Ilmor withdrawal stuns McWilliams

Jeremy McWilliams missed the Qatar race because of injury

Veteran Northern Ireland rider Jeremy McWilliams is out of the MotoGP series after his Ilmor team withdrew because of lack of sponsorship.

Ilmor boss Mario Illien said they had opted to suspend racing activity but would continue to seek a backer.

McWilliams returned to the GP circuit this year but did not compete in the opening race in Qatar after being hurt in a crash during final qualifying.

At 42 he was the oldest participant in the MotoGP series.

McWilliams had been riding alongside Australian Andrew Pitt for Ilmor.

"I am numb at the moment. It seems they are ceasing their racing activities because of lack of budget," said McWilliams.

"Everyone knows Ilmor were looking for a big sponsor. We have not had as much time on the race track as we needed for all that to fall into place.

"But there are always other opportunities around the corner and I will not let this deter me.

"I will be back on a bike somewhere in the near future, you can be sure of that.

"But I would like to work with the Ilmor team and help them develop their project with the V4 engine."