As for Roczen, he’s more or less a semi-privateer right now as he navigates free agency, though he did have excellent support from the Honda Genuine Honda Racing team of Yarrive Konsky. He’s now added the King of Bercy crown to the FIM World Supercross Championship (WSX) title he picked up in that earlier off-season series. Roczen honestly looked looser and more relaxed than he did throughout the entire AMA season, and his blitzes through the whoops were second to none. If he rides like that at Anaheim, he could end up winning it just like this past year, no matter which bike he lines up on.

Overall, the race itself was quite the spectacle. The French go all-out with this event, which dates back to the spring of 1984, when they first held it in the middle of the ’84 AMA Supercross Championship. I’ve been lucky enough to attend it a few times, but this was my first in the new location at La Defense Arena, and it was as close to a real Monster Energy AMA Supercross as I’ve ever seen it. All the main players in the French industry seemed to be there, including Jean-Michel Bayle, who was introducing a signature Honda model, as well as Sebastien Tortelli, who did live domestic TV work with Maxine Martin, known in the U.S. as “the French Weege.” And Paul Malin was there, too, hosting the live global streaming coverage on MXGP-TV and doing a mind-bogglingly good job of carrying almost the entire four hours each night himself. He was joined by a few of the top riders, and both Steve Matthes and myself jumped in to help fill time between motos, and then we all bench-raced a bunch more back at the hotel lobby bar, along with Kourtney Lloyd, Anton, Konsky of the GHP Racing team, the Braytons, Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing team manager Jeremy Coker, Sheetmetal Ben, and many more. I even got to finally meet Gilou, the man in charge of one of my go-to websites for historic results, http://www.memotocross.fr, which should be a regular visit for you to check MXGP results, every MXoN and Trophee des Nations ever, and all of the records of pretty much the history of global motocross. It’s in French, but once you get the hang of it, you’ll find everything you’re looking for. 

All in all, it was a great trip back to Paris, and it was also great to hang out just like we all used to at this race, only a lot of the faces have changed for sure. So thanks to everyone involved in organizing this race, especially Eric Peronnard and Xavier Audouard, as well as Pascal and Catherine Haudiquert, for all of their hospitality. 

I must admit that my international compass is rusty, having not traveled out of the U.S. since the 2019 Motocross of Nations in Assen, Holland. As soon as we landed in Paris, I thought I had a hold on things, but then took us to the wrong stadium. The Stade de France was the site of a FIM World Supercross way back in 1999 or so. I didn't figure that out until I posted it and friends like Malin gave me a quick correction in the comments. The actual site of the race now, Le Defense Arena, the new home of the Paris SX, is a beautiful, state-of-the-art building in an upscale area of the city. But I did remember how to get to the Louvre, les Catacombes (which I had never gone down in before), the Eiffel Tower, and more. 

Later on, when we got to Barcelona, we went to the wrong hotel completely. We jumped out of the cab with all of our bags, waited in line to check in, only to find out we were on the wrong side of town altogether. When I posted about that, my IG friend @kissatwembley commented "So, in Paris it was the wrong venue (a couple of times). In Barcelona, wrong hotel (just once). Clark Griswald has nothing on you." He was right, and we were lost. 

It was in Barcelona that we did some more normal tourist things, like checking out Sagrada Família, the epic cathedral by Antoni Gaudi, made some new friends in the Bernat family as well as D. Ruiz, and then capped off the trip with a coffee with Barcelona-based Adam Wheeler, the highly respected MXGP and MotoGP journalist, to talk about season, the current state of racing, and the future. But I will save that for next week because the bumps have stopped, the Wi-Fi is not working, and my computer battery is almost all gone!

And there's gotta be a Jo Shimoda joke here... (before you label this in the comments as anything other than a joke, please remember that Jo's nickname is Sushi and he wears it on his butt patch!).

Tune into RacerTV this week, starting on Saturday, November 19, for the THOR Mini O's. Racing starts each day at 7:30 a.m. Eastern and goes until Saturday, November 26. You can watch each day live right on RacerTV.com.

French Mags (DC)

Passing through the Gare de Lyon train station in Paris, I noticed a couple of interesting moto magazine covers. First, there was this Moto Verte (published by the founders of the Paris Supercross) which featured a very rare shot of Dylan Ferrandis with the #1 plate on his Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing YZ450F. Of course Dylan was hurt just before the start of his title defense in '22 and didn't get many races win with #1 on the bike (and never with the red plate of the points leader).

The other magazine was Enduro by Moto Verte and it featured rising French off-road start Zach Pichon, the son of two-time AMA 125cc Supercross Champion and two-time FIM 250cc World Champion Mickael. Zach recently won the Enduro Junior World Championship aboard a Sherco. He may not have gotten his father's motocross gene, but he definitely has his pure dirt bike talent!

Early Christmas Gift Idea (DC)

Never too early to give out some gift ideas for the motocross fans in your life, right? David Dewhurst is a longtime photographer who put together a book called Motocross: The Golden Era. It's a collection of all things moto, from 1970 through '86, when he was shooting the races. He has made a coffee table book featuring his work, along with a few others, and he just took delivery of the first run of the books, which feature Roger De Coster on the cover from the early seventies.

"The wait is finally over," he posted on Facebook. "The books have arrived. Seven tons of paper and ink all ready to deliver to the 400 people who have pre-ordered Motocross the Golden Era. There's still time to save 25% and get your book delivered before Christmas."

Go to www.motocrossthegoldenera.com to grab your copy of David's book before they are all gone!

SuperMotocross.TV (DC)

While I was at the Paris Supercross, I was asked by quite a few European friends how the international streaming package was looking for 2023, with Monster Energy AMA Supercross and AMA Pro Motocross, as well as the new SuperMotocross World Championship (SMX), all coming together on a single broadcasting package. There's a lot of fans of U.S. SX/MX/SMX overseas, and I believe our new package will make viewing easier than ever. It's called the SuperMotocross Video Pass, and fans can sign up for it right now at www.supermotocross.tv. THIS IS NOT FOR U.S.-BASED VIEWERS. It is only available outside the U.S. All of the streaming within the U.S. for all three championships—SX, MX, and SMX—will be on Peacock. 

Here is what international fans, from any country all over the world, with get with the SuperMotocross Video Pass:

• Live and on-demand access to stream the entire 17-round schedule of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship, all 11 AMA Pro Motocross Championship events, plus the SuperMotocross World Championship Playoffs and Final.
• All 31 rounds of the "Race Day Live" pre-show, giving fans insider access to everything happening from each 2023 race location, including qualifying, pre-race interviews and analysis, fantasy league suggestions and much more. 
• Race highlights from all 31 rounds.
• Extra content & features like the 2023 SMX Season preview show, which will launch on January 1, 2023.
• Extensive archives of previous seasons of both SX and MX. 

The full season subscription is $159.99 USD for unlimited access to all that content for the 2023 season and for a limited time, fans can take advantage of an early bird promotion when they use code SMX23EARLY while signing up, which gets you $30 USD off this year's full-season price. That would bring it down to $129.99 USD for 31 live events, which is a little more than $4 per event.

Again, the SuperMotocross Video Pass is available in every country outside the Unites States. And while it's currently available ONLY on the web, we will soon be rolling out apps on IOS, Android, Amazon Fire, Roku, and Samsung prior to the 2023 Monster Energy AMA Supercross season.

Related: 2023 Pro Motocross Tickets Now On Sale

eRoczen Rolls Out on the Stark Varg (DC)

No sooner was the Paris Supercross over than Ken Roczen hopped on a plane bound for Barcelona. It was part of his ongoing free agency, apparently, a chance to check out and post videos of him riding anything he wants. Ken has been having with this, sharing videos of him on Yamahas and Hondas, and more recently the Twisted Tea/HEP Motorsports Suzuki. I have no idea where he's going to and up (maybe Matthes has a guess down below), but I do know that, despite the fact that he really seemed to enjoy riding the Stark Varg, he won't be on one in 2023, because it's not yet been placed by either the AMA or the FIM. The unfortunate part about the whole test ride in Spain was how some people in the comments went off on the simple fact that he was even riding an electric bike. Ken fired back, as Ken is prone to do, and it was actually pretty funny.

Roczen has always been marching the beat of his own drum, and it's a beat he enjoys—remember, after clinching the MX2 FIM Motocross World Championship in 2011, he showed up to race the final round in Italy on a KTM 125 SX. Throughout his career he's had a blast doing fun 250cc two-stroke stuff like his Terra Firma homage to Jeremy McGrath at Castillo Ranch, as well as his recent nod to Bob Hannah on a Yamaha in the 1970s at Red Bull Straight Rhythm. Whether or not you agree with his ride choices seems to be irrelevant with Roczen, so try to enjoy his free agency as much as much as he apparently does. 

2023 Yamaha YZ450F Intro 2.0 (Keefer)

Matthes and I had the chance to meet the Yamaha guys out at Glen Helen Raceway yesterday for the delivery of our ‘23 YZ450F test steeds. Or in Matthes' case, his bike he will ride 6-8 times. It's been almost a month since our trip to the GOAT Farm, so I was anxiously awaiting the arrival of my Yamaha since I returned home. The new 2023 YZ450F feels A LOT different than the 2022 version and has a lightweight feel similar to a two-stroke, which is a welcomed feeling. The engine is freer (spools up quicker) as well as a chassis that is designed to corner better (easier lean in). The ergonomics package Yamaha put together is also much friendlier, and you now sit on top of the bike instead of “in it.” Matthes and I made a 2.0 intro video that should be up right here on Racer X, so be on the lookout for all the deets. Oh and if you're wondering where your 2023 YZ450F is, don't fret, according to the Yamaha boys they should be arriving into dealers come December. 

For the Fun of it (Aaron Hansel)

Newsflash: dirt bikes are fun. Sometimes it feels as though that can be forgotten, especially when you work in an industry that turns motocross, well, into a job. But last Sunday night I got a big reminder of just what this sport is all about when I raced a 60-lap TT race on my wife’s DR-Z125 against forty-something other riders at Cycleland Speedway in Chico, California.

The race is something Cycleland does every year to celebrate the founders of the track, and each year the number of laps is determined by the age of the track. It’s held on the mini-sprint track that’s also on the property, and it’s about as ridiculous as it sounds. A bunch of grown men on little bikes, most of us taking it way too seriously, blasting around an oval absolutely pinned and coming into turn one way too hot before getting routed through a few one-lined turns in the infield. And if that wasn’t wild enough, imagine coming into the first turn, which bottlenecks into a sharp left-hander, in a race that’s so densely populated the start was nine rows deep! It’s just a suspicion, but I don’t think everyone was sober, either.

If you’re wondering why on Earth anyone would participate in something like this, you’re not alone. I myself often wonder why I do it, as it’s literally just a leg injury waiting to happen. The track is so crowded that if you make a mistake in the infield section you literally get three or four front wheels climbing your swingarm and running over your ankles, and if you drift wide in one of the highspeed turns you’re probably going to push three other dudes into the wall. Collisions aren’t a matter of if, but when, especially if you have friends out there you’re racing against. When I saw my buddy Jared picking up his bike a few turns ahead of me I changed up my line just so I could divebomb his front wheel right as he was getting going again. But he saw me coming! He got out of the way, then moved over on another rider, who then moved over into me and sent me into a tractor tire. That’s some serious race craft! It was even better sitting back at the trucks afterward laughing our asses off about it, and all the other shenanigans that went on during the race. The only bad part? My kids, who watched in the stands with my wife, are now old enough to know better when I told them I won.

As far as results go, it was nothing special. I think I was 22nd due to a pair of fatigue-induced crashes late in the race, but as far as fun, it’s literally as much fun as I’ve ever had on a dirt bike, regardless of size, and it was such a good reminder that when you’re riding a motorcycle, you’re playing, not unlike a two-year-old in a sandbox. One week later I’m still thinking about it, smiling and laughing, and I’m pretty sure the next time I ride my 450 I’ll remember to goof off instead of getting annoyed at myself for blowing a turn or not having the stones to hit one of the big jumps. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to go ice my ankles.

Almost Here (Jason Weigandt)

Thanks to what has felt like a never-ending racing season, straight from Fox Raceway’s Pro Motocross finale to the Motocross of Nations, WSX, Straight Rhythm, and Paris, we have sped right into 2023 prep! Not only are riders into the hurt locker on the physical side, the stress is becoming real for teams, as Anaheim is less than two months away. Chase Sexton recently posted some work out pics and mentioned it was 57 days out to Anaheim.

Also, team photo shoots are happening and team media days are being planned. Plus, all the riders will visit Angel Stadium in the first week of December for media work with Feld Motorsports. In 2023, when you see a cool shot of Eli Tomac looking at the camera and saying “I’m Eli Tomac, and you’re watching Monster Energy Supercross on Peacock,” it will have been shot on December 6 at the stadium. Riders used to have to do this stuff at Anaheim 1, but Feld moved it up a month early to ease the stress. Riders are a ball of nerves at round one and don’t want to do extra media the weekend of the race!

The future is in focus. Rest, recovery and relaxation is over and now it’s back to the serious stuff in the run to January 7. It will be here before you know it.

Free Free Agents (Jason Weigandt)

It’s been very fun to watch Ken Roczen try different bikes and teams in the open, and that’s why I keep pushing that the sport needs a true “free agency” period like other stick and ball sports. Give the riders 10 days to test out in the open. Other leagues do it to create off-season buzz. It also can increase the value of an athlete, as teams get much more nervous and desperate when they see a player openly courted by someone else.

The only way this works, though, is for the league to mandate a free agency period. They take it very seriously in the big sports leagues, as any attempt to negotiate with a player before free agency time is labeled as tampering, and a team can be penalized with fines or even the loss of draft picks. Over in motorsports, without such restrictions, there’s no reason to wait. If it’s less stressful to sign next year’s rider or driver in March instead of waiting until October, you’re allowed to do it. But that means it has to be done in secret, because you’re talking to a rider currently under contract with someone else!

It impacts all racing, not just AMA supercross and motocross. The American Flat Track series is in the midst of some big changes in the SuperTwins Class. The rulebook has changed quite a bit over the years, ostensibly to slow down the purpose-built Indian FTR750 and help production-based bikes compete for wins. That creates a sliding scale of what bike and team are the best in the paddock—it can change with one new sentence in the rulebook. Also, there are heavy rumors than Indian, which has dominated the sport since coming online with that purpose-built race bike and a factory team in 2017—is going to pull back for 2023. Expect the brand to still support the sport with contingency, bikes and parts, but not a full-factory effort. Meanwhile, other bikes are becoming more competitive thanks to the rule changes.

Unfortunately, all this juicy gossip happens away from the fans. The off-season goes completely dark instead of creating extra series buzz. For example, two of the biggest stars in AFT, two-time SuperTwins Champion Briar Bauman and his wife, multi-time Singles race winner Shayna Texter-Bauman, rode for the factory Indian Motorcycle team in ’22. They’re soon to be free agents. Stay with Indian and take the support, albeit no longer at the factory level? Switch to a Yamaha? Maybe build a KTM twin? Could Shayna return to the Singles class on any number of 450 bikes? Maybe a star like Briar could get Harley to come back into the SuperTwins game with a full-factory effort. Or even some other brand. Or other sponsors. Unfortunately, not everyone knows that they’re available or what they’re even planning. That’s a loss for the fans and even other sponsors or teams that would love to come on board.

Think of Roczen’s situation. He’s (at least) talked to Genuine Honda, ClubMX, and HEP Suzuki. Do all three of these teams even reach out to Kenny if they don’t know, obviously and clearly, that he’s up for grabs? Genuine Honda would have known the situation because Kenny rides for them in WSX. But why would HEP even go to someone like Progressive asking for Ken Roczen money if they don’t even know he’s available?

And check out Randy Richardson's video he posted on Instagram...

KING KENNY (Matthes)

When Ken Roczen mentioned at dinner in Paris that he was flying to Barcelona the next day to ride the Stark bike, my ears perked up. I think what Kenny's doing this off-season (much like Chad Reed did a few times), where he's showing the public his process of picking a bike/team, is pretty cool. I still think he should've skipped WSX and taken the Honda deal, but hey, if you're not gonna do that, then bravo to Kenny for this little social media peek. One thing, though: it's uhhhhh late November and he doesn't have a team and a bike yet and Anaheim 1 is still in January, right? He needs to get on it ASAP.

After Paris, he said he loved his team (Firepower Honda), the bike and that the race had "given me a lot to think about."

And with that, we know he was going to ride the Twisted Tea Suzuki for a tryout up at the team facility in Fresno (Frezno Smooth was clearly ahead of its time, right?), as I've been reporting on that for a couple of weeks, but honestly, I didn't think that was a real thing. I mean, the HEP guys are great, but the Suzuki hasn't changed much in recent years and the Army appears to be AWOL on bike development. Would Roczen really go back to the brand he had so much success on? Put it this way: I asked someone who would know what Roczen's going to do and they told me "70 percent he stays at the Honda team he's at, 20 percent he's at HEP (because it's where he can make the most money), 5 percent he's at Club, and 5 percent he's going to do his own thing (on Pro Circuit Kawasakis most likely).”

So he rode the Stark, he flew to LAX, and then up to Fresno where he rode the HEP bike. 

And then, things changed. And fast.

That night I got a text from someone close to Kenny that he was beyond stoked with the bike. Like, he didn't touch anything on it and was super impressed. He's got Travis Soules over there, who he knows from RCH days. When I asked someone with the team later on how it went, they said awesome. Then another industry person who would know thinks that maybe the deal is already done!

So yeah, maybe the deal is done, maybe it's not, but I can guarantee you Roczen was very impressed by everything the team lined up for him. Progressive is stepping up big-time for the deal. Suzuki is ready to pay the bonuses, or so I've heard. Also, Fly is making a push to get the #94, and I think that could happen also. 

Life comes at you fast.

BLUUUUU CRUUUUUUUU (Matthes)

As Keefer mentioned, yesterday I was out at GH with the Yamaha guys picking up the new 2023 bike. Man, it's frustrating to ride there sometimes. Like, I'm almost 50 years old. I used to be okay on a dirt bike, but I'm as full vet as vet can be, right? And when you ride The Helen, there are so many fast locals there (especially because you're there on a random Thursday, which means most guys like me are at these things called jobs, and if you're there at GH on a Thursday, that means you most likely don't have a "job" which means maybe your "job" is riding a dirt bike which means you're really fast) that it can get old having dudes blow by you left and right. 

So you kind of get defeated by life. I could go over and ride Jody's REM track and be one of the better guys over there, but then Keefer would make fun of me. So I stuck it out and did my laps, which ended up being pretty fun. My third and fourth sessions on the bike I started feeling better and just focused on doing some laps and having fun.

I will say, Yamaha took a “winning 843 shootouts” bike and started fresh. Brave step for the BLUCRUUUU guys—the bike still keeps some great Yamaha traits, but for the most part, it's a fresh-feeling bike. Like, chassis and motor. Also, I don't race AMA SX ICYWW, but this bike will 100 percent be better for Dylan Ferrandis and Eli Tomac and Alex Ray. It's definitely better for the indoor stuff. 

Watch the video I did with Keefer. I know a lot of you know that I'm a Yamaha guy—they support the PulpMX Show and me—but I have to say, I DID point out some things on the new bike I didn't like. Watch the video for more.

COY (Matthes)

Got this email this week about our buddy Coy:

Hey, Watch It!

Want to get to know incoming Red Bull KTM rider Tom Vialle more? Check out this season-in-review video from the folks at MXGP-TV on the Frenchman's run to a dramatic second MX2 world title:

MX Sports' Jim Perry spotted this on MSN: Bird’s eye view of Hendrick Motorsports: 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/more-sports/bird-s-eye-view-see-hendrick-motorsports-like-never-before/vi-AA148TY4?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=bc92e109ce254846a739697c8806beca

Check out this cool video of Jett Lawrence's 450 debut at the Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations at RedBud back in September:

Racer X Films' Kellen Brauer and Tom Journet put this introductory video together on Red Bull KTM's Tom Vialle:

HEAD-SCRATCHING HEADLINE/S OF THE WEEK

"Lettuce fans tossed by soaring prices"—Yahoo

“Woman who 'married' a rag doll claims their relationship is 'hanging on a thread' after he 'cheated' by texting another woman”—DailyMail.co.uk

“Andy Warhol car crash artwork sells for 'monumental' $85.4 million”—CNN Business

“Qatar bans alcohol at World Cup stadiums in late reversal”—ESPN.com

RANDOM NOTES

Random #signjousting shot for former Swedish Monark factory rider-turned-Racer X publisher Scott Wallenberg