MX Vice Magazine Issue 2

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WELCOME It seems like only yesterday that we were celebrating the release of the first issue of the MX Vice magazine. But, here we are again; issue two is ready for you to enjoy! After the success of the first issue, we have decided to keep the ethos the same with this one. Once again, we have attempted to cover racing from all over the world!

Obviously, seeing as MX Vice is a British website and magazine, there is always going to be a focus on our domestic series, which started a couple of days after our first issue went live. It has been a great start to the new season, as there have been multiple moto winners in each class, so far. At the time of writing, the MX1 and MX2 series standings are quite close, which has left most excited for what lies ahead!

Of course, there have also been a handful of surprises in the two rounds that have been run; we focus on that later in this issue. There is a big interview with Jake Nicholls (the cover star) this month as well. The Wilvo Forkrent KTM rider has had a turbulent time in recent months, but he now seems to be one hundred percent, fortunately.

Jake Nicholls is not the only rider that is featured within this issue; we have a huge interview with the popular Gordon Crockard, where we take a detailed look at what he achieved in his career.

Away from the bike, we caught up with Pit Beirer, also, and the guys behind the new MXGP game. In short, there is something for everyone in this issue, so we hope that you will enjoy it as much as we enjoyed putting it together.

This is a special issue for myself (Lewis Phillips), as it is my first as the editor. This has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember, so it certainly seems surreal to be in this spot. We have a lot of big plans for the website, and the magazine. But in the meantime, we hope that you love all of the content that is in front of you.

Lewis Phillips

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FEATURES BAPTISM OF FIRE 18-19 SURPRISE, SURPRISE 22-27 THE TIME MACHINE: GORDON CROCKARD 30-43 MAKING THE GRADE: JAKE NICHOLLS 46-53 THE STATE OF THE MX2 CLASS 56-58 PIT BEIRER SPEAKS 60-62 ADAM CIANCIARULO: BELIEVE THE HYPE 64-69 THE LAST HURRAH 72-75 MXGP GAME REVIEW 78-79 MAKING THE MXGP GAME 80-82 DAVEY COOMBS INTERVIEW 84-88

CONTRIBUTERS

Lewis Phillips James Burfield Jonathan McCready Elliot Spencer James Dunford Kev Reid James Lissimore Adam Sterry

Elliott-Banks Browne Ray Archer Future7Media KTM Images Simon Cudby Paul McCready Nigel McKinstry

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In order for our sport to continue to evolve, changes have to be made to our domestic series (the Maxxis British Championship).

Every fan that is in the pits, or follows the series, believes that they have a solution, so we decided to get their thoughts on this.

So, here are the answers we got when we asked this question: What is one change that you would make to the Maxxis British Championship?

Matt Arthur (Facebook): [I would change the] three race format. For me, the day is too long; I would just have two slightly longer races for each class, and do whatever I could to get all of the best riders on the line.

Frazer Buckingham (Facebook): I think that the Maxxis British Championship should merge with the BYMX series. The event should be two days, too, so that it gives all of the younger guys a chance to ride on different tracks, and have the pro riders and teams watch them.

Leon Ward (Facebook): I want the ACU to set

up a fully funded team for the top two riders that come from the MXY2 class each year, so that those riders do not have to panic when making the move to the pro class. This would ensure that the young British riders get an opportunity to show what they can do before they become unstuck, or disheartened, at the first hurdle.

Brad Nixon (Facebook): [They should] go back to the old way, where you have to qualify to enter the championship, so that the fastest riders are in! Sixty riders could enter, and then you would have the fastest forty on the line!

Rich Turner (Facebook): I would change the way that it is promoted. It has to be on television (a mainstream channel), so that it is available to everyone. There has to be some appealing adverts on the TV for it, too. Right now, it is too underground – most people are only into the sport because it runs in their family. British motocross needs to be accessible to everyone, and not just the motocross riders.

Ollie Clements (Facebook): Personally, I would change the way that it is advertised to the public. If the public become interested and come to watch the racing live, there would be a lot more money for the people who run the Maxxis British Championship. If they have more money, they can then start using better

tracks, so that the riders can have more track styles and conditions.

Ade Threasher (Facebook): Apart from the obvious ones that are raised time and time again (like the fact that we need two long races for each class, and to scrap the superpole, so that the day is not as long), I think points should go all the way down to fortieth to reward those lower down who are at every round, so that everyone has something to race for.

Mitch Young (Facebook): I think they should have the same format as the MXGP series.

The Maxxis British Championship is a stepping-stone to the FIM Motocross World Championship, after all. If a rider can get used to the same length races and format, it is going to help them, and British motocross, develop.

Ryan Gee (Facebook): I think it’s pretty good, currently. I would like to see some sort of rule where the top three riders from each class (that are not contesting the MXGP series) could get an entry to the British GP paid for by the ACU. It would encourage those riders to make the step up, and also help our riders get recognised on the international stage.

Personally, I think that two thirty minutes races would be better for the riders. But, I think that the three twenty minutes races are pretty exciting.

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HOT

OR

NOT

ANTONIO CAIROLI: Each year, we [the fans] anticipate a very competitive season, with multiple race winners. However, more often than not, that dream scenario fails to materialise, which leaves most people a little subdued. The fate of a season is often in the hands of one guy, as there is always one rider that is superior. Antonio Cairoli is in that spot again this year, as he has been for the last five years. Although most were hopeful that someone would rise to his level, Cairoli has been unstoppable thus far, and is already on his way to yet another title.

OAKLEAF KAWASAKI: When Oakleaf Kawasaki took over as the official Kawasaki UK team in the MX1 class at the end of last year, it was not too surprising. After all, they have achieved a lot in recent years. However, their two riders (Shane Carless and Priit Rätsep) have not achieved the results that are expected of them, thus far. Admittedly, Priit was very strong at Lyng, but he does not have much to show for his season, apart from that. Shane was a little better last time out, but he still has a long way to go before he is where he needs to be.

RYAN VILLOPOTO: Although Ryan Villopoto has won just five main events this year; he has still been a dominant figure again, this year. Whilst others faltered, RV has continuously built his series lead, thanks to his consistency, which no one seems able to match. Even when he had stomach issues in Toronto, and had to miss practice in order to visit the hospital, he finished in sixth, which is the only time that he has dropped out of the top five this year. With results like that, it is clear why he has been so successful.

ADAM CIANCIARULO:

ADAM STERRY:

Shortly after the first issue of the MX Vice magazine was released, Adam Cianciarulo succumbed to a shoulder injury in Toronto.

Obviously, this is old news, now, but the fact remains that the injury has cost him a shot at the 250SX East title. Before his injury, Adam was in the drivers seat, and looked set to claim the championship in his first attempt. But our sport is cruel sometimes, and AC will now have to spend the rest of the year on the couch, wondering what could have been.

It is always great to see someone claim the first professional moto win of their career, hence why most fans were elated to see Adam Sterry claim the victory in race one at Lyng earlier this month. Adam has seemingly improved a lot, in the last year; he did not look out of place up front at all – he had no problem running the same pace as the series leaders. In fact, he may have been faster! You can find out what Sterry thought of his victory later on in this issue.

KEN DE DYCKER: Ken de Dycker was originally poised to return at Arco di Trento, following his pre-season injury. Whilst his recovery was coming along as expected, the Belgian had a freak issue in an elevator not long ago, and broke a bone in his foot, as a result. De Dycker has had a string of bad luck, recently, which will delay his comeback, unfortunately. There is no point in the lanky Belgian rushing his return now, as any hopes he had of salvaging a solid result in the MXGP class have been dashed.

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THE OFFICIAL MOTOCROSS VIDEOGAME

4 1 0 2 H C R A TH M

OUT 28

GET MORE ACTION AT pqube.co.uk/mxgp “2”, “PlayStation ”, “PS3”, “À” “Ó and “Õ” are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved. Windows, Xbox, Xbox 360, and Xbox LIVE are either registered trademarks or trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies. Trademarks are property of their respective owners. MXGP, The Official Motocross Videogame 2013 Published and Developed by Milestone S.r.l. All rights reserved. Copyright © 2013 Youthstream - All rights reserved. © 2013 Milestone Srl – Tutti I diritti riservati. Milestone è un marchio registrato di Milestone Srl.

During the off-season, we all occupy ourselves by bench racing about possible scenarios that could unfold when the new season begins. However, it rarely plays out as expected, as there are always a few surprises – some riders exceed expectations, whilst others fail to deliver. At this point in the year, there has already been an abundance of surprises in the Maxxis British Championship.

Mel Pocock: Prior to the start of the Maxxis British Championship this year, Mel Pocock was tipped to win the title in the MX2 class, and understandably so. Following the first couple of rounds, he is well on-track to achieve that goal, as he won the overall at Landrake and Lyng, and possesses the red plate. But, Mel has not won a moto, at this stage, which is surprising. It is his consistency that has put him in a great position moving forward, as he has not fallen off of the moto podium at any point.

Although this consistency is needed in order to claim a championship at the end of the year, he has to beat his rival, Matiss Karro, straight up soon, before he gains more confidence. I’m

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certain that some people would argue whether these moto wins really mean anything in the grand scheme of things. But, whether they do or not, I am sure that most fans expected Mel to have won one by the time the series left Lyng.

Matiss Karro: When it was first announced that Matiss Karro would be jumping between the 250f and 350f this year, most were sceptical, as no one really knew how well he would adapt to the constant changes.

However, the concerns that we had pre-season are now moot – the Latvian has had no issues changing classes, clearly. In fact, the Wilvo Forkrent KTM rider may be faster on the smaller bike! Matiss’ speed is a big surprise

this year – Karro certainly seems superior at this stage, despite the fact that he is chasing Pocock in the standings.

If Matiss Karro had not crashed in the final moto at Landrake, and the first moto at Lyng, he could be undefeated, which is incredible.

Prior to the start of the new season, very few fans anticipated this dominance from Karro, for obvious reasons. However, it sounds like he may be about to eliminate the mistakes, which could mean that he is going to take control of the class moving forward.

Adam Sterry: Adam Sterry is undoubtedly one of the riders that have improved the most, in recent months. For instance, he finished ninth

overall at Lyng, in 2013, but won a race there this year. Obviously, this was a huge surprise to most, as he fought off the series leader, and seemed unfazed whilst out front. In the past, most guys have faltered when the opportunity to take a victory presented itself for the first time.

But Sterry looked like a veteran out front, hence why it would not be too surprising to see him win a few more races this year.

Although the final two motos at Lyng did not go to plan for Adam Sterry, he still showed the same kind of speed, which proves that his race win was not a fluke. The Wilvo Forkrent KTM rider will be competing in the EMX2 series in the coming months, too, which will surely help him to continue to progress.

Ben Watson: At the Hawkstone International in February, it was quite clear that Ben Watson had made some big gains in the winter. Watson has continued to impress in the 2014 Maxxis British Championship, as he has had some brilliant results, including a podium finish at round one. Now, most think of the Watson brothers as sand specialists, and they are, so it was very surprising that he finished on the box for the first time on a slick, hard-pack track (Landrake). Ben mentioned that he put in a lot of time on the hard-pack circuits in the winter, which was beneficial, clearly.

At Lyng (round two), Ben Watson continued to impress – he finished in the top five in two of motos. Both Ben Watson and Adam Sterry are still young too, so it is a surprise that they are this quick so early on in their careers. They are already giving the established veterans in the class something to worry about.

Lewis Trickett: In 2013, Lewis Trickett had a handful of good rides. However, he has made a huge stride forward this year – he has stepped it up! Lewis’ best race finish last year was an eighth. Already, he has had a result better than that this year, as he finished in fifth in moto three at Landrake. Trickett has proven that it was no fluke, too, as he has been right around seventh in a majority of the races that have been run thus far. Of course, a podium finish at round one of the MX Nationals left him elated, as well!

Overall, his speed has been a surprise, and a popular talking point in the paddock. You have to think that his switch to the MBO Sport Yamaha squad has had something to do with this, as well as the fact that he has gained some valuable experience, in recent years. Lewis is on the rise at the moment, evidently - it will be very interesting to see what position he is in at the end of the season.

Jake Nicholls: Prior to the start of the new season, most were unsure how Jake Nicholls was going to perform, as he went into the first round with a back injury. Nicholls admitted at the first round that his goal was to acquire a good amount of points and stay in title contention.

However, despite the fact that he was far from one hundred percent, he came out and took a commanding win in the first moto of the new

season. It was a bit surprising that the injury did not hinder him like most thought it would – it is a testament to how much talent he has.

Jake Nicholls has been just as fast as Shaun Simpson in the other races this year, despite the fact that he still needs to build up the strength in his back. So, most fans are intrigued to see if he will be even quicker when he is at his fittest. It could change the way that the standings look at the moment, if that is the case.

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“ The speed and composure that Nathan has really is quite surprising “

Nathan Watson: When it was revealed that Nathan Watson was stepping up to the premier MX1 class full-time this year, some were sceptical. After all, he made a lot of progress in the MX2 class in 2013, so most were expecting him to continue to build off of that this year. But the move to MX1 was seemingly a good step - he has proven to be a contender. Watson has run into a few issues at the first two rounds of the Maxxis British Championship, which have left him sixth in the standings. In reality, he could be much higher up.

the DNF that he had at Landrake, he has been quite consistent, so far, as he has been a constant fixture in the top ten. In fact, he has already matched his best moto finish from 2013 (a seventh).

Of course, Nathan Watson is currently in the drivers seat in the MX Nationals – he leads the series by ten points after one round. So, the speed and composure that Nathan has really is quite surprising. For instance, at Lyng, Nathan was content in second, and waited for Shaun Simpson to falter. The Dantec Husqvarna UK rider collected his maiden MX1 moto win, as a result of this.

Matt Moffat: Quietly, Matt Moffat has had a very strong start to the new season aboard his JAR Honda. Obviously the fact that Matt has support from a great team this year has helped him a lot – he has a great setup at each round. Apart from

Shane Carless: 2013 was a memorable year for Shane Carless – he achieved a lot of success, and signed his first full-time contract with Oakleaf Kawasaki. With

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Matt Moffat was most impressive at Lyng (the most recent round); he beat some established contenders in the motos, like Brad Anderson. At this point in the year, it is unknown what his glass ceiling is.

However, would it really be surprising if he broke into the top five?

“ Very few fans anticipated this dominance from Karro ”

this in mind, most people assumed that Sh more success this year; it seemed inevitab whatever reason, he has really struggled.

Carless has found it difficult to get in the he has rarely finished a moto inside of the Obviously, more is expected of him.

hane would enjoy ble. However, for . In qualifying, top twenty, and e top ten too.

Shane Carless had to contend with a shoulder injury in the off-season, which set him back a little bit. However, he has shown no flashes of speed, thus far. At Lyng, Carless finished just outside of the top ten, which was positive. But the fact that missing the top ten is looked at as a positive gives you an idea of just how bad the season has been for Shane.

Words by Lewis Phillips

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Maxxis British Championship

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THE TIME MACHINE: GORDON CROCKARD

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Gordon Crockard has had quite a career. With multiple Irish titles, three British titles, and GP wins under his belt, Gordon has achieved a lot whilst racing all over the world. Unfortunately, he also experienced the bad times, as he has sustained numerous serious injuries.

Now fully recovered, Crockard is currently using his vast experience to coach kids in the Honda EMX150 series. Gordon has some incredible stories, so we felt it was about time that we gave the likeable Irishman a platform to talk us through his fascinating career.

THE EARLY YEARS “My dad did not take me racing until I beat him! We used to ride in a field; there was a group of us, and Graham Jellie was a good friend of mine. We both started riding bikes at nine [years old], and by the time Graham was eleven, his dad was taking him racing – I used to go and watch.

My dad would not let me race – he said ‘what is the point of going racing, when you cannot beat me!’ Whenever you can beat me, you can go to the races. He had a bike; it was a bit of a Saturday sport, we went down the field with both of our bikes. But until I caught, passed and pulled away from him, he would not take me racing. I did one day, and fair play to him, he sold his bike straight away and we went racing – that was 1990.

I did not do much British Championship racing. We did the likes of the YMSA Super National, an international in Scotland. We did races here and there, but we did not sign up for all the rounds. My dad didn’t want to sicken me either; he had seen so many schoolboy champions get to the age of sixteen and be totally burnt out of the sport.

Right when you get to sixteen and get into adult racing, you also discover girls, alcohol, and cigarettes, and you get a car too. You 34 | MX Vice - April 2014 - Issue 2

are hit with all of these adult themed methods of enjoying yourself and motorbike racing doesn’t seem that much fun.

remember being inspired that I was on Davy’s pace, and thinking that I might be near the front of the A group the following year.

So, I was well preserved; I rode my bike loads, and I loved it. But I wasn’t sick of racing, because I hadn’t been doing loads of it. When I got to the adults, the whole meaning of riding bikes sunk in. There was prize money, and I couldn’t get my head around it. If I won three grade B races at an Ulster Championship round, I got ninety quid! For a sixteen-year-old kid, getting ninety pound in your hand every Saturday for riding your bike is mega – I was still in school! So, I really cottoned on to the fact that the faster you went, the more you got.”

At the end of 1995, I got selected to ride the Coupe de L’Avenir in Belgium, and for that race we knew we would have to ride a 250 to be competitive. So, Stephen Russell lent me his bike – it was a 250 Yamaha – and I did a bit of practice down the field, then went to the last round of the Ulster Championship, which was at Bells Hill.

1995 “In 1995 I went into the adults, and also the schoolboys, because I had a dual license that year (in Ireland). I rode grade B, mainly against 250s, but the rule was that you had to ride a 125 in the adults if you wanted to still do schoolboy races, and we did. My dad and I wanted to do some British schoolboy races on the 125, so we did the semi-finals, then we had the ACU finals and that was great.

So, that year I won the grade B championship on a 125, and there were a few club races that we went to, where they mixed the A and B riders together, so it gave me an insight into how I was going against some of the A guys. I remember one race at Herron’s farm in Leitrim, and Davy White was racing.

Davy was a good top five grade A rider; I

I won the grade B championship by the time the second race was over, so we asked the club if they would give us permission to race the last A race, and they did. So, I rode Stephen’s 250. Alan Morrison was riding at that time, and he came out of retirement every year just to win it. I think he won it six years in a row. It was really cool, he just used to rock up once a year, win the race, and sort of drive out going, ‘Yeah boys, I’m still the dude.’

But, we raced in the last race and I beat Alan – it was mega! Again that was a big boost for me going into the 1996 Grade A Ulster Championship.”

1996 “I got a job at Russell’s Motorcycles at the end of ’95 when I was sixteen, and again we parked the motocross bikes at the end of ’95 and got the trials bikes out. I was in grade B in the Irish Trials Championship. It helped big time; it taught me the importance of practice, and to discipline myself whenever I am alone

on the bike, so it helped me a lot.

Russell sponsored me on a 250, and the goal was to win the Irish and Ulster Championship. At the time I was sixteen, and I was racing against Brian Steele, Trevor Cubitt, Adam Lyons and Philip Neil. They were all riding the British Championship, but I wasn’t.

We stayed away from the British scene, because we didn’t have the money. My dad’s attitude was like, ‘what is the point of going to England to get beat, when you can stay here and get beat!’ That was the way he looked it at it, he said, ‘once you win everything here, and there is no-one that can beat you, then we will go and find you a race where someone else can beat you.’

I won the Irish and the Ulster series that year, and I believe I am the first person to ever do that at my first attempt. I think I am the youngest person to win them, as well.

I got selected to go to the MXdN at the end of the year in Jerez, and that was brilliant. I went to the U21 again, and I think I won races at it.

I believe I was racing Cedric Melotte, and he was on factory Suzuki at the time.

I had to qualify for the British Championship, so I had to ride in the Clubman series. I went and did that, but it was a real inconvenience, because we would have raced on a Saturday and then had to drive all

night to get to these races on a Sunday. It was just the system then – that is just what you had to do.”

1997 “In 1997, we did the British Championship, and that went well. I think I finished seventh in the final standings. I won the Ulster and Irish Championship again, and I was on the [Motocross des] Nations team, too, and the Under 21 team again.

Moving from here and going to race in England was a massive step.

It went really well, and I had a podium at Hawkstone [Park]. We did some GP’s as well; I think we did five of them. I scored points in Roggenburg (the final round). It was a brilliant year – I really enjoyed it.

I was getting more sponsorship, and at the GP’s then we had start money and prize money, which was paying for our diesel and boats; we could live off of it. We were away as a family, and it was awesome – we were all there.

The way that it was going then, I was making more money in prize money than I was working in Russell’s. So, it was pretty obvious that I would be better off going racing. I was getting enough free product to pay for things. I was getting free boats from Stena Line, and then with the prize money it was giving us money to live off of. I could see it was smarter to go racing than live off a regular job.”

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1998 “For 1998 Honda came on, and gave us big sponsorship with bikes and parts. I lived in England and raced the GP series and the British [Championship] – that was the birth of CAS Honda. It was a small wage, but you had qualifying and prize money. Then I had a sponsor who paid for accommodation, so it was ok, I did not have any outgoings.

The GP grid went from forty riders to thirty that year, so I actually struggled to qualify. I hadn’t learned how to do one quick lap. The Belgian GP was the first GP that I actually qualified for that season – I nearly retired that year, because it had gone awful.

I made so many changes; I had moved to England (away from my mum and dad), I had changed from Yamaha to Honda, and Honda’s bike that year was not good.

[Jeremy] McGrath left and wouldn’t even ride it. I had a mechanic for the first time, and he was quite unstable, but there were so many things that were really difficult, and trying to race bikes when you are not happy is a hard thing to do.

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build from there.

I wasn’t qualifying, so I went away and got a lot of things sorted out. I came home and got my confidence again by winning lower level races. I taught myself to fall in love with the sport again, and I did that. I changed the mechanic and we got it sorted.

So, the [Belgian] GP was deep sand and in a little village, right where Josh Coppins and Ben Townley used to live. I went to the Parc Fermé and had taken two left hand gloves, so I had to run down in full motocross gear on a hot day to get the right glove. I was so pumped up, and I holeshot the race.

I knew people would be watching, as this was the first Grand Prix that I had qualified for (in ‘98), so I wanted everyone to see who came onto the start straight first at the end of lap one, and they had a big screen. I could see myself fist pumping to everyone – I was so happy!

So, we got that year turned round, I had been to the absolute bottom. I hated motorbikes, hated England, and hated Honda. Everything about it was terrible, but we came back, regrouped and started to

I won the Coupe de L’Avenir, which was brilliant and we had the [Motocross des] Nations at Foxhill at the end of the year, so it was good.”

1999 “I stayed with CAS Honda for 1999, and we had a lot of good things happening. I got a new mechanic, and a new place to live with a friend in Northampton. I re-organised myself and got myself happy. We had a good year; I was fourth in the British Championship, and at Farleigh Castle (the last round) I won all three races, which was again a really good way to go into the winter.

In ’99, I wanted to be a contender in the British Championship – I wasn’t far away. It was a really tough class that year; you had Jocke Karlsson, Rob Herring, Paul Malin and Paul Cooper. There were some top boys that were at the front in the GP’s.

The GP’s that year were okay; I had a couple of sixths at Ernee, which was a real boost.

Ernee was good for me, because it was soil

had Rob Herring as a teammate, and Rob was (and still is) a big inspiration. He was a hero of mine – having my hero as my teammate was just awesome.

We went to California, and unfortunately Rob crashed on the first day in typical Rob style and broke his wrist doing some absurd jump.

It was a terrible shame, and he never really recovered from that, as he broke it so badly.

We had a great time in California and had really good practice. I prepared solely with the intention of being British champion – that was my goal. Although I was riding GP’s, all of my thoughts and energy went into the British Championship.

Amazingly, I went to the first GP of Talavera thinking I might not qualify. I was prepared for that blow, because I hadn’t qualified in either ’98 or ’99. So, I was thinking ‘this could happen again – don’t worry’. So, I qualified in twenty-third, and it was a big relief. I then holeshot the first race and won it!

It was remarkable; I had no idea that I could do that.

I got so good, because I was practicing to be British champion, and doing that made me good enough to win at a world level. But, I didn’t go into that race thinking that I was going to be world champion, or win the GP. and stone – I was familiar with it. We would go to other places that were really tough, because I had never ridden on that sort of dirt before and didn’t know how to ride it. It was a big learning year for me. We qualified for all the GP’s, except the first one at Talavera.

It was a completely new type of riding, big hills, hard pack and a fast track that was really different to anything I had rode before.

I got to Budds Creek for the final round, so I finished thirteenth that year, and had some small injuries, as you always do, but I didn’t miss any races. We didn’t do the [Motocross des] Nations that year, because it was in Brazil and Ireland didn’t send a team.

I nearly won the Weston Beach Race on a 500 – the race was cut short by half an hour, because the tide came in. I was catching [David] Knight, as he had no goggles on.

It was annoying, because I really thought I could have won it.”

2000 “In 2000, I got the mechanic I wanted, Nick Moores. He was [Neil] Prince’s mechanic in ’99, and he was overseeing my engines and

motors, but he wasn’t my mechanic. I really wanted to work with him.

So, I got him, and straight away I told him I want to win the British Championship this year. It was surprisingly easy, and it gave me a serious amount of self-belief. I remember saying to him very early in our relationship that if I won the British series, I would give him one thousand pound. He didn’t take me seriously, and I knew he didn’t, because when I paid him, he had totally forgotten about it! I wished I hadn’t mentioned it [laughs]!

Nick was the only guy who could make the bike the way I wanted it. He understood my language when I told him what I wanted from the bike, and he had the ability and knowledge to provide it. Nick was a huge factor in my success. I only won GP’s with him as my mechanic. I won two British Championship titles with him, too. I would have won three with him, but I got hit by a stone and broke my nose – I missed all three races that day.

But, in 2000, the new bike was brilliant; it had a new chassis that was really good. I

I got the start and was wondering how far back I was going to drop. It felt like I was practicing, it really did, because I had done so much of it, and it was practice with a purpose. The whole time I was practicing I had a goal to be British champ – I knew it was a valuable opportunity, and that is what was driving me.

It was funny at Talavera, because I just kept seeing the gap getting bigger and bigger on the board and I was thinking, ‘what is wrong with these guys? Why are they going so slow?’

I wore the same goggles in race two, back then we had roll-offs. You didn’t have laminate tear-offs, because if you put on six it was like looking through a milk bottle! I had roll offs with two tear-offs, and I just set them in the sun to dry for the second race. I think that’s the best part of that story – I hate doing goggles!

But, it was a massive surprise; I didn’t feel like I did anything special. I rode even better in the second race. I ended up fourth, but I didn’t get a good start and also got my leg caught in the back wheel. But I kept going, 37 | MX Vice - April 2014 - Issue 2

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“ I had Rob Herring as a teammate, and Rob was (and still is) a big inspiration. He was a hero of mine ”

and that gave me the overall, so I was leading the world championship – it was bizarre.

I came away from it, but my attitude didn’t really change. I knew that it wasn’t going to happen every weekend, and that I should take that as a bonus, because it’s not going to be that easy. But it gave me an insight into what it’s like to be a top world racer – the phone rang off the hook with potential sponsors. You just get spoilt.

When I got on the podium again in Kester, it was a big monkey off my back. I was worried, because I didn’t want to be known as a one-time GP winner. At the end of 2000, we had a run of GP podiums; it was absolutely fantastic. I also won at Grobbendonk under totally different circumstances. It was in sand and I didn’t holeshot, I had to catch and pass guys. For me, it was really good.

It has a funny story, as well. It rained a lot on Saturday during the 125 races (it was a triple header) – it flooded completely and all you could see were the markers. We were like, ‘there is not going to be a motorbike race tomorrow’, so we all went to the beer tent!

I did not go to bed until around half one. I wasn’t drunk, but we were out. We woke the next morning and the fire department had been pumping the water out all night – the track was rideable, so the race ran! It was such a surprise!

We did the [Motocross] des Nations at St Jean D’Angély, and I had a great race with Greg Albertyn – I think I was fifth or sixth.

The British Championship was really tight with Paul Cooper, but we were great mates. I was too young to hire a car, so I used to fly with Paul and he would drive. This was just after Scott Ainsworth (my teammate) was killed at Apex – he was only twenty-seven.

It was only two days before the GP at Namur, and Namur was an iconic track for me. I had been there as a boy watching Thorpe, Malherbe and Jobé. So, Demaria holeshot the first race and I was second. I couldn’t catch him, and that was annoying! So, the second race I knew if I beat him I would win the overall and I really, really wanted to.

I got away, passed a couple of guys and Paul Cooper was in second or third, I think.

There was a really sharp corner that went up a steep bank; you had to go down low to get the run up for it. I had sat behind him for too long, and I could see Demaria was getting away, so I just straight lined the corner and hit Paul. Unfortunately, I knocked him off and he even fell into the fence and down the big bank!

We were sharing the hire car and I was like, ‘I don’t think he is going to take me in the car. I am going to have to take a taxi!’ Paul (being the brilliant guy that he is) took me, but we didn’t speak; there was not a word spoken in the car. I didn’t even catch Demaria (that was the other annoying thing) – he won it, and I was second.

The following weekend we were at Farleigh for the last round. It went really well; I won the race and won the title. I had tendonitis in my arm at the time, because we had done so much racing. We had done sixteen world rounds, eight British rounds, and I also won the Ulster championship that year.

The MRA said to me that if we work with you, would you ride them all, and I said yes. I had to miss one round, but I still won, which was brilliant. I ended the World Championship in sixth; I won two GP’s, the British Championship and the Ulster Championship. I had a very good MXdN, too.

I was twenty-one at the time, and had a lot of interest within the industry. I had a manager come on board, Jake Millar, and I had good sponsors. It was a really good time in my life.”

2001 “I had the opportunity to go somewhere else, but I wanted to stay with Harry [Ainsworth] and Nick. The GP’s changed the format, and it was down to no money – the British Championship had foot and mouth disease, too. Jussi Vehviläinen was my teammate, and he was very focused, so that was good for me.

We came back from California, and England was dealing with foot and mouth disease. It

was a nightmare, as the British Championship rounds were being postponed and cancelled.

It was down to five rounds, and there was nowhere to practice. It was really difficult to find somewhere to ride.

The GP’s had one moto, which didn’t suit me – it wasn’t what I wanted. The races were shorter and I liked a longer race, my riding style meant that I could still be fast even when I was tired. Whereas other guys ride with a lot more intensity, which means when they are tired they can’t ride fast.

I had taught myself to be like that, because our races were forty-five minutes plus two laps. They were long races – I have results sheets from the rounds that were over fifty minutes. That is a long time, and you can’t ride like a lunatic. You have to structure your pace, and I was able to take advantage of that, because of my style.

2001 was another good year. [Mickael] Pichon was phenomenal, annoyingly; he just had outstanding speed. In qualifying, he was always on pole and I was always garbage. I was qualifying outside of the top ten.

I won two GP’s (Genk and Uddevalla) and we had a lot of podiums. I loved Roggenburg, it was my favourite track, but I crashed on the first corner and came right through to get second. [Claudio] Federici

“ Amazingly, I went to the first GP of Talavera thinking I might not qualify. I was prepared for that blow ”

was gone out front, but I had to pass a bunch of boys on the last lap and Reed was one of them. It was a good race, but it was a frustrating situation with one moto, because if things like that happened you were up against it.

Chad Reed was getting good at this stage, and I lost second place to him. He came on really strong at the end, and it went to the final round, which was a mud bath. I fell off like four times, and I lost it by one or two points.

It was incredibly frustrating; I had some poor races in places and I paid for it. It was a horrible feeling. Another very annoying thing that day was Fred Bolley, who was having a bad year, and was moving to Yamaha, 39 | MX Vice - April 2014 - Issue 2

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“ The bike was crap and they aborted the project. The project failed, and they quit it after [Pit] Beirer got paralysed ”

saying I needed bottom end power. Dobb wanted the opposite, and I said to him that it wasn’t going to work, and halfway through the year he ended running the same stuff as me – frames and everything.

It’s easy to produce a bike with top end power, and Jamie was revving the bike all of the time. He had an exaggerated 125, but with a 250 you can’t ride it like that. I wanted nothing like what Jamie wanted, and I was an inconvenience. It’s a nightmare to try and create a bike with a strong bottom end. I constantly wanted it to have more bottom end and they were having a hard time making it.

They didn’t know how to do it; we worked all the way through.

The longer it didn’t work, the less enthusiasm and confidence everyone had. Results are a way of measuring how you are performing, and whenever you finish sixth or seventh at a GP, you feel you are going in the wrong direction. If I was finishing first and second, and said I needed more bottom end, they would have worked for me.

It was a revolutionary bike that was going into production the following year, and they start building those production bikes really early. We went to the KTM festival – I think it was around June – they have all the factory riders there and get every KTM owner to come. It’s mega!

You can ride any bike you want, I rode the entire range and I went out on the stock KTM 250, which I had never rode before.

I came in, stopped at Kurt Nicoll’s feet and he just said ’no.’ I said it’s better (than the factory bike) and he said, ‘I know, but no’.

That made me so angry. They changed the angle of the engine in the factory bike, it was really upright, but in the production bike it was forward, and that changed a lot of the characteristics of the bike.

I remember at the end of 2002 I was still trying to do the British Championship, and I was doing it out of my own pocket, because KTM weren’t supporting me – they just 42 | MX Vice - April 2014 - Issue 2

wanted the world title.

When the last GP was over, we still had two British Championship rounds left, and I borrowed Justin Reid’s KTM 520. I borrowed a pipe and a shock off of Ricky Watt, and went to Hawkstone [Park] and won the races.

To prove a point, I then went to Polesworth and won again.”

2003 “I knew at the end of ‘02 that it was simple; I needed to get on the best bike that was available to me. Honda had a really good bike, and I wanted to ride it. I tested the bike and I was over the moon on it. I did a deal with Harry, but Nick unfortunately stayed with KTM. They promised him the world, and he didn’t want all the travel.

I had an Australian mechanic, a guy called Maddix. 2003 went really well, but I had a lot of injuries in the GP’s. I was really dominant in Britain, and I won, despite missing a full round. I think I won nearly every race, I think it was only at Culham that I got beat.

In the GP’s they merged the MX3 and MX Open. I went to Spain in Bellpuig for the first round and set the fastest lap of the race. It’s a funny sentence to say, but if I could have passed Stefan Everts, I probably could have won it. But, Everts was in third and he was riddled with arm pump, so he was really slow. But, I couldn’t get by him and ended up fourth.

I went to Valkenswaard, and was involved in a pile up and dislocated my shoulder. I sat at home for three weeks really pissed off.

So, I ran every day and that helped; I stayed off the bike and had a cortisone injection in my shoulder, but it was very unstable. I rode down at the field for one half an hour session with my dad and he said, ‘what do you think?’ and I said, ‘it doesn’t feel great but it’s good enough to go and try.’

So, we got it heavily strapped in Belfast and

wore it all weekend. I nearly won the GP after a tight race with Pichon – nobody had challenged Pichon that year so far. But, the way that year went, little injuries like that kept me out of contention. I was quick; the bike was good but little things happened, like I hit a post at Culham and broke my finger, which kept me off of the bike. I had a broken arm, because I got heat exhaustion in Lierop. I was third on the last lap and got heat exhaustion, passed out, crashed and broke my arm.

I can’t remember where I ended up in the championship – it was around seventh. I had a brilliant [Motocross] des Nations at Zolder, and was fourth. I was behind Carmichael, Everts and Smets. It was one of the best rides that I have had at the MXdN; it was really good.”

2004 “I got Nick Moores back in 2004, and we had a great pre-season. We found a tuner who was great; he was a quad tuner and gave me a motor that I was really, really happy with. We came back and at the first British Championship round, it was a really muddy race. My foot came off the peg and went into a rut on the face of a jump, I twisted it, and it wrecked my knee.

So, I was out for four months. It changed my career in a big, big way, as that could have been a phenomenal year for me. It is so easy to say that, but I was so happy with the bike, Nick was back with me, and I showed in the GP’s, and at the MXdN, that my speed was good at the end of 2003. There was a lot of stuff that was really positive, because we had more help from the factory as well.

I fell out with the team. They hadn’t paid my wages, and there was sixty-eight thousand pound owed. There was a big problem with the team; I had Red Bull as a personal sponsor for seven years. We had a really detailed contract with them, and CAS was quite loose with their professionalism in regard to sticking to their contracts. What happened was I was sat at home watching

the British Championship on TV, and I saw all this Sobe sponsorship all over their bikes and podium hats. I was going, ‘what is all this? I am sponsored by Red Bull, where do I fit into this?’

I had meeting after meeting after meeting with them and just got told lies. Harry was a liar, and just told more and more lies. I didn’t get paid any money that year, and I lost my Red Bull sponsorship, which was worth thirteen

“ The big problem was I had to use Öhlins, which I think is absolutely terrible and I hated riding the bike ”

thousand pound, because of them – I had had a really good relationship with Red Bull.

It really annoyed me the way that they [CAS Honda] treated me, so I left the team at the end of ’04. I took CAS to court and that was the end of the good times.

2005 The only option was to go somewhere else, and Steve Dixon got me Stefan Everts’ engines, so I did a deal with Dixon Yamaha.

The big problem was I had to use Öhlins, which I think is absolutely terrible and I hated riding the bike. I was very scared riding the bike, and I crashed in Portugal and broke my scaphoid – that was it again for four months, because I had to get a screw in the wrist.

That was really hard to come back from. I had a disastrous year, and things were going downhill. You lose self-belief; you just have to look at the results page. You can’t trick your brain into being confident, you either have it or you don’t. It was tough. You have to have confidence, and when your results are going downhill it is really hard to turn it around.

2006 In 2006, I wanted to get back on a Honda.

We went with Roger Magee on a Honda, and we were going well. I really tried to turn it around. The British Championship was going well. We had de Dycker and Coppins to deal with, plus Mackenzie on the factory Kawasaki, but it was okay. The GP’s weren’t bad – I getting some fourths and fifths.

We had some problems within the team, but there are always issues like that. I had difficulties with my mechanic, and things were hard then. I also got knocked out at the

MXdN when Freibergs landed on me.

2007 I felt bad in 2007, because I thought I was going to win the British Championship again, but a broken chain played a part in that.

I was lying second in the points, but the chain broke at Landrake. I was up against Mackenzie and de Dycker, but we were very much privateers, as we were working out of my blue van with some help from PAR. PAR did my bike for the British Championship, but I had no assistance for the GP’s. I rose about twenty thousand pounds in sponsors, and we paid for our GP efforts. I had some decent GP’s.

Paul Maguire talked me into going to Japan for the GP. The top fifteen got an allowance to go, but I was sixteenth by a point. Paul made me believe in myself, and I spent my own money to go – it really annoyed me.

The track was really bumpy and the transponder on the fork turned and jammed the steering, so I crashed in the first race.

My glove came off in the crash, but I rode on and blistered my hand quite badly, which made the second moto really hard.

Then Youthstream came in and said that I needed to pay them two hundred euros for a new transponder. I said that I’m in Japan and I don’t have two hundred euros, but they said I wasn’t racing until I paid them the money, so I flipped! I was going to make the biggest song and dance in the world. I had come all this way and spent five thousand pound of my own money. Then a flag marshal found the transponder and I got to race the second race. I can’t even remember how I did, but I remember getting pissed off with what I was doing.

the sport had changed; there was no prize money, no qualifying money and sponsorship had tailed off.

I needed to look at enduro, and there were a lot riders doing that and making good money.

BMW offered me a really good contract for two years to race GNCC, so I took it.

2008 Going to enduro was a good option for me, and GNCC riding was what BMW wanted me to do in the USA. But, the project failed.

Scott Summers was given a contract with BMW and was mad; he is in an asylum now – that is a fact. His family sectioned him. I was there when he started losing his mind.

BMW terminated the contract in that summer.

I loved the bikes; I did all of their testing in Spain and loved working with BMW – I thought it was brilliant. I went to America, and the bikes weren’t showing up; there was no sign of them. Scott sued BMW for breaking the contract, so KTM provided some Husqvarna’s.

It was mental; I was sitting in a Little Chef on my way to the first round of British Enduro Championship for Gas Gas. I had a loophole in my contract with them (Summers), because the Americans do not think that there is anywhere outside of the United States. I said, ’so can I ride other bikes in Europe? I can ride some motocross on a Honda and you are fine with that?’ Summers said yes, so I was happy!

The way the GNCC’s work is you have five rounds, and then you get a summer break for two months, because it gets too hot in June and July. So, I thought I would come back and race a few GP’s or British Championship rounds in the summer, and have some fun.

I remember thinking, ‘this is pointless, what is the end goal here?’ Nobody is going to ring and say, here is some money to race next year. But, I was still enjoying it, having great experiences and a lot of fun.

In preparation for riding enduro over there, I did a bunch of British Enduro rounds. It was great, I was so excited about it, and I thought it was going to be brilliant! It was too good to be true.

I realised making money in the MXGP series just wasn’t going to happen. There are limited seats (that pay well). They are looking for fresh up and coming riders with potential.

I was very much a GP winner going down.

I was trying to turn it around, but nobody wanted to be a part of that.

So, I was in Thetford forest at the first round of the British Enduro series, and the phone rang. It was Scott, and he had a nervous cough. He said the first round was next week,

So, I was twenty-eight and my days of making money in motocross were over – that is a fact. Just because of the results I was getting, and because

“ He was hoping he would piss me off enough that I would have to go home before he would have to pay me anything ”

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and I needed to get there, and we were riding a Husqvarna!

I did the British round that day for Gas Gas, and then I flew to America the next day for the rest of the year! We rode a Husqvarna, and Scott got every model delivered; he had 250 two strokes, 300 two strokes, 450’s, 510’s – he ordered everything!

He told me to pick the one that I thought was the best. I tried them all, but I didn’t know – I had never done a GNCC! But, I settled for the 450; it was stock. A GNCC is a three-hour race, but you stop once at halfway to refill your petrol tank. You are in and out in nine seconds!

But, I had a standard tank, so I was stopping every lap – I was in and out six times! I finished eighth, with stock everything.

It was awful. He decided the money BMW had given him was his money. He tried to get out of paying me anything by saying he couldn’t, because I didn’t have my visa. My visa was in the process of being completed, but he was caught slowing it down by my attorney.

He didn’t want me to get my visa, because he knew that when I got it, he would have to pay me.

I was seven months in with him, and I wasn’t getting paid. He was caught doing things to slow it up. He was hoping he would piss me off enough that I would have to go home before he would have to pay me anything.

When I got to the second round he had taken my bike apart. I arrived and it was all in boxes. I had just got off a flight from Dublin to Atlanta and drove to South Carolina. I got there at night and the race was the next day. He said he didn’t have time to build my bike, I said, ‘why did you take it apart?’ I would have understood if it was still dirty from Daytona!

In ‘09 nothing much happened, but I got back out and did a bit of racing [that bit of racing included the MXdN where Gordon got Ireland into the A final with a stunning come from behind ride in the B final].

2010 John Hellam contacted me about doing the UK Endurocross, so I did that and ended up finishing fourth in the last final. Paul Bird was running David Knight at the time, so his mechanic rang me up to see if I wanted to do the World Enduro for him, but I wasn’t ready!

But, we went and had a chat. We agreed to do the British Supercross Championship, which I won. He made me a special bike for it, which was brilliant. Then I talked him into doing a full British Motocross Championship and we were going really well.

We had a good season with some race wins. I won a Red Bull Pro National at Canada Heights, and nearly ended up riding for the KRT GP team, as a replacement for Jonathan Barragan. We had flights and everything booked, but I pissed them off, because I wanted to use my bike, my engine and suspension, as we had it working really well. But they didn’t go with it, and they took on Xavier Boog instead.

2011-2013 In 2011, I did a deal with Philip Neil for the Red Bull Pro Nationals and the British Championship, but I struggled on the Suzuki – I couldn’t ride it. It has different steering, and I couldn’t get it to work for me. We had some good runs, like at the international at Downpatrick against Barragan and Pichon.

Basically, he was trying to piss me off to make me go home, and every week he would do new things to annoy me. But, I stayed. I got my visa and I got paid – I left that day.

At the end of 2011, I went to Australia to ride the supercross championship for Craig Anderson on a Honda. It was awesome – I loved it. He then called me up to do the Nationals for the following year; I did some rounds for him in 2012, and he offered me a full ride to do the rest of the season, but I priced myself out of a job!

I was living there. I had an apartment, a van, everything, and I was committed to being there for two years. We were in Kentucky in Cincinnati. I liked America; I think it is a great place. But that was it – my GNCC career was over. In the races I was doing I was on a bad bike, I had no motivation to ride for him under those circumstances, so the results I was getting were pathetic. I was right around tenth most of the time, so nobody else was going to go, ‘let’s get him.’

I asked him for ten thousand dollars, which is about six thousand pound, just to cover my flights and accommodation and everything, but he couldn’t find the money at that stage of the year. I almost regret it. Maybe I should have just spent that money myself, because it was a market where I probably could have got a ride for the following year.

So, I came back and did a deal with Paul Rowlands at PAR Honda to do the British Championship and we had some good results. I did the Irish GP at Fairyhouse, and I did the [Motocross] des Nations at Donington, but I got knocked out after a piece of wood went through the front sprocket on the first lap of morning practice!

2009 In 2009, I nearly got killed at Hawkstone [Park]. After that I was scared, I remember thinking that I am going to have a fear of getting on a bike. I was worried – I thought if I am scared I am going to have to stop, because you can’t concentrate. Once I got on one again I was scared, but it went away and everything was fine!

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I think I could have got good results, and I loved it there. The standard was good. You had Coppins, Mackenzie, and Anderson – all of the British boys! So, I thought I could do something there. Josh was winning, but it was local for Josh. Whereas it was a culture shock for Mackenzie and Anderson, but I certainly thought I could have been a contender.

Then in 2013 I got a job with Honda doing the EMX150 races, but I had planned on doing races myself until I had a farm accident with a circular saw and nearly cut my thumb off.

Interview by Jonathan McCready

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MAKING THE GRADE:

JAKE NICHOLLS

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Jake Nicholls has had a tough start to his rookie season in the MXGP class, as he broke his back just a couple of weeks before the opening round of the 2014 FIM Motocross World Championship. But, he has fought on through the pain, and we are now starting to see his real speed on a 450f.

MX Vice: You had a lot of injuries when you were young, did that make you think about quitting the sport? How did you keep going?

Jake Nicholls: I don’t know why, but when I was younger I only crashed a few times a year, but when I did I seemed to have quite a bad injury. Yeah, a few times when I was in hospital waiting for an operation, or I had just had an operation, I would say I wanted to start Go Karting, or do something different.

But, after a few weeks, I wanted to ride my bike again.

Every time I got injured I used to come back a bit better, so it never really put me off at all. I had a couple of nasty crashes in the first turn, so I got a bit put off the start. Obviously, I had to get over that. It’s fine now, really.

MX Vice: In the youth, were you one of the fastest guys, despite your injuries?

Jake Nicholls: I suppose I was, yeah. I was second in the British Championship when I was nine and on a 65. I was always with Tommy [Searle], really. We came through together, but like I said every year I would have one hiccup and lose that few percent. By the time we were thirteen or fourteen, he had kind of left me behind.

I never really raced a Big Wheel 85. I raced a Small Wheel 85 when I was twelve, and got injured for more than half of the year, so I did only one race on the BW85. But, I never really liked riding it, so when I was twelve or thirteen, I got on a 125 straight away. Plus, I was already too big for an 85!

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you are a good rider in the first place.

MX Vice: Who did you look up to when you were younger?

Jake Nicholls: When I was really young, it was Tortelli really. He was a cool dude with green camouflage gear. He was a little bit different, so I liked him. Then after him it was Stefan [Everts] for a while, when Tortelli went to America, and then it was Ben Townley or Josh Coppins the rest of the time.

MX Vice: Your family is better off than the average motocross family. But, do you feel that has worked against you in some ways, because people underestimate how hard you have worked to get here and how good a rider you actually are?

Jake Nicholls: Yeah, it does a little bit. It used to really get on my nerves when I was a little bit younger, because people would be like, ’it’s alright for you, because you have got plenty of money.’ But that has died down to a point where it is pretty much non-existent now.

My dad had to help in my first couple of years in the Grand Prix series, but most people don’t realise you don’t really get into the GP’s without help. It has been like that for so long now, it doesn’t matter who you are. Ben Townley and Josh Coppins had to come over and pay to ride - it’s how it is.

In my situation, I was lucky, because it came from my dad and his sister and their business.

Other people like Tixier, Lupino, amongst many others, they have had to pay to be in teams, but people don’t realise that their federations pay for them. Whereas for us, people like Tommy and myself, if it wasn’t for our dads taking a risk and putting money into us, the ACU wouldn’t have any professional riders.

MX Vice: I guess people aren’t going to put that money in if they didn’t think you had the ability to do it as well. You are there, because

Jake Nicholls: Yeah, I think so. To be honest, when I was younger, dad was quite serious.

But, when I got to thirteen or fourteen, and I had lot of injuries, he stopped enjoying it.

When I was fifteen, he said he would provide bikes and stuff, but I had to start helping myself now. That was good, because that was the year I properly concentrated on stuff and knuckled down. I had quite a good year that year – I think I was second or third in the British Championship. Then I did a couple of adult British Championship races at the end of that year. I was only fifteen, and we got top ten, and I look back now and think that was quite good, because there were six or seven GP riders then.

I don’t think dad believed in me that much, but I was so stubborn that that was what was going to happen. My mum believed in me, because she knew what I was like! Dad helped me when he saw just how determined I was, and that I stuck at it, and it went from there really.

I think after a couple of years in the GP’s, he realised I was serious about it, and I was willing to work hard. He saw that I was working hard, he is a hard worker in a totally different business world, but he liked the look of it.

MX Vice: You moved to Belgium a couple of years ago, which again showed your determination. How much did that help your speed?

Jake Nicholls: I think that move started a bit because the year before I was riding for HM Plant, but I started the year living with Ben Townley and we travelled back and forth to the British Championship rounds from there.

I think Jacky [Martens] saw that I was at the practice tracks trying to learn stuff every week.

“ I was always with Tommy [Searle], really. We came through together, but like I said every year I would have one hiccup and lose that few percent ”

The opportunity came around, because of that, and the next two years I was living there riding for them. I think being there definitely helped me. Especially riding in the sand, and being there you are around a lot of fast people the majority of the time. There is never a day at a practice track where there isn’t someone with a stopwatch. In Belgium, they are quite chatty people, and if you were two seconds off in practice the whole top half of Belgium would know about it that evening. It’s a funny old world over there, especially in motocross.

It definitely did me good, especially with the tracks and being around Jacky and learning.

It was a good move, and I had to grow up as well. I was living on my own with my girlfriend, and we were doing our own thing.

It was fun and I am really pleased we did it.

MX Vice: You have moved back home now. Is that because you are back with a British team, or just because you felt you have done your time in Belgium and wanted to get home?

Jake Nicholls: It was a bit of both. Having the ride with Steve [Turner], and having already done the British Championship living in Belgium, I knew how hard it was to travel back and forward like Shaun [Simpson] is for instance. I had to move home, and the last year especially I didn’t really enjoy it.

everything to them. They knew whether I was in or out, in my lounge or going for a run and I just hate that. That’s my worst thing; I like my privacy so it got on my nerves a bit. I missed my track as well. I have a track at home and a good circle of tracks around me that I can ride with friends. I missed that a bit.

I am quite a closed person and I found it hard to really get good friends over there. I didn’t really become good friends with anyone. I was friendly with the whole team that I was with, but obviously they are working the whole time. I was friendly with Jacky’s son, Yentel, as well.

MX Vice: Looking at the British Championship this year, how are you finding the twenty minute motos, and is strange battling with Shaun Simpson, who you are pretty friendly with?

Sometimes I wanted to be friends with people outside of motocross. All my friends at home are sort of into motocross, but they can come round and we won’t even talk about it sometimes. I just missed that side of things as well.

Also the street we lived on, motocross was

Jake Nicholls: It’s good. I am actually so pleased I am doing it. Actually, because of my injury, it has really done me a favour that the races aren’t as long. I am building my intensity with the short races.

Shaun being there is so good for me, because he is a proven Grand Prix winner; it’s helped me. No disrespect to any of the other riders, because it is a quality field, but to have 51 | MX Vice - April 2014 - Issue 2

someone of his stature there, and to be able to beat him every now and again, and run with him, I am learning so much. I’m genuinely pleased he is there.

Shaun and I have quite a good respectful relationship, we are pretty much friends, and it is good, because every time we race it is respectful. It is hard, but there are no dirty moves and I really hope it can stay like that, because it’s nice being able to race with someone like that. You know if you leave a big door open you will get an elbow, but you aren’t going to get punted off the track. Obviously, racing is racing, and we both want to win the British Championship, and that comes in front of it all, but at the minute it’s good.

disrespect to them at all. Nathan Watson showed in that last race at Lyng, we all had our own troubles, but he won fair and square. I think every now and again there will be the odd surprise and someone will come in and mix it up.

They might not see it how I do, but it is only good for us that someone like Shaun is there and I guess it is only good for them that someone like me is there. I would like to think that in couple of weeks time I will be a top ten GP rider and then they will have the chance to give me a run on the British weekends, and it will let them see they are doing okay.

MX Vice: Will you and Shaun coming back into the British help riders like Kristian Whatley, Graeme Irwin, Nathan Watson, Elliott BanksBrowne etc, because they get to see the GP speed now?

MX Vice: Just moving onto the GP’s. It is your first year on a big bike, but your injury has probably held you back quite a lot. Just talk about your injury, the crash and if you even expected to be riding the first round.

Jake Nicholls: Yeah, I think so. At the first two rounds, it has been quite evident there is a bit of a gap, and like I said before that is no

Jake Nicholls: Yeah, it was a shame. I had put a lot of work in. I mean, everyone does, it’s our job, but I had put a lot of work in

52 | MX Vice - April 2014 - Issue 2

“ Most people don’t realise you don’t really get into the GP’s without help.

It has been like that for so long now, it doesn’t matter who you are ”

through the winter and I was in a good place in the middle of January.

We went to Spain to do some hard pack riding, and a little bit of testing – that kind of thing. I went over a steep jump, it wasn’t high speed, but it just put you high into the air. I gave it a bit of back brake, and the engine stalled. I had already dropped the front end down for the landing, and it just carried on dropping. I went head first into the ground, the bike buckled underneath me, and then I flipped up and landed on my back.

It was one of the scariest crashes that I have ever been in. I got up, and I was really dazed. I stood up and I could put my left leg in front of me, but I couldn’t move my right leg. I wasn’t paralysed, but purely because of the pain in my back I couldn’t move it. I would say I am a tough guy with injuries, but I had to sit straight back down again and I have never ever done that. I was so scared, because I knew something was up.

Two hours later I felt sick and all sorts. I was in there on my own for

half a day and no one could speak English. I was being injected and getting X-rays. I was tied to the bed on a backboard, and couldn’t move so it was really scary. Then at half ten at night they said you haven’t got any broken bones and if you feel ok you can leave, but we would rather you stay the night.

When they said I could leave, I called Steve Turner to get picked up! I tried to walk out, and it was pretty difficult. The next two days I stayed in the villa while everyone was riding. I thought I would be all right, but I was in so much pain. I kidded myself after a couple of days that I would be okay, but it didn’t get better. I came home, and the next day I got an X-ray and it showed a break in my back.

It wasn’t a really serious thing, but I was only three and a half weeks away from the first Grand Prix and the doctors said I would be lucky to be there. I was gutted because I had been going really well in practice and wanted to do Hawkstone.

I did everything I could in the weeks leading up to the GP. I couldn’t 53 | MX Vice - April 2014 - Issue 2

The best feeling ever for me was getting that first podium at Valkenswaard

do a lot, because I had to rest. But, I was walking in a pool and having acupuncture. I tried to ride a few days before Qatar and it was so painful, I couldn’t put my leg out going round the corner, due to the muscles above my hip and pelvis that join the bone that was broken.

I went to Qatar not knowing what was going to happen. Luckily the team sponsor Wilvo, he is into the doctors side of things and I got good painkillers and managed to ride through it, but it was so hard.

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MX Vice: The last round in Brazil was probably the first round you could ride with not as much discomfort and you showed you could run in the top ten. Was that a good confidence builder?

Jake Nicholls: Yeah, it was good. On the Saturday, I had a similar thing. I was top ten in qualifying, but to be honest, Brazil was the first race all year that I hadn’t used painkillers. I had no pain, and the back was fine, but I really struggled with the bike all weekend.

In 250’s, you come around the first lap and there will be people crashing, you could pass three people in one corner. In MXGP, everyone is that much more experienced; they are all better riders with a little bit less anger in them.

It is just experience, and they can hold their line and position. It’s definitely more of a case of getting a good start, settling in, and push in the last laps. You can’t ride a 450 like you can a 250; you can’t ride a 450 flat out for thirty minutes.

MX Vice: Going back to last season, you had two podiums. How good was it to get on the podium for the first time and what was it like to do it at the British GP with the fans urging you on?

Jake Nicholls: The best feeling ever for me was getting that first podium at Valkenswaard. I had two really crap rounds, I was putting a lot of pressure on myself and I had a really bad injury from Qatar. I pulled two of my ribs away from my spine and it was hard work getting to Valkenswaard, so it was a really good feeling to get it there, better than the British, just because of how hard it was.

The British GP I worked hard for that too. It was more exciting, because the crowd were awesome and it was such a buzz. I feel like the crowd really pushed me on there and it was cool. I was a little bit disappointed not to get the win, but it was nice to get another podium. It was fun and I really enjoyed it.

MX Vice: What about the MXdN? You got to represent Great Britain on the MX2 bike. How did it feel to get chosen, and to race in front of that crowd?

Jake Nicholls: It was brilliant. The track was good, I like it there, but I didn’t ride very well in the first race – I just tightened up a bit. I don’t really like racing against 450s on a 250, but the second race was good. I got a bit of a better start, put my head down and got stuck in and got tenth or eleventh in the race. There was a nice buzz and atmosphere about the whole race. I just wish we had a bit more luck. There would be nothing better to get on the podium with the flag on your shoulder and the country behind you – that would be so cool.

MX Vice: You had a bit of an incident with [Eli] Tomac.

What went on there, and why were you so angry with him?

Jake Nicholls: I am usually angry anyway when I race, but on the Saturday in the qualifying race we had a bit of a ding-dong for quite a while. But, the corner before the picture was taken, he really tried to dive bomb me, it was almost like a full on t-bone. I thought that was bad, so on the jump I gave him a big old w*nker sign!

It was like I had sped up so much that all of a sudden my bike was acting completely different. We spent all weekend changing the bike trying to suit me, and I literally spent all weekend with arm pump! It was good but I could have ridden so much better, so part of me is thinking that one of these days it’s going to click. It’s so different on a 450.

I was just angry, but it’s quite funny, because he is the only American I sort of half like; he seems quite normal, and the rest seem to be quite caught up in the world over there. I have no problem with him, it was just one of those things really – it was quite funny!

Interview: Jonathan McCready

MX Vice: How does the class compare to the MX2?

Jake Nicholls: Yeah, the starts are more important. It seems once you are in position the first few laps, it doesn’t seem to change as much.

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Alarmingly, after being the best 250f rider in France last year, he is now behind Ferrandis and Febvre in that list, and out of the three Tixier has arguably the best team behind him.

Tixier has to figure out the mental game quickly to stay at the upper echelons of GP racing, because just having talent is not good enough to stay there.

Jose Butron is in a similar boat, when he gets the start he rides a wide bike and is a contender for top three, but, like Tixier, he struggles to come through the pack. However, you cannot question his commitment – that guy is on it at all times!

American teenager Thomas Covington recently announced that he is going to stay in the MXGP series for the next two years, despite the fact that he has the opportunity to race for Mitch Payton in the USA. Thomas is yet another talented young rider that will add to the depth of the MX2 field. Covington may have a few inconsistent races this year, as he comes to grips with the sheer variety of track surfaces in the GP’s, but he could be one to watch next year.

We also have Swiss rider Jeremy Seewer on a Rockstar Suzuki Europe machine, who is pushing to break into the top ten, along with fellow countryman and European champion Valentin Guillod, who ran with [Ryan] Dungey briefly at the [Motocross des] Nations last year.

Arnaud Tonus is back, and finally won his first GP. The fastest of the Swiss trio is one of the most naturally talented riders in the world, but always seemed to lack the confidence that you need to win races. Following two years 60 | MX Vice - April 2014 - Issue 2

of injuries, Tonus seems to be very focused on getting the results, and confidence no longer seems to be an issue. Perhaps the injuries, while holding back his progress on the track, have increased his mental strength?

So, the depth is there, despite what some may say. However, at the minute, these young guys just are not big names. But, they are slowly making themselves into big names with their performances. This brings us to the controversial under twenty-three rule that is implemented in the MX2 class.

I can see both sides, but it’s future could come to a crunch decision at the end of this season.

Youthstream introduced this rule to give greater help to young riders, and also to ensure that the MXGP field is as deep as possible.

From that viewpoint, it has worked – there is no questioning that. With no older riders, the younger riders have been able to come through more quickly, and get the top rides.

However, at the end of this year, eight riders will have to move up from MX2, and this is a problem with the age rule that has not occurred thus far. It will take a lot of the top MX2 riders out, and also mean eight top riders, who should be in MXGP, will be potentially without a ride.

Obviously, this is not ideal for the sport. You just can’t allow quality riders to be forced to leave the series. But, then again, it will give the younger riders in MX2 a greater chance to establish themselves as top riders in the next couple of years. It is a difficult situation, and you can justifiably argue for or against the age rule.

But, has the age restriction rule already done the initial job that Youthstream wanted? If so, it could be time for the series to go back to not having the rule.

These questions will have to be answered in the not too distant future. With no age rule, it opens the door for a rider like Marvin Musquin to return, or someone like Davide Guarneri to drop back down. It would certainly make for an intriguing story, as each year you would have the young riders improving, and older riders dropping back down from MXGP. But, then again, we could also see the MXGP class suffer as a result, as the guys who cannot win may fancy their chances in MX2. The key thing for the future is to keep MXGP as the main class, and the main goal for every rider in the sport, like MotoGP is in road racing.

If Youthstream can figure out a way to keep riders motivated to get to MXGP, and not just settle for a career in MX2, then maybe it would be possible to do away with the age rule. Up until now, the MX2 class, especially with the European series to back it up, has been perfect for bringing talented young riders into the FIM Motocross World Championship.

However, the biggest test for the class will be this winter when so many have to move up.

What happens this winter and next season might just tell us a lot about the state of the MX2 class in the future. Perhaps increasing the age restriction to twenty-five would be a perfect compromise?

Words by Jonathan McCready

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PIT BEIRE Pit Beirer is undoubtedly one of the most influential people in the pits, as he has achieved a lot on and off of the bike.

Although a cruel twist of fate ended his racing career early, Beirer successfully transitioned into the next stage of his career - KTM has won many titles around the world under his watchful eye.

MX Vice: What does a typical week consist of for you, Pit, now that the season has begun?

Pit Beirer: My job has changed a lot over the years! I started working at the track, but I am now responsible for the one hundred and eighty people that are linked to KTM Factory Racing – sometimes I cannot believe it! There is a lot of office work to do, but first of all I have to present all needs for motorsport to the board of directors, and if I get the green light, we go racing!

If I come to the race, it is more to enjoy the racing and stay in close contact with all of our team members and riders. In Austria, I have to make the right decisions for the future. When the season starts, I have the best people out there with the best riders, they do not need me 62 | MX Vice - April 2014 - Issue 2

there, but I am already working on the next season. The nicest part of my office work is I can still sit down with ‘my’ riders to work on a new contract with them.

MX Vice: What are your thoughts on the flyaway MXGP rounds? Does it make sense for KTM to travel to these exotic locations?

Pit Beirer: Yes, it does. We are an international brand with a very global market. So, for us, it is important to present our products around the world. Don’t get me wrong; I know all of the difficulties involved for the teams to race overseas, which is mainly a cost issue. However, you asked me as KTM, and as a manufacturer it is a clear yes, without a doubt. We had two rounds with very good organisation, and everybody on my team enjoyed the trip.

But, as the manufacturers benefit much more than the race teams from overseas events, we must sit together with the promoter and the other brands to find a way that all strong teams can afford the costs for these races.

MX Vice: It seemed like everyone struggled with their fuel in Thailand, except for KTM and Husqvarna. What was the reason for this? Why could KTM cope with the change better than the other teams?

Pit Beirer: I think the problem was related to the heat in general, and the fuel began to boil on top of the hot engines. Our engineers found a great balance between performance, and engine heat, which means

R SPEAKS: we do not run our engines on their maximum power level in these conditions, as it keeps them healthy and cool. It looks like this idea paid off for us!

The fuel that we used in Thailand was very similar to the race fuel we use in Europe, so our bikes did not react strange at all. I really do not understand why other bikes had these dramatic problems – all teams got the spec sheet for the fuel before the race, and nobody had any doubts looking at the data.

MX Vice: Are you happy that Jeffrey Herlings is still in the MX2 class?

I know Stefan Everts has openly stated that he wanted him to be in the MXGP class this year.

the MX2 World Champion, you have to beat Jeffrey Herlings. But, to come back to your question, yes, I am happy that Herlings is in MX2.

MX Vice: We all know that Herlings is the best rider in MX2. So, how do you keep him focused, when he goes to the races knowing that he will probably win?

Pit Beirer: Honestly, I am not with him enough to help him on the track.

Jeffrey is very focused, and he has the same stresses as any other rider.

He is not too relaxed before the race, because he thinks that we have already won before the start. He knows that everybody wants to beat him, and the first couple of rounds have shown that the other riders are closer to him than last season. His own will to win will keep him motivated.

Pit Beirer: Firstly, we listen to our riders, and if a rider that is eighteen years of age wants to stay on a 250f instead of the stronger MXGP bike, I will respect his wish for safety reasons. Imagine if I pushed a rider onto a big bike against his wish, and he had an accident!

MX Vice: How involved are you with the two Husqvarna factory teams on race day, and in the week, in comparison to your work with KTM?

Jeffrey works harder than anybody else in the class, he trains in the rain, snow, storms, and also sunshine. The results he has are just a payback for the work he puts in. Why should we tell him that he is not allowed to enjoy many, many wins in the MX2 category when he is just eighteen years old? We would be penalizing him for his hard work.

Pit Beirer: I was involved one-hundred-percent to build the first racing structure for the brand [Husqvarna]. MX, Enduro, US and Moto3 – everything is on its way. But, for now, we have tried to split the organization between the two brands to give them their own identity.

One of my best friends (the former KTM manager, Robert Jonas) is now leading the motorsport operation for Husqvarna, so you can imagine what our goal is.

If you want to win a championship, you cannot wait until the best people leave the class - you have to beat them. If you want to become

We want to make both brands strong in racing, but with friendship

63 | MX Vice - April 2014 - Issue 2

between KTM and Husqvarna members. For next season I will give my thoughts, but Robert is fully in charge.

MX Vice: Did you expect Ken Roczen to consistently beat Ryan Dungey in his first season on a 450?

Do you know if this has made for a tense atmosphere in the truck in the USA? Pit Beirer: I was in Las Vegas last October, and saw him ride the 450.

After that, I was sure that we would see him fighting with the top guys from the beginning.

His win at A1 was of course a bit more than we all expected, but the situation in the team is still very good.

Roger [DeCoster] is a great leader that keeps everybody happy. Ryan [Dungey] and Ken [Roczen] are both really cool people. So, you will not see the big fight that everyone is waiting for in our tent.

MX Vice: The switch that Dean Ferris made to Red Bull KTM was one of the biggest talking points in the off-season. How did all of that come around?

Pit Beirer: It is a bit complicated, but I will try to explain it as short as possible. When Dean [Ferris] asked for a test day, he told us that he had no contract. We

64 | MX Vice - April 2014 - Issue 2

still had a spot free, so we invited him to ride our bike. In the meantime, Steve Dixon informed us that this was not the case, and that he still has a contract.

We immediately told Dean that we were not interested anymore, but in that time he had also lost the trust from his former team, and they did not want him back.

So, for one moment he was without any ride at all. He created all of this mess to live his dream, and ride for a top team in America, so we decided to not let him down. I spoke to Steve and explained to him that we would only give Dean the ride if there would be no friction between KTM, Yamaha and his team.

The rest is history!

Interview: Lewis Phillips

65 | MX Vice - April 2014 - Issue 2

BELIEVE THE HYPE!

For many, many years, Adam Cianciarulo has been beneath the spotlight. It is hardly surprising; his raw speed and charisma has made him very popular with both the fans and the

66 | MX Vice - April 2014 - Issue 2

media. But, despite this, some people aren’t sure whether Adam will go to win multiple professional titles. So, we got two people with very different views on his future to chime in on this topic.

Lewis Phillips: Honestly, I do not see how anyone could discredit what Adam Cianciarulo achieved in his short stint in the 250SX East class. Rarely do we see a rookie come out and beat the established veterans straight away. But, Adam did just that. It was not just his raw speed that impressed me, though; his consistency did too. Sometimes it takes a little while for a rookie to master that trait, but Cianciarulo seemingly had it dialed

in immediately, hence why he is hailed as the full package by most, including myself.

Jonathan McCready: I like Adam, and I have no doubt that he is a top talent, but his hype is maybe even greater than his talent. AC is being hailed as the next [James] Stewart, [Ryan] Villopoto or [Ricky] Carmichael, and winning some main events in a class that is not full of many top supercross riders doesn’t really

prove that much, except that he has the mental confidence to win. AC admitted himself that he wasn’t fast enough at the time to enter the more competitive 250SX West class.

Martin Davalos, who had not won a supercross before this year, gifted him two of his three wins by crashing and Baggett beat him by ten seconds on the only half outdoor style circuit at Daytona. Cooper Webb is

67 | MX Vice - April 2014 - Issue 2

he would have had proper competition. If he had won that he would be the real deal – right now he is just another really faster amateur prospect. But, as history has shown, that doesn’t necessarily mean you will be winning multiple professional titles.

To presume that AC is the next RC, or the next dominant US star, is a mistake. Now, that doesn’t mean he can’t be, but he has yet to prove that he will be. He is a very, very good rider, but for me he has yet to prove he will be on the same level as RV, and it is impossible to say how good he would have been outdoors against top competition. Riders like Dylan Ferrandis could be faster than him if he rode a GP, we simply just don’t know, he is totally unproven so far outdoors, and that is the main measuring stick for me.

I still don’t know whether Adam is going to be as good as Ryan Villopoto, or even Justin Barcia. For me, the jury is out. Everyone else seems to think that he is the best young rider

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that has ever lived. But, I can name eight that were faster straight away and achieved more at the same age.

Cianciarulo is a great prospect, but I believe the hype that surrounds him is a bit out of control, or at least premature, which isn’t really his fault, as all he can do is ride the bike. But, he has had more help that any rider in the history of the sport, which adds to the expectation. Getting injured so soon in his career isn’t great either. He will already be eighteen by the time that he has a chance to win his first championship.

Lewis Phillips: I am not refuting that the west coast is deeper; I just believe the gap is not as big as some believe. Although supercross and motocross are two different things (obviously), the difference between the two is not as large as it once was, so a rider that is strong outdoors is just as good indoors, more often than not, with the odd exception.

Although some are quick to criticise his performance in the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross series last year, you have to remember that he was dealing with an illness. Even when Adam Cianciarulo returned, he was battling an iron deficiency, which hindered him, as you would expect. But, when he finally got his health issues figured out (the week prior to the penultimate round), he came out and landed on the podium in moto one. Since then, Cianciarulo has grown a lot, so he definitely would have been a lot stronger outdoors this year, and in a position to battle for a championship.

There is no way that Adam is not going to be as successful as a rider like Justin Barcia. AC will not quit until he has fulfilled his potential, as his desire to succeed is unrivalled, hence why I find it bizarre that some people do not think that he will win multiple championships in the future.

Jonathan McCready: I don’t think that you can presume that he is going to win “multiple championships” in the future. First off, it’s hard to even win one and Adam so far hasn’t really shown speed that is any better than the top guys. I feel he has less raw speed than many rookies before him.

The fact that he has had problems in his first two seasons as a pro shows how hard it is to be a champion once, let alone multiple times.

There is also no proof whatsoever that he would have been a championship contender outdoors, unless you put [Martin] Davalos and [Justin] Bogle in that list too. Adam is one of many fast riders, but he still hasn’t proven that he is faster than them – that is where the hype is getting ahead of the reality. I will wait for him to win a couple of outdoor nationals before handing him multiple championships.

It is far from a forgone conclusion that he will win pro titles. With riders like [James] Stewart and [Ryan] Villopoto, you could see

their speed was unbelievable immediately.

Cianciarulo hasn’t shown that yet though.

Getting injured won’t help either his speed or confidence too.

I would prefer to say that Adam might win multiple championships, because his biggest strength is that he has a strong mentality, and the best people around him. But that doesn’t mean that he will automatically do it, and as I said, he is not the most impressive rookie either. His speed in supercross is similar to Davalos and Bogle, and no one is hailing them as the next big thing. Even though he was ill, outdoors last year is the only measurement that we have, and that didn’t go well at all.

Lewis Phillips: I do not necessarily believe he will be the greatest of all time, or even match the success that Ryan Villopoto has had. But, I look at it as a strong possibility – he will almost certainly be better than Justin Barcia, in my opinion. But, time will tell. I do think the

hype that Adam has received is well justified, too. After all, he has a great bike, and a great setup in Florida – these things were handed to him for a reason. Perhaps the hype has caused some to resent him? It does seem as though some fans want to see him fail, for whatever reason.

I think that Cianciarulo can be put in the same discussion as Jeffrey Herlings, Ken Roczen and James Stewart etc. AC is definitely faster than Justin Bogle (there is no doubt in my mind about that) – he has already achieved more success than Justin, despite his many issues. Speaking of his problems, I do not see this injury hindering him; if anything, it will make him hungrier to succeed than ever.

Words by MX Vice Staff

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“ Unfortunately, the amazing title fight that most anticipated has not materialised “

The Monster Energy Supercross series begins to look a little different at this time of year, as the focus shifts for some guys, and others attempt to just make it out of the season healthy. Of course, this is not always the case, but that is now starting to become more apparent.

You may remember that at the beginning of the 2014 Monster Energy Supercross series, the excitement was at an unprecedented level, and understandably so. Prior to the beginning of the season, there were many potential race winners in the 450SX class, which left most very excited. But over time, attrition has seemingly become more of a

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factor, as a majority of the riders that started the season on top form are far from one hundred percent now.

Unfortunately, the amazing title fight that most anticipated has not materialised, as a result of this; the contenders have fallen by the wayside, one by one. In order to be competitive in a title fight, consistency is pivotal, obviously. However, this seems to be the hardest trait for a rider to acquire. Ryan Villopoto doesn’t struggle with this, hence why he has been such an unstoppable force for so long.

Despite the fact that the reigning champ has won fewer races this season than he has done in recent years, he has been more dominant, because of his consistency. Now, most people think that this is something that comes with age. For instance, we often see a younger rider lay it all on the line in order to win a main event, rather than thinking about the big picture, which sometimes results in a large crash.

Of course, this is not always the case, as

some older guys still struggle to remain consistent, namely James Stewart. This has always been a problem for the Yoshimura Suzuki rider, and it may have cost him the 450SX championship (again) this year.

Stewart has been just as quick as Villopoto so far. In fact, he may be even faster; he has won the most main events (at the time of writing), after all.

However, as mentioned previously, that is not always the key to winning the title, as he has had far too many bad races. James may lose second in the series standings as well, because of this. Although Ryan has only won four races (following Houston), he has been there each week, hence why he has a comfortable cushion in the title chase.

Villopoto doesn’t need to win anymore 450SX main events. Actually, he hasn’t had to do that for a while.

So, because of this, Ryan Villopoto is not going to put himself in any danger in the remaining rounds. Villopoto is riding well within his comfort zone, which is worrying for his rivals, as he dominated in Houston

“Every rider out there has a different focus or goal for the coming weeks”

not too long ago. At the same time, his competitors may have backed it down, now that it is apparent that their title chances are slim at best. Overall, the intensity is a little subdued in the class, it seems. There are many factors that contribute to this - it is a long season, after all.

Some riders are already feeling the effects of the Monster Energy Supercross series, which spans over seventeen rounds, and eighteen weeks. In fact, nine of the riders that qualified for the main event at Anaheim 1 are now on the sidelines with injuries, and many more of the guys are dealing with niggling injuries. But, some guys have to step it up and deliver results at this point, as it is their last chance to prove their worth to a team for the following season.

There are a lot of riders that are in this position this year, as it seems that a large majority of the riders’ contracts are up – you can expect a lot of moving around in the offseason. But, I digress. With a few riders out, this is a good opportunity for a handful of guys to prove that they can run upfront with the best.

For many riders, the focus has shifted to this now, whilst others just want to make it to the outdoors without sustaining an injury.

250SX Of course, the situation is very different for the 250SX riders, as both coasts really are going down to the wire. Now, the two 250f series are not as long, which means that the title fight goes down the final round more often than not, unlike the premier 450SX division. Attrition is still a factor though, as the two titles have come down to Jason Anderson, and Cole Seely, on the west. In the 250SX East class, Martin Davalos and Justin Bogle are the two riders that still have a shot at the elusive title. But, Martin

has now bowed out with an injury, unfortunately, which means Bogle is in the drivers seat on the east coast.

For these riders with a shot at a championship, they will be going all out until the checkered flag falls in Las Vegas, as you would expect.

However, by focusing on supercross, they might end up heading into the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross season underprepared. Wil Hahn admitted that this would have been an issue for him last year (before he got injured), as he pushed all of his outdoor testing to one side, so that he could focus solely on the indoor season.

DOWN TO THE WIRE It is fair to say that the 250SX classes did not play out as expected; the pre-season favourites have failed to deliver for the most part. However, some new contenders (that have not been in the thick of a title fight before) have come to fruition. For a majority of these riders, this is going to be their last chance to win a 250SX title, as they need to move up to the big bike for next year, depending on how the points play out (the rules are quite complicated).

Cole Seely only has an outside shot at the 250SX West title, as Jason Anderson has a little cushion going into the finale. It is definitely not a foregone conclusion, but it is going to take a bit of bad luck for Anderson to lose the series lead. Currently, there are not too many guys that can get between them, especially now that the focus has switched to the outdoors for some riders.

Although the three title fights have lost a bit of spark now, there are many alternate stories that we can focus our attention on, as every rider out there has a different focus or goal for the coming weeks.

Words by Lewis Phillips

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AMA SUPERCRO

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OSS GALLERY

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THE MXGP GAME REVIEW MXGP, the official FIM Motocross World Championship videogame, has been a huge hit with the fans, following the release a couple of weeks ago. But, despite the abundance of positive reviews from fans and industry experts alike, some are still sat firmly on the fence about the new game that Milestone has produced.

Of course, this has something to do with

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their previous title, MUD, which was a failure in the eyes of most. Unfortunately, this caused a lot of fans to be quite cautious when approaching the new title. However, every person that has picked up MXGP has been elated, evidently. It has been extremely popular, as it literally ticks all of the boxes!

Obviously, the fact that they have been able to incorporate the real teams and tracks in their game is advantageous; we have all wanted that for many, many years. We have finally got it, thanks to the MXGP game. The tracks are realistic as well, which is great - it really could have gone either way. Although you may think that the real tracks may not be too challenging in a game, they are quite testing – you need to hit your braking points and set yourself up for the corners and jumps perfectly.

Once you feel that you have each circuit dialed in, you can extend the challenge by switching your setup to manual, which changes the game completely, and makes you a lot faster, once you get it figured out.

There are a lot of different layers to MXGP,

which helps the game stay exciting; there is a new challenge around every corner!

Along with the manual gearing, a dual stick control system that has been very popular in the MX vs. ATV games has been implemented. This feature wasn’t incorporated in MUD. But the demand for it was so high that there was no way that they could not use it this time! For the most part, it does work the same way, despite the fact that it is a new system.

Within MXGP, there are two different career modes that the player can tackle. There is the conventional option, where you pick a professional rider, and play as them - you then work your way through each round.

There is the exciting option to race as your own player, also. In this unique mode, you progress through the years, as if you were contesting the real FIM Motocross World Championship! You start off as a wildcard rider, and then have the option to sign with different squads as you work your way up through the ranks.

When you take part in this game mode, you are based in a virtual house, which is where you can interact with your manager and check your progress, among other things. This realism is unprecedented – it does seem like Milestone thought of the finest details when creating the MXGP game, which has resulted in an extremely entertaining finished product.

Of course, there are many other features in the game. ‘Time Attack’ is a very popular option amongst most fans, especially when racing the AI is no longer a challenge, as there is always going to be someone that is faster than you! ‘Time Attack’ is a feature that has been missing from motocross games in recent years, so it is brilliant that the guys at Milestone decided to bring it back – it really does add a lot to MXGP. Obviously, nowadays, the online mode is one that is of vital importance to most players, and understandably so. I believe that the MXGP game has the strongest online gameplay that we have ever seen in a motocross title – there are many different avenues to explore. In a lot of other racing games, you simply complete meaningless races. However, in MXGP you take part in the online season; this is where you progress to the highest level, but only if you are fast enough!

Although it does not take too long to get into the premier MX1 elite division, it is a nice little added incentive when you are playing, as you can also get demoted if you do not perform at your best. Features like this are instrumental in the game’s success in my opinion; it prompts intrigue from the user! The game keeps track of your stats too, like the amount of races and championships that you have won, and the

number of podiums that you have, which is very interesting to follow, as you put in more hours.

There is an online races option when playing online also, which is where you will take part in the conventional races. In this mode, you can compete in an online championship with other players from around the world, too. This may be my favourite option within the game, as the amount of fun you can have whilst trying to beat your friends for a title is unprecedented!

Fortunately, it is possible to have great battles online. In the past, fans have had to deal with a testing online system when playing other motocross games; you couldn’t always bang bars with your opponents.

But in the MXGP game, the physics mean that you can have some very close races that sometimes have realistic repercussions.

Admittedly, there are some small issues with the online at the moment, as it seems to freeze an awful lot. But these teething issues are to be expected with a new title; we have seen this a lot in the past. But, I am sure that this would have been rectified by the time that you have read this.

Overall, MXGP has everything you could want from a motocross game.

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MAKING THE MXGP Have you ever wondered what sort of things a game developer has to do to make a game like MXGP? We have. So, we contacted the guys at Milestone to find out what went into their latest title.

MX Vice: MXGP is very different to MUD. Did you take anything that you used in MUD and incorporate it in MXGP, or did you start with a clean slate?

Milestone: I would like to underline that MXGP is not the sequel of MUD – it is a brand new game, created from scratch, with a completely new approach. Obviously, without MUD there would be no MXGP. We learnt a lot with our first motocross game. MUD had strong and weak points, but the development of it was fundamental to understand how to design, create and tune MXGP. MXGP is the official motocross videogame, and our first objective was to be realistic and loyal to the license. We wanted to create a game that can really deliver the same feelings that a rider experiences on the track. For these reasons, we elected to have the real tracks (for the first time in a motocross videogame), authentic physics (developed with the support of the official riders), a completely new control system, and last but not least, a strong career mode.

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bikes, crowd sound, TV feeling and sensation. For example, in the game the crowd sound was directly recorded on the tracks, and the fans will recognize the specific chainsaw sound.

MX Vice: How long ago did you begin planning MXGP? Did you start working on it soon after MUD? Milestone: We’ve been working on MXGP for approximately twelve months. At the beginning, we read all the reviews of previous motocross videogames, in an attempt to understand the strong and weak points of them. In the second phase, we studied the testing sessions in order to understand what our players need. We also read a lot of forums about motocross games, and we came up with an idea of what was necessary and/or missing.

MX Vice: Why did you decide to change to the dual stick controls for MXGP? Is this is a completely new system, or did you model it off of what other developers of motocross games have used?

Milestone: Our approach was driven by the curiosity from the past games. Then, when we decided to approach a realistic and authentic game, we thought that the best way to deliver the complete experience to the players was the dual stick controls. The community asked for a simulation game, and a fun control system that separates the bike and rider.

Riding a motocross bike is like riding a runaway horse that is always trying to kick up you from the saddle. A real rider is always moving the weight to control the centre of gravity to correct a wheelie, or to correct

GAME a mistake. But, he also has to control the brakes and gas separately to clear a jump perfectly. Sometimes all the controls are working on the same objective, sometimes not, and we love to have this freedom in our game. The dual stick controls were the best way to go!

MX Vice: What sort of process do you have to go through in order to gain permission to use the real tracks? How do you go about producing them?

Milestone: MXGP is the official motocross videogame, so we had permission from Youthstream to recreate the tracks as they were in the 2013 season. For the first time in a motocross videogame you can ride on the official tracks. To recreate them we tried three different approaches before we were satisfied. We have collected all the maps, the jump descriptions, track layouts and pictures. Plus, to recreate the tracks, we also reproduced the feeling of the race, and in order to reach that objective we decided to go to the real races to study them, feel them, and identify their peculiarities.

All the core team went to at least one race and watched hours of videos, just to increase our passion for motocross and to be sure that all of the team were aligned with the style of the sport.

In terms of work we started recreating the orography of the track area like the hills, bumps, slopes and then we literally lay the 2D track layout on it. At this stage, we had the viable part and the bigger altimetry variations, then we used the ‘jump descriptions’ to build the real tracks.

With that, we recreated all the jumps in terms of height and shape. Then the artists share the track with our ‘racing department’ that verified that

the feeling of the track was correct.

This is a long process that requires a lot of intermediate steps, reviews and discussion before deliberating the track. The ‘racing department’ really play the game on the first monitor and watch the same track position on the GoPro videos on a second monitor. In the meantime the track artist watches the same videos to recreate the atmosphere around the viable part like trees, vegetation, buildings, posed objects, sponsor banners etc.

So, we had a devoted pipeline to be sure that the viable track part is exactly the same as the real one, and another pipeline working on the “visual feeling” of the track. At this point, the track is ready to be in the “artistic hands” of our art director that starts tuning the colour, the light position, the reflections and the palette to reproduce the track as it was during the 2013 season. Last but not least, we let riders like Cairoli, Philippaerts, Guarneri and Lupino try the game and help us during the tuning of the tracks.

MX Vice: Why did a couple of tracks (Lierop, Loket etc) from last year not make it into the game?

Milestone: One of the objectives with MXGP was to be ready for the first 2014 races. We had to create a game from the base; all the assets were new, the physics, the audio, the animation and the career. We had to choose between more content, or a more tuned and refined game. We chose the second option, because our aim is to give a complete, core experience to the player, and then build off of this base to create more content for the future.

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DAVEY COOMBS INTERVIEW Davey Coombs has many responsibilities, as he owns Racer X, the biggest motocross magazine and website in the world, and runs the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross series, among other things. At this time of year, all of his time goes into the outdoor season, as round one is just around the corner. So, we caught up with him to get his thoughts on a few topics.

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I really think the Red Bull Glen Helen National will be the biggest event that the facility has ever seen.

MX Vice: The big change for this year is that Glen Helen is back on the schedule, which is perfect for the industry. How pleased are you to have such an iconic track back on the calendar?

Davey Coombs: We are very pleased to have Glen Helen back on the schedule.

Southern California can be a real challenge, and when GH decided to cancel their national in 2010 to host a Grand Prix instead, it put us in a real bind. But we kept working on the rest of the series and let things settle, and then begun talking again with Bud Feldkamp, the promoter. The GP’s didn’t work out the way anyone wanted, and Mr. Feldkamp wanted his facility to get back on the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross schedule where it belonged.

It’s a much bigger series now, and the return of Glen Helen will only add to its prestige.

We still have some challenges out there with most of the American industry based

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in California, there will be lots of people looking for tickets and access, so we need to find a good balance and make sure the event works for the track, as well as the series. I really think the Red Bull Glen Helen National will be the biggest event that the facility has ever seen.

MX Vice: At this time of year how much work is going on behind the scenes at MX Sports to prepare for the season, especially when you have new venues?

Davey Coombs: Motocross is my passion, but it’s also a job – three hundred and sixtyfive days a year! When we aren’t at the races, we are planning for the next event, working on improvements; new ideas, new technologies and anything else that can help grow the sport. Working on a new facility like the Ironman MX track in Indiana is always fun. I grew up working at the track, so being out there working, getting a place cleaned up and ready to go when

no one else is around is like being a kid again. When people do finally show up to see what’s been built, that’s very rewarding.

The Indiana track is a lot like Red Bud in Michigan, and I think it will be a huge success too.

MX Vice: Does it surprise you that Ryan Villopoto hasn’t won the most races in supercross this year? Can James Stewart bring his supercross speed to the outdoors?

Davey Coombs: Honestly, I had Ryan pegged to win the title again, but I also figured he wouldn’t dominate, because there are so many other great riders out there right now. Stewart is riding as well as he has in years, and Ken Roczen has been truly impressive – I didn’t think he would be so good so soon on a 450f in supercross.

Barcia and Dungey are getting up to speed, Trey Canard is back out there, and it’s just a really deep field right now, even with Chad Reed and Davi Millsaps injured and out.

I had Ryan pegged to win the title again, but I also figured he wouldn’t dominate

Chad’s wins earlier this season were the biggest, best surprise of all so far.

seventeen, and that’s because there’s so much talent around him in that class now.

Here’s the thing about Villopoto: He’s learned over the years how to manage a series. He has a full arsenal of skill, speed, strength and the work ethic it takes to be the best, yet he’s not careless with his abilities.

He takes a second when a second is the best he’s going to do. He lets the other guys make the mistakes while focusing on the long game.

That’s why he may not have the most wins in any given series, but he has the most championships.

There are a lot of fast, young riders in the 250SX class, and more on the horizon. Adam needs to work on his staying power and keeping himself fit and off the ground. That’s why guys like everyone I mentioned above had won titles by age seventeen, and Adam hasn’t.

When he slows down and starts to manage a series – the thing that Villopoto does and Ricky did so well – he will start hauling in titles.

As for Stewart, yes, I see the speed being carried over. But, his problem has never been speed, but rather consistency. He needs to stay healthy, stay in the game and then see where he is at in the stretch run in August. He’s still a badass on a dirt bike and he can still win both indoors and outdoors.

MX Vice: Adam Cianciarulo has had a lot of hype. How do you feel he compares to riders like Ken Roczen, Jeffrey Herlings, James Stewart and Ryan Villopoto when they were his age?

Davey Coombs: I think Adam, like Ken Roczen and Jeffrey Herlings, is a rare talent. He’s the full package - he’s fast, funny, charismatic and driven – and those things are what make an athlete a superstar. But, I don’t think he’s at the level of either James or Ryan when they were

MX Vice: The other big story in the 250f class is Christophe Pourcel.

Can he really turn back the clock and challenge for the title?

Davey Coombs: From the day that I first met Christophe back in 2003, when he came to race Super Minis at Loretta Lynn’s against Mike Alessi and Ryan Villopoto, until this very day, he is one of the most puzzling, enigmatic motocross riders I have ever met. As a result, I haven’t really gotten to know him as much as I would like, but I appreciate his talent immensely. I hope he does come back out and turn back the clock, because I feel like he got the short end of the deal a few times here in the USA, and that’s unfortunate. If he shows up this summer and starts winning races, it will be one of the biggest stories of 2014.

MX Vice: Who do you feel is the favourite for the 250 title? There are two former national champions returning, but also young guys getting

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