After a difficult campaign for Jonas Folger (Bonovo MGM Action) in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship, the German rider will leave the team following the conclusion of their 2021 campaign at the Motul Portuguese Round after the team opted to not take part in the Argentinean and Indonesian Rounds that end the 2021 season.

Folger made his WorldSBK debut in 2020 with two wildcard appearances onboard a Yamaha YZF-R1 machine in the Catalunya and Estoril Rounds, taking one top-ten finish but consistently fighting for a position in the top ten throughout his six races. He made a full-time switch to WorldSBK for 2021 after winning the German superbike championship, this time onboard the new-for-2021 BMW M 1000 RR.

The season started well for Folger, with eighth place in Race 2 at MotorLand Aragon but that would prove to be the best result of the season. He ended the season with five consecutive points finishes at Jerez and Portimao and claimed 21 points in his first full-time WorldSBK campaign. Folger was also having a strong weekend at Assen as he fought for a top-six finish, but a late crash meant he did not secure what would have been the best result of his WorldSBK career.

After Portimao, Folger said: "I have mixed emotions. On the one hand I am sad to leave the team, but on the other, I am a bit relieved that this difficult year is over. We had another difficult race at our finale and, unfortunately, nothing improved again. I really had problems in the middle of the corner and at the exit of the corner. I could not slide the BMW cleanly out of the corners but had rather aggressive sliding. I couldn't ride like that. I tried it and played with the traction, but that only made it worse. Then I just finished like that. I would like to thank my whole team, of course. We entered WorldSBK together this year. We had a lot of joy together, but also shared sorrow. I will definitely remember the beautiful moments, having taken everyone here to my heart.”

Although Folger has announced his departure from the WorldSBK outfit, Team Manager Michael Galinski revealed are “looking ahead” to the team’s next adventure with Folger. He said: "We would have liked a bit more for the last weekend, of course, but we finished in the points, we had a good 13th place in the Superpole Race, which was okay. Overall, it was a difficult season for us, and for Jonas, but still we finished it reasonably. Now we look ahead to where we put Jonas."

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