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I'm curious if the MXGP Yamaha team will be getting help from Star again.
Are you aware there is a guy named Romain Febvre in that class, and he happens to be wearing the #1 plate ? Not saying he will dominate but not even mentioning him, really ?
Well it’s actually really cool to see the excitement from team owner Gariboldi as well. Spending NYE together, his first photoshoot, his first day on the bike. Really cool to see. Keep in mind guys, it’s ‘old’ news for most of us on this forum but still really exciting. HRC has 3 Factory MXGP riders with Herlings, Vialle and Fernandez (big underdog).
Yamaha really missed the opportunity to make it as great as HRC Honda did. Man, they have two series full of content (AMA behind the scenes and MXGP coverage off all Yamaha supported teams) and they reveal a crappy picture of Gajser signing at his own house? They could have done something amazing at Tigaland? His own house and backyard with a first time ride? Anyways, maybe they will share something later this week.
But, great way to start the year! Hopefully all contenders stay healthy through the season. Just like in 2021 (with a 3 man battle until the end)
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only if Hans Corvers writes a big check to Bobby Reagan, cause Yamaha NL is still in love with the Rinaldi engine package - they believe that was the rider's and mechanic's fault the Yamaha motors kept blowing up last season...
Strange that Corvers is never in the picture with the presentation of Gajser?
The Honda & Fox is such a trick set up, always has been. Roll on Hawkstone Park.
Sometimes things change 🤐
Just because he was sponsored by Red Bull it doesn’t mean they were personal sponsor of his. He might have been on the Red Bull website as an athlete of theirs but he rode for a Red Bull backed team that automatically makes his one of their athletes. I’ve lost count of how many riders that’ve rode for a Red Bull backed team but when they’ve moved on, that sponsorship doesn’t go with them.
Roczen is a true Red Bull athlete, he’s been with them since he was 14, he wears the proper can helmet. HRC must be paying well for Herlings to not have any type of energy sponsorship.
When asked the same question in an interview by Gatedrop
”I want to be clear about this: we are the official Yamaha MXGP Factory Team, and our R&D is managed from Japan/Europe with extensive consultations with the USA. We are riding Yamaha Factory engines 2026.”
Strange answer, but it seems like a sensitive subject. Make what you want from it 🤷♂️
Yes , i am aware and am a big fan, but i am also realistic.
As he did in 2015, Febvre picked up the series by staying healthy and consistent. He is a great rider, no question, but with his age, i dont see him being a season long threat in 2026, but i am happy to be proved wrong.
He could go all season and not make the top 3 if everyone stays healthy, and still not ride badly. I dont think for a minute that that will happen, but its a deep field, and people have a lot to prove.
Gajser needs to justify the big bucks Yamaha has payed
Herlings needs to do the same,
Renaux will be pissed that he didnt get out of the deal he had, i think he will want to beat Gajser more than anyone.
Vialle (who i also never mentioned) will be wanting to remind everyone that he is a 2x MX2 champ and expects to win.
Kdw will want to remind everyone that he is still the next big thing (despite not winning a second MX2 series in what was an easier class than 2024 )
Adamo will want to remind everyone he was a World Champ too .
Coenen will expect to be the force he was from Switzerland onwards last year, before he lost his .
And then there are the Ducati guys....
I dont see Febvre beating enough of them every week to be a threat for the championship, but as always, this is why we race, he came off a great season for him, and will be on the same bike with the same people , but will he be as motivated ? .
Whatever happens, i cannot wait. I am already over SX LOL.
I know that all these years riders aren’t personally sponsored by RedBull, Herlings is one of the riders like Roczen that I would’ve thought had a personal deal with them seeing as he’s ridden for the pro team since 2010. I’m from the US and I saw Herlings as RedBulls top dog over in Europe, I would’ve thought with HRC not being tied to an energy drink that he would’ve rolled that over.
He got more strange answers in that interview with Gatedrop.
Mayby somethings are out off context or whatever but i didnt get that best off a feel reading it
So i nearly posted this earlier, in my other post, but decided against it, but maybe its pertinent.
In the US, Factory Yamaha isnt Factory Yamaha any more, because its STAR , and it became STAR because the Official Factory Team had been a mess for a while, and they got canned.
In Europe, the Yamaha Team was Rinaldi for years, until it was decided that they would step back and Wilvo would run it, which seemed to work, with Corvers and Bervoets Kemea running MX2.
Now for reasons i never understood, Wilvo get the flick, for Kemea, and suddenly the MX2 team is Yamaha Factory Racing, which is great until Wilvo go Fantic, which is essentially a Yamaha with different plastics, and totally destroy the Factory Team, with what is essentially a customer bike. Coldenhoff, Bonacorsi and Bogers V Renaux, Vlaanderen and Geerts should have only gone one way, but the white bikes were just better all year, whereas the blue ones seemed like a shit show that Renaux could not wait to leave.
Add to that , the 250 effort also have a mare and blow up bikes for fun.
So Gajser going there from HRC was a huge shock to me, (and Herlings because he knows the score too) based on the fact they have been poor for 2 seasons now as a unit . I will give Renaux a break, lets not forget he has held the red plate on that bike, but he has not gelled with the 450 (which is run by the team he won with on 250).
And on the other side we have Herlings, who wanted to do something new, and in the shadow of KTM looking like they might disappear (will still might happen) gets a shot with HRC, which despite being 'Gariboldi Honda' feels as full factory as you will ever get. And Gariboldi openly courted him previously, which was known at the time.
Herlings seems the most likely to succeed, IMO, simply because Honda looks and works the best, and they have the ability to get stuff done. Just like Factory Honda in the US (which is proper) , its the place to be.
Gajser has taken the biggest risk, by a long shot .
I am interested to see how much progress Ducati make this year with Wilvo, that will be very obvious early on , Seewer was off the pace and uncomfortable all year, if he gets his Mojo back , that will show straight away.
We will see Herlings , Renaux and Febvre at the Hawkstone International soon enough , so that will give us a clue.
100% agree on that one. I think the challenge will be more difficult for Gajser at this point.
🤣 Those answers in that interview... 😅 He could clear the air about Maxime Renaux, but says something idiotic. He throws Jago under the bus, because he can't say why he wasn't good...
He can't say how much Tim Gajser is making, WTF?! The guy is paying more than 70% of the budget (exclusive wages) but IF IT IS TRUE that Yamaha hasn't the decency to tell him what they pay Gajser, I would be stunned.
Good questions from gatedrop.com but Corvers his answers are apeshit crazy!
So for Yamaha NL, Gasjer is the barometer for 2026.
If Tim, a proven champion, is mediocre or suffers mechanicals in 2026, could we expect Yamaha corporate leadership to start asking for motors assembled in Tallahassee?
Pit Row
This is a very real prospect.
Herlings goes to Honda, and gets what Gajser had, knows what the KTM is like, and knows the Honda is a good bike , based on what Gajser did on it.
Yamaha has to be better, but maybe Renaux, Geerts and Vlaanderen all wanted different things, and they got lost.
The fact that Gifting rode the Factory Bike and said no, says an awful lot.
Maybe we can imagine that it was not the riders (Renaux, Geerts or Vlaanderen) who were particulary lost, but Kemea and Rinaldi...
His answers are as PC as they come. I don’t feel like the more interesting questions are even answered at all.
I was thinking about this too. Does Tim have had a mechanical DNF in recent years? I can’t think of any, apart from his foot peg being bend in 24.
You can take that either way, but if have read enough of my posts, you will know that i am of the opinion that there are people in teams that would rather lose , than win with something that wasnt their idea.
Some treat riders preferences as optional, rather than 'must haves' and it shows where that is prevalent....
And when the rider says ' less is better' they get butthurt, instead of enjoying the extra reliability that will give.
We are saying the same thing.
...near the end of last season, I understand that Yamaha NL was tightening resources, such as limiting practice and testing days to 1X per week.
I sure hope that Yamaha has learned their lessons from what happened with the AMA 450 program under their direct supervision, and allow the Kemea and Hutten Metaal teams more flexibility to do what they need to the bike and their program to make it a winner, because every rider on both teams was looking for the exit last season...
There was 2 problems with Yamaha USA’s operations
1: McCarty (sorry if spelt wrong)
2: Perry
Tbh Gifting saying no can also be about the finances.
If he doesnt get a better compensation why move up and give up a spot at a team which will be happy when he goes 9-14th on the day?
Not much different from Vlaanderen saying at Gebben for years imo
You dont turn down a factory bike , unless its the bike IMO. Gifting knows the bike he is on is good enough, for him to give 100% , i doubt he would be going to Kemea for less money, i am not saying it isnt possible , but it seems unlikely.
Vlaanderen has had to take what was left, after HRC let him go, he has had to find whatever he can to stay in the class. I would suggest that if we hadnt had Prado and Vialle go to the US, and Geerts dramatically underperform, he would be out of a factory ride. He is a great rider, but not a 'must have' . I dont see him being better than he has been already, and if he doesnt gel with the Ducati, it will be a long year for him.
Isnt Gajser bringing his engine guy with him from Honda?
I'm afraid it will be a long year for the 3 Ducati riders...
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