Upgrade to enjoy this feature!
Vital MX fantasy is free to play, but Premium users receive great benefits. Premium benefits include:
- View and download rider stats
- Pick trends
- Create a private league
- And more!
Only $10 for all 2026 SX, MX, and SMX series.
Yes he has, and without 3 no scores in 2025, he would have been closer to Reisulis, and have been second in EMX at least.
But Reisulis, Zanocz and Garcia were the only ones to win races in 2025, you could argue that he should have gone up as well, but maybe Kawasaki wanted to cover off their bases and win 2 championships with BUD, while they had the chance.
Zanocz secong place was as much about consistency as raw speed, and he admits he has found the leap to MX2 bigger than he expected.
Surprising to see so many dnf's with Kays bike if it's a stock one. This weekend twice, at France even before the start with the bike not running, and i think he had more.
Vlaanderen x SR Honda - Done deal!
Garcia had a two years deal with Bud Racing, and there was only one seat by KRT Kawasaki (2026 MX2 world championship).
The Shop
DeCal Works Huge Plastic Inventory of UFO and Polisport kits.
Luxon 4-Post Bar Mounts
$189.95 - $239.95
If they thought it was a good idea, they would have come to an agreement.
But Valin has stalled out a bit, maybe Garcia will light a torch under him.
Who fills the second seat at BUD
I will ask Tim Chambers what the deal is with Valk for next year at Duns and see what Doensen and Oliver are going to be doing, Simpson's Team is a tight unit, rumours of Mikula going there , but Osicka seems a well funded effort, they just got a Fishbowl, so someone there has money, and they ran the 2028 prototype at Foxhill i think.
And today it seems Yamaha have pushed the boat out to try to retain the Reisulis boys as well.
At this rate , both Ducati and Honda are going to be short of MX2 talent unless they dig deep.
And talk from Lewis, sounds like Laengerfelder may stay in MX2 if he doesnt win again,with Sasha going to the US , they need a top line rider for 27.
Mikula to Gariboldi Honda for 2027.
Now that is a bold move, and a good one for him, if it comes off, both Lata and Zanchi didnt do well there, or at least as well as they needed too.
Money wise probably a good move, bike wise not the best in my opinion.
At what point in your career do you turn down HRC?
I am not saying you are wrong, by the way, the 250 program hasnt delivered a moto win in as long as i can remember. I guess since Gajser.
But it has to at some point .
I understand the level in MX2 is high and that Zanocz cannot fight the top riders. But Zanocz is battling guys like Collmer, Kees, etc who he was beating massively in EMX250. Imo that isnt because the level in MX2 is that high, but because he is having other issues and is far from his level from last year.
Talk in the paddock about Zanocz is also that he isnt putting in the effort now that he is living by himself. Not saying its true but that could explain his issues.
Vlaanderen won a GP in MX2 for HRC in 2018. I think he is the last one?
Zanchi won a moto in the mud in Spain if I recall correctly
That’s correct indeed!
HRC is top level, but is that also the case for the MX2 side and not only the MXGP heavy hitters?
I think he’s doing really good at the moment with the Osicka KTM team, not sure if the HRC bike will be better then that.
If you're serious about your Valin comment, you need to take a look at this... https://results.mxgp.com/mxgp/standings.aspx
I did a quick google search for Honda MX2 victories and came up blank bar for Gajser.
I though Vlaanderen won a GP, but didnt win a Moto doing it, and the GP that Zanchi won , i tried to erase from my memory as one of the worst GP's ever LOL.
Either way, the 250 program has been underwhelming for sometime, it needs to be a place where riders can go and win.
I believe Zanocz is working with Smets for the training part of his program...
I dont know what you are thinking that shows .
If you are looking at the 2026 standings , he has 2 qualy race wins and one Moto win, and he didnt get those till round 5.
He is better than the results show, maybe, but i expected a bit more in his second year.
Another case of where domination of EMX doesnt automatically lead to MX2 success.
But i dont see a better pairing to be on that bike . He wont be happy if Garcia comes in and beats him, and i think that is a real possibility
Pit Row
It's showing that he was on the podium six times from 10 races and had two qualifying race wins before he got injured. Not exactly 'stalling out'. Until his injury he was considerably better than last year.
Valin was dealing with an injury the first few rounds of the 2026 world championship. But he talked about it only when the issue was over...
Ok, well lets say that for a runaway winner in EMX, his first year in MX2 was less impressive than expected.
And while he has been better, that improvement has been 'helped' by the fact that Langenfelder, Everts and McClellan all went through a bit of a flunk for a few rounds, his win in Germany was maybe the level i expected earlier, speed wise.
And now he is out hurt, i guess he will take a while to get back to speed. I guess that he has appeared to be either 'on' or 'off' on any given weekend, a bit like McClellan.
He still has a lot of time though, and Kawasaki need long term prospects.
i strongly disagree. Before he got injured Valin was 6th in points, after 9 GPs, just 20 points from McLellan in 3rd. Including a GP win and another 2 qualifying wins. To me he look exactly on the upward trajectory to battle for more GPs this season and even more in 2027.
Ah , ok then, i did not know that at the time, and so that means he expected to be better too, and the injury was holding him back.
But he hadnt been as good as i thought, and it turns out he was also carrying an injury too, which wasnt known till after.
He was a lot better at the point he got hurt, i cant disagree with that.
It sounds like he expected more, but the injury didnt help.
Absolutely agree. You don't turn down HR-fekkin-C contract. Even in MX2. Yes, KTM has suited Mikula on various occassions, Triumph might be on stronger pace now... but to show his potential and prove this year isn't a fluke, Honda might be the right thing at the right time.
Afaik there never was a czech rider in factory HRC team in any motorsport.
P.S. I do not think that mx2 hrc salary might be something huge...
So I may have missed it with the Febvre talk of in/out, Jonass going, and Farres potentially in but then not….but where are we at now with KRT for 2027? Surely it doesn’t move to 2xMX2 and 1xMXGP? But needing at least one winner in MXGP, who do Kawi hire?
Who is good enough to lead that team ?
There are 4 guys in the class who are guaranteed winners , Herlings, Coenen, Febvre and Gajser.
With Coenen going, KdW becomes the 4th man, and that leaves KTM and Kawasaki chasing a guy that doesnt exist.
If the salary is that low, then I wouldn’t chose for the HRC MX2 spot. I think he’s on better equipment at the moment to be honest.
When HRC come, you cant stay on a private team and miss your window, no matter how well funded they appear.
I am surprised that Lata gets the KTM spot over him , to be honest.
Italian connection.
Post a reply to: MXGP Rumours/Silly season