Following Kawasaki’s announcement in January that it was withdrawing the official factory team from the MotoGP circuit due to the economic crisis, some would say Marco Melandri’s time on board the Kawasaki bandwagon was limited.
Moved into his own one-rider team under the Hayate banner, Kawasaki agreed to continue supporting Melandri, but it was not to be so.
Despite some impressive results this seasons though, speculation has become fact this week as Kawasaki declared they will not be continuing to support Melandri into the 2010 season.
Melandri said:
“This year with no money I was sixth in the championship after halfway in front of one HRC bike, one factory Ducati and both Suzukis, so we have done a good job…Nobody could have expected this but I have to respect the Kawasaki choice”.
Melandri is now looking to return to a satellite Honda team for the 2010 season, though probably with bitter thoughts of what could have been.