Chase sexton ghost ride bike in kawi pits hitting Marchbanks

Yep. Ken was notorious for being a bit of a headcase with setups during his Honda years (never as bad as Chase) but it seems he's learnt in recent seasons to build a bike that's 'pretty good' and comfortable everywhere and then leave it the hell alone so that it doesn't constantly surprise him and he can let his talent do the talking. Chase seems incapable of accepting that he and his bike can't be perfect on every section of every track, so he's constantlmaking changes that catch him out.

As a competitive guy who's also a bit of a perfectionist, I've always had a bad habit of believing my absolute best days and performances are the 'real' me, and anything less than that is me having a bad day. The reality is that most people have good days, bad days, and their average is somewhere in the middle of that. Chase has a really high ceiling and seems to expect hangtown '24 level rides every time he gets in the track. The reality is he's probably just a couple of percent worse than Jett Lawrence, and has been around on par with Eli/Coop/Hunter/Kenny on average the last few seasons talent and speed wise, with the chance of beating them handily when he's 'on'. Unforunately, he has burnt endless bridges and relationships, crashed more than any other elite guy, and tanked his average performance for 2-3 seasons chasing his perfect days rather than finding a place where he could comfortably compete for wins 80% of the time and settle for 4th-5th on days where he wasn't feeling it. And while he's been doing that, the people around him like Hunter Lawrence have just been getting better and better 

Chase was good on the Honda but decided it was the problem when he was tucking the front and losing to Eli or Jett straight up. Then he was very good on the KTM but burnt the bridges and became even more of a headcase. Now he's doing worse than ever and he's competely lost the plot. The sad thing is anyone who objectively watched him ride on his average days could have told him he was good on the KTM, and anyone who watched the Prado saga or Kawi's other performances post-Tomac could have seen it wasn't going to be some magic answer to his problems. He's in a bed of his own making and it's hard to feel sorry for him at this point.

I think he needs to take a step away from full factory efforts with limitless resources and move to a PMG-style ride or explore a 22 Motorsports style project. It might give him a bit of the perspective he seems to be lacking and would mean he had nobody to blame but himself 

The guy is obviously a complete headcase. An extremely talented one, but a headcase. Honda and KTM must be very content with their current situations and that they don't have to deal with this.

I do wonder what team/situation would fit Sexton, i think Kawasaki and their internal struggles is basically the worst possible place to be for a guy like Sexton. But Chase is the one that burned the bridge with KTM and signed a 3 year deal with Kawi, that is on him and his advisors.

I have said this before and took some abuse but for me this isnt a bike per se, the same happens for every team he rides for. I dont feel he can set a bike up and doesnt have that feel. there is nothing wrong with it I guess as Swanie always set up Coops bikes but this is getting tiring now

Can't wait to hear Big Lew put a positive spin on this. The Sexton/Lew bromance is entertaining, but you're not going to get any journalistic insights from Lew at this point. 

Jett came along, the bar got raised and what was good enough to win before 2023 was no longer.

With the benefit of hindsight I reckon in 2022 Chase was riding at his sustainable limit which was good enough to push Eli all the way.  2023 comes along, he could barely show Jett a wheel, and starts pushing beyond his sustainable limit.  

You could clearly see in ‘24 once Jett went out and Chase only had Hunter to deal with (who was in his rookie 450 year) he backs the pace off just enough to beat Hunter and barely put a foot wrong the second half of the season.

Now it’s compounded because not is Jett still there, Hunter has elevated his game, we’ve had a revitalised Eli (outside of injuries), Prado found his old self and Deegan has arrived on scene.  His sustainable limit is not good enough for 2nd anymore; it’s barely good enough to crack the top five.  Add in a questionable bike and a team that can’t seem to get out of its own way and the outcome is not good.

Surely he must be questioning himself? Is it me? Was it always me? Man it must be messing with his head. Every tip over, front tuck, he must be screaming at himself. 

Ok so he’s burned another bridge. Where does he go now

I think there is only 3 places that are possible

1. Star- no Keir, 1 year deal with a team option, and Bobby gives him a lobotomy of sorts- probably the best guy in the pits to give him a check up from the neck up.
2. Quad lock- same terms. Marty and Yarrive seem to do a really good job of the mental side.
3. MXGP on a Honda.
   
   
   Can’t do his own team because he clearly struggles with setup 

Chase either needs to go to HEP and take the lead ride there when Ken hangs up the boots and see if Larry Brooks can get Chase's head together. You can't say it is the bike when Marchbanks was running pretty much the same speed, and the only three riders in front of him in the second moto are currently are freaks. 

Ghost riding a bike into a pit doesn't really sound so much like he has a bike issue but more a team issue..

I mean we'd all assume it's a Chase issue haha but the fact it went so badly with Prado and now Chase.

My eyebrows are raised with the whole situation haha

You missed Triumph.

Haarup is showing the bike is good, and they now need a true top rider - IF their US team setup is good enough to support that.

Leave his old man at home, hire a sports psychologist, pay him on top 5 results only.

I cant wait for people to say how profesional Sexton behaves while that spanish guy wasnt! Real class act!

One more change to make. Tire brand. The only change he hasn’t made.

Right if they Honda, Ktm and Kawi all suck so bad…then why have those bikes won a truck load of races in the last 2 years in the premiere class?

Nonsense about Sexton being a boderline top 5 based on skill. Prado hated that bike now he’s elite again. And Chase has looked better thru two rounds than Prado was when he’s not on the ground. Marchbanks is not a diva like Prado and Sexton so he’s making the best of a factory bike. Sexton is not barely a top 5 guy. If he’s on KTM is in the mix with the Brothers but he shot himself in the foot just like he did with Honda. Moral of the story is for the Prado/Sexton guys the bike is not up to par. 

 

What percentage of titles has Kawi, KTM group, and Honda won the past 15 years? I would say the bikes are pretty good 🤔

Pretty easy to win titles when you employ Ryan Villopoto and peak Eli Tomac.

Wait so Tomac won on a “shit bike” but sexton can’t even keep it upright??

And, Marchbanks is running pretty much a full factory bike and Sexton’s bike remains an amalgamation of production/aftermarket components that changes each week. I hate to say it, but Marchbanks seems to be a more solid rider than Sexton at the moment. For the most part, he simply ‘just rides the bike” at a high level without bitching about it.

Maybe its time for job swap and put Big Lew out there next weekend. 

Chase was infinitely better on the KTM. What are we talking about? He beat Jett "for that one race" on the KTM. He's getting his doors blown off by Deegan now. And he beat 100% healthy Jett, not this injury hampered version we have now. To be clear, I know hes a total headcase and I blame his issues this year on him. But saying there's been little difference between him on Kawi or KTM is crazy talk

You could've stopped after "Sexton has a problem..."

They should have left Chase’s bike on the ground until he was ready to pick it up. 

Did you know that Tomac didn't ride a 2025 or 2026 Kawi back in 2021? 

Not sure why everyone feels the need to pick a side and put all of the blame there. It's a bad marriage, it's not going to work, and all parties are to blame. All parties will move on to their next bad marriage if they don't admit their faults. 

This.

I've heard the exact same.  He's looking for things a bike can't do.  It's happened on every 450 so far.

Sexton would be well served to go to a program like Aldon Bakers at this point in his career. Seems like the missing part of his program. The bike has been the least of his problems these past couple years. 

I mean he didn't fight Deegs at all in that second moto, and if you can't find the motivation to keep that guy behind you then you aren't that competitive. No fucking way Deegan should be ahead of Sexton regardless of what bike he is riding-in theory, but hungry dog gets the bone so Deegs to his credit gapped him like a back marker. He has totally lost the plot. Every guy out there has a bike that is bouncing around.....hell watch moto 2 of the WMX! Those girls were sending it! He needs to decide like right now what he wants to do, otherwise give Kawi their money back and fly back to Hawaii. He needs to watch Rocky 3, go back to Detroit, eye of the tiger Rock!

Stewart rode the same way and was pretty particular about his front end feel, I doubt the feeling he's looking for "can't be obtained." It's not like this is the first time a rider has struggled to find the right set-up on any manufacturer, I remember Chad Reed bitching about every bike he switched to for years. I will say it's much more admirable when a guy can just put it to the back of their mind and bulldog through it like RV did, but not everyone is built like that. 

Why did Chase leave KTM? He was doing great with that orange bike.

Another year's shit show coming up for Sexton.

What a whiny bitch