Tommy Searle fills in for Kawasaki Racing Team
Unfortunately, the MXGP infirmary has been well filled in recent weeks. The Kawasaki teams in particular were hit hard. After Clément Desalle, Kawasaki Racing Team in Teutschenthal watched with dismay as Julien Lieber also dropped out for a longer ride. Tommy Searle will join the factory Kawasaki team until the end of the season!
Clément Desalle, Evgeny Bobryshev, Alessandro Lupino and last weekend Julien Lieber was added to the list of injured KX riders. To help Kawasaki to be as strong as possible in the second part of the season, BOS GP has agreed to the move of Tommy Searle to the official Kawasaki Racing Team.
The ex-vice world champion MX2 will start his substitute role in Loket at the end of July. In the British Championship, where Tommy is in the lead, he will finish the season on BOS Kawasaki.
Tommy Searle: “I am of course very happy with this opportunity to ride for Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team and I would like to thank everyone involved for their support. We will work hard together in the coming weeks to prepare for the Czech GP. In the British Championship we will of course aim to give Kawasaki and BOS the title!”
Steve Guttridge (Kawasaki Europe Racing Manager): “We started the season with six super competitive riders on Kawasaki bikes in the MXGP class, but unfortunately only one remains after Germany. Motocross is a tough sport! The BOS team just switched to Kawasaki this season and they have worked very hard to perform. Tommy has been able to provide good feedback regarding the development of their racing engine and in particular the BOS suspension, which is the main reason for BOS to participate in the World Championship. Proof that Searle feels good on the bike is his current leading position in the British Championship series. However, KHI (Kawasaki Heavy Industries, the parent company of Kawasaki motorcycles, ed.) asked the factory team to provide further feedback from the MXGP races to continue developing the KX450 production bike. With both Clément and Julien now injured, we decided that Tommy would move to KRT for the remainder of this season. But not immediately, because we think he should be given time to get used to the factory engine first. So the goal is for KRT and Tommy to start together in the Czech MXGP. I would like to sincerely thank Olivier Bossard and Jean Jacques Luisetti for their collaboration and I wish the BOS team all the best with their replacement drivers.”
François Lemariey (manager of Monster Energy KRT Team): “It's great to see how all parties involved have made this possible. Julien Lieber underwent successful surgery on his arm last Monday. He is now recovering but we know that both Clément and Julien will need time before they can return. Tommy spent most of his GP career with Kawasaki and we are happy to welcome him to the team. Several test sessions have already been planned, so that we can properly prepare together for the MXGP of the Czech Republic. It was impossible to go to Indonesia because the crates had to be delivered earlier this week and we want Tommy to thoroughly test the bike before he starts with us in the GPs.”
Olivier Bossard (BOS GP owner): “When I saw Julien Lieber's crash in Germany last weekend, I immediately understood that Tommy would move to the Factory team. It is a difficult decision for BOS GP, because Evgeny is also injured, but we are close to a deal with another rider who performed well in the World Championship last year. Tommy has achieved some good results with us in the MXGP and we are very happy to continue our partnership with him in the British Championship. This is important for both BOS and Kawasaki, so we will provide him with all the necessary support until the end of this championship. ”
Also to read
VIDEO: Highlights MXGP Portugal 2024
After a two-week break, the FIM MXGP-MX2 World Championship continued in Portugal. The normally sunny south was treated to lots of water this weekend! Liam Everts made very…MXGP Portugal: Pauls Jonass takes overall victory, Herlings wins the second series
The hard-fought MXGP of Portugal is one for the books because the rain that fell this weekend had turned Agueda into a mud puddle. Pauls Jonass was surprisingly able to…MX2 Portugal: Dominant Liam Everts takes the full spoils in the mud
Liam Everts has won the brutal Grand Prix of Portugal with a double series victory. In Agueda a heavily muddy circuit was thrown under the wheels and the race was…Tim Gajser beats Pauls Jonass in apocalyptic first MXGP series
In a gray and wet Agueda, Tim Gajser has just won the first series of the MXGP class. He trumped Pauls Jonass for the win. Jeffrey Herlings fought a heroic…
Your reactions