Moto3: Maria Herrera’s AGR team folds

The AGR Moto2 and Moto3 team that ran American Joe Roberts and Grand Prix’s only female racer Maria Herrera will not complete the final four races of the 2017 season, after announcing today that they were being forced to withdraw thanks to financial issues compounded by poor results so far this season.

Roberts was brought into the team at Brno as a mid-season replacement for former MotoGP rider Yonny Hernandez after the Colombian struggled to find his feet on his return to the middleweight class. Roberts impressed on his debut, coming home in a very impressive tenth place – but has failed to score points since then.

Herrera has also had a difficult season, sitting out this weekend’s round with a shoulder injury picked up last time out in Misano. She’s also only brought their KTM machinery home in the points once this season, back at the second round of the championship in Argentina.

However, with the team backed by Basque celebrity chef Karlos Argiñano, a household name in Spain and a regular on daytime television, sources close to the team have hinted to MCN that there may be more at play than simply money, with rumours of a conflict with series bosses Dorna also playing a part in the decision to withdraw.

The team aren’t completely finished, either, with rumours also circulating that they will now increase their support for their Spanish championship teams, even expanding to run a four-bike set-up across two classes there.

Roberts and fellow American Jayson Uribe currently sit fifth and 11th in the CEV Moto2 class for the squad with two rounds and three races remaining, and the team have insisted that while they’re withdrawing from the world championships, they’ll finish the season in Spain.