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Triumph's 450 effort in MXGP in being pushed back another year. Because of that Haarup is staying in the US and will race the 450 outdoors next summer.
I don't know if there are any plans for him to race a 250 in SX or just start developing the 450. If I had to guess, I would say the latter.
One could argue that all the champions of the years after his first title where injured (gasjer ,herlings) or not there (prado, cairoli) this year.
Thanks for the clarification. That's great news.
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You can say this about literally any champion since 2015 except for the 2021 and 2024 season.
Literally actually not. Because at least one of those competitors has always been in the championship with febvre. So actually quite the opposite. This is the first time since 2016 that all past champions were not there or missed a big chunck of the series.
He got beaten by his yamaha teammates coldenhoff & seewer in mxgp.
I knew that for a while.
But nothing can actually prove that Watson's MXGP career would have been better if he could have stayed with Yamaha. Pure speculation by PhilG.
No plan to race US SX in 2026 for Haarup.
He won his class at Nations on his last ride on the bike, and the last 3 years have been on worse bikes. Its not hard mate.
Mantova 2021 was not "real" MXoN. You perfectly know that.
😏
If everyone is healthy and makes it to all the rounds Febvre probably finishes 4th in 2026, behind Coenen, Herlings and Gasjer, IMO. Kind of like Webb in Supercross in 2025. Almost a zero chance Webb wins that title if Jett, Tomac and Hunter were there for the whole season, but Febvre and Webb both have the trophy and big bonus check, so.... Really curious though about Herlings and Gasjer on new bikes. Maybe that gives Febvre a bit of a leg up on those guys? But I still would bet they beat Febvre. I actually think Coenen might be the favorite if he escapes supercross healthy.
Yeah that is ridiculous cherrypicking. Just look at the actual moto scores and who he beat in those motos. Look at the rest of the results from that year. Some highlights but overall he got 11th in the standings and had many really mediocre races.
And even if we would agree that the Kawasaki was a bad bike, the results were shockingly bad with that taken into account. There was motos where he straight up couldn't score points.
We are talking about 1 result... In 2021.... In a year where he finished 11th in points and got clearly beaten by his teammates.
In a time when Lupino and Monticelli still got top 5s in mxgp and Simpson and Strijbos were still active. That long ago.
Watson got his opportunities and never showed he is going to get to the level of a good nr 2 in mxgp. Its why he had to sign for beta
where is Watson going in 26?
Both Beta seats seem to be taken now
If Watsons ride has gone it would be good to see him do what sterry does. MXGB and some euro rounds. Would be good to see him on the dirt store triumph as Rizzi is no longer there. Think that would be good for askew too.
My bad. I thought you meant he won it because just one or two other title favorites were missing or injured. Yeah, it's pretty wild that every past champion wasn't there. Kinda similar to how he won the title in 2015 actually.
If results at the nations are something you hold in high regard, then certainly you'll find Jago to be MUCH better than Ben with his perfomance at Red Bud.
Pit Row
Private Honda setup.
In 2015, after a few rounds to acclimate himself in MXGP category, Febvre was dominant. Even with Cairoli, Desalle and Nagl on the track (when they came back from their injuries).
Just take a look at the last round in Glen Helen. He destroyed the pack. Even with some AMA riders behind the gate. Same in Ernée for the 2015 MXoN: he was a step above.
So, 2015 cant be compare to 2025.
I mean he still has the speed to beat them. But not consistently. The stars have to align and they did in 2025. but with a hard charging super fast Coenen right on his back.
Febvre's prang at Maggiora 2015 - he'd won the 1st Moto, still got 6th in this one, with the bars modified into 'clip on' stance, ala , Magoo - this folks, is how you never give up, and how you can ultimately, reap the rewards of doing so :
And then, to get his 2nd 10 years later - well, to waffle on / argue about / question his Championship's validity? : FFS people!
I fully agree with you. I also don’t like it when people put asterisks on championships.
A contract for -26 must have some legal meaning? Did Watson and Koch leave because they wanted to or did Beta cancel their contracts?
Is Geerts from a wealthy background? If you choose to live in Monaco one might wonder why he doesn’t bet on himself going privateer with the brand of his choice and personal sponsors?
You're going to be quite pleased when this deal is announced then...
Someone said he’s going private Honda setup. Can’t see that being uk?
No Geerts isn't from rich background. His father has been a Grand Prix mechanic for Marnicq Bervoets and don't know what his mom's occupation is. Sending him to Monaco to safe 60% taxes on his 550k to 650k salary doesn't sound like a bad move, but the kid has autism spectrum disorder and didn't lived on his own till then (if I'm correct). If you lay his bad results, difficult rehabs after injuries beside each other and everything stared when he moved to Monaco... With the pay cut he is going to take, it is likely that he returns or is already returned to Belgium.
Van Doninck tested the Beta and called it under powered and will make the switch together with JM to Fantic. Dunno how good those bikes will be with Fantic and the JM budget together. About Beta, the bikes are indeed under powered but let me remind everyone that Van Horebeek rode that bike and he only does things when he gets paid decent bucks (from MXGP to Beach races to Brazilian MX). Also the first Watson contract was around 150k, if they are still swinging in that ballpark it is a good move financially after two bad years.
In the interest of keeping this thread factual, this is false.
There was never even discussions with a Honda team...
I think this misses the point. The primary reason Bogers has trouble finding a ride is because Europe pushes their riders into the 450 class. America allows riders to stay almost indefinitely in the 250 class and there is consequently more room in the 450s.
Here's a short list of SOME of the riders who couldn't race 250s in 2026 if the age rule were effective in America: Shimoda, Hammaker, Kitchen, McAdoo, Smith, Harrup, Vialle (the last 3 years), Forkner, Thrasher, Brown, Mosiman and Anstie. I know there's more. They'd all have to be in the 450 class. Guess what? A lot of guys running 11-20 now in th 450 class would be pushed out. I'm not advocating for an age rule. I'm simply saying you can't compare these situations as if they're apples to apples.
Bogers ran most of the year 12-15. With De Wolf, Adamo and Benistant coming in that probably tipped the scale. I was lucky enough to see him win at Lommel. It was awesome. I hope he finds a nice ADAC ride and continues his career if that's what he wants.
Well the age rule does create issues.
But to be honest imo the situation in mx2 is even worse in regard to available rides.
There are simply way to few decent rides
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