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Van Venroy KTM
Old PR
BUD isn't the team that will hold him against his will in the EMX250 class while he can sign a SMX Future deal or Australian deal and get back together with his family.
Question: is there an other deal waiting for him! He showed some speed in Southwick...
Billy Askew announces split from Dirt Store Triumph, i expect Maddii Honda announcement soon.
The Shop
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DeCal Works Huge Plastic Inventory of UFO and Polisport kits.
https://www.vitalmx.com/features/taking-action-yamaha-confronts-mxgp-reality
Once again, a great article by Lewis.
I think it describes the issue at Yamaha currently, which can also be applied to some teams in the USA. They’d rather not win if it is not their idea, instead of winning with idea’s of others. The power of Rinaldi within Europe is for some reason bigger then some other obvious improvements.
I think that both Wilvo and KEMEA ran their program well. In Wilvo’s case, they never had a Herlings, Prado, Cairoli or Gajser. Febvre had initial success on the Yamaha, but was plagued by injuries the following years. With all respect to Seewer, Paulin, Coldenhoff and others, these 5 riders were needed to win championships.
KEMEA had the tools (and money) to develop beyond Rinaldi and the European limitations, just as they did with offering Geerts a Star racing package, but seems like corporate interest was more important then that? I don’t know the exact details and I wonder if the public would know it all, but overall it seems like that is the case here
You also have to acknowledge that Yamaha has made some serious mistakes over the past 15 years. Take Tim (Standing Construct), for example. Yamaha ended that relationship, despite Standing Construct getting better performance out of its bikes than the official KEMEA Yamaha team. They also parted ways with Louis Vosters, the former owner of Wilvo and now a full-time team owner and manager, because he was unhappy with the bikes coming out of Italy and was carrying out too much development work independently. Gave some riders the Star package.
When you look at those decisions and then see how Yamaha practically puts Bobby Regan on a pedestal for the work he does developing their bikes in the US, I honestly struggle to understand the logic behind it all!
Also I’ve heard a rumor, although I can’t verify how accurate it is, that the costs Wim Hutten incurred running the official Rinaldi MX2 factory engines last year may have been higher than what he invested this year in developing a race engine with Frank Grolleman. If there’s any truth to that, it would certainly put things into perspective to how bad and how untrustworthy that Rinaldi engine was!
If they would've worked together with Tim (Standing), Louis Vosters and Hans (KEMEA) they could've developed bikes with some of the best in the business because Tim (Frank Grolleman, Wim Van Hoof [Now HRC Honda USA]) and Louis where, and Louis still is, always on the look out for high skilled people. It is also sad that they kept KEMEA for this long, just because Hans was the most obedient from them all, he used the engines that they delivered, he paid the bills and was happy to be a part of the paddock. He hasn't the desire to hire the best technical whizzes like Tim or Louis and show that he can build a rocket ship from every bike. The only thing Yamaha can really hold against Hans is that he had discussions with Suzuki last season, just like many other team owners did. Suzuki was simply exploring what it would take to enter the Grand Prix paddock, how much it would cost, and which team owners might be interested in getting involved. But at the moment they didn't signed off on a new factory team...
And just to round things off, there’s another interesting story from 2025. Isak Gifting reportedly got the opportunity to test the factory Yamaha when KEMEA Yamaha was dealing with several injured riders and he had shown flashes of brilliance. According to the rumor, after testing the bike, he felt his own machine was more stable and that its engine was already on par with the factory version.
As the story goes, Gifting ultimately declined the chance to step in as a substitute for those GPs, meaning he also passed up the factory bonuses he could have earned during those races. I can’t verify the details, but if accurate, it certainly raises some interesting questions about the actual performance gap between the Yamaha factory bikes and the machinery run by the satellite teams...
A similar story has been circulating about Tim Gajser. Apparently, he secretly tested a production-based bike while still under contract, which is not unheard of in this paddock. The rumor goes that, when he first tested the factory bike, he even wondered whether they had forgotten to fit the race engine because he could barely feel a difference.
Tim Mathys not only got F'ed by Yamaha, other brands (KTM group, Honda, Suzuki) their mismanagement and corporate descisions were the main reasons he stepped away from this sport with his team. He individually now sponsors riders, but the paddock misses his view on development and team management. A fellow friend of mine worked for him as a contractor (mechanic) for a year and he was amazed by the professionalism and amount of respect he got for the hard work he did prior,- during,- and after the season. Every time he send his monthly invoice, it was paid within minutes. Something unheard of within most teams in the industry. The same friend of mine worked for Hans Corvers the past year (not within the KEMEA team, but for a rider he sponsors individually). Hans works the same way. Invoice send, paid within minutes and a great deal of respect for his staff. I think that shows how much these guys are/were invested into this sport. It also shows that the money is available, which is needed for a financially healthy team to run.
Anyways. Tim Mathys has an eye for talented mechanics. His Standing Construct KTM's in 2013 were rocketships. These same rocketships were made by Frank Grolleman, the man that now developed the Hutten Yamaha 250's for the 2026 season.
So yes, I agree that Yamaha made some serious mistakes the last few years. If you manage to quit collaboration with Tim Mathys, Louis Vosters, Wim Hutten and Hans Corvers, then maybe you should look yourself in the mirror and ask yourself which mindset you have to have to win in these series.
Chronicle of an announced departure: Rick Elzinga to race in the Australian ProMX Championship for Penrite Racing Empire Kawasaki.
Gonna be interesting to see his level in Australia, he should be able to be a top-5 rider right?
I don't remember any european rider who has run the entire australian motocross championship before...
🤔
Tonkov went over after his visa issues when he could not comeback to MXGP.
Believe even the same team as he rode a Kawi to.
From my memory things didnt go really when and didnt even finish te season. But at that point i dont know how much he was still really into it.
I believe the team said this is all new to them, bringing a guy over from Europe. So i dont think so.
Billy Mackenzie did at least a full season in Australia if not more,quite a few years ago now
As I recall, he became more interested in the ' Beach Lifestyle ', and building decidedly uninspiring Custom Motorcycles than racing while he was here.
You're right!
It ended with an horrendous crash, if I remember well...
I had no memories about that.
I don’t think he’ll run with Beaton or Webster, but yeah top five should be very doable.
Pit Row
Hasn’t been too many since Swede Pelle Granquist cleaned up in the late 70s.
I remember reading an article about all that. The "custom" work seemed to be pretty much hacking bits off old bikes till they ended up looking like something that'd been raided for parts.
I think he’d already left Australia & the crash happened back in Russia.
Did Brad Anderson not also raced the Aussie MX series on year?
And Flockhart before him
Rick clearly has the speed and talent to do so, but staying healthy and fit for a whole season is clearly a thing for him.
Wish him all the best down under and Hopefully he can make a nice career and living out there is Aussie.
Elzinga is going prep in the US for the Aussie season.
Is forum member Brent helping him on that side?
I guess Brent will join in on this topic pretty soon!
Did Billy Macenzie not do a few seasons there too?
The statement ' they would rather lose than win with something that wasnt their idea' is one i have trotted out for 10 years on here.
@LewisPhillips , you owe me a pint LOL.
That's right. My mistake...
Billy Macenzie did a few seasons here I think for CDR
And I remember Brad Anderson being here for for yarrive when it was Carlton dry Honda must of been around 2012, remember riding with him at barrabool
Haha, I've read it quite a few times on this forum indeed
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