Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

Max Biaggi has said he will leave the Yamaha MotoGP team at the end of the 2002 season.

The Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport published an interview with Biaggi in their August 1 edition. In that interview Biaggi is quoted as saying, “Alla Yamaha ho passato quattro anni di grandi soddisfazioni, ma senza coronare il mio sogno: vincere il Mondiale. Ciò nonostante, a me sarebbe piaciuto rimanere, ma dopo avere incontrato i vertici Yamaha e avere richiesto certe garanzie, ho capito che non esistevano più i presupposti per continuare.”

The BBC translated this into the following: “I have had four years of great satisfaction at Yamaha but without being able to realise my dream of winning the world championship. Although I would have been happy to stay after meeting the Yamaha management and having asked for certain guarantees, I realised that there no longer existed the conditions to continue.”

It is speculated that Biaggi will follow long-time sponsor Marlboro to the Ducati MotoGP team in 2003.

According to Gazzetta dello Sport, Marlboro has sponsored Biaggi for the last nine years.