Steve Cox | August 22, 2018
The Tilted Table
COLUMN
In my previous column in these pages, I talked a lot about the rule changes that have been instituted for the FIM’s Motocross of Nations in order to help the other teams defeat Team USA. I also gave the reasons why the FIM felt this to be necessary in the article Wide World of MX.
It’s important to understand the Motocross of Nations, and the obstacles each of the teams face (including Team USA) if they hope to bring home the Chamberlin Trophy. It’s been since 2011 that the USA has won the event, and having the race return to U.S. soil is no guarantee it will return to its winning ways.
Here are some other things to think about when it comes specifically to Team USA’s concerns at this year’s RedBud MXoN:
The GP regulars race on a wide variety of soils, from the deepest sand you could imagine (Lommel or Vaalkenswaard) to the hardest of hard-pack tracks. This is one of the big things that makes the GPs stand out in comparison to the modern-day AMA Nationals. To win a World Championship, you have to be able to race on anything. But here in the USA, we have one sand track (Southwick) that has a hard base underneath it. Southwick’s now so low on sand that they had to truck some new sand in this year. Then we have Unadilla, which used to be more hard-packed and rocky than it is, but it’s still plenty hard-packed and rocky. Then we have Washougal, which looks like it has all the traction in the world because of the dark color of the dirt, but in actual fact, most of the good dirt has exited the Washougal facility under the fenders of 40 years worth of motorcycles. What’s left is mostly hard and slippery. But outside of those three venues, every other track on the circuit has very close to the same soil formula. The other nine tracks either started out with nice, loamy dirt, or had sand and soil trucked in (such as in Colorado and Hangtown, among others) to bring the soil to an even consistency.
Most of this with the soil occurred during the Ricky Carmichael era, but the end result is that AMA racers tend to be a little less versatile in terms of which types of soil they can ride well, at least as compared to top-flight GP competitors.
You might be thinking, “Yeah, but RedBud is that typical, loamy dirt, and the U.S. guys know how to go fast on it!” Yes, this is true. But typically so do the GP guys. It’s less of an advantage for Team USA (or AMA racers generally) than you think being on literal “home soil.”
But here’s where it gets interesting: The FIM and Youthstream are going to have a lot of say in how the RedBud track is prepped, so that will make a difference. The other times the MXoN has been held on U.S. soil, the dirt wasn’t tilled nearly as deep as it is for the AMA Nationals, which causes the track to develop much differently; bumps are smaller but choppier and more numerous, ruts in the corners don’t get as deep, etc.
And even if the RedBud track is prepped the same way it is for a National, the track is going to develop differently anyway. Why? Because the bikes are different.
AMA racers spend basically eight months out of the year riding and racing supercross, only pausing that to ride and race outdoors just before the Nationals start. As soon as the Nationals end, they’re back to supercross. Setting up a motorcycle for supercross is much different from setting them up for motocross, with (as one example) a much stiffer fork setup (to prevent the motorcycle from diving into the whoops or wallowing between jumps in the rhythm sections). If a racer spends eight months out of the year riding a motorcycle set up like that, it makes it very difficult to completely change that setting for the Nationals and feel comfortable, so AMA racers tend to ride outdoors on a similar supercross-style chassis setting. This causes bumps and ruts to develop a certain way on the track, because those form by virtue of how the motorcycles react to the soil underneath them.
GP racers, on the other hand, have bikes 100-percent setup for motocross. Their forks are much more compliant, and the bikes are generally much more balanced. They work really well everywhere. Most of the bikes on the track at RedBud will have GP setups, so the track will not develop like the AMA guys are used to. This minimizes the advantage for Team USA even further.
And the final thing is that GP racers typically help each other even if they’re not on the same team. They love beating AMA racers, especially Team USA. It’s not uncommon to see a racer from Italy doing what he can to slow up one of Team USA’s guys to help Team France, for example. Team USA is going to be basically all alone out there, them against the world, whereas the other teams will be a bit more friendly to each other.
On top of that, and this might be the biggest point, Team USA is always expected to win. No matter what, Team USA is the favorite. This creates an interesting dilemma, in that if Team USA wins, it’s not that big of a deal, because they should. But if Team USA loses, it’s the worst thing ever. Basically, winning isn’t a big deal, but losing is.
This can cause crises of motivation, as well as major pressure to win.
So, to be clear, Team USA is still the favorite to win at RedBud, but then again they always are, and they haven’t actually won since 2011, so try to temper your expectations and enjoy the event. There are a lot of world-class racers headed to RedBud in October, and you can’t say you weren’t warned. It will be a battle.CN