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I had a long response written out but something went wrong and I lost it so I’ll shorten it to this:
How many times does this need to happen before the team owners stop looking at the riders and start looking at the management?
We actually do not know this. We said just two years ago chase can win on anything as well. But we actually have more proof that it would likely go south for them as well then it would go good. We have two prior champions that are extremely talented two years in a row saying the bike isn’t good enough.
I agree with you (although I’ve got no idea what your last sentence means!).
In any case both Chase and Kawi are both in highly undesirable positions with not many appealing options.
If Chase leaves without turning this around his market value will tank and his only possible chance of another factory ride is if Star throws him a lifeline but it won’t be on favourable terms to Chase.
Also if Chase leaves no serious title contending rider is going to touch them for the foreseeable future unless they make some radical changes.
Or they both grin and bear it for the next two years with poor results and a lot of wasted money.
Probably the least damaging option is Chase stays, Kawi has a management clean out, and gets a manager that is able to take a no nonsense approach with Chase and gets him back on an even keel.
I agree with you 100%…Bruce Stjernstrom left Kawi in the 90’s to run the IJSBA (The AMA/FIM of jet ski racing) he literally ran it into the ground left to work for Monster and then came back to Kaw to be Dan Fahie’s boss….and here we are…
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Weimer, ET, Ando, Prado, Sexton....
Starting with ET and on we've seen Kawi start by doing anything and everything the rider wants...Until they decide it's time to start doing things their way. That time period seems to have shortened and the team has put up a lot less results since.... And I'm sorry, engineers will only get a bike/car/whatever so far before the rider/driver input needs to be taken seriously. Although with Chase, I feel he is a guy that can easily get lost continuously CHASE-ing settings looking for an unrealistic level of comfort. Kawi has not only a management problem, but quite a bit of a rider/family problem as well. We've already heard from James why he and Chase stopped working together.
Like Yamaha before them, something needs to change to get Kawasaki back to what they once were and consistently competing at the front every weekend.
your missing one statement, in my opinion all head cases
Well damn why don't Kawi just go back to the vending machine and get a better rider?
Yes but it is good enough, Chase won 2 SX on the bike. I never said chase could win on anything although he has won on Honda , KTM and Kawi.
This. Even in F1 which is the most tech heavy motorsport on the planet with roughly 1 million sensors per car, the drivers input and sensations have to be taken into account. There are countless examples of the team staff saying things are good per their data and a driver correctly finding issues that need to be addressed.
But the two riders in question are anomalies.
Prado- first year stateside. Big personal life changes. Foods, schedule, SX, aluminium frame, lots of things culminated in making Prado unhappy.
Sexton- Proven head case on his two previous brands.
Let’s say the next rider they hire might be like Hunta or JCoop- guys who knuckle down & get on with the task at hand without ego.
All the riders from 2015 on left on bad terms Weimer, Savatgy, Eli, Anderson, Prado…..Ironically Bruce Stjernstrom came back to Kaw in 2015 to head the race teams…coincidence…doubtful…The only reason he is there is because he brought Monster to the team when he was with Monster prior to joining Kawi again…
With the same people in place that are suppose to get the bike good enough. Maybe the bike sucks but Kawasaki needs to audit(for lack of a better word)everything. Then if they find the bike isn’t good enough then at least they tried everything.
And Kawasaki would be dumb to keep the same people running the team in place. Both can be true.
According to RV on his podcast, he claims the bike is plenty fast to be fast on. If Chase struggle with washing the front out, then practice corners and figure out what you’re doing wrong.
RV had many top 5’s in his career.
"RV had many top 5s" ... 🤣 What is that supposed to mean?
That was over 12 years ago prior to the current management team
😂
I know he had plenty of top 10’s, ok!
Id like to believe he may know what he’s talking about when it comes to the KX450. 😂😂🤷🏿♂️
Pit Row
It's crazy that Sexton had the fastest split in the rollers considering how bad he looked through the ones at Pala (at least in the first moto).
To reiterate, all Sexton talked about when he signed with Kawi was that he wanted a long term deal, this was the place he could see himself finishing his career on, he was going to work with them to win, saying he can win on the bike. Alluding to why he left KTM...blah, blah, blah. I think Kawi has busted their ass to make him happy and comfy, just like they did with Prado. Prado took to the extreme to get out of that deal, so unless Chase decides not to try and qualify for a national (which would be a death sentence for him), he ought to turn that frown upside down and get to work on improving the bike and his results. We are who we choose to be. Sorry Don M, I can't get with you on this one. On most of your posting history we agree, but not this one. His only way back to relevance is to find his way back into the light. Start with a 6th or 7th and move it to a 5th then a podium, and run with the top dogs, and for all things holy, don't let Deegs beat you.
This isn't "employment in the real world". Chase is an elite athlete in his field.
Holdouts and trade demands happen all the time in other sports.
To back up your point, Jett got 12th at Anaheim 1, 2025 because the bike didn’t have a good feel
I know plenty of people who bust their ass at work; it gives the impression they are busy but they aren’t really achieving much and certainly aren’t improving anything.
Where is the team manager telling him to just ride the damn bike?
He had a bunch of top 40s , no doubt about that!💯🔥
I’d bet he somehow gets a Star Yamaha deal (with less money).
I've played in several top 40 cover bands.....
Well he is riding the damn bike , way more effort than prado
Yes but he worked to set up the bike . Chase has no idea how to do that
Probably incentive based
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