Turning our attentions to the race at hand, Team USA got to France a little later than usual, but that's par for the course that's been 2023. This is not the first year that team manager Roger De Coster has struggled to pull together a competitive team—the star-crossed '17 lineup of Zach Osborne, Cole Seely, and Thomas Covington comes to mind. But the fact that Team USA was coming off its first win in ten a decade at this event makes it frustrating for fans all over the world who follow this event. The combination of so many injuries, so many races, and some many riders switching teams made for a challenging proposition for De Coster, but at least we are here with guys who not only wanted to come but have something to prove on the world stage. Craig missed more than half the season on the sidelines, and both Plessinger and Hampshire did not have the year either wanted. The MXoN marks a fantastic opportunity to turn it all around in one afternoon, but they will have their work cut out for them. The home team of France boasts three past FIM World Champions in Romain Febvre, Tom Vialle, and Maxime Renaux. Australia has the Lawrence brothers of course, though Hunter's back issue is still a question mark. The Spanish have recently crowned MXGP World Champion Jorge Prado plus Honda factory rider Ruben Fernandez. Germany has two red hot riders in Ken Roczen and Simon Längenfelder. The Netherlands won't have Jeffrey Herlings, but they do have Glenn Coldenhoff, who is always good here. Even the Swiss look strong going into the weekend. 

The MXoN is a very busy weekend that actually is already underway, with the press conference, gate ballots, and team parade all happening today, so let me turn this over to my Air BnB mates (Jason Thomas, Tom Journet, Matty Rice, and Kellen Brauer) as they went to the track early to check it all out. Look for updates all weekend long from Ernée from our gang on Racer X Online, @racerxonline on social media, YouTube, and wherever else you follow. Go Team USA!

And also, good luck to all of the AMA-based riders who are participating for their home countries this weekend, like the Lawrences, Roczen, and Tom Vialle, as well as our neighbors from Canada and new friends like Harri Kullas and Tanel Leok and their Estonian team. And we can't forget about Florida's Jack Chambers who is riding for Puerto Rico, and Team Guam's Grant Harlan, Joshua Varize, and Sean Lipanovich. Good luck and safe racing to all!

Three Farewells (DC)

The Alessi family is not the only motocross family that lost a loved one this week. In Michigan the Crown family said goodbye to their patriarch after Joe Crown, father to longtime pro racer and mechanic Matt Crown, as well as grandfather to pro rider Joey Crown, passed away. He was a highly respected member of the Michigan Mafia and a longtime presence at the races. Over in Great Britain, and specifically the lovely little town of Cowfold, the Chamberlain brothers said goodbye to their father Eric. Eric Chamberlain was well-known in British racing circles as a rider, manager, truck driver, team chef, television presenter, video producer, and even a multi-time trials champion. His son Mark has been the team manager for Team Great Britain for several years now and will manage the veteran trio of Shaun Simpson, Ben Watson, and Conrad Mewse here in Ernée this weekend. 

And finally, and tragically, highly-respected Washington vet motocrosser John Franklin was shot and killed while out riding with his son after an altercation with a security guard on an adjacent property. According the Spokane County Sheriff's Office, “John Franklin and his son were approached by security for trespassing on land belonging to the Bonneville Power Administration in Mead. Deputies say a verbal and physical altercation followed, and ended with shots fired at Franklin and his son. John was pronounced dead at the scene, while his son was rushed to the hospital." 

Franklin was a regular at Airway X Motocross Park. On Sunday, according to a local newspaper report, "All funds raised at the Airway X Motocross Park will go the Franklin family. The following week, an auction will take place at the track as well. When John's surviving son, Brock, heals and can ride again, a memorial ride will be held to honor John."

For more information on ways to support the Franklin family, click here: https://www.airwayx.com/

Here's a local news report on the tragedy:

Our deepest sympathies got out to the Crown family, the Chamberlains, and the Franklins. 

MXoN Ballots (Kellen)

Friday at the Motocross of Nations is really Ballot Day as aside from the parade in the afternoon from the fans, the thing that almost every rider and team turns up for is the gate selection ballot for Saturday’s Qualifying Races. The gates are decided by FIM/CMS Director Antonio Alia Portela reaching into a bucket of ping pong balls to select a name of a country and then reaching into another bucket of ping pong balls to select the corresponding gate selection number for said country. It’s a unique process that had the entire media tent clamoring to the front of the room to watch what was going on and it even erupted a bit when Brazil was selected for pick #2.

Every year with this process, some powerhouse teams end up on the short end of the stick with a bad gate selection which almost guarantees they will have outside gates for all three of their qualifying races. As the qualifying races set the gate selection order for Sunday, a top result is crucial, and having all three riders face a potential bad start in each of the qualifying races is a tough scenario for any country. The United States escaped the cleanest of the powerhouse nations drawing selection #6 while other big nations like Germany (10), Belgium (12), Australia (13), Spain (17), Netherlands (24), and France (26) will hope to find some good starts from further outside gates.

The biggest loser in all of this was Team Canada who drew the last and 37th gate pick for tomorrow. “I was watching some videos people have gotten the start from the outside before, so let's see if we can make it happen,” said Ryder McNabb who will race the MX2 class for Team Canada. Most of the paddock had a similar sentiment to that of McNabb that it’s just the luck of the draw and they will make the best of it tomorrow.

But for Team USA, it was a relief to end up near the sharp end. “I could use any help possible with my starts recently,” said Team USA’s MX2 rider RJ Hampshire. “I'm stoked on that. We're ready to go.”

A few interesting tidbits to add from today’s festivity is that MXGP World Champion Jorge Prado actually corrected me when I interviewed him that he is indeed switching back to racing the MXGP class this weekend for Spain. Prado was originally slated for the Open class which would have had him race the second and third motos while also competing against a slightly less competitive class in Open. The goal seemed to be that he could easily win the second moto because of that, and he’d also be the strongest on the team to do the short break and be ready for the final moto. But after David Braceras went out of MX2 for Spain with injury and Oriol Oliver replaced him, Prado explained that the team sat down again and decided it would be best for Prado to do as much damage as he can in the MXGP class. That moves Honda HRC’s Ruben Fernandez to the Open class then for Spain.

Also of note, Belgium’s third generation star Liam Everts is in the Open class this weekend but is electing to race a KTM 350 SX-F. “My setup is completely the same except for my engine,” said Everts. “So, um I just uh had a few days on the bike and I'm feeling good on it. Just having a lot more bottom power helps me and I really like it because I use the bike a lot there.” Belgium is flying in as a bit of a dark horse, but Jago Geerts dazzled in his 450 debut at RedBud’s MXoN last year and he’ll look to do it again this weekend in the MXGP class alongside his countrymen Lucas Coenen (MX2) and Everts.

That’s really the story so far from the Motocross of Nations, but tomorrow it’s time to drop the gates for the first time and really see how this race may stack out.

Number Game (Mitch Kendra)

Amidst all the craziness of riders and teams announcing new deals for next year, the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) released the 2024 AMA national numbers. While there were only three riders that earned new career numbers for next year, a couple of different things happened that caused a significant change in the numbers. I wrote notes on the ’24 numbers on Monday afternoon when the new list was announced, so check that out if you missed it. And remember, these numbers will be used for the 2024 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship, the AMA Pro Motocross Championship, and the SuperMotocross World Championship (SMX) until about this point next year, when the ’24 results are compiled, and the 2025 numbers are released!

The big takeaways from the new numbers list are that six riders lost their career numbers (Ryan Dungey, Zach Osborne, Broc Tickle, Chad Reed, and Alex Martin), which opened up one single digit and five double digit numbers under #30 (Note: of the released numbers, only the #5 was not taken for 2024). Chase Sexton won the 2023 450SX title and having the opportunity to claim a single digit number, he went with #4, leaving behind #23, which he raced as from 2019 through 2023.

Neither #5 nor #8 were selected by either Lawrence brother (both winning national titles in AMA Motocross this summer and having the option to select a single digit number), and #13 was passed on by the lowest non-career number rider, Tom Vialle, who was then slotted into Osborne’s old number: #16. Maximus Vohland takes over Tickle’s #20 for next year, as Fredrik Noren takes over #22, Grant Harlan #23, and Garrett Marchbanks #26—although none of these numbers are their new career numbers. The only two new career numbers aside from Sexton are #38 Haiden Deegan and #47 Levi Kitchen, both of which we expected to be taken by said rider. It sure will be weird seeing the riders in their new numbers that belonged to another rider for a handful of years (or more), especially when it comes to Noren running the #22. Seeing someone aside from CR22 as that number will definitely take some getting used to!

And one more thing: everyone talking smack on Chase Sexton for taking #4...don't forget Blake Baggett raced with that number for over a handful of years! Sexton will lineup for the '24 supercross as #1, so when he lines up for the '24 Pro Motocross opener as #4, it will be the first time a #4 has been on the starting gates of an AMA SX or MX race since Baggett finished 8-DNS for 14th overall at the 2020 Thunder Valley National on October 3, 2020.

This is the brief run down, so again, check out the full write-up for more details. With the Anaheim 1 Supercross less than 100 days away already, we will all need to study up on the new numbers.

Team Changes (Mitch Kendra)

We have been covering the team changes that have been announced so far this week and we will continue to cover new announcements throughout the rest of the off-season. Many parts of the silly season puzzle have been released (with GasGas' video introduction of Ryder DiFrancesco taking the cake for "best new rider/team signing announcement" of this year) but we expect more news to be dropping within the next few weeks (and throw in one-off races such as the Paris Supercross, too!). So stay tuned to our website, social media platforms, and YouTube channel as we break down all the moving pieces this off-season. The 2024 SMX season will be here before we know it!

Hey, Watch It!

Levi Kitchen - CHEF'S VLOG ep. 12 (last day at Star)

Ryder DiFrancesco to race 250 Supercross with GASGAS!

SMX Insider - Episode 46 - 2023 in Review

LIVE - Ballot - Monster Energy FIM MXoN 2023

Opening Press Conference MXoN 2023