What a waste... A team involved in both MotoGP and Moto2, titled in the latter category and Grand Prix winner in the former, the means for great ambitions and the ear of the Suzuki and Yamaha factories to serve their image as much as possible high level of competition... A beautiful building that seems to be collapsing on itself. We knew that between Marc van der Straten et Michael Bartholemy the idyll was over. We were hoping for an amicable divorce. But now it turns sour. Will Dorna have to get involved?
Michael Bartholemy arrived at Le Mans then left just as the meeting was starting. Luca Montiron was announced at his post and, since then, not a single press release from the team. But Michael Bartholemy, in a letter headed by his company MM Performance & Racing AG explains this…
« On Tuesday, May 15, Mr. Marc van der Straten's lawyers informed me that the existing contract between us was terminated with immediate effect.
This notification came after allegations were made against me during the Spanish Grand Prix weekend in Jerez. These allegations mentioned various amounts, ranging from 10 to 15 million euros.
In the end, Mr. van der Straten only requested invoices under 24 euros, which we did immediately, providing full details of each payment.
Therefore, there was no legal reason for termination and I objected to this unilateral termination immediately.
What is clear is that, given the current legal situation, Mr Marc van der Straten's actions are both unreasonable and unacceptable.
Despite this, we were open to reaching an agreement with Mr. Marc van der Straten that would allow us to end the collaboration between us amicably.
We proposed a number of resolution options, all of which were rejected by Mr van der Straten. At no time have we received any serious indications from Mr van der Straten on how to resolve this conflict.
As a result, the conflict threatened to escalate significantly.
For this reason, I made the decision to take a step back from the team during the French Grand Prix weekend at Le Mans.
Rather than exercise my right to stop racing activities this weekend, which I am able to do due to the legal situation, I have instead opted for a more rational approach. Making the situation worse would have damaged not only the team, the sponsors and the drivers, but also the image of the championship and I wanted to avoid that.
I hope that defusing the conflict in this way will provide the necessary impetus to find a solution acceptable to both parties.
If this is not possible and we have to rely on a court to decide the outcome of this conflict, I am confident that I will be exonerated ».
