MXGP Insider No.34: End Of The Season

Transmoto’s weekly web-exclusive column, the MXGP Insider, penned by David Bulmer, presented by KTM Australia. 

For the majority of GP riders, that’s it for the year now. There are a few who will compete in a beach race or two and Tim Gajser will go over to Japan for a national motocross race there, but essentially the top tier guys will be taking a break from racing. It’s actually quite interesting following their Instagram feeds to see exactly what these riders do when they don’t have to worry about motocross training or races – the difference between the younger guys who are still busting out laps compared to the older guys who are relaxing now, enjoying the fruits of their labour.

For instance, Davy Pootjes is pumped to be back riding again after his short injury lay-off, Calvin Vlaanderen is also making up for lost time after an injury hit 2015 season by hitting up the practice tracks, while on the flip side Antonio Cairoli has been to Las Vegas celebrating his birthday and is now preparing for his party/car rally race in Sicily later this month.

You also have the team changers like Clement Desalle who has moved to the factory Kawasaki awning and Aleksandr Tonkov who is confirmed on board the Standing Construct Yamaha for 2016. Both of these guys should do really well next year and are potential title challengers in their respective classes, should they gel with their new machines. Kawasaki certainly need a shot in the arm after what was a terrible year for them on both sides of the Atlantic.

Honestly, I thought there would be more press releases regarding these switches but it seems contracts don’t run out on October 1 like they used to and instead we’re waiting for the official word on a number of guys like Max Anstie, Tommy Searle, Ken de Dycker and a few more.

One guy who finally embraced his new team (although expect the official PR to come at the big EICMA trade show in Milan) is Stefan Everts who was out riding Kevin Strijbos’ Suzuki in the Netherlands this week. I’m not even sure it could be classed as a secret anymore but it looks like we can actually talk about it now without risking the wrath of the Orange Brigade.

Another thing that seems open for debate is what class Jeffrey Herlings will be riding next year. All the smart money pointed to the MX2 class after a horrendous 2015 season which pretty much ran from one injury to the next. His immediate response on social media was to claim he was about to go on a rampage in 2016, beating everyone in the class, like he had done every time he’s previously lined up healthy. However in his latest Facebook posting, he said that he hasn’t actually made up his mind yet and the possibility still remains that he will ride the MXGP class. Honestly, for me and for most fans I’d imagine, it would be great news if he were to step up to the bigger bikes, but really, I just want him to get fully fit and show everyone how good he is on a dirt bike again, whatever the size. It seems far too long since we’ve seen him at his best, and that is a real shame.