Days after revealing his place in the team was under threat, Hydrex Honda have announced they are to part ways with Karl Harris three rounds before the end of the 2009 MCE British Superbike season.

Although currently fourth position in the overall standings, a series of disappointing performances, particularly alongside team-mate Stuart Easton, has prompted Shaun Muir to end their agreement early.

Harris had begun the year in superb style, starring at the Brands Hatch opener before scoring a pair of second place finishes at the following Oulton Park round. However, Harris has not stood on the podium since then and has been a perennial mid-fielder while the less experienced Easton has established himself as a consistent race win contender.

With this in mind, Muir admits Harris' results haven't been good enough in recent events to warrant a prolonged stay of execution.

“We all really like Karl and he's a friend to every member of the team so it's been a really tough decision to make but we're at a delicate time in the season with Stuart trying to secure second place in the Championship. We were hoping Karl would be able to play a significant part in that but, unfortunately, he hasn't been able to get anywhere near the form he showed at the beginning of the year or what everyone knows he's capable of so we've decided to act now.”

“It's never an ideal situation parting company with a rider during a season and it's been even harder with Karl being so well liked by everyone but we need to have both bikes and riders running at the front. Everyone's worked really hard and given him every possible bit of support but, sadly, the results still haven't been forthcoming and it's a decision that had to be made.

“The team has made a major step forward this year regularly running in the top 3 in the races and in the Championship and we really wanted Karl to be doing what Stuart's done so we're sorry it hasn't worked out for him and would like to publicly wish him all the very best for the future.”

The team are now actively seeking a replacement for Harris for the final three rounds of the season.