Mike Fisher Out at Kawasaki

10.03.2011 // 0 Comments

This news is so fresh that it’s actually difficult to get anyone to comment on it even at Kawasaki because either they don’t know what happened, or they don’t know he’s gone at all, but we did manage to get confirmation a short while ago that Monster Energy Kawasaki team manager Mike Fisher is no longer with Kawasaki.

Team USA Wins Motocross of Nations

09.18.2011 // 0 Comments

Story and Photos by Steve Cox After Saturday’s qualifying effort, it was easy to believe that Team USA – which won all three qualifying races on Saturday – was going to run away with the Motocross of Nations here in St. Jean D’Angely, France, but the Nations race format is an interesting one, and things [...]

Team USA Dominant On MXoN Day 1

09.17.2011 // 1 Comment

When a dominant team like Team USA comes to the Motocross of Nations, it seems half of the fans are just happy to see Team USA’s racers (and the fellow AMA racers, such as Chad Reed, racing for Australia), but in recent years, injuries have prevented Team USA from sending its top riders in every class. For this year’s event, however, in St. Jean D’Angely, France, that’s not the case.

Pala Practice Update

09.10.2011 // 0 Comments

Here’s a gallery of photos showing the top racers in today’s qualifying for the Pala MX National. Motos are about to start shortly.

Further Analysis of Ryan Dungey’s Southwick Mishap

08.30.2011 // 3 Comments

There have been questions flying about from industry people and fans alike wondering about the rules in a situation like Ryan Dungey faced at Southwick, where the second moto started without him, and he joined the race after a lap had almost been completed. In the following, I’ll break down the question asked, and the answer for each, according to the AMA rulebook, and after speaking with AMA/MX Sports official Jeff Canfield.

Southwick Practice Report

08.27.2011 // 0 Comments

The way the qualifying practices go, things normally favor the top guys. The 450 non-seeded guys go first, and then the seeded guys, which means the lines in the turns and stuff get cut in by the first guys, and many times the mud is soaked up, and then the stars hit the track.

At Southwick, though, that’s frequently not the case. And this weekend, local boy Michael Sottile set the fastest time in the 450cc class by putting in a time of 1:55.581 early in the first practice session, when the Southwick sand was still smooth. Still, it’s quite a feat.

Southwick Weather/First Practice Update

08.27.2011 // 1 Comment

The rain is coming and going in the early hours of the day here at Southwick. During the first seeded 450cc qualifying session, the rain got very heavy for a short period of time, as Hurricane Irene is already over the track. It’s not raining as this is being posted, but the size of Irene [...]

Southwick MX National Preview

08.24.2011 // 1 Comment

Anyone who has been to the sand tracks in Europe – like Lierop (no longer on the GP schedule), Lommel, etc. – will notice big, key differences in the “sand tracks” there versus the one and only sand track here on the AMA schedule – Southwick.

First, the European tracks are very technical. The sand tends to hold water really well, and the tracks are slow-speed, rutted, gnarly affairs where line choice is the biggest key of all.

Southwick, on the other hand, is normally much more high-speed, and line choice is never as big of an issue, as there are normally one or two good lines in any turn, and a few more on any straightaway.

French MXoN Team Controversy

08.23.2011 // 0 Comments

Around the blogosphere, a lot is being made of a supposed controversy surrounding the 2011 French Motocross of Nations team. Being that the race is being held in France this year, perhaps this is fueling the supposed controversy.

The team, announced at Loket, is slated to consist of Steven Frossard (MX1), Marvin Musquin (MX2) and Gautier Paulin (MX3). Even prior to this past weekend’s British GP, some people felt that former MX2 World Champ Chris Pourcel should’ve been on the team in the MX3 spot, considering that Paulin is an MX2 racer full-time.

Performing In The Heat

08.22.2011 // 0 Comments

Heat is a subject we’ve talked quite a bit about this summer, as the early rounds of the 2011 Lucas Oil/AMA Pro Motocross Championship seemed, as a whole, to be hotter than usual, when taking heat index into account. Well, heat isn’t only a concern for motocross racers, obviously, but in athletics in general.

We can’t change the weather. We have to work with what Mother Nature gives us. I’ve already made the suggestion in past columns that the AMA create a rule – a rule in black and white – that will put together guidelines about the heat, such as when the heat index is over X amount, shorten the motos to 25 minutes, and when it’s over Y amount, shorten the motos to 20 minutes, etc. I think this would go a long way toward solving the problem.