Image: Alex Gobert.

Next Gen Motorsports will cease the operation of its Australian Superbike Championship team at the close of this weekend’s domestic racing season in Sydney, unable to secure necessary funding or support required to continue.

The team won the 2011 and 2014 Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) with three-time title winner Glenn Allerton, however Victorian businessmen Wayne Hepburn and Nathan Webb remain responsible for up to “80 percent” of the team’s current budget.

Although often mistaken as a full factory outfit, Next Gen owners Hepburn and Webb purchase the team’s fleet of BMW race bikes at a discounted rate and receive minor financial assistance from the manufacturer alongside varying sponsorship agreements.

“We haven’t had any offer of additional support from any manufacturer and we can’t afford to keep going the way we are,” Hepburn told CycleOnline.com.au today. “We’re unable to continue due to the financial pressures involved.”

With the Australasian Superbike Championship (ASC) and ASBK series to again compete separately in 2015, Next Gen has opted out of the sport altogether unless an 11th-hour backer arises. Its equipment including the team’s ex-Honda Racing transporter is already up for sale.

“Having the sport split doesn’t help the situation,” Hepburn added. “Myself and Nathan have been hanging on for the past few years tipping in a lot of money, thinking it’s going to get better, but it hasn’t – it’s only gotten worse. How long do you go? So we’ve made the decision.

“Anything that could fund us in going around in circles, we would continue. BMW has offered the same deal for next year, but we can’t do that again. Without going into specifics, it’s not an option without further support.”

The future of Allerton and Formula Oz teammate Ben Nicolson remain uncertain entering this weekend’s Sydney Motorsport Park event.

Next Gen is the second major and current ASBK champion team to announce it will exit the sport over the past 12 months, with Team Suzuki pulling the pin on its road racing program in February following an unsuccessful sponsorship search.