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Spanish rider Carlos Checa has been left without a ride this season after his Honda Pons team's withdrawal from the MotoGP championship.

The team announced it was pulling out of this season's competition on Wednesday after losing the sponsorship of Camel and failing to secure a replacement deal.

The 33-year-old rider joined the team from Ducati at the end of last season after finishing ninth in the championship standings.

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"It is ironic that I was so confident in the future with a team I knew well and in whom I had the utmost faith that things have turned around so abruptly," Checa said on his website yesterday.

"Circumstances have left me out of the championship against my will but I still consider myself an active rider and would not rule out anything with respect to the future," he continued.

The majority of seats on other teams are now taken for the 2006 campaign, meaning Checa may have to wait on the sidelines until 2007 to have another tilt at Yamaha's Valentino Rossi's crown.

The team's owner, Sito Pons, a former 250cc world champion, has said he hopes to return with a new team for the 2007 season, stating that work is already underway on the project.