PRO TAPER PRESENTS MXA’S MID-WEEK REPORT BY JOHN BASHER

On Aug 25, 2015 Last updated Aug 25, 2015

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

Race teams are announcing rider signings now that the AMA Nationals have concluded. On Monday, JGR Yamaha revealed an agreement with Justin Barcia that will extend his contract through 2018. Husqvarna followed suit on Tuesday, announcing that Jason Anderson’s contract has been extended through 2018, while Christophe Pourcel was inked to a two-year deal. Anderson (21) and Pourcel (377) are solid anchors for the Rockstar Husqvarna team. Both have proven successful during the 2015 Nationals–Pourcel ended the series in fifth overall and Anderson finished sixth. It will be interesting to see how the pairing play out now that Pourcel has a long-term commitment.

AMA NATIONAL STATS: RACING BY THE NUMBERS

I’m a numbers guy. As a kid I was intrigued by baseball statistics. RBI, AVG, H, HR, SB, SLG, SO, ERA…abbreviations that revealed the performance of a player. Motocross isn’t so focused on statistics. That’s too bad. Why not have metrics that follow a rider’s average timed qualifying position, average starting position, total number of riders they passed per moto, top tens, top fives, podiums, wins, and average points earned per moto? It would be a telling story about the performance of each rider. This is probably where you think I’m going to spend days crunching the numbers to provide the aforementioned statistics. Nope. It would take too much time. However, I did do the legwork in illustrating how the top ten riders in each class performed throughout the AMA National series.

450 Class

1. Ryan Dungey

Average moto finish…2nd place
Average points per moto…22.79
Overall wins…7
Moto wins…13
Worst moto finish…12th (Budds Creek)
Best moto finish…1st
Holeshots…4
Fastest qualifier…5

2. Ken Roczen

Average moto finish…4th place
Average points per moto…18.62
Overall wins…1
Moto wins…3
Worst moto finish…18th (Hangtown)
Best moto finish…1st
Holeshots…1
RC Hard Charger award…Glen Helen
Fastest qualifier…2

3. Justin Barcia

Average moto finish…4th place
Average points per moto…18.37
Overall wins…2
Moto wins…3
Worst moto finish…35th (Hangtown)
Best moto finish…1st
Holeshots…11
Fastest qualifier…0

4. Blake Baggett

Average moto finish…6th

Average points per moto…15.00
Overall wins…0
Moto wins…0
Worst moto finish…34th (High Point)
Best moto finish…2nd
Holeshots…0
RC Hard Charger award…Washougal
Fastest qualifier…0

5. Christophe Pourcel

Average moto finish…8th
Average points per moto…13.45
Overall wins…0
Moto wins…0
Worst moto finish…38th (Tennessee)
Best moto finish…2nd
Holeshots…2
Fastest qualifier…3

250 Class

1. Jeremy Martin

Average moto finish…3rd
Average points per moto…20.45
Overall wins…5
Moto wins…9
Worst moto finish…9th (Washougal, Ironman)
Best moto finish…1st
Holeshots…4
RC Hard Charger award…High Point
Fastest qualifier…7

2. Marvin Musquin

Average moto finish…3rd
Average points per moto…19.95
Overall wins…3
Moto wins…10
Worst moto finish…40 (Ironman)
Best moto finish…1st
Holeshots…4
Fastest qualifier…2

3. Joey Savatgy

Average moto finish…6th
Average points per moto…14.5
Overall wins…1
Moto wins…0
Worst moto finish…34 (Thunder Valley)
Best moto finish…2nd
Holeshots…2
RC Hard Charger award…Utah
Fastest qualifier…0

4. Zach Osborne

Average moto finish…7th
Average points per moto…13.75
Overall wins…0
Moto wins…0
Worst moto finish…33rd (Glen Helen)
Best moto finish…2nd
Holeshots…1
RC Hard Charger award…Unadilla
Fastest qualifier…0

5. Jessy Nelson

Average moto finish…7th
Average points per moto…13.45
Overall wins…0
Moto wins…0
Worst moto finish…17th (Hangtown)
Best moto finish…2nd
Holeshots…1
Fastest qualifier…0

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: FROM THE MAN

“After the first moto I apologized to him [Marvin Musquin], but I said that he needed to go out and try to win the second moto. What happened to him could have happened to anyone else, including Martin. There was still a chance.” – Roger DeCoster

Click here to read the full interview.

COOL VIDEO: MADDO’S PIPE DREAM POV SONY FOOTAGE

FUN WITH INSTAGRAM

It seems that facial hair has become de rigueur for professional racers (look no further than Justin Barcia’s beard and Jason Anderson’s ode to Burt Reynolds). Monster Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Joey Savatgy can’t be overlooked in terms of face plumage. He has a beard that is eerily reminiscent of America’s 16th President. That fact wasn’t lost on Ricky Carmichael, who happens to train Savatgy, and likes to use the social influence of Instagram to rib his buddies. Take a look above at the gem RC posted recently on his feed, which was only seen by 431 thousand of Carmichael’s followers. Nice job, Ricky.

USGP: WHICH AMA NATIONAL RIDERS ARE IN?

When news broke that Glen Helen would hold the United States Grand Prix on September 20th, it wasn’t a matter of whether the event would happen, but if anyone would actually show up. You might recall the two-year stretch, from 2010-2011, when Glen Helen hosted the USGP. It was a dazzling track with long lap times and impressive jumps–a perfect showcase of traditional American motocross. It was not, however, a track that many riders actually rode. Why? U.S. riders had little interest in racing a one-off event. In 2010, the USGP was held on a weekend break between Hangtown and Thunder Valley. Contesting the USGP wouldn’t have been a hassle for U.S. teams, but that didn’t prevent them from opting out and continuing on their merry way to Colorado. Below is the list of U.S. riders that signed up to race the USGP in 2010 (their overall finish is in parentheses):

2010 GLEN HELEN USGP U.S. RIDER LIST

Americans knew little about Ken Roczen in 2010. That quickly changed.

450 Class:
Mike Alessi (2nd)
Kyle Chisholm (9th)
Bobby Garrison (22nd)
Ryan Hughes (23rd)
Justin Soule (24th)
Dennis Stapleton (27th)
Kyle Phenix (30th)
David Gassin (32nd)
Ryan Sipes (35th)
Ricky Dietrich (36th)

250 Class:
Zach Osborne (2nd)
Travis Baker (13th)
Vince Friese (19th)
Jimmy Decotis (20th)
Joey Rossi (21st)
Dakota Tedder (23rd)
Jared Minor (24th)
Myles Tedder (25th)
Michael Thacker (27th)
Michael Leib (28th)

Total number of U.S. racers = 20

The 2011 USGP was held on the break between the end of Supercross and the start of the AMA Nationals. Having generated interest from the previous season, it was thought that more U.S. stars would come out and race against the best from Europe. It didn’t happen. Take a look at the U.S. rider list from the 2011 USGP, along with their results in parentheses.

2011 GLEN HELEN USGP U.S. RIDER LIST

Christian Craig was the top American in the 450 class at the 2011 Glen Helen USGP.

450 Class:
Christian Craig (10th)
Weston Peick (20th)
Sean Borkenhagen (25th)
Dennis Stapleton (28th)
Mike Sleeter (33rd)

250 Class:
Zach Osborne (5th)
Travis Baker (12th)
Scott Champion (19th)
Dakota Tedder (22nd)
Tevin Tapia (23rd)
Joey Rossi (27th)
Sean Lipanovich (28th)
Myles Tedder (29th)
Michael Thacker (31st)
Deven Raper (35th)

Total number of U.S. racers = 15

Maybe this year’s USGP fits better in the schedule, or it could be the fact that the race is a great warm-up for the Motocross des Nations on the following weekend, but the 2015 USGP should have a considerable amount of star power. It’s not clear yet as to the total number of American racers slated to ride the USGP, but it is known that some big names from the AMA Nationals (Americans and non-Americans) will go up against the best from the rest of the world. See below:

EXPECTED GLEN HELEN USGP RIDER LIST:
Jeremy Martin
Cooper Webb
Jason Anderson
Josh Grant
Christophe Pourcel
Dean Wilson
Marvin Musquin
Chris Alldredge (he might miss the race, depending whether he has knee surgery)
Joey Savatgy (he might miss the race, due to having surgery on his finger)

Roger DeCoster confirmed in the “Interview of the Week” that Ryan Dungey has opted out of racing the USGP. Team USA rider, Justin Barcia, will not be racing at Glen Helen, either (although I’m not sure why so many people assumed that he would). Perhaps several other top names will come out of the woodwork and line up at Glen Helen. It is possible for the 250 class to have more American riders, but for that to happen Giuseppe Luongo would have to freeze the 23-year-old age limit for the class. That would allow guys like Zach Osborne, Martin Davalos and Arnaud Tonus to race (if willing and able).

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MICKAEL MUSQUIN IN OUR THOUGHTS

Marvin Musquin’s older brother, Mickael, apparently suffered a serious injury on Saturday while racing a French Supercross. Mickael broke several bones in his back and has reportedly already had several surgeries on his spine. Mickael raced some U.S. Supercross rounds back in 2011 and made night programs. The photo above was taken during practice at the Los Angeles Supercross. The older Musquin is a friend of MXA test rider, Dennis Stapleton. Best wishes, Mickael!

THE FORGOTTEN PHOTOS: LOST IN THE HARD DRIVE

FMF Racing provided their all-new Titanium 2 silencer for Daryl Ecklund’s 2015 Husqvarna TC250 project bike. Notice the carbon fiber subframe.

Johnny Jelderda shoots up a wave of roost on Jody’s 2015 KTM 250SX project bike. This shot was palmed in favor of a loop-out jump shot (which also graced the cover of the July 2015 issue).

Believe it or not, Josh Grant is hitting the same Competitive Edge berm that Jelderda was in the previous photo. There’s a big difference between shooting bike test photos and the best way to hit corners when racing the stopwatch.

Daryl Ecklund kicked Dennis Stapleton’s 2015 Yamaha YZ250 two-stroke sideways. Most people wouldn’t have been able to ride out such a big scrub. Fortunately Daryl brought the rear end back.