Melandri and Laverty react to Yamaha withdrawal - Visordown.com

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Melandri and Laverty react to Yamaha withdrawal - Visordown.com

WITH the surprise that Yamaha had decided to withdraw it's factory team from the World Superbike championship for the 2012 season, it has left both Marco Melandri and Eugene Laverty in the 'shop window' for rides next year.

Yamaha are currently having one of their most competitive years in the WSB series, running in third and fourth in the standings. Melandri had found his form in the move away from MotoGP and had hopes of continuing with Yamaha in 2012. Commenting on the team closing it's official outfit he said, speaking on Motosprint: "In the contract signed last winter there was the option to renew; if I was third in the standings by July 31st, the agreement would have been automatically renewed.“

“I was happy because after four seasons of constant changes, I had the opportunity to race two years in a row with the same bike, the same team and in the same series. Unfortunately I have to look for an alternative. I’m devastated, but I’ll find another bike, go ahead and keep my head up as I always have.”

Messaging his followers over Twitter, Laverty revealed his mutual shock at seeing his two-year contract come to an end early, saying: "Today’s news of Yamaha pulling out of WSB came as a shock to me as well. Really disappointing for the entire team - a great bunch of guys.”

No doubt the Irishman will be in demand with his performances in his rookie year in the top flight superbike class including the double win at Monza, but not having any concrete for next year lead him to tweet, “Queues at the dole office are huge this morning.”

Speaking with the Belfast Telegraph he added that his prospects look positive as he looks at the news of the withdrawal, saying, “I've got the rest of this season to complete and now it's a shop window. It's only been one day but already the prospects of continuing in World Superbikes next season look positive from the soundings I've had. MotoGP is another option but that's a hard field to get into.”

Ultimately a new Yamaha team could appear with a factory-supported effort along the lines of Althea Ducati.