Stiggy down to two riders for last three rounds

Stiggy Honda boss Johan Stigefelt has revealed to MCN that he will run only two riders at the final three rounds of the championship due to a budget short fall.

Starting at Imola next weekend Leon Haslam will be the lone WSB rider with Anthony West the only rider in WSS. Due to the current financial situation injured American John Hopkins won’t be replaced and Italian Supersport man Gianluca Vizziello has been sidelined.

Speaking to MCN, Stigefelt said: “It is a very difficult time right now and we need a cash injection into the team. As a result we will only run our two highest placed riders in each class at the last three rounds and that’s Leon and Anthony.”

The current Stiggy Honda team are in ongoing negotiations to switch to Yamaha machinery in 2010 with the plan to run the factory WSS effort. Stigefelt maintains that the deal is still on but admits that his priority is getting to the end of the current season first before thinking about next year.

He said: “Right now things are up in the air and we are trying to get to the end of the season. This year has been difficult. It has cost us a lot of money and we haven’t had any big sponsors. The frustrating thing is that next year looks fantastic in terms of sponsorship but we have to finish this year before we can start the next one.”