VOL. 54 ISSUE 38 SEPTEMBER 26, 2017 P27
JEREMY MARTIN
STAYING PUT
J
eremy Martin and Geico Hon-
da have reached an agree-
ment to extend their relationship
for another two years. Martin
has chosen to stay in the 250cc
class both indoors and outdoors,
though he will hop on a 450 for
select supercross races.
"I'd say there are two reasons
why I decided to stay in the 250
class," says Martin. "The first
one is really results—we had a
good year and I finished second
outdoors, but I want to do even
better. I want to win more races
and championships so when I
move up to the 450 full-time I'm
coming in with a lot of momen-
tum. It was a big learning
year working with a new
team and a new bike and I
really like the people over at
Geico Honda—I'm excited
to keep working with them.
The second reason is the new
Honda CRF250R. I haven't rid-
den one yet but I've heard it has
a lot of the same characteristics
of the CRF450R I raced at the
Daytona Supercross. As soon
as I hopped on that bike, I was
comfortable immediately. From
what I've heard the new 250 is
very similar, if not even better.
So I'm really looking forward to
racing that bike."
Martin will begin testing the
new 2018 CRF250R next week
in California, and he is also
scheduled to go to Japan to race
the bike in a round of the All-Ja-
pan Motocross Championships
in October.
The full Geico Honda team
will be made up of Martin,
Christian Craig, RJ Hampshire,
Chase Sexton and Cameron
McAdoo. CN
GERLOFF IN ARAGON
N
ewly crowned MotoAmerica
Supersport champion Gar-
rett Gerloff was listed as one of
Dorna's celebrities at the Aragon
GP, but the 22-year-old racer
from Texas did not find himself
on Dorna's shopping list for a
future ride.
"In the end this is where I
want to be," Gerloff said, at
the Spanish track. But he
was not visiting any teams,
and "presently I've heard nth-
ing from Dorna," he said.
"I want to come to more
[grand prix] races and be a
face that's here and around. But
mainly it's an end-of-year vaca-
tion," he said.
His links with Yamaha were
in the way of any chance of a
Moto2 wild card. "They use the
wrong engine," he said, but he
would relish a chance in the fu-
ture, and was impressed by the
level of the racing. "The U.S. se-
ries is getting better, and Wayne
Rainey is doing a great job," he
said. "There will be more oppo-
sition. There was competition in
my class, but like two other guys
who could win, not 10 other
guys like here. It would be nice
to be able to learn more every
time you go out."
The European standard was
partly because riders had been
concentrating on road racing
from a young age, he thought.
"In the U.S. it's difficult to start
at the same age. We've all come
from motocross or flat track
before we go road racing."
Michael Scott
Jeremy Martin
extended his
contract with Geico
Honda for another
two years and will
stay in the 250cc
class in 2018.
Garrett Gerloff was in Aragon
just spectating but has hopes
of a European ride.
