Meanwhile our man Jason Thomas is down under in Australia for the next round of the Australian Supercross Championship, look for some coverage from that next week. Then coming soon are some of the other big international supercross events, including the Paris Supercross on November 16-17 and the AUS-X Open in Melbourne on November 30. And in between those two will be the second and third rounds of the WSX series, November 23-24, in Perth, Australia, and then the fourth and final round on December 4 (a very rare Wednesday race, to work in with a Formula 1 race weekend) from Abu Dhabi. The Aus-X Open in Australia, by the way, is no longer part of the WSX Championship.

There’s also the Tempere SX in Finland, which takes place next weekend and will feature our friend Harri Kullas, Josh Hill, Cade Clason, and more. And if you’re a fan of amateur racing, don’t forget that the 533rd Annual THOR Mini O’s at Gatorback Cycle Park are coming up November 23-30, streaming live every day on RacerTV.com.

(And speaking of streaming the Dubya USA Vet National from Glen Helen, the Motocross Action gang will be streaming live on Sunday—11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Pacific Time—just go to YouTube and search “World Vet Motocross Championship live stream”.)

All of that is ahead of us, the carousel that is the sport continues turning, especially in the off-season. While we saw more mid-season changes than anyone can remember, with riders switching teams midstream—Ty Masterpool, Max Anstie, Garrett Marchbanks, Colt Nichols, and Joey Savatgy—the musical chairs of silly season continue. We saw GasGas in Europe say goodbye to two-time MXGP FIM Motocross World Champion Jorge Prado, and GasGas in America say goodbye to Pierce Brown after his SMX win in Las Vegas. Now Brown is with the Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing juggernaut. Then GasGas announced that they were teaming up with Rockstar Energy and moving in next to Husqvarna, as Troy Lee Designs is no longer their U.S. racing partner. And they signed Casey Cochran, who was with Husqvarna, to their all-new, in-house Rockstar Energy GasGas Factory Racing team.

Meanwhile, Austin Forkner announced that he was leaving Kawasaki and Pro Circuit after more than a dozen years, starting over fresh with Triumph, who also added Jordon Smith and Stilez Robertson to their lineup as well, with Jalek Swoll sticking around from their first season on the AMA circuit. (Also, Guillem Farres is headed back to Europe to race for Triumph in MX2 after having only been healthy for two races on Husqvarna here in 2024).

Read Mitch Kendra’s news recap from this week that covers all the team/rider signings that took place since Monday.

And coming back to America from Europe is Jack Chambers, after spending two years with Steve Dixon Racing Kawasaki in the MX2 FIM Motocross World Championship and British Nationals. Chambers, who is from Florida, posted:

Two-time Monster Energy AMA Supercross 450SX Champion Cooper Webb is staying put with Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing, but he is changing gear brands, announcing the change on his social media. We'll let Webb and his new gear brand announce the change when they're ready for it.

And his Yamaha teammate Justin Cooper announced a switch from Alpinestars to O’Neal gear. Check out Cooper’s announcement below.

And of course, we are all waiting for the first glimpse of the aforementioned Jorge Prado on his whole new setup now that he’s here in America getting ready for his first full season on the AMA circuit. You can probably expect that sometime this month.

Matthes offered this hot take on one of the week’s developments…

Stilez (Matthes)

The Triumph team dropped this week with news of Austin Forkner, Jordon Smith, and Stilez Robertson joining Jalek Swoll for next year. It's an interesting group of riders for sure and I'm interested to see what Robertson can do on the British brand. Stilez is a good dude, but I have to admit I'm surprised that Triumph is taking him on even though team manager Bobby Hewitt once had him at Rockstar Energy Husqvarna. He missed the whole season in 2024 and before that, he only raced eight races in 2023. So, he's missed a lot of time which is hard to come back from. It's a gamble for Triumph (like Forkner as well) and if you told me Forkner was going to win some races and Stilez got some top fives, I'd nod my head in agreement. If you told me both racers got hurt and only raced a combined 10 races in 2025, I'd also have to nod my head in agreement. I hope it’s the former and not the latter for both Austin and Stilez. This will be a spicy team to watch in 2025 for sure.

MC (Matthes)

Weege, Seth Rarick, and I did another Leatt Re-Raceables Podcast the other day talking about Jeremy McGrath's first win on the Suzuki in 1997 at the Minneapolis SX. We got MC on the line to talk about that very, very late-season switch to Suzuki and he mentioned that before the year, he was feeling so good about himself that he really thought he could win on the RM250. But as the season went on, the clutch wasn't where it needed to be, and the conventional forks were flexing too much. So, he and the team got to work getting the bike where he needed it to be. At some point mid-season, Jeremy put on some Showa factory USD forks. When Weege asked him how he got those, Jeremy mentioned that there was an old Honda practice bike in his garage that no longer had forks on it. He simply took the forks off of his old Honda and he hand carried them to and from the races each week! 

Great stuff, as always, from McGrath. Check it out below.

1997 Cont’d (DC)

I have not gotten to listen to the Re-Raceables Podcast just yet, but I recently sat for an interview for an upcoming documentary that focusing on that whole season and the Jeremy McGrath-vs.-Jeff Emig elements in particular. In looking back at ’97, I had really forgotten just what a tumultuous year it was in American SX/MX, beginning with the post-Christmas ’96 press release that Jeremy really was leaving Honda after four straight AMA Supercross Championships, the door that opened for everyone—not just Emig but also Doug Henry, Ezra Lusk, Ryan Hughes, Damon Huffman, Kevin Windham, Jimmy Button, Steve Lamson, and everyone else who had been riding in Jeremy’s wake in supercross since he jumped up from Pro Circuit Honda 125s to factory 250. In the very first race MC and his old teammate Lamson ended up finding each other and colliding together, and Greg Albertyn (!) of all people won—and he was on the Suzuki RM250! From there Henry would assert himself and may have very well been the champion, but then he and Jimmy Button collided, breaking Doug’s hand. When he returned at the end of the series, he was on the white Yamaha YZM400F prototype and would shock the world when he won the Vegas SX in his first time on the bike inside a stadium, setting off the whole big transition from two-strokes to four-strokes that would take nearly the next ten years. Emig would win the SX title and then add the AMA 250 Pro Motocross Championship in the best year of his career, but then Jeremy dropped another big PR (though not quite as surprising as the last one) and said he was moving to Yamaha—Jeff’s old brand—and, well, what a comeback, as he would end up winning the next three SX titles. Add to this the arrival of young Ricky Carmichael to the winner’s circle in both 125SX and MX and 1997 was indeed a tumultuous season, and now I have something to do this off-weekend—listen to the Re-Raceables about Jeremy McGrath and that Suzuki!

Dunlop Factory Spec Tire (Keefer)

Dunlop had us out to their facility in Huntsville, Alabama, to try out their new spec tire that will be available in December at your local KTM dealership. YES! That's right! Us normal folk can now buy the same tires that Chase Sexton, Jett Lawrence, and Eli Tomac are running. After riding on the Factory Spec tires against the MX34s, you can tell a big difference on lean angle, especially the front tire! I have been poking at Dunlop for years to put some specs up for sale to the consumer and FINALLY they did it! I honestly can't believe it. I will say that KTM did have a huge part in this as they purchased the tires in the hopes to start putting them on their upcoming FE bikes, so that means you and I can go purchase these at your local KTM dealership. The markup on the Factory Specs are only 20 to 22 percent compared to the MX34 so that isn't that much considering what I thought they were going to cost. Will they last a long time? Look, if you're asking me that question then the Factory Specs aren't for you. These are race tires and will only last a few hours, but I can tell you I put 2.1 engine hours on a set of these and the knobs are still intact as well as the integrity of the carcass. If you're looking for more info, check back soon to Racerxonline.com for a full video as well as my website, Keeferinctesting.com to get more of a detailed breakdown. 

Over the pond, Dean Wilson went INTO the pond...

Hey, Watch It!

Here is the Australian Supercross pre-race show, which includes our man Jason Thomas filling in for Justin Brayton: 

And here’s a Jett Lawrence fix for everyone, courtesy of Honda Powersports:

2017 Swingarm? Why Air Fork? Kris Keefer and Phil Nicoletti Detail the ClubMX Yamaha

GoPro: A Lap Around ClubMX