Ilmor MotoGP announcement on Monday.

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Crash.net said:

An announcement regarding the team's future will be made on Monday. MotoGP newest team, which first raced in the final two rounds of the 2006 championship, unexpectedly withdrew from competition after the season-opening 2007 Qatar Grand Prix, citing a lack of sponsorship. Mario Illien's outfit hoped that its absence would be temporary, and pledged to continue badly needed machine development, but no further news has emerged since that mid-March announcement and a return to racing is widely considered unlikely.

I really don't see how a team owned by Mario Ilien and Roger Penske has money trouble, unless Penske has stipulated that the team must pay for itself with sponsorship because there would be no lack on money behind the team if they used their own. I think it might be down to pure performance and they have pulled the project before they went too far. I can't see them racing again as some of the crew have apparently already got new jobs in the paddock and were already with their new teams at the last race (according to Toby Moody). Apart from being a thing Ilien has always wanted to do, not being a manufacturer of bikes did make it an unusual step to take in not being related to bike sales of any kind.

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crash.net said:

Following its withdraw from MotoGP racing on March 16, the Ilmor GP race team will now be scaled down to just a 'skeleton' crew - but team principal Mario Illien claims the intention to return remains. MotoGP's newest team first raced its 2007-spec 800cc X3 in the final two rounds of last year's 990cc championship, where it was welcomed enthusiastically by Dorna, the fans and media alike... but the team then suddenly withdrew from competition after only the first round of this season, citing a lack of sponsorship. Quite how a man of Illien's experience could have placed his team in such a situation is a mystery - surely the F1 engine guru knew, and planned, for the costs involved - but the Swiss engineer was nonetheless forced to call a temporary halt to all racing activities while the team searched for the funds to continue. Then, speaking today (Monday) at the Ilmor Engineering factory in Northampton, Illien and managing director Steve Miller announced that the Ilmor GP race team will be slimmed down to a 'skeleton' crew focusing on the continued development of the engine - as a consequence many of the original team personnel will be released from their contracts from the end of May 2007 onwards and will be free to pursue other opportunities.

"Whilst our commitment to finding a title sponsor and suitable Ilmor GP partners to make racing a viable financial option continues in full force, it is senseless to employ an entire race team when our track activity has ceased albeit on a temporary basis," explained Illien.

"I know that it's hard for people to understand why we have stopped racing and some people have been quick to judge our withdrawal from the MotoGP World Championship but I remain upbeat and I still strongly believe that we will find a financial partner for the team. In the mean time we have to restructure and put in place a smaller team dedicated to engine development.

"I attended the Dorna sponsorship workshop in Barcelona a couple of weeks ago and it is clear that further work needs to be done to make the sport more appealing to commercial partners

"Key people outside of the sport don't really understand what MotoGP is and the fantastic opportunity it represents by association. I also think that people perhaps underestimated the impact that the decline in tobacco sponsorship would have on the sport. Added to this potential corporate sponsors are much more environmentally aware these days - I'm a strong believer that environmental issues and professional motorsport shouldn't be mutually exclusive. There are plenty of opportunities to be explored on this front," he stated.

Ilmor qualified and finished last in both its 2006 appearances, with Garry McCoy, but at least reached the flag to claim the final world championship point for 15th on each occasion. But, despite being the first team to debut an 800cc racer, the team's new two-rider 2007 line-up of Andrew Pitt and Jeremy McWilliams again qualified at the back of the grid in Qatar this year, and neither finished; Pitt retiring from last with technical problems while McWilliams was unable to start due to injury. Pitt, a former World Supersport champion and WSBK race winner, has since found work with the Ten Kate Honda WSS team; the Australian finishing second as a replacement for the injured Sebastien Charpentier at Valencia to secure a further ride for the team last weekend at Assen, where he also finished runner-up. Veteran McWilliams, the last British rider to win a grand prix, has not raced since Ilmor's withdraw.

"I'm pleased that Andrew performed so well in Valencia for Hannspree Ten Kate Honda, he demonstrates the flair and ability that we still believe he has," said Illien. "Both Andrew and Jeremy have done a fantastic job for Ilmor GP under difficult circumstances and I want to thank them for their on-going patience and understanding. If all goes to plan and we manage to secure the funding to get back out for the remainder of the 2007 season then of course I would love to have both riders back on board."