The Marc VDS Racing team is considering moving up to MotoGP for the 2015 season. Team manager Michael Bartholémy has started the process which could lead to a MotoGP entry for next season.
A switch to MotoGP is far from being a foregone conclusion, Bartholémy was keen to emphasize. 'This is the first step in a long, political process,' he said. The first stage would consist of talks with Marc van der Straten, the Belgian brewing magnate who owns the eponymous team, here at Jerez, then again two weeks later at Le Mans.
Bartholémy would also have to liaise with Carmelo Ezpeleta to make sure that there was a grid slot available for the team should they choose to move up to MotoGP. 'The problem at the moment is that we do not have a place on the grid,' Bartholémy said.
No decision had been made regarding which bike the team might use. Bartholémy said that they were open to considering bikes from all the manufacturers, and would evaluate which manufacturer was the best option for the team. The team had offers from all of the manufacturers when they previously considered a switch to MotoGP in the middle of last season, with Scott Redding. In the end, they decided against the switch, and Redding moved up to MotoGP with the Go&Fun Gresini Honda team.
The question of who would ride for Marc VDS Racing if they did go up to MotoGP was clear for Bartholémy. 'Tito [Rabat] is our rider, and he's doing a fantastic job,' the Belgian said. Scott Redding joining Rabat with Marc VDS was unlikely, if not impossible. 'Scott has a contract with Honda, so HRC decides,' Bartholémy said. Whatever Marc VDS decide to do, Redding will be on a Factory Option Honda RC213V in 2015, '100% for sure,' Bartholémy said.
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Comments
VDS
More bikes on the grid should be good for MotoGP, or at least for those behind MM93. :-)
Grid Slots. WTF?
Can someone explain why the hell are no grid slots available? A few years back they badly needed bikes to fill the grid. Now they are limiting the number of bikes? WTF? I just cant understand these people sometimes. Whats the reason behind it?
Money
Fullstop.
Dorna have created a situation where the weakest team at the end of 2014 can sell their gridslot to an up and coming team as an alternative to losing subsidy.
It's always about the money..........................................
Yes
Now it becomes more clear. Thanks. With all this rule changing its hard to remember everything.
Limiting the number of slots makes a little more sense. Because you might have 26 bikes on the grid in one season and 20 the next year. And the guys who work for those bankrupt teams would remain without a job and Dorna probably cant afford to subsidise 6 bikes + crew members.
The problem in the past was that teams would loose funding and the mechanincs and crew members were forced out of a job. So now a team can lose the funding and have two options: fully subsidised by Dorna or sell the grid slot. Either way most the crew members arent fired and can work for the new team. I think exceptions from the limits were made for full factory efforts like Suzuki who can bring their own crews and have a 2 or 3 year contract obligation to fill the grid slots.
Or at least thats how I remembered it.
new year
another VDS MotoGP announcement, just do it already! haha
Marc VDS Kawasaki in the Open Class?
Michael Bartholemy was in charge of Kawasaki's MotoGP operation till the factory decided to call it quits. Given the open rules and their becoming the only ones in two years time, Michael Bartholemy should perhaps visit Kawasaki Japan and speak to Ichiro Yoda and bring them back into the GP paddock. It would be terrible if they go to Honda or Yamaha. People should now entice Kawasaki and Aprilia back into GP. That would restore some lost glory of MotoGP.