Mahindra withdraws from Moto3
Mahindra will withdraw from motorcycle grand prix racing at the end of the 2017 season.
Mahindra joined the 125cc class in 2011, continued in the junior category as it morphed into Moto3 and celebrated its first podium with Miguel Oliveira in 2013.
The factory then made history as the first Indian manufacturer to claim a grand prix victory courtesy of Francesco Bagnaia in last year's Assen race.
John McPhee also won on a Peugeot-badged Mahindra at Brno, while Bagnaia took a second win at Sepang on his way to sixth in the standings.
But while Bagnaia has gone on to claim rostrum success in his rookie Moto2 season with VR46 - and was recently presented with last year's race-winning MGP30 - Mahindra has suffered a dramatic slump with a best race finish of 14th.
The downturn looks to have prompted drastic action and Mahindra will end its participation in the series after the conclusion of the 2017 season.
The Mahindra Group will instead increase its focus on the FIA Formula E (electric car) Championship, where the team recently won its first race in Berlin and currently sits third in the standings.
"Formula E is providing us with an excellent international platform to raise awareness of the Mahindra Group, our technological capabilities and our mobility solutions on a global scale," said Ruzbeh Irani, Mahindra Group's President of Group Communications & Ethics, and Chief Brand Officer.
"Our strategic review of Mahindra Racing and Mahindra's two-wheeler businesses led us to the decision to withdraw from MotoGP.
"It has been a tremendous journey, and we would like to thank all of our staff, partners and collaborators who have contributed to our success during our seven years in the sport."
Mahindra will continue to participate in Moto3 until the end of the 2017 season, with full engineering and on-track support from Mahindra Racing for the factory-backed Aspar team and its two customer teams, CIP and Peugeot Saxoprint.
Mahindra's exit will leave only Honda and KTM as Moto3 manufacturers.
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
