And over on the other side of the building, MX Sports Pro Racing is working on similar plans for the August 15 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship opener, which will also be at Loretta Lynn’s—the supplemental rules for the paddock and race teams will be released later this evening. And here on the Racer X side of this old Ethan Allen Furniture building, we just finished putting the last touches on the new issue and sending it off to the printer today, as well as the Loretta Lynn’s MX program. And my son, Vance, and I are heading down early next week to join the ranch crew that’s already down there working.
After months of inaction (at least in regards to Pro Motocross), it’s nice to have something to aim for. The 2020 schedule has been truly fluid, just like the ebbs and flows of this whole virus, and not just for motocross here but racing all over the world. MXGP will resume on August 9 in Latvia, one day after the 2020 Monster Energy AMA Amateur National Championships end, and then will follow with races on August 12 (Wednesday) and August 16 (Sunday), one day after the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship opener. That makes the weeks of August 4 (first day of live streaming on RacerTV.com from Loretta Lynn’s) and August 16 (third Latvian MXGP) the most event-packed 12 days in global motocross history!
So we’re on full sprint mode getting ready to drop some starting gates (green for the amateur race and blue for the very first Loretta Lynn’s Pro Motocross National). And how strange is it to think that the first-year rookies—including Jett Lawrence, Jalek Swoll, and Jo Shimoda—will have more recent experience at Loretta Lynn’s than all of the veterans combined? And Jett’s brother Hunter will be one of the riders with the least experience—he’s never been there to race, nor has Dylan Ferrandis nor Marvin Musquin in the 450 class. But even Ken Roczen has come and raced at Loretta Lynn’s, back in 2008 in a couple of 250 B classes with help from Cernic’s Racing and Suzuki. Just some bench-racing ammo to ponder as we get ready to go back to the races!
And if you’re a professional racer who will be heading to the third-round Ironman and then on to RedBud for the doubleheader, the Ironman track is going to allow race teams to stay there after the race for two or three days and also host a private practice on Tuesday open to AMA Pro–licensed riders who are racing at RedBud, on the Ironman National track. We will have more on that as the event gets closer.
And here’s something that just changed: the RedBud Nationals will now be on Friday, September 4, and Monday, September 7, which is Labor Day, and not on Saturday (9/5) and Tuesday (9/8) as previously planned. The change had to do with TV scheduling over on the NBC network, as many sports are coming back online, albeit in the new normal of empty baseball stadiums and bubbles like the basketball one in Orlando.
Let me wrap up with a sobering reminder that we still have this pesky coronavirus to worry about. It is everyone’s hope that it won’t disrupt the races once we get started, and that everyone who comes out to the races will have a safe and pleasant experience while also practicing social distancing as best they can, wearing masks when they aren’t actually on their race bikes, and just being respectful of all of the local rules, regulations, restrictions, and suggestions that promoters and health officials are working on together. It’s definitely going to be a very different experience for us all, but it’s also a chance to get back to that place we all love: the racetrack.
With Aaron Plessinger out with a wrist injury, Monster Energy Yamaha needs a replacement rider on a factory 450, and Broc Tickle has been spotted testing it out in California. (News flash: He’s now signed to the Monster Energy Yamaha factory team, as of late this afternoon.) Tickle rode for JGRMX/Yoshimura Suzuki in supercross (as a replacement rider with Joey Savatgy and Freddie Noren out) but the team planned to keep supporting Tickle in the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship, even with Savatgy and Noren back. I talked to JGR team manager Jeremy Albrecht this week and he told me he encouraged Tickle to at least try the Yamaha ride when the opportunity came available. Since Tickle was still a replacement rider for JGR, and the third 450 guy on the team, he’s not making much money, and Albrecht told him, honestly, the goal of a professional should be to make money. So, if Broc liked the Yamaha bike and offer, JGR told him he can take it. It would be tough for JGR to fit three 450s under the tent, anyway, but if Tickle didn’t want to take the Yamaha ride, JGR will continue to support him. But this afternoon, Tickle to Monster Energy Yamaha became official.
Now for something completely different. I’m in California today to announce the first-ever Gas Gas California Trials Invitational. Gas Gas, famous in trials circles, is now under the KTM umbrella, and KTM wants to help push the sport of trials forward in the U.S. So they had Gas Gas team manager (and trials legend) Geoff Aaron build a small trials course in the back of the supercross test track next door to the KTM and Husqvarna offices (the riding facility is called RD Field, for Roger De Coster). Then they invited the top 10 U.S. men’s trials riders and the top three U.S. women’s trials riders to compete on the course today. I got to check out the course yesterday and it looks unreal!
I will admit I have very little trials knowledge. I literally couldn’t even figure out where the riders were supposed to go. Eight-foot high rocks? Yup, part of the course. Jumping from a six-inch rock to a six-foot ledge? Part of the course. This will be fun. Plus I’ve got Phil “Smagical” Smage to help with the announcing today, and a film crew is here to shoot it. Look for a posting on YouTube in a few days so you can check out the event. The real goal is to get U.S. off-road and motocross media out here to see trials and spread the word. The sport really needs a boost, because Smage says the entire NATC season has now been cancelled due to COVID-19. This could be the only chance in the U.S. for trials riders to show their stuff this year. That’s a bummer. Also, it’s cool that Gas Gas invited all the top riders even though not all of them ride Gas Gas motorcycles. They might host an event won by a Sherco, a Beta or a Scorpa, for example.
Looks like the KTM Group’s plan for Gas Gas in America is starting to come into focus. However, the bigger question is, what about a motocross and supercross effort? I’m hearing there are talks to try to bring an existing team under the Gas Gas brand, but COVID-19 has messed up so many budgets and schedules this year that it could end up delaying everything until 2021.
The Link LonkJuly 25, 2020 at 06:00AM
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Broc Tickle To Yamaha For 2020 Pro Motocross, Loretta Lynn's Prep - Racer X Online
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