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Matthes Report

The Matthes Report: High Point

Matthes on Cianciarulo.

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Run for the hills, the sport’s top motocross stars are dropping like flies! Seriously though, our sport is so awesome but one of the downsides is just how dangerous it is. This 450MX class has been, through four rounds, a Kenny Roczen runaway and the class has been slowly fading away like a summer sun.

First up, as you should all know, was Red Bull KTM’s Ryan Dungey, who crashed at round three and is out for the summer with a neck injury. Then a HRC press release came out before round four that revealed that Trey Canard has a bulging disk and is out on a week-to-week basis. Now it seems that Rockstar Husqvarna’s Jason Anderson broke his collarbone and will be out for a while. Dungey, Canard and Anderson are three very capable riders that could challenge for wins and podiums. Now they’re out and Roczen’s got more than forty-point lead with eight races left.

Roczen wasn’t challenged to the end in really any of his wins, but things just got a lot easier for #94 with those three guys we just mentioned on the sidelines. Losing Dungey, Canard and Anderson is a heavy blow for their respective teams and the series itself.

Speaking of stopping Roczen, Monster Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac and his team worked hard on improving his starts on the break before High Point. They changed some things on his clutch as well as with the motor (in an attempt to get Tomac to ride lower in the RPM’s) and it worked at High Point as the #3’s starts were better.

He fell in the first moto and ended up fifth, but in the second moto he was clearly the second best rider (and top American). It was a good sign for the team and Eli. There’s no doubt that, with the injuries we just spoke about, the Roczen and Tomac battles are going to become a lot more frequent.

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Ken Roczen has, quite simply, been unstoppable thus far.

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Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Adam Cianciarulo hasn’t started as quickly as a lot of us, including me, thought. AC’s been through a lot with injuries and although he’s gotten a couple of holeshots and led some laps, he’s also got a nagging shoulder injury and isn’t one hundred percent there yet with his fitness. The one-time wonder kid is still working hard, grinding away and trying to get back to being a rider that can run at the front. At High Point I caught up with him after his day to talk about his four laps led, his fade, his season so far and much more.

MX Vice: Tweet of the year so far: “Please return my parachute to the Pro Circuit truck” after that second moto. Holeshot and lead to I think about tenth or twelfth.

Adam Cianciarulo: No, let’s go with ten. I like ten. It sounds better.

MX Vice: At one point I saw you look over at McElrath and just be like, ‘yeah, go on’…

Adam Cianciarulo: I totally did. Even when I was leading for a few laps. For one I thought it was because I saw a blue fender off the start so I thought it was Martin, but obviously Joey was able to get around him before he got around me. Then when Joey passed me I was like, ‘okay, that’s cool’. Even when I was leading I was trying to ride at like eighty percent or so, because I only got to do two motos in these two weeks from that crash I had in Lakewood. I wasn’t feeling too hot. Especially because I had a little crash in the first moto too that just kind of zapped some energy, but that’s obviously on me.

MX Vice: So maybe the worst thing to do is get a holeshot and lead, because you kind of blow yourself up? But, then again, it feels good to lead…

Adam Cianciarulo: Oh absolutely. It’s a good confidence booster for me. Coming into the season it’s like, ‘okay, you’ve been pro since 2013’. Well, yes, I have, but I have the experience of a sophomore pretty much. That’s hard for me because I want to win. I’ve won professional races before, obviously not a lot, but I’ve won them before. That’s always kind of my mentality is to try to win. Especially these first few races when I have guys that pass me that don’t normally do that and I’m going backwards.

I want to just pin it; I end up pinning it and crashing right away. But today I said to myself, especially with my back that I’m dealing with right now, ‘okay, I’m just going to ride my race’ basically. Not to sound like an a-hole or anything, but I was like ‘F what everybody thinks.’ Even that first moto after I was leading some laps, Joey passed me. I knew it. I knew I wasn’t going fast enough. I knew I was going to get freight-trained by some guys, but I wasn’t going to pin it and crash or blow myself up and get eighteenth.

MX Vice: You held eighth place for a long time and I thought that was where you were going to finish.

Adam Cianciarulo: Mentally it was good for me, but I think people kind of have that confused with me. I think they think I go home and stare at a wall and I’m like, ‘oh man, am I never going to be what I once was?’ I’m not like that at all. I believe in myself no matter what. Even if I’m not the next Ricky Carmichael or whatever people said at one point, I do my best every time I’m on the track and I do the best that I can in any situation I’m dealt with. That’s all that I can ask for. I can sleep pretty well at night.

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Spencer Owens

MX Vice: So you kind of hit a wall with this injury at Lakewood and you did two motos in two weeks. Now you’ve got to build again, get back up, stay injury-free, then you get on a roll. It’s kind of one of those things once it starts you’ll be alright, but it’s hard to get it started.

Adam Cianciarulo: Absolutely. This off-season I had some things go on that kind of affected me and then I had the wrist injury. When I got the wrist injury I wasn’t in shape. Then I was obviously off for that, then I had five weeks on the bike before the race. I was even more kind of under the gun than I was even last year coming off of a shoulder injury. No excuses. These guys, we’ve got our rookies, we’ve got Austin coming in and we’ve got a few other guys. Everybody’s fast. Not going to take anything away from that, but I believe I am one of those guys.

With the way I felt in Lakewood actually, in that first moto obviously kind of coming from far back and passing some guys, I was really, really looking forward to getting back to Florida and kind of putting in some time. But, unfortunately, that’s not the hand we were dealt, but I’ve certainly been through worse.

MX Vice: Not a bad day. When you can holeshot and lead laps it’s always a fun day.

Adam Cianciarulo: Especially when you were an asshole and you said that I was never going to get a holeshot again, because I was too big. One hundred and sixty-five pounds, bro.

MX Vice: After the Lakewood holeshot I wrote and said, ‘okay, we’re done with the starts. He can do it. We’re good’.

Adam Cianciarulo: I was pissed actually because that first moto here today my gate, everybody’s was kind of like that, but my gate in particular, I watched it fall when they dropped it for the sight lap and I was like, ‘that’s not right’. It like notched on me. So I’ve been getting a lot of crap from Mitch and my dad for not getting starts. I think they think I’m trying to use my size as an excuse. They’re like, ‘you’re a good starter, get the start, you’re fine’. So that second moto I was pretty pissed off and I just wanted to do a good start. I swear, one of these days I’m going to stop crashing. I crashed again in that first moto and I was like, ‘you’ve got to be sh*tting me’.

MX Vice: You might have crashed in just about every moto.

Adam Cianciarulo: Pretty much. It’s nothing crazy. Obviously the Colorado one was pretty big, but other than that. I told my dad, I’m not focused on something else. I’m not really focused on other people. It’s just one of those things to where I think I’ve been groomed to win races and when I’m not, my head is not in eighth place where I am. I just need to train my brain to do that. I’m going to keep getting up until it stops happening.

Words: Steve Matthes | Image: Spencer Owens

Matthes Report

Matthes Report: Daytona

Predictions from Steve Matthes!

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The 2021 Monster Energy Supercross series riders and teams just had their first week off of the season this past and when the halfway flag gets thrown this Saturday night at Daytona, we’ll officially be halfway through the 450SX series.

Here are some random predictions on some random things in regard to both the 450SX and 250SX classes.

– It’s been a while since we saw anyone not named Cooper Webb or Ken Roczen win a 450SX main event but we may finally get someone different this weekend. Now, don’t hold me to that because the top two riders in the points have been so good. This is Daytona though. This is something different for the guys and we know how good Eli Tomac is down at the speedway. I’m not going to stamp a Tomac win but it says here he will be more competitive this weekend than he has been. Good vibes will be hanging in the air for ET and even if he does not get a start, he can make it work there. I predict a strong performance for Tomac this weekend with either a win or a runner-up ride.

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– Honda’s Chase Sexton makes his return to racing after a crash in Houston while leading the 450SX main. The #23 will be a boost to the series and I think he’ll do something memorable this weekend. I do not know what exactly; maybe win a heat, lead some laps or podium the whole thing? I’m not sure but Sexton will make a splash. You watch!

– Jason Anderson has been getting progressively better since his awful opening round and subsequent finger injury. Now, how much his improvement had to do with the harder packed Orlando track is something we’ll see. I think he’s on the right track to be top five or on the podium at Daytona.

– Marvin Musquin is very good at Daytona – he’s had some hell of good rides there with a couple of 450SX podiums and a win in 250SX. It’s been a hot and cold season for Marv, but he’ll be hot this weekend.

– Dylan Ferrandis was great at Orlando 2 but had just an eleventh to show for it after he had to pull into the mechanics area for mid-race repairs. On this track, with more of an outdoor-ish feel to it, I think Ferrandis really shines. I predict a top five for the Yamaha rider. Yeah, I said it.

– I predict Justin Cooper wins the 250SX West main event. Boring, right? I know. This series is his to lose now with Jeremy Martin out with a shoulder injury. Cooper was not even at one hundred percent at Orlando 2 and he did that. Wait until he gets an extra week of prep for this one.

– I’m not sure what Star Yamaha team owner Bobby Regan said or did to rookies Nate Thrasher and Jarrett Frye in the time since Orlando 2 but I guarantee you it was not good. I’ve heard many stories about how Regan has talked to riders under the Star tent and with both kids underperforming at their first ever supercross, I predict they both come out with better performances than what we saw in Orlando. How much better? I do not know, just better.

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– Garrett Marchbanks does not win this main event like he did last year but he does end up on the podium, which is a good result for him and his team.

– Troll Train will shine this weekend and redeem himself after KO’ing himself last race. That’s what “we” do.

– I think Martin Davalos will fall down at some point in this weekend’s main event. I hate being a negative Nancy here but he’s done it in every single race this year but one. I cannot see how Marty gets through a rough and tumble Daytona track where things change every lap without making a mistake but maybe this is exactly what Marty needs to stay on two wheels!

– I predict that Kyle Chisholm will continue to Chiz, because Chiz will always Chiz. In fact, he might have some extra Chiz happening because he is usually pretty solid at Daytona.

– This one is not tough to predict but Ken Roczen will continue his great season with another great ride. Hey man, I can’t be wrong if I just predict stuff like this!

Thanks for reading!

Words: Steve Matthes | Lead Image: Align With Us

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Matthes on: Alex Nagy

Feel-good story from Orlando.

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There are a lot of cool stories in the pits in the course of a year of Monster Energy Supercross but let’s face it, these days with COVID-19 still affecting everything, things still suck. Although the racing in Orlando was cool, in terms of some fans being there, it’s still not supercross, you know?

In Orlando, we had a cool story going on though. Privateer Alex Nagy made his first ever main event via his third in the 250SX LCQ. Nagy is a privateers privateer, you know? There are guys that are what you would call privateers but they are on teams and sometimes have expenses covered  some guys get everything paid for but not factory help at all and we still call them privateers. The word “privateer” has changed a ton over the years for sure, but there is one thing that’s not in doubt and that’s that Alex Nagy is a privateer.

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Nagy had lined up for 132 races and had made 118 night shows, most of them in the 450SX class. The 250SX East series has been wrecked with injuries so that definitely helped Nagy’s case, but he’s also been riding very well. In Orlando, we saw history!

“I honestly haven’t even kept track of how many night shows or how long,” Nagy told us after the race. “My first year of racing supercross was in 2013, and I did that on a 250. Then every year after, I’ve been in the 450SX class. This is kind of like my first time back in the 250SX class. I’m glad I was finally able to capitalise on a good coast to ride and be able to put it in the main finally.”

Look, once he made the main the rest was gravy, right? Nagy rode pretty well in the 15-minute main event though to end up with a fifteenth on the night. That’s pretty decent for a guy who’s not used to racing that long. Nagy got six points toward ditching his three-digit number and getting one of those two digits that the cool guys get.

Surely Nagy was going to reward himself with some sort of extravagance for his efforts, right?

Nope.

“I’m going to spend the night here. I spent the night here last night. I spent the night in the van the night before, and I’ll probably spend the night in the van tomorrow night too,” he told me. “It’s kind of funny because even in Indy I stayed in the van. I didn’t run it, didn’t use the heat in it and didn’t have a heater. I just had four sleeping bags and I just ground it out.

“Honestly, it sucked. It was cold waking up in the morning. Then when you are kind of cold and then you’ve got to put cold clothes on or cold gear on, that was rough. Like I always say, you don’t even really think about it. It’s just in the past.”

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Nagy spending the time in freezing cold Indianapolis sleeping in his van for rounds four through six is next level. Hey, he loves the sport and it shows!

This is a part of the issue I have with the MXGP series. Yes, there are wildcards out there that some riders can get but it’s not easy to show up at an MXGP and race like it is for riders over here in SX and MX. That’s one of the things, in my opinion, that make motocross great. A guy can get a bike, modify it a bit and line up with the world’s greatest riders. Talent is the separator, not money spent. Nagy has spent time riding in the winter down in California but unfortunately not this year. His program is, how we say, pretty loose!

“I didn’t even have an off-season because I was in Illinois the whole time. All I did was ride. I would ride with a track that was half snow, and then two jumps of dirt. That was all I did. I wasn’t in California. This was the least prepared I’ve been going into a year, and I did the first round on a 450 and was able to get in on it which was sweet. I was stoked on that, to make the night show.

“Then I wanted to do a 250 the whole time, but I didn’t get the bike that I’m riding until the night that I left for Houston. I pretty much just had a brand new 250. I’m like, ‘Okay, I’ll race the 450 at the first one and then switch the suspension over.’ I broke the bike in in the parking lot. The first time it ever saw dirt was the practice at Houston 2, which is pretty funny.”

The thing about that is he broke the bike in around the pits and he hadn’t ridden the bike on a track until the first practice at Houston 2! The bike had stock bars, stock grips, a stock head pipe and suspension modified last year. Yet, somehow, five rounds later he’s in the main!

Nagy’s now going to race the much-more competitive 450SX class while the 250SX East series is on hold and I don’t like his chances to make the main there. However, Alex Nagy will be out there sleeping where he can and practicing where he can. Nagy’s enjoying his life and now he’s got that main event on his record. We need more Alex Nagy’s in the pits.

Words: Steve Matthes | Lead Image: Align With Us

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Matthes Report: Ken Roczen

A look at Ken Roczen’s triumphs.

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It’s not too hard to imagine that, although Honda HRC’s Ken Roczen just grabbed his second win in a row in the 2021 Monster Energy Supercross series, he should actually have four wins. He passed Houston 1 winner Justin Barcia a couple of times in the first main of the year and, of course, we all know that lapper Dean Wilson cost him another win.

It’s not a stretch to imagine Roczen with four wins out of five races to start the season and his current points lead being even bigger, right? He has been amazing and on it right from the first round and it’s cool to see; having Roczen healthy, happy and fast in SX is a good thing for the sport.

One of the things I was wrong about, and boy there’s a lot, was Kenny’s adaption to the all-new 2021 Honda CRF450R. The bike barely shares anything with the 2020 model and I’ve seen plenty of riders and teams at the highest levels struggle to figure out new models. The most recent Kawasaki, for example, wasn’t easy for Eli Tomac and the Team Green guys to get a handle on right away. The 2009 Honda. The backwards-motor Yamaha – there could be a book written about trying to get that bike set-up and working right.

The point is that with data acquisition teams are able to get improvements done to the bike but it usually takes a year. Then of course parts and 2021 Honda 450 bikes themselves were late getting to the USA only adding to my thought that this might be a year where the team and Roczen are constantly learning. The fact that Tim Gajser was on it all last year in the MXGP’s probably helped a bit but SX is quite a bit different from MX as we all know.

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We had Roczen on the PulpMX Show on Monday and I asked him about the bike.

“There’s always little things that could be better, but I think ultimately it comes down to the stock bike has to be good from the get-go to be able to start off and not have huge problems,” Roczen said. “Our previous bike was not quite like that – it was a very difficult bike to set up, especially for all different kinds of conditions. We are in a super good spot.

“My bike is very raceable, especially in the conditions that we have had. It’s been rough. It’s been rutty and tacky. I think it will just be that much better even when it gets a little bit more hard-packed. I think we have had the most difficult conditions. I think everybody would agree with that. We are just solid.”

Honda’s had former SX/MX winner Trey Canard aboard to help with the testing the last couple of years and there’s no doubt that he has been a huge help to the team as far as getting a base set-up down so that the team does not waste a lot of time with Roczen testing. He’s able to just focus on himself.

“I’ve said this a few times; this bike is not a revolutionary bike. Honda has done this in the past with big steps like the dual mufflers or the aluminium frame and, although this bike is different, it’s not so different from the previous model. We were never so far off with this bike; it was pretty good the first day we rode SX. We could race it like this. It gave us a good head start on things

The biggest thing for me is there is less rigidity in this frame. At the end of the mains when the ruts are choppy and bumpy, you have to be perfect. This bike makes a difference and the rider can sustain a hard effort. These guys are going fast the whole time. The power is also more usable in more ways.”

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The new “thing” for the factory teams is having someone like Canard, or Ryan Morais at KTM, who is still a great rider, knows how a bike works and can eliminate some directions that the team wants to try. I’ve been there as a mechanic and spent some long days at the test track trying clamps, bearing races, cams, pistons etc. and trying to get through what works and what doesn’t. The riders themselves don’t really enjoy those days. The quicker you can get the testing over, the better. The riders can then focus on putting in laps and getting themselves ready for the season.

“I think the last three years, I’ve learned a lot. At first we would come up with something and he [Roczen] didn’t like it or he didn’t win. The wins for me as a test rider were hit and miss. I’ve gotten to know him better,” Canard says about specifically testing for Roczen.

Yeah, maybe I was off on my take of him figuring out a new bike or maybe Canard has been such a massive help that they have overcome those usual new bike blues. Either way, Roczen looks as good as ever here to start the series. I wondered if Canard himself was surprised at how good the #94 and the new Honda 450 look so far?

“I’m not surprised at how good he looks. The last year and a half, his health has been a struggle. Even the races he did win, it seemed to me he wasn’t happy with the way he rode. He came a long ways since we started SX – we started a bit late due to the nationals going longer. When he took that time off this past summer, I got a sense he would get things sorted and he did.”

That’s the understatement of 2021 so far.

Words: Steve Matthes | Lead Image: Align With Us

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