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This.
It's pretty standard for rider contracts to include penalties for anticipated release.
It doesn't mean these clauses are automatically applied since teams typically see little value in forcing a rider to keep riding for them if he doesn't want to anymore (he wouldn't bring any good results anyway). However if there's really bad blood, it then becomes a game of chicken, with the rider looking to a potential future team to cover the aforementioned penalty (easier to do if he's in high demand) and the team trying to recoup some of their failed investment.
The irony is that Prado himself likely pushed for a multi-year contract in the first place, it's seen as some kind of warranty to get another shot at it if things don't pan out as you'd wish when taking a leap of faith.
A few recent examples from MotoGP
When Marquez wanted out of his Honda MotoGP contract one year early, Honda graciously released him, as a token for everything he did for them (6 world championships). That saved them from the embarrassment of keeping a top rider against his will, plus 25 M€ that they've been able to re-inject in their racing program. He then went to ride for free (bonus only paid by his personal sponsors) for Gresini Ducati in 2024 and signed for Ducati factory team in 2025 (and just won the world championship).
OTOH, just this year, 2024 world champion Jorge Martin jumped ship to Aprilia (when Ducati made it clear they'd rather sign Marquez than him to the factory team), he signed a multi-year contract with an escape clause allowing him to terminate the contract after year 1 if he was not in the championship top6 by a certain date. He got badly injured multiple times (training and racing), barely turned a wheel, wanted out but when Aprilia made it clear that it would have been a breach of contract, and that they were ready to go to court to defend this, he chose to stay (rather than face uncertainty to even be allowed to sign another contract and stay on the sidelines).
TLDR It's a quite common situation for rider contracts worth millions of dollars to include penalties to get out early, this can be resolved elegantly unless the situation really soured then it becomes a game of chicken.
Here's what confuses me: It's hard enough for a European rider to build a strong following in the USA and effectively serve as a marketing tool for his employer. But when that rider tarnishes his reputation, his ability to promote/sell product is significantly compromised.
Americans love Plessinger and Tomac. Together, I would expect them to help KTM sell a lot of motorcycles. How many more bikes does KTM expect to sell by adding Prado to the team? Is that investment really worth it? Obviously it is, since that's what seems to be happening. But to a layman keyboard warrior like me, it seems odd. Especially since Prado just left the KTM group a year ago.
Think of it this way; if Prado does well, then the KTM is better than the Kawi, if he performs poorly, it’s just Prado continuing to suck. Getting a multi world champion cheaply and low risk doesn’t happen very often.
That's right..... that's why prado should be on a ktm in mxgp..... in europa they still like prado
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I don't understand all the confusion? It's very simple. Agreements, contracts, payments, investments, commitments etc were done by all parties. Prado is breaching the contract so compensation is required to get out of said contract. For Kawi and Monster its not about the money. It's the principle.
Was some of the appeal not that he has a big following in Latin America? Plus who is KTM going to get that can podium SX & win outdoors? With both Laurences in contract, secton now gone & Deegs & Webb on the yam whos left? Tomac is prob a 1-2 year deal & his expectations are podiums. If prado clicks you’ve got a championship guy
On the other hand Prado seems to think Kawi breached the contract first ("best efforts" clause, etc.). I guess we'll never know the full story
I've lived in Latin America for over half a decade. The only time they cared for a Spanish speaking rider was Ernie.
And Enzo BRBRBRBR
And they have a history of this, not giving a rider what they want. Would not be hard to prove.
Anderson didnt quit Kawi, there was no option for him to stay. Sexton was taking his spot whether he liked it or not. Saying he quit is foolish
Funny ho nobody is even mentioning that maybe Kwsi, Monster and Prado did find an agreement and are currently working their asses off to get the next year done and shut everyone up?
Recover from what? There are still lots of green bikes in the pits.
Think of it in the way we use the term depreciation.
Not exactly the same, but generally both terms are used for accounting the spread of an asset's cost over a term.
It's all subjective. I'm assuming you're referring to Tomac? Even if he wasn't completely happy they still provided him with a multi championship winning bike. Thats difficult to argue against.
Not being happy with the bike and the teams efforts will not stand up in the legal sense for Prado. Kawi can easily say they've got their own contractual agreements with equipment brands which they can't break.
Anyway, interesting times.
Is there a possibility of something similar to what happened with Baggett? Being out of action for years due to contractual issues?
Im sure Prado got paid quarterly so how would they pro rate that?
What does Monster and Kawi seek for damages?
If those two companies weren’t happy in July, wouldnt they have held back payments?
Shakespeare used it 😆
It gets interesting if you start to think through this. What does it mean to not give a rider what he wants? Kawi has a contractual business relationship with Showa. Is not giving him KYB, or any other brand, some breach of contract? Certainly not. In a production rule based series how can anyone prove a factory is not ‘giving me what I want’ from a contractual standpoint? Having a preference for something different does not convey a contractual requirement. And there is the fact that a privateer was beating him and Kawi won the WC. Jorge may not have been totally comfortable with the bike, that doesn’t also mean Kawi did something wrong. What more should Kawi have done to satisfy Jorge? Trying to prove it’s the bike/team would be a very long shot to me.
Pit Row
Makes zero sense for kawi and monster to keep dragging this on, its just bad publicity. Work something to release the man and just move on. Whatever they have paid him is what they should be negotiating and not the 3 years,imo. Let bygones be bygones.
FREE PRADO!!!
"Your Honor, you can clearly see in this picture the torque wrench is not calibrated, hence my lack of comfortability. I rest my case"
Everyone forgets that RV ended up in the GP's because Monster wanted him to pay the penalty for early termination so they settled on him racing the GP's for his final year in the contract.....Monster isn't going to screw around if Prado wants to race next year he will have to pay the early termination penalty that is in the contract....
I think Kawi and Monster are going about this the wrong way. Assuming this is about recouping cost and not simply retribution, it's a sunk cost at this point. Continuing to fight this is simply tarnishing all brands involved. What's the alternative - forcing him to race next year and waste more money? Here's what I would do if I were Kawi and Monster.
#1. let him out of his contract immediately. The longer they wait, the fewer options will remain for the second spot. Just focus on making the best decision for 2026 and move on.
#2. Invite members of the media to an "open house". Let them ride his race bike so fans can see if it's fast or slow. Hell, I would arrange for Kawi of Europe to leave Febvre's bike here after MXoN for a quick comparison between the two. Show them some behind-the-scenes of what goes into building a race bike, all the parts they tried for him, how much they spent. Imagine guys like Keefer saying "that thing is a rocket ship" or "compared to Febvre, Prado's setup is just weird". They could immediately shift the blame off of the bike, and the positive publicity they could generate out of this would more than make up for the losses. Once he's out of his contract, they can do whatever they want in how they tell the story.
#3. Refocus the story on how well they did in MXGP and the future with Sexton.
#4. Fact is, they should own some of the blame. Whether it's the bike development, the communication with the rider and testing department, engineering, something was clearly broken this year. Use this as a learning point for how they go about working with Chase. Do a deep internal post-op review so they don't run into the same issues with Chase because, if this happens again with him, then they'll really look like they were the ones to blame all along.
Interesting view.
I like No2, surely only a win win for Kawasaki ??
Break out fee is typically stipulated, but, if they can find replacement rider and continue getting funds from Monster for it, they wont be able to argue loss of business (or similar) to the maximum amount. Kawi turned down other riders when they went for Prado, so of course they dont want to be on the losing end, it would be seen as compensatory rather than punitive.
- Prado wants out and replacement option is available (incl Monster deal), hard to argue full penalty even if stipulated so.
- Prado wants out and no replacement rider (incl Monster deal) available, they want full compensation
Not fucking easy to negotiate this. What's the value of a replacement rider?
Maybe Monster and Kawi is saying no comparable rider available, so full compensation needed. Prado is saying "look at my poor results and poor marketability", plenty of riders available 😂
(Disregarding any prepayments to be recovered)
That's funny. Great observation. They more they argue that they didn't get their money's worth out of Prado and thus are due damages, the easer it is for him to argue there are plenty of other replacements.
As much as Prado did to smear Monster Energy Kawasaki by not trying this year, I hope they drag this out so long that he is forced to stay on the team for another year. I don’t think it will look good for Prado when Sexton gets on the bike and puts it on the box right away in Supercross in January.
He did everything he could to make the team look bad. Let’s see what kind of deals flow Prado’s way when Chase proves the bike is competitive and Prado is just a quitter and a whiner. We’ve all heard the stories of Tickle testing engine after engine and the team spending weeks at a time sweating their asses off in the Carolinas in an attempt to deliver Prado a package he can win with.
I think we’ll see next weekend that Prado’s biggest issue that kept him from winning wasn’t the bike, it was the brothers Lawrence. When he realized he had nothing for them, he just threw in the towel. He needs to go back to the GPs where they have a hard time finding 20 guys to line up sometimes.
When did Chase complain about either bike? I keep seeing these accusations but never see any proof. Care to share some proof with me?
Really?
This is why it’s really important to choose diplomacy over being righteous in a professional situation. Probably most situations for that matter. It feels good in the moment to shit on the other party, but rarely does it benefit you in the long run. Prado over extended himself to put it politely and he’s now finding out why that was a mistake.
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