Ilmor has announced that it is dropping out of MotoGP until such time as sponsorship is acquired.
Mario Illien has been quoted as saying:
"It is very disappointing and I underestimated how difficult it is to secure backing for this particular activity. I knew it would be expensive and I’m not surprised from the cost point of view, but I’m surprised how difficult it has been to secure the right backing. We were confident and hopeful that we would get sufficient backing to go racing and that has not materialised. We need to act rather than spending a lot of money and having a problem later on. We have been thinking about this for some time, I was thinking of withdrawing before the start of the season. As time went on I was hopeful we could secure something. But at the same time we moved forward in the hope and belief that we could attract some backing. We have some backing but not sufficient to run for the whole season. We are not going to race in Jerez. Dorna is very disappointed that we are not participating but they respect and understand our decision. Without financial support it is too difficult."
Apparently they will continue developing their V4 engine in the hope that racing can continue at a later date. It's such a shame that we've lost the one British race team and it highlights the problems many of the teams are having now that tobacco sponsorship has been banned in Europe. The Kenny Roberts team has been muttering that it too may have to drop out. I hope that a new generation of sponsors are found for MotoGP or things may get very difficult.