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Matthes Report: MEC

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Well, after a short break where we saw that bringing a bunch of world champions and a 450SX champion to Europe to race doesn’t exactly pack them in a stadium, we return to racing stateside with the annual Monster Energy Cup in my hometown of Las Vegas, Nevada.

If you’re a rider and you do well at this race then it means everything. Unless you don’t do well then it means nothing. Truthfully we’ve seen a number of surprise winners over the years at this race and, although it’s provided excitement almost every time, it doesn’t forebode what’s going to happen in the 2017 supercross season.

Remember when Trey Canard coming within a mid-race crash from winning all three main events? What about Davi Millsaps taking the win with 3-4-1 scores in 2014? James Stewart going 8-1-1 for the win in 2013 or Ryan Villopoto’s disastrous weekend at that same race where Stew won? Or the weekends where Ryan Dungey, Jason Anderson and Villopoto forgot to dip into the Joker Lane and robbed them of race wins? I always find it amazing that these riders forget to do the one simple thing that they have to do this race. The mechanics are signaling them, there are constant reminders before the race and it’s the old saying: ‘You had ONE job…’

We’ll have Honda’s Ken Roczen there on his new electric start equipped CRF450 to shake everything down. Roczen’s got no fear about showing his cards with limited time on a new bike. I like that about him and I think, with everything he’s been doing lately, pick him for the win.

Red Bull KTM’s Ryan Dungey raced last weekend for the first time since early June at the SMX Cup and fared pretty well in winning the race although, in talking to people, it seems that he wasn’t the fastest rider there but rather took advantage of some mistakes. Full confession, I watched the GoPro video of the track and that was it. I haven’t seen one highlight of the race so I’m just going off information. Dungey probably isn’t at one hundred percent right now but he’ll be, as always, very quick.

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Eli Tomac will be shooting to continue his recent run of good form.

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With the format being three ten lap main events, I’m not sure that’s catering to Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac and his, uhhh, not-so-great starts. Last time we saw Eli he was laying the smack down at the two USGPs but supecross, well he didn’t have a great 2016. He did come on much stronger at the end of 2016 and the team thinks that they found some settings on the new Kawi 450 to help things out. So this race will be a test and a continuation that the team is on the right track to help Tomac get a better feel for his bike.

No JGR Yamaha at this race as they get ready to announce a switch to Suzuki, no RCH Suzuki at this race either as they don’t have their program quite locked in yet but I expect Broc Tickle, Justin Bogle and maybe Dean Wilson to ride there once things are situated.

As anyone who’s ever listened to me on the Pulpmx Show knows, I like pretty much everything the Feld guys do at this race. Whether it’s the three mains, the Joker Lane or even the Olympic-type scoring to determine the winner. I’ve long advocated that we need some changes in supercross. The advent of four-strokes in the sport can’t/won’t be stopped and it’s hurt the racing. Outside of 1985, we’ve had the same basic scoring of mains, length of mains for the sport’s entire forty-year history and age is showing.

Virtually every other form of motorsport has changed something in it’s time but not supercross. It’s time to remember that in 2016, you can’t roll out and call it a sport and hope that people are entertained. You have to try to entertain the people and too many nights of runaways, injuries, clinching early has hurt supercross, along with the bikes being too powerful for the tracks of course but that ain’t changing.

Bring on the Monster Cup. Let the Joker Lane grab you in and show you what’s up!

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Ken Roczen will make his HRC debut in Las Vegas this weekend.

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Kenny Roczen was the big news this off-season when he switched to Honda for the next three years. Coming off a 450MX title with the RCH Suzuki guys, it was a bit surprising that he’s switching but, as Roczen told us on the Pulpmx Show a couple of weeks ago, he had made up his mind to go with Honda a long time before gelling with this outdoor MX set-up.

Here are a few of the good quotes from Roczen about his new deal.

On why he signed with Honda… I had just kind of made up my mind and went with Honda. I feel like it’s a good fit. We have a decently long-term deal. I want to be the top rider on the team. For me it was pretty clear that this was my option to go to. I’m super happy with my decision. I know those guys are all stoked, and just the vibe in the team right now is unbelievable. That’s what makes it so much fun. I don’t care about anything else, but me and the team are absolutely great right now.

On what he likes about the Honda compared to his Suzuki… The balance of the bike is pretty amazing. I hop on it and obviously I could ride my Suzuki really, really good but I always felt like it was a little weird. I was super sensitive to the rear being high or low and it would get out of balance really quick, whereas I feel like the Honda is super balanced. It turns really nice. The whole geometry of the frame is pretty amazing. You know how I am with my comments about bikes. I’m not afraid to say when something sucks, unfortunately, but I was blown away the first time I hopped on the bike by how good it was, literally. I didn’t know what to expect, and then I hopped on it. Seriously I had a huge smile on my face, which was kind of amazing.

On making that phone call to Carey Hart and Ricky Carmichael at RCH telling them he’s leaving the team… That’s why those guys have been amazing. I’m talking to Carey still to this point. I’m going up to Santa Barbara again and I’m sure I’m going to his house and hang out and stuff. We have more than just a business relationship, and still with Ricky. We’re always bull crapping around and laughing and stuff. There’s something more than just the business part of it.

On getting his mechanic Oscar Wirdeman to come to Honda with him… Huge deal. He was the man that made a lot of things happen, and the kind of relationship that we have is unbreakable. So from my side it was absolutely clear from the beginning on that I wanted him there. I mentioned it and it seemed like they were all on board and would try their hardest to make it happen. Obviously it’s a little bit of a long ride there to really get it done. Not that I was nervous, but I feel like a lot of people say, “yeah, no problem,” but does it really happen?

Obviously everything pulled through and I was really on the edge there for a minute because, I know what those guys are capable of, but we’re both Euros and we laugh more than anything else, me and Oscar. He’s super smart. Once everything was said and done I was super relieved and happy.

Words: Steve Matthes | Lead Image: ConwayMX

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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