If they wanted to "bet on GXR line" and they had "no idea what to do with Pentax cameras" they wouldn't had bought Pentax. But they did
Anyway, Ricoh is Ricoh, Pentax is Pentax; separate entities (even if Ricoh owns Pentax), separate camera lines. And we know what Ricoh want to do with Pentax: Pentax cameras
Indeed, better AF is a must but this should also include faster (AF-wise) lenses. Hopefully, they'll get rid of the huge AF points SAFOX IX+ (otherwise I liked their arrangement) and of those SDM micromotors (low-end solution) in their top lenses.
1/250 is only 1/3 stop from 1/180 (or something like that), so it's not such a big issue.