Ducati News Today

9 time 500 / MotoGP winner Sete Gibernau has been left without a ride following the withdrawal of the Grupo Francisco Hernando Ducati satellite team from the 2009 MotoGP Championship.

The decision to withdraw was cited as being due to the global economic conditions according to the press release to allow the company to focus on its core construction business. It seems it was the 2-time MotoGP runner up who was most surprised by the turn of events.

“I am the most surprised at this decision,” said veteran rider Gibernau, who came back to riding after a two year absence. “Everybody in the team has fought to go forward with this project. On a personal level it was a big gamble, but the project was reaching higher and higher goals with the passing of each race. It is a shame that, just as we were getting close to picking up the results that we were after, we have had to pull out.”

link: Official MotoGP Site

Ironically, ducatinewstoday wondered whether Sete could end up with a factory Ducati ride when there were concerns during the pre-season about Factory Marlboro Ducati rider Casey Stoner’s fitness to race.

Afterall many racing fans have forgotten his 8 victories over the 2003/4 sessions where he was the only rider to regularly challenge Valentino Rossi and raced him hard to second place in the championship both years, along the way amassing the highest number of points ever for a second placed finisher.

However Sete’s results have been unremarkable, plagued with old and new injuries alike, allowing him to only achieve a best finish of 11th place. The team withdrawal now reduces the already sparse MotoGP grid to just 17 machines.

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