Marc VDS MotoGP team principal Michael Bartholemy has had his contract with team owner Marc van der Straten “terminated” just days after insisting his position within the team was safe.
Bartholemy issued a statement earlier this week saying that his role as team principal was not under threat, after accusations emerged during the Spanish Grand Prix weekend that the Marc VDS boss had been mismanaging the team's resources.
Denying the accusations in the aforementions statement, Bartholemy – who has acted as Marc VDS team boss since it joined the Moto2 class in 2020 – also said he would be carrying out his normal duties this weekend at Le Mans.
However, just a day after this press release, Bartholemy was notified by van der Straten that he was being removed from his role.
Issuing a further statement on the situation, Bartholemy calls van der Straten's decision “unreasonable” and “unacceptable”, and says it has “no legal grounds”.
“On Tuesday 15th May I was notified by Mr. Marc van der Straten's lawyers that the contract that exists between us was terminated with immediate effect,” Bartholemy began.
“This notification came after allegations were made against me during the Spanish Grand Prix weekend in Jerez. These allegations mentioned various amounts, ranging from 10 million to 15 million Euros.
“At the end were only required by Mr. van der Straten to explain invoices totalling less than 24.000 Euros, which we did immediately, providing full details of each payment.
“Therefore there were no legal grounds for termination and I objected to this unilateral termination immediately.
“What is clear is that, given the actual legal situation, the actions of Mr. Marc van der Straten are both unreasonable and unacceptable.”
Bartholemy added that all solutions to reaching an amicable resolution to the situation had been rejected by van der Straten, and says he opted against “exercising my right to halt racing activities” at Le Mans for the good of the team.
“Despite this we have been open to finding an agreement with Mr. Marc van der Straten that would allow us to end the collaboration between us amicably.
“We have put forward a number of options for a resolution, all of which were rejected by Mr. van der Straten. At no point have we received any serious indication from Mr. van der Straten as to how this conflict can be resolved.
“As a result the conflict was threatening to escalate significantly. For this reason I have made the decision to step back from the team for the duration of the French Grand Prix weekend in Le Mans.
“Rather than exercise my right to halt racing activities this weekend, which is well within my power to do because of the legal situation, I decided instead on a more rational approach.
“To escalate the situation further would have damaged not just the team, the sponsors and the riders, but also the image of the championship and this I did not want to do.
“I hope that deescalating the conflict in this way will provide the impetus for finding a resolution that is acceptable to both parties.
“If this is not possible and we are have to rely on a court of law to decide the outcome of this conflict then I am confident that I will be exonerated.”
