Is JB51 going to MXGP?

Edited Date/Time 4/10/2026 12:15am

He spends a bit of time in the UK each year with his in-laws. 

Could SS24 Gabriel KTM afford him & take him to MXGP? 
Or would he live in the UK & travel to Northern Europe to a team’s base? 
Where is Ducati’s MXGP team based? 

Perhaps his wife just wants to be in Europe closer to her folks for a bit. Who knows? 

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4/10/2026 1:08am

he has said when he retires from SX etc he wants to give the British Championship a go,also he has had a house built in the UK,which is where his wife is from

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4/10/2026 1:47am

There’s been rumours of Barcia racing MXGP for years. Personally I’d love it, I think he would adapt really well. What with his British wife riding for a British based team would make sense plus he gets to ride out of his career travelling the world. 

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DeStouwer
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4/10/2026 1:53am

He'll be 35 years old when the 2027 season starts. That ship has sailed.

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4/10/2026 3:05am
J-Wishbone wrote:
he has said when he retires from SX etc he wants to give the British Championship a go,also he has had a house built in the...

he has said when he retires from SX etc he wants to give the British Championship a go,also he has had a house built in the UK,which is where his wife is from

That would be so sick. The crowd attendance would be so high if he gave it a shot

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The Shop

el j
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4/10/2026 3:34am

He might be able to race the Brits, but there are some GP guys that won’t tolerate his thick, visionless skull.

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Snapper
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4/10/2026 4:32am
DeStouwer wrote:

He'll be 35 years old when the 2027 season starts. That ship has sailed.

I tend to agree. I think a British only deal with some other selected races will allow him to scratch the itch. I can't see him adapting well to tracks like Loket, Frauenfeld, Trentino, and all the other stony ones.

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DadBod86
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4/10/2026 4:43am
el j wrote:

He might be able to race the Brits, but there are some GP guys that won’t tolerate his thick, visionless skull.

Jeez bro, that’s harsh. He must have pissed in your cornflakes! lol!

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jaun
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4/10/2026 5:08am
J-Wishbone wrote:
he has said when he retires from SX etc he wants to give the British Championship a go,also he has had a house built in the...

he has said when he retires from SX etc he wants to give the British Championship a go,also he has had a house built in the UK,which is where his wife is from

Jesus could you imagine JB racing the British National Series, he'd literally lap the entire field!

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4/10/2026 5:10am
J-Wishbone wrote:
he has said when he retires from SX etc he wants to give the British Championship a go,also he has had a house built in the...

he has said when he retires from SX etc he wants to give the British Championship a go,also he has had a house built in the UK,which is where his wife is from

jaun wrote:

Jesus could you imagine JB racing the British National Series, he'd literally lap the entire field!

He wouldn’t lap Mewse, let’s not get silly now. 

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4/10/2026 5:13am
J-Wishbone wrote:
he has said when he retires from SX etc he wants to give the British Championship a go,also he has had a house built in the...

he has said when he retires from SX etc he wants to give the British Championship a go,also he has had a house built in the UK,which is where his wife is from

jaun wrote:

Jesus could you imagine JB racing the British National Series, he'd literally lap the entire field!

Conrad kept Herlings honest at the weekend,there are a few other guys not far off Conrads pace too,so he wouldnt have it as easy as you think

it really would be amazing to see,throw in Herlings for a few wildcards again too

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4/10/2026 5:13am

Barcia strikes me as someone who will race until he can't, he'll be doing something.

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4/10/2026 5:16am
el j wrote:

He might be able to race the Brits, but there are some GP guys that won’t tolerate his thick, visionless skull.

Are there a bunch of instances of him riding like an ass outdoors I dont know about? Barcia related drama is all from sx

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Motofinne
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4/10/2026 5:37am

I could definitely see him doing a season of the British series with a couple of other European races. But he will never do a GP season, too old for that and nobody will pay him enough to consider doing it.

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GrapeApe
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4/10/2026 6:52am Edited Date/Time 4/10/2026 10:19am

I think you got that backwards

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Johnny Ringo
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4/10/2026 6:55am
GrapeApe wrote:

I think you got that backwards

Oof, Herr lich swings and misses again

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Brent
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4/10/2026 7:11am Edited Date/Time 4/10/2026 7:15am

Highly unlikely. 

Louis Vosters wouldn’t put resources into an obvious stunt hire like that. 


He’d do better by putting Cairoli on the team full time.

I like Barcia but there is just no way he is doing 30’s in the sand and keeping up with the top 10 MXGP guys at his age. He isn’t Herlings. 

This place cracks me up sometimes…

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4/10/2026 7:24am
Brent wrote:
Highly unlikely. Louis Vosters wouldn’t put resources into an obvious stunt hire like that. He’d do better by putting Cairoli on the team full time.I like Barcia but...

Highly unlikely. 

Louis Vosters wouldn’t put resources into an obvious stunt hire like that. 


He’d do better by putting Cairoli on the team full time.

I like Barcia but there is just no way he is doing 30’s in the sand and keeping up with the top 10 MXGP guys at his age. He isn’t Herlings. 

This place cracks me up sometimes…

To be fair to the OP,  I'm pretty sure its something Barcia said in the past. Doing MXGP before he retires. To even call him a top 5 guy in the Nationals is a real stretch.

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davis224
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4/10/2026 7:30am
Brent wrote:
Highly unlikely. Louis Vosters wouldn’t put resources into an obvious stunt hire like that. He’d do better by putting Cairoli on the team full time.I like Barcia but...

Highly unlikely. 

Louis Vosters wouldn’t put resources into an obvious stunt hire like that. 


He’d do better by putting Cairoli on the team full time.

I like Barcia but there is just no way he is doing 30’s in the sand and keeping up with the top 10 MXGP guys at his age. He isn’t Herlings. 

This place cracks me up sometimes…

Barcia strikes me as a guy who would know where he stands vs GP riders in the deep sand at his age in a partial retirement, but will have a blast no matter what and just enjoy bettering himself in new conditions.

"Dude, that was so gnarly! I was riding my ass off and barely finished 15th! Bring on the 2nd moto, I want another shot!" 

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ShellyMX
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4/10/2026 7:36am

Whatever the case may be, I would love to see this happen for him.

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4/10/2026 7:44am
el j wrote:

He might be able to race the Brits, but there are some GP guys that won’t tolerate his thick, visionless skull.

Like they did Prado? 

Bearuno
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4/10/2026 8:00am Edited Date/Time 4/10/2026 8:08am

It was a long time a go - 2012 - but I always have a bit of a chuckle at how JB tried to move over onto Big Ken De Dycker going into a corner at the Lommel MXdN .

It was a bit like a Gnu trying to force an Elephant over.

Ended up with JB losing a lot of spokes from his front wheel.

I daresay JB had  Little / No Idea who he was trying to mess with............. 😁

Hey, if he went to Britain and did a bit of racing, in the twilight of his career, and decided to try his hand at a few GPs - selecting them Carefully, he might just get into the top ten, in a Moto. 

Good on him if he tries it / gets someone to pay him to have a bit of a go. But he'd not set the World on fire.

Anyone remember Chad Reed having a go at a GP ( Matterley?)  at the near end of his career? People thought he'd do well - It was not exactly pretty. 

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USA
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4/10/2026 8:04am

What year is it? Is MXGeoff making a comeback?

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brocster
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4/10/2026 8:43am
Brent wrote:
Highly unlikely. Louis Vosters wouldn’t put resources into an obvious stunt hire like that. He’d do better by putting Cairoli on the team full time.I like Barcia but...

Highly unlikely. 

Louis Vosters wouldn’t put resources into an obvious stunt hire like that. 


He’d do better by putting Cairoli on the team full time.

I like Barcia but there is just no way he is doing 30’s in the sand and keeping up with the top 10 MXGP guys at his age. He isn’t Herlings. 

This place cracks me up sometimes…

davis224 wrote:
Barcia strikes me as a guy who would know where he stands vs GP riders in the deep sand at his age in a partial retirement...

Barcia strikes me as a guy who would know where he stands vs GP riders in the deep sand at his age in a partial retirement, but will have a blast no matter what and just enjoy bettering himself in new conditions.

"Dude, that was so gnarly! I was riding my ass off and barely finished 15th! Bring on the 2nd moto, I want another shot!" 

He also has hundreds if not thousands of hours practicing in the Florida sand.  I think he’d be ok. People tend to forget that these guys as amateurs and professionals have raced on damn near every surface known to man. 

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aeffertz
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4/10/2026 9:14am

Didn’t he say he’d want to do this once in an interview like 10 years ago? I seem to remember a more recent interview where someone asked him about this idea and he said it’s not very likely anymore. 

4/10/2026 9:17am

Im sure he would love to practice on un-groomed tracks in cold weather

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4/10/2026 9:27am
brocster wrote:
He also has hundreds if not thousands of hours practicing in the Florida sand.  I think he’d be ok. People tend to forget that these guys...

He also has hundreds if not thousands of hours practicing in the Florida sand.  I think he’d be ok. People tend to forget that these guys as amateurs and professionals have raced on damn near every surface known to man. 

People also seem to forget he’d be going up against the best sand riders in the world. The top sand guys are animals. 

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TeamGreen
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4/10/2026 9:40am

He simply likes hanging out in London and if he does race the Brit Nat’s? I’m betting he races all of’em. 

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englishman
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4/10/2026 9:59am
TeamGreen wrote:

He simply likes hanging out in London and if he does race the Brit Nat’s? I’m betting he races all of’em. 

London? 
Doesn’t strike me as a guy that wants to hang out in cities. 

 

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DonM
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4/10/2026 10:07am
USA wrote:

What year is it? Is MXGeoff making a comeback?

Ha! Thought the same….the demise of MXDeuche on Vital…

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4/10/2026 10:26am

I doubt he ever does a full season of MXGP. Without a direct seat at Ducati I’m not sure he could even land a factory ride. His ceiling is probably top fives, if that. Plus he almost certainly would be looking at less money than he would get for another season of Supercross.

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