Regulars Post: Alex Gobert
Positioning the globally-trending brand into MX26 and beyond.
It’s an instrumental period in the story of FLY Racing upon introducing its MX26 line, building upon decades of experience while capitalizing upon a series of clever acquisitions – including the headline signing of now three-time 450SX champion Cooper Webb – that have elevated the brand’s position on a global scale. MotoOnline had the opportunity to go in-depth with Jason Thomas to learn more about the current products, what’s in store next, and FLY’s broader success in this Industry interview feature. 
I wanted to start initially with you summarizing the 2026 FLY Racing range and the process behind it. What are your thoughts on it?
Yeah, so it’s an interesting year when you think about 2026 because we’re in a bit of transition, as we’re heavily invested in several new products that are in the process right now. In regard to apparel, I look at it from a five-year or 10-year cycle, and I think, ‘Okay, where was it that we were with these products 10 years ago?’ And systematically, we have taken steps along the way to make improvements. If you look year by year, they’re really small [improvements], but if you frame them out and look at five or 10 years, they’re gigantic. They were just small changes and implementations, and though these things are not going to make big headlines, they were year-on-year developments. We’re bringing high-end features to mid-price products, and we’re making small revisions to the cut and fit of certain items, so we have very specific ways to attack price points, riding styles, body types, all those things, and 2026 was just another step forward. We didn’t revamp everything because it’s very strategic… I’m a big believer that if you go in and revamp everything, like take OEMs, for example, every few cycles, they’ll completely change the entire approach to a motorcycle. That sounds exciting, right? Everybody’s, ‘Oh, a brand new bike,’ but there’s a big risk that comes with that, because if you have a great platform, the odds of you improving on a platform that has taken small steps over a certain number of years, the odds of you going backwards are pretty high. And that’s what we’re always fighting. Do we want to revolutionize everything? Yeah, in theory. But your odds of taking a step backwards to do that, and the product not being as good, are incredibly high in that scenario. So we have taken this process of small changes over time to make it a little better each time. And then you get to this point where we are, where we’re kind of running out of things to improve. Do we need to innovate new materials? Or what else can you do? Because, and I wouldn’t say it’s just FLY Racing, I would say it’s across the industry, apparel is insanely high quality right now. It’s almost to a point where we’re our own worst enemy, because it never breaks. It never wears out. You can wash it a hundred times, and the colors are just as bright. Apparel is pretty bulletproof these days, and, on the sales side, sometimes you want this cycle to be a little shorter, so people have to go buy new stuff. The simple fact is that people are wearing stuff for multiple seasons now because the quality is so damn good. So, big picture, we have just tried to continue that process of small refinements, make things a little bit better, and we’re starting to lean into other areas of the market, like new protection pieces. Certainly, you’re familiar with RHEON and our Adaptive Impact System (AIS), which the Formula helmet utilizes. We’re going to start ramping that up in other areas, because in the end, RHEON and AIS are just energy mitigation. That’s all you’re doing, you know, it’s applied to a helmet, but that is transferable to anything that’s absorbing any sort of impact. So that’s where I think our future is, to continue down the road that we’ve been very successful at on the apparel side, and then grow our other avenues that we really have kind of been waiting on.
As you say, the products aren’t a lot different, but at the same time, there’s a real sense of modernization of the brand. If you think of the graphics themselves, but also the athletes that you have across the board, and then the DBK connection, there’s been an evolution in the positioning of FLY Racing, which is an important aspect in itself…
There’s no doubt. And that’s where our emphasis is and has been. As a brand, we really want to find ways to engage and identify with younger demographics. If you look at the history of FLY Racing, I think we’ve done a fantastic job of being a super family-oriented brand, and we identify a lot with that 30-plus, 40-plus rider. That is a great place to be, because that is a very heavily engaged, focused group for motocross – there are a lot of people who ride motocross in that age bracket, and that’s a great place to be. But when we think about, ‘How do we take the next step? How do we be the brand that everybody thinks is awesome and wants to be a part of?’ Well, we need to connect with that younger audience. The kid who is 16 and on TikTok and their favourite rider is Haiden Deegan, for example, or they love the DBK stuff, right? Twitch [Jeremy Stenberg] has done a fantastic job of connecting with the customer that we have not done a good job with, so DBK was a huge win for us. We’re just in the infancy of that project, and we’re rolling out more items that have been received incredibly well. I think long term, when you look back, say, 10 years from now, when we’re having the same conversation, I think the DBK addition will be a big chapter in the story of how we went from where we were to where we are in 2035. I think DBK is going to be a big story there because, not necessarily on the dollars and cents side, that’s all great, but in having the most identifiable brand and one that connects with the heart and soul of younger riders, and I think that, in essence, that is what DBK does incredibly well. For us, it was a win to be able to get that product to market, but also that they were willing to join with us. Both sides have to recognize that they want to take this journey together, because in any partnership, there’s risk. There’s risk on both sides that, ‘Are we willing to sign on to what you guys are doing, what you guys are about, and vice-versa?’ And I felt like it was the right place, right time, right people, all with the right vision to take the next step together. And you said it, between DBK, KTM Junior Supercross as another initiative that is trying to get us into the next generation of FLY racers, FLY riders, and in the end, FLY customers. We want to be the brand that these kids look up to, and, big picture, in a nutshell, we’re trying to create FLY Racing riders for life. People who say, ‘All I’ve ever worn is FLY. Why would I wear anything other than that?’ We promote this FLY Racing family and these kinds of doctrines, but we also live by them. I’ve been a part of this brand for going on 23 years, which means a lot to me. I think there is going to be a full generation of kids who feel the same way I do. And they’re going to have started a lot younger than I did. But the feeling of being a part of something, I think it is going to be what they look back on in 20 years from now, you’re going to be like, ‘Yeah, I’ve always worn FLY.’ Because I’ve seen that, we have our guys, being me, Andrew Short – there is a group of us – where it’s like, that’s all we know. Weston Peick is another, but I think long-term, we’re just getting started on creating that narrative.
You mentioned in there the risks of business, and obviously, everything’s calculated. When you think back to the Cooper Webb acquisition to sign him as a multi-time Supercross champion, that really couldn’t have gone any better in terms of the way that he clinched a third 450SX championship, the way that he is genuine and authentic in his connection with FLY Racing. That move was a risk, but I feel like it’s one where the results speak for themselves – it’s been a real win-win situation.
No, it has. Between Anthony Armsby, Dalton Braun, and Hope Stillmock, they deserve a ton of credit for getting that deal done, because that wasn’t one that I worked on even one percent. I’ve known Coop for a long time, but that wasn’t one where I was out chasing it, laying a foundation, or cultivating that partnership… I wasn’t doing any of those things, but they got the deal done, and when I was brought into the conversation, my only ask in the whole thing was ensuring that he wanted to be here. In the end, it’s not my call, but I don’t want this to happen if he’s not all in and wanting to be a part of what we’re building. That’s it. Because I’ve seen it so many times, how many times in the past have we seen riders, whether they’re toward the tail end of their career or retired, who are like, ‘Okay, who will pay me to be a part of something. I don’t even care.’ That’s what I didn’t want. And we’ve had situations like that, where we’ve been deep in negotiations, and I was just like, ‘I don’t want to be here on any level… They are going for the best deal, and I know where their heart is, and it’s not with us, so, can we please exit this? Like, ‘Thank you for your time. Thank you for considering us, but we are going to withdraw.’ That’s how I have felt in the past. I felt that multiple times. And those conversations never saw the light of day because we didn’t end up signing a contract. This Cooper Webb partnership, however, has been on the opposite end of that, which I could never have dreamt would go this well. I knew he was all in after our conversation, and I thought, ‘Okay.’ And if there was any blessing for me to give, which is not the case, but I gave it anyway. I said ‘By all means, please do this. And I hope it happens. This is your guys’ deal, [and] I’m all in.’ That’s the only ask I’ve had. And I would say the same thing, if you look at all of our partnerships that have been successful and long-term, they’ve been born out of that. Look at Yarrive [Konsky’s] team in Australia. That is the perfect example of someone who is all in. There is no person, by definition, on this earth who is more all-in than Yarrive Konsky. He lives and breathes this stuff all the time, and, you know, he wears FLY Racing on his heart. I can see that. I just talk to him and I know that’s true. Those kinds of concepts are happening in Europe, too, with this partnership that we forged with Red Bull KTM Factory Racing De Carli, because that’s a relationship that I’ve been chasing since 2017. They were in other agreements and with other brands, but it was a team that I always felt like was the one we wanted to align with. I liked the family dynamic, I liked the relentless winning that they had been doing for decades, and I just thought it was as a place that we could call home for the long term, and and when we were able to make that happen in 2024 and get that deal done, I just felt so good about it right away. And that’s not even knowing what the team was going to look like in 2025 or beyond. To have the red plate in MX2, to be right there in MXGP, and to win our first MX2 race and our first MXGP race together, like, it has been so successful right away, but even without all the winning, it has been the place that we wanted to be. And most importantly, in all of that, I felt like they wanted to be partners with us, and that was, in the end, that’s the most important thing across the board. I don’t want it to be transactional. If you want to be involved with us and what we’re doing and the things that we’re trying to build in our vision, we’re all in, but if it’s just a passing contract with that person, I’d rather not do it.
How much value is there in having athletes and teams all around the world, whether it’s America, Europe, or in Australia? And – primarily those big ones – the feedback that you get from an assortment of riders, I assume, would validate a lot of the direction and all of the R&D that’s gone into the product for so long, but I’m sure that you still learn a lot along the way.
Yeah, we do take a lot of feedback from those guys, right? And the challenge is, we need to understand that what they want is not always what the customer wants. There’s a lot to be gained from the feedback that they’re giving us, but having said that, the gear that we build for, say, Chance Hymas or RJ Hampshire, they are physical freaks. Their waist size is tiny, and they have no body fat whatsoever, so we can’t build all of our products to suit them – it wouldn’t work for the average rider. If you look at their jersey, all that stuff is custom-tailored, and it’s skin-tight, so you can’t take all of their ideas and implement them. There are areas where you can take their feedback, and I like to listen to them talk about things like chest protectors and all the items that are really in the protective space and not so much fit-based. I think that’s where you draw the line of delineation, is if you’re telling me about how something works, I’m all in and I need to understand more, but if you’re telling me about how it fits you personally, that’s not really that transferable because these guys are so much different than our basic consumer. So, you listen to all of it, and you try to make their product the best for them, but what you implement into the line on a global scale, I think you have to be very discerning as to what you listen to and what you apply. But in the end, yes, there is a lot to gain. It’s just, which parts make it to market, which changes make it to market, versus what do we customize for them to be their best.
You spoke about De Carli… The success the Coenen brothers are having and then Langenfelder as well, that’s a pretty unique opportunity and a timely one, considering the uplift in their careers together, isn’t it?
It’s unbelievable. And make no mistake, we want to be associated with Lucas, Sacha, and Simon for the long term. I hope that they are with De Carli for the foreseeable future, and nothing would make me happier than Lucas being the next Tony Caroli or Jorge Prado in the story of De Carli. But whether they move on, you know, there’s so much talk about them wanting to end up in the US, regardless of any of those things, our goal is to align ourselves with their level of excellence, period. We want to be around them, identify with them, understand what they need, and how we can support them. And in the end, try to be alongside them. I mean, Lucas’ career is on a rocketship to the stratosphere at the moment, out of nowhere. The MX2 success was great, but the way that MX2 is structured in the world championship, you’re destined to age out, and all the talent ends up in MXGP, and you don’t know how riders are going to make that jump. What is their level based on what the MXGP level is? It’s always a guessing game. And immediately, Lucas comes out and goes right to the top. And you can say, ‘Well, [Tim] Gajser has been hurt,’ which is fine, but they were battling before that injury, so I think Lucas could battle anybody who’s there to be battled with. Whether it’s [Jeffrey] Herlings or Gajser, Lucas has established himself now as an MXGP elite in his first year. And for us to be a part of that was incredibly fortunate and, again, long term – Stateside or MXGP – we want to continue building our relationship with Lucas, Sacha, and Simon.
Charli Cannon, as well as Mikayla Nielsen, are two top female profiles in the sport right now, and there’s been a resurgence with the WMX series in the US, too. Talk about that a little bit, that opportunity in itself, because again, it just adds to the current trend that is FLY Racing, that growth, the brand…
To go to the origins of that, with Western Power Sports, which is our parent company, we are big proponents of women and powersports. Women riding motorcycles, women being outdoor enthusiasts in general, we are big supporters, and our product line reflects that. So when you look at our line for women, it has been the only true performance products for women, something that’s purpose-built with high-end materials that are built for them to go and perform. I personally, and we as a company, felt that they deserved something better than what was being offered. I looked at the landscape, this is going back eight years at least, and I kind of looked around, and there was just nothing. The only offerings were entry-level pricing and gear that wasn’t articulated very well, and it just, it was the bare bones stuff, and I’m like, ‘Why are we doing this?’ Look around at brands like Lululemon and Alo, to name a couple, these brands were built around women wanting stuff that performs and looks great, and that women truly buy. They’re not scared to go out and buy this stuff if it works, you know, so why are we not building something to the level that they deserve? And that’s where our line is built from, and sure, we offer our women’s F16, which does incredibly well and fits a little bit differently, to a broader range. Like we get a lot of mums and the sisters and stuff that want to jump in a side-by-side or want to identify with everybody at the track that will just wear the jersey, so that’s great and we have all of that, but I feel we are very unique in the fact that we offer something specific for a racer like Charli, a racer like ‘Kay Kay’, whether they want to wear from the men’s line, which is fine, but we have something that’s built for them to perform if they want to wear the women’s line as well, and I take a lot of pride in that. Not many brands are willing to step up and, you know, take a risk on the dollars and cents side – maybe it doesn’t look like it makes sense – but we truly believe in it, and we put our money where our mouth is alongside our belief.