With the 2024 season drawing to a close, the MXGP paddock is in full swing. While the ink has already dried on many of the contracts binding teams and riders, a handful are still undecided as to which colours they’ll be wearing in 2025. For others, the future is already assured, and the next winter period will be – as usual – packed with announcements of all kinds. One of these announcements will concern the Dutch team, Riley Racing.
Riley Racing, managed by Olaf Haazen, has seen the likes of Brent Van Doninck, Joel Rizzi, Cornelius Toendel, Hakon Fredriksen and Tim Edberg evolve under its colors in recent seasons, before the team took a break in 2024. According to our information, Riley Racing will resume its activities next season, in the MX2 World Championship.
Kawasaki is getting back into the MX2 swing of things in 2025, taking over it’s official program in the class with KRT Kawasaki, starting with Mathis Valin. It is believed that Kawasaki – via Kawasaki Holland/KMEU – will also support the Riley Racing team with a so-called “satellite” contract to extend its strength in the MX2 World Championship. This collaboration between Kawasaki and Riley Racing is said to be the result of the close ties forged between Kawasaki and… Jean-Jacques Luisetti!
Former boss of CLS Kawasaki, Jean-Jacques had stopped his activity in the MX2 World Championship following the discontinuation of the Factory program initiated by the Japanese at the time. Manager of the BOS GP Kawasaki team in 2019 – with Tommy Searle and Evgeny Borbryshev – for which he had already obtained a contract via Kawasaki Europe, Jean-Jacques Luisetti – in parallel – continued to do it’s share for the Kawasaki business on the continent by managing – with his son Steven and his brother Gael – the brand’s two biggest – and successively – European dealerships namely Floride Moto, then Kawasaki JSL83 in Toulon.
The word on the street is that Jean-Jacques Luisetti’s passion for racing has never left him, and it still runs in his veins. It is thought that the ex-manager of the Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team MX2 will be involved in the World Championship again next year, although his role is not yet fully defined. According to our information, Olaf Haazen – owner of Riley Racing – has approached Jean-Jacques Luisetti for the upcoming season – and connections have subsequently been made with Kawasaki, which is expected to provide support via Holland to the team in 2025.
At the instigation of Jean-Jacques Luisetti, Harry Nolte – former technical manager at CLS – would also be in charge of technical matters at Riley Racing, and would be the direct link with Monster Energy Pro Circuit, A man with an arm’s length of experience, as he has worked on both sides of the Atlantic for some of the world’s most renowned riders, including Stefan Everts, Tyla Rattray, Tommy Searle, Joel Roelants, Ben Townley, Christophe Pourcel, Thomas Covington, Dylan Ferrandis, Steven Frossard, Jeremy Van Horebeek, Arnaud Tonus, Alessandro Lupino and Jordi Tixier in his CLS Kawasaki days.
All that remains now is to sign up the riders to race the Riley Racing’s 250 KX-Fs; we should expect to see two riders lining up for them in the MX2 World Championship next year. Tom Guyon is expected to ride for Riley next year, for his final stint in MX2. Tom’s signing with Riley is no coincidence, given the presence of Jean-Jacques Luisetti and Harry Nolte in the project. As Riley Racing is based in the Netherlands, the second Riley rider is likely to be Dutch.
We will continue to keep you updated.
