Happy Thanksgiving and thanks for stopping by Racerhead. Lots going on this week around the motorcycling world, with the annual Mini Os running all week long down at Gatorback in Gainesville, Florida, as well as the annual A Day in the Dirt celebration at Glen Helen out in California. And at the professional level there is what’s shaping up as a very interesting AUS-X Open in Sydney. Ricky Carmichael has decided to jump in with his old rival Chad Reed and the rising star Cooper Webb for the event, which was supposed to include Yoshimura Suzuki’s James Stewart before he had to pull out with an ankle injury from the Lille SX.
Carmichael, who hasn’t race professionally since 2007 (unless you want to count that Navy Games race in San Diego the following year) looks like he’s just going to have some fun with a head-to-head match race with Reed, who will be riding a Yamaha this weekend in what’s shaping up as a nice homecoming race. (Oh, and happy birthday, RC.) Unfortunately, it seems like the race won’t be available to watch online, but if we find out otherwise, we will post it up.
Back here in the states, everyone is getting into the heavy-lifting of testing and training. There’s some speculation about who will ride on which coast in the 250 Class, whether or not Eli Tomac will be in full working order come Anaheim, where Reed might end up, and the ongoing drama in the Stewart camp now that James’ injury has put a real dent in his preseason work. An ankle injury is one of those things—like Tomac’s shoulder injuries—that can really linger. Surely #7 wanted to hit the ground running in January, and hopefully he had a lot of testing work done well before he returned in October. We will have to wait and see how this all pans out, and of course keep an eye on @therealjs7.
More closely to home, there was a lot of people talking about Steve Matthes’ epic telling on the Eleven-10 Mods privateer team story, through former riders Alex Martin and Phil Nicoletti, and former mechanics Nathan Alexander and Billy Hartle. All of those guys have good gigs in the industry right now with other teams, and could look back on those days of struggle with some levity. What Matthes’ story doesn’t include is any words from the man who tried to keep the whole thing together, Chad Sanner. I’ve know Chad for a very long time—he used to let us ride at his track anytime—and I have a great deal of respect for not only what he tried to do here, but what he sacrificed from his own pocket to try to make Eleven-10 Mods work. Chad was a privateer himself, then a Pro Circuit mechanic, and he truly put everything he had into keeping the team together. Matthes said he couldn’t track Chad down, but I did find Chad, just about twenty minutes up the road. Look for “Part 2” of Eleven-10ths Mods next week, as we tell the story from the other side of the spectrum and ask Chad what it’s like to own, operate and manage a pro motocross race team on a shoestring budget, and some of the other stuff behind the scenes.
Here’s Racerhead, starting with some news from Europe…
Perspective on Herlings (Ping, JT and DC)
Ping: Jeffrey Herlings announced this week that he would stay in the MX2 class… again… for 2016. This is getting ridiculous, in my opinion. And you are talking to a guy who made a career out of racing in the 125 class! But the circumstances couldn’t be more different—he’s a multi-time world champ and I have exactly zero titles to my credit. I don’t poo-poo anybody doing what they have to do in order to make a living and do what is best for their career. Mike Brown is a great example of a guy who moved up to the 250 class, then moved to Europe and then came home and dropped back down to the 125 class and won a 125 AMA National Championship. But he wasn’t killing everybody every weekend every time he raced; he was on the tail end of his motocross career.
Marvin Musquin won his title and then came here to learn a new type of racing. That’s respectable.
Herlings is winning so easily when he’s healthy that he doesn’t even have to push. Smart riders are patient about moving up but when the time comes they don’t hesitate to go. Ricky, James, Reed, Villopoto… all these guys won for a couple years and then moved up. Herlings is hurting the racing, and he’s been hurting himself—two years in a row now. I don’t agree with it.
DC: I see this a little different perspective than Ping. I don’t see why everyone’s in such a hurry to see Jeffrey move up. No one forced Torsten Hallman or Joel Robert or Gennady Moisseev to move up from the 250 class back in the day, and Herlings is well below the 23-and-under rule that the FIM has for their MX2 class. He’s on a team and with a brand that wants him on a 250, and he’s had a couple of unfortunate years with injuries and all. I disagree with Ping and don’t mind Herlings staying in this class as much as others. But it will be awesome to see him on the 450 when he does finally move up. Sure, he’s shattered the record for wins here (there are so many GPs on the schedule now compared to back in the day that he gets many more chances) but he only has two titles. What’s the rush?
JT: I hear a lot about this topic and I am usually in the minority with my opinion. I don't really think there is much substance to the outrage for him not moving up. This is a rider who is going to be coming off back-to-back season ending injuries with absolutely zero momentum. He has been beaten up, battered and hospitalized consistently since the spring of 2014. He tossed away two world titles in the process and surely that can't sit well with the Dutch speedster. Keep in mind, he is only 21 years old and in the world of GPs, there isn't such an emphasis on age (I believe because supercross isn't in the equation). I think he is looking to put a full season together and finally win another championship before he makes his inevitable jump to MXGP.
Ping mentioned that he was winning so easily that he doesn't even have to push. I don't necessarily believe that. He wins, sure, but not at the same level of domination he once did. I think is a result of his missed time and the gap closing between he and his competition. This is why I am okay with him waiting another year. Ultimately, he would want to move up when absolutely ready. With his multiple injuries and time on the sidelines, I don't understand how so many can think that time is now. Let him gain some momentum and confidence, put in a full season without plaster and then it's time to jump into the deep end.
Mini Os (Jason Thomas)
I spent the past few days out at Gatorback Cycle Park for the 2015 Thor Winter Olympics. As usual, riders and families turned out in droves for a week of supercross and motocross racing. The early part of the week sees the sport's brightest stars test their supercross skills, many in hopes of one day racing the real thing. Thursday kicked off the motocross portion of the event and much more familiar conditions for competitors young and old. Conditions couldn't have been more perfect for a week of racing with temperatures in the 60s and 70s, keeping optimal moisture in the hard-packed courses.
As for the stand-outs, many were looking forward to a big showdown between Mitch Payton's new signee, Austin Forkner and GEICO Honda's Chase Sexton. Bad starts and mishaps have derailed many of those chances for battle but needless to say, both riders look ready to unleash their abilities on the professional world next May. In the highly competitive younger groups, riders like Pierce Brown, Matthew LeBlanc and Nicholas Romano have been cleaning up. With many of the manufacturer's having hopes set on these prodigies, all eyes are glued to the track when they take off.
Tomorrow wraps up the week's festivities and many will make the trek home for the holidays or perhaps onto next week's race in Arizona. In any case, it has been another very successful week of Thanksgiving racing in Florida.
Military Appreciation Ride Day (Spencer Owens)
Southern California’s local industry hot spot Pala Raceway was one of the hosts to a Military Appreciation ride day Saturday, November 21. It was perfect SoCal weather for families and friends to come out and enjoy games, booths and of course great riding. If you have ever ridden at Pala Raceway then you know how well they take care of their tracks. The dirt is cake like, the jumps are big but safe and the corners are nice and tight. All five tracks were open and ready for mototilling. You could find GEICO Honda’s Christian Craig and Carson Mumford dirt surfing on the pro track while most of the regular riders were split between the vet and amateur tracks. My personal favorite is the amateur track with its sweeping up hills and gnarly down hills. It’s not as intense as the pro track but still takes a lot of skill and is always a good workout.
I spoke with Alias team manager Bruce Marada about his idea to put on such an event. “The inspiration behind putting this event together was to give back to all of our troops. We put a little deal together with Pala Raceway so that all troops got in free today. I feel like something like this is the least we can do as a brand after all that they do for our country.” Other sponsors for this event were GEICO Honda, Ethika, Spy, 6D Helmets, Allegiance Clothing, 24 Hour Fitness, Metal Mulisha, and Toyota of Escondido. Bruce said, “As soon as we came to them about our idea, they all immediately said we’re in! It's so cool to see all of them out here showing their support, and giving the troops free products.”
The pit area was a sea of color with all the sponsors sporting tents and pop ups filled with assorted merchandise on display. Alias had some of their 2016 gear set up, 6D filled their booth with assorted helmets and Allegiance Clothing showed off their 2016 clothing line. You could even find your favorite Ethika underwear on display along with all kinds of other swag for everyone to check out and enjoy. Toyota of Escondido, who is a huge supporter of the motocross industry, was there show casing their 2016 Tundra Truck and 24 Hour Fitness had all kinds of deals to their gym. Spy lured us over to their booth with the promise of winning some great prizes in their game area. The crew and I were happy to try our hands at the beanbag toss, disk game and wheel of fortune type of activity. Did we win? Well, collectively we walked away with some sick Spy goggles, sunglasses, hats, stickers and a Malcolm Stewart jersey, which I hope to get signed next time I see him.
The Military vets had their own pit set up. Trucks parked side-by-side, tailgates down, chairs set up and coolers with food and drinks being shared by all. Everyone was talking about their military experience, their favorite bikes and sharing their love of motocross. “It’s a great thing being with people who understand what it’s like to be in the military. It’s a different type of life style and to be able to spend the day sharing it and our love of riding, it’s a great day”, 28 year veteran Kyle Parker said.
“We love coming out to ride but we always love watching the pros give it all they’ve got on the track. I could sit and watch them all day.” Stewart Jensen added.
The GEICO Honda team definitely did not disappoint. Christian Craig was riding hard, throwing down whips for his audience. He was putting on a great show for the spectators and you could see everyone was really enjoying the entertainment. He was also letting some big roost fly at this photographer trying to get some well-deserved attention from the camera. That apparently got a big laugh from everyone watching.
It was great to see so many people come out and enjoy the day and give thanks to all the men and women who keep us safe. I personally felt privileged to be able to hang out with some amazing people, listen to some great stories and share our love of the greatest sport ever. Thanks to all the sponsors who made this possible. Hope to see you again next again next year.
HEY, WATCH IT
Matt Wozney has the MXPTV mobile HQ down at the Mini Os and he’s posting a series of BATTLE videos that some of the highlights from the week so far, which you can see right here:
And of course Vurbmoto is down in Florida getting work done and some excellent videos posted as well, which you can see here:
RANDOM NOTES
Our Big MX friend in Canada, Brad Gebhardt, just released a podcast interview with SoCal motocross legend Scott Burnworth, who has had a rich and varied career. You can listen to Brad’s chat with the Burner right here.
That’s it for Racerhead, enjoy the rest of this holiday weekend and safe travels. Thanks for stopping by.