It's normally the journalists begging the teams to share news or asking them what is going on with the riders or the bikes. When something is wrong it's very rare that any team will open up about problems in fear of it being used to the other teams advantage. BOS KTM though, a brand new team for the 2918 MXGP FIM Motocross World Championship, have taken to social media to break the silence and they sound frustrated with with Benoit Paturel and the issues they are experiencing.
BOS KTM team
"Sorry for the little information on our second pilot but, for now, tests are only performed with Jordi Tixier and some test riders. Indeed, we have still not convinced Benoit Paturel to train and test our machines in good conditions. After a few days of rolling Benoit and his entourage decided that the 450F (world champion) and the part-cycle did not suit him, without any discussion. This is a very big disappointment , as you can imagine, for all the members of the team, especially knowing the time chrono made by Jordi right now at RedSand MX Park.
"But the rule is simple in MXGP: No training and no testing equals zero results. It's too late now to go back. The investment granted by the team to take Benoit was therefore and we were wrong that helping a driver with his back to the wall would be a positive option for everyone. It's not…"
"We will do everything we can to get out of this situation as soon as possible, to avoid disrupting the season of Jordi Tixier and the service to our customers. Our return to MX has made it possible to get to know our technology and the first pilots are satisfied, in the sand as on the earth. We have to keep going, we won't get anything!"
English is obviously not their first language but it's pretty clear what is happening. From my understanding the BOS team are finding it hard to get Benoit Paturel in the same test sessions as his team mate Jordi Tixier. The rider and his crew for some unknown reason have decided that the bike setup is not working for them. When they say "We will do everything we can to get out of this situation as soon as possible" i believe this means that Benoit Paturel is being left out of team plans moving forward and that they will enter the new season with just one rider.
To thicken the plot even further, they say there is no smoke with our fire right? Rumors in the paddock are rife saying that Benoit Paturel is trying to get a ride on the fill-in slot at Factory Honda HRC due to Brian Bogers not being ready to ride for the Grand Prix of Patagonia-Argentina. I think this is incredibly short sighted by Paturel as this would mean he would lose his ride at BOS and when Bogers returns he would be left on the sidelines. It just sounds like a complete mess...
Remember that Benoit Paturel won just two motos as an MX2 rider. If the rumors are true then he sounds like a complete pain to work with and I'm not sure it's the right message to send out for future teams who he might need sponsorship from.
I will post more on the enoit Paturel and BOS KTM when news filters through, i hope this ends better than it is looking.