Just read some interesting stuff, dont know if anyone else has heard but:
As reported over the weekend, the silly season is in full swing. Andrew McFarlane to Yamaha UK on a 250F, Mickael Maschio to stay and ride Kawa´s new little four-stroke, Johnny Aubert to America. Mike Brown a possibility at CAS Honda.
KTM´s MX2 factory riders are certainly de Reuver, Ben Townley and Rattray. The orange MX1 team will be Steve Ramon and probably Kenneth Gundersen. Joel Smets´ name is often mentioned in conjunction with Aprilia, but would the Austrians really let that happen? Talks with Honda never went very far - they say.
Yamaha Rinaldi is set with Stefan Everts and Cedric Melotte, Suzuki will be Mickael Pichon and Kevin Strijbos. CAS is confirmed with Josh Coppins and Yoshi Atsuta.
Kawasaki will probably not have a competitive 450F early on and does loose both its MXGP riders. Claudio Federici will move down, too, and be on a Yamaha 250F. Looks like Suzuki will not field a MX2 factory rider due to budget limitations.
Eggens, Alessio Chiodi, Stephen Sword, Andrea Bartolini, James Dobb and Gordon Crockard had not signed on any dotted line as of Sunday night. Javier Garcia Vico and Yves Demaria could ride for KTM in the 650 class (or whatever the name will be). Will they want that?
Still the details of the championship have to be determined, but it is going to run alongside the 125 European Champs. That´ll mean four motos, unlimited entries, 10-12 rounds. An agreement between Youthstream and the UEM will be signed shortly.
Giuseppe Luongo and his staff will come to Gaildorf. Afterwards, an update on the state of next year´s World Championship will become available. As Youthstream keeps targetting towards 16 rounds, the framework remains: 32-40 riders in MX1, 50 riders in MX2, four motos on Sunday afternoon, qualifying motos on Saturday in MX2.
As reported over the weekend, the silly season is in full swing. Andrew McFarlane to Yamaha UK on a 250F, Mickael Maschio to stay and ride Kawa´s new little four-stroke, Johnny Aubert to America. Mike Brown a possibility at CAS Honda.
KTM´s MX2 factory riders are certainly de Reuver, Ben Townley and Rattray. The orange MX1 team will be Steve Ramon and probably Kenneth Gundersen. Joel Smets´ name is often mentioned in conjunction with Aprilia, but would the Austrians really let that happen? Talks with Honda never went very far - they say.
Yamaha Rinaldi is set with Stefan Everts and Cedric Melotte, Suzuki will be Mickael Pichon and Kevin Strijbos. CAS is confirmed with Josh Coppins and Yoshi Atsuta.
Kawasaki will probably not have a competitive 450F early on and does loose both its MXGP riders. Claudio Federici will move down, too, and be on a Yamaha 250F. Looks like Suzuki will not field a MX2 factory rider due to budget limitations.
Eggens, Alessio Chiodi, Stephen Sword, Andrea Bartolini, James Dobb and Gordon Crockard had not signed on any dotted line as of Sunday night. Javier Garcia Vico and Yves Demaria could ride for KTM in the 650 class (or whatever the name will be). Will they want that?
Still the details of the championship have to be determined, but it is going to run alongside the 125 European Champs. That´ll mean four motos, unlimited entries, 10-12 rounds. An agreement between Youthstream and the UEM will be signed shortly.
Giuseppe Luongo and his staff will come to Gaildorf. Afterwards, an update on the state of next year´s World Championship will become available. As Youthstream keeps targetting towards 16 rounds, the framework remains: 32-40 riders in MX1, 50 riders in MX2, four motos on Sunday afternoon, qualifying motos on Saturday in MX2.
