After its absence at the Moscow round, Effenbert Liberty Racing affirmed earlier this week that it would be participating in World Superbike’s Nürburgring round with all three of its riders. Always keeping things interesting though, the team has followed up that announcement today with the news that it has replaced Jakub Smrz with Italian rider Lorenzo Lanzi. This should surprise no one.
Rumored heavily to be in financial difficulty, after Effenbert reduced its support for the team after the round at Monza, today’s move is just the latest of many strange developments for the Liberty Racing squad, which showed so much promise earlier in the season, but has spiraled out of control ever since.
Starting the season with four riders in the team, Liberty Racing first lost Brett McCormick to injury, then it lost Sylvain Guintoli for financial reasons, though through a very public and less-than-amicable process. With McCormick now cleared to race after his neck fracture, he and Maxime Berger are all that remains of the original squad, likely due to the fact both riders are footing the bill for their rides in WSBK.
Liberty Racing’s press release is terse on details; and as usual, it has creative spin to what is actually occurring within the team:
The Effenbert Liberty Racing Team goes on in its reorganization of its human, technical and logistical resources for the next racing season. For this reason the Team would like to inform that for this Germany GP the Italian rider Lorenzo Lanzi replaces Kuba Smrž.
Source: Liberty Racing; Photo: WSBK
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