MX2 GP Preview

MX2

It seems to many that the MX2 division is a clear cut - Ken Roczen will dominate en route to his first world title. The 2010 runner up is the favourite based on his speed at the end of last season where he ended as the fastest rider in the world. The mecurial 16 year old talent has switched to the Red Bull Factory powerhouse KTM team and has Stefan Everts now in his corner. With early AMA supercross racing as added experience, it seems that Roczen should win the title.

However GP titles are not won on paper, and with the form fellow teenage sensation Jeffrey Herlings has been showing in the pre-season races, the flying Dutchman could well be the equal of Roczen this year. With his first full season behind him, the fastest sand rider in the world just needs to equal Ken’s speed on the hard tracks and match his consistency to potentially claim the title. There are some experts within the GP paddock that believe Herlings is even better than Roczen, with both riders on the same team this season, we are about to find out the answer.

The other main championship contenders are CLS Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Tommy Searle and Rinaldi Yamaha’s Gautier Paulin. Paulin was on the pace last season until he broke his leg one week before the GPs started. He came back mid season and won the GP of Lierop at the end of the year. With a full winters preparation Paulin will be very fast, and barring more injurys should be challenging for podiums and wins all year. The tall Frenchmen is always cool, calm and collected, and this could well be his last year in MX2 before his highly anticipated move to MX1 so his motivation will be very high.

Tommy Searle returns from an injury hit time in the USA where he never really showed the speed and potential that took him to two consecutive runner up positions in the GPs in 2007 and 2008. Tommy is back with his trainer Kirk Gibbons, has a good professional team around him again and is living at home in England. That combination seems to already be agreeing with Searle, who has been in stunning form in the pre-season. Tommy is still only 21 but he has been at the front of the GPs since he was 16, he has the experience, the talent and the desire to be Britain’s first World Champion since mentor Jamie Dobb won exactly ten years ago. The MX2 class has changed a lot since Tommy went to the USA in 2009, Tommy used to be the young pretender, now he will be battling the young pretenders for the title!

Zach Osborne will be considering himself as a title contender in 2011. The Virginian native has been the most successful American rider in GPs since Mike Brown ten years ago. He had the best season of his career last season, finishing fourth in the World and being crowned British Champion. Osborne will hope to continue that momentum this year and has lost  alot of weight in the off season to compete with his rivals. His Wild Wolf Cosworth Yamaha is a fire breathing animal that has been designed around Zach’s high revving riding style. The American has the machine and the experience, if he can improve his sand riding and up his raw speed just a little to match Herlings and Roczen, he shouldn’t be far away from being a title contender.

New team-mate to Osborne is Arnaud Tonus, and he could be the dark horse for 2011. Smooth as silk with a very natural riding ability, the Swiss teenager has adapted very quickly to the Yamaha, winning British Championship races over Osborne already this season.  Tonus was team-mates with Roczen last year on the factory Suzuki, all that knowledge brought him his first GP podium at the end of the year and this season he will be expecting more of the same and maybe even some GP wins. Tonus should not be underestimated in 2011.

Jeremy Van Horebeck is the third member of the factory KTM team and while very talented and smooth, Van Horebeck seems to lack the self-belief to challenge for the title this year, but under the guidance of Stefan Everts expect Van Horebeck to make big improvement throughout the season.

Max Anstie is a bit of an unknown quantity in the GP paddock. Having spent his formative teenage years in the USA, Max now 18, is back in Europe with the CLS Pro Circuit Kawasaki team. He is on the best team of his short career, and has shown some blistering speed in the USA but also had some big crashes. Whether going to the USA has really helped Max fully develop his potential outdoors is questionable as his schoolboy rivals  (Roczen and Herlings) seem to have went to a higher level by staying in Europe and racing the GPs.  Anstie will believe he has the speed to run with his former rivals, and there is no doubting his talent, but GP racing is very different to what he is used to in America and Max also has to remain healthy for the full season. If he can adapt quickly and remain healthy, Max could come into his own in 2011 and maybe even win a GP.

Other riders who will add to the excitement at the front are the Yamaha duo of Harri Kullas and former European Champ Christophe Charlier. Kullas was a solid top ten guy last season and will be hoping for more in 2011. Charlier was disappointing in 2010, after beating both Herlings and Rozen in the Europeans in 2009, but he had some injuries so hopefully the Frenchman can remain injury free in 2011 and show his potential.

Staying with the French theme, Valentin Telleit is the new rider at Factory Suzuki. The 2008 Euro Champ has bucketloads of talent but again injuries have hampered his progress. Expect to see Telleit challenging at the front more and more as the season goes on.

Team Jacky Martens KTM has retained the services of World number five Joel Roelants. Roelants is fast but usually starts the year slowly, he will need to get out of the traps early this year if he wants to improve on his fifth place in the championship. Jordi Tixier is the latest in the long line of French hotshots and the 125 World Champ from 2010, looks very promising. 2011 will be a learning year but expect some stand out performances!

Team Husqvarna are back in MX2 with Ricci racing with riders Alessandro Lupino and American Michael Leib. Lupino has shown flashes of speed but will be looking to be a top ten rider in 2011. The same will go for American Leib who is embarking on his first full year of GP racing.

Britain’s Jake Nicholls was looking good for Roger Magee's HM Plant/Reb Bull KTM UK team, but he has broken his ankle and won’t be back in action until June.

2011 GP preview - MX1

MX1 GP Preview

It’s the start of the 2011 World Championship this weekend in Bulgaria- and what a series it promises to be. Multiple potential race winners  and the unkown factor that creates the excitement for any new season means this weekend is building up to one of the best races of the year. Let’s look at some  of the top contenders in MX1 and some dark horses.

With three World Champions in the class and a host of  GP winners, the MX1 class is an astounding mix of quality riders and should provide some fantastic racing.

Antonio Cairoli is undoubtedly the favourite, the four time World Champ is the total package in GP motocross combining raw talent with excellent race craft, style and a big heart. He will no doubt have his 350 KTM improved from last season and his confidence will be sky high, but if anyone can beat him it could be Clement Desalle.

The 21 year old Factory Suzuki star is beginning his second in a factory team. With one year’s experience in the team they communication and knowledge will have improved. Desalle has improved fitness regime and his never say die attitude mean that he has all the tools, and now the experience, to take the fight to Cairoli and give the Italian his toughest challenge in the MX1 class so far.

The factory teammates of these two title favourites will also be backing themselves to take the title this year, but both KTM’s Max Nagl and Suzuki’s Steve Ramon need to improve on their weaknesses to take the title.  

Nagl is moving to the 350 this season but he will be looking to keep his incredible starting ability that vaulted him to many holeshots in 2010. Nagl is smooth and fit, and if he can stay away from injuries he will be there or there a therebouts for the title, but does he have the mental strength and self belief to win a fight against Cairoli or Desalle when the title pressure is on?

Steve Ramon has won two World titles already, but both titles have been taken through consistency not through race wins, and with Cairoli consistently winning Ramon may need to step up his aggression in order to contend for wins and the championship. But the smoothest and maybe the most naturally talented rider in the class can never be counted out over a long series, Ramon may be the oldest rider in the class but he  will be in the top five every week ready to take advantage of other riders mistakes.

Rinaldi Yamaha have their strongest line up in many years, 2008 World Champ David Philipearts returns for another crack at the title. The consummate professional David is very determined, very fit, mentally strong and will fight for every position. Similar to Ramon he will be there every weekend, but he may need to find a touch more raw speed over the entire fifteen rounds to challenge for wins consistently. One thing is for certain if Phillipearts is in the hunt down the stretch he won’t be giving an inch to his rivals.

New teammate Steven Frossard is coming up from MX2 where he finished third in the 2010 championship. Frossard has been in blistering from already in 2011 winning the Italian National championship against Cairoli and Philippearts. His speed is not in question on the hard tracks, but can Frossard keep it together in the sand and find the consistency to challenge for the title in his first season?

The Kawasaki teams have already been hit by injury, pre season title favourite Ben Townley back in the GPs riding for the CLS/Pro Circuit Kawasaki team is not even going to be on the line in Bulgaria after suffering a concussion practicing at home in New Zealand... his return to racing is unclear, but when he comes back he will be expected to fight for podiums and wins. The Factory GPKR Kawasaki team have already lost Sebastian Pourcel who has broken his back just two weeks prior to the GPs starting. It is the third year in a row injury has derailed the talented Frenchman’s GP season. This leaves the consistent and improving Xavier Boog who will be looking for his first win in 2011. Jonathan Barragan will be the green teams main hope for a title. If he can stay in the free the tough Spaniard can make his presence felt at the front, but he has yet to prove he can bring the speed he had on his KTM to the Kawasaki, maybe this will be the year.

Team Honda come into this season looking stronger than they have for a few years. The Martin Factory squad comprises Portuguese rider Rui Goncalves and Russian Evgeny Bobryshev. Bobryshev was the revelation of the 2010 season, he finished ninth in the World in his first MX1 season with some podium finishes as well as some blistering speed. He also won the British Championship for CAS Honda and now is looking to take the next step in his career with a factory team. Extensive training has left him fitter than ever before and the young talented Russian could well be a threat to win some races in 2011 but the title may be a bit too far away for him this year. Rui Goncalves is in his second year in the MX1 class but after spending last season on the 350, the 2009 MX2 runner –up is having to learn a new riding style for the 450 and as yet has not shown great speed in 2011. Rui is a hard worker and he will get faster as the season goes on, just how fast he can get remains to be seen, he could surprise some people.

LS Honda has a very strong team this season, Ken De Dycker returns to ride for the manufacturer he has had most success on in GPs and with the team being based in Belgium and not a high pressure outfit, De Dycker may have all the pieces in the puzzle to reignite his enthusiasm and show the form he did two or three years ago. De Dycker should win races in 2011, but can he put it together the whole season and keep his determination and fitness strong every weekend?  Team mate Shaun Simpson has graduated to MX1 and fighting Scot is revelling in the low pressure environment and the torque of the 450 Honda that suits his riding style perfectly. Coming from two injury hit and high pressure years at factory KTM, the LS Honda set up could provide the ideal platform for Shaun to have fun with his racing and shock a few people at his speed on the 450.

Factory TM signing Tanel Leok has shown some impressive speed in the pre-season and the TM engine has been getting him out to great starts which has always been his weakness in seasons past. Another rider who has a lot of talent is Anthony Boissere, working with George Jobe the Yamaha rider will show flashes of brilliance in 2011 but needs to be more consistant when it isn’t his day. Added to that impressive list are guys like Marc De Reuver and Kevin Strijbos – both former GP winner and title contenders just need a healthy season and some good starts to rediscover their form and confidence of previous years.

The Brits are back MX1 for 2011 and it's not just Shaun Simpson. Jason Dougan in the form of his life in 2011 riding for Steve Dixon’s Wild Wolf Yamaha team and could have some good results, while young gun Graeme Irwin is campaigning the 350 KTM for Roger Magee’s HM Plant Red Bull KTM UK team. It will be a baptism of fire for the 19 year old Irishman in his first GP season but his heart is bigger than anyone else and he will find a way to climb the rankings.

Martin Barr is riding half the GPs for the Proppa.com KTM team. The 23 year old Irishman is in blistering form in the UK and if he can bring that speed to the GPs, a lot of teams will be shocked they haven’t signed the stylish rider for a full GP season.

James Stewart - Ambition v Talent

When Casey Stoner confronted Valentino Rossi in Jerez on Sunday with the words, "Did your ambition outweigh your talent?" fellow Aussie Chad Reed no doubt felt he could have uttered the same words to nemesis James Stewart, with perhaps even more accuracy.

Stewart had once again got out of control, this time spearing into Reed knocking Chad off the track and ultimately costing him the points lead, just as Rossi had done with Stoner, and just like Rossi, the culprit ended up with a better finish than the innocent victim.

Asking the same question to both riders however is maybe where the similarities stop. Looking at the big picture and not just this one incident Rossi is known for his smoothness and intelligence on the track, he has a record breaking nine World Titles to his name and most people were shocked not just that he had taken out Stoner but that he had crashed in the first place.

In direct contrast to Rossi Stewart isn’t known for his smoothness or his racing brain. Fans now don’t seem to be shocked that Stewart crashed. In fact they aren’t even shocked that he crashed AGAIN, because now people (including his rivals) seem to EXPECT he will crash.
But what is the reason for all those crashes, does Stoner’s question apply even more to Stewart than Rossi? Is it Stewart’s ambition outweighing his talent that has led to these crashes?  On the face of it, Stewart is the most talented rider in the sport and it appears, at least from the outside, that if James just rode to the edge of his talent that he would have won even more championships. But then would James be any faster than the rest if he didn’t ride over the edge of his talent? Only James knows the answer....

Even when he is comfortable in the lead and his talent is taking him to victory, Stewart still has the ambition to do more, in the 125s he wanted to win by minute - and usually it works. But when he has pressure with rivals on a similar pace the ambition seems to get the better of him. At Daytona a few weeks ago he was two seconds quicker than the rest and had the win in the bag within the opening laps, but that wasn’t good enough –Stewart wanted more and he kept pushing until he had a huge endo, gifting the win to Ryan Villopoto.

Stewart’s ambition seems to be even higher than his talent level, which is already absurdly high, but perhaps the two go hand in hand. If James didn’t have the ambition, would he have become as fast, would he have won those championships? Or has his talent and race winning  dominance from he was on 50s created the expectation of crushing victories, which has created the automatic mindset to dominate every race at every level.

Stewart’s ambition to win at all costs has brought him a legion of fans, but it appears to be his ambition to win that is ironically also costing him some fans and now wins.

Maybe James needs to learn to accept that with the current competition level he will have to lose a few battles in order to win the war... something all the greats have learnt to do. You don’t always have to be the fastest to win a championship you also have to be the smartest and channel your ambition in the right way...just ask Chad Reed.

But then again, do the fans really want a smart James Stewart, or would they miss the ruthless ambition to dominate every race even if it means riding above his talent level... because that until now is what defines James Stewart and that is why we love to watch him race.