Reaction: Standing Construct Husqvarna to lose factory status

Jonathan McCready: This news was a HUGE shock. Both Pauls Jonass and Brian Bogers have had strong seasons so far showing great pace and, with KTM not having a rider, and Jorge Prado the only rider until recently in the premier class on Gas Gas and missing a round with injury, it was the Standing Construct riders that kept the KTM group’s flag flying high and more importantly extracting the full potential out of Pauls Jonass and especially Brian Bogers, who has arguably been having the best year of his career.

For the whole team this has to be a massive blow in terms of morale, these guys have worked hard over the years with Tim Mathys putting in a serious amount of time and no doubt money to get his squad at the level to win Grand Prix races at the highlest level. Tim has a way of getting the most of of the riders he works for, as we are seeing in this year and of course we saw it previously with Glenn Coldenhoff, this is a guy, if I was a manufacterer, I would want to run a GP team.

For the series as well it’s a blow as top teams are needed, especially in this economic climate to give deserving riders a chance to show their potential in MXGP in a field stacked with talent. This class needs as many factory bikes or well supported private teams out there as possible so all the riders have the foundation to reach their potential in such a competitive class. If we start losing top riders because there are not enough top teams to hire them, it will not be good for the level in MXGP going forward. Pauls Jonass and Brian Bogers, despite strong seasons, have been left in a precarious situation out of the blue.

Andy McKinstry: Really bad news and awful news for the sport we love so much. We need as many factory bikes on the line as possible and then backed up by a good number of privateer riders. With Husqvarna now confirming they won’t be backing Standing Construct for the 2023 season due to finances it looks very unlikely at this moment in time we’ll see a Factory Husqvarna team in MXGP (they should still be present in MX2) which is not good, to say the least.

Tim Mathys runs one of the best teams in the paddock, if not the best… The amount of riders he has improved is quite an impressive record. You can argue the likes of Julien Lieber, Aleksandr Tonkov, Valentin Guillod had the best days of their career with the team and now more lately in the form of Glenn Coldenhoff, Ivo Monticelli, Max Anstie and Brian Bogers. No matter what brand the team have ran they’ve done a superb job – they’ve ran Suzuki, Yamaha, KTM and GasGas machinery as well as Husqvarna.

If I was another brand looking to run an MXGP team, Mathys would be my pick although the likelihood of another manufacture entering the paddock is bleak. Triumph are the most likely but they’re not thought to be entering the paddock until the 2024 season and it’s rumoured that Thierry Chizat Suzzoni who ran the KRT for a number of years is being lined up for that. TM or Suzuki to enter back in MXGP? It’s unlikely but you never know… the best chance for Standing Construct is if a current manufacture offers him factory support for 2023 and beyond – Yamaha, Beta, Kawasaki or Honda? But who knows…

With regards to Brian Bogers and Pauls Jonass, the fact they won’t get their contracts extended is another blow. They are now in the market looking for rides in 2023 and beyond. Both have lots of talent so are very likely to get picked up but especially for Bogers it’s a shame as he was showing the form of his career under the Standing Construct Husqvarna awning.

The last thing from me is that I’m very disappointed in the Austrian’s if they don’t run two MXGP riders next year… let’s hope this isn’t the end of the chapter for them racing at the highest level of the sport…

Images: InFront Moto Racing