Back in 2005 I attended the FIM Motocross of Nations at this very same Ernée track. It’s changed a little for sure, but for the most part it’s still a very compact, narrow track, in a steep valley that has the track on one side and a wall of fans on the other, and I mean that in the literal sense. It was a massive sea of people, mostly French of course, but other moto nations like the Belgians, the Irish, the Dutch, the British, the Italians, the Spanish, and the Germans were well represented too. They make noise, they wear funny outfits, and they really seem to appreciate all of the winners, whether it’s the three from their own country, or really any other. The only booing I hear all weekend long came when the announcer kept trying to shush the crowd before having everyone sing La Marseillaise (the French national anthem) only to have what appeared to be a bunch of Belgian or German fans start singing their own anthems over the crowd.

And yes, there were some American fans there too, and not just the ones that were the family and friends and sponsors of Team USA. I ran into a father and son that were doing the MXoN as a bucket list trip; next year they plan on riding motorcycles from San Diego to Seattle along the PCH. There were proud folks all decked out in their stars-n-stripes, with face paint and air horns and all of the other things they probably picked up from other fans at past MXoNs. And not one American fan/friend I spoke to mentioned being treated rudely or with even the slightest bit of disrespect, even if we did not exactly bring our A team (more on that later). The Motocross of Nations is exactly what it’s called, and while there were 37 different nations participating in the race, everyone is in the same moto tribe, and this was our annual gathering.

As far as the riders go, I have to say that I was extremely impressed by Spain’s Jorge Prado, all three French riders (I did not see Tom Vialle go that fast all summer long, but when his country needed him, he more than answered the call), and most surprisingly Ken Roczen, who was riding for Germany and won the MXGP class individual honors in what was only his second motocross race of the year. Just like at the High Point National, when he made a cameo appearance this past summer, Roczen reminded us all just how good he can be outdoors. After his excellent run through the SuperMotocross World Championship (SMX) in September, and with the last two WSX rounds to come in Abu Dhabi and Melbourne in November, and maybe even defending his Paris Supercross title in between, Roczen is having himself quite a resurgence, and it was cool to see him and his little Suzuki team on top of the world like that.

Some scenes from the MXoN.

All that said, to me Jett Lawrence proved that he is now the fastest man on the planet. He did not win the MXGP class after crashing in the third turn of the first moto and having to restart dead last, but on both Saturday in his qualifying race and then in both of his motos Sunday, Jett was doing Jett things and the fans were blown away. I watched one moto from the infield with former world champions Antonio Cairoli and Shayne King, as well as OTOR’s Adam Wheeler, and we were all just looking at each other every time he would do a Jett thing, like criss-crossing a competitor when passing them, like he did to Tim Gajser in the last corner of the first moto, or just dragging his bar through one of the tight little turns. The kid is electric on any track—AMA, FIM, SX, SMX. When he won the final moto over Roczen, it was cool to see the two of them celebrate together afterwards, the silliness of the Chicagoland SMX race wave-by thing well behind them. (Jett even helped Kenny set his holeshot device on the starting grid before the qualifying moto.) The upside with Lawrence is immense and we are lucky to get to see him all year long. As I told Adam Bailey of World Supercross when we spoke before the trip, I can’t imagine how big it’s going to be for Australia when the Lawrence brothers come home for one those rounds and the home fans get to see what’s become of them.

Overall, on an us-versus-them basis, us being Team USA and them being the French, the Italians, the Belgians or whoever, it was not a good weekend for us. But on an AMA-vs-FIM comparison, we matched up well. With Jett and Hunter (who’s tweaked back was still obviously bothering him) and Kenny and Tom Vialle, the AMA guys acquitted themselves well against the likes of Prado, Gajser, Romaine Febvre and Maxime Renaux, who was very impressive for a second year in a row at the MXoN. As I told Feld Motor Sports’ VP of Motorsports Dave Prater, SMX in general came off very well, not only on the track with these guys, but it was also a real hot topic for everyone over there. (Maybe that’s why Prado is already here doing a two-week supercross refresher course.) The rest of the world was definitely watching Charlotte, Chicagoland, and the LA Coliseum…

And then there’s Team USA. We did not fare well at all. Despite the best efforts of Aaron Plessinger, RJ Hampshire, and Christian Craig—heroes for even going after so many passed—eighth place for Team USA is nowhere near where we should be. After all, we just won the race last year, and we nearly won in Ernée in 2015, and we did win there back in 2005. We simply did not get the starts we needed (and when we did, like RJ in the MX2 qualifying race, he fell before completing a lap) nor did we get any breaks at all. There was some wishful optimism before the race that some kind of magic would happen, and we’d have one of those amazing days like Italy ’09, when everything fell into place, but it just didn’t happen that way. While there are a lot of people really invested in doing everything they can to help the team—the AMA’s Mike Pelletier and Jeff Canfield, Renthal’s Paul Perebijnos, and Christina Denney all come to mind—the seeming lack of interest from some of the OEMs to participate in the event or support their riders must be addressed. Whether it’s finding more funds to make it easier for them, or adjusting contracts so that they go through October rather than ending in September or putting the kind of effort and organization that the French obviously do, we need to do it. Yes, our schedule is longer now, but it’s only one race longer than it used to be, and the riders got some serious bonus money from the new SMX playoffs. Team USA got excellent support from KTM and Husqvarna, as well as the always generous hospitality of Alpinestars, and Team Honda was there in full support of the Lawrence brothers. We need to find out exactly why some of the other OEMs are not as interested as they once were and address it, because the rest of the world is just getting faster and faster…

Finally, a big thank you to InFront Moto Racing and the FIM for their hospitality as well. I was able to have some great conversations with David Luongo as well as FIM President Jorge Viegas, but I’ll save all that for a different column. Congratulations to Team France, to Ken Roczen, to Jett Lawrence, and to everyone involved with the Moto Club Ernée. It was a fantastic event and a great race. Overall, I guess it could have been worse for Team USA… But not as bad as it was for Canada! Sorry, Matthes. 

View Matt Rice's photo gallery from the MXoN.

Haters and Lovers (Jason Weigandt)

As Davey mentioned, Ken Roczen has been riding amazing as of late. His Monster Energy AMA Supercross campaign was good, punctuated by that emotional Indianapolis win, and he nearly pulled off third in points even with a bunch of sub-par early season rides while he figured out his new Suzuki. But his performances after supercross were even better. For Ken to show up out a nowhere for the High Point National and give Jett Lawrence arguably his biggest challenge of the summer is just nuts. For him to continually go toe-to-toe with Jett everywhere else they’ve raced, lately, is just as impressive. From Chicagoland to Los Angeles and now to the Motocross des Nations, Ken is absolutely back in the hunt. And he’s doing this on a Suzuki, people! This is a platform (the current-generation RM-Z450, which debuted for 2018) that had not seen much success, and a team (Progressive/Ecstar HEP Motorsports Suzuki) that had never won a race. Ken parted with the mighty Team Honda, which is now absolutely killing it, by the way, and still found success. This, also, is after a 2022 season that was not good based on Roczen’s usual standards.

That’s a lot of obstacles thrown Ken’s way. Yet, I find it very funny to see how many people are now coming out of the woodwork to say no one should have ever doubted Ken, and how much they love seeing him shut up the haters, etc. Excuse me, all you people who just apparently knew Ken would do this well this year…where were you last October? I heard a lot of people enjoying Ken’s off-season public testing of various bikes, but I didn’t hear a lot of bold predictions about Ken being this good. Now we have this very vocal crowd that, with hindsight as their guide, apparently just knew all along that Ken would be great this year. But I didn’t hear much from that group 12 months ago. What I did hear was a lot of people doubting him behind the scenes. A lot. Ken, himself, surely heard this. He probably has to laugh wondering where all these vocal believers were a year ago when he needed the support. I think a lot of people were hoping he would do well in 2023, because it would make an awesome story, and everyone would love to see Suzuki return to some glory. People like Ken. But predicting or expecting this kind of success? I didn’t hear much of that last October. Funny how that works. This is called, “you’re only as good as your last race.”

The whole hater/doubter thing drives me crazy. I’d rather just admit we’re going with some facts here and enjoy the idea that Ken has conquered some very long odds to get back to this spot, instead of pretending there was never any reason to doubt any of this in the first place. We all know Ken Roczen is an amazing talent and a smart racer. The ability, of course, is there, and hey he’s still younger than other guys (like Eli Tomac) that are still capable. But we can’t ignore how tough 2022 was (he had to drop out of supercross halfway through the season, for example) compared to 2021, where he was in the hunt for both titles. We can’t ignore the recent history of Honda versus Suzuki. This was a difficult, steep climb to get back to this point. That’s not hating, that’s just reality. Let’s enjoy it for what it is, which is an amazing career reclamation project. Ken was so much better in ’23 than ’22, and that’s awesome, and he might be even better in 2024, which is even better! And what’s more, I think this new chapter has probably unlocked several more years from Ken. There’s less pressure and more fun in his racing now, and he’s gotten older to where he appreciates the lifestyle he has. Seems like most superstars get near that mid-twenties burnout phase, but if they come out the other side with some success, well, then they strap in for a long, fun, prosperous second act. We’ve reached that point with Ken Roczen. It would be odd to pretend there wasn’t ever a bump in the road that led to this point, first. So let's acknowledge that and enjoy this season for what it is: a huge rebound.

SPRING CREEK (Matthes)

The time is here! The first annual PulpMX Millville ride day is this weekend at the, in my opinion, best track on the national circuit. It's raining now but looks like it'll stop for tomorrow's day one. And Sunday looks great as well. Thanks to John and Alex Martin for helping us with this as well as Yamaha for bringing out Jason Raines and the demo bikes. Should be a great time with Damon Bradshaw, Ryan Villopoto, Phil Nicoletti, Keefer, Justin Starling, and more coming up to shred laps. 

If you're in the Minnesota area, Sunday is open to anyone and riding time is 10-4, there's a live PulpMX Show on Saturday night at the track as well.

Pro Perspective (Jason Thomas)

The first true off weekend of the year is upon us. Sure, most of the industry has been off since the checkered flag of the SMX Finale at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, but many others made the jaunt to France for the Motocross of Nations. That extra trip was a fun one, albeit a tough extra week after nine months of racing. Scrolling through social media screams off-season as many are on vacation or integrating with their new teams. That dynamic will continue through most of October with a sprinkle of testing thrown in for those that need feedback for 2024 parts. October is truly the calmest month of the year for most, replacing what used to be a mild September. The calendar is a little more crowded now with the addition of the SMX playoffs and an October MXoN. What used to be a restful September followed by a test-filled October has now consolidated. Riders and teams need to be more efficient with their downtime and scheduled testing. Once November arrives, it's full go-time for boot camps. The cycle starts over and it's full steam ahead all the way until the trucks roll into Anaheim.

For now, it's time to rest easy. Less off-season means making the most of this opportunity. Sleep a little later, have a glass of wine with dinner, head to the lake on a Tuesday. Now's the time because when January rolls around, the peace and tranquility of October will feel a million miles away.

#TWO-TWO (DC)

When the 2024 AMA SX/MX numbers came out a couple of weeks ago I thought it was really strange to see someone (Fredrik Noren) other than Chad Reed with #22. Turns out I wasn't the only one as our colleague Brett Smith of We Went Fast did an Andy Bowyer-style "number crunch" on the history of #22. He had to do some digging to find the last rider to wear #22 besides Reed, who chose it for the 2003 season and had kept it ever since, though he did wear #1 during his '09 defense of his Monster Energy AMA Supercross crown while riding for Suzuki, and then briefly in '10 when he was defending his '09 450 Pro Motocross title for Kawasaki. Turns out the last person assigned #22 was Grant Langston for the '02 season, but GL told Brett that he passed on it because "the last thing I wanted was a bunch of 2's on my bike." Langston wore #111 instead—the same number he was wearing when he lost the '01 AMA 125 Pro Motocross title at the last round at Steel City when his rear wheels collapsed, and the same number he would wear the next year when he actually won the title for the first time.

So Smith had to go back one more year to discover that it was actually Tallon Vohland who last wore #22, which was in 2001. Vohland was riding for Pro Circuit Kawasaki at the time, in what was the last year of his own professional racing career. (His son Max is now on the very same team and will run #20 in '24.) Vohland was also assigned the number in 2000 but he passed, preferring instead to wear #711 as he had the previous season. When Brett asked Tallon yesterday about his decision to change to #22, he replied that it was "the worst marketing decision I ever made." You can read all about the #22 and how well guys did with it going back to 1980:

Read: Moto Numerology: Freddie Noren is the New Two Two.

Coincidentally, #22 was the digit Team Germany's Ken Roczen was wearing last weekend when he won the MXGP class at the FIM Motocross of Nations in France.

Smith closed out his piece asking if anyone knew anything about who wore #22 in the 1970s, which is right up my alley! In 1979 the number was assigned to Pennsylvania's John Savitski for SX, but he was #8 in the 250 MX class. ('79 was a weird year for numbers as they assigned 1 thru 20 in each outdoor national class based on the previous year's ranked riders, but then had a traditional system for the one SX class everyone rode.) In 1978 the number was assigned to New Jersey's Mickey Kessler, Dakota's dad. His best finish that year was second overall in the 500 National at RedBud. 

In 1977 the AMA assigned #22 to Colorado privateer Arlo Englund. How best finish with it was a sixth-place at the '77 Hangtown 125 National. The 1976 recipient of #22 was Mike Runyard, though he was getting to the end of his career and only did four races in '76 while riding for Can-Am (though he did win the Canadian National Championship that same season). And then in both 1975 and '74 the #22 went to the late Robert Harris of New York. His best national finish was a second overall at a couple of outdoor nationals in the early '70s. Finally, in 1973, a rider name Steve Graszl of Mansfield, Ohio, is listed as #22 in the program of one of those old Trans-AMA races. (There's also a Rick Graszl that was #75 in 1975.) 

Stark Varg (Keefer)

Nick Wey and I had the chance to ride the Stark Varg at Glen Helen Raceway and came away impressed just like I thought I would. I had a huge part in the Alta Redshift production testing process and learned a lot about electric technology and how it could ADD to our sport and not take away. However, I do think that Alta's marketing plan was to try and prove that electric dirt bikes were better than gas-powered but to me Stark's pitch isn't quite the same. They are giving the consumer the option and not forcing electric down our throats. With that being said the Stark Varg is fast as YOU KNOW WHAT! I mean, who needs 80HP at their right hand? I know I don't! But the beauty is that you can turn the power all the way down to 10HP if you want and the whole motorcycle itself is really adjustable. I can turn down the engine braking and I can go through five different power map settings which is really nice. The power setting that I thought was the most fun was 60HP with around 30-40 percent engine braking. This gives the rider the most rear wheel traction and enough power to smile while twisting the throttle without scaring the holy crap out of you. 

As far as battery life goes, I managed to screw around doing photos and video for over an hour and still had 52 percent battery, then did a 6-lap moto and had 23 percent left. So to me that tells me the battery technology hasn't evolved that much since the Alta, but cooling the battery down is much better than that of the Redshift.

Overall, I think there is room for electric dirt bikes in our sport and I hope they figure out how to regulate them for AMA Pro Racing because I think it will be interesting. Our industry flipped out a little on the four-stroke when it came around in professional motocross racing in the early 2000s so to me it's no different. We will just have to put some rules and protocols in place for electric tech. You can check out the video we did on the Varg next week right here on Racer X, but in the meantime check out the RMATVMC Podcast I did or even the Racer X Podcast with Steve, Nick Wey and myself right here! 

And in other electric news, keep an eye out for Trey Canard on the Honda CR Electric Prototype, which he will be racing in the D.I.D. All-Japan Finals this weekend. Trey is entered as a wild card and it should be a good litmus test for the electric bike against contemporary four-strokes…

"LET ANDRE BYE" (DC)

Last month, in the wake of the Jett Lawrence/Ken Roczen controversy at the Chicagoland SMX round, we pulled together a list of races where one rider or another changed the outcome of a race by slowing down or waving someone past them. 

The List: Let ____ Bye

"Let ____ Bye" got a lot of responses from our readers, some with instances of other races we missed. Well, one longtime reader, Jack Martin, did a deep-dive on one of these instances—one that I never heard of, anyway—from way back in 1973 in the FIM 125cc European Championship involving Yamaha factory rider Tara Suzuki from Japan and Belgium's Andre Malherbe, who was a 17-year-old rising star on a Zundapp motorcycle. Martin even included a very cool retro video of the whole thing! Here's the letter we got from Jack:

EARLY CHRISTMAS GIFT (DC)

Looking for something rare and cool to give to the motocross/supercross/SMXer in your life? Check out the puzzle that we commissioned from longtime motocross artist/cartoonist Curt Evans featuring the Peristyle Jump at the Los Angeles Coliseum celebrating the history of supercross and motocross at the venerable Coliseum, which hosted the conclusion of the brand new 2023 SuperMotocross World Championship (SMX). You can get yours by simply subscribing to Racer X Magazine right here, or getting a gift subscription for a friend:

Subscribe or Renew Today and Get a FREE Limited Edition SuperMotocross Puzzle!

Evans penned cartoons through much of the seventies and eighties for Motocross Action and Dirt Bike magazines and more, going back to 1973! To see more of his creations check him out on Instagram at @downupdesignmerch451. You can also visit his website here: www.rte52.com.

Hey, Watch It!

Watch: On Board GoPro Videos from Motocross of Nations in France

International Motocross Museum intro video:

SMX Insider – Episode 47 – Motocross of Nations Recap

GoPro: Stark VARG Race Action at J Day Offroad

Red Bull Imagination 4.0 FULL SHOW

MXON 2023 in France: Racevlog from Team Germany with Ken Roczen, Simon Längenfelder and Tom Koch

MXoN Ernée 2023: Team Germany Bikes & Gear - Ken Roczen, Simon Längenfelder und Tom Koch