This time of year reminds us that nothing lasts forever, especially rider/team relationships these days. I was just thinking about the evolution of Team HRC as I was reading the Jo announcement.
Looking into your Vital crystal ball...
Between Hunter and Jett, who do you think leaves HRC first, and why?
I'm not sure when current contracts expire, but I see scenarios where there are renewals, maybe multiple, before there's a change and others where there's a choice to depart for greener pastures (ala Chase) or maybe a forced departure. How does hypothetical success by Jo/Chance on the 250 factor in?
Hunter leaves first. Getting beat by lil bro over and over, the “brotherly love” thing won’t last much longer.
I believe between Jett and Hunter, Hunter will leave first but I don't believe it will be by choice.
HRC will never let Jett go.
You're talking about the Team that let McGrath and Carmichael walk away. Never is a long time.
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What if Hunter is faster than Jett? Nobody has seen Hunter ride the 450 yet (except Jett and HRC), we may be suprised....
Exactly. From what I remember about the RC story, I can see that repeating itself with human egos at play, especially if Jett continues to win consistently.
The most intriguing thing here is that we're talking about Honda and how they are going to act.
As far as Jo and Hymas, Jo for sure has a higher ceiling. Hymas will have his few decent races but I don’t see him being a race winner or championship contender. HRC moves on after his contract is up and Hymas moves onto a B level team- similar story as Hawkins
Plot twist, Jett and Hunter both leave for their own private team with factory equipment and a huge title sponsor.
If they stay as a “package deal” I don’t see that being all that crazy
Whichever one gets offered a bigger check elsewhere.
The most factual response on Vital. Money and new scenery talks too.
Which will probably be KTM when they are done with Chase lol
Hymen I mean Hymas will be the first one off.
Jett’s gone first, even Honda can’t afford all those win bonuses
Jett will be let go because he has won his last race….
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oh relax…it was a joke.
Too early to say this IMO. Hymus jutst started his actual "Pro Contract". If you pay close attention, most of his races he seemed to always be right around Deegan, just a tick off. I think this kid will be battling for wins in 2025 and still doing it on Red. Jo is extremely hard to read. What we've seen so far with Jo is that hes extremely talented and fast, but each time he's come into the season as being one of "the guys" he kind of folds. It remains to be seen if he will do that again or if he will take a step up. This year is make or break for Jo as far as if he will be a champion or spend the next few years as just another secondary factory guys that will win some races but not really be in the title hunts.
Jett...hes better.. he'll get offers first.....
I agree with this.
I don't see how anyone could say Jo has a "higher ceiling" when we've seen his body of work for quite a few years now and we are just getting to see what Hymas has to offer.
Jo has race winning speed obviously, but he sure doesn't seem to be able to uncork it until he's no longer a Title threat.
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He was litteraly 2 passes away from the SMX title!
It was hard to watch. I was standing up yelling at Jo! So close….
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but SMX titles aren’t worth much yet…and imo never will be with gimmicky points that made Jordan Smith, who I like, in the running for the title after the first moto in LA. He had not done nearly enough to be in the running for a title and the dumb ass triple points could have given it to him. Fine if you want umpteen people that still have a chance….fine…then it means almost nothing as a title. Right now it has less credibility than the Monster Cup/U.S. Open of Supercross. ….again…all jmo
Rossi, Marqez, DeCoster, Hannah.....
Even with a great guy like Lars. HRC does what HRC wants. An I don't think it's gonna be lopsided between jett and hunter
Even as I typed that I knew someone would bring up McGrath and RC. And you’re definitely not wrong. I just think in this new social media era they might try a little harder to hold on to their golden boy.
Always said that Hunter will end up at Factory Kawi..
not sure why.. But i always picture it in my head.
Here’s the thing - winning all the time is great for brand exposure but really expensive for the team in win and championship bonuses. It’s a fairly realistic possibility that Jet wins both SX and MX titles for the next few years.
If that happens there’ll be a point Honda will decide, quite rightfully, that the payouts are out of proportion to the value generated.
You could have hit the delete button or chosen edit post. The second I saw that rc and mc popped right into my head as well
I disagree. I believe Chance has a much higher ceiling than Jo, we just haven’t seen it yet. With his talent, as long as he stays healthy and keeps his head in the game, he will be a title contender next year and for many years to come.
Hunter, unless he re signs next year. Everyone else is locked up for 2 years.
Interesting. As a “package deal”, how did Hunter and Jett get out of sync?
The package deal was over with when Gieco went away.
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