The start of the MXGP World Championship season has not gone according to plan for Factory Yamaha.
They came into the season with a very exciting line up in trio, Maxime Renaux, Calvin Vlaanderen and rookie, Jago Geerts. However, Geerts got injured at round one in Argentina breaking his arm.
Renaux has been battling with the foot he injured last year and after racing the first moto in Madrid made the difficult decision to pull out from the GP. He was riding with too much pain and requires another operation.
It means that Calvin Vlaanderen is the only rider the factory team currently have left and he had a solid round in Spain finishing sixth overall in the hard pack. The South African himself didn’t have a full winter preparation.
It means that Factory Yamaha are on the look out for a fill in rider and it’s good news for British fans as we believe that Todd Kellett will be racing a factory Yamaha next weekend at the gnarly Riola Sardo circuit in Sardinia which hosts round three of MXGP.
Kellett has been spotted riding the factory bike at Lommel and at this stage is expected to only contest the one round for the Factory Yamaha squad. Perhaps it is in aid to give the team more time to search for a more permanent fill in rider.
The past few years, Kellett has been focusing on the French beach races so Riola will be perfect conditions for the British rider.
The last time Kellett raced an MXGP event was back in 2021 when the Hostettler Yamaha team drafted him in as a fill in rider to replace the then injured Arnaud Tonus. He finished 24-20 in the moto’s to earn one championship point.
We’ll bring you the news as and when it is official.
Image: Yamaha Racing
