The Yamaha factory team and all the teams are busy getting ready for today’s tech inspection. Photography by Kit Palmer
Things are shaping up quickly for this weekend Monster Energy Grand Prix of the U.S. at Glen Helen Raceway. The teams are all here and the pits are abuzz with activity, most of it involving getting the bikes ready for tech inspection. Everyone is also trying to adapt to the heat. It’s hot today and it’s only going to get hotter as the weekend progresses. It could reach triple digits come Sunday, race day.
Early on, it was planned for the entire U.S. Motocross of Nations team to use the Glen Helen Grand Prix as a tune-up for next weekend’s big race in France, since then, though, both Jeremy Martin and Justin Barcia have chosen to sit this one out and skip all the traveling from their home bases (Martin Minnesota and Barcia North Carolina) before heading overseas for the ‘Nations. Cooper Webb, however, is here and is looking forward to getting a race on the Yamalube/Star Racing YZ450F for the first time before hopping on a plane for France.
Webb, as well has Monster Energy Husqvarna’s Jason Anderson, has to be considered one of the favorites of all of the Americans entered in the race to win what is the final round of the 2015 FIM Motocross World Championship. Perhaps the number-one American favorite is Josh Grant, who is currently getting full factory support from Monster Energy Kawasaki. Grant is very familiar with the Glen Helen track (he grew up just a few minutes away from the track), he has a history of doing well here, and a big win right now would certainly look good on his resume, especially this being the height of “silly season” and sponsorship shopping. (Grant will probably remain on the team through the Monster Energy Cup.)
And you really can’t count out the veteran, Davi Millsaps, who will be making his debut on the BTO Sports KTM. He’s anxious to get back to racing again and no doubt wants to make an impression right away. Millsaps just might be the dark horse in this one.
Marvin Musquin will ride a KTM 450 SX-F at Glen Helen.
It will be interesting to see how Red Bull KTM’s Marvin Musquin does in the MXGP (450cc) class. This will be the Frenchman’s debut on the big bike and he has chosen to ride the KTM 450 SX-F over the 350 SX-F. There was some talk that he might ride the smaller displacement machine, but he chose to ride the 450. He only has three days on the bike but the team says he already looks good on the bike in testing. A fun rivalry to watch this weekend will be Musquin on the big KTM and Webb on the big Yamaha, both were also rivals in the 250cc AMA Nationals. Webb, we hear, is also liking the 450.
Another rider that is going to be fun to watch is American Thomas Covington. He is coming off his very first MX2 victory a week earlier in Mexico. It was a wet and muddy one there, so Glen Helen will be quite the contrast. It wasn’t all that long ago that Covington was an amateur racer for Kawasaki Team Green. He’s from Alabama but has spent plenty of time racing in the Southern California area, including, of course, Glen Helen. He knows this place.
Another rider who knows Glen Helen is Max Anstie, the Brit who has been riding extremely well as of late in the MX2 championship. Anstie has ridden a number of nationals and has put in many laps on the Glen Helen track.
Recently crowned MXGP World Champion Romain Febvre is here, of course, and he is excited to be racing in the U.S. He doesn’t have anything to lose this weekend, so you can be sure that he’ll go for it, as he would love to get a big win in front of the American fans and show everyone here why he is champ.
Febvre has raced on American soil once before. He competed in the Mini O’s (Mini Olympics in Florida) in 2011.
The riders and teams of the MXGP series are in the middle of quite the road trip. Last week they traveled to Mexico, then made the trek north to California, and will then immediately head back to Europe and France for the Motocross of Nations. Ever wonder how they do that, how they get the bikes, parts and personnel moved around the country so quickly? In this case (and seven others over the course of the season), Youthstream, the MXGP organizers, take care of all of the shipping details. Immediately after the Mexico GP, bike were quickly hosed off and, along with tools, gear and equipment, packed in crates (purchased and owned by the teams), and put in a “corner,” so to speak, of the paddock. From there, a hired shipping company takes care of the rest.
Straight from Mexico, Yamaha unpacks for the Glen Helen U.S. GP.
Each crate in Mexico was shipped to LAX (Los Angeles) and then delivered to the Glen Helen track during the week. After flying from Mexico to Los Angeles, crews arrived at the track, uncrated the still-dirty bikes and started getting them ready for this weekend’s race. The process will be repeated after the Glen Helen race. The bikes, in crates, will be heading to LAX Sunday evening. Next stop: France.
