Moto2: Gresini drops Moriwaki

Another off-pace performance in last weekend's Portuguese Grand Prix by Gresini Moto2 riders Gino Rea and Ratthapark Wilairot has prompted the Italian team to ditch its Moriwaki chassis.

Gresini and Moriwaki won the inaugural 2010 Moto2 title with Toni Elias, but have taken just one victory since, with Michele Pirro in last year's damp Valencia Moto2 finale.

From the three 2012 rounds, Gresini's new line-up of Rea and Wilairot have taken just one point between them, courtesy of a 15th place by WSS race winner Rea in the rain-halted Jerez round.

That is also Moriwaki's only Moto2 point so far this year.

Wilairot and Rea finished Sunday's Portuguese round 23rd and 28th, after which the team press release quoted Fausto Gresini as saying:

"Tomorrow we will take a close look at this difficult situation and work out the best way to resolve it."

The outcome, according to GPOne.com, is that Gresini will switch to a Suter chassis from round four at Le Mans later this month.

The choice of Suter is slightly surprising in that Gresini already works with rival manufacturer FTR for both its Moto3 and CRT MotoGP project.

However it is Suter and Kalex riders that dominate the present Moto2 championship top ten, with the best FTR of Simone Corsi just 17th.

Gresini's decision means that only the QMMF team of Anthony West and Elena Rosell remain on the Japanese Moriwaki chassis.