Team Hero EBR->ke4116 has officially announced its withdrawal from the World Superbike Championship, putting to rest all the speculation about the team’s uncertain future after the unexpected closure of Erik Buell Racing->ke1393. The team initially said that it would continue racing, but after carefully considering all of its options moving forward, the team decided it would be much better to cut the cord on its involvement with the WSBK.

Pegram Racing owner Larry Pegram issued a statement, saying that the “recent bankruptcy of EBR and the re-prioritizing of efforts by title sponsor Hero” were the biggest reasons behind its withdrawal from the racing series.

With no sponsor and no bike, the team decided that there was really no point in competing this season. Pegram did say that the team will be back sooner than later, presumably with a new title sponsor and a new bike to compete in.

The team’s withdrawal from the WSBK really isn’t surprising given the recent closure of EBR. The writing was pretty much on the wall already and Pegram Racing understood that it needed more than just hopes and dreams to participate in a racing series as expensive as the World Superbike Championship.

Hopefully, all parties can recover from this setback better than ever. That’s the least we can hope for, even though there’s no guarantee of any of that happening.

Continue reading to read more about Team Hero EBR’s closure.

Why it matters

I want to say I'm surprised but I really wasn't. Does that even make sense? When I first heard that Erik Buell Racing was closing, my first thought was actually Team Hero EBR. I knew that the team could still function in some capacity of title sponsor Hero Motorcycles was still involved. It would’ve been a lot more difficult keeping up with the rest of the series, but the team could still finish out the season if it wanted to.

Turns out, things were really looking bleak behind-the-scenes, especially with the commitment of Hero Corp. in light of all the economic problems it’s reportedly facing. Pegram Racing’s comments about “the re-prioritizing efforts of title sponsor Hero” was also far from a comforting endorsement of the team’s overall stability.

With no alternative doors to open and no sponsor to save the day, the team decided to simply cut its losses on the current WSBK season. It’s not the way the team would’ve wanted to go, but when you’re hands are forced by circumstances beyond your control, there’s really only so much you can do.

So Team Hero EBR is out of the WSBK, at least for this season. Whether it returns in a different incarnation in the future remains to be seen, but for one will be rooting for all parties to get through this turbulence and comeback, together or not, bigger, better, and stronger than before.