“They have a contract with Dorna stating their commitment to participate in the championship at least until 2011. Logically, from the moment I was informed by Kawasaki, I've had several talks with them: I brought up the agreement they signed with us, then asked them to reconsider their position, and therefore asked them to postpone their decision to retire,” revealed Ezpeleta to Italian magazine Motosprint.
“Am I worried? No, because I've thought a lot about everything and I think I can take the blow. If in 2009 and 2010 we manage to maintain the spectacle supplied by MotoGP up to now, then we'll all come out stronger for it. As the person responsible for the championship, I have the duty of considering every possible outcome, and even in the worst possible scenario, I don't see any catastrophic situation.”
“I consider that in the end we'll race with 19 bikes. But if that's not the case, then it just means we race with one bike less than in 2008. The priority is to have 19 bikes at least in 2010. At any cost. And I've started working towards this since the day Kawasaki told me they were quitting.”
“Anyway, the possibility that two Kawasakis will take part in the 2009 season, one way or another, shouldn't be ruled out. After all, Kawasaki signed an agreement with Dorna and these deals can't just be binned from one day to the next,” added Ezpeleta.
Kawasaki has only outscored constructors like Ilmor or KR in the MotoGP throughout the last 3 years (ranking last in the overall classification last year). If they will, however, announce their immediate retirement from the sport later this week, it is rumored that Aspar boss Jorge Martinez will take over the team's operations and run the two Kawasaki bikes himself in the upcoming season.
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