The Italian +Ego Speed Up announced through an official press release on Thursday afternoon that the contract with their rider Yari Montella has been terminated with immediate effect.
Montella is currently in his first season of a three-year deal with the SpeedUp team but has endured a tough maiden campaign punctuated by a period of action through injury.
“Team Speed Up and Yari Montella communicate that they have resolved by mutual consent, with immediate effect, the contract between the parties.” Speed Up said in a statement.
Montella, European Moto2 Champion in 2020, has a difficult debut season so far in the Moto2 class of the MotoGP World Championship.
A wrist injury, sustained in a crash during the French Grand Prix in Le Mans, caused the necessary setback. The Italian has so far failed to score a single World Cup point and has even been substituted a number of times this season.
Montella was suspended by his own team over injury concerns despite getting a medical all-clear in August 25.
“Suspending me thus is contractually stipulated, but for more serious reasons: A lack of physical preparation, a quarrel in the team, rudeness.” Montella said.
Montella returned to the team at Misano in last after Fermin Aldequer had already acted as a replacement at Silverstone and Aragon.
However, a crash again brought the race to an early end on Sunday afternoon, leaving Montella’s management and the team engaged in a heated debate over the driver’s fitness. This discussion eventually resulted in the parties having mutually decided to go their own way.
Montella’s departure means that Alduquer will be second in the team for the rest of the season alongside teammate Jorge Navarro.
