MXON Happenings
September 28, 2007
As many of the worldwide fans and media expected, Team USA won the Budds Creek MXON – certainly not a surprise there. But what did surprise me was the way they did it – complete domination.
Says it all really The Dominator
Winning both motos easily on his MX2 (Lites) Kawasaki, Ryan Villopoto was the hero of the day. Not only did he beat every other MX2 rider, he beat all riders – including teammates Ricky Carmichael and Timmy Ferry who were on the big bikes. Villopoto led start to finish – every lap. RC Makes It Interesting
Although I am sure that he didn’t do it on purpose, Team USA’s Ricky Carmichael made it interesting for everyone when he crashed at the start of the first moto, coming around turn one near last. Amazingly enough, he moved up into the top ten in only two laps, and just a few laps later overtook third. With another lap or two he may have passed Australian Chad Reed for second. The final moto was a different story as RC led every lap. Railing Reed
Speaking of Chad Reed, he looked great in moto two as he finished in second. Unfortunatly his ride in the final moto ended after only two laps. I didn’t see it, but I understand that Chad crashed on lap one and suffered bike problems. Reed has taken some heat these days for not racing this summer, as well as being “unfriendly”, but I noticed him talking and signing autographs in the pits well after the race was over. Red Dog Rocks
As teammate Carmichael did in moto one, Timmy Ferry went down in turn one of moto two and had to come through the pack from nearly last place. Ferry would eventually finish fourth. Less than an hour later, Timmy was back on the track finishing second to teammate Ricky Carmichael. Timmy’s Turn
It was great for Tim Ferry to have the opportunity to race the MXON again after being injured at his previous attempt back in 2003. The great thing about Ferry is that he’s just the same normal guy that used to race as a Yamaha privateer not that long ago. If you don’t know him, I really urge you to stop by and say hello. Impressive
Although no other country really had anything for Team USA this year, several of the MXGP riders did impress me. Among them was Sebastien Pourcel; younger brother Christophe may get the most attention with his World Championship and AMA Supercross Lites win, but Sebastien was fast and looked to have a great style of riding – he was fun to watch. Belgium Ken De Dycker was another rider who impressed me; “Keeno” finished second to Villopoto only, in moto two. De Dycker is a big guy who manages to make his Honda 450 look small; Ken moves to the Belgium based Factory Suzuki Team for 2008 where I expect Ken will do even better. MX2 Lites riders Tommy Searle and Tony Cairoli impressed me. Although his results do not reflect it, Cairoli is very fast – and a very colorful character. Estonian rider Tanel Leok may have not rode near the top three, but he did put together two strong rides. Finally; likely considered an “American” by many now, South African’s Grant Langston’s results were marred by too many problems. The B Team
Team France deserves special recognition for their fine second overall. With both David Vuillemin and Christophe Pourcel out injured, things looked very bleak for the 2001 MXON Champions. But newcomers Pierre Renet and Nicolas Aubin, along with Sebastein Pourcel did the deed. Biggest Disappointments
The biggest disappointments for me at the Budds Creek MXON were the crashes which resulted in Ben Townley not being able to race, as well as his New Zealand teammate Darryl Hurley. Also, the big crashes of Australia’s Andrew McFarlane, and Portugal’s Joaquim Rodrigues were difficult to witness. Two of the friendliest guys; McFarlane and Rodrigues went down hard! I did not get the report on McFarlane, but late in the day Rodrigues was at least able to sit around with friends from back home. Future Plans
Before the racing started, McFarlane was able to fill me in on his plans for next season. At this point Rodrigues does not have anything going; this continues to amaze me as he looked super in his Saturday qualifier. More from Budds Creek on these two soon. Future Plans Part 2
Talking to Red Bull KTM World Motocross MX2 rider Tommy Searle, he did tell me that he wants to be racing in America full time in 2009. As I previously mentioned, Searle’s third place in the second moto (MX2 and Open) was impressive. The Boys from Brazil
I think the Brazilian Team deserves a shout out, as they qualified into the MXON by winning their last chance qualifier Sunday morning. Antonio Balbi Jr. led his two young rookies through a long day of racing to a pretty prestigious position at Budds Creek. Davalos Does It
Although as a team, Ecuador did not make it into the MXON final, team rider Martin Davalos easily won the last chance moto. Making History
Big props to Puerto Rican rider Tarah Gieger as she made history by becoming the first woman in history to sign up for the MXON. Maybe Gieger and her teammates did not make the main event, but they had the fans by their sides. I always knew where Tarah was by the cheers of the crowd. Exotica
Many of the European MXON teams had lots of the exotic components that they can use in the World Motocross GP’s. In particular the Factory Yamaha’s, some of the Red Bull KTM’s, and the Factory Suzuki’s had very cool components – I really liked the carbon fiber sub frame of Suzuki’s World Champ Steve Ramon. Busiest man in the Pit Award
Every time I saw Red Bull KTM US Team Manager Casey Lytle in the pits he was on the run. No wonder; as well as managing his current riders Martin Davalos and Joaquim Rodrigues, he was taking care of another twenty plus bikes and riders. By the way, orange was the predominant color on the track. Star Spectators
Walking back from the track once, I caught up with Nick Wey who has been out injured since just before Red Bud. Nick said he is back riding “kinda.” Mike Brown and family were also in attendance; Mike plans to do several upcoming European Supercrosses before the World Motocross GP season starts again in 2008. Finally, although I did not have a chance to speak with him, I was pretty certain I saw Makita Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey walking near the press tent. Former Champs
Along with several of today’s MX stars watching the race, I also saw former USA MXON riders Tony Distefano, Danny Chandler, Chuck Sun, Donnie Hansen, and Danny LaPorte there. Not About Me
James Stewart joined the USA Team at the post race Press Conference. When a question came his was about his knee injury, Stewart politely declined telling us that this is about "the team, not me" – nice touch James. The Ultimate Fan
Ronnie Dement was at the MXON wrenching for one of the riders from Team Latvia. Ronnie, the father of longtime pro Jeff, is by far one of the friendliest wrenches in the pro pits, and always has a smile and helping hand. If you see the term “Good People” in the dictionary, you may just see a photo of Ronnie Dement. Ronnie also mentioned that Jeff is continuing to improve after his severe crash a few months ago, but still has a ways to go before getting back on a dirt bike. Jim Kimball
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