HRC’s factory Honda World Motocross team, one of the best-supported crews with the most exotic motorcycles in the gate of the premier MXGP class of the FIM Motocross World Championship, will stick with two riders for the 2015 campaign.
General Manager Roger Harvey confirmed that in spite of the injury misfortune to both Evgeny Bobryshev and Max Nagl that the Italian/Japanese set-up will not consider a third rider next year and are looking to get 17-year-old hotshot Tim Gajser confirmed for another MX2 term with the Gariboldi squad.
While the numbers are set for HRC, the saddles of the CRF450Rs are by no means taken. Rumours have started to circulate that Honda have made a big offer to lure Gautier Paulin back to the team with whom he made his Grand Prix breakthrough in 2007. Places at Honda will be two of the most sought after this summer with Arnaud Tonus also heavily linked.
“We have started looking and we’ve started negotiations,” commented Harvey. “There is no set plan for a rider and no set plan to release Bobby or Max. We are looking at all options and that includes our current riders. The plan is just a two man team.”
“We are talking to riders and rider managers,” he confirmed. Harvey also remarked that Honda are unlikely to use a substitute racer for Nagl while he recovers from a broken wrist and is eying a return to action at the Grand Prix of Italy in mid-June; one week before his home GP at Teutschenthal.
The Briton also dismissed the idea of conscripting an athlete for a fill-in or testing role as back-up for 2015. “There are not that many riders of the ilk that we require that you can take on,” he explained. “It is not like road race where you can take a good runner from a national superbike series one week and he could potentially challenge in the top 10. In motocross it is a no-no. Nobody is going to accept a deal where they cannot race most of the year and just focus on testing. You just have to hope for an injury-free year.”
