Wheeler’s GP Preview

With the first Motocross Grand Prix this weekend, esteemed journalist Adam Wheeler gives Pulpmx a little GP preview.

By Adam Wheeler

Photos by Ray Archer

Grand Prix Go!: FIM series launches this weekend

The great shame of the 2012 FIM Motocross World Championship is that the United States’ best chance of having champions on both sides of the Atlantic went up in smoke before the sixteen round, fifteen country series has even started. Monster Energy Yamaha’s Zach Osborne successfully built the hype with his West Coast Lites soirees but a blameless crash while riding English sand two weeks ago means the 22 year old is out of the saddle with a cracked collarbone and likely to miss the first four Grands Prix at least. It would be nothing short of momentous if events transpired to place the outgoing GP rider (AMA-bound in 2013 after a five year adventure in Europe) in a position where he could be the first world champ since Bob Moore in 1994.

The FIM Motocross World Championship starts this weekend across the shallow and jumpy sandy circuit of Valkenswaard. American fans that want to check out videos or photos of the terrain to cast an eye over what Team USA might face at Lommel at the end of September…don’t bother. Lommel is a different beast; deeper, thicker and slower. It will still be worth catching the images from the meeting (the first GP at the site south of Eindhoven was run in 1974) just to watch mesmerising Red Bull KTM teenager Jeffrey Herlings – nominal favourite for the MX2 crown after his duel with Ken Roczen last season – simply for the fact that the works rider is unbeaten on home turf for the last two years.

For the MX2 (read 250) category Herlings will likely master the two sandy events on the schedule, both in his native Holland, and possibly also the loam of Latvia. How he contains his irrepressible speed and copes with the consistent threats of his team-mate Jeremy Van Horebeek and the likes of Monster Energy CLS Kawasaki Pro Circuit’s Tommy Searle will determine his championship credentials. The other expected players for MX2, Osborne and Yamaha team-mate Arnaud Tonus, are both effectively out of it and this scenario has realistically narrowed the MX2 dispute to two racers (Herlings and Searle) once more. Expect a few surprise names to catch attention in MX2, such as Teillet, Nicholls, Tixier, Charlier, Kullas and it will be curious to see what Max Anstie is capable of in his second GP season and first steering a Honda.

KTM’s Jeffrey Herlings is the favorite for the MX2 title in 2012

For those that have followed the Motocross of Nations and maybe never seen or digested a Grand Prix then the series is like a long, drawn out version of the historic annual meeting. Pockets of fans normally line the fences at meetings that bounce around the European compass and the international scope of the premier MX1 class means there is a national interest for most countries: Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Holland, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Russia, Spain and the UK. 2012 will be the ninth year of the MX1 and MX2 classifications and only four people (and two nations) have celebrated possession of the coveted MX1 title: Stefan Everts (Belgium), Steve Ramon (Belgium) David Philippaerts and Tony Cairoli (Italy). Caroli has ruled for the past three years on two different bikes; the first crown coming on his debut in 2009 with Yamaha the last two with the factory 350SX-F KTM.

In a recent blog (http://ontrackoffroad.com/magazine/otor-3rd-april-27/?numpage=41 I pondered on the best way that any of the 19 riders in the last two years of MX1 that made a Grand Prix podium might be able to dislodge the Sicilian from his perch. As Ryan Villopoto demonstrated so far in 2012, just keeping the wheels on the dirt and turning them a little faster than everyone else are on the only ingredients for success. The 2011 MX1 series and the current SX campaign haven’t offered much in the way of fresh material for journalists. Instead we found ourselves slaves to the obvious points, that a) motocross is dangerous, b) it is unpredictable and c) not matter how hard you prepare, a slice of luck is always needed for a number one plate to land on the front of your bike. For the media contingent in Europe we’ll be hoping that a repeat of the glut of injuries from last season or some of the poor luck from the United States does not blow over this way like an unwanted ash cloud to cause general disruption and blander headlines.

I write this in the hope of not incurring the wrath of fate but Cairoli hasn’t been hurt to an extent where he’s had to miss a crucial race since a knee injury curtailed his MX2 title defence in 2008. The same could not be said for most of his peers and this has been a key element. If we look at the list for Valkenswaard then there are plenty of candidates for the top step: Monster Energy Yamaha’s Steven Frossard (runner-up in ’11), Honda World Motocross’ Evgeny Bobryshev (4^th in ’11 and controller of the most exotic factory machine in the paddock), Yamaha’s David Philippaerts, Rockstar Suzuki duo Clement Desalle and Tanel Leok, Kawasaki’s works rookie Gautier Paulin, late and controversial KTM addition Ken De Dycker and of course the French connection with both Pourcel brothers on Pro Circuit Kawasakis. The dynamic of this team will be very interesting to watch; elder sibling Seb is the diplomat compared to Christophe’s unpredictable whims, the bustling racer compared to the ice, smooth former SX champs’ natural grace. Both desperately need a full season of racing and results however.

There is a crew of potential winners but the elite that will try and run with Cairoli narrows significantly and perhaps only Frossard, Desalle, Pourcel and maybe the experience of Philippaerts (at 28 the second oldest rider in the class) will have what it takes over 32 motos from the sapping sand of Lierop to the marble-y hard-pack of Loket.

Five-time World Champion Antonio Cairoli is looking to add a sixth to the mantle.

Monster Energy’s second year as title sponsors of the sport means that some cool material will be coming out of the paddock and their union with award-winning videographer Mikey Neale means that some juicy video action should be clogging the Youtube channel. The GoPro presence will be interesting to chart but it is unlikely it will make as much of an impact as it has in SX; a shame as this exciting insider look of the sport is another valuable and exportable narrative.

So while Osborne heals-up and should be back in play for races in either Mexico or Brazil in mid-May, check out Holland and meetings in Bulgaria and Italy before the end of this month to keep up with the six month story of the 55th year of Grands Prix. For a bit more trivia and info on the series have a look here: http://ontrackoffroad.com/magazine/otor-3rd-april-27/?numpage=26