but Martínez said that he would need to have a Spanish rider in order to have any chance of finding additional sponsorship.
Whether energy drink sponsors
Monster would have gone along with a switch from full factory to private team is uncertain as it is also uncertain whether riders John Hopkins and Marco Melandri would have accepted.
It now appears that Kawasaki is about to reverse their decision to quit, but even if they do pull out it will not, according to Dorna´s CEO, be a “catastrophic situation.”
Ezpeleta said in an interview with Italy's Motosprint: “Am I worried? No, because I’ve thought a lot about everything and I think we can take the blow. If in 2009 and 2010 we manage to maintain the spectacle (show) supplied by MotoGP up to now, then we’ll all come out stronger for it.”
