2011 US Nationals - 250 Class Preview

2010 Hangtown winner Eli Tomac has everything he needs to win the 2011 US Nationals
Pic. Paul McCready

With last year’s championship winner Trey Canard and runner -up Christophe Pourcel moving to the 450 class for 2011, the 250 US National championship has been blown wide open with many contenders believing this is their year to win the championship.

The logical favourite based on last year’s third place would be Pro Circuit rider Tyla Rattray. The 2008 South African MX2 World Champion has taken his time getting used to the USA’s intense racing style however when the track is rough Rattray will is hard to beat. But in his third year in a class he is too old to race in the World Championship, Tyla will need to deliver in 2011 if he wants a decent ride in 2012 given his age and lack of supercross experience.

Putting extra pressure on Rattray to achieve will be the rider who took over his crown of World Champion in MX2. Marvin Musquin is the two time MX2 World Champion and it will be interesting to see how their pace has evolved by racing in two different series. Rattray will not want Musquin to come in and beat him in his first year in the US, but it could well happen and will be an interesting subplot during the championship.

Musquin is coming off a knee injury but had a pretty impressive return to racing last week at the US GP. However, it may take the Frenchman a couple of rounds to get back to his 2010 pace. He will also have to adapt to the one day format in the US that involves short practice sessions, shorter intense races combined with new tracks and oppressive heat. But the KTM mounted Musquin is a very special rider and with Roger DeCoster in his corner helping him adapt he should be in hunt for the title by the season end.

Dean Wilson signed off in the best way possible last year by going 1-1 in the final round of the series at Pala Raceway. Bad starts hampered his progress in the supercross series and with the field so deep Wilson will need to gate well in the Nationals to put his undoubted speed to good use. The Scottish born rider has all the tools and now the experience to go for the title.

Justin Barcia is entering his third year of national outdoor competition in America, and is coming in with more momentum than ever after winning the East Coast super cross title. Barcia still needs to prove he can be consistent over 24 motos however to be a serious title contender. Maybe the most exciting and definitely the most aggressive rider to watch, Justin is hard to beat on his day and if he can minimise his mistakes he should be a factor every weekend.

But maybe the real favourite is his Geico Honda teamate Eli Tomac. The Colorado native narrowly lost the West Coast supercross title in his first year and this potentially could leave him down and less motivated coming into the outdoors, or it could make him even more motivated to win. My guess is it will be the latter. Tomac is a clear thinker on the track and doesn’t get to up or down depending on his results, he has a great people around him and like Wilson has everything he needs to take the title, it is just a matter of executing now.

Mitch Payton’s two other riders Blake Baggett and Broc Tickle could be dark horses for the title. Tickle is always strong and consistent outdoors although has never been a title contender, but now with the confidence of his West coast supecross title and being on the best team in the class, Tickle has no more excuses not to challenge for the series or at least get some wins under his belt.

Baggett is in a similar position, he was very fast last year until injury thwarted his season and now in a better team, it is up to Baggett to go out there and perform like he can. If he does he will be a contender for race wins.

Other riders who will feature among the front runners at times will be Wil Hahn, Ryan Sipes, Cole Seeley, Travis Baker and Gareth Swanepole, but these guys will need to establish themselves week in week out against the main contenders to be really taken seriously and that is the aspect that they have not been able to show yet.

Jason Anderson and Malcom Stewart are rookies on the national tour and they have a lot of raw speed, but will their fitness and consistency throughout the year be where it needs to be to get among the front runners.

Only one thing is for certain, with so many potential champions and even more potential race winners, the 2011 series will not lack in excitement!