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Maybe he'll race EMX on it... 😉
Just a hunch but I think he’ll go to Meuwissen Motorsports for next year
I think that team is setup with support from Honda Switzerland, so there is a swiss connection i imagine.
For the members with a bit more inside information from the paddock. I wonder how the situation is for the younger riders moving up from emx250?
There is lots of talks in this topic about lets say the factory seats and the riders just missing out on these seats.
But how is the situation for the EMX250 riders who had top 5 results or even better such as Skovbjerg, van Erp, Frisk, Askew, Petit, Fueri, Escandell, Werner, Mesters, Kokins, etc
Are there spots for these types of riders or is it a hard situation for them?
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van Erp was riding a KTM at Valkenswaard. Seems like he will go the privateer route.
Petit is doing some sand races on a Yamaha 450
Escandell will most likely remain at F4E racing
Mesters, I think he stays semi-privateer at Kosak
Gifting stays with JK Yamaha
One things that makes it hard is that MX2 teams are starting to care a little less about a riders' EMX250 results.
For August Frisk I´d doubt much will change since he was injured for most of 2024. He was a full time privateer (Daddy Frisk run the private Kullen 1502 KTM Racing Team) in 2025 and I´d guess they´ll continue on the same path. Nothing confirmed though.
What happened to Frisk later in the year? I don’t remember seeing him much after his career ride in Switzerland.
Jago Geerts and Rick Elzinga spotted on a Beta in Lommel
ACL injury not long after his 1-1 in Switzerland in a Swedish Championship race.
There are only a few decent MX2 rides available, and tons of EMX 250 guys who think they should be on it.
My take is that you need to show MX2 speed , rather than EMX 250 results to make the leap.
Tom Vialle won one EMX250 race, in a single season in EMX in 2018 , where he was 8th , before going to MX2.
Honestly EMX doesnt matter , apart from being seen .
2015 Kouwenberg Gone without trace
2016 TK Olsen sdaly injured, would have been great MX1 guy
2017 Morgan Lesiardo Enduro
2018 Mathys Boisrame looking for rides
2019 RVD Moosdijk Private MX1 rider now
2020 Benistant Out at Yamaha after not doing a lot
2021 Lapucci Odd GP appearance
2022 Elzinga Out at Yamaha after being decent but not good enough
2023 Bonacorsi Only stand out guy to win championship, and he got to big for a 250, and went 450 and will be a potential 450 podium guy for as long as he is there
2024 Valin New blood, yet to truly deliver in MX2 despite factory ride
2025 J Resulis. Dont think he will do any better than his brother in MX2.
Look at all the riders who are not there, Prado, Lawrence, Vaille, Fernadez, and tons of others.
Yes it is a bit better than nothing.....
Can you expand a bit on what you mean with that?
To me the question is why do riders return to emx250 after winning races or getting podiums. I understand it if you are like a van Erp this year and its either have a good ride with Yamaha emx or pay a lot of money to go with a mx2 team.
But the guys like Frisk or Skovbjerg who did things as a privateer, why spend a lot of money again and return to emx250? Whats there to prove for a Frisk, he allready won in EMX250
Kevin Strijbos has been training on a Ducati in Lommel this week, so I guess Vosters taking over the Ducatiproject is a shoe in.
Where do this leave Watson and Koch?
Watson had a 2 year contract?
Beta run 3 riders?
Well, so far for Geerts' top 5 aspirations. Once you go that way, you know your best years have passed.
Pit Row
At Yamaha the teammembers were ordered to destroy 36 frames.
As good as Geerts was slated to be, he is 4th best Belgian now, with Coenen's and Everts already above him. He had enough chance to close out a WC and didnt get it done, and after 2 seasons on 450, where he has pretty much done what he did in 250, at what point do you say 'enough' as Yamaha. At the time where he was the 'next thing', its a sound investment, but now they need to make room for someone else, who might do what he hasnt.
Interesting that Gifting wants no part in the Factory Yamaha effort, preferring to stay at JK.
With Wilvo going Ducati, Gifting will be one making them look silly this year, Gajser apart.
I think Geerts on the Beta is going to tell us a lot about what they are capable of. He’s still wildly inconsistent, but the fastest guy to throw leg over it.
Well, a few things did happen in those years. They shifted the age limit.
2015, Kouwenberg. Excellent 250 rider and really talented in supercross as well. He won the European SX Championship that year too. He was aged out for mx2, as these were the odd years where you could ride EMX250 above 23, but couldn't ride the MX2 class with the age limit. They destroyed the path for 250 riders even more by moving the age limit to 21 in EMX250. My personal opinion is that EMX250 should be age 21 and MX2 should be age 25 or no limit at all.
Cortami79 : No Limit At All.
A valid point , and while you can be critical of the age limit, the alternative is what we see in the USA where you have 450 'rookies' at 29 years of age. Assuming they ever go up.
If he is only as good as he was on the Yamaha, he still wont be better than Ben Watson IMO .
If RvdM hadnt KO'd Vialle, handing Reneux the title, Watson would have still been on the Yamaha.
Agreed.
Rick Elzinga isn't a slouch either. He's had to deal with some illness. If he's fit again and aboard a 450... even if it's a Beta... then he's good for a top 10 half of the time.
25 its a good limit.
No limit could be the same situation like 250 in USA.
Guys riding until 30 years old in a 250 and making no room for the Young guns... I dont like that.
The fact is only one Rider is the Champion and all riders arent made of champions material.
Some of the MX2 teams do not really value EMX250 results anymore with the under 21 rule and 250 2 strokes being allowed in the class. So no matter if you have an odd win here or there, some kids are simply stuck in that class if they don't fork up the money to go ride in MX2.
philG : I, personally, will never criticize a rider for racing in a class that they are paid to do, and / or, are best at.
You've been around, are old(er) than many here ( I think, though you could be a but a pup 😁) : are You going to put s**t on say, Gaston Rahier because he got his 3 125cc World Champions from the age of 28, to 30, or Harry Everts 3 125cc WCs from 27 to 29? Yes, Harry got his 250 title at 23, and, you'll know, I hope, that Gaston was racing big(er) bikes for many years before his 125 title . The advent of a 125 WC, enabled him to make a good living - and I Want to see riders do just that - make a good living.
Heck, I think a couple of the Americans that got smaller capacity WCs were over 23, for one or two of their titles.
With Luongo's formula of No Prize Money, Buggerall Travel Assistance and Age Limits that can effectively destroy a career, he's been doing damage to our sport - not His, as he seems to regard it as - for decades now.
Heck, most people love Zacho, but I think he was in the 250 class until he was 30 - getting his 250 titles, first when he was 28, then 29. Then he got his 450 class in 2020 in his 31st year. .
Ferrandis is another bloke who got his titles past 23, which he would never have got in MXGP - the 250 or 450 class.
And there's a good thing about the lack of restrictive age limits in US Championships - riders have a chance of improving, and moving up to a class as they can.
Top 10 half of the time???
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