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Writer's pictureAndrew Lwanga

MotoGP inform Suzuki that they cannot leave the sport without Dorna agreement

Written by Andrew Lwanga, Edited by Haneen Abbas

Credit: PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA/AFP via Getty Images

Dorna Motorsport, the commercial rights holder of MotoGP has issued an official statement to the factory Suzuki Ecstar team concerning the team’s potential exit from the sport.


During midseason testing in the aftermath of the Spanish Grand Prix, Motorsport.com reported that the Suzuki factory team was intending to end its involvement in Grand Prix Motorcycle Racing at the end of the 2022 season. No official statement was made by Suzuki following the reports as midseason testing rolled on Jerez.


On Tuesday afternoon, however, Dorna made an official statement in which it reminded Suzuki that the team could not make a unilateral decision on its future in the sport.


Dorna’s statement read; "Following recent rumours of Suzuki departing MotoGP at the end of 2022, Dorna Sports has officially contacted the factory in order to remind them that the conditions of their contract to race in MotoGP do not allow for them to take this decision unilaterally.”


However, should Suzuki depart following an agreement between both parties, Dorna will decide on the ideal number of riders and teams racing in the MotoGP class from 2023.


"Dorna continues to receive high levels of interest from a number of both official factories and Independent Teams looking to join the MotoGP grid as the sport continues to set a global example of close competition, innovation, and entertainment, reaching hundreds of millions of fans around the world. Interest from these parties has been re-confirmed in the past 24 hours."


Suzuki’s rumoured decision to leave the sport is an added spanner in the works of what is shaping up to be a very silly season in the riders’ market. Many of the riders that make up the grid still have an undetermined future, with two fewer seats it is best to say the cat is well amongst the pigeons.


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