MAPFRE ASPAR TEAM AND TONI ELÍAS PART WAYS Two parties arrive at an agreement to rescind contract. Spanish rider will look for alternative rides for the the rest of the 2012 season. The MAPFRE Aspar Team, the most successful team in the lower and intermediate classes, joined forces with 2010 Moto2 World Champion Toni Elías with the expectation of challenging for the 2012 title. Following nine Grands Prix, the MAPFRE Aspar Team and Toni Elías have come to a mutual decision to terminate their professional association. The union between the two parties has not lived up to initial expectations and the Spaniard is now free to look for alternative teams with which to contest the rest of the campaign. At the conclusion of the Italian round of the Moto2 series comes a summer break, in which the MAPFRE Aspar Team will have sufficient time to look for a replacement rider to accompany Nico Terol in their intermediate class project. The team thank Toni Elías for his collaboration in the first half of this season and wish him well in his future endeavours. Jorge Martínez ‘Aspar’: “We got behind Toni Elías right from the start of the 2012 preseason. Ever since his previous stint in the team, back in the 250cc class, he has shown that he is a fast rider. In 2010 he won the Moto2 title. The aim of the MAPFRE Aspar Team is always to be the top team in the intermediate class and a clear contender for the World Championship. This year we had put great faith in Toni’s ability to bring us the title, but in the end things didn’t turn out as we had expected. We have both decided to part ways; we feel that this decision is best for both Toni and for the MAPFRE Aspar Team.” Toni Elías: “I am sorry not to have been able to continue with the MAPFRE Aspar Team. The team have given their all in preseason and in the season itself. We have always looked for solutions together to try and go fast with the Suter, but in the end we weren’t able to find a way. The atmosphere in the garage and the relationship between the team and I has always been excellent, the mechanics have given their all to try and find solutions and Jorge has believed completely in me, but things haven’t turned out as we had hoped. We’ve decided to terminate our collaboration; we are still at the midway point of the season and there is time for both of us to improve results separately.”