VOL. 52 ISSUE 33 AUGUST 18, 2015 P25
BRAYTON SIDELINED
J
ustin Brayton says that his 2015 outdoor MX season
is over. The Team BTO Sports/KTM rider sat out the
Utah round of the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Cham-
pionship, August 15, because of a concussion that he
suffered a few weeks ago at the Spring Creek National
at Millville, Minnesota. Brayton will also miss the final
round of the series in Indiana, August 22.
Brayton says that he hasn't felt 100 percent since a
first-moto crash at the Spring Creek National in Millville,
Minnesota, in July, and it was confirmed that he actually
suffered a mild concussion in the fall, so it was decided that he should sit out the final two rounds.
The team says that his next race will be the Monster Energy Cup in October. CN
KENT TO MOTOGP?
D
anny Kent is on target to
follow Jack Miller direct from
Moto3 to MotoGP, after confir-
mation of a firm offer from the
Pramac Ducati team for a three-
year deal.
Pramac Ducati team manager
Francesco Guidotti said that the
offer was on the table, but at
this stage there was no pressure
and no decision deadline. Kent
explained that he intended to
wait and assess all offers. "I'm
still in the middle of deciding,"
he said.
Unlike Miller, Kent has already
run one season in Moto2—a dis-
appointing 2013 on the uncom-
petitive French Mistral—and is
top of pretty much every Moto2
team's shopping list after his still-
dominant season in Moto3. But
the lure of MotoGP is strong.
"With Michelin coming back
next year I think that it's the best
year that a Moto3 rider could
think of making the jump," Kent
said. "It's all new tires, the elec-
tronics should bring the satel-
lite bikes closer to the factory
bikes. Hopefully next year with
the changes it gives the satellite
teams a chance to compete."
With all factory-team seats
settled, the satellite Pramac
Ducati team is the only squad
at a reasonably high level that a
rider looking to the big class can
consider, and Kent's is far from
the only name in the frame.
Cal Crutchlow's name has
already been mentioned, though
he said at Brno his aim is to stay
with Honda.
Should Kent elect to stay with
his Leopard Team and move to
Moto2, another strong candidate
would be Johann Zarco, whose
current massive lead in the
middle class mirrors that of Kent.
He too is considering his op-
tions, but said he might delay any
move to the top class until he is
sure he can join a good team.
"I have learned again this
year, when I came back to the
Ajo team, how important it is to
have a good team behind you,"
he said. When he rode for Ajo in
2011 on a 125, he was second
overall. "Now I am back with
the same team, I am leading the
championship," he said.
Frenchman Zarco is a voluble
interviewee, and added, "I am
25 now, but Valentino shows
that you can still be strong when
you are more than 30."
Thus there was no hurry. CN
Justin Brayton
won't race
again until the
Monster Energy
Cup in October.
Danny Kent
might be
heading
straight to
MotoGP.
