Eli Tomac has retired, according to GateDrop, and we have graded it A. That is the heaviest claim on the board this week and it reshapes the top end of every 450 conversation still running.
GateDrop also reports that Chad Reed is working to bring TwoTwo Motorsports back, with 2028 as the target. Another A grade. Two years out is a long runway, so expect the detail to arrive slowly: engine supplier first, riders much later.
The B grades carried the rest of the week. GateDrop says the Coenen brothers are tipped to come to America and learn Supercross. The same outlet reports Chase Sexton is expected to stay at Kawasaki rather than move to Suzuki, KTM or MXGP.
GateDrop also claimed factory Yamaha will not field an MX2 World Championship team in 2027. That one did not stay a rumour for long. Yamaha has confirmed it is ending factory involvement in MX2 as part of a restructuring of its MXGP programme.
MX2K reports Dylan Ferrandis is retiring. Grade C, so treat it as a single-source whisper until someone else stands it up.
The confirmations column was busy. SwapMoto has Cooper Webb on the newly titled Monster Energy / Rocky Mountain / Husqvarna / Team Tedder Racing effort for 2027. MXVice confirms Ben Watson has extended with Dirt Store Triumph Racing.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing has locked in a 250 pairing for 2027 with Ryder DiFrancesco and Daxton Bennick both signed.
In France, the new Suzuki France Sand Racing Team takes shape: Camille Chapeli\u00e8re and Antoine Alix on RM-Z450s, Tom Dukerts on an RM-Z250 in the Junior category, per MX2K. Nicolo Alvisi has signed a multi-year deal with Venum Bud Racing Kawasaki, and Jason Meara stays with Team Moto-Cycle Yamaha in MX1.
No denials were issued this week. That column stayed empty.
The running totals: 13 new claims, 25 confirmations, 113 live rumours on the board.
Next week should answer whether Tomac puts his own words to the retirement, whether anyone backs MX2K on Ferrandis, and where Yamaha's displaced MX2 riders land now the factory door has shut.
13 new claims · 25 confirmations · 0 denials · 113 live rumours on the board
This edition is a frozen record of the week as reported. Statuses shown are as they stood on publication day; the live board is on the front page.