Welcome to Racerhead. First of all, best wishes to former factory rider, magazine test rider, and all-around motocross legend Kenny Zahrt, who suffered a stroke this week and has been in the ICU. Zahrt was one of the flashiest riders of the seventies, known for getting great starts on his Bultacos, and also one of the best of the early jumpers in motocross in a time when bikes weren’t supposed to jump very high—four inches of travel made the landing quite an adventure! Zahrt is also in the record books for winning the 1974 RedBud 250 National on April 28, 1974. Coincidentally, that was the last AMA Motocross win for a Bultaco rider. You can check out all of Zahrt’s finishes in the Racer X Online Vault. [Editor's note: We just received news that Kenny Zahrt passed away. Godspeed.]
Speaking of Bultacos, last weekend I had the distinct pleasure of attending Kevin Windham’s Party in the Pasture, a ride day/country-music concert whose proceeds will go to the family of Dirt Wurx’s Chris Blankenship, who passed away in August after crashing on his motorcycle. Windham went all-out to help the Blankenships, as did a lot of other folks. Golden Pines’ Randy Rector brought out his whole crew to manage the ride day. Feld Motor Sports helped underwrite the prep of Windham’s amazing outdoor track, which was done by Kevin himself and his pal Bob “Chili” Childress. Road 2 Recovery came out to manage all of the auctions and donations (to the tune of $106,000 for the Blankenships!). GEICO Honda brought out the semi and team manager Mike LaRocco, as well as young rider RJ Hampshire, Jordon Smith and Christian Craig. Privateers Brett Cue and Johnny Moore jumped in for some impromptu whip and goon-riding sessions. Motosport sponsored the whole gig, as did Spy Optics. Cowboy Kenny Bartram brought out his Steel Rodeo and friends Mike Mason and Brian Foster for a ramp show, and Craig Morgan did an exceptional music set to cap it all.
But the best part for me was the live auction, announced by Steve “Lurch” Scott with Steve “Chappy” Hudson working the role of Vanna White. They raised some serious cash in between the Steel Rodeo and Craig Morgan’s set, including the $7,500 that Windham’s riding gear and Shades of Gray custom-painted helmet fetched from E-Z Jim’s Team Bull.
Why did Jim pay that much? Because earlier in the day, after the Team Bull guys were given their own practice session for their gorgeous white-and-black Bultacos, Windham and LaRocco decided to join them and jumped on a couple of the Spanish-built bikes from the mid-seventies. On the second lap around Windham decided to test the limits of the old equipment and launched a triple step-up jump, much to the shock and awe of the crowd watching. It was ridiculous that Kevin even tried it, let alone cleared it! And when he landed, he said it felt like the bike “stretched out” a couple of inches—because he only had four inches of suspension!
Anyway, Team Bull was blown away by Windham’s jump, not to mention the whole weekend, and when the chance to grab that gear came up, they went for it, winning a furious bidding war for the gear and going a long way to celebrate the life of an old friend and the work of some new ones in Kevin Windham and everyone who attended the Party in the Pasture!
Regrettably, we are saying goodbye to one of the OG RXers today, as this is Dave Brozik's last day as a full-time staff member. I like to tell people that Big D was my first, second, fourth, and seventh hire. Back in the beginning when I was putting the newspaper together out of my bedroom, I asked my neighbor Dave, who was mowing grass, if he wanted to help out and maybe design some things. But every time money got tight—which was often—I had to let him go and he went right back to mowing the grass. Among the many highlights of his years with us was watching him nervously shake while interviewing his hero Slash over the phone, and me losing a bet one night at Mario's Fishbowl and then Brozik, Jeff Kocan, Fubar, and I ending up two weeks later on a frozen World War I battlefield in the north of France. (That’s a magazine story waiting to happen.) Dave was a good solider and a great friend over the years. He's decided to pursue a new chapter of his life and we’re all sad to see him go. We’ll miss him. Good luck, Big D. Stay in touch and we'll you at the races. Thanks for everything.
The Bercy Supercross takes place tomorrow and Sunday, albeit at its new temporary location in Lille, about 150 miles north of Paris. Justin Barcia, Malcolm Stewart, Justin Brayton, Eli Tomac, Josh Hill, Weston Peick, and Christophe Pourcel are among the many folks racing, and we think you will be able to watch it here tomorrow, beginning at 2:30 ET. Also stay tuned to Racer X Online and Twitter all weekend long, as Steve Matthes is there and will be filing his usual reports.
Since I am staying home this weekend, I should turn it over to the rest of the rest of the gang right here. Hey, speaking of Matthes….
BONJOUR! (Steve Matthes)
I’m typing this from the Park Hotel pretty much right next door to the Lille arena where the “Bercy” Supercross is going on. The arena in Bercy is undergoing some renovations this year (and also next year) so, for now, this is the Bercy Supercross. The arena looks a little like a mini-Arizona Cardinals one out there in Glendale and it seats around 30K. For this race, though, half the floor will be curtained off to shrink capacity and provide a little more “Bercy-type” atmosphere.
We’re six or seven miles from the Belgian border, and in talking to Xavier Audouard, who’s been working on this race since it began back in 1984 (here’s an interview I did with Xavier last year), they always get majority of their fans from northern France, so they’re expecting a great race this weekend. Both nights are basically sold out.
This should be a great race, as JGR Yamaha’s Justin Barcia and Weston Peick are here. GEICO Honda’s Eli Tomac is lining up, as is the past King of Bercy BTOSports KTM’s Justin Brayton. Tomac, Barcia, and Brayton are all past winners of this race and ride this stuff pretty good, so there should be some great racing.
Malcolm Stewart is here, as is Josh Hill, who was on my flight. Between racing the Monster Cup, a supercross in Sweden, and also one in South Africa the last month, he admitted he doesn’t really know what time zone he’s in anymore. Hill still doesn’t have anything lined up for next year but he’s working things out and will probably be on a Pro Circuit-based Kawasaki KX450F. He’s also doing the smart thing and making some cash this off-season to help out with his racing. There was a bit of a scare with his suspension not showing up here (he shipped it from SA), but all’s good and he’ll have his stuff.
There’s also Christophe Pourcel, Jordi Tixier, and Dylan Ferrandis repping the French, and they are all great riders and should be in the mix with the American guys. Stay tuned right here on Racer X for photos, race reports, and look for updates on Twitter and Instagram and also follow @pulpmx (that’s me) for other stuff like photos of Bear Claws and stuff.
PRO PERSPECTIVE (David Pingree and Jason Thomas)
PING: The Bercy Supercross sets the standard for off-season international supercross events. The stadium is unique, the town is incredible, and the fans are lunatics. Since its inception, the promoters have really tried to make the opening ceremonies a show, and whether it’s dancing cheerleaders or Ricky Johnson coming out of a giant mechanical hand, they always seem to deliver. The racing itself is different just because of the layout of the track. In regular years, when they hold the race at the venue in Bercy (which is more like an arena), the track is more like an arenacross than supercross. But instead of just running inside the arena, they pile dirt on a service hallway that chicanes under the seating and then runs straight for about 100 yards. By the time you reach the end you are hauling as much ass as Kim Kardashian and it’s everything you can do to check up, make the turn, and chicane your way back into the stadium. But now that it’s moved up the road to a bigger stadium in Lille, it’s hard to tell what it will be like.
Regardless, the fans are going to be loud. Really loud. They bring in chainsaws (minus the chain), air horns, and a love of all things French. If a French rider wins, they lose their minds. If an American wins, they aren’t quite as enthusiastic, but they are polite to all—unless you knock one of the locals down. Then all bets are off!
Mitch Payton reminded me of something on our trip there in 1995. I had won the first five motos and had one left to run. Sebastien Tortelli, Stephane Roncada, and David Vuillemin were France’s golden boys and were expected to win that year. Needless to say, the fans weren’t too thrilled with me. I tried winning them over by speaking a little French during opening ceremonies one night and they started whistling. I thought they were warming up to me, and I was feeling pretty good about it. Then on Sunday Mitch explained that in French culture, whistling is kind of like booing. Turns out they hated my guts. Mitch thinks I softened up and let DV win the last moto so I wouldn’t get whistled at anymore. Either way, it is always an interesting experience.
JT: Bercy is the biggest supercross spectacle that Europe sees all year. It is a race rich both in history and budget for acquiring top-level riders. Over the years it has seen most of the sport's elite. The venue change this year will certainly change the feel of the event, but what will it do to the racing? Thoughts of Bercy immediately correlate to the long, high-speed tunnels Ping mentioned. That was a cornerstone for the event. Will there be a similar trademark obstacle for this year's rendition?
All in all, the Bercy SX is all about the show. There are no points at stake, results aren't really indicative of anything, and everyone is hoping to cash in and make it home safely. Everyone is in France by now (the race is tomorrow night and Sunday afternoon) setting up their bikes and fighting off the jet lag. Racing kicks off tomorrow, and for all of us suffering from the withdrawals of the off-season, it's a welcome return!
Weimer to Tedder? (Chase Stallo)
According to a few sources late this afternoon, Jake Weimer is headed to Team Tedder for the 2015 season. His deal would include an out clause, which would allow him to fill in for another team, but nothing has been finalized yet. Stay tuned.
Summercross Memories (Steve Matthes)
Thanks to DC for putting the great Summercross Supercross race in “The List” of one-off races. Who can forget the showdown between Timmy Ferry, Mike Craig, Pedro Gonzales, and Jeremy McGrath? Uh yeah, that was it … no one else really showed up. The promoters made Craig run #2, Ferry #3, Gonzalez #4, and so on so the fans sort of could figure out who was good (MC ran #1, but I don’t have to tell you that, do I?), and the last spot into the main event was determined by crowd applause, so a guy in baggy pants who drank vodka and used a lighter to “spit” fire made the main. Serious.
I was on Team Chaparral back then, so we did the race (I think it was right after RedBud, hence no one really being into it) and Ferry crashed so hard on press day on Friday off this huge triple they had that I had to change forks, clamps, shock (shaft was bent), subframe, silencer, plastic, etc. The bike just got destroyed as he over-jumped the triple and OJ’d off the next jump. It was ugly.
Anyway, in the main event, McGrath took off, and I’m sure this being in the middle of his supercross-only deal he wasn’t in the greatest of shape (he probably choppered in from Havasu that morning) and Ferry started catching him a bit late in the race. He still wasn’t going to be able to make a pass until Jeremy tipped over late. That was it—Tim Ferry and his trusty wrench (ahem) toppled the King.
Side note to the story: The attendance was pretty bad and the promoter had paid MC 25K to show up and also had a 25K first-place prize that MC wasn’t eligible to collect. And I believe the drop-off in the purse was 25K for first and 5K for second, so the promoter figured the most he had to pay was 5K because of course MC was going to win, right? Oops! Ferry collected 25K and the race never came back. Tim Ferry is the defending champion of Summercross and I have the trophy at home to prove it. Side side note: Ping won the 125 class that night, so in effect, the Racer X staff swept the Summercross!
SOCIAL STATUS (Chase Stallo)
On Wednesday, we published some very cool social media numbers provided by Hookit in The Word On… In case you missed it, check them out again.
Social media is changing the way we view sports and professional athletes. Breaking news, right? Tell you something you don't know? Well, Hookit, a company that "connect(s) athletes with sponsors through the 'Internet,'" tracks social media growth among action-sports athletes and releases monthly reports. The big revelation this month is that Ken Roczen has taken over James Stewart as the top motocross athlete. His social reach (according to Hookit) expanded to over 500K fans and generates over 1.5M fan interactions. The top-growing athletes this month were Ben LaMay (450 Class) and Malcolm Stewart (250 Class), each of whom generated a 10 percent increase in fan growth.
THE US JUNIOR TROPHY TEAM STRIKES GOLD (Jared Bolton)
The US Junior Trophy Team of Grant Baylor, Steward Baylor, Trevor Bollinger, and Justin Jones (son of Hall of Fame MXer Gary Jones) finished out the week at the 2014 International Six Days Enduro in San Juan, Argentina, just as strong as they started it and were able to come away with the win. The junior team has only ever claimed two previous wins, the last coming in 2006. It was also a fitting win as Kurt Caselli was a member of the previous winning junior team, and we’re approaching the one-year anniversary of his passing.
The win was a great way to honor his memory, and the junior team members realized that. All of these riders put in solid test times all week, and their key was consistency paired with a little luck in keeping their machines together throughout the week. Any ISDE is tough on any machine, but this year’s was extra tough thanks to the extremely dusty conditions at times.
TEAM USA KEEPS GETTING CLOSER (Weigandt)
It always seemed strange that during the time of America's dominance at the Motocross of Nations, the American team was never a threat to win the world trophy for the off-road set at the International Six-Days Enduro. In fact, there were times when being "top American" on the ISDE team was a big deal, much like it was in the early days of American motocross. Yes, American riders would ride well and earn gold medals (which are awarded not only to class or team winners but those that log solid average finishing times), but the chances of the six-rider World Trophy team winning the event were pretty much nill.
Times are changing, and we outlined that last Friday. With solid team management from Factory FMF/KTM's Antii Kallonen, and a real commitment from riders and their teams and sponsors, the tide is turning. Back in the day, even factory off-road racers usually spent their own money to do the ISDE, since the event doesn't fit into any of the U.S. off-road series that they're paid to compete in. They really raced for pride. Now, they're out to win, and they're getting closer, recording second overall last year, and matching that performance again last week in Argentina (and the U.S. Junior Team, as mentioned above in Racerhead, won that under-23-year-old division).
This year's top American rider was Kailub Russell, who logged a strong third overall. That's an extremely impressive run for KR, who does his racing in the Eastern woods of the AMSOIL Grand National Cross Country Series. The terrain in Argentina has nothing in common with that of a GNCC, but Russell, who told us he'd only ridden in sand dunes once before in his life, held steady in the South American dunes, dust, silt, and rocks. His KTM teammate Taylor Robert was even faster, but bike problems in the dust ruined his scores on one of the days. And Zach Osborne, who surely would have had plenty of speed, was out nearly from the get-go with bike problems. The team had back luck, but they still finished well. Beating today's powerhouse nation of France won't be easy, but there's a real sense of confidence in the American ISDE camp these days. Also, Russell is now proving to be one of the most versatile and talented riders of all, after his second-straight GNCC title, his overall win at the GNCC finale on a 150cc two-stroke, and the added validation of this ISDE ride. At the same time when Team USA's MXoN performances have sagged a bit, the American off-road side is beginning to hit its stride.
THE NUMBERS: ISDE (Andras Hegyi)
Here are some statistics from last week's International Six Day Enduro, where Team USA finished on the podium in the World Trophy Team standings, FMF KTM's Kailub Russell finished third overall, and the Junior Trophy Team USA won: 347 riders, 23 total nations, 66 riders in World Trophy, 40 riders in Junior World Trophy, 9 riders in Women's Trophy, 232 riders in club teams, 16 factory teams, and 76 teams in club teams.
They rode a total of 1,300 kilometers from Monday to Friday, which is just over 800 miles. The total route was split into five 260 km stages (161 miles) with 28 special stages. Saturday, the last sixth day was a 55 km stage (34 miles) in addition with a 14 km (8.5 miles) motocross final stage.
The brands broke down like this: KTM (156), Husqvarna (46), Beta (38), Yamaha (34), Honda (26), Husaberg (12), Kawasaki (11), Sherco (8), TM (8), Gas Gas (8).
Nations: Argentina (118 riders), Chile (35), USA (31), Germany (17), France (16), Canada (15), Colombia (14), Australia (13), Italy (12), Brazil (11), Czech Republic (10), South Africa (9), Spain (7), Belgium (6), Japan (6), Uruguay (6), Mexico (6), Sweden (4), Finland (3), Peru (3), Switzerland (2), The Netherlands (2), Bolivia (1).
FRID'EH UPDATE #47
It's time to catch up with our neighbors up North. This week we caught up with Brad Lechelt, who was absent from the Canadian Nationals this year due to injury. He discussed where he was all summer and what his plans for the future are.
HEY, WATCH IT!
Austin White caught up with Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki's newest recruit, Arnuad Tonus.
We tricked out Racer X Online marketing manager Jordan Roberts’ 2005 YZ250. Check out the film, done by Jordan himself.
Dianna Dahlgren is at it again as Miss Supercross with her SX Ed: Season 3 videos. Check out Episode 2.
RANDOM NOTES
In yesterday's List we posted a collection of one-off races, some from the past, some that are ongoing (like the Monster Energy Cup and this weekend's Bercy Supercross). Among the ones we missed are the old Fastcross in Italy, the new Red Bull Straight Rhythm event, the annual Beaucaire International in France, the Clark County Fair race in Illinois, the big Montreal Supercross in Canada, the Perris Invitational in California, Glen Helen's Prequel, the World Cup in 2002, the 125cc World Cup in Kentucky in 1974 (won by Husqvarna's Nils Arne Nilsson), the ABC Superbikers at Carlsbad, and the old RM Cups, which were reserved for Suzuki riders only.
Very cool of the gang at Dirt Rider to feature none otherthan Doug Henry on the cover of their latest issue. They are making a habit of doing cool and unexpected cover shots, like honoring the late Kurt Caselli earlier in the year. In this case, Henry is the guest editor for the whole issue, and he’s overseen some very interesting articles, including a story about adaptive equipment that allows injured riders like him continue to ride (check out the cover shot), thumper history, and how Henry himself became a legend.
That’s it for Racerhead—thanks for stopping by. See you at the races.