There are rumors flying that Honda intends to pull out of Moto GP in 2009 for budget cuts. They have already pulled all sponsorship from AMA and F1...If Honda did pull its Moto GP teams it would cut the total bikes ran each race from 20 to 13...I guess Nicky is probably thinking Honda gave him a nice going away present by sending him over to Ducati.

Other manufacturers, such as Ferrari, Mitsubishi, and Audi have pulled sponsorship from their respective racing teams. ALMS is already looking very grim for the next few years, and it's possible it will never recover. If Honda pulls the plug on MotoGP, I'm predicting a similar fate.

They are set to make an official announcement sometime today. Any body know anything further?

 

Nothing on MotoGP.com this morning - I'll have another look..........
NOT good news if it's true.........[X(]

 

Last I heard, they were not pulling out of MotoGP. Of course, I had also heard they were not going to pull from AMA at the time they announced the pull from F1. As we now know they did in fact pull from AMA.

I can see the F1 pull, as they really dont get thier money's worth. The money they sink into it doesnt pay them back for the data they get for real worldproduction.AMA is up in the air with the recent take over and I think Yamaha is the only factory to sign onto the new reg. So it maynot only be Honda not in the mix of the AMA. MotoGP is their proving ground and they get a ton of feedback for racing. Damn near all of thier sportbike technology comes from MotoGP. I cant see them giving up all that R&D they get from racing the Premier class.

All I can say is if they do pull out of MotoGP, you can bet you'll see an end to Honda Sportbikes. They may still make motorcycles, but it will be on a small scale along the lines of touring and cruisers.

 

NOOOOOO everything is spiraling downward. It's not all economy per say a lot of it is people's sense of entitlement to where they won't work jobs right out of high school unless they make as much as their parents do now and all of these people that wont even work regardless of the job. Sooooo many lazy people have their hands out these days I am so sick of this society being lazy in general. I have worked many jobs making chump change to get where I am which isn't high in itself anyway but have always been grateful for whatI had and still have more than I need.

 

i see it across the board. subaru has pulled out of the WRC this year...and so has suzuki...due to budget cuts...

it's just insane...the cornerstones of racing events pulling out!

 

Took the words right out of my mouth. I cant believe this stuff, at least Nicky got out at the right time if this turns out to be true.

Are there 7 factory Honda bikes? This should only affect Factory Honda, not other Honda supported teams, just like with the AMA deal, Erion and Corona Honda are still racing.

 

since moto gp is all prototype bikes, if hrc pulls out then the other honda teams wont be able to get new equipment from them which would cause them to either go to another manufacturer or pull out too. with ama its easier because the bikes are all production based so as long as honda is still making bikes for the consumer, teams will still be able to buy a rr and track it out.

it seams like the main reason they pulled out of ama was because of the whole issue with the dmg taking over and turning everything upside down. i cant really see it being a move to save money. formula 1 is a huge money burner(its often said that you cant even think about starting an F1 team without at least 100million to burn)and honda doesnt do very well so i understand them saving money there.

 

ah, gotcha, thanks for clearing that up

 

I think racing as a whole is going to essentially die for a few years until things get better, its to much of a luxury to afford in times like these.

imagine whats going to happen to nascar if American auto goes under. although i have no idea how nascar stays so popular even when times are good and sponsors are plentiful.

 

that's a good point...I hadn't thought about Nascar but you're absolutely right...that's an entire organization that will be completely gone except for Toyota who is probably the next company to pull the plug.