MXGP Rumours/Silly season

He posted on Instagram this morning and never hinted at anything so fingers crossed it's bs. I hope so anyway. 

Hope there’s no truth in these rumours.

Broke both his arms in practice crash, has had surgery already, they said it yesterday in media day in lommel

F**k. I was looking forward to this Mx season so much but it has started off very badly with all these injuries.

No Herlings and no Coenen during the first part of the MXGP season.

Who will be the fill in rider for team KTM in 450cc category?

The only guys that would make sense and should be easy to get is Guillod and Pancar. 
 

Wont be suprised if they dont have a fill in guy for some time. 

It's strange that that news can't be found anywhere else

Naming those 2 while forgetting about vd Moosdijk.. He's on a KTM and doing pretty well.

I believe a lot will depend on what Monday happens in Austria. 

Listening to the recent podcast of Matthes with Dustin Pipes he said he is looking to hire a Frenchman for outdoors. So I’m assuming it’s Paturel since he is currently in SoCal.

Oriol Oliver parts ways with BTS KTM

https://gatedrop.com/official-oriol-oliver-parts-ways-with-bts-ktm/

Oh dear. Any talk of moving to a new team?

No. I think he’s going to try and look for a ride in the states

If true, it would be a good opportunity for Paturel to show his outdoor skills in USA...

Put him on the Red Bull Factory KTM as long as Marc-Antoine Rossi is out...

EDIT: I now see Rossi is on the startinglist for this weekend, is he back this fast? 

I don't think so. Rossi had surgery.

I think Infront keeps the permanent riders on the list unless the team takes them of or something like that. Often riders who are injured are on the list.
Same with riders switching classes, Scott SMulders was on the entry list for MX2 and EMX250 in France 2 weeks ago

I predict a serious reorganization at the Yamaha factory teams. They're the most disappointing brand in the World Championship so far.

In MX2 they can't compete with the KTM-group on a regular basis. Benistant will never be consistent enough for an entire season to fight for the title, Reišulis is racing with an elbow injury and Elzinga just falls short in general.

In MXGP it's even worse, the first GP at Argentina disregarded thanks to the GP win. Renaux can kiss the title goodbye after only 4 GP's. Ofcourse, an operation on his hand before Spain and prohibited to race on doctor's advice in Sardinia have not helped him. Vlaanderen scored only as many points as the private Yamaha of Gifting and Geerts scores less points as the almost completely standard Yamaha of Guillod (who skipped the Sunday races in Spain because he had no spare parts to race in the mud).

Yes, tough times for Yamaha, but Renaux and Vlaanderen will rebound. Geerts, on the other hand... In MX2, Bénistant will win some races, he showed really good speed in France. Reisulis is young and still learning. Elzinga, juts like Geerts, i really don't know. I guess it's gonna be hard to find a good deal for next year. 

Joining SS24 for the next two GPs

https://gatedrop.com/official-oriol-oliver-to-contest-the-next-two-mx2-…

The team will look a lot different next year in MX2 as Thibault and Rick age out. I can see Reisulis staying and maybe they move his brother up from EMX250. 

As for the MXGP team, I can see Gifting and Geerts swapping teams next year. Or maybe Geerts moves onto another manufacturer.

Changing gifting for Geerts doesnt solve anything. 

Imo they should stop spending money on getting titels in emx250 with riders that are in their second or even third year. And spend the money they save on getting better riders in mx2

Their complete line-up isn’t good in both MX2 and MXGP in my opinion. They don’t have any title worth rider, even from emx125 and emx250 at the moment only the younger Reisulis brother has te speed to be a solid candidate for the podiums/title. 

Renaux is. Or yeah, was. Ofcourse you can't expect all three riders fighting for the title, that's not realistic either.

Renaux is/was the number 1 and is indeed the only one from those 6 factory riders who can bring it home, but man his foot injury cost him his career. I don’t understand why they take a Vlaanderen when they lost Seewer, he wont break through with some factory support. Same as keeping Elzinga in the factory team, wasting money. They need to change strategies, not sure if it’s contracting the riders by Yamaha self or just the teams where it doesn’t work. (hutten/kemea)

What are the rumours for next year? We´re 5 rounds in

Coenen to Hrc? If yes where it leaves Gajser? Yamaha? Ducati?

Herlings? Latest rumour he wants to race some years more on a japanese bike

Kay will be the main ktm guy in 450?

If KTM intents to keep the Coenen brothers and doesn't have the budget for Herlings, then Wilvo will probably go hard to get him onboard. 

Would have to buy Coenen's contract first i guess, he's contracted till 26'. With Fernandez out and Zanchi presumably out too, they could accomodate both Coenen's given Lucas could be alongside Tim and Sacha be alongside Valerio but as of now, that is quite a stretch ...

Lucas his contract is worth 90k, buying him out is a bargain for all teams. Pro Circuit Kawasaki would think about it too! Sascha contract is worth 25-35k.

KTM underpays their own youth riders, that is why Jorge Prado ran. Herlings started making money when HRC offered him 2million and KTM countered that bid with 1.7/1.8 million. Before he was in the same shitty place.

Lucas has a 90k base salary from the team?  I assume that is before sponsors and bonus money?  That is crazy low IMO for someone with top 3 speed....  And then half of whatever he makes goes to taxes, ouch

Motocrosser Herlings has doubts about his future at KTM: 'The love has to be mutual'

Jeffrey Herlings no longer on the orange KTM he is so familiar with in 2026? That is a possibility. "I'm not saying it will happen and I'm not saying it won't happen, but it could very well be that I'll be riding somewhere else next year."

The five-time world champion's contract with the Austrian motocross brand expires this season. The 30-year-old Dutchman would prefer to finish his career at KTM, where he has been riding since 2009.

"But I can't deny that things aren't going well with KTM. I don't know if it's possible to keep me from a financial point of view. We may have to look further, because the love has to be mutual."

When asked, Herlings speculates about his own future in Oldebroek, where he participated in the second race of the Dutch Masters, the open Dutch championship, on Saturday.

Upward trend
It was the first time in a long time that motocross fans saw Herlings back in action on Dutch soil. In October last year, he suffered a cruciate ligament injury in his right knee, which kept him out of action for almost half a year.

Herlings had announced in advance in Oldebroek that a place in the top three would be "a super day". He succeeded. Herlings came second behind Frenchman Romain Febvre, who is second in the world title fight. It was his first podium finish this season.

He had not been close to that since his comeback at the Grand Prix of Sardinia on 6 April. Not even close. Fifteenth (Sardinia), ninth (Trentino) and seventh (Switzerland), results that do not seem to fit the stature of the 107-time GP winner, but which do not surprise him.

"I've only been doing this for five weeks and I'm really still getting back on track. You can see that in my results. I only trained five times for my first GP. But there's an upward trend," says Herlings, who mainly saw the race in Oldebroek as a training.

"If you skipped an entire winter, didn't test and couldn't prepare, it's hard to suddenly be behind the starting gate again after six months."

His right knee is starting to feel better and better. "Sometimes I'm still a bit scared when I have to put my leg on the ground in a corner, but that's normal, I think."

Herlings is mainly focusing on the second half of the season. He doesn't want to think about his sixth world title (his third in the MXGP), let alone the record of ten titles of the Belgian Stefan Everts.

"I'm not going to get that anymore. The world title is definitely not in the cards this season, since I didn't ride the first three GPs. Hopefully I can book some more victories in the second half of the season and improve my own record."

Pieces of the puzzle
And with that he may be able to extend his contract with KTM or force a switch to another brand. "Contracts are often only concluded in the second half of the season."

Herlings understands that KTM has two talented riders in house with his compatriot and reigning MX2 world champion Kay de Wolf (20) and with the Belgian Lucas Coenen (18), who became the youngest grand prix winner in the MXGP in Switzerland last week. "Where they can also continue. We'll see how the pieces of the puzzle fall into place."

For now it's mainly a matter of "building up and getting better every week". Herlings also deliberately rides more calmly. "Unfortunately, I've visited the hospital too often, and then you don't take the risks you used to. When you're 18, you think very differently than when you're over thirty."