Roan van de Moosdijk signed a deal with factory Fantic for his rookie MXGP World Championship season but the young Dutch talent parted ways with the team without even racing a round of MXGP.
He did race Hawkstone International for the team in February but twisted his knee in the first moto and quickly headed back to the Netherlands to get it checked out but shortly after it was announced he’d parted ways with Fantic.
The following statement was recently posted regarding the split:
“After careful negotiation and consideration, Fantic Racing Team and Van de Moosdijk’s management, mr. Ebert Dollevoet, have reached an agreement that is satisfactory to both parties. As part of this agreement, the parties have decided to end their partnership and Van de Moosdijk will have the freedom to join another team within the MXGP. Van de Moosdijk will continue his professional MXGP career at another team and anticipates announcing his new team affiliation shortly”.
“Both Fantic and Van de Moosdijk are now looking forward to focusing on the future and the success on the track that lies ahead. Therefore, we will not be providing further comments on this matter”.
We might only be two rounds into the MXGP season but there’s already been plenty of injuries with the likes of HRC Honda, Factory Yamaha and JM Honda on the look out for a fill in rider.
We believe that HRC Honda have decided to snap up van de Moosdijk as a fill in rider after Ruben Fernandez recently had surgery on his ACL and will be out of action for a while.
Last season, Tim Gajser got injured and HRC Honda decided not to sign up a fill in rider but there wasn’t a rider of van de Moosdijk’s caliber available. Also, the fact HRC Honda are currently developing the new prototype Honda, it makes sense to have another rider underneath the awning.
Not only will the Dutch rider have one of the best bikes in the MXGP paddock with the prototype 2025 Honda but he’ll also be under the watchful eye of Jacky Vimond who is working with the HRC Honda riders this year – he could really help guide van de Moosdijk in what will be his rookie season in the class.
After a recent knee injury, we believe that van de Moosdijk will be able to get on the bike this week so testing will begin but we’ll have to wait and see if he’s ready to return to racing for round three of MXGP which takes place next weekend at the gnarly Riola.
More news as we get it.
Image: Shot by Bavo
