Forward Racing in danger of losing Yamaha support

After being forced to skip the Indianapolis round, Forward returned to action at Brno, Loris Baz securing Open Class victory and a point with a 15th place finish overall and Claudio Corti - the replacement for Aprilia-bound Stefan Bradl - finishing 20th.

Forward was thought to be close to a deal to run two-year-old Yamaha machinery for a third season when talks were suspended in the wake of team boss Giovanni Cuzari’s arrest last month.

And although Motorsport.com understands that negotiations remain ongoing, Yamaha managing director Lin Jarvis has cast doubt on whether there is still the time available for a deal to be struck.

“We will work to help the team finish the championship, but considering the current situation, of course we can’t commit ourselves for the future,” Jarvis told GPOne.com.

“The problem is the time-frame – the time has practically already passed to start production of parts in Japan. We have already missed the deadline.”

It is also understood that Forward Racing will definitely compete in the next two MotoGP races at Silverstone and Misano, while the team’s presence at Aragon is also highly likely.

Nonetheless, question marks remain over whether the Swiss-based team will be able to assemble the necessary funds to travel to the three autumn flyaways, starting with October’s Japanese round at Motegi, following the loss of virtually all of its sponsorship backing.

Additional reporting by Léna Buffa