April 18, 2002
Stealth-Honda today confirmed that test driver Brian Bloemendal has left the team effective immediately following his non-showing at the San Marino Grand Prix this past weekend.

Team Manager Ted Cragg stated that following the take over by Stealth GP of the former MaMa team the two sides decided to go their separate ways sooner rather than later instead of drawing out any potential conflicts.

"It's not that we didn't get along, but his goals and commitments and ours were not synchronized, and Stealth-Honda simply needs employees who will be committed to achieving consistent results."

It thus appears that Bloemendal's DNS at Imola is a large part of the contract termination.

For his part, Brian Bloemendal said in an interview that the reason he didn't get start at Imola was:

"I have found out that F1 racing is nothing for me and therefore I would like to announce that I retire in the F1 racing world at GPVWC. Maybe I will come back in the near future, but at this moment I just haven't the time for it, thank you."

Stealth-Honda now has seats available for both a race driver and test driver, but Cragg stated that they are close to filling both. "We always make plans for the future and prepare for the unexpected, so this turn of events is not a difficult hurdle at all. There are more than enough drivers out there looking for rides, we're even in the luxury of having some choice. We're not worried, and expect two cars on the track when we arrive at Barcelona."