Silly season is here, and changes are coming fast and furious. Who's changing teams for 2012? Who's changing classes? We'll be compiling all the latest news throughout the offseason right here. Keep this page bookmarked, and check back each week for a recap of the latest silly season action.
Novermber 2 - Novermber 9, 2011
- Chad Reed will be riding red again in 2012 and beyond after TwoTwo Motorsports inked a deal to continue their relationship with Honda. The team will be housed at American Honda’s Californian Racing facility. (Separately, Chad Reed indicated on twitter that he will not have a teammate next season, but will look to add one as soon as 2013.)
- Dan Fahie was named Team Manager for the Monster Energy Kawasaki program.
- Yoshimura Suzuki team manager Mike Webb stated in a podcast that the team will go forward with Brett Metcalfe as its lone rider next year, opting to wait for next year's potential free agent crop to pick up a 2nd rider.
October 26 - November 1, 2011
- According to a tweet, Davi Millsaps will be back with JGR in 2012 as James Stewart's new teammate.
- Within the next few days, Josh Grant will be officially introduced as Jeff Ward Racing's first rider.
- The Eleven 10 Mods race team has resigned Alex Martin following a season in which the 22-year-old finished 8th overall in the AMA Motocross 250 class.
- On the heels of his rookie campaign, Gannon Audette has signed with Team Dragon Racing Fuels/AG Motorsports/Cernics KTM. Now that they are both on KTMs, Audette plans to train with fellow Minnesota native Ryan Dungey this year.
- Ryan Morais has signed on with the Rockstar Valli/Star Racing Yamaha team for the upcoming season and will ride a 450.
- Team Öhlins USA has signed Les Smith, who will compete in the 250 class next year.
October 25, 2011
- The James Stewart-JGR partnership is now official. Bubba has signed a three-year deal with the team. Meanwhile JGR and Yamaha have extended their relationship for the next 3 years, which means Stewart will be riding blue again in 2012.
October 8-24, 2011
- The MotoConcepts race team has made official the signing of Mike Alessi and his brother Jeff for 2012, with Mike on a Suzuki.
- After an impressive 2011 season, Darryn Durham has a new ride with Mitch Payton's Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki team.
- 2011 privateer Matt Lemoine will join HRT Racing, with Nick Myers as his teammate.
- Former motocross star Grant Langtson has been brought onboard as the team manager for Team Öhlins USA. The team has yet to announce riders, but plans to compete in the 450 class in the 2012 outdoor series.
- L&M Racing has partnered with Jeff Ward to form Jeff Ward Racing. No team riders have been announced yet, but Josh Grant is considered the leading candidate to end up at JWR.
- Veteran Nick Wey is now riding a Kawasaki.
- American Honda is now Team Honda Muscle Milk.
- Amateur racer Zach Bell has signed on with GEICO Honda and could make an appearance somewhere down the line next year.
- Another top amateur prospect changing teams is Cooper Webb, who will be riding for KTM in 2012.
- The much-rumored James Stewart to JGR deal is expected to come to fruition tomorrow. Stay tuned...
End of season through October 7, 2011
- The biggest news this week is that Ryan Dungey will be wearing orange next season. He signed a 2-year deal with Red Bull/KTM.
- Also riding on a KTM next year will be Malcolm Stewart. He'll join the JDR/J-Star/KTM race team in 2012. Alongside him will be teammates PJ Larsen and Matt Moss, who were re-signed by the team.
- The Troy Lee Designs/Lucas Oil/Honda race team has re-signed Christian Craig to a multi-year deal. He'll also have a new number this year, going from from #144 to #43, the number which was actually once used by his father, Mike Craig.
- Andrew Short is returning to Honda in 2012. He becomes the first rider to sign on with the new team being run by Larry Brooks and Jeremy McGrath.
- After 2 years with JGR, Justin Brayton will be teaming up with Trey Canard on the American Honda team.
- Justin Barcia will be working with motocross legend Jeff Stanton to train for 2012.
- Broc Tickle will still be with the Pro Circuit team in 2012, but will be moving up to the 450 class after pointing out of the lites series. Tickle will be the first 450 rider fielded by Mitch Payton's team.
- Mike Fisher's tenure as the team manager for the Monster Energy Kawasaki race team has come to an end.
- In addition to Craig, many riders have new national numbers for the upcoming season. Most notably, Blake Baggett, who earned his first career number, will now be racing the #12. Justin Barcia's bike will adorn the #20, with Eli Tomac passing on "unlucky" #13 and taking over #17 instead.
