With team owner Giovanni Cuzari in jail, Forward Racing will not contest the Indy MotoGP event. The future of the team is the focus of intense speculation.
MotoGP riders Loris Baz, Stefan Bradl and Forward Moto2 riders Simone Corsi and Lorenzo Baldassarri will not race the Indy event. Much of the Forward team is under lock and key with reportedly a long list of firms and persons who have not been paid.
American Colin Edwards II has not responded to messages requesting confirmation or denial that he basically stopped racing after the Indy MotoGP event last season, months early, because Forward owed him between $300-500,000 in back pay.
Forward would not be the first motorcycle racing team to be run via the public pay phone in jail, but if there is no operating capital then the flow chart for these situations seemingly always ends with “call Carmelo”.
Dorna’s Carmelo Ezpeleta already props up several MotoGP teams and has the power–and cash–to give the team a new lease on life.
The non-factory portion of the MotoGP paddock has long been run in a climate of interesting cash flow techniques.
The Aspar Honda MotoGP team broke ties with their major sponsor just before the first race of the season, reportedly because of unpaid invoices.
One veteran team owner said recently that since 2008 he has allocated more resources collecting funds owed than he does in searching for more sponsors.
