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Kawasaki could face legal action for quitting MotoGP unless a deal is struck with another outfit to keep their two bikes racing, the head of the company that holds the sport's commercial rights said on Thursday.

Carmelo Ezpeleta, boss of Madrid-based MotoGP rights holder Dorna, noted that the Japanese manufacturer's contract runs through 2011 and if no agreement was reached with another manufacturer legal steps were possible as a last resort.

"Legal action is the last step," he told Reuters in a telephone interview. "We would try to ask them for compensation."

"It must be resolved because the season is almost starting," Ezpeleta said. "In two or three weeks maximum we have to have a solution or even earlier."

Kawasaki's decision to pull out this month followed moves by fellow Japanese manufacturers Honda, Suzuki and Subaru to scale back their involvement in world motorsport due to the impact of the global financial crisis on their business.

Honda announced in December that they were quitting Formula One and Subaru and Suzuki pulled out of the world rally championship later that month. However, both Honda and Suzuki look to be committed to staying in MotoGP.

Kawasaki riders John Hopkins of the United States and Italian Marco Melandri could still race this season if Aspar team boss Jorge Martinez manages to do a deal to run the Kawasaki machines independently.

ENOUGH TOOLS

The fallout from the financial crisis was hurting MotoGP but a plan to cut costs by at least half would help keep the bikes running, Ezpeleta said.

Some MotoGP outfits were finding it hard to reach sponsors, he added, and pledged to use savings from cost cuts to help out teams in financial difficulty.

"The financial crisis has impacted the sport in a big manner," he said.

"We think it's an important issue but we have enough tools to resolve it.

"I am very, very optimistic about the measures we are taking in this situation because I think this is an opportunity to better place MotoGP in the world than before the crisis."

Ezpeleta said he did not see any threat to MotoGP from the rival world superbike championship.

The series is becoming increasingly popular in Britain and in a time of cutbacks and financial pressure may become more attractive to some manufacturers.

"We can both survive fantastically," he said. "We were surviving for many years and there is no reason to think it's a problem. If superbike is going well then that's good for us to."

(Source: Reuters)