Welcome to Racerhead, coming to you from a very lonely Racer X HQ in Morgantown, West Virginia. Half of the staff is on the road west to Indianapolis for tomorrow night’s Monster Energy Supercross at Lucas Oil Stadium, with the rest down south still for the second round of the AMSOIL AMA Grand National Cross Country Series.
I am home trying to catch up on things after a solid week of almost constantly being out on the infield at Daytona International Speedway. The Daytona Supercross by Honda and the Ricky Carmichael Amateur Supercross were joined on the schedule by the Fly Racing ATV Supercross, which meant the infield of DIS was jam-packed pretty much from Friday through Tuesday night with SX/MXers. There was also the Friday night EnduroCross in Daytona Beach (won by KTM’s Cody Webb), which basically meant the first half of Bike Week was Dirt Bike Week!
The takeaway I have from it all is that KTM is truly a force on all fronts. Behind Ryan Dungey, they won the premier class of the Daytona Supercross for the first time ever, not to mention a sweep with Marvin Musquin leading the way in 250SX. Kailub Russell started his GNCC title defense by winning the opener for the first time in his career. And lots of young riders in the Ricky Carmichael Amateur Supercross were riding orange. In all cases, the orange brigade was there in full effect, and they carry the red plates in all those series at the moment for maybe the first time ever.
Bike Week itself has changed dramatically. With road racing in America in dire straits, Bike Week’s biggest crowds come for the SX races and all of the other dirt bike events that have proliferated around it. Sure, there are still thousands of Harley riders riding around town, but rarely do they ever go into Daytona International Speedway. And with the Daytona 200 now pretty much a race on its own, with little factory support or star power, it’s doubtful it will draw a fraction of the crowd supercross did. Now that everyone has left town for parts north and west, I can’t imagine how different this Saturday night is going to be from last Saturday night. Here’s a whole bunch of highlights from all of those races on the Racer X Show, hosted by Greg White.
Speaking of the difference a week can make, I was pretty impressed by how quickly Ryan Villopoto pulled himself back up after his terrible start in the FIM World Championships in Qatar to win the second round in Thailand, especially considering that may have been the strangest, worst motocross track I have ever seen for an event of such magnitude. RV dominated the first moto, but then after a lesser start in the second moto and some banging around, he came through to third, only to have the race shortened by five minutes due to the extreme heat. Believe me, I don’t blame the FIM or anyone for shortening a race when the weather is that extreme. We shortened the 2009 Budds Creek National by five minutes but for an entirely different situation: the infield ponds were ready to burst due to the severe rain.
What I did have a problem with was seeing how sideways things got for some riders, like Jordi Tixier, who was so hot that he couldn’t finish the first moto; when he was told he couldn’t ride the second moto, he got physical with some officials and was fined 5,000 euros and banned from the next race. There’s no doubt he should not have been allowed to race—WADA rules ban the use of IVs in the middle of competition—but he obviously was slightly delirious from the heat, so banning him from the next race doesn’t seem right to me. Jeremy Seewer and Tim Gasjer also couldn’t start the second race, which effectively puts both out of the championship picture. That’s the problem with having a race so far away from Europe that the warm weather causes havoc for the athletes. The up-front money may have been good for the series promoter, but the images of those guys struggling so badly in the heat and humidity can’t be worth it. If Villopoto or Cairoli needed an IV between motos—or even Jeffrey Herlings—and they weren’t allowed to participate, their fan bases and teams would have been furious.
Back here in the States, we have a different problem, and it’s an annual one: the high attrition rate due injuries. We’ve now added Ken Roczen and Mike Alessi to the list. Roczen’s crash was hardly noticeable—he didn’t so much as crash but twist his ankle and then lay on a tuff block, in pain--but #800 sent me team video of his and it was downright frightening. It was a rough ending for Fox Sports live onboard camera, which Mike wore while leading on lap one of the main, and then crashing a few laps later. Here’s hoping both of those guys are back at it soon. In the meantime, they are not alone among the wounded, as Steve Matthes will tell you next.
GREEN TEAM DOWN (Steve Matthes)
The powerhouse Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki team is in a bit of a drought here, folks. The 250SX East Region lineup of Joey Savatgy and Arnaud Tonus have one podium between them, and from what I hear, Tonus is out for this weekend with an illness. Savatgy’s been fast at times but hasn’t gotten the start to run with the three musketeers of Musquin, Bogle, and Martin.
I don’t need to remind you of the West Region, do I? Tyler Bowers was strong with some podiums, and rookie Chris Alldredge crashed a lot. There have been zero wins and four podiums among the four riders through ten races. There hasn’t been a title won over there for two years now, which is very un-Pro Circuit-like. The bright side is Mitch Payton’s guys did collect fourteen wins last year indoors and out—just no new number plates for Payton’s semi door.
I know there are some people in the pits with other teams that are enjoying this slump by the Pro Circuit guys, and Payton knows it also. He’s admitted to me that he won for so long that the “winning” shoe was bound to be on another team’s foot at some point. So what’s happened? Well, in my opinion, a couple of things. One is that the other guys finally got some smart people doing their motors; PC’s advantage just isn’t there like it used to be. When four-strokes came into vogue, Payton hired a Toyota Racing Development guy named Drino Miller (who’s since passed away) who really was on the forefront of valves and cams. The Pro Circuit Kawasaki KX250Fs of those early four-stroke years were ridiculous. Over the years the guys at the other teams (some of them who learned under Payton) got hired and started building better bikes to compete against Pro Circuit.
The second thing was that other OEMs (outside of Suzuki) started to build up much stronger amateur support teams. Riders like Justin Bogle and Trey Canard were once Team Green riders but were wooed over to GEICO Honda. Eli Tomac and Jeremy Martin were snatched up when Suzuki folded its amateur efforts. And for whatever reason, pros like Marvin Musquin, Jason Anderson, and Blake Wharton all told Payton “no, thanks” when he tried to sign them. NO ONE turned down Mitch years ago.
So Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki is down, but don’t count Payton and his crew out—even all these years later, his desire to win is still very high (I saw that again this past weekend). We know Adam Cianciarulo is back on the comeback trail, and he’s a special talent. I don’t have any doubt they’ll be back soon enough, so enjoy your time on top blue, red, white, and orange. The man in the chair will be back soon.
The good news for Mitch and company is that Kawasaki riders won more classes at the Ricky Carmichael Amateur Supercross than any other brand. New talent may already be on the way.
PRO PERSPECTIVE: WHAT HAPPENED TO KEN ROCZEN? (Ping and JT)
David Pingree: I don’t know about you, but I feel like the supercross series deflated a bit when I heard that Ken Roczen was out with an ankle injury. Even though he was at a points deficit coming into Daytona, he is one of only a couple guys capable of closing the gap. None of that matters now though as Roczen is out indefinitely while his ankle heals up.
So where did it go sideways for Ken this year? He started the series looking like he was the clear-cut favorite for the title, but things just started slipping away. One thing I’ve always admired about Roczen is how smooth and mistake-free his riding is. He is consistently a gear higher than most and you rarely see him crash. But this year alone Ken has had four or five moments where I thought his season might be over. Some would argue that his departure from Aldon Baker’s program was a mistake. Maybe it was? Maybe it showed a split in his focus that has ultimately cost him some clarity. Or maybe the pressure of knowing he was expected to win got to him. Or maybe dirt biking is just hard and he had a couple big crashes that came at a bad time. Either way, he is fun to watch, and I’m sure everybody is cheering for him to get back to the track soon. After all, he has a #1 plate to defend this summer.
Jason Thomas: There is no doubt that the series will suffer without Ken Roczen. Luckily, there are plenty of stars to put on a show, but he is undoubtedly one of the best in the world. Hopefully the three-week timetable the team has mentioned is accurate and we see him back for Houston.
As for what actually occurred, those close to him are saying this whole injury started with the ill-fated jump in Oakland. Not much was said about it then, as he was in the midst of a points battle and injuries tend to get swept under the mat in this sport. As the series rolled on, however, it seemed to affect him. He didn't look quite the same as he did in those first three races where he reeled off 1-2-1 finishes. He wasn't bad, mind you, but he just wasn't the same. There was something missing. It had to be tough to see the points just slipping away week in and week out, and following his crash-filled weekend in Atlanta, it was spiraling out of control.
After thinking on this for quite a while, his mishap in Daytona may be the best thing that could have happened. Had he not put that foot down, he potentially could have just limped his way through the rest of this series without actually healing. That would have stretched into the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross, a series he won last year. Coming into a much more physically demanding series with a #1 plate and a wounded leg would be good for no one. This decision to take time off to rest and recover is a wise one.
THE NUMBER: 18 (Andras Hegyi)
Ryan Dungey keeps climbing up on the all-time winning list in Monster Energy Supercross. Last Saturday the factory Red Bull KTM rider got his 18th 450SX victory, and with this success he caught Kevin Windham. Dungey got his 18th win in his 93rd race, which is much sooner than Windham did. K-Dub debuted in supercross' premier class in 1996 and retired in 2013. He raced in seventeen seasons in all, and took part in 207 races. That makes Windham second on the all-time starts list behind Mike LaRocco, who rode in a record 227 races in the top supercross class. During his career, Windham won in eight different SX seasons and got his 18th and final win in the 175th race of his career, the 2010 Seattle SX.
2 P.M. MEANS TWO-STROKES AND WMX (DC)
I absolutely admit the last couple of years the TV times for the opening rounds of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship were nowhere near what we want, due to the fact that NBC Sports had already blocked off time for the NHL Hockey playoffs. But thanks to some very persistent pushing by NBC's Mark Carter and Corey Myerson, the network carved out live hours for both the GoPro Hangtown opener and the FMF Glen Helen National (round two), with one caveat: both have to start at 2 p.m. rather than the traditional 1:00. That way the first two motos will air live on MAVTV and then both second motos will air live on NBC Sports. Yes, all four motos live!
But what to do with the spare time? The teams want to keep their standard schedule of starting at 8:30 a.m. and just have some slightly longer practice, but that still leaves a lot of downtime right after 1 p.m. So the Dirt Diggers at Hangtown took the opportunity to add a WMX moto (with first moto running on Friday), while Glen Helen will host a two-stroke all-star race with their open slot. So if you're someone like Jeremy McGrath, Jeff Emig, or David Pingree reading this, time to break out your screamers and get into a little bit of race shape! More details on both events to follow.
Oh, and here’s another tidbit: at the Friday team managers’ meeting, we all agreed to move the 450 Class back to the second motos of the day, behind the 250s, as the TV windows no longer require us to run the big bikes first. Back to the future!
THE NUMBER: 34
With his win in the scorching hot (and ultimately shortened) Grand Prix of Thailand, Ryan Villopoto became the 34th American to win a round of the FIM World Championship. It had been since 2009 that the U.S. national anthem was played after a GP, and that was for Zach Osborne at the Turkey MX2 GP. Now Villopoto is the first American winner in the modern history of premier-class MXGP racing to win (the last was Kevin Windham at Budds Creek in 1999). Here's a list of all of the Americans who won Grand Prix races over the years, starting with the record holder, the late, great Donny Schmit.
Donny Schmit (15 wins), Trampas Parker (13), Bob Moore (12), Brad Lackey (8), Billy Liles (6), Danny Laporte (5), Rick Johnson, Jeff Stanton and Tallon Vohland (4 each), Johnny O’Mara, Mike Brown and Marty Smith (3 each), Danny "Magoo" Chandler, David Bailey, Ron Lechien, Broc Glover, Jim Pomeroy, Mike Healey, Mike Kiedrowski and Mark Barnett (2), and then Kent Howerton, Chuck Sun, Marty Moates, Rodney Smith, Marty Tripes, Kevin Windham, Mike Guerra Bob Hannah, Donnie Hansen, Micky Dymond, Jim Gibson, Erik Kehoe, Zach Osborne and now Ryan Villopoto (all with one win apiece).
And finally, here's a look back at the first American to win in the premier class: Brad Lackey on a Honda in 1977 at the British Grand Prix, pulled from the Cycle News archive by Eric Johnson.
THE NUMBER: 8 (Andras Hegyi)
Eight French racers have been able to get podiums in small-bore supercross so far. Mickael Pichon was the first, in 1993, riding a Honda CR125 with support from Pro Circuit. Next came Stephane Roncada, David Vuillemin, Steve Boniface, Eric Sorby, Rodrig Thain, Christophe Pourcel, and Marvin Musquin. Among the French riders, Roncada has the most podium finishes. Ron-Ron landed on 27 podiums during his career. Number two is Pichon, with 18. And now third all-time is a tie between Musquin, who has caught Pourcel, at 16 each.
But there is a big difference between Pourcel and Musquin. With 16 podiums, Pourcel also won two championships, while Musquin is still searching for his first. This season, the Marv Attack is in good form, and after the first four rounds it seems that Musquin has a very good chance to be the Monster Energy AMA 250 Supercross Champion finally.
(MARVIN Red Bull KTM's Marvin Musquin is now tied with Christophe Pourcel for the third most podiums ever by a French rider in 250SX racing.)
DESPERATE PLEA FOR CLICKS (Matthes)
Over at Pulpmx.com our guy Troy profiled Ben Lamay and his new ride with the Munn Husky guys here.
David Vuillemin has some thoughts on Daytona old and new as well as the GPs here.
On the Pulpmx Show this past Monday we had Andrew Short talking about his last two weeks of hell, Nick Wey made us call up the 722 to talk about riding at Stewie's house, Damon Huffman told us about life as a LAPD, and Tony Berluti told us about the time he was like an air marshal. Click here to find out how to listen.
HEY, WATCH IT!
Meet the Albertsons, Jimmy and Georgia, on their journey through motocross and how they got together in the first place, and what #PrivateerLife and #MXonNBC is like at home...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Swfw3qfXYkc
Wes Williams is releasing his latest video project, FMF War Machines, starring some of the sport's biggest stars, and in some exceptional and cool riding spots. Check out the preview right here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPUBbUQBCo4#t=65
Dirt Shark was in Thailand, a place Ryan Villopoto called "bizarre." He recorded his trip and spoke to many people before, during and after RV's first GP win. Check it out right here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnlomcdfelI#t=582
RANDOM NOTES
Motion Pro and DeCal Works are sponsoring the Indianapolis round of Racer X MotoDynasty Fantasy Supercross and will be giving out prizes to the winners of the 250 and 450 classes. Click here for a chance to win.
Heading to Indy for the 11th round of Monster Energy Supercross this weekend? Stop by the Racer X booth—located in the Party in the Pits—to pick up a free copy of Racer X Illustrated. You can also sign up or renew for just $20 (60 percent off the cover price) to get a one-year subscription, a FREE pair of Racer X socks, and an extra issue!
For the latest from Canadian moto check out the latest DMX Frid'eh Update here.
Check out the Westfield Powersports Supercross Party at Indianapolis Motor Speedway if you're in town for supercross this weekend.
FansChoice.tv will provide live streaming coverage of the 74th Daytona 200 on Saturday at Daytona International Speedway, sanctioned for the first time by the American SportBike Racing Association (ASRA). Motorcycle fans can go online at www.fanschoice.tv and watch the historic motorcycle race free of charge. The Daytona 200 will be a 57-lap race on the 3.51-mile road course showcasing riders aboard 600cc sportbikes battling for a purse of $175,000 with the race winner also being awarded a Rolex Cosmograph Daytona. Qualifying for the starting lineup for the DAYTONA 200 will take place on Friday, March 13 with the race going green the following day at 1 p.m.
Thanks for reading Racerhead. See you at the races.