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NEWS
Yamaha pulls out of world Superbike
The second major withdrawal in two years, following on from a full strategic review of its marketing operationsYamaha Motor Europe N.V. (YME) will officially withdraw from the Superbike World Championship at the end of the 2011 season, citing “the continuing severe and rapidly changing powered two wheeler market conditions throughout the region”.
The announcement, which will leave incumbents Marco Melandri and Eugene Laverty looking for new teams in 2012, follows a full strategic review of marketing operations within Europe, including all motorsport activities.
The decision was then made to exit the production-based championship in an official capacity, following on from a similar move made by Ducati this time last year.
Yamaha says that more resources will now be used for direct ‘customer’ focussed activities to "ultimately add more value to Yamaha ownership and increased customer satisfaction”.
The statement then continued: “YME would like to express their sincere thanks and appreciation for the total commitment, support, and passion shown by the extremely professional and dedicated riders and team members both past and present throughout the many years of participation in the Superbike World Championship.
“YME would also like to thank all the highly valued business partners and suppliers who have in-turn supported the team and in addition would like to thank Infront Motorsports, the Superbike World Championship promoter. YME has chosen this timing of announcement to ensure that all existing obligations are correctly met, and to not limit any opportunities or future planning for all personnel involved."
Melandri and Laverty are currently running third and fourth respectively in this year’s championship, with round nine of 13 completed at Silverstone last weekend.
Yamaha has one WSBK title to its name, the 2009 instalment with American Ben Spies. Since 1988, the company has won 71 WSBK races.
Yamaha will continue the availability of road racing kit parts, known as YEC Racing kit parts, for its R1 and R6 production models for private teams entering at all racing levels.
Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki and BMW now remain as the four factory-backed teams in WSBK.
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Written byBikesales Staff
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