Cycle News Observation Check
COLUMN
Fast Forward
I doubt anybody will second-guess our decision for this year’s Cycle News Rider of the Year, Eli Tomac. I think there was no official discussion among our staff about who that rider should be. Of course, our Road Test Editor, Rennie Scaysbrook, said it should be Pecco Bagnaia, and we were ready for that. We admire his passion for the sport of road racing, but when we reminded Rennie of Tomac’s accomplishments this year, even he had to agree that Tomac was the guy, despite Bagnaia’s accomplishment, which was indeed ROY worthy.
Yes, Tomac was an easy choice for us. What impressed me most about Tomac this year was how he stood up to the immense pressure he faced. While defending his decision to switch teams at the beginning of the season, he held on to win the Supercross Championship despite a bum knee and a red-hot Jason Anderson breathing down his back. And then there was the final round and final moto of the 450cc Motocross Championship that decided the title, and probably the pressure cooker of all pressure cookers was the Motocross of Nations.
Tomac and his teammates, Justin Cooper and Chase Sexton, were in a must-win situation. American fans were hungry—no starving—for a victory. Anything but a win this year on home soil would have been a massive disappointment for Team USA and a disastrous way to finish out what would’ve been a storybook year for Tomac. As it turned out, it did have a happy ending for the veteran racer, Tomac, and the rest of the team. Pressure? What pressure?
Elsewhere in this issue, long-time contributor, Larry Lawrence wrote about some of the things we will remember most about 2022, and I think he nailed them. For me, one of those is Suzuki’s shocking decision to pull out of MotoGP. Doing that would have been much easier to understand had Suzuki been struggling in the championship for years and getting blown away at every race, but Suzuki won the MotoGP Championship in 2020 and won two of the final three GPs this year. To do that after you said you’re quitting! Huh!? That’s a head-scratcher. Suzuki also said no more to endurance road racing, then last week issued a release stating that it’s shuttering its official racing website. But just when you think Suzuki is giving up on racing completely, the company acquires one of the biggest names ever in motocross, Ken Roczen.
After leaving Honda, which was also one of the big surprises of 2022, Roczen ultimately signed on with the Suzuki-supported H.E.P. Motorsports Team for 2023 after doing plenty of pre-season window shopping. Will this be Suzuki’s last hurrah in racing, or will this be the beginning of a big comeback in racing for Team Yellow? It’s going to be fun and exciting to see how all this pans out for both Roczen and Suzuki, how it might change the way star riders manage their careers in the future. Maybe smaller teams are the way to go? If Roczen has a successful 2023, it will be interesting to see if others follow in his footsteps. And it just might work out well for Roczen. After all, the last time Roczen rode a Suzuki was on a satellite team (RCH Suzuki) in 2016, and he won the 450cc MX Championship. And he successfully rode a Suzuki in his early days in MXGP racing.
As we say goodbye to 2022, there are several things I’m looking forward to in 2023, especially when it comes to racing, such as Jett Lawrence moving up the 450cc class after he fulfills his duties in the 250SX West Supercross Championship and Chase Sexton who seems to be hitting his stride right about now. Are we about to see the start of something great from this guy?
I’m also anxious to see Adam Cianciarulo getting back in action. It’s beginning to look like it’s now or never for this fan favorite.
I’m also looking forward to the new SuperMotocross World Championship. It seems like a win-win situation to me in that nothing changes as far as the individual Supercross and Motocross Championships go, and finishing off the year with a single overall champion seems like a good idea, especially for sponsors and television, which will benefit everyone, including us motocross/supercross fans. It might take a few years to catch on, and I’m sure there will be bugs to work out, but I like it. And it might even convince Eli Tomac to race outdoors again. He said after this year’s Nationals that he doesn’t plan on running outdoors again, but that was before the SuperMotocross World Championship announcement. Let’s hope so.
And then you have MotoAmerica! Cameron Beaubier will be back in AMA Superbike. How can you not get excited about that? He will be battling for the championship that he once owned and doing so against the current MotoAmerica Superbike king Jake Gagne. It will also be interesting to see how Beaubier does on the HVMC BMW. Okay, that’s not official yet, but it sounds like that might happen. Hey, that’s something else to look forward to next year.
MotoGP is always interesting and exciting, especially with the top two championship contenders—defending champ Pecco Bagnaia and Enea Bastianini—on the same Ducati team. We could see some fireworks. And you know Marc Marquez will have something to say about the championship if Honda can sort out his bike in time.
I’m also looking forward to the American Flat Track season. Will Indian announce it will be pulling its factory effort or not? The rumors are out there, so that will be interesting to see how that all unfolds.
On the magazine side, I’m excited to finish out my 39th and start my 40th year as a Cycle News staffer, but I won’t be excited to start the new year without one of our longest-running contributors Larry Lawrence, who recently notified us that he has decided to retire from full-time freelancing. Unfortunately for us, that means he will no longer be submitting words for our weekly Archives section of the magazine, which has been his baby for several years now. I’m sure we’ll still be hearing from Larry from time to time but no longer regularly. I know I will miss editing his stories, which was always a highlight of my week. It always amazes me how he comes up with these pieces of historical gems.
Thanks, Larry, for all you have done for Cycle News over the years, and enjoy retirement. I hope you never have to out-race another deadline ever again.
Well, that’s it for another year. Cycle News will be back on January 9 with issue number 1, 2023, which will have our coverage of the Anaheim 1 Supercross. Can’t wait for that, either.
Between now and then, however, we will still be working. In fact, check your email boxes for our special issue we just wrapped up, focusing on all things adventure motorcycles. Just another little something to keep your eyes busy during the holidays.
Here’s to the past and future. See you next year. CN
Click here to read the Observation Check Column in the Cycle News Digital Edition Magazine.
