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HRC Drops Doohan
According to reports, five-times 500cc World Champion Mick Doohan will not be retained as general manager of racing at HRC for the upcoming season – ending a 15-year relationship.
Doohan first rode for Honda when he joined their factory GP team in 1989, and would return in the advisory role after his injury induced retirement – following an accident at the 1999 Spanish Grand Prix.
But, according to the Sydney Morning Herald, HRC managing director Satoru Horiike has stated that the Australian’s contract will not be renewed for 2005.
“It is time to stop working with Mick Doohan,” the newspaper reports Horiike as saying. “As a rider Mick made a big contribution to Honda, but it is now time to work with our own staff.
“Mick had mainly been an adviser to riders and sometimes our staff.”
Doohan’s position is believed to have been weakened by the loss of his former crew chief Jerry Burgess – and many of Mick’s former mechanics – who moved with Valentino Rossi from Repsol Honda to Yamaha for 2004.
The subsequent poor performance of the Repsol team is also likely to have contributed significantly to Doohan’s departure.
HRC have since made widespread changes within their factory outfit in a determined effort to win back the world crown this season – and have hired Doohan’s former arch rival Max Biaggi to partner Nicky Hayden.
Meanwhile, Horiike revealed that while HRC has decided to drop one Australian – they would happily welcome another back. “If Jerry (Burgess) wanted to come to Honda we would welcome him, anytime, for sure,” he said.
Horiike has named Tsutomu Ishii as the new general manager of racing at HRC.
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