News 6 Aug 2010

World MX: Searle and Anstie sign for CLS Kawasaki team

British rider Tommy Searle will switch from KTM to Kawasaki in 2011, riding both AMA SX and World MX.

British rider Tommy Searle will switch from KTM to Kawasaki in 2011, riding both AMA SX and World MX.

Team CLS Kawasaki Pro Circuit will feature two new riders in next season’s FIM MX2 Motocross World Championship, the team announcing that Tommy Searle and Max Anstie will spearhead the official factory Kawasaki team in 2011.

Runner-up in the 2007 and 2008 MX2 World Championship before moving to the USA, Searle has battled for two seasons against the Kawasaki Pro Circuit riders in the U.S. series and is delighted to be joining them next season in Team Green.

Searle will surprisingly contest the West Coast Lites category of the AMA Supercross Championship with the official Monster Energy Pro Circuit team before focussing on the world championship in the outdoors.

“I’m very excited and happy about this opportunity to join Team CLS Kawasaki and Pro Circuit – they have proved on both continents how competitive they are,” the 20-year-old Englishman said.

“They offered me the possibility to race the U.S. Supercross on the West Coast and then compete again in the MX2 World Championship next year and that’s a fantastic program that I will prepare closely with the team this winter.”

Searle’s teammate will be Max Anstie, another of the best young British prospects who has also raced in the USA this season after he started his professional career there. Seventeen-year-old Anstie was a promising Team Green rider in Europe before he moved to the U.S. two years ago, twice winning the prestigious Bercy Supercross on an 85cc Kawasaki.

Anstie will focus on the GP scene in 2011 after signing a two year contract with CLS Kawasaki Pro Circuit.

For Jean Jacques Luisetti who created the team five years ago, it’s another step forward for his squad.

“At the beginning of its history our team was mainly French, but thanks to Kawasaki we have never stopped growing since our debut on the GP scene,” he explained. “Our venture with Pro Circuit has further upped our status in the world championship and it’s exciting to have such a great connection with Mitch Payton.

“We are proud to see Tommy racing for us next season on both sides of the Atlantic, and with Max we will have one of the fastest kids on our bikes. I’m convinced that they will come to the GPs even stronger after racing two years in the U.S, and the team is ready for this great challenge in the world and French MX2 championships.”

Owner of Pro Circuit and boss of the most successful MX2 team in the USA, Mitch Payton is confident for next season.

“I am very excited to have Tommy in the team and I think we have a good chance to win the world title with him,” Payton said. “It is great to see how we are working together with Harry Nolte and the CLS people in Europe to make this project work. During our first year of cooperation we have already got great results and for sure we’ll be even stronger in the future.”

Next season the team will get a stronger support from Monster Energy, who is since many years the main sponsor of Kawasaki Pro Circuit in the United States.

“Monster Energy is very excited and proud to be apart of the new look CLS Pro Circuit Monster Energy Kawasaki team for 2011,” said Monster Energy sports marketing manager Jamie Dobb.

“Both Tommy and Max have built huge followings throughout their short careers and they are extremely popular riders, so Monster Energy is pleased to become part of their continued efforts through our partnership with the CLS Pro Circuit team for the upcoming 2011 Motocross championship season.”

The team has had a great season in which they recorded their first grand prix win last month in Sweden with Steven Frossard, however the Frenchman will be forced to step up to MX1 next season due to the age limit imposed in MX2.

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