According to Ezpeleta, all MotoGP manufacturers signed a contract to compete in the championship at least until 2011. So, unless Kawasaki take his offer, he will see no other alternative but to take them to court.
“It's an agreement until 2011 that Dorna has with the manufacturers' association: in September each of them told us how many bikes they would race with. Kawasaki included. There's no penalty, but an agreement can't be broken,” said Ezpeleta, according to Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport.
“I reaffirmed that I wouldn't accept the contract being broken. And, since they told us all expenses were covered, I proposed to them to race in 2009. In exchange, I would let them off for 2010 and 2011,” he added.
Ezpeleta also revealed the reason why Kawasaki decided to quit the MotoGP and argued that the Japanese constructor making the 2009 grid was very important to “safeguard (Kawasaki's contracted 2009 riders) John Hopkins and Marco Melandri.”
“The problem, they said, is that they have engines only for 25 per cent of the season, and that they didn't want to develop the rest. So I've looked for a structure, in France, able to do this job. The final obstacle is for the Japanese to meet these people and accept their work programme.”
“I think everything can be solved. The team will be managed once again by Michael Bartholemy. In any case it's Kawasaki's problem: if they don't race, I'll take them to court,” concluded Ezpeleta, who also confirmed that he will do everything in his power to increase the MotoGP field to 20 bikes starting 2010, despite Kawasaki's exit.
Google News