MotoGP | 2025 | Silly Season

Kayla has ridden a little bit of everything. I personally think she's very capable of quickly adapting. I spoke for a while with David,and she has time on Kramers,and he even had a pretty sweet Tz 250 squirreled away she rides/rode he was gonna sell,and it was for a sweet price! Never did find out if he sold it,but he did give me an old f3 they had.
It's not even that she's a girl.I have never met anyone as humble as that young lady with that much talent.
Hell,she tried to load the Honda onto my trailer,and I had to stop her.You go sit down! Too talented to be loading bikes out in 90 degree weather! She's never met a stranger!

 

Come on, man. They were here. And even if you weren't around at the time for some reason, your default assumption should be that there were naysayers and people who felt that somebody else "deserved" the ride. You've been here long enough to know that.

Man, according to the forums, the last Americans that the world didn't conspire to fail and send back home were Kurtis and Kenny Roberts Jr. At some point, you have to start wondering about the level of paranoia.

European Moto 2. I think it's not a bad intermediate step between 600 ssp in the U.S. and the world championship. The series has produced a viable contenders such as Aldeguer, Lopez and some others. Hell, didn't Joe Roberts do that? That's one option until there's Moto 2 in the U.S., I think. Send slightly more mature racers into that rather than throwing young kids into the more cutthroat Spanish/Jr world Moto 3 series.

 

100% agreed. This is what I was saying I "would do" if I had the means or a team, etc. I thought American Racing had a JuniorGP Moto2 team before, but I don't believe they do anymore. THAT is what I wish could come together for teams like Rahal. Don't bother with MotoAmerica Superbike and instead get a JuniorGP Moto2 team. You'd have direct experience with the riders and their skill / adaptability / etc. I was saying I don't think there's any American that is ready to take Joe's seat in the GP series, but perhaps Ty Scott, Kayla, etc could try out for a JuniorGP Moto2 spot. That's the best solution for now. If there's younger kids (or their parents reading this), they should try to do everything Moto3 focused in Europe. RBRC, European Talent Cup, Northern Talent Cup, R&B, etc.... with a target of making it to JuniorGP (the Junior GP class) and then to MotoGP's Moto3 class.

 

Actually, I don't know if I would characterize it as paranoia. Bias against American riders has always been a thing. Roberts talked about all sorts of fun and games behind the scenes where people were trying to sabotage him. Let's not forget the joke of a machine that Nicky was given for '07. Totally biased towards Pedrosa. Pretty sure every American that's gone over has experienced this in some form. The bigger question is, plenty of riders overcame those disadvantages in the past, so why can't they do that now? I think honestly, that the days of riding around a bike issue has long past. If they're a picometer off, they can't compete.

 

I was talking about the transition to racing full-time in Europe, the culture, the food, the languages, event prep, media interaction, off-season training, in-season training, bike set-up, weather, track layouts etc.

Not track surfaces...

 

Ah yeah, fair enough. The off-track transition is a very real thing as well.

 

Whispers of MO88 heading to Pramac for Yamaha, that would be cool to see. I'm not a fan of Raul Fernandez, would like Miguel to stay put and help Joe Roberts with the initial big show issues

 

Been watching American Kensei Matsudaira for a few years, and it appears he's taking paths much of you all discussed. Hoping he's one of the next Americans making it to the big show.

 

I’m thinking the guys who went over had to achieve that much domestic success first because of the economics. Getting an American over there is a large hurdle so they have to look REALLY good first. That time they spend becoming hotshots in the US also hurts them because that’s time they’re not spending beating up on the Eurotrash and learning GP machines. Then by the time they make it over they’re already mid to late twenties and they have zero time to recover if they don’t immediately make an impression. Look at Joe Roberts, he went there younger than most of our riders but it’s taken this long for him to break through and he’s *almost* aged out of the Big Show.

Kayla’s biggest advantage is that she’s only 16. I would think if her goal is the Big Show the path she’d have to follow is to do as well as she can domestically and jump over to something like CEV Moto2 as soon as a good deal can be worked out. Then if there’s an anonymous or shitty season she has plenty of time to work it out and recover. Assuming a good ride, 3-4 years in CEV Moto2 before attempting world level GP would be much better than spending the same time progressing domestically.

 

Just a heads up they've ditched the "CEV" championship and promoted it to "JuniorGP" from the start of '22. It's the Spaniards way of making themselves more important. I mean, it's working and they are now, so no hate... just a little interesting.

 

I truly hope they can get a US rider.

 

At this point, you'll most likely be akin to a Japanese fan rooting for Taka....

 

So, if nothing suitable materializes in the WSBK paddock for Gerloff, would he consider Moto2 if an offer was there, or would he rather stay on a superbike in MotoA ?

 

Interesting question...

 

I pondered this and if Joe goes to GP, I could see American racing considering it. Though I think they’d have to recognize it probably doesn’t work towards their goal of getting young American talent into GP. And as much as I hate to say it, I’d rather see Garrett come back here. He struggles too much dicing it up with other racers - the cut throat pack racing of moto2 would eat him alive I’m afraid. But he’d be yet another great addition to bolstering the strength of the MA SBK grid, assuming a ride materializes that doesn’t cannibalize a seat for another really strong rider.

 

I really like JD but if he doesn't come to terms any more than he has so far on the Tytlers BMW (by years-end) you've got to figure that would be a good fit for Gerloff.

 

https://www.motorsport.com/motogp/n...ducing-factory-motogp-bikes-in-2025/10634384/

 

Likely the best outcome for Frankie - he's slowly adapting to the GP24 and getting over his injuries so by seasons end it'll feel like home for him and he won't spend the first 1/4 of next year adapting to yet another new machine. Plus - one could imagine a very small update for the GP 25 after a larger step forward this year and the upcoming R&D budget being diverted to the 850cc era bike instead of throwing the kitchen sink at the currently already dominant bike.