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Matthes Report

The Matthes Report: Atlanta

In his first MX Vice column, Matthes tackles many topics.

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Welcome to my debut column for MXVice.com. I’ll be here every week covering the sport from this side of the ocean. The Vice boys did a great job at the opening rounds of supercross, but now the GPs have started up, they’re back there, I’m here and let’s get right to this.

Speaking of the opening round of the MXGP in Qatar, can we get some normal numbers on the very best riders please? Seeing Gajser, Bobryshev, Febvre, Cairoli out there with the three digit numbers is just weird. I have a lot of issues with the GPs but, for today, getting double or single digits on the sports best riders is one of them.

When the riders get the halfway flag this weekend at round nine in Daytona, the 2016 Monster Energy Supercross series will be half over. Despite all this talk about the deep field (by myself as well), we’ve got a Ryan Dungey runaway dammit.

This weekend we should all expect more of the same, but it is Daytona. There isn’t a race on the schedule -including outdoors – that has changed as much as Daytona over the years. Held inside a stock car speedway, Daytona used to be a thirty man main event and held in the middle of the day with long lap times. Sometimes the main event was just about forty minutes!

Those days are gone and it’s much more of a traditional supercross with twenty-two man gates, it’s at night and the track builders model it real close to what the riders see the other sixteen weeks. But, still, it gets rough as the dirt is more sand than anything else. The jumps get rutty, there are berms, ruts and braking bumps that still make it by far the roughest supercross of the year. Most teams use standard supercross suspension, but a little softened up for the small bumps entering and exiting the corner. Although the lights are pretty good, there are still a ton of shadows out there that cause riders some issues as well.

Dungey’s got over a race lead in the points and has to just manage this thing over the second half to win his third 450SX title. This guy is just ridiculous and after missing the podium at the first race of last season, he’s on a 25-race podium streak! Yes, you read that right.

Last week in Atlanta we saw Ryan almost land on his teammate Marvin Musquin on the last lap and you know if that was Trey Canard or someone, it would’ve been curtains. But, when things are rolling for you, you’re Ryan Dungey and you miss Marvin’s bike by maybe a foot.
2016 AMA Supercross Series Georgia Dome Atlanta, Georgia February 27, 2016

Chad Reed was back on the podium last week and he loves Daytona. He’s had some memorable races there over the years and is always a factor at the speedway one way or another. Reed was one of the very first guys to get his practice track guy to build him a “Daytona” section on his practice track to mimic the obstacles that one sees there every year. Chad’s a hard guy to figure out sometimes but when he’s in a good mood, he can win. After ending his little mini-slump last week, I’d say he’s a good bet for the podium, maybe even better!
2016 AMA Supercross Series Georgia Dome Atlanta, Georgia February 27, 2016

Luckily I didn’t find him after the race, because I was about to do some things that probably would have not been good for me,” Honda’s Cole Seely told me after the race about his run-in with Husqvarna’s Jason Anderson. “Then he came over about an hour after the race and tried to apologize, but I just told him that I didn’t want to talk to him. I respected him a lot, because we fought really hard for that west championship two years ago and I think we have a lot of respect from each other because of that. Now I have none for him. I basically just want to retaliate the rest of the season.

Harsh words from Seely, as the two riders got together early in the main in a crash that I didn’t see as anything but a racing incident. Later on in the race they met again with Seely taking Anderson wide and brake checking the rider before taking off. This didn’t sit well with Jason and, by all accounts, he tuned Cole up on the last lap in the turn after the whoops.

Anderson posted this message on his Instagram account:

Looking forward to a better weekend in Daytona! Hoping to leave the incidents that happened in Atlanta in the past. Yeah I was wrong in what I did, but the other guy wasn’t innocent we both let the egos get the best of us. Also as far as people talking about my riding. This weekend was the first incident all year that left someone on the ground. The only other incident that people could call questionable was with Brayton in San Diego heat race.

“With that said my intentions are never to put someone on the ground. Yeah I’ll bump you cause I don’t work my ass off all week to just sit around and wait to pass you… My goal is to move forward as quick as possible and I don’t want to knock people down but I will be aggressive. At the end of the day I and all my competitors pour our hearts into doing good so obviously not everyone is gonna get along. Also I guarantee there are gonna be nights where I’m riding like shit and people have to be aggressive to get by me… It’s racing!

Honda complained to the FIM after the race, but was told there would be no action taken and the riders would have to work it out themselves. So I guess we’ll see some sort of rollerball action out there this weekend, as both riders have had numerous run-in’s with each other and they’re both about the same speed at that! I’m thinking that the FIM might want to rethink their approach and pull both riders aside before the show starts in Daytona and tell them to cool it before this gets a little silly. Keep an eye on these two as we move along in the series though.
2016 AMA Supercross Series Georgia Dome Atlanta, Georgia February 27, 2016

I felt great. I had a full week in Charlotte riding at Club MX. I think that made the difference,” Justin Brayton told me after a season high fifth place for him in Atlanta. “The past couple weeks I hadn’t been riding that much. Been transitioning to the east coast. I feel like I’m back on track and maybe get a podium. But I’m going to enjoy the first top five of the year.

Brayton had a horrible 2015 with injuries, adaptation to a new bike and some other issues. He’s feeling better than ever this year and remember in 2014 he was winning heat races and getting on the box here and there. If you want a sneaky good guy who could surprise in the coming weeks, think about the #10 on the orange bike.

Words: Steve Matthes | Images: James Lissimore

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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