More always seems better: rougher, faster, longer—yes, go apply those descriptors to any task or sport you’d like. It just sounds better. But here comes a strange and perfect comparison between the traditions of motocross and a look at the next stage of evolution. Within six days, we watched the Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations and the Red Bull Straight Rhythm, two events so far apart in the spectrum that it’s surprising they can still be considered the same sport at all.
The ‘Nations is motocross as it should be, all tradition and honor bound, a team event featuring long motos and rough tracks. Hey kids, there’s even geography and math involved! The very roots of the event trace back to post WWII, with the first event held in 1947, and war-torn nations like Britain and Belgium doing most of the early winning. And while the race has evolved a small bit over sixty-plus years, it’s very much the same basic idea, and today’s racing just has to work within it. Heck, there was a time when the best racers came from Europe and raced there, and the des Nations took place there as well. That was simple. Now it’s become a USA scene vs. European scene event, especially when you consider how many European and international riders now live in the U.S. “The AMA schedule and tracks don’t match up” is now used as either a reason or an excuse (depending on which side you’re on) in the outcome. In 1947, there was no such thing as an American motocross scene. Period. It’s come a long way; yet, it has not.
Red Bull Straight Rhythm is not racing circa 1947. In fact, it’s barely even racing circa 2014. It looks the part of 2024. Straight Rhythm is drafting the digital current, where 16-year-olds with smart phones can call up a one-minute chunk of “Stewart versus Stewart” and watch just the cool stuff—i.e., jumps and scrubs—and move onto the next ADD guilty pleasure. It’s literally a highlight reel in real time: the start, the battle, the pass, the finish. To me, it’s kind of like supercross shrinking down the best of motocross and putting it in front of the fans forty years ago. Today, even supercross is old hat, and this is another step. Not rougher, faster, and longer. Just shorter.
With its three thirty-minute motos that have two riders (in each moto) from each team, the ‘Nations involves math, geography, and whole lot of time investment. The kids already tuned that stuff out in school, so they sure as heck aren’t signing up for it on the weekend.
That’s just the kids, though. We enthusiasts are fine with that stuff. Motocross of Nations is still the pinnacle. When you’re really into this sport, so much so that you take ownership and call it “our” or “your” sport, you see yourself as honor bound to protect the code. Tracks should be rough, races should be long, and the ultimate winner should be the one who is toughest and fittest instead of fastest. Jump for show, corner for dough. All that.
I’m with you on all accounts. Straight Rhythm doesn’t present any of those elements. It wasn’t rougher, tougher, or faster. However, a deep look at Straight Rhythm reveals something else we really, really, really want: good racing. And when you see Justin Brayton and Dean Wilson barreling down the whoops at Straight Rhythm side-by-side in a near dead heat at the checkers or Malcolm Stewart about to pull the upset on James Stewart until he bobbles, you’re seeing every bit of the great racing we dream about but rarely get. And this is just the newborn stage of the event. What if even half of the big names that didn’t compete, like Ryan Dungey, Eli Tomac, Justin Barcia, Trey Canard, Ken Roczen, Chad Reed, or Ryan Villopoto, had been in that bracket? Can you imagine Stewart versus Roczen straight-up at Straight Rhythm? Suddenly, it’s the main thing we really want to see—great racing, full stop—wrapped up in a convenient form. What do you really want to see at a supercross or motocross race? Oh, there’s much to love, but you know when the gate is about to drop, you’re practically praying that the racing is close and two dudes end up charging side-by-side to the checkers. It can be a forty-rider gate or a twenty-rider gate, but you’d donate a kidney to even see two riders wide-open to the finish line. This SR format eliminates the reasons that doesn’t happen, namely bad starts, bad luck, traffic, or fatigue. It’s just one-on-one with zero excuses.
Maybe the best part is the sport has evolved enough to allow room for it all. The ‘Nations has never been bigger or more prestigious, and there’s this whole new audience for which an event like Straight Rhythm rings true. As totally different as the events are, I bet the riders were a ball of nerves on the gate for both, because the ‘Nations carries so much pressure for your team and country, and because Straight Rhythm carries so much for yourself since everyone is watching you and just you. And whether it’s Gautier Paulin leading his country to victory, Eli Tomac charging from last to third, or one of the Straight Rhythm guys up-shifting in the whoops to try to win, the feeling is similar at its core.
They’re about as far apart in the spectrum as you can get, but deep down, they’re really quite similar.
