The AGR team has withdrawn from the Moto2 and Moto3 World Championship’s amid financial difficulties, and will instead focus on its European Championship campaign.
The Spanish team made its debut in the intermediate class in 2012 and enjoyed moderate success in its time, with current Tech3 MotoGP rider Jonas Folger winning twice for the outfit in 2015.
AGR scaled down to a one-rider effort for the 2017 season in Moto2, while entering a KTM in the Moto3 class for Maria Herrera.
2017 has proven difficult for the team, however, with Moto2 rider Yonny Hernandez departing prior to the Czech Grand Prix having taken points from just three races.
American Joe Roberts – who races for the team in the CEV Moto2 championship – was brought in for Brno and finished a respectable 10th in trecherous conditions.
Herrera’s season in Moto3 has also been a tough one, with the Spaniard scoring just one point from the opening 12 races. She has missed the last two rounds at Aragon and Misano with a shoulder injury.
With a lack of funds and a season of poor results in both classes, AGR has decided to withdraw from the remaining races in Japan, Australian, Malaysia and Valencia to focus on its CEV charge, though the team has not ruled out a return to grand prix racing next year.
With two rounds to go, Roberts currently sits fifth in the CEV standings having amassed two podium finishes in Barcelona and Portugal.
Elsewhere in Moto2, Japanese chassis manufacturer NTS – with whom Steven Odendaal competed as a wildcard at Aragon – has confirmed it will step up to Moto2 next season with the RW Racing squad, bringing the total number of chassis manufacturers up to six.
South African Odendaal – who last contested the Moto2 class full-time in 2013 with AGR – will be joined by Roberts at the team.
