Jorge Prado preps for A1 – almost time for Kawasaki debut!

After taking a week off following a crash that left Jorge Prado’s head ringing, the Spaniard, thankfully, had no major injuries and is back on track preparing for his Kawasaki debut at Anaheim one in two weeks time.

Prado has of course raced A1 before, last year, in what was his first ever supercross race, but that was a test run, this is the real deal. Prado has a three year contract with Kawasaki and has made the move permanently to the USA to chase his dream, the reality starts now as he starts the process to win an AMA title to go alongside his four FIM World motocross championships.

Prado is a thinker, a precision rider and non-risk taker but when he figures the bike, the tracks and supercross out, his talent is on the level of Jett Lawrence. Unfortunately for Prado, he is five years behind Jett on Supercross experience.

Avoiding injury and progressing will be the name of the game this season but he has a fast teammate to ride with who has won a supercross title and can still win races in Jason Anderson, he has a team who have won titles, he says he loves the bike, so now it is over to Jorge Prado to see just how quickly he can figure this Supercross game out so he can show America his immense talent and potential indoors and out.

America are in for a technical treat with Jett Lawrence and Jorge Prado on the gate together for the next few years. No one rides a bike more perfectly than those two!

Chase Sexton in the whoops – ready to win?

Chase Sexton is feeling a lot more confident coming into his second season on the KTM and, part of the reason is spending more time testing in Florida than California.

Interestingly, Sexton is now based full-time at the Bakers factory (he used the Motosandbox facility at times last year too) but he and Tom Vialle do their own program on site!

Sexton said at the SMX press conference: “This year I am solely at the Bakers factory doing my own program. The tracks are awesome there, the first is good. I got my own little home there, me and Tom, just been training there. I came out here (California) for a few days to do this stuff and the team photo shoot but otherwise I will be back in Florida doing my thing.

“Last year I was in California for a big stint of my off-season which I don’t like. I don’t think the testing or riding is as good out here so being back in Florida… I think that way has got me to a point this year where I feel better. Knowing the dirt, adapting to that and getting more flow on that kind of track is better for my riding and I think that is going to be a key for me this year.“

Expect Sexton to come in with a point to prove this year and with much more confidence at A1 in 2025 than he had in 2024… But with the KTM company issues, Sexton will have to block out a different form of outside noise that most of his other title rivals won’t have to deal with, even if it may not directly affect his future.

Review 2024 MXGP

GRAHAM JARVIS... The Legend of Hard Enduro

Lewis Hamilton to Save KTM!? F1 Legend Eyes Strategic Investment!

By DirtbikeLoverDecember 27, 2024

Pit Beirer has confirmed that Lewis Hamilton, widely regarded as one of the greatest F1 drivers in history, is among several parties expressing interest in investing in KTM. The company is currently grappling with severe financial challenges, including debts reportedly nearing three billion euros, and has entered self-administration as it fights for survival.

Hamilton, a passionate MotoGP fan, has previously demonstrated his love for the sport by riding Valentino Rossi’s Yamaha MotoGP bike. With Liberty Media, the owners of F1, soon to take over MotoGP, the crossover appeal for Hamilton’s involvement seems natural and logical.

Speaking to the German publication Speedweek, Beirer described the discussions as “concrete.” The potential investment from high-profile figures like Hamilton brings renewed hope for KTM’s revival.

Beirer emphasized the need for the MotoGP team to become self-sustaining, explaining, “Given the pressure the company is currently under, we had to explore ways to restructure. This would require significant organizational changes, including making the entire road racing program independently managed. We’re encouraged by the strong interest from investors, which gives us optimism.”

Beirer also commented on Hamilton’s potential involvement: “We’ve had very interesting discussions with his management. It’s no secret that Lewis Hamilton has a strong interest in MotoGP and is even considering having his own team. These discussions are very concrete.”

If the deal comes to fruition, perhaps Hamilton could take on the iconic Lommel track alongside MXGP legend Jeffrey Herlings to experience the intensity of motocross firsthand. Such a moment would undoubtedly draw mainstream attention to the sport and the KTM brand.

Hamilton’s previous ride on Valentino Rossi’s MotoGP machine generated massive exposure, with 7 million views on Sky Sports’ YouTube channel and 7.8 million on F1’s YouTube channel, showcasing the incredible reach he brings to the table!

MXGP Star Races CR500 for the FIRST Time!

MXVice.com

We think this is the best big bore 500cc 2 Stroke motocross race of the modern era...watch let us know if you agree! Former MXGP star - and racer for both factory Kawsaki and Factory Suzuki - Clement Desalle arrived at the Farleigh Castle Vets MX event having never raced a Honda CR500 before, so naturally he hopped on board Big Red and went out for the race of his life against the British bulldog Brad Anderson. This race is an extract from a longer documentary that we released earlier this year, but this moto in particular was just so good, so titanic, that we thought it deserved it's own individual release. It's by far the best 10 minutes of motocross racing that we filmed this year. Just epic in every way! Enjoy guys :-)

Chance Hymas Returns!

Pocatello native Chance Hymas bounces back from serious injury to continue pro motocross racing career

Inside a packed stadium, motocross racers line up. A buzzer sounds and several dozen racers shoot out of the gates, engines roaring, as the crowd cheers.

For 19-year-old Chance Hymas, the race is more than just fun. It’s a job, the culmination of years of hard work. It’s also extremely stressful. To stay ahead, racers have to think fast and improvise if their path is cut off.

“I have a handful of things I focus on, like my breathing, hitting my marks,” Hymas said. “Repetition is always good.”

Hymas was born in Pocatello. His parents own Pocatello Powersports, a motorcycle dealership, so he grew up racing dirt bikes with his two older brothers. Around age 12, he started racing motocross. After initial success as an amateur, he transitioned to professional motocross in 2022, signing with the Honda HRC Progressive team. However, the jump to professional racing came with challenges.

“My first (professional) race at the end of 2022, I didn’t really think I would’ve been that far back,” Hymas said.

In June 2023, Hymas tore the ACL in his left leg. After a five-month recovery, he began riding again, but he crashed and tore the same ligament in September, in the first round of the 2024 SuperMotocross series.

He was flown to Nashville, Tennessee, and underwent surgery. Afterward, he required months of physical therapy and moved to Los Angeles to work with a physical therapist.

“I basically lived just outside LA for two and a half months doing therapy down there,” Hymas said, noting he often spent four hours a day, six days a week with his therapist.

Hymas is now healthy and training for the next season. He moved to Florida where he practices alongside the Australian racing brothers Hunter and Jett Lawrence, who also race for Honda HRC.

Hymas said most racers rarely get to see their competitors outside of the race.

“What’s kind of different about our sport is everyone’s pretty secret about what everyone does,” Hymas said.

While racers train constantly, they are typically allotted just three practice rounds on a circuit before they race. One round is untimed. The first and second qualifying rounds are timed and help determine what gate a racer will start from.

“At our level, everyone’s so close in speed and skill that you have to find little bits here and there, 1% advantages,” Hymas said.

With his injury behind him, he is looking forward to racing again.

“From my standpoint, I’ve sacrificed a lot.… I’ve put my whole life into this,” Hymas said.

While he finished fourth in the Motocross 250 class in the 2024 season, he is committed to going further.

“I would love to get a championship under my belt,” Hymas said. “It’s honestly the only thing that’s going to satisfy me.”

2025 Race Season Starts Soon!

Roger will be there involved as ever. Stay tuned for Supercross

MX43 Says Merry Christmas!

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas. Enjoy some quiet downtime and get the bikes ready to ride. Make sure your TV works...Supercross starts soon.

KTM Comes Up Short for Christmas!

KTM Is Unable To Pay Salaries and Christmas Bonuses To Its Employees. 

The situation just went from bad to a whole lot worse, and some 3,600 employees are in for a blue Christmas.

By: Enrico Punsalang

Dec 17, at 6:55am ET

KTM has found itself in a pretty rough place in recent weeks, with the company recently filing for insolvency. The brand somehow found itself 2.9 billion euros (around 3.03 billion USD) in debt, and obviously, this is by no means a good thing. Now, leading up to the announcement, there were quite a few telltale signs that things were looking bad for Team Orange.

For starters, KTM announced a “temporary closure” of its manufacturing facilities for two months in 2025 starting from January going through February. The decision was said to affect around 1,000 employees, who were told that they would not need to report to work once 2025 rolled around. All this came hot on the heels of some very poor sales figures and a massive drop in revenue.

With all that being said, it seems that KTM’s problems just keep getting worse, as now, less than two weeks away from Christmas, the company has apparently announced that it will not be able to pay its employees’ December salaries before Christmas.

Prior to the announcement, KTM promised that it would transfer 90 percent of December’s salaries to the employees. But now, for whatever reason, this will not happen. And so, more than 3,600 employees will celebrate Christmas feeling short-changed, possibly without enough food on the table, and with a gut-wrenching feeling of uncertainty.

It’s bad enough that KTM seems to be going under, but it’s even worse now that it seems as though they can’t be held to their word. Even the President of the Upper Austrian Chamber of Labor,

Andreas Stangl, was quick to condemn KTM’s actions, insinuating that the once-shining Austrian manufacturer is no longer worthy of trust. 

"The November salaries, as well as the Christmas bonuses, were not paid. And now, even before Christmas, this news! There is simply no quality in the handshake between KTM’s management. We, as the Chamber of Labor, will decisively do everything we can to ensure that the employees receive the amounts claimed from the insolvency fund as soon as possible.” - Andreas Stangl, President of the Upper Austrian Chamber of Labor

Meanwhile, Mattighofen mayor Daniel Lang described the situation as “devastating,” and the trade unions GPA and PRO-GE are also concerned, as they should be.

In a joint statement, the unions said: “The employees are now paying the price for obviously wrong management decisions. It will certainly be necessary to examine how such a dramatic situation could have happened and who is responsible for it. We will now do everything we can to ensure that the employees quickly receive what they claim from the insolvency fund, and we will support them during these difficult days and weeks.”

As for the thousands of unpaid workers, well, KTM says that although it won’t be able to transfer the salaries before Christmas, it will do so at the end of the month, as has been common practice in the past. A lack of liquidity on the part of the company has been cited as the cause for delayed payments for now.

As shitty as the situation is at the moment, I can’t help but hope that KTM seriously gets its act together. This whole debacle has become so much bigger than we anticipated, and it sucks that so many workers and employees will have to pay the price for the poor decision making skills of upper management. Let’s hope that KTM at the very least makes good on its promise of paying its workers its wages—at least before the year draws to a close.