The Moto World...change Is Coming!

THE NEXT WORLD WAR IN BREWING OVER THE HORIZON: YOU CAN SMELL THE FEAR FROM HERE

When Feld Motosports elected to drop the FIM sanction for the 2022 AMA Supercross series. It wasn’t that big of a controversy. All the internet wackos said, “It’s about time.” Although Feld never sent out a press release explaining their motives in any detail, but the FIM send out a press release immediately looking for a promoting group that could hold an FIM World Supercross Championship. They wanted a serious contender to regain what they had lost. And they got a taker almost immediately. An Australian group, with experience in the Australian Supercross Championship, that was financed by a Middle Eastern Gulf State corporation, jumped at the chance. Again, the ever-astute web warriors said, “It will fold in the first year.”

But the Aussies weren’t stupid. They realized that to hold a World Supercross Championship (WSX), they needed the best and most famous Supercross riders in the world. They may have thought that they could find riders capable of racing Supercross in Berlin, Jakarta or Istanbul, but if there were riders capable of running the same speed as Tomac, Roczen, Sexton, Webb, Barcia and Anderson, the factory teams that race the AMA Supercross series would have found them by now. They might also have thought that they would be able to get enough MXGP talent to help fill the fields with Italian, German, British, Spanish and Dutch riders—but Romain Febvre’s violent crash at the Paris Supercross put a damper on any top-flite Grand Prix rider risking his career and limbs on a Supercross track. And, the Aussies might not have realized that the foreign riders doing so well in the AMA Supercross series, didn’t show up ready to win — they spent a couple years learning the nasty secrets of AMA Supercross tracks.

Both Feld and the AMA National promoters felt that the World Supercross series was not a threat to them…until the World Supercross Championship (WSX) promoters revealed their race schedule plans. In 2022 they decided to hold three rounds (England, Australia and Indonesia) — these are just “proof-of-concept” races, but when 2023 rolls around the WSX plans to have a full slate of races. But there is a trick to the World Supercross series’ 2023 schedule. They won’t hold any races that conflict with the AMA Supercross series dates (after all, those are the riders and teams they are trying to woo). Instead, they will go all-out to counter-promote against the Pro Motocross 250/450 National series.

Why? The Nationals are vulnerable. They haven’t done anything to improve the life or experience of the riders who come to their races. The purses are a joke. The officials are largely clueless and there is a general ennui among the big-name riders about racing the Nationals (and they try get out of it—even if they have to exploit a minor injury). Even the privateers feel like second class citizens who pay ever-growing entry fees for never-growing purse money. So, the World Supercross series decided to schedule as many races as possible against the American Nationals, which meant that, by proxy, they would also be competing against the MXGP series—but the FIM didn’t care because they believed that none of the Grand Prix riders would want to race the World Supercross Series—except for French riders.

The biggest danger for the National group is to panic, but panic they will—only to realize that turning over a new leaf now will look like flop sweat. There is now talk of Feld and the Nationals cooperating on a new race series that combines some elements of the old Wrangler Grand National Championship (that David Bailey won) with a little bit of Supercross and implemented it into a cut-down National Championship series as an add-on group of races. You can smell the fear from here!

The Nationals have a lot to fear — made evident by Ken Roczen, Eli Tomac, Chad Reed, Cole Seely, Justin Brayton, Max Anstie, Dean Wilson, Kyle Chisholm and riders yet to announced, who by the very fact of signing up for 2022’s three-race series are “down voting” the Nationals. The riders don’t see this as an anti-National statement — instead they see the $250,000 WSX purses and, in the case of the Big Names, an excessive amount of start money. They know, like everyone else knows, that the American Supercross and National promoters will not compete for the riders affections if their money is involved.

The saving grace for the 2023 Nationals is that the American factory teams, by their very structure, are organized and financed to sell motorcycles in North America. The American-based Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki, KTM, GasGas and Husqvarna factory teams don’t care about racing in Indonesia, Wales or Australia. If their parent company wants to do that, have at it—but the major factory teams in Supercross have no incentive to spend lots of money flying to far off places—and the Grand Prix series found that out when only nine 250 GP riders showed up for the Indonesian Grand Prix two weeks ago. The other teams and riders couldn’t afford it.

Additionally, the American motocross media is the most read in the world and the Nationals have to ask themselves—who will the press side with? Will they go where the stars go? Will they stay with traditional motocross? Will the World Supercross Championship promoters suddenly find allies in the press? And, not to be overlooked, the big-name factory riders are talking about and signing Supercross-only contracts for 2023—Eli Tomac, Cooper Webb, Marvin Musquin are just a few of the riders angling to be free, either to go on vacation or to head to the World Supercross series after the 2023 AMA Supercross series ends.

This isn’t the first Supercross War, it’s just the first that isn’t intramural. Perhaps there will be winners, but just maybe the whole sport will be the loser.

2 Stroke at Washougal

CARSON BROWN TO RACE WASHOUGAL AMA PRO NATIONAL ON YAMAHA YZ250 TWO-STROKE

Dirt Bike Magazine test rider Carson Brown will be on a 2022 Yamaha YZ250 two-stroke at this years Washougal AMA Pro National. After having a great 250 West Coast Supercross season on an AEO Powersports KTM fill in ride Brown found himself without an outdoor ride. Living in the Pacific Northwest the Washougal round this weekend is basically his home race and he didn’t want to disappoint his fans.

Dirt Bike Training Tips for Weekend Warriors With Steve Hatch

Info we can all use.

How to properly train and eat for your next motocross or off-road race.

By Shan Moore

July 20, 2022

There’s no doubt that professional motocross and off-road racers are some of the fittest athletes on the planet. Being in the best shape possible is one of the biggest pieces of the puzzle when it comes to going fast and winning races. Whether you’re a casual competitor just getting into the sport or a Vet A rider who competes every weekend, you should still strive to be in the best shape possible if you want to advance up the ranks.

We spoke to 1994 AMA National Enduro Champion and six-time ISDE gold medalist Steve Hatch at the recent Sprint Enduro World Championship in Virginia, where he gave us his tips for weekend warriors on how to do just that. Hatch trains riders for a living and has worked with elite athletes such as Kailub Russell, Taylor Robert, Josh Toth, and Ryan Sipes, just to name a few.

 

FMF KTM Factory Racing’s Josh Toth is one of the many pro riders who work with Steve Hatch for training and nutrition. Hatch was also hired as a riding coach at the recent International Six Days Enduro (ISDE) camp held in Sandy Level, Virginia.Shan Moore

The biggest challenge for the weekend warrior is that he most likely works a 9-to-5 job, five days a week, leaving him with limited time to train. This is even more of a reason to plan your workouts well and optimize your time. Hatch told us that if the average rider can dedicate just one hour a day for four days a week, then he can get the fitness needed to gain a big advantage on the competition.

“Even with a weekend warrior, the working guy, the No. 1 key by far is to build your cardiovascular capacity,” Hatch said. “If you can’t breathe during a race, you’re not going to be able to go very fast.

“The second key, believe it or not, is actually your core strength,” Hatch added. “Your core strength determines your ability to control your limbs and that affects your balance on the bike. The pros have really good balance on the bike because they have a really strong core. Most riders don’t work on their core; they work on their upper bodies, especially guys. They want to look cool and buff, but No. 2 is core.”

“No. 3 is legs and upper body,” Hatch noted.

Hatch says there are three types of training that he concentrates on: cardiovascular, core strength, and legs and upper body.

The main thing is, if you have limited time to work out, then you obviously need to spend it wisely, so you need to prioritize your workouts. If you raced on Sunday, then Monday needs to be a recovery day, according to Hatch.

“After work [on Monday], maybe do an easy walk or even a little easy pedal on a bicycle at about 20 percent effort to allow your body to recover,” Hatch said. “Super easy, so you can barely even tell the chain is on the bicycle. So that kind of gets your body back primed for the next four days.”

Hatch continued by saying Tuesday and Thursday would be good days to do some cardio. “The best bang for the buck is two things. First is rowing. With the rowing machine, you get cardio, core, legs, and upper body. You get all four of them and they are identical to your motions on a dirt bike,” Hatch explained.

“The other one would be either running or bicycling, and I would do interval sprints on those,” he continued. “Tuesday and Thursday would be good days for that. You’ve got to teach your body to rev and go fast, and then recover quickly. The problem with most people who don’t get to train all the time is if they get stuck in a mudhole at a GNCC and have to fight to get out, they get winded and their heart is not trained to come back down to a lower heart rate quick enough. You get out of the mudhole and you want to sit there for 15 minutes to even let yourself get back to going fast again.

 

Hatch was hired as a rider coach for the recent ISDE camp. Here, he goes over lap times with US Women’s Trophy Team member Korie Steede. He also shot video of each of the riders on the sprint course and went over lines with each of them.Shan Moore

“The trick with the interval training is you have to budget the time for an hour workout. You need to take the first 20 minutes just as a warmup, like a 50 percent easy pedal on a bicycle. Then after that, I would suggest every five minutes bumping it up to wide open as fast as you can go for 30 seconds. Then after that 30 seconds, bump it back down to 50 percent for the next five minutes.

“So you’ll sprint at the 20-minute mark for 30 seconds only, and then back down for four and a half minutes. Then at the 25-minute mark, you go hard for 30 seconds and then back down. Then 30, 35, 40, and then the last 20 minutes go back down to 50 percent. So that’s your cooldown time.”

Hatch suggested the opposite days, Wednesday and Friday, could be riding days. “Everybody thinks that the pros have to ride for two, three, four, five hours a day, but they don’t,” he said. “Even a lot of the riders I train ride only 30 minutes to an hour every day. Just putting on your gear makes a difference. Even riding a little, if you’re so lucky to have riding out your back door, is important. Even if you’re riding just for 15 or 20 minutes, which most people do, it still gets you in your gear. It still gets you riding. The bike should fit you like a glove or a pair of sneakers.”

Hatch added that each time you ride, always strive to get better and have a plan. “Most people go out and just ride and do the same thing,” he said. “That’s the definition of insanity—doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. So the way I learned and the way I help my riders is with three types of practice. 

Interval training is the key to training your body to rev and go fast, and then recover quickly. Hatch added that the body plateaus after about three months, so you need to keep changing your intensity so your graph keeps going up throughout the year.Shan Moore

“One is endurance riding, like two or three hours on the bike. You’ve got to get seat time, especially if you’re doing GNCCs, just to get that endurance. Then it’s skill work, like wheelying a log or working on tree roots or rocks. Working on what you’re not good at. Go for your weakness. Everybody goes what they’re good at—jumps or fun stuff, smashing big berms. That’s easy. But some of the technical stuff, that’s where it will show on the lap times.

“Thirdly is the speed work. You kind of have to do all three of those types of riding. I’d do those on Wednesday, probably skill and endurance for maybe an hour, Then on Friday, if you can pull it off, just do sprints, because the last thing your body and mind are going to know is the last way you rode. Even a half-hour is plenty.”

Hatch also spoke about the importance of nutrition, which is even more difficult for someone with a family.

“It depends on your goals,” he said. “You can go from just trying to eat healthy all the way up to blood testing to see what your body lacks or needs. When I was racing, I did blood testing. There are some things your body can actually digest, depending on your body type, and some things it can’t.

“For me, spinach and avocado and different things were hard for my body to digest. Up to 50 percent of your energy can be used on digestion alone. So we can free up that energy to help it not have to work on digesting food, and put it to use on the racetrack. Then you’re way ahead of the next guy or gal.”

According to Hatch, nutrition is just as important as conditioning when it comes to success on a dirt bike. He suggests shopping the perimeter of the grocery store, because that’s where the “live” food is.Shan Moore

When shopping for food, Hatch said the best advice is to shop the perimeter of the grocery store. “That’s where all the live food is,” Hatch explained. “So your greens, vegetables, all of your colors, meats, and fish are around the perimeter of the grocery store. On the inner aisles, that’s all preservatives, which can last for five to 10 years. So, when you’re eating that, you just ate a bunch of junk that’s going to take a day to digest.

“The only other thing that’s kind of a red flag is red meat. A lot of people love red meat. The trick is the body, for most people, takes eight to 12 hours to digest a piece of steak. So we say to our racers, if you’re going to eat that, it’s OK but make it Tuesday or Wednesday, maybe Thursday at the latest. Then Friday, Saturday, and Sunday make sure you’re eating really well.

“Most people also make the mistake of thinking Saturday is the most important day for Sunday’s race. It’s actually two days prior, so it’s actually Friday. Saturday is also important, but most people are driving on Friday and they’re not eating correctly. They don’t want to drink too much because they’ll have to stop and use the restroom 400 times. So it makes sense why you don’t want to, but for a racer you really need to. So nutrition and hydration are among the biggest things that most people miss.”

Steve Hatch trains riders of all levels from beginner to pro, so whether your goal is to be the next Kailub Russell or Josh Toth, or you’re a weekend warrior just wanting to improve and are interested in training with Hatch, check out stevehatchracing.com. Hatch and his wife also have a sister company, Power Of The Mind, where they focus on mindset and the mental part of racing.

Extreme Enduro Hawkstone Park

Nestle into some of the Highlights from a gruelling British Extreme Enduro Championship round at the famous Hawkstone Park

Lawerence Bros Chase The Ring!

The Lawrence brothers put on an amazing one-on-one battle at High Point, but it was looking like a distant memory after Jett turned up the wick a week later. His engine blew up at RedBud, but so did his motivation.

“After RedBud, I was pissed off and told Christian [mechanic] and Doc G, ‘For now on I’m winning every race to the end of the season,’” he told Steve Matthes in an interview on Saturday at Millville. “So far so good.”

With the engine fixed, the second moto at RedBud was much different. Jett went from a blown engine to blowing them all away. He followed it with 1-1 at Southwick while Hunter Lawrence faltered. The battle of the Lawrences? The scales were no longer even.

Hunter tried to get them back on his side at Millville, and he accomplished the hardest part. He found the speed! In the first moto he snuck into the lead when Jett got held up by a crashing Justin Cooper. He pulled away slightly and then really messed up the whoops, going off the track and nearly heading into a tree or Spring Creek itself. Hunter saved it but not before Jett pounced and then completed the pass half a lap later. But Hunter responded! He retook the lead and held it again, until the lappers slowed him just as Jett launched one more attack. Hunter was stuck with the lappers, and Jett rode by. Run that race back in a simulator a few times and Hunter wins a few of them. The brothers were back to being that close again.

“We learn so much off of each other,” Hunter explained to Steve Matthes. “You know Jurassic Park, and those raptors? Where they adapt and learn and get smarter and smarter and smarter? That’s literally like how it is with me and Jett. High Point. Study him for four laps, pass him. He’d study me for four laps, pass me back, and then vice-versa. It’s not just racing all out, because our speed is so similar to each other, that even if someone is slightly faster, we can just adapt and learn the faster speed.”

In moto two Hunter was in an even better position, nailing the start and getting the early lead and sprinting while Jett had to make some passes. Then came a red flag and a restart, and it was wiped out. Hunter blew the start the next time, and it was over. The best he could do was fifth. Jett cruised to a 1-1.

Bummer it didn’t work for Hunter, but he can’t curse the racing luck completely, because he’d be some 50 points down if Jett’s bike made it to the finish at RedBud. Sometimes it bounces your way, sometimes it doesn’t. All you can do is be ready when opportunity strikes, and Hunter is doing all he can to take advantage.

Musquin Back for 2023 with KTM

Supercross deal of KTM and Musquin to continue in 2023

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Section: Competition Post: Alex Gobert

Longtime Red Bull KTM team rider remaining for another season.

Image: Octopi Media.

KTM has confirmed that Marvin Musquin will remain with Red Bull KTM for another year after re-signing for the 2023 Monster Energy Supercross Championship.

The 32-year-old Frenchman won the St. Louis Triple Crown round this season and it was announced at KTM’s dealer conference that he will continue for next year.

Musquin’s signing locks in the Red Bull KTM team’s 450SX program for next season, with Cooper Webb also recently re-signing and Aaron Plessinger on a two-year contract that commenced this year.

With Musquin and Webb both on Supercross-only contracts at this point, it is unclear what KTM has in store for next year’s Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship. This year has seen Ryan Dungey return alongside Plessinger outdoors.

R&D at Works Connection

The boys at Works Connection are always working on new stuff to help make our bikes better. Look for something new and  exciting coming soon!

Reed To WSX

UK supercross fans will get the chance to see Chad Reed go bar-to-bar with Ken Roczen and Eli Tomac when the 2022 World Supercross Championship gets underway in Principality Stadium, Cardiff, Wales on Saturday 8 October, with the two-time world champion announced as riding for US-based MDK Motorsport.

"Opportunities like WSX don’t come along every day. Growing up in Australia, I have always enjoyed an opportunity to grab my passport, travel the world, and ride my dirt bike. After two years of retirement, I have a new perspective on racing at the highest level. I am beyond excited to get back on the bike, into the athletic mindset and ready to compete to win in October," said Chad Reed. "The WSX Championship going global is the biggest thing to happen to supercross in its history and I’m looking forward to joining Mark Kvamme and the MDK team. They possess the technical expertise, resources, and passion I need behind me to be successful.

He added, "I haven’t raced in Melbourne since 2019, so it’ll be an unbelievable experience to get back here in October and go up against the best current riders in the world. It’s going to be an epic experience competing for an FIM-sanctioned world championship."

"The addition of Australia’s own supercross legend and two-time world champion Chad Reed to the 10 team and 40 world class rider field is incredible," said Adam Bailey, SX Global’s managing director – motorsport. "He only adds to what is already a star-studded lineup of the world’s best supercross riders and it’s going to be great watching him mix it with the likes of Roczen and Brayton. The WSX Championship is the future of world supercross."

Dungey Figuring It Out?

Tomac Back On Top!

Tomac the new 450MX points leader after Millville win

Double-moto victory sees him overtake Chase Sexton in the points standings.

Image: Octopi Media.

Monster Energy Star Yamaha Racing’s Eli Tomac has claimed his fourth consecutive round win to take the 450MX championship lead after an entertaining round of Lucas Oil Pro Motocross at Millville.

Tomac won both races after heated battles with Chase Sexton (Team Honda HRC) to take the overall, with Sexton second and Craig Anderson (Monster Energy Kawasaki) completing the podium.

Tomac made it six race wins in a row after a good battle with Team Honda HRC’s Chase Sexton in the opening 450MX moto.

Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Joey Savatgy scored the holeshot, but Tomac quickly jumped into the lead, with Ryan Dungey (Red Bull KTM) and Sexton third and fourth.

Sexton was able to capitalise on errors by Dungey and Savatgy to promote himself into second, then set off after Tomac.

At the mid-point of the race Sexton closed the gap and passed Tomac for the lead, but just as he began to check out, he crashed at bottom of one of the Spring Creek hills and let Tomac back into the lead.

Tomac went on to take a comfortable 14-second win over Sexton.

Jason Anderson (Monster Energy Kawasaki) held off Dungey for third, as Monster Energy Star Yamaha Racing’s Christian Craig rounded out the top five.

Justin Barcia (TLD Red Bull GasGas) and Aaron Plessinger (Red Bull KTM) crossed the line in sixth and seventh. Max Anstie (Fire Power Honda), and BBMX KTM riders Benny Bloss and Fredrik Noren completed the top 10.

Tomac claimed the second 450MX moto victory after a gritty battle with Sexton.

Savatgy again scored the holeshot with Sexton and Roczen right behind him.

Sexton, Roczen and Tomac quickly dispatched of the Kawasaki rider, before Tomac went into beast-mode, worked his way past Roczen on the third lap, then closing the two-second gap to Sexton.

A lap later Tomac surged into the lead and tried to sprint away, while behind them, Christian Craig ground away at Roczen, eventually taking P3 midway through the moto, before Anderson also found his way past the Honda rider a lap later.

Despite the laps wearing down, Sexton refused to give up and continued to bring the battle to Tomac, keeping the gap between one and two seconds for the rest of the race.

Tomac was able to keep Sexton at bay, though, and took the win, with the pair finishing more than 44 seconds ahead of Craig, with Anderson fourth and Barcia fifth.

Dungey, Plessinger, Savatgy, Garrett Marchbanks (Muc-Off FXR ClubMX Yamaha) and Bloss rounded out top 10.

In the championship hunt, Tomac now holds a five-point lead over Sexton (317 points to 312 points), with Anderson moving up to third overall, a further 72 points adrift.

The eighth round of the Pro Motocross Championship will be held at Washougal next Saturday.