Dorna suspends Suzuki legal action

Dorna boss Carmelo Ezpeleta has confirmed he is not planning on taking imminent legal action against Suzuki after the Japanese factory reduced its involvement in MotoGP in 2011 to just one bike.

Ezpeleta is adamant that the decision contravenes an agreement that Suzuki should supply at least two factory GSV-R bikes until the end of this year.

Suzuki first revealed its intention to cut its participation to one bike in early September after race boss Shinichi Sahara spoke to MCN at the Misano round.

The uncertainty dragged on for weeks before it became apparent Suzuki was pressing ahead with the plan when factory team boss Paul Denning informed several team members at the Sepang race in Malaysia that they would be released at the end of the season.

Suzuki will now only field Spaniard Alvaro Bautista but Ezpeleta said he currently has no plans to proceed with legal action he threatened last year.

The Spaniard though said Suzuki had only been given a reprieve until 2012 when he said legal action could still take place if the Japanese factory did not return with a two-rider entry for the new 1000cc four-stroke class.

When asked by MCN during a media debrief at the launch of Ducati’s 2011 MotoGP squad about the latest situation with Suzuki, Ezpeleta replied: “We need to wait first because we are not interested in legal cases unless this can be solved by something else.

“For us the most important is to try to keep the contract in place. But in our opinion they didn’t respect the contract. Also it’s important how will be the behaviour of Suzuki for the future.

“To be honest if they continue participating we don’t think we need to take any legal action.”

Ezpeleta confirmed that as yet Suzuki has not clarified its planned level of involvement for 2012 with many fearing that its decision to reduce its participation to one bike is just the first step towards a complete withdrawal.