"We put considerable energy and great determination into the MotoGP project with Max, even when it became quite clear that this could not be done with Honda," commented Mr. Roberto Zanni, President of Japan Tobacco International Europe, "but in the end it proved impossible. The obstacles we found ourselves up against were various, decisive and, in a sense, inexplicable. It seems that the sporting spirit, which has always been part of motorcycle racing and which has given the public its great passion for this sport, had suddenly disappeared. It is this passion for sport which, on the contrary, remains a driving force for our Group, the philosophy on which we have based all our activities in the world of motorsport.