Illien still hoping to return to racing

Illien has confirmed that his bike will return to action later this month, but only to run at this year's Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Jeremy McWilliams, who had been scheduled to race for the team before they withdrew after the first round in Qatar, will demonstrate the Ilmor bike at the event on June 22-24.

The decision to take part at Goodwood, on the same weekend as the British Grand Prix at Donington Park, comes with Illien still working hard on attracting the sponsors he needs to make a MotoGP return. He hopes the high-profile demonstration will increase interest in his efforts.

"We're still working very hard on the development of the bike and securing sponsorship for the team," said Illien. "Obviously I would love for us to be racing at Donington the weekend that we're at Goodwood, but at least this way the British public will get a chance to see the bike and Jeremy in action in the mean time.

"We have built up a huge fan base since we launched last year in Estoril and the support from the public since we announced our plans to temporarily suspend racing has been phenomenal - we're still very focused on racing and we want to be back out on track as soon as possible."

McWilliams said he was looking forward to taking part in the Goodwood event, despite the disappointment of not having raced in MotoGP this year.

"I'm really looking forward to taking part again, it's a great event  - last year the atmosphere really blew me away.  The event covers every aspect of motor sport with the most astonishing collection of historical machinery and ex riders and drivers.

"Everyone comes together for Goodwood, I've never seen so many famous faces in one place. Obviously as well as the fun side, it'll be great to get back on the bike."