Nowadays, we pretty much know every deal that’s done as soon as it’s done, and no one waits for the last week of the year to announce their plans. We all knew where Eli Tomac was headed well before the summer ended, just as we knew Ken Roczen was leaving KTM before the previous summer had ended and Ken was handed the #1 MX plate that he would end up attaching to his Suzuki instead. The internet helps us hear and share these things much quicker than the facsimile from Phil Alderton that came creeping off the machine twenty years ago that tried to explain what exactly the Fifth Dragon and Jeremy McGrath would be doing in 1997… I can imagine what a young Flipper (let alone a young MC, or Fro or Denny or Buddy or any of those guys from the nineties) would have been doing with Twitter back in the day.

Actually, I guess there is one outstanding deal yet to be announced. Chad Reed has a chance to own this off-season with a well-timed announcement that he’s found a home, or started another team, as we await the start of the 2016 Monster Energy AMA Supercross opener. Reed is the one really, really big name that’s gone this late without a deal, not counting Christophe Pourcel between the fall of 2010 and, well, 2015. But even Pourcel has a place for 2016 all locked down. Josh Grant is still out there too, riding a Suzuki and likely staying sharp until one of the factory teams needs a replacement rider. Reed won’t go that route, I’m guessing, but I do think he still has a lot to offer—and not just race wins. Stay tuned.

One icon who did make a recent announcement was Kawasaki’s Rick Asch. A hero in the paddock and around the test tracks, Asch was the Kawasaki motocross/supercross team’s secret weapon for 35 years. Rick was a master mechanic and engineer who was around from the early days of Jeff Ward through the last days of Ryan Villopoto. He worked with everyone in between too: Johnny O’Mara, Jeff Matiasevich, Mike LaRocco, Mike Kiedrowski, Jeff Emig, Ryan Hughes, Damon Huffman, Ricky Carmichael, Ezra Lusk, Larry Ward, John Dowd, James Stewart, Michael Byrne, Tim Ferry, Jake Weimer, Davi Millsaps… You get the picture. Rick quietly decided to call time on his epic career, and to be honest, that’s the biggest move of this whole Off-Season—so far, anyway. Good luck with whatever come next, Rick, and well done.  

Hitting Neutrality (Steve Matthes)

Bonjour from Geneva, Switzerland, where the last of the off-season European supercrosses is taking place. This race is in its 30th year of existence and still going strong. I left Thursday, arrived Friday and because of this, I assumed that it was just a Saturday night race. But upon talking to Michael Antonovich from Transworld, he informed me I was wrong. Can’t say I’ve ever flown in the morning of a race over here. It’s weird and yes, I’m tired.

The race saw Marvin Musquin and Andrew Short pull out due to injury [Marvin was late to get into his training this year after off-season wrist surgery] and that left just two American-based riders in the SX1 class in the form of BTOSports.com KTM’s Justin Brayton and GEICO Honda’s Malcolm Stewart. The track was the usual: soft, tacky and tricky and after two practice sessions were wrapped up it was Brayton and Stewart atop their respective groups with Brayton being the fastest overall. Shocking, right? Justin Brayton flying at an off-season Euro Supercross? If Brayton is able to capture the overall here this weekend, he’ll be a three-time Geneva Supercross champion.

Valentin Guillod, Greg Aranda, Cedric Soubeyras and Fabian Izoird are all here along with sleeper pick Valentin Teillet. Methinks they’ll be fighting for third behind the Americans but, hey, stranger things have happened.

Stay tuned to Racer X on Twitter and Instagram as well as my own personal Twitter @Pulpmx for more updates and thoughts from the race throughout the weekend.

News Roundup (Chase Stallo)

As we begin to approach the 2016 Monster Energy Supercross opener (which is nearly just one month away!), the last of free agent signings are beginning to fall into place. One giant piece of the puzzle is still left on the table, as DC mentioned, Chad Reed has yet to officially announce his plans for next season. The two-time supercross champion was in Australia last week for the inaugural AUS-X Open (where he won on the first night, and was just edged by Cooper Webb on night two). While there, he spoke to Yamaha of Australia and dropped a small piece of information on his program next year—he indeed still will be racing for Yamaha. Where? That we will have to wait on.

“My deal is not confirmed… I will be on a Yamaha—where and how? I’m not quite sure yet,” Reed said.

At home, the dreaded off-season injury bug has again stuck. BTOSports.com KTM’s Andrew Short sustained a shoulder injury testing on Monday and immediately flew to San Jose to have the respected Dr. Ting perform an operation to repair the injury. Short said on social media he does not know how long he will be out at this time. JT and Ping will have more on that below.

In his post, Short, who turned professional full-time in 2001, announced that 2016 would be his last season as a professional. We had heard this for awhile but wanted to let Shorty be the one to make that news official.

MAD Racing Yoshimura/Dirt Candy Suzuki announced last night that due to a shoulder injury sustained recently, Matt Bisceglia will be moving to the 250SX East Region, forcing rookie Daniel Baker to the 250SX West Region.

“We originally had him racing in the East to give him more seat time before his rookie SX campaign, but Sébastien (Tortelli, MAD Racing athletic director) said he definitely would have him ready,” said team owner Mike Davignon of Baker. “The next call was to Daniel, and he was anxious to jump in and support this team decision. It speaks volumes of the desire and spirit of this young man that he was so willing to help out."

Rockstar Energy Drink and Husqvarna made a huge announcement this week, announcing a long-term global partnership that will see all of Husqvarna’s official race teams worldwide named Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing.

“Aligning all of Husqvarna Motorcycles’ worldwide factory racing activities with Rockstar Energy Drink ensures a globally cohesive approach to all of our racing activities,” said Husqvarna vice president Robert Jonas.

Here is a list of teams and riders that will fall under the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing title:

AMA Supercross/Motocross

Christophe Pourcel, Jason Anderson, Martin Davalos, Zach Osborne

Motocross World Championship

Max Nagl, Christophe Charlier, Max Anstie, Thomas Covington

Enduro World Championship, Extreme Enduro & SuperEnduro

Mathias Bellino, Danny McCanney, Pascal Rauchenecker, Josep Garcia, Graham Jarvis, Mario Roman

US Off-road

Josh Strang, Mike Brown, Colton Haaker, Jacob Argubright, Andrew Delong

Dakar Rally & Cross-Country Rallies World Championship 

Ruben Faria, Pablo Quintanilla, Pierre-Alexandre Renet

In other news, BLUE Buffalo/Slater Skins Yamaha announced a flurry of moves this week, starting with naming Larry Brooks (yes, that Larry Brooks) as team manager. The team also announced that 2015 AMA Horizon Award winner Benny Bloss would race the 250SX East Region and that Broc Schmelyun would return to race select 450 races during the East Coast of the supercross series. Both riders will race Lucas Oil Pro Motocross for the team. The team is expected to announce a third rider (put money on it being Michael Leib, as Vital MX spotted him riding the bike earlier this week and sources tell us it’s close to a done deal) for the 250SX West Region.

Finally, Slaton Racing USA announced that they are leaving Yamaha and have signed on to ride KTMs in 2016. The team also announced that they have signed Cole Thompson to race the 250SX West Region alongside rookie Zac Commans.

“My father and I have been at this for almost 10 years," said team president, John Slaton. "We started with a pickup truck towing a small-enclosed trailer, and with the help of countless people and brands within and outside of the motocross industry over the years, we have continued to grow, and 2016 is looking like it will be our strongest yet.” 

Pro Perspective (Ping and JT)

Ping: Sadly, we have our first casualty of the pre-season as Andrew Short is recovering from surgery on his shoulder after a practice crash. The good news is that he is good hands—Dr. Ting is a ninja in the orthopedic surgery department so Shorty will be right as rain when he heals up. The bad news is that the chances of him being on the line at Anaheim are slim and none (and I think slim blew out his ACL in practice last week). This brings up the subject of practicing during the week and just how hard you should push. I had a bad habit of thinking too much when I was racing. That might not seem like a liability but in the context of a professional athlete in a very dangerous sport it was.

Even when I was confident and riding great I would analyze risk and weigh situations in a risk vs. gain manner. And I often overthought things so badly I would conjure up the worst-case scenario for everything. “Okay, it’s a little cool today so my jetting might be a touch lean. Now if my bike pops when I’m tripling through that rhythm section my front end will drop and I’ll nose into the third one and break my wrists or go over the bars and hurt my back. Better just double through today.” That was an excerpt of a typical day at the track inside my mind. Geez, with all that psychological drama it’s shocking that I even made main events, let alone won races.

I say all that to make the point that you can’t overthink practice. You will do far more laps around a practice track than you will racing and, mathematically, have much higher odds of getting hurt then. You have to push that out of your mind and do your job. You also can’t ride at 90 percent to keep yourself safe as the season approaches. If you aren’t pushing to 100 percent you will not be ready at the opening round where you won’t have any choice but to go 100 percent. Carmichael was amazing in this area because he rode every lap of practice like he was racing; his mom made sure of that. In case you haven’t heard, it paid off. Guys will get thrown off during practice and some of them will get hurt. Don’t armchair quarterback their situation because laying up before the season to stay healthy will only earn you mediocre results when the racing starts. Heal up quickly, Andrew… before JT tries to make a comeback and starts riding your bike.

JT: Injuries are unavoidable in this sport. They are definitely more common in racing situations but I feel it may be for a different reason than most immediately think of. When someone gets hurt in a race, most will assume that it was because he was trying too hard and made a big mistake because of the added effort. While this may be true at times, most of my injuries were due to the other factor involved: other riders. I definitely had my share of solo incidents that sent me to the emergency room but the overwhelming majority were due to someone doing something I didn't plan for or vice versa—Ricky Johnson knows what I’m talking about. Racing adds that element to the mix that practicing just doesn't typically offer. Maneuvering around a supercross track is tough enough but adding 21 other people to the mix really ups the ante on the chances for mayhem. 

 

As for the right formula of practice risk-taking, that seems to vary from rider to rider. I have seen some guys just absolutely pushing the edge in practice, to the point that they need to bring extra parts because a crash is inevitable. I would always try to find the limit but then back off a touch to make sure I had an exit strategy if things went south. That's really the key isn't it? Having a safe alternative to a big get-off. In a practice situation, there is always the opportunity to back out of a rhythm, jump off the track, or stop mid-whoop section. Racing doesn't tend to allow that with the Tuff Blox lining the course, boats and trucks on the infield and riders much more likely to continue on even when severely cattywampus. 

Another trick I used to employ was knowing where to push and where to make sure things were on the up and up. As Ping said, RC was notorious for his practice work ethic and intensity. But Ricky also knew that staying healthy all season was a huge ingredient in a championship run. So, having said that, what did he practice more than anything? Turns, turns and more turns. He knew that he could really push the edge and take chances in the turns without major risk of injury. Deciding to grab another gear in the whoops or quad something new happens, sure, but it is not without big risk. Turns are the easiest place to lower a lap time and are generally safe to push new limits. 

As for Shorty, he is one of the first casualties but may be back sooner than Ping alluded to. There will be more... history tells us that. The recipe for maximizing preparation while lowering the risk of injury is the holy grail of off-season training. I think that I probably could have pushed a bit more to raise my pace entering the season but then again, I was always healthy at Anaheim when some riders were forced to wear plaster in the stands. 

LISTEN TO THE MAN (DC)

While working on an online piece, I was paging through the August 1974 issue of Motocross Action when I happened upon an interview with Roger DeCoster. Today he's the team manager for Red Bull KTM, but back then he was a three-time 500cc World Champion (with two more to come) and already a globe-trotting ambassador for motocross. The Belgian was one of the few European riders to compete in that year's Daytona Supercross in March, which was effectively the first-ever AMA Supercross event—1974 was the year the AMA Supercross Series was founded, though at the time it was called the Yamaha Super Series of Stadium Motocross. DeCoster raced his works Suzuki to the win in the 500cc Class while Dutch rider (and eventual series champion) Pierre Karsmakers topped the 250 Class. While The Man was in between the Daytona SX and the Houston Astrodome race (one week later) he sat for an extended interview with MXA's Jim Russell, who asked him what his impression of American motocross was at that point, as well as the Daytona race. Remember, AMA Supercross as a series wasn’t even a week old.

"I think, first of all, you must make a difference between these kind of races like Daytona, the Astrodome, the (Los Angeles) Coliseum and all those races. It's not really the same as real motocross racing, but I think there is a need for them also, for this kind of racing. In this kind of riding, it is much more difficult to make a difference between the riders and the machines, because most of the time, the rider can only use half of the power on the bike and the surface is quite smooth, so it is all different riding. The start is very important because, because it is very difficult to pass on this kind of track. There are usually short corners with little smooth straightaways in between, so everyone generally comes out of the corner in the same place, and they all have to go in the same place in the next corner. Since all the bikes are going the same speed, the acceleration is almost the same on every one of the bikes, so it is very difficult to make a difference between various machines and riders."

More than forty years later, the tracks are much different, and so are the bikes and riders, but what DeCoster said back then still resonates. No wonder he's still The Man!

YANKS DOWN UNDER (Andras Hegyi)

Australians have been watching some fast Americans steal some applause lately. Cooper Webb won Sunday at the AUS-X Open mentioned above, and Jimmy Decotis is having a sensational Australian season himself, as he can clinch the 250 Aussie SX title tomorrow night. But Americans have a history with success in Australia, as five different Americans were able to become Australian champions in motocross or supercross.

AMA Hall of Fame member Jimmy Ellis was one of the first motocross stars in the USA. He was 1975 AMA Supercross Champion aboard a Can-Am, but his career was derailed by a knee injury. He had to retire, but then he returned—not to the USA, but to Australia. Ellis became an even bigger star Down Under, winning three Australian National Motocross titles. He was 500cc champion in 1984, and then 125cc and 250cc champion in 1985. The man formerly known as "Captain Cobalt" (because he hailed from Cobalt, Connecticut) still lives and works in Australia.

"Fast" Eddie Warren of Michigan repeated Ellis' career. He was one of the first 125 Supercross stars in the U.S., winning the first East Region AMA 125cc Supercross Championship in 1985. But after three years of racing in the USA, he decided to leave for Australia, where he became a two-time national motocross champion. In 1989 the Michigan man got the 250 and 500 motocross titles. Later, he would move to Japan and earn championships there as well.

Josh Hansen had a reversed journey, compared to Ellis and Warren. During his long AMA professional career he has never been able to be champion, but in Australia he got a championship title in 2010, winning the 450 SX crown.

PJ Larsen and Gavin Faith have had limited success on the American scene as pro riders—never able to get any wins in U.S. Supercross, but Faith has been strong in Arenacross and Larsen was a Horizon Award co-winner as an amateur at Loretta Lynn’s. But Down Under they became very successful pros. Larsen conquered Australia in 2010, first was 250 Motocross Champion, and then he became the 250 Supercross Champion. (Larsen's supercross title was a controversial thing. A mistake was made in the compilation of results at the final round whereby Australian Matt Moss was awarded points despite completing less than 75 percent of one of the races. Then a correction of results was announced. Moss and his team appealed the change. However, upon further investigation, the Judicial Committee of Australian Federation ruled there is no arguable case that could properly be brought by Moss' team regarding the correction of points.) Gavin Faith's two 250 Australian Supercross titles came without all the controversy. First he got the title in 2012, then he won again in 2014.

THE OTHER MATT LeBLANC (DC)

Everyone in motocross is about to know who Matt LeBlanc is. He’s a fast little kid from Louisiana who snagged an AMA Amateur National Championship at Loretta Lynn's in August (65cc 7-11) and then took three class championships at the Mini Os in Florida just last week... 

Oh, and then there's the other Matt LeBlanc, the Emmy-winning superstar from Friends and Episodes who is a lifelong motocross fan and all-around hilarious guy. I bring this up because the actor Matt LeBlanc and the minicycle Matt LeBlanc are destined to meet soon, because the one that's riding minicycles will likely be riding motorcycles in seven or eight years at Angels Stadium in Anaheim, and Matt LeBlanc the actor is there almost every year. He's longtime friends with Joe Colombero, lifelong motorcycle rider and writer, and through Joe he became friends with AMA Hall of Famer Rodney Smith, the multi-time GNCC Champion (Suzuki’s old GNCC team used to even practice at LeBlanc’s property in California.)

Which is why I bring this all up. Matt LeBlanc the actor joined Twitter ten days ago and already has more than 50,000 followers. Two of his first posts were about moto, first a thank-you to Bill Berroth of Moto Nation for a fresh pair of SIDI boots, and then this mention of Rodney Smith after Steve Matthes' podcast with El Rod...

As for Matt LeBlanc the young rider, he goes by @thereal329 on Instagram. 

MOTOCROSS MASTERS (Andras Hegyi)

For much of this season Italy was a very unlucky place for American motocross. During his one and only race in Europe in the FIM World Motocross Championship, Ryan Villopoto crashed out of the Italian GP at Trentino. Because of this injury Villopoto had to retire from motocross. But Italy was bright spot for a few American legends who came to race there a couple of weeks ago. 

They were among the favorites at the 37th Transborgaro, the most famous vintage motocross event in Italy. This annual event is a wonderful happening for motocross fans from all over the world. It takes place at Borgaro Torinese, a little town near Turin, fourth biggest city of Italy. Countries are invited to send a team of veterans to represent them in a Motocross des Nations-style format, with the classes divided up by eras: seventies, eighties, nineties. 

The American veterans, who have been managed by Brad Lackey (1972 AMA 500cc National Champion, 1982 FIM 500cc World Champion) for the last four years, got the upper hand over the rivals in all three solo categories this time around.

In the category of 1970s, the 55-year-old Broc Glover was dominant. First the six-time AMA champion was the fastest rider in the qualification. Then the Golden Boy was perfect in both 10-lap motos, where he gained wire-to-wire victories. The Californian had the best lap times in both motos. Glover defeated the 58-year-old Danny LaPorte ('79 AMA 500 National champ, '82 250 world champ), who like Glover hails from California. LaPorte had to second-place finishes in the motos. Also for Team USA came 1980 500 National champ Chuck Sun, who was fourth with 4-5 moto places. 

The field also included two-time AMA Champion Pierre Karsmakers (the flying Dutchman we mentioned above as the 1974 AMA Supercross Champion.) Karsmakers was the oldest participant this year, and took 18th overall with two finishes of 20th—not bad for a 70-year-old man! 

In the category of 1980s the winner was the 45-year-old Jeff Matiasevich. The two-time 125cc West Region SX AMA champion debuted at Transborgaro this year. "Chicken" was only sixth in the qualification, but in the races the Californian sped up. Matiasevich triumphed in both 11-lap motos. The rivals of Matiasevich were the Finnish legend Pekka Vehkonnen (1985 125cc World Champion), the Swedish rider Jörgen Nilsson (second in the 500cc World Championship in 1993) and the Italian Massimo Contini who was third in the 125cc GPs in 1986.

In the category of the 1990s, the winner was also a rookie, with 37-year-old Robbie Reynard. The Okie was the fastest in qualification, then he won in both motos. In the first one Reynard got a wire-to-wire victory with ease. In the second one he became the leader after battling with the most successful Danish motocrosser ever, Brian Jörgensen, and six-time AMA champion Jeff Stanton. Jörgensen, who also debuted at Transborgaro, was second with two second-places, while Stanton was third with two third-places. Jeff bridged the gap back to the 1980s, you have to wonder what would have happened if he raced in that division instead!

Thing You Couldn’t Get Away with Today

Head-Scratching Headlines of the Week

From Drudge Report

Followed by this from The Daily Mail... 

And this from Express.co.uk... 

Hey, Watch It

Great old school stuff, possibly the 1977 French 500cc GP? It's definitely a preview of the coming return of four-strokes, as you'll see Bengt Aberg and Bob Wright on the CCM...

25th Annual DC Vet Homecoming - Full Episode

Random Notes

Did you check out The List this week with Kevin Windham's helmet collection? Well, if you liked it we can double your fun, because none other than Larry “Big Bird” Ward saw and and decided to send Matthes a photo of his collection.

Budds Creek Raceway has organized a fundraiser for Joshua Boyd, an amateur rider who suffered an injury that resulted in paralysis in 2012. Many of the top pro racers at the 2015 Budds Creek National donated and signed their jerseys and gear.

They are available for bid on eBay at the links below through Dec. 7. Bring home some memorabilia for a great cause from one of the most memorable and muddy Lucas Oil Pro Motocross races of the year. 

Rider jerseys that are up for bid:

Trey Canard

Ryan Dungey

Jeremy Martin

Justin Barcia

Jason Anderson

Aaron Plessinger

View all of the gear up for bid here.

Brad Gebhardt of Big MX has another cool podcast for you to check out, this time interviewing 1982 AMA Supercross and Motocross Champion Donnie "Holeshot" Hansen: 

And if you're looking for a very cool take on a motocrosser's Christmas gift, how about sending your friend, child or better half to Donnie Hansen Motocross Academy, which is a great place to learn how to get faster with one of the sport's most stylish riders of all time. http://www.dhma.com/

And don't forget about the camps the GOAT has coming up, just before the Daytona Amateur SX and the big spring races in Texas and Alabama.

We received this letter from Jeff Hopkins at ProMotoFan.com earlier today about some trouble in Colorado about new rules and regulations on motorsports actives on private land.

Sign up now for the 2016 Ricky Carmichael Daytona Amateur Supercross at www.racedaytona.com. Spots are going fast, don’t miss this opportunity to race in the World Center of Speed at Daytona International Speedway.