World Superbikes: Carl Fogarty abandons racing project

Carl Fogarty has been forced to abandon plans to race in World Superbikes next season with MV Agusta after being unable to secure the sponsorship to run the team.  

Foggy had been searching for a title sponsor since 2006 in preparation for his Petronas sponsorship ending at the end of that season but despite over 18 months of searching they have been unsuccessful.

News in April that Carl Fogarty had joined forces with legendary bike manufacturer MV Agusta for an assault on the World Superbike Championship in 2008 was taken positively, but despite the huge interest they were still unable to attract a sponsor forcing the four time champion to end his search for a sponsor.

Carl Fogarty said: “Everyone knows that this is a difficult time for motorcycle sponsorship. However, we hoped that the combination of my team with an iconic brand such as MV Agusta would have been an attractive proposition for potential sponsors both in the UK and abroad.

“Regrettably, despite the enormous excitement generated amongst motorcycle fans, this has not proved to be the case, leading us to the conclusion that the market will not support a professionally-run outfit of our size without significant financial input from a manufacturer.

“So I have decided to bring this chapter of my career to an end by putting our state-of-the-art facility at Burton, our race trailer and hospitality unit up for sale.

“I would like to thank all those who supported our efforts during the Foggy Petronas Racing project and I hope that the tide turns in favour of the efforts of privately funded teams.