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Or how did it look when he was getting beat by privateers on the same bike?
Yeah I’m expecting Prado to improve simply because he has no choice but to put 110% effort in now after this whole shit show. So yeah him doing better on ktm will be inevitable, but doesn’t erase what we saw all summer.
If I am Chase - I would tell Kawi to cut ties with Prada and get down to focusing on 2026.
And Kawi should take the high road and thank Prada for his service and then work on crushing him with Chase on the Kawi.
Disagree. If kawi just lets Prado go with zero payback of any sort, what is to stop Chase from doing the same thing if he doesn’t gel with the bike? Oh so if I hate this bike, I can just send it in and get out of my contract. That’s the message there. Rider has to have accountability.
Also, why would Chase want Prado on what Prado thinks is a better bike lol?
100% correct. Improving his results shouldn't be hard to do, considering how little effort he put into last season.
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Contracts don’t cover every circumstance. I doubt there are clauses about the rider not trying hard enough or the OEM not providing a good enough bike.
Lets see how Sexton performs on green ...
you dont go to from world champ to midfield without some serious issues , who or what we dont know ...but there are some big issues for sure
What would happen of Prado were to just go back to GP's next year on a different team? His contracts are for the US so what would happen if he just skipped out on them here?
Yup and Prado was supposed to be the new face of Monster like Jett is with RedBull. Monster saw Prado as their Jett and now he wants to walk and go back to a RedBull supported team. I’m sure Monsters pissed.
I wonder if there are sign on bonuses that are the centre of this dispute? Trying to claw back paid salary or suing for potential future losses would be messy and with an uncertain outcome. If Prado received sign bonuses from Monster and/or Kawi that would be a different issue - much more straightforward especially if there were obligations attached to them.
Good thoughts! I like that , stop talking and just show him with results.👍🏻
Yeah - I get that and you could be right. But teams should be focused on racing (bike and rider) and not the bullshit of contract disputes.
You would think if a rider does this it would blackball him???
Hope it plays out soon. I would like to see Chase do well on the green bike.
I'm certain a big corporation and the team can handle giving Chase everything he needs, while they deal with the Prado situation.
Serious issues for sure!
It was a total lack of effort on Prado's part, then throwing the whole team under the bus. He flat out quit, and took no personal resposibility at all. Something I've never seen before in pro mx.
He pretty much stole the money he got from Kawi and Monster. No wonder KTM is reluctant to pay him a salary, and make it bonus based.
Potentially the same things that would happen to any person that tried to skip out on contractual obligations by fleeing the country.
Didn’t Mike Larocco basically quit midway through the outdoors back when he was on a Suzuki in ‘97 or something? I thought I remember reading that, or he didn’t/wasnt going to show up for a race or two to get released from his deal?
LaRocco hated the Suzuki, but rode his ass off anyway. He got out of his contract, joined FC Honda, and had basically a new lease on his career. He never, ever just rode around and collected a paycheck.
All the more reason not to act vindictive. Forget Jorge's performance, if Monster forces the issue and causes Jorge to miss next season, you don't think that will damage their brand in Spain and the Euro market in general?
Yaa I didn’t mean to imply that the rock just rode around and didn’t try, I was more or less seeing if he actually didn’t show up to a race or two or if that was just here-say. I remember those bikes with the Jack in the Box logos, I think I heard on a podcast that they ran them for free hoping to attract a bigger sponsor.
Pit Row
Here's the deal. This has nothing to do with what's best for Monster or Kawi. If that was the test, they would've released him already. This has much more to do with someone at Monster put their name and reputation on the line to advocate for Jorge as the next big thing, and now they are embarrassed because their big bet was a dud.
Like I said earlier, if this is being viewed strictly as a business decision, it's crystal clear they need to cut ties with him and focus on things they can do to show everyone it had nothing to do with the bike. Focus on business for 2026.
But it isn't. It's about someone's career. Someone had to sell this decision and now their career has this blemish on it. You would be surprised how often, even in big companies, big money decisions are made based on gut feel or emotions (positive and negative) rather than data and logic.
What? They aren’t trying to hold Prado accountable because Kevin from HR is embarrassed that he pitched the idea of taking on an mxgp champ and it not going well.
If it’s strictly business then why would they release him and lose completely on their investment? That’s the opposite of “strictly business.” Strictly business would be to make him pay back to get out of his contract. If he delays that then it’s still a win because he’s only hurting himself by not going ktm and being a competitor to chase. Chase will put kawi on the box. Prado could potentially do the same on ktm when he gets his sorry ass way and can finally show us some effort. Kawi keeping him off that bike right now isn’t a terrible idea.
It might have something to do with him placing all the blame on the bike for him being a minute behind the competition.
Partially true, the report from RacerX reads:
Hell, when he switched to Suzuki’s in ’96 he absolutely hated the bikes and the team (and in fact just straight-up missed a race because of being unhappy and everyone knew he tried out a Honda at Stanton’s place)”
But even in ‘97 McGrath couldn’t understand why Suzuki wouldn’t listen to Larocco. So MC decided to have Mitch take care of the engine work and bolted on his old Honda forks.
And who was team Suzuki manager during this era...
Roger DeCoster
Prado needs to avoid a lawsuit. A bunch of years and money to deal with. Kaw and monster can turn it over to legal and let them deal with it. They could bury him. They are both bigger and richer.
Just because they can doesn't mean they should. Y'all are ignoring a key factor that athlete/brand contracts are a very public thing and, when it comes to a these sort of relationships, the moral/reputational risk is asymmetric. Optics matter more here than what's in the contract. So far Prado hasn't been great at it, but somehow Kawi and Monster aren't capable of taking advantage of this.
Kawi and Monster are not doing this because someone made a judgement error and is trying to cover their ass. They are doing it because there was a contract with obligations and they've got to maintain a precedent. If they let one athlete walk consequence free many more will follow.
Kawi has no leverage. Prado could always stay, collect a ton of money, and ride around in 20th. They don’t want that.
I wouldn't call what Prado did "under performing". That's sugarcoating it. He flat out quit. Therefore he wasn't earning his money,
I get what you are saying. But hear me out. The "data" was absolutely there. He's a 2x & back to back MXGP champ. Gets signed for a large contract. Doesn't like the bike, team and tracks and clearly faster competition. He gets embarrassed by the Americans and then he blames the bike more. Then he obviously doesn't even try to qualify at Budds Creek. Prado is a head case and still thinks he has any leverage after riding and acting like he did all year. Now Kawi and Monster are going to make it a living hell for him. Prado is trying to aim Vengeance for not making the Kawi a KTM. But Kawi is making it a Reckoning on Prado for his actions.
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