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Worked for Factory Yamaha
And that from a guy who finished 4th in his last moto.
I don’t get it- just score 4ths for the remainder of the summer and everyone will be relatively happy.
I’d be really happy to watch Marchbanks get 4ths/5ths for the rest of the summer.
He was good on KTM, winning races, consistently. Also tucking the front end, just like he did on the Honda. Again, he was just a couple corners away from taking the overall in a triple crown, which would have given him more than enough points to win the whole championship. Instead he threw it away for nothing, and finished a couple places off the podium and of course eventually lost the championship by a couple of points. None of that was the bikes fault.
Not sure a factory program would want him. He makes the bike and team look bad and he costs a lot of money. So Honda, no. KTM, no. Cant see Yamaha doing it with Deegs and J Coop already there. Suzuki - not when Kenny is still there ($$). So maybe a satellite team is where he would go???
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Unhireable. What team or manufacturer would want the liability?
Teams pay for speed
How’s that working out for KHI?
This statement is so one-dimensional.
Speed is worth nothing without a final result.
Speed is worth nothing with a bad personality.
Speed is worth nothing if it’s making your product/brand look bad.
What is the last employer of his that he didn’t make look bad? Every brand of motorcycle he’s been paid millions of dollars to race for the past better part of a decade are made to look like they have an inherent design flaw whenever he isn’t winning. Huge gamble. If he wins, great. If he is struggling, damage control.
On one recent Matthes show they were discussing the idea that Chase’s reputation now is such that any question about the team or bike could be dismissed as just being a Chase issue.
Can you imagine the guy signing and approving Chase's seven figure paycheck? They are getting nothing but bad press out of the deal. Based on this, I don't see why they would force him to stay and I don't really understand the argument of making him stay. If he was winning a lot and but complaining, maybe you force him to stay. Even in his two wins he doesn't look like Chase.. If Kawi didn't have Chase right now we would be saying "that's a pretty good every man's bike, based on how Marchbank's is doing". Instead we are questioning the bike, the team, etc.
I say they let him go, save the seven figures and move on.
If this deal with Kawasaki ends in a divorce then Sexton will be out on the pavement. His options will be real slim.
Maybe Triumph will take a gamble with Sexton.
Or he ends up calling it a career and disappears.
Where ever he ends up, we’ll be talking about this again at the end of ‘27. Modern day Chad Reed.
I got mad respect for Chase, he is one of the elites but he needs to sort his mind set out. Send his pops home and go race the fucking bike.
At the moment he is giving Kawasaki a black eye almost every weekend....and they are paying him the 7 figure paycheck for said black eyes.
He’s not going anywhere. Kawi has a new bike coming for ‘27
Those are valid points. I’m also imagining the guy who signed the deals with Prado, and now Chase, having to explain why two championship level riders in the space of twelve months have bailed out of three year contracts. Kawi is in a tough spot right now - forcing Chase to stay is not going to go well; but equally letting him go will do a lot reputational damage.
I guess you could argue that the reputational damage is already done so may as well cut the financial losses.
There are also no good outcomes for Chase. If he leaves his market value will tank and his options for the factory level equipment he probably expects are very slim. Realistically the only option to fit that requirement is Star. I doubt Triumph or Ducati want to take on that headache. Maybe the HEP Suzuki team have the money but now we are getting away from true factory teams.
This is spot on. And with Marchbanks on Prado's tail it ain't the bike as he portrays it. RV and RC are right, dude work with the team and ride the dang bike. Scrape and claw up the leaderboard. If he isn't willing to do this, doesn't matter what brand he rides, a Stark or whatever the fuck. His fortunes have always been on him and that triple crown in particular was a fucking head scratcher. Cost him the championship. For no reason.
It's a worse situation than two elite riders potentially leaving Kawi. You have two elite riders not wanting to ride the bike due to safety concerns. It is clearly not a good look for Kawi and it is being allowed to grow worse.
There are no available and good options for Chase to leave for a new team. Star is being labeled as potential being the last major manufacturer Chase has not ridden for. So it's an option by default, which is not a great rationale. Star simply doesn't need Chase.
I think Chase is more or less forced to stay at Kawi due to the lack of team options.
KHI management has a few options to turn the ship around at the team. I see these as more likely than Chase leaving.
1. A fixer is sent in by KHI management to work with the team and diagnose and work through the issues (technical, operational, personal.).
2. KHI cleans house. Team management is let go, interim management brought in. Focus is on starting fresh. Bruce Stjernstrom and Dan Fahie are let go.
Pit Row
I believe that Kawi has always had the stance of “this is our bike and you are expected to ride it as it is”, rather than to work with their riders to develop a setup that works best for them. So for some riders, it historically works. For others, it historically doesn’t.
CS clearly has a pattern with his bikes. Kawi clearly has a history with their riders. The two aren’t mutually exclusive.
It’s like Kawi is headed for its second divorce in 2 years from 2 different trophy wives. (Maybe it’s weird to put it that way?) So what’s the constant in the divorces?
In Steve's interview with Rich Simmons, Rich seemed to imply the fact that it's possible they have a 3rd 450 under the truck next year. Get your tinfoil hats out guys. I'm starting to feel like the chase to Star thing is at least being discussed.
I feel like the press day crash was quite the nail in the coffin for Chase & Kawi. Maybe the 27 will be a better bike for someone like Chase but I'm sure he's practically already burned the bridge.
Does Chase have an opt out clause after year 1 in his contract?
Is that possible or not a thing in the industry to do?
Chase under the Yamaha tent doesn’t seem that crazy, and honestly I thought that bike was a good fit for him when we were all initially speculating his departure from Honda. Teams absolutely pay for speed and a factory will take on Chase and his baggage if it means wins. It’s not that complicated.
The big question is whether the ‘27 is new enough. Do the chassis changes address the issue? I would think they will want to build and start testing a race version ASAP to see what they have to work with.
Yeah it's very much a two things being true at the same time situation.
Totally different team but Mitch Evans talking about how Kawi's Japanese engineers were scared to let him test the compression adjuster on the fork all the way out, then all the way in back to back. So much so that they had a whole meeting about it and said he couldn't do any jumps. That sort of slow moving reluctant to change attitude trickles down.
Obviously Kawi USA has been much more flexible than that, but it's clear the team is not trying something Chase wants to try.
I thought that was HRC?
Crazy scenario,
Do a Zach Osbourne.
MXGP for 2 years to regroup and than back to USA
What issue?
Opt out clauses do exist but not in this case. Chase had one in his KTM contract and exercised it after year 2. I do not believe he has one in his Kawasaki contract.
Yeah, he's so good at setting up a bike to his liking, that's gonna help him.
He'll probably find comfort in '28.
Then how did Ty masterpool get dozens of chances?
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