Sergio Gadea

[CaptainRaiden]

Seriously, why is he still racing in the 125cc series? I can remember seeing him for the last 6 years in the same series I reckon, while guys like Pedrosa, Stoner, Bautista, Talmacsi and Simoncelli have all come and gone, and progressed to higher series.

Also, he is riding for the best team, Aspar, in the 125cc class for the last, I think, 4 years and producing NO results whatsoever. This year again, two new riders come to the team and are already performing better than him. The mind boggles.

[patnicholls]

Well - personally I'm agreed that he's not likely to be a superstar and progress up as those names have done, but it has to be considered that sometimes things change. Until three races into 2008, Marco Simoncelli had had a pretty mediocre career in GPs with decent teams but then it all changed and he became a superstar. Gabor Talmacsi spent at least 5 seasons in 125s with every team under the sun until getting the leap up to 250s, and again had looked average-ish for a few of those. Mike di Meglio took a while to get to grips with things too.

This season is another good example - Andrea Iannone has had a few years of not doing much but has come alive through part of last year and now this. There's a few riders who are hanging around in 125s for various reasons - Joan Olive and Tomi Koyama being the ones that spring to mind.

Obviously, it's a *slightly* different case when you're with the top team in 125s and always have been as Gadea is - but he is a Spanish rider with a Spanish team, so sponsorship issues will have some impact (I mean that in a nice way, like the fact that until he retires Yukio Kagayama will always be with Suzuki). Jorge Martinez has also tried to bring a few young Spaniards in in the past few years without any success at all (Julian Miralles, Mateo Tunez, Pere Tutusaus) so Gadea is a known quantity who has won races in his time.

Also, Sergio did finish second last time out at Jerez. Riders like him, Joan Olive and Tomi Koyama (who this year is struggling with an ageing Honda badged as a Loncin, he's a much better rider than that) are a useful yardstick to judge the up-and-comers against for now - the age limit will eventually force them to move on but I've no problem with them being where they are.

[CaptainRaiden]

Very well explained. It's just that I feel it's a pity that the third Aspar bike is not run to its full potential, which it would in maybe let's say the hands of someone like Stefan Bradl or Scott Redding.

The wealth of bike setup knowledge from the Aspar team is being wasted IMO with a rider like Gadea, who is fast once in a blue moon. Maybe he also will have his time to shine. Let's see. But still, it's very interesting to see how far sponsorship takes you in motor racing, even if you're not quite the sharpest knife in the drawer.

[axxexs]

...
Tomi Koyama (who this year is struggling with an ageing Honda badged as a Loncin, he's a much better rider than that)
...

Eh!? Nooo! This bike is not a Honda. Honda never use a engine with a back rotary valve on any of there bikes. Some design of the fairings and the frame around headstock do remind like a Honda if you look from long way behind the bike. But that doesnt do it to a Honda.

Yamaha MotoGP bike this year do have a seat that remind of Honda RS125 2004. That doesnt make it a Honda or 125cc either. :)

[patnicholls]

Eh!? Nooo! This bike is not a Honda. Honda never use a engine with a back rotary valve on any of there bikes. Some design of the fairings and the frame around headstock do remind like a Honda if you look from long way behind the bike. But that doesnt do it to a Honda.

Yamaha MotoGP bike this year do have a seat that remind of Honda RS125 2004. That doesnt make it a Honda or 125cc either. :)

I stand corrected - for some reason I thought it was a badge engineering exercise like Aprilia/Derbi/Gilera is these days.

[NinjaMaster]

Seriously, why is he still racing in the 125cc series? I can remember seeing him for the last 6 years in the same series I reckon, while guys like Pedrosa, Stoner, Bautista, Talmacsi and Simoncelli have all come and gone, and progressed to higher series.

Also, he is riding for the best team, Aspar, in the 125cc class for the last, I think, 4 years and producing NO results whatsoever. This year again, two new riders come to the team and are already performing better than him. The mind boggles.

Why shouldn't he be racing 125's? Fair enough, I would agree that he probably doesn't deserve to have the plumb ride he does given his lack of results but I don't see why he shouldn't be allowed to ride 125's if he wants to.

[racer69]

I agree, time was when riders made their careers out of only doing the 125s or 250s, its a pity the small capacity specialists have been lost (especially with the age limits in 125s)

[CaptainRaiden]

Why shouldn't he be racing 125's? Fair enough, I would agree that he probably doesn't deserve to have the plumb ride he does given his lack of results but I don't see why he shouldn't be allowed to ride 125's if he wants to.

I don't think you really understood what I said. Nowhere did I say that Gadea "shouldn't" be allowed to race in the 125cc. I was only wondering that how come he still manages to attract sponsors and a ride in a top team like Aspar, despite his total lack of results riding a top bike for the last 4 years. He must have huge sponsor money backing him up. (Having said that, he did come in 3rd today and 2nd in the last race).

He can ride in 125cc for all his life if he wants to, for all I care.

[NinjaMaster]

I don't think you really understood what I said. Nowhere did I say that Gadea "shouldn't" be allowed to race in the 125cc. I was only wondering that how come he still manages to attract sponsors and a ride in a top team like Aspar, despite his total lack of results riding a top bike for the last 4 years. He must have huge sponsor money backing him up. (Having said that, he did come in 3rd today and 2nd in the last race).

He can ride in 125cc for all his life if he wants to, for all I care.

You said "Seriously, why is he still racing in the 125cc series? I can remember seeing him for the last 6 years in the same series". I assumed this meant you thought he should either move himself or be moved on to a different series/class.

[CaptainRaiden]

You said "Seriously, why is he still racing in the 125cc series? I can remember seeing him for the last 6 years in the same series". I assumed this meant you thought he should either move himself or be moved on to a different series/class.

Well, assumptions can lead to silly confusions. ;)

As explained earlier, mine was a mere wondering of what or who is still keeping Gadea still in the series, since his performance has not been really astonishing.