On-Track Off-Road Issue 202

#GETD SHARPER

KTM 890 DUKE R The KTM 890 DUKE R delivers exactly what you’d expect from its R-rating. An aggressive, track-ready seating position, race-bred WP suspension and a blistering 121 hp compel you to slice through apexes with laser-like accuracy.

Please make no attempt to imitate the illustrated riding scenes, always wear protective clothing and observe the applicable provisions of the road traffic regulations! The illustrated vehicles may vary in selected details from the production models and some illustrations feature optional equipment available at additional cost.

DUKED Photo: R. Schedl

FEATURE MXGP

A MAN WITH

A POINT

From all the questions and uncertainty surrounding the resurrection of MXGP in Latvia it was Monster Energy Yamaha’s Jago Geerts who was the steadiest. #193 walked away with the most prizes after two wins from three in MX2 and a slimmer points gap to Tom Vialle: a distance now at 4 points. The first Belgian world champion since 2007? Photo by JP Acevedo/www.mx1onboard.com

MotoGP

CRUNCH TIME Fantastic photo in the final seconds of the last race and the decisive moment of an unpredictable BMW M Grand Prix of Styria. All three riders are looking at the finish line a few hundred metres away and all busy with their right hands. Half a second would be the separator. More please. Photo by CormacGP

FEATURE AMA MX

VERY MUCH ON TRACK Zach Osborne turns 31 years old next month, and the American keeps on hitting new peaks. The Rockstar Energy Husqvarna racer defied sodden conditions and tense race circumstances to complete the double at Loretta Lynn’s and own the 450MX red plate as the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Nationals finally got underway. Is another chapter in an unconventional career about to be written? Photo by Simon Cudby

MXGP

WELCOME BACK

MXGP LATVIA By Adam Wheeler Photos by JP Acevedo

GRANDS PRIX OF LATVIA, RIGA AND KEGUMS KEGUMS AUGUST 9th & 12th & 16th

AUGUST 9th WINNERS

MXGP: GLENN COLDENHOFF, GASGAS MX2: TOM VIALLE, KTM

AUGUST 12th WINNERS MXGP: TONY CAIROLI, KTM MX2: JAGO GEERTS, YAMAHA

AUGUST 16th WINNERS MXGP: JEFFREY HERLINGS MX2: JAGO GEERTS, YAMAHA

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3 WINNERS AND 7 DIFFERENT PODIUM FINISHERS IN LATVIA AS WELL AS UNPREDICTABILITY: RIDERS EXPLAIN MXGP COMPETITIVENESS It seems like a yearly statement: MXGP is ‘more competitive than ever’. But after Jeffrey Herlings’ 2018 domination rang an alarm bell for racers to hike their speed and intensity even further upwards, is 2020 a new peak? Perhaps the five-month spell without racing clouded the calibre of the premier class somewhat. After all, there were no new entrants to the three Grands Prix in Latvia compared to the first two rounds at the beginning of the season. However, from the 35 riders that took to the gate for the initial Latvian GP, 19 had Grand Prix winning experience and 28 had demonstrated the speed and acumen necessary to stand on a podium. There were six different world championship winners in the pack and another one on the sidelines.

There was some fantastic action through the week: the battle for sixth place (!) between five factory bikes in the first moto of the second GP was the highlight. “The speed seems to increase every year,” assessed Herlings. “I watch back some [old] races and there are some motos that are won by a minute or half-a-minute and there are big gaps. Now everybody is so competitive. I think with money coming into the industry there is more development, more trainers and I think that’s why the speed is getting higher and higher and everybody wants to win.” Three of the motos in Latvia were won by less than two seconds.

MXGP LATVIA

“Looking at the races twenty years ago, even ten, and there is a world of difference,” he added. “I don’t think it has ever been as competitive as it is now. If you see how many race winners and championships are in the class; it is unbelievable and even if you are pushing for 15th place then you still have a serious battle on your hands. It’s pretty special.” 2019 championship runner-up, Monster Energy Yamaha’s Jeremy Seewer, (one of the seven who took away a trophy from the Kegums week) says the climbing rate of pace has a lot to do with the analytical and almost obsessive mannerisms of the riders funnelling into MXGP. “If someone is ‘there’ – like Jeffrey in the past or Tim Gajser – then we are watching, we are not sleeping!” the Swiss states. “We are analysing videos, we check the riders for what they are doing differently and we try to adapt and catch-up. That’s how it goes and that’s why the level increases and increases. We’ll see how far it goes in the future. Somewhere there has to be a limit but for the moment it is going up.” Although the rich health of MXGP is (sadly) often a temporary highlight as injury batters the entry lists, there are other factors involved in the maintenance of the high standard. One of which is the unpopular 23-age rule for MX2 that pumps athletes into the next stage of Grand Prix regardless of their rate of development.

A dangerous consequence of excellence could be a decline of interest by teams to be in the class; those that recognise big investment and dedication is needed to grasp success or even reach the top ten. It forces a ‘natural selection’ among riders, and those who were previously able to offer something to the division now find their tenures are shorter, more pressurised and potentially underpaid as the teams have greater choice to suit their ambitions or markets. While some team bosses will cite the cost of electronics as a requirement to consistently compete against the thirteen factory bikes, nine-times world champion Tony Cairoli believes the standard of production 450s is another reason why MXGP lap-times are so fiercely contested. “It is just my opinion, but I think the bikes are at such a high level now and everybody is so fast,” the Red Bull KTM man says. “If you see a couple of years ago the guys who were fast were using technique and they were fit. Now with bike development if you watch regional or national races people are doing things that ten or fifteen years you wouldn’t even think about. I think it will get faster and faster because the development of the bikes. I would not say for everybody…but a lot of people can go faster now than they could before when technique or training [made the difference].”

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LUONGO: “IF THE CHAMPIONSHIP IS FINISHED, THEN IT IS GAME OVER.” Infront Motor Racing’s David Luongo has had the uneasy task of trying to pull MXGP across an ever-changing landscape in 2020. We quizzed the CEO on the rest of this year and the next. Your life must have been an endless cycle of phone calls, emails and meetings over the last few months… It was like this! Like a nightmare. We had to change many things almost on a daily basis because of each country’s restrictions. There was a moment when the COVID-19 cases were going up and up and it seemed like there was no hope we’d start again and then when they went down there were still countries that had blocks or went from green to red and back. It was really difficult. Also planning on the logistical side and what countries we could arrive to. At one point the year was flying: it was almost five months without any race and we know that motocross is impossible in Europe in December. It was important to do something before the end of October. Fortunately, the situation got better. I can only thank the organisers because even the ones that had to cancel or postpone did their very best to make their races happen. Every minute of work went into making the championship live. The manufacturers make and sell bikes, the riders ride but we have to make races and we had to find solutions to make this championship happen. There must be a big web of contracts and obligations, aside from the human factor of making sure the sport exists… Yeah, yeah. If the championship is finished, then it is game over. Imagine if you stop the season in March, like we did, and you are forced to start again in February?

You lost twenty years of work in a minute. It’s our mission to do our best to make the season possible and then if the law worldwide tells us to stop then we’ll stop. Otherwise we’ll find solutions to make races happen and even with all of the restrictions and most of the circuits won’t have public. In Latvia we worked really hard with the government to show a protocol with all the sanitary measures to product the paddock from the locals and the social distancing. With that we were also to have authorisation to have public. It was a small amount but at least we have some fans and it was very tough to arrive to that point. In many other countries in April, May and June you could not have public at sporting events, and motocross without public cannot survive.

“WE MOVED FROM PLAN A TO PLAN B TO PLAN C: I THINK THE ALPHABET IS NOT LONG ENOUGH TO REALLY EXPLAIN IT FULLY!” How tough is it to have events without public? It must be a big financial hit… We have to think carefully about the cost and the budget reduction because our organiser’s revenue is based on ticketing. Without that then it is a huge cut. You remain with the TV rights and the marketing. The TV rights in motocross is not big enough to maintain the championship because we are not MotoGP, football or F1. It is negative for us in terms of what it costs and what it brings.

It is possible to have any kind of plan at the moment? It depends where your sport stands in national popularity. In Latvia I would say we are in the top three with football and Ice Hockey; motocross has a high recognition and priority for the government. In Italy it is the same where motorsport is very strong, so we have good contact with the Italian Federation where we’ll have the race. Latvia will be the best example to show what works and that what we suggest can be a reality. The three races here are the best showcase to show to the next country that it can happen. I am still positive about racing in September, October and November also.

What about 2021 and are there any new MXGP projects that are (now slowly) in the pipeline? It will depend on the next months but I will say now that all the events that were cancelled or postponed will be here next year. They have already confirmed, so, ideally, we should have twenty races in 2021 but everything depends on the situation with the virus. Right now, we have to be focussed on finishing the 2020 championship in a good way and securing the work environment. We have 1300 people directly related to MXGP and the series. So, the important thing is to finish the season with the biggest amount of races possible. For the future we have some possibilities with Asia with many requests and the Middle East still and all the strong countries in Europe are confirmed for some time: Germany until 2027, Finland has one more year. The Nations is France in 2023, next year it will be in Italy but we are talking to go back to the U.S. in 2022 or 2024. The snowball is still moving but, like everybody, we are waiting to see what happens with the pandemic.

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The marketing is OK but without racing then you don’t get it. It’s very important to show that the season is going on and our problem is also the same one for the teams and the riders if they don’t race. Contracts will be over. Even if it is a very tough year we must do our best to race for everybody to continue on the dynamic that we know.

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PRODUCTS

SCOTT SPORTS Scott Sports’ Prospect and Fury goggles are the best off-road eyewear on the market (and is now joined by the ‘Primal’ for smaller faces’) but the company also produces very capable riding kit and apparel. Scott have looked at their premium 450 (and entry level 350) and opted for a full re-design to bring the garments squarely into the marketplace among all the other brands striving for new standards of light weight, ventilation, performance fit and durability. It’s normal for gear to excel in one or two areas of what a client/rider needs but rare to hit every mark. Scott have copious experience with materials and fabrics from their other outdoor and winter sport ranges and have really taken a scalpel to the 450/350 to ensure the lightest, stretchiest and most resistant jersey/pant combo yet.

For the 350 in particular Scott are providing a 49/140 euro price point with what they describe as: ‘moisture wicking materials, whilst lycra cuffs, inset sleeves and a low profile V-neck collar for supreme comfort and maximum freedom of movement when riding. The pant is lightweight and super durable, designed with an articulated fit along with strategically placed vent and stretch panels. Available in 4 different styles and multiple colourways.’ Scott engineers and designers have linked-up to promising effect to ensure that the company start the new decade with kit that aims for the very high standards set by the goggles. The collection launches in the first week of September (with new colours for the Prospect and Fury also) and we’ll bring a more detailed review once we get a chance to ride.

www.scott-sports.com

MXGP SBK BLOG BLOG

TITULAR TITULAR WELCOME TO THE JUMBLE Latvia was dizzying. Not only were there three one-day races to consider, a different qualification system, the altered paddock to accommodate the safety protocol and all the usual nerves and unsaid questions about who is fast, ready and fit but also the usual subjects like rider contracts and team changes thrown into the mix. It feels like a typical long, considered and varied world championship term is now being squeezed into the shortest, quickest and most convenient time frame possible. 2020 MXGP will persist with a campaign largely based in two countries and with serious question marks over another two – Spain and A rgentina. Never mind the racing itself, MXGP is in a ‘race’ to get rounds and points on the board. Why? In the hope that contracts can be

fulfilled – from sponsors, advertisers, teams, brands, rider, employees - and to give an FIM winners medal at the end of the year a degree of credence. A title is still a title but even the eventual 2020 #1 will know a crown earned from 6, 7 or 8 rounds will shine a little less compared to the parameters of what some would call a regular season. For the record I think anything over 10 rounds (twenty gate drops) would constitute a contest well won in these abnormal days. MXGP is currently on five and will certainly breach eleven with the forthcoming triple headers on the hard-pack of Faenza and the rippling sand of Mantova before the end of September. If the curtain is hastily pulled after the second Italian date and as the colder climate starts to invade Europe then at least there will have been a satisfactory quantity of

rushed and frenzied racing. Of course, there is urgency. The closing walls of COVID-19 restrictions mean that travel hassle (flight cancellations, border controls) and quarantine make creating and attending a Grand Prix a feat in itself. Then there is the safety factor within a compact location like the Faenza circuit and with MXGP, MX2 and EMX teams and competitors mixed together: a sudden surge of cases within the paddock means a line will be drawn under the big attempt to make GPs in 2020, and the sport will join the multitude of other businesses counting down the days to the arrival of an effective vaccine and the path to some kind of sporting normality. Everything is in a hurry then. And, aside from an (understandably) cautious first MXGP moto of six in Latvia where the

CREATED THANKS TO BY ADAM WHEELER

BY ADAM WHEELER riders settled into a processional pace during the first half of the distance before gathering speed to see the first five riders split by only seven seconds by the flag, the racing itself has been frantically spectacular. One of the most encouraging factors was the parity on display. Jeffrey Herlings had won five of the last six motos in Latvia since 2017 but the combination of rustiness, the weak lingering effects of a training crash knock to the head and some ineffective starts meant that similar dominance was not on the agenda. Herlings, the championship leader, hardly helped himself. His second moto crash while leading on Wednesday with two laps remaining was a very rare mistake. Herlings may have taken the last chequered flag (Tim Gajser earned two, Glenn Coldenhoff, Tony Cairoli, Arminas Jasikonis with the others)

but he was one of seven different riders to walk the podium at Kegums. He had his hands full, and that business led to some captivating sights as he trawled through the pack, often with the likes of Romain Febvre and Jeremy Seewer in tow.

“I THINK ANYTHING OVER 10 ROUNDS WOULD CONSTITUTE A CONTEST WELL WON IN THESE ABNORMAL DAYS. MXGP IS CURRENTLY ON FIVE AND WILL CERTAINLY BREACH ELEVEN WITH THE FORTHCOMING TRIPLE HEADERS...” Gajser’s synergy with Honda’s new CRF veered from impressive to unconvincing and back again. The compact race bike seems more stable and agile than his previous mount but the technical DNF in the final moto gifted Herlings another 25 points in the

championship, pushing the gap up to 46. The reigning world champion was also lucky to escape from a looping crash on Wednesday. At the same spot on the track and in a similar accident MX2 rookie Rene Hofer would snap a left shoulder later in the day. Gajser won twice, but also registered two ‘0’s. The murkiness of the 2020 series means that the points standings, somehow, do not feel so pertinent. It was the speed and competitiveness of riders like Jasikonis, Seewer, Febvre, Jorge Prado, Coldenhoff and Tony Cairoli that really helped whet the appetite for more. Cairoli in particular showed his enduring class, although he could not hide his soon-to-be 35 years through regular comments about tweaks to his knee and back. MXGP might be even more of a physical challenge for him now but he has reaffirmed that KTM were wise

MXGP SBKBLOG BLOG

to find the budget to ensure #222 stays in orange for another tilt at a tenth gold plate. This brings us to transfers. Racing budgets could be in a precarious state for 2021. There are full intentions for a regular MXGP championship but will that be possible from the end of February? Can a team like Monster Energy Kawasaki renew a high-profile rider like Clement Desalle on a deal based on the notion of twenty-dates and trips to several continents? On the subject of the 31-year old Belgian and riders in a similar ‘what next?’ scenario like Gautier Paulin, Arnaud Tonus and Jeremy Van Horebeek, will they want to signoff from Grand Prix racing after a stunted last season? The fallout from the COVID-19 mess might see a cull in the paddock. Hopefully not. Companies still need to race to sell or promote. At least the forced push from MX2 for 2021 will bring just two names from the current crop of frontrunners: Thomas Kjer Olsen and Ben Watson with both already rumoured to have saddles fixed. Contract talks will be yet another way in which 2020 has skewed from the norm.

The difficulty of Kegums and the temporary nature of success in motocross was demonstrated by how some riders quickly moved from highs to lows: Coldenhoff won, then smashed his ribs, Seewer almost won then sustained a rare DNF on the final Sunday due to a crash, Gasjer another case. It seems the only constant in a week of flux for MXGP was the fact that the sport was back and in fantastically addictive form.

Please make no attempt to imitate the illustrated riding scenes, always wear protective clothing and observe the applicable provisions of the road traffic regulations! The illustrated vehicles may vary in selected details from the production models and some illustrations feature optional equipment available at additional cost. Photo: R. Schedl

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FEATURE

THAT

FAST FE

YOU LO MXGP R

OOK QUICK, DO YOU FEEL QUICK? RIDERS TALK ABOUT THEIR PERCEPTION OF SPEED IN GRAND PRIX

EELING

By Adam Wheeler Photos by JP Acevedo

FEATURE

I

n a recent interview with Red Bull KTM Tech3 MotoGP rider Miguel Oliveira the articulate Portuguese was describing some of the sensations of a job at 340kmph+. “The first half-a-second when you roll-off and grab the brake and head into a corner, in that short moment your brain is like ‘Argh! Maybe I’m not going to stop’ but then, obviously, you get used to that,” he said in a story for KTM’s official Blog. “I think your brain just gets used to processing images and handling that speed.” It made me wonder how this could apply to motocross? The speed figures are in a different sphere of course. But anyone who has seen Jeffrey Herlings tearing across the sand or any rider from the vast depth of the MXGP class flying through rippled hard-pack will know that the feeling of pace is relative, and often just as stunning to observe. Typically, Grand Prix average speed floats around the mid50s (kmph), only at Orlyonok in Russia does it top 60. Consistency with speed year-upon-year is hard to achieve due to the conditions, changing terrain and track modifications. The numbers may not seem that big, but, considering the blur with which riders are attacking bumps and jumps, overtaking, dealing with backmarkers and roost then it is eye-watering enough.

Mitch Evans, HRC, MXGP: At the time you don’t really think about it but there are a few tracks that you go to with big downhills and you think ‘oh, wow! This is starting to be a bit fast’ but it’s not scary or over-the-top. Ben Watson, Monster Energy Yamaha, MX2: I don’t feel like I am going fast at all. I don’t think ‘wow, I’ve got a lot of speed here’. You know when you are riding well, and you think ‘I’m fast today…my lap-time is gonna

WATSON: “IN SAND PEOPLE WILL HOLD IT WIDE OPEN. IF YOU JUST KEEP GOING AND DON’T SHUT OFF THEN YOU STRAIGHTEN OUT. FOR THE PUBLIC IT MIGHT LOOK LIKE WE ARE CRAZY...BUT YOU FEEL A LOT MORE IN CONTROL THAN YOU LOOK.” Do Grand Prix riders feel fast? How is their sensitivity of ‘nearing the edge’? When and how does fear come into the equation?

be quick’ but it’s a different feeling of being fast. When I look at a race – or watch it back – I sometimes think it looks slower than what it feels!

We decided to ask…

Jed Beaton, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna MX2: When you ride you don’t actually feel the speed but you know when and where you have done things right. It helps when you have a fast teammate to ride with because you push each. You are aware of when you are both pushing hard and trying to gain speed.

FEELING SPEED Glenn Coldenhoff, GasGas, MXGP: You still get the feeling you are really fast. I know a few tracks in Holland where the speed is really high, and when I’m pushing for a fast lap I feel like I am destroying the whole track! Blowing all the berms out.

Jeremy Seewer, Monster Energy Yamaha, MXGP: Sometimes it

MXGP SPEED

Herlings’ factory KTM 450 SX-F (geared properly) is capable of 165kmph and has been logged with a top speed of 108 and 103kmph at circuits in Russia and Argentina in 2018. But the motorcycle is very carefully tuned to allocate the bulk of that power exactly where the Dutchman wants it on the band. The team also work with EFI and engine management to regulate the feed of that power to allow Herlings to do his thing for any circuit.

FEATURE

can take your breath away. If you are on a super-tricky section and you are going really fast you need full focus and breathing is harder. Your body is not stressed but it’s tense and you know you need to put everything together physically and technically to go that speed. Glenn Coldenhoff: We use the limits of the track and you don’t realise how close you are to things. I was practicing at a track near my home and there was a plastic pole with

sand inside that marked the limit of the track. I was flat-out and getting so close. In the end I clipped it with my foot and didn’t practice for another week. It was a reminder that the speed we are going is much closer to disaster than we think. Tim Gajser, HRC, MXGP: It feels like something normal to go so fast. You get used to speed but I’m sure it looks much more to people watching. That’s even the same for me sometimes when I see

Ben Watson: When you are on the bike you feel things a lot different from how they look on the outside. I’ve been training with Romain [Febvre] before and he’s said to me afterwards ‘oh, you looked sketchy through there’ and I said ‘well, no. I was totally in control’. Then I’ve been riding slower sometimes and very nearly tucked the front end in a corner and managed to save it but nobody notices it at all. Even as rider you can watch others and think ‘he nearly bought it’ there but you won’t really know. Jed Beaton: I think the more tired you get in a race then the more you think about the speed but then in the last two laps if you are in a battle then you are going to push over 100% to get that win or position and the other guy is thinking the same: we both know it is going to be a tough couple of laps but you don’t think about the speed you just take extra risks to get the job done, either to get the win or gain that extra bit of con-

MXGP SPEED

videos or watch other riders. I never feel really quick. Sometimes my brother, who comes to all the trainings with me, or the Honda staff will say to me after a race ‘you had a sketchy moment there’ but I don’t remember it! To me it feels normal but from the outside it might look dramatic.

then your time will be faster. The front brake is so important as well as the feeling when to start braking and just how far you can go, especially when you come to a new track. You try to learn it quickly and then get quicker every lap.

FEATURE

Ben Watson: When you want to outbrake someone in motocross then you actually realise how much later you can brake and still make the turn. In our sport there is quite a lot that can be won in the braking.

fidence. There are other little things that come into your mind in that short time. Jeremy Seewer: I think you can appreciate our speed when we make it look pretty easy. We’ll do a normal lap at Lommel and be jumping, rolling, floating and doing a 1min 52 and then a hobby guy is at 2mins 20 and doesn’t know where to find another second. That makes you realise that we do something pretty special and fast but it’s something that also feels normal and natural. We do it every week.

GAINING SPEED Ben Watson: Getting better is not about wanting to go faster but knowing how to go faster and that comes with experience; knowing how a kicker on a jump will make the bike react and what you have to do for example. Tim Gajser: When you hit the corner or the berm or the rut in practice you try to hit it faster every lap. When it is too fast then you just run off the track. Every tenth of a second is important. As late as you brake and still hit your mark in the corner

Jeremy Seewer: 90% of the time you are very used to the speed you are carrying through jumps, sections or corners but there are a few when you realise ‘wow, I’m going fast…how will I manage to turn now?’ and then bam! You are already cornering. It is just a short moment. You also try and set the bar higher and higher and try to go a bit faster and go maybe 1% over your limit to test that comfort zone. Once you do that then you get used to it and it becomes the new normal. The next time you try to increase it again, and sometimes you get a bit scared but after a few laps you get familiar. Mitch Evans: It might be a little moment where you almost tuck the front and crash but the more you ride the more it helps and if you want to be at the front you have to limit as many mistakes as you can. Ben Watson: You don’t ever get the feeling you won’t make the turn. I mean, we have a grippy surface under us.

Jeremy Seewer: A lot of it is instinct. For some corners you need to think ‘is that line still good?’ every lap and you’ll arrive after a jump and always double-check it. It’s milliseconds. It could be the perfect rut but – in the best case scenario – 30 or more guys will pass through it until I come around again. There are corners that you are 100% sure will stay the whole moto and you don’t care you go in and do your line.

Ben Watson: There might be a bike that is handling better or one with a stronger engine and you look at the other rider passing you and think ‘how are you doing that?’ but most of the time it is about lines or the momentum carried out of the corner or section before. There are so many points that add up to the final speed in a section. If you do the corner before differently or better It could be one second quicker.

MAKING FEAR Jed Beaton: I don’t know our bike’s maximum speed or the limit but in a race a lot depends on the pace of the guy in front of you and with you and when they start braking and what line they choose. It kinda fits together in motion. If you have a scary moment then it brings the fear and that can stay with you for half a lap, Unless you really get back in the zone and focus on the track then you won’t get that rhythm back. I don’t think too much about fear. I think the scariest moment in a race is when you are following a sketchy rider. You can be behind them thinking ‘man, I hope they don’t crash or do something stupid’. The same for someone that doesn’t care about anyone else and goes stupid on the first lap; crossjumping and hitting you in the air. Little things like that. Ben Watson: You have fear. It’s not to do with actual

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It’s either sandy or a bit sticky and if you brake too late then you just go a bike length or two too far. You’ll never fly straight through the barriers or something unless someone hits you or you lose a brake. I did a track day in a car and when you brake just a little bit too late for a turn then you are in the gravel. The cornering is much more precise – in a way – compared to a motocross bike.

FEATURE speed but what is immediately coming up. It might be a big jump take-off with a large kicker at the top or deep lines in the face. I make sure I am focussed and I am taking care, sometimes in my case a little bit too much. You can be braver in this sport and it is about convincing your mind that you can carry more speed than you are. You do need to trick yourself sometimes to find your limit. When you are flat-out through a set of roller and you hit a kicker and get a warning then that’s when you know for the next lap that you are probably at the limit and need to be careful when you come back around. You cannot just go wide-open all the time because that will result in a crash.

THOSE TRACKS Tim Gajser: Matterley Basin feel fast. Argentina as well. Jed Beaton: The Russian GP is always quite high speed. The ground is pretty firm and you don’t get many ruts. The jumps go into those big hills. That’s probably the fastest track I’ve ridden and there are sections where you find yourself thinking ‘I hope everything works out here’. Matterley Basin is high speed but there are big ruts and that takes a lot of the speed away and makes it feel a lot safer. The good tracks are the ones that allow you to find ways to make a difference against the others. Ben Watson: Turkey is very wide-open and Russia has some really fast sections.

THE ILLUSION OF TV Glenn Coldenhoff: If you watch a whole moto back on video then you can see

Mitch Evans: I like to have myself video-ed when I’m training because I like to analyse. When I did it the first few times after shoulder surgery I thought “I’m going way faster than what I feel like’ normally it’s the other way around. You feel like you are going so fast and then you see the video and you are so slow. I was surprised. Jed Beaton: You will see a section where you feel good and it looks good on the screen but still doesn’t feel that fast.

Ben Watson: It is hard to see on a camera where someone is much faster. Jeremy Seewer: Videos can give proof to your feeling that you were fast. And it can seem incredible when you are moving through the bumps or waves and you see it from a different way through the screen. Sometimes though you feel fast and you know you were fast but the video shows you that you could be a bit better. Generally, you know when you are quick and you don’t need to see it.

AERIAL SPEED Jed Beaton: If it’s fast highspeed jump without much of a take-off then it feels quick whereas a table-top gives you a chance to breathe and relax for a moment. For jumps generally you don’t have time to react.

You just have to hit them in the quickest way possible. Glenn Coldenhoff: Hard takeoffs mean that you have to keep low and the key to that is to hit it at high speed, do not brake and push all the weight of the bike into the jump. Of course, we scrub a little bit but pushing the weight to the front means you’ll go low anyway. Sometimes it can be sketchy, especially in places like Argentina and where you get ‘G-outs’. It’s very hard.

MXGP SPEED

so many mistakes. When you really start to push on a track like Kegums then it can be sketchy and even dangerous. TV helps. I’ll see myself in a corner that – on the bike – I think is easy but on the video it looks really high speed.

Ben Watson: If you are coming sharp out of a corner and you seat-bounce then you are going up and not forward. To be going quicker you can be in a taller gear, maybe fourth, and then scrubbing, going low and going forward. Argentina has some fast jumps and splits but also a few where you are pitched upwards. There is one where you are wide-open and stretching to try and clear it. That same speed approach on many other jumps will mean you are going way-too far so you need to shut off and scrub. You have more speed when you actually look to go slower and land on a certain point. Jeremy Seewer: We jump so much that it feels natural and not that fast. You feel like you are jumping high and far; like the quad at Matterley where you hit fourth and just launch yourself: that’s quite a few metres!

FEATURE

THE SANDY ENIGMA Ben Watson: Sand: it can be so fast and also so slow. When there is a lot of moisture and you go too deep into the corner then you lose everything. You are at walking pace. You need to stay on the top of it sometimes. Get off the back of the bike and try to stay light. If you go in too fast then you just sit down and almost sink. A dry sand track that is hard underneath means you get sharp edges and unexpected bumps and you don’t quite know what is going to happen with the bike. You see a lot of mistakes. People will hold it wide open and get a kick to the left, kick to the right. A lot of the time if you just keep going and don’t shut off then you kinda straighten out. For the public it might look like we are crazy but you feel a lot more in control than you look.

Glenn Coldenhoff: On deep sand tracks you can go into a corner and before you’ve even arrived you are already on full throttle. It’s a good feeling.

Jeremy Seewer: The speed variance is one of the tricky points about motocross and also the summer winter seasons. We train all year round but we practice mostly in the mud or in Belgium and Holland in the sand. It’s hard to be open-minded to any kind of situation on any track.

Tim Gajser: Valkenswaard was a slow race and a slow pace because of the rain. It was super-deep and it had new sections that were really soft. It made it more technical. You really have to think about those conditions and look for those fast, smoother lines. When it’s dry the set-up of the bike is also completely different.

Jed Beaton: It really depends on weather and track prep to determine the speed. Obviously at places like Lommel it is going to be faster at the start of the day compared to the end. It might be ten seconds a lap slower depending on how rough it gets. A place like Valkenswaard can be a fast sand track with some sketchy, square-edge bumps and ripples but this year, with the bad weather, it was probably one of the deepest tracks we’ve ridden for some time. It was very heavy, and you could pretty much get off the bike and run faster through some sections!

WANTING MORE FROM THE BIKE Jeremy Seewer: In some places, some specific spots you really wish the bike would move faster. It’s not the speed but the brutal way of a 450; it feels heavy because of the engine mass. I think the power delivery these days is much better than it was because there is more control with how the power comes in: it is super-fast and strong, with a lot of horsepower but it’s smooth. You felt the brute power of the 450 more in the corners because the bike wants to pull you straight. You are not going super-fast…but you feel the weight and the pull. That’s the problem with the 450s and the sketchy point. Mitch Evans: It not so much about top speed but you want it to be more rideable so you can use the power from the bottom. I think everyone is searching for that. Ben Watson: I’m 80 kilos on a 250 so compared to some I struggle with the power but then maybe the handling is better for me because I’m bigger with longer legs. There are pros and cons. Many times though I want more and more

speed. I’ve ridden a 450 quite a lot and the power difference is pretty crazy, and it’s not about who has more but getting that power exactly suited to the rider and where you want it. In the 250s a lot of the guys are trying to get all they can from the bike. Mitch Evans: Maybe it’s because I’m bigger but in 2019 I felt like I was having to pull the 250 around to its limit to keep up with the other guys and I started scaring myself a little bit and getting out of my comfort zone. There were some big crashes and you’d probably think it would be the other way around when you get on the 450. I was more scared of the little bike than the big one.

THE ZONE AND RIDING ON ‘AUTO’ Glenn Coldenhoff: The MotoGP guys look far in front because of the greater speed but we are also looking far ahead. You need to look for lines and things like kickers. You need to look, decide and be prepared. You want to avoid even one mistake. I know that if I blow a berm in one corner then on the next lap I need to be a bit in front of the rut. That’s key on a sand track. If you go-in and assume the berm will be perfect then you’ll either be off the track or you’ll lose a lot of speed.

MXGP SPEED

SEEWER: “A LOT OF IT IS INSTINCT. FOR SOME CORNERS YOU NEED TO THINK ‘IS THAT LINE STILL GOOD?’ EVERY LAP AND YOU’LL ARRIVE AFTER A JUMP AND ALWAYS DOUBLE-CHECK IT. IT’S MILLISECONDS...”

FEATURE

Mitch Evans: I believe you always have to be thinking and looking ahead but it’s not like ‘half-a-lap ahead’. If you remember there was one good line in a turn that you haven’t been using then you need to keep it in the back of you mind. You need to remember so you have time to set it up a bit earlier. In a race situation it gets more complicated because there is always more pressure and you have other riders. You have to switched-on 100% to do the job: one so you don’t crash and two to perform the best. Jed Beaton: it depends on how far down the track you look. It’s like being in a car and you just look over the bonnet: it all seems quite fast. But if you look further down the road then those white lines are somehow slower. As you gain speed you look a bit further ahead. You have to. Sometimes it is hard to even look at the pitboard. You are not thinking, just reacting and that’s especially the case if you are in a battle. Jeremy Seewer: You cannot be looking that far ahead during a normal race. If you are fully in your zone and you are behind somebody you can make up a plan and think ‘on this lap and on that corner I will try to pass’, in that way you can think ahead. But you cannot be too far ahead with the lines. You are in the moment and you cannot think about many other things. Mitch Evans: When you come back in from a race you debrief with the

Tim Gajser: You have to be focussed. In the car when you don’t remember the last few kilometres of your trip it’s because your mind is somewhere else. In motocross - or any kind of sport - you simply cannot do that. Otherwise you’ll make a mistake and here that means a crash. You have to focus every second to pick the right lines. It is difficult to describe but your focus has to be absolutely on-point. Ben Watson: You are very switched on. Although when I was a kid in junior race I was totally on automatic mode. I was not the most amazing rider in the world but I wasn’t thinking, just riding. When you are at the top level and you can gain 0.1 of a second here and 0.3 of a second there it all adds up: you are so focussed on putting everything together to get that perfect lap and perfect race. If you are not doing this then you are not going as fast as you can. There are usually other riders around you and there is always something going on. In training that’s when I am working to be better, learning how to ride a bike - the weak points – instead of outright speed.

Jeremy Seewer: The focus needs to be that sharp that you know every lap, every metre and everything that happens in a moment. You are always 100% ‘there’. Maybe after the race you have been so much in the zone that you cannot recall much. Your brain has to take-in a lot in a race – well, it depends on what is happening – that some things will filter out. Tim Gajser: For every rider it feels different. When I’m in the gate I am trying to focus more than 100% because the start is so key. There are many good names in the MXGP class now. If you are at the front from the beginning you can ride your own lines and be more relaxed, let’s say, without extra chaos. You have to fight and risk a bit more when you are in the pack and use lines that are not the fastest. Mentality is another area of performance, and riders have different ways to get where they need to be. Jed Beaton: When you are riding and focussing then you don’t notice the speed…that can come when you make a mistake! You think ‘oooo, that could have been a lot worse’: it’s then you realise. There is so much focus. I cannot tell you of a single thing that goes through my head. You are focused on the track or another rider’s position. It’s like a blackout.

MXGP SPEED

team and I often won’t remember half of the moto. Like any memory I guess you only really try to store the important things. Sometimes I can get a really bad start but finish the race with a good result and then forget that my start was poor or the reason why! You tend to remember the scary moments of a race more.

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FEATURE

R

THE ROAD TO

500

TANEL LEOK HAS RACED IN THE FIM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SINCE 2001 AND HAS SEEN MOTOCROSS MOVE THROUGH SEVERAL ERAS AND GENERATIONS. THE 35 YEAR OLD GRAND PRIX WINNER REACHED 500 STARTS IN LATVIA SO WE QUIZZED HIM ON PARTS OF THE JOURNEY. BEST TEAMMATE? BEST RIVAL? BEST MOTORCYCLE? By Adam Wheeler Photos by Ray Archer & JP Acevedo

M

y favourite Tanel Leok anecdote: in 2012 the hard-charging Estonian had turned the head of factory Suzuki team boss Sylvain Geboers. The Belgian knew he would be hiring a rider that would drive and punish the RM-Z450. However, Leok was soon dealing with a broken foot. It was typical of Leok’s ‘get-on-with-it’ personality that he persevered through the injury. A mechanic told me that he even resorted to wrapping the foot in gaffer tape at one stage to get through a particularly painful moto. I never fully verified the accuracy of the story, but it sounded very much like something Tanel would do.

If Leok is part of the furniture of MXGP then he’s the fast rocking chair in the corner. A member of the original Vangani KTM ‘wonder team’ at the start of the century alongside Ben Townley and Tyla Rattray he raced in 125s before moving into the premier class in 2004 with an RM 250 against the wave of new 450s. His 6th place in the championship represented the last great campaign for a two-

stroke in Grands Prix. Works contracts in Kawasaki, TM and Suzuki followed as well as a brief spell as Tony Cairoli’s teammate in the De Carli Yamaha team in 2009. He was a young father to three boys and one of the first in MXGP to travel with a family dependent on every championship point.

“THE 450s ARE VERY DIFFERENT NOW. YOU NEEDED TO BE SO CAREFUL IN THE FIRST DAYS. I REMEMBER THE FIRST TIME RIDING JOEL’S [SMETS] FACTORY SUZUKI AND ON MY FIFTH LAP I SENT IT FLYING AND HAD A BIG CRASH...”

TANEL LEOK: A TRIP THRU 500

Twenty seasons on and Leok is still in the MXGP gate. His tenacity rewarded with a KTM/ Husqvarna testing role that allows him to be in Grand Prix and sniffing around the top ten on a good day. “Tanel is one of the most passionate guys for the sport you’ll ever meet,” said Cairoli in Latvia. “He gives his life to it. He is still riding three-four-five times a week: I don’t know how he does it. Most people would

have given up. I want to congratulate him…and I hope he can go even further.” Asking for some time out of his day and sitting in the confines of his Husqvarna team, with balloons celebrating his 500 status floating in the background, we took a trawl backwards. Could I have imagined 500 moto starts…? I never thought ‘how long will

I race?’ even now the numbers just add-up and someone will come up to me and saying I’ve done this-and-that. I don’t really have much of an idea but when someone tells you then you think ‘well, that’s something!’ The changes I’ve seen in Grands Prix… The most obvious is qualifying. Now you have automatic entry but for my first grands prix it was the

FEATURE

top 30 that qualified and for a young rider it was sometimes difficult to put those laps in. Later on, the top ten in the championship were automatically qualified so it meant only twenty could then get in! When the heat races came along it meant many more factors could come into play. It was a more difficult way to get in. We had Timed Practice and then Heat races and even Last Chance qualifiers: I feel like I’ve done it all. Then the tracks. They have changed a lot to become more ‘modern’. I like the older era. Now there are more jumps. It is more spectacular for the public, I guess. There are a lot of other small things: the metal flooring for the starts, we used to have one moto for a couple of years and the length of the motos went from 35+2 to 30+2. The paddock is more professional with more hospitalities and many teams have trucks whereas back in the day there were more Sprinters and smaller transports. That has all

been stepped up. The riders have stayed the same. We still get along. Going factory with Kawasaki and Suzuki…

TANEL LEOK: A TRIP THRU 500

Looking back I do have some frustrations of those times… but with things you cannot do much about. I was two years into Kawasaki when Jan [De Groot, team owner, technician and manager] died and then it became a bit of a mess. Ellen, his wife, wanted to carry on but then there were other people running the team and it wasn’t the same. Jan knew what to do with the bikes. He was the brain as well as the leader. It was messy but everyone had to finish out the contracts they had. There was also injury and in 2006 – my best year – I was racing through physical problems. I had great chances that year and was in top form. At least three times – three pre-seasons! – I had a problem that ruined things. Another time was in Suzuki and by the end of that year I needed an operation on my foot and it wasn’t good. I don’t think it was a smart decision to

race through that year. I didn’t want to give up that opportunity of being with a factory team and on the sand tracks I didn’t need to put my feet down so much. Still, it wasn’t the smartest move. Am I a better rider now than then…? Depends. I think I used to be faster or more focussed. The jumps and the scrubs and the technique now is something where I am losing a bit of time. I try to do it but it’s not really working for me that much. However a track like Matterley Basin has some big jumps but also some off-cambers, and when they rip it and there are lines and all those up-anddowns: I like it. Overall, I don’t think I ‘grew’ as a rider like Antonio did. How do I keep the interest for so long? I enjoy riding! Maybe other guys lose interest because their results are not there, and other

FEATURE riders come along and beat them. They cannot accept that. There is an ego inside that says: ‘I was once top three in the world and now I’m in tenth or twelfth’. If you are a winner then it’s tough to keep going and not be a winner any more. I had this period in 2013 and 2014. Then in 2015 I started riding in the British Championship with my friends and did a couple of GPs and then had the opportunity to be a test rider for KTM and Husqvarna. I still enjoy riding and giving my best. Coming to the GPs is more difficult now when you are managing your own team and sometimes it becomes too much but then after two weeks at home I start

thinking ‘urgh, why aren’t there any races?!’ and I want to get back to GPs. Sometimes it is a bit crazy. 2004 was a good year, the last with a two-stroke… Something clicked for me that year. I enjoyed the way we worked and the age I was… Mark (Chamberlain, team owner and manager) was also of a similar age and he understood young riders. I enjoyed the Suzuki and being the underdog. Maybe Mark had more money back then! He didn’t have too many technical contracts so when we tested a different exhaust and I liked it then we’d use and race with it. It was very simple. When you own a team there are times when

I rode the Kawasaki, rode the Yamaha, went back to Suzuki and then found the KTM. I’ve seen first-hand the development of the 450s in MXGP… They are very different now. Maybe I don’t scrub so much on the bike now because you needed to be so careful in the first days! I remember the first time I was riding Joel’s [Smets] factory Suzuki 450 and on my fifth lap I sent it flying and had a big crash. You needed to brake quite hard into the face of the jump. In the corners – even if you had the right RPM – then the key was not to stall it. It was quite tricky, as well to get those bikes started. I remember the power at the bottom of the curve being really strong, more than it is

now, but these days it is more reliable power. Perhaps the carburettors back then meant that the first hit was more aggressive. The 450s now feel lighter and the power is more dependable, but they can still ‘get you going’. The 250s have also been developed so much that they also feel really nice. The best four-stroke I rode was… the 2006 Kawasaki KX450F [above left] and I also enjoyed the De Carli Yamaha: maybe it wasn’t super-super fast but everything worked nicely. The ’06 bike had a really nice combination with the engine and the exhaust. I liked the power and how it fed through. The noise limit was completely different then. They changed it and the bikes were overheating so that meant new exhausts and new power and with Kawasaki we had to search for another combination but then Jan died. I also have to say the 2016 stock KTM was really nice to ride and I managed top ten in the world at some GPs, qualifying 4th at Lommel. The front suspension was standard, and I had a few aftermarket parts with the shock but somehow that bike worked good for me. Best and worst teammates… There weren’t any disappointing ones to be honest. I still remember my surprise now when I signed for De Carli. I knew I was joining a very Italian team and I hadn’t re-

TANEL LEOK: A TRIP THRU 500

you have to take sponsorship deals and the product itself is not the best, but back then we didn’t have those issues and we used the best product out there. We mixed-andmatched. It worked. There were also no expectations and I didn’t know where I would be in the races. I enjoyed this style. In my heart I wanted to stay with Suzuki for 2005 and I waited so long for a contract. They said they wanted me but then the Kawasaki deal was on the table and it got to a point where they said: “are you going to sign this or not?’ I was waiting and waiting, and the Suzuki answer came right after I’d committed to Kawasaki!

FEATURE ally spoken much with Tony before, but when I went to Rome he was talking a lot and showed me the gym and was just very friendly and welcoming. It was a surprise. A really good teammate. With the Vangani boys [Ben Townley and Tyla Rattray] it was also nice because we were living in the same house. I got along with everybody really, even Jonathan Barragan at

De Carli was perhaps the best team. They were prepared to go riding and to work at any time. I enjoyed that and maybe that’s why they have had so much success because training and support is the most important part. Suzuki should have been more professional – well, they were professional but perhaps Sylvain and the management did not know what was going on.

Kawasaki and we still talk sometimes. So, I cannot talk much about disappointing teammates but I will say there was a ‘moment’ with Suzuki. I wanted to go training really badly because I’d had some time off with a foot injury but the mechanic said he couldn’t make it because he was really busy and had a lot to do. Then I later found out he’d left work a bit earlier to go to a BBQ. That was disappointing because I felt a factory team should want to make the best results. I should have pushed the management to help me more because I wanted the results. This is an area in which

Existing in Grand Prix now… To come here and stay - both for riders and teams - can be tough. I don’t think even the smallest of teams will believe what budget I am running now! I think they’d say: “that’s not possible!”. Motocross would benefit from a system like F1 where there is a budget ‘pot’ for the teams and it is spread around. I feel that the level in MXGP right now is really high, nobody wants to stop and riders sometimes undervalue themselves. That cannot go on for long. My kids ride and they have fun and we go out together but I don’t

want to push them towards the professional side because I see it is difficult to earn a living if you don’t have a sponsor behind you. The bike market will eventually lose out. If people can see a ‘path’ through youth racing they will buy more parts and aftermarket equipment to keep competing and keep travelling. If a young rider can take a 30th or a 40th place in the world championship and earn something – even a little amount – then it makes the whole thing worth it. If you always have to empty your pockets then only a crazy few people will remain. If there was the chance to earn by qualification then it makes people try harder. They’d go all the way to Bulgaria just to try. Teams might not pay salaries, but they would take all the equipment and give places to riders that would be going all-out. Now, the way seems to be that riders need their own sponsor. I really like the idea of a ‘world’ championship though. It is hard for me to go to Thailand and Indonesia but it is nice to have rounds there. Especially in places like Asia. When motocross explodes in a place like China then it will open a huge market and that will be better for everyone. Finding the future… Having a Grand Prix helps for some countries but mainly it is the availability of practice tracks and this is where

Belgium suffers. It used to be a motocross paradise but now it has faded and that’s had an impact on the riders also. When I was racing in 2004-05-06 Grands Prix there used to be seven Belgian guys in the top ten like De Dycker, Van Daele, Smets, Bervoets, Melotte, Strijbos, Everts. Now there is almost none aside from Jago Geerts and Liam Everts coming up. The Dutch seem to be doing better. They are opening more tracks and the federation is working with younger riders. The French are doing the same and that’s why they have so many good riders now. The best I raced against was… Antonio. Also because of how he changed his riding style. I used to kill him in the sand and then he became one of the best in the world on the surface. I thought that was incredible. He wasn’t that young either to learn the sand but in the space of two years he was already ahead of everyone. I have to say Stefan [Everts] as well. It never really seemed that way, but he was an aggressive rider! He would not take you out, but he would not back down either! I think it was a race at Moll: the start was quite tricky and it would go over a jump and then into a right hander. I was quite good there but he’d just land off that jump quite aggressively. He was not dirty but he went for it. You see the smooth style and you think ‘he’s not like that’ but he would hesitate to give you a knock!

I’ve ridden in nineteen Motocross of Nations… and I’ve been at the best and the worst. The best memory for me was at Donington Park in 2008. I had a bike problem in the first race but in the second I was in second place. I was right behind [Sebastien] Pourcel, who was leading, and tried to pass but clipped his rear wheel and went down. I almost won it. Lierop [2004] was also good but sad because we tied for points for third place; I had burnt my clutch in the last race and only just made it to the finish line. Someone passed me in those last few metres because the bike was so slow – so that was one of the best but also one of the worst memories. The Motocross of Nations is the next level. When you go there and see all those people, like at Ernee, then the Nations shows anybody what the sport is all about. My best race memory from the 500… Hmmm, I think the Grand Prix win at Faenza [Italy, 2009] was completely crazy. It was one of the wettest races ever. On the last lap I could not get up one of the hills so I turned around, went down and tried again, then I crashed on the way down on the other side! That last lap took forever and I crashed twice in total: it wasn’t fun but I somehow managed to get to the finish line first.

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FEATURE

THE FIRST CONTACT HANDLEBARS: A BIG DEAL? A FACTORY GRAND PRIX TEAM EXPLAIN HOW AND WHY THEY CRUNCH THE DETAILS TO ENHANCE THEIR RIDERS’ ESSENTIAL CONNECTION WITH THE BIKE By Adam Wheeler Photos by JP Acevedo

FEATURE

T

he Rockstar Energy MX2 Husqvarna team know how to hunt results. In the last half a decade they have helped Thomas Kjer Olsen to top-three championship finishes in the last three years, Thomas Covington and Max Anstie to podium results and victories, Jed Beaton to the fringe of a champagne cork, and elevated Kay de Wolf to the position of one of the most exciting youngsters to emerge through the European scene.

“The great thing about this sport is that there is nothing on paper that says if you ride with these bars, those levers, this suspension or engine spec then you will be world champion,” smiles Team Manager and former racer Rasmus Jorgensen. “It is so specific to each rider and then ties into a lot of the mental side.” The well supported team use ProTaper to give that delicate and individual feel to current racers Olsen, Beaton and the fifteen-year old De Wolf. The brand is the OEM choice for Husqvarna FC 250s but the Belgium-based crew bank on direct support from California. Being able to refine the personalisation of the factory racespec Huskys is key for one of the riders and slightly less of an issue for another. “I’m not too fussy,” stresses the tall Olsen. “I’ve been running the same bend since I got on the 250 and once I found it with ProTaper then I’ve stuck with it. It’s three years now and I feel super-confident with it. When I got on the 250 I was not that tall but we played around with clamps and stuff. I got a ‘kinda normal’ bar and I’ve stuck with it, only really changing things like clamp height. I’ve never used a superlow one.”

BEATON “IT’S A NICE FEELING TO GO BEATON: INTO THE TEAM, SIT ON THE BIKE AND THINK ‘YEAH, THIS IS MY BIKE’. I CAN SIT ON MY TEAMMATES AND THINK ‘THIS IS A WHOLE DIFFERENT SET-UP’.”

pickiest with bars but with the rest I don’t care too much about!” Gaining that precious feeling to reach comfort, and therefore confidence to explore limits of a lap-time either comes through years of familiarity, or pain-staking searches for a solution. It can mean a varied approach to testing.

THE FIRST CONTACT

“To have the bars in exactly the right spot is really important for me,” counters Beaton. “I’m sensitive with that and even if it’s a couple of ‘mil’ too high I know I will get a front-end wash into turns and when it’s too low I don’t feel comfortable riding. I like having my bars in-line with my forks all the way up. It gives me the best feel on the front-end and with the suspension. I’m probably one of the

FEATURE “Riders have a tendency to stick with what they know,” comments Jorgensen. “It’s just down to their preferences and you can test a lot and with new product, but some won’t change. Jed, for example, is really picky and also with the handlebar position but then there are others where if the handlebar position doesn’t feel ‘normal’ they’ll do a few laps and get used to it. It’s really different from rider to rider.” The team use the winter to evaluate new bar possibilities along with the rest of a new race bike configuration, but casting a verdict can – understandably – take time and quite a few motos. “You do a couple of laps and get the first feeling,” says Olsen. “After that I would want to spend more time with the bar before a final decision.”

“You can notice a lot of little things. We ride our factory bikes so much that when you do try something different, like a production bike, then you notice those differences right away, like we’ll have lower footpegs.” “I changed my whole bar position when I was seventeen/eighteen and have stuck with the same position and bend since,” he adds. “I’ve changed only once. On some of them you can put the bar mounts behind the forks but I believe that gives the bike a whole different feel. I know because I was struggling a lot with that setting when I first came to Husqvarna with the front-end. It took a switch to a mount above the forks to fix it.”

JORGENSEN “SO MUCH OF THIS SPORT IS THE RIDER. YOU CANNOT JORGENSEN: JUST LOOK AT DATA AND SAY “THIS SETTING WILL WORK”. THERE ARE SO MANY DIFFERENT STYLES AND SET-UPS AND FOR ME THAT IS AMAZING TO SEE IN A MOTORSPORT, AND COMPARED TO MotoGP OR F1 WHERE THE EQUIPMENT IS MORE EVENLY MATCHED OR THEY HAVE THE SAME SUPPLIERS...” “It’s all done in the off-season and part of finding that base setting,” outlines Jorgensen. “It depends a bit on the test and what the rider wants. If he is already very happy with his position and feeling on the bike then it can be difficult to find improvements with the handlebar. It can take a lot of time as well, quite a lot of laps to get that feeling. You rarely get it straight away.” “At least one or two whole days,” concurs Beaton.

Jorgensen: “If the handlebar is off then the whole feel of the bike can be off. The co-operation with ProTaper is good because they go very far for us and are very flexible with what we quite want. It’s been a simple and easy process and that’s all you can ask for.” ProTaper are one of the best-known handlebar manufacturers in motocross and off-road racing. The American company is almost thirty years in existence and has already produced a number of

With factory team status comes flexibility and ‘accommodation’: the quest to give the athlete the very best tools in order to obtain results. That’s why the full range of ProTaper stock opens up to the Husqvarna MX2 and EMX racers and why they may opt for a special bar – away from a production model - that fits their criteria. “Your race bike is set-up specifically for you so using a standard bike is fine for just riding and having fun and still going quite fast,” Beaton claims. “But you won’t be pushing to the limit like we are on our factory bikes. It’s a nice feeling to go into the team, sit on the bike and think ‘yeah, this is my bike’. I can sit on my teammates and think ‘this is a whole different set-up’.” It’s not the easiest thing to spot but bar settings are the clearest way for any fan to draw deductions about the predilection and styles of their favourite riders. It’s tougher to compare the minute differences with peg and lever settings. Naturally the riders themselves are curious about how their peers have their bikes tweaked and will be eagle-eyed in the paddock.

THE FIRST CONTACT

innovations such as the over-sized 11/8. Their product catalogue features the Fuzion: a bar that can ‘lock’ and ‘unlock’ for flexibility and stiffness to suit the conditions and comes in six different bends. The Evo bar claims to be up to 25% lighter and 45% stronger than other models, with eleven bends, some of which are handily named after riders like Ricky Carmichael, Kevin Windham, Doug Henry and Chad Reed to denote their form and style.

FEATURE “My teammate Kay has a weird front brake and clutch set-up,” claims Olsen. “They seem to be so far down. When I sometimes sit on his bike in the workshop I wonder how he rides.” “I do have a walk around and a look at the set-ups to see if they are running a normal bar or a crossbar,” says Beaton. “Some bar and lever positions can be a bit shocking. Someone like Clement Desalle runs his bars really low but if you look at his style he’s over the front a lot, sits down and is really aggressive so that just seems to suit him. I like to stand up a little bit more and have a higher bar so I can move around on the bike. Some people stay in the same position quite a lot. Carmichael had really flat bars because he was so small. Kay, my teammate, runs the Carmichael bars but he’s nearly taller than me!”

“It’s a real mixed bag,” claims Jorgensen. “Some will have the clutch lower than the front brake and at different heights. We’re quite conventional in terms of having the bars in line with the forks for all our three riders. To be a factory team all these small details matter. We have these options. When you are racing EMX and you are coming-up then these options don’t matter. When you become a factory rider it can take a long time to adapt to all these choices and it can be confusing…but then you get picky and know what you want.” More customisation comes from the handlebars. Take grips for instance: arguably the most disposable and changeable part of a dirtbike, the installation of which regularly becomes a bane in the life of a mechanic. Jorgensen:

“I use a half-waffle and it’s a sticky,” says Olsen. “It helps in bad conditions and I like it so much I’ll run it on all tracks. Blisters are difficult to avoid, particularly in hot conditions, but the grips help.” Handlebars are often cited as one of the primary ‘fixes’ for dreaded arm-pump. Jorgensen dismisses the idea however. “To get rid of arm-pump there is a lot you need to work on before trying the bars,” he states. For the hobby rider the reason to change to an aftermarket bar might not be to do with problem solving. Instead the motivation

should be based on the same quest that the racers undertake. “Different bars are one of the best things to try to get even more comfortable on the bike,” Jorgensen adds. “It’s weird but I think a lot of people get scared to change their bar set-up,” muses Beaton. “Young kids that have run the lowest bar possible for a long time because they were small on the bike suddenly grow at sixteen-seventeen and don’t want to try a new set just because it makes the bike feel a bit different. I tried talking some of my taller friends into trying different, higher bars and they have all said that it helps a lot and they feel more comfortable on the bike and move around more.” “All bikes feel different: a standard Yamaha and a standard KTM might vary a lot depending on the bar position,” the Australian continues. “Some will use a different bend for a different bike. It is quite nice how ProTaper have the range of bends to suit all different people. It’s a personal preference, and whatever makes people feel comfortable is a good thing.”

THE FIRST CONTACT

“Both riders are using a special ProTaper grip, new for this year, and we tested for that. Some riders like them very thin, others thicker. It depends on the length of the fingers as well. It’s something that it easy to try and know right away from the feeling, and whether it’s causing blisters. We have endless options from ProTaper for width and compounds and colours. We use a lot! Both Jed and Thomas use a soft grip so we’re changing quite a bit. We use the ‘donut’ as well to prevent blisters.”

ZACHOSBORNE

ROCKSTAR ENERGY HUSQVARNA FACTORY RACING

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AUGUST 15th WINNERS 450MX: ZACH OSBORNE, HUSQVARNA 250MX: DYLAN FERRANDIS, YAMAHA

AUGUST 22nd WINNERS 450MX: ZACH OSBORNE, HUSQVARNA 250MX: JEREMY MARTIN, HONDA

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LIKE A FINE WINE? Round two of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championships took place over the weekend and no, it wasn’t three in a row like the MXGP boys did, but it was the same track for the second week. And it was pretty much a complete mudder. It’s so hard to take away too much from the race outside of a few things and one of those is that Rockstar Husqvarna’s Zach Osborne is here to stay in the 450MX class. He won two weekends ago with a great 2-1 and last Saturday got the kind of break that, when you look back on just about any rider’s title run, is needed at one point. Osborne had bike issues before practice and couldn’t get into the seeded group and luckily his team got the bike running in time to make it out for the unseeded group. And, oh by the way, did I mention there was only one practice due to the mud and that Osborne had to get one lap in to make the 40 man field?

So that happened and then when the gate dropped Osborne was outside the top thirty and worked his way up to an impressive fifth. Second moto he stalked leader Max Anstie (on a circuit that reminded me of Matterley Basin MXDN, I was having some flashbacks there) and won the moto over Marvin Musquin. The 5-1 gave him an improbable overall win and widened his points lead with seven races to go. Hey, when it’s your time, it’s your time. Right now, Osborne’s got a lot of things rolling. The veteran also won his first 450SX back in June when the Monster Energy SX series wrapped up. Yes, there was a lot of time after that to the first round of the nationals but momentum, and confidence, can be kept up.

The 30 year old is a rider that can overthink things, he’s driven to succeed but he’s also shown that good or bad he’s a rider that performs to how he’s feeling. When he was forced to Europe after washing out over here in the USA, he found his niche and confidence again by doing well in the British Championship and GP’s. When he got a GEICO Honda ride to come back, he seemed to - at times - let a bad day continue to get worse. Training with Eli Tomac years ago didn’t help as he wasn’t able to keep up as much as he would’ve liked to. It was only with the transfer to Husqvarna and the structure of Aldon Baker’s program where the switch was flipped for Osborne. He didn’t have to worry about whether

CREATED THANKS TO BY ADAM WHEELER

BY STEVE MATTHES he was doing too much or not enough, he went into the weekend knowing that his hard work was done during the week. Combine that confidence with a great bike and his veteran knowledge and we saw a couple of 250 championships. If that’s where the story ended, it would still be a great one. Osborne’s resurgence to being a force in American racing is pretty improbable. But now, with his 2019 rookie year in 450’s showing us he’s got the speed but still made too many mistakes, he’s figuring things out. Three straight 450 wins indicates a maturity and as stated, when he gets on a roll, we’ve seen what he can do. It’s been a while, but I wondered if the time Osborne spent overseas helped him with his racing now. “My GP days taught more lessons than I can count and most

of those were things that no one else could’ve taught me. Things that you have to live and go through in order to come out the other side,” Osborne told me. “Travel, people situations and life lessons are probably the most valuable.” Zach’s season has already been a success and if he’s able to get this 450MX title it will really be something. The time he spent in Europe made him appreciate what he had lost in his home country although even when he was a highly touted amateur, I don’t know how many people pegged him for a 450 champion. “As far as racing [over in Europe] goes I’m not sure really how much of it correlates [to success here], as it was such a different kind of racing than where I’m at now,” Osborne says. “Then, it was racing to survive and now I’m racing to win races

and championships. Looking back those days were so fun and it helped me find a passion that I honestly never had for racing before I went there and experienced it in the way that I did with Steve [Dixon] and the boys!” It’s still early over here but with three-time and defending champion Eli Tomac suffering a really bad day, Osborne looks primed right now to carry this red plate for a while. Wouldn’t that be something?

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MotoGP

GRANDS PRIX OF AUSTRIA AND STYRIA

AUGUST 16th WINNERS

RED BULL RING AUGUST 16th & 23rd

MotoGP: MIGUEL OLIVEIRA, KTM Moto2: MARCO BEZZECCHI, KALEX Moto3: CELESTINO VIETTI, KTM

#GETDUKED Photo: R. Schedl

AUGUST 23rd WINNERS

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MotoGP: ANDREA DOVIZIOSO, DUCATI Moto2: LUCA MARINI, KALEX Moto3: ALBERT ARENAS, KTM

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A BREAK IS AS GOOD AS A REST? Four races. That’s how long Marc Márquez has been away. For three of those, the Repsol Honda rider has been sat at home, watching from the couch. That is the longest consecutive number of races he has ever missed. And, as we learned this weekend, that is just the beginning. Márquez is out for two to three months, while he lets his broken humerus heal fully before attempting to ride a MotoGP bike again. The last time he tried to come back early, the plate holding the humerus together was weakened so much it broke while opening a heavy glass door, and here we are. For a rider with a reputation for crashing, Marc Márquez does not miss GPs. In his first season in 125s, back in 2008, he sat out four. In 2011, he missed two, after crashing on his out-lap in FP1 at Sepang, when marshals failed to warn of a river of water flowing across an otherwise dry track. That damaged a nerve in his eye and forced him to miss the races in Sepang and Valencia. It also cost him the Moto2 title that year,

having closed the gap to eventual champion Stefan Bradl to just 3 points before Malaysia. If you were wondering how Márquez will respond to being off a bike for such a long time, that injury offers a precedent. At the time, it looked like the problem could be career ending, the damaged nerve giving him double vision and making riding a motorcycle impossible. An operation restored normal sight, putting him back on a bike after nearly three months. The relief in the Márquez camp when he got off his Moto2 bike for the first time was palpable. How did Márquez handle that period off the bike, and the uncertainty of whether he would ever ride again? Pretty well. He won his first race back at Qatar, a controversial affair in which he forced Tom Lüthi wide on the last lap but went unpunished. He followed that up with a second place at Jerez and another win at Estoril and went on to win the 2012 Moto2 crown.

It is fair to assume that when Márquez returns he will be up to speed pretty quickly. After all, he was on lap record pace at the Jerez test in July, after four months off the bike due to the coronavirus pandemic. But this absence is different, both to the enforced layoff due to Covid-19, and the crash at Sepang. Both of those were due to circumstances outside of his control. The crash at Jerez was different. His Honda RC213V spat him off without warning, Márquez blaming touching a white line. That might just shake his confidence in the bike he has dominated MotoGP on. “For the motivation, for the faith in the bike, it’s not going to be easy,” Aleix Espargaro suggested in Austria. “But I think that Marc is the rider on the grid who has the most faith in his bike, because he knows the bike perfectly and he knows the limits super, super-good, so I think this is an advantage for him.” Motivation is something Márquez has never lacked. The Spaniard has an insatiable appetite for success, an unparalleled hunger

for victory. “With big champions like him, it doesn’t matter how many consecutive races they won, they want more. And then one more, and one more, and one more championship,” Espargaro said. “The desire that Marc has is unbelievable, and believe me that it’s not easy to have this ambition inside of you, because for sure when you have won what Marc has won, it’s easy to say, f**k, I won’t race this year, it doesn’t matter. But I’m sure that he’s thinking to risk and try to come back. Even if it’s just for the last Sunday, he will come.” Will he just pick up where he left off? That is a more interesting question. With Márquez gone, the sense of dread he casts over the rest of the grid has lifted, and a bevy of young upstarts are picking up podiums and wins. And with those wins comes self-belief, the confidence that, yes, they too can be champions. Fabio Quartararo is no longer a rookie, but the championship leader. Brad Binder and Miguel Oliveira have a bike they have proved they can win on. Jack Miller and Maverick Viñales are

potential winners, as is Pecco Bagnaia when he returns. This is the landscape Márquez will face when he is fit enough to race again. He will be up against a new world champion, and a group of young riders who have forgotten to be afraid of him. It reminds me of 2010, when Valentino Rossi damaged his shoulder, then broke his leg. Before then, Rossi had half a hand on the title before he even left the pits, so complete was his dominance, both mentally and on track, of MotoGP. After 2010, Rossi was beaten more often than he won, and he never won another title. Is this the fate that awaits Marc Márquez? I would not bet on him never winning another championship. But facing a paddock full of rowdy upstarts who have lost their fear of him, things are going to be a great deal tougher for him from here on in.

CREATED THANKS TO Moto3’S NEWEST RACING TEAM

BY DAVID EMMETT

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DON’T STOP ME NOW You can be forgiven for struggling to keep up with 2020 MotoGP. Four different winners in five rounds – three of which for the very first time in the class (and all three with a combined total of less MotoGP appearances than the other victor, Andrea Dovizioso) – a haphazard formbook, technical gremlins, red flags, stunning crashes and an absent world champion. It would be easier to pick up all the debris of Moto2 bikes, a Ducati and two Yamahas from the three smashes that caused MotoGP to be beamed on news networks around the world (and produced the highest total of viewing figures on MotoGP.com since the infamous 2015 Sepang kick) than to try and predict where the series will tip-in next.

As the trucks pulled out of Red Bull Ring there were some inescapable sights and occurrences that will stay prominent in the mind and across the next three weeks until MotoGP starts up again, when a marathon nine races in eleven weeks are bound to prompt screen-time alerts. Miguel Oliveira’s shrewd racecraft last Sunday after another Spielberg final-corner feature stamped a piece of MotoGP history for his country only two weeks after brandmate Brad Binder had done the same. It was the images of Maverick Viñales bailing from his Monster Energy Yamaha (and perhaps leaving his championship hopes in the saddle) along the start straight after brake failure that was just as staggering. “It’s something I have never had in all my MotoGP career,” the forlorn Catalan said on his front brake issues that also struck standings leader Fabio Quartararo and eventually forced his shocking dive to safety. “I cannot remain on the bike, so I have to jump,” he said afterwards and having fully tested the abrasion of the Austrian asphalt against Alpinestars’

kangaroo hide. “I understood very well that the brake was broken or something, so I decided to jump.” “For sure these are the worst two races I have had in MotoGP,” he added with only 10th position in the first Red Bull outing and, of course, THAT near miss to account for 12 days in Austria. “To jump-off. Jeez: I don’t know how you can come to the point where you decide ‘I need to get off the thing’,” said an amazed Brad Binder. “It is super-super scary. It is really unfortunate. I was speaking to Fabio just now and he was having the same issue with the brakes coming all the way back to the handlebar. I cannot think of anything more scary as a rider.” Cal Crutchlow, one of two in the field trying to compete with a broken scaphoid, was quick to absolve the Red Bull Ring of culpability after the venue had come under intense scrutiny for the Zarco/Morbidelli incident, and when the MotoGP stint ended with Viñales’ Yamaha as a mangled fiery piece of scrap

metal and carbon in the burst airfence. The Brit rightly credited the organisers for pushing the Turn 1 wall back in previous years and since the championship came to the site in 2016. He was not the only rider to think that the boundaries being pushed by MotoGP after more new lap-times so far in 2020 were just as liable for the problems. “The incidents we’ve seen over these last weeks, we can’t just blame the nature of the track, honestly speaking,” he voiced. “These could happen at other racetracks around the world. The problem is here is we are on the limit in the braking. These things happen.” Two 28-lap races, two red-flags and at least two doses of disappointment for Pol Espargaro and Joan Mir who were controlling the initial outings until the accidents. The disruption is necessary but can be hard for riders to reset and go again. “When you come in, it can be good and bad: if you have everything in order then it is another chance, another opportunity to fight. Unfortunately it led to me not making such a good decision on the front tyre,” said Binder.

“I don’t think I can remember the last time we had two red flags in a row.” Binder arrived in Austria flush after his Czech Republic success. Red Bull Ring was another circuit at which KTM had recently tested. In fact, the manufacturer was the first out of the COVID-19 forced hibernation to turn wheels again, although Binder was stuck in South Africa at the time. Previous mileage at Brno and also Misano should stand the Austrians in good stead. Binder was at a disadvantage among the four RC16s runners for his lack of familiarity of the track on a MotoGP machine (Iker Lecuona was hardly bursting with knowledge either) but the competitiveness of the motorcycle again came under the microscope when all four racers could managed to stay up, with the right Michelins and away from each other. Oliveira triumphed at the place where he obtained the best classification of his rookie year in 2019 (8th position) but it was Espargaro that headed practice

CREATED THANKS TO Moto3’S NEWEST RACING TEAM

BY ADAM WHEELER

MotoGP BLOG

sessions and was nervy and over-eager to replicate Binder’s Czech feat. The Catalan was upset with Oliveira’s slight on television in the wake of their collision in race one – to the point where their handshake in Parc Ferme after race two and having put two KTMs on the podium was more grudging obligation rather than well-wishing – and had been dealt three blows in the space of three weeks: Zarco’s punt in Brno, the halted Austrian GP race and rear tyre mistake, and the last corner dice with Jack Miller that allowed Oliveira to profit. Nevertheless a trophy for 3rd and a Pole Position (in this respect he was KTM’s first) were the bright points. Espargaro delicately downplayed the rapid conversion of the RC16 from new-boys and grid fillers to consistent race winners; at least until the bike runs at circuits where they don’t the same level of information. That viewing will come at Aragon, Barcelona and Valencia although the KTMs were still fast enough at Jerez.

Who knows that Michelin-motorcycle synergy will be favoured at those Grands Prix? Espargaro also highlighted the ‘Marquez vacuum’ as the benchmark yet to be tested, and this revealed part of his motivation to leave for HRC in 2021: to ultimately measure himself again the best on the same equipment. The resurgence of KTM is timely. Engine development is frozen, meaning that some of the same verility could well be in place for 2021. Their story is also fairly magnificent. 2020 is ‘year four’ of their investment, and CEO Stefan Peirer stated at the 2019 team launch that he wanted to be in podium contention by year five. For the brand that has dominated MXGP, been the joint most-decorated in AMA Supercross this decade and won eighteen consecutive Dakar rallies, success has come quickly again. Pit Beirer’s decisive and effective management was responsible for the quick association with Tech3, the acquirement of Dani Pedrosa and the belief in certain

riders that have strengthened the brand’s stable of athletes (the doomed avenue with Zarco not withstanding). Brno and Red Bull Ring seemed a long way from the humble beginnings, when Espargaro and Bradley Smith were almost three seconds off the pace after qualification at the 2017 Grand Prix of Qatar and the first race for Red Bull KTM. “The first year the bike was unbelievably difficult. We couldn’t even see the red lights to start the race!” Espargaro said after sealing Pole Position and of that Losail experience. “We were expecting to improve quite a lot [and they] started [to come] last year. Then, because of the change of tyres this year we get super-fast on them. We didn’t completely change the bike. We are not at this level to produce a completely new bike and then bring it, as for example Honda does. We just are bringing new stuff and it is was working. The guys are working every day in the factory, looking at the papers, the numbers and

smoking heads to try to make the bike better. These guys made this super bike and I’m super grateful that I’m able to ride it finally to this level.” #44 found new limits, and courted controversy in doing so. The last corner thrust with Miller drove Espargaro into the green ‘out of bounds’ zone and the same space that cost Jorge Martin Moto2 victory after one of the best races of the Spaniard’s career as well as Ai Ogura’s Moto3 podium. There was criticism of Race Direction and the consistency of the penalties, even if riders had not dipped into the finer points of the rule book when it comes to positions and ground gained or won. The last time the subject came up so heatedly was Misano 2019. The retrospective punishment is eerily reminiscent of the ruinous nature of VAR in football and a further review or explanation will rumble on. Mir, in particular, was livid. “It is unbelievable,” the Suzuki man said. “So, what happens when there is gravel?

Because he is out of the track. You know?” he said of Espargaro’s excursion. “It is green because it is for our safety, but he was out a lot. It makes no sense that this is not penalised. You penalise Martin and you don’t penalise Pol? Pol did what he had to do, I don’t say anything about him, he did a great job and an awesome race but I am really surprised about race direction. Really surprised. And really angry.” In the last few years MotoGP dried-up to the point where news stories chiefly revolved around wild speculation of Jorge Lorenzo’s latest plans and the nearest possible (next) challenger to Marc Marquez. Now the discussions points over what it happening on the track and among the separated ‘bubbles of the paddock mean there is barely time to tackle all the simmery stories before another Grand Prix takes place. It is gloriously frenetic. And it is such a shame that it’s being played out on an empty stage. Don’t change the channel.

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MotoGP AUSTRIA

MotoGP BLOG

DIVERGING FROM THE PLAN... On the morning of Sunday, 19th July I was in conversation with Michelin’s press officer. The season’s first MotoGP race was just hours away and we were throwing ideas around of how the upcoming afternoon could play out. It was then he hit me with the French’s company’s findings from the previous day’s action. One of the methods by which Michelin measure tyre wear is to weigh the rubber after it’s been used. To put it simply, the lighter the weight, the more severe the wear. According to the company’s spokesman, that afternoon’s result was a mere formality. Not only was Marc Marquez blindingly fast, but he was using a good deal less rubber while being blurringly quick. I was assured no one would come close.

I shrugged, sighed and returned to my desk contemplating another season of Marquez dominance that lay ahead. Now, we all know what happened next. But not even the wildest dreamer could have envisioned MotoGP 2020 playing out in this manner either before or after that vicious high-side which flung the reigning world champion from his bike and at Jerez’s turn three when the championship was just 22 laps old. Four winners in five races, eleven different men on the podium, a title fight with as many as ten different assailants and, in the Styrian Grand Prix, one of the most thrilling last laps in living memory have all come since. Talk about not going to plan. The stats don’t lie: on Sunday Miguel Oliveira became the latest name (the 112th in history) to win a premier class grand prix, the third first time winner of the year. This hasn’t occurred in the first five races of premier class campaign since 1974. A Honda has failed to finish on the podium in any top class race,

the first time since it officially returned to grand prix racing 1979. And championship leader Fabio Quartararo has scored just 70 points from a possible 125 – the lowest total after five races since the current points scoring system was introduced in 1993. For the modern era, these are unprecedented times. 2016, the year Michelin replaced Bridgestone as the sole tyre supplier, was fairly wacky with nine different race winners. But even then Marquez – albeit on a dog of a Honda – was the clear protagonist. For a championship to be this open, you’d have to go back to 2000, when the class was still coming to terms with Mick Doohan’s retirement. Reigning champ Alex Criville went missing for most of the year, Max Biaggi crashed out of four of the first five races, Valentino Rossi was but a rookie and the regular but regularly unspectacular Kenny Roberts Jr took the crown. Eight different riders – including five from satellite teams – won that year. At the current rate we could feasibly reach that number by round ten.

But can the almost random, topsy-turvy nature of results simply be put down to Marquez’s absence? Oliveira thinks so. “I don’t know if there is any specific reason,” he said after his thrilling last-corner feats in Austria. “I think once Marquez was out everyone all of a sudden started to feel like they could win races and championships.” He’s right. Even the rider currently tenth in the standings – Pol Espargaro, 35 points back – can look at the nine remaining races and think with good reason: I have a chance. There are a few other contributing factors to this being the loopiest championship in living memory, however. Firstly, there is the nature of the calendar. For starters riders and teams weren’t accustomed to Andalusia in July and the 60-degree track temperatures that visit entails. Nor were they to the atrocious, 12-year old track surface at Brno. Both were some way from normal racing conditions and threw certain machines and riders off course.

In normal circumstances, a bad race weekend would be just that: a weekend. Now the series is running back-to-back races at the same track means a bike and rider’s strengths (Quartararo’s double at Jerez, for example) or defects (Quartararo’s repeat of misery in Austria) in certain conditions or layouts are magnified. Another factor must surely be the rise of KTM. It’s hard to recall a manufacturer taking a step as profound as this. Thanks to a strategy change at the close of 2018, which saw test rider Dani Pedrosa focus on the 2020 version of the RC16 throughout most of last year, it now has arguably the most balanced bike on the grid. Its braking prowess is unparalleled. And its engine and electronics are capable of running with Ducati on the straights and putting its power down in a linear way. Last year, the highest placed KTM at Jerez, Brno and the Red Bull Ring was 13th, 11th and 8th. Now three riders (Espargaro, Oliveira and even rookie Brad Binder) are capable of pushing for

CREATED THANKS TO Moto3’S NEWEST RACING TEAM

BY NEIL MORRISON

MotoGP BLOG

podium places at most tracks. KTM, Suzuki and, to a lesser extent, Aprilia’s jump forward this year has tightened the leading places further. This year’s all-important combined free practice standings, which determines who enters Q2 directly, is a fair indicator. In the five MotoGP rounds so far this year, the top ten riders have been separated by 0.379s, 0.469s, 0.257s, 0.418s and 0.339s. Even if a rider’s feeling is only a fraction off, more riders than ever are on hand to take advantage. Then comes Michelin’s new rear tyre. Manufacturers and riders have had to change bike balance and riding style to accommodate the added grip that it offers. Some, namely Andrea Dovizioso, are still coming to terms with its new characteristics. Others, with less experience of how their machine is supposed to behave on certain rubber, like Francesco Bagnaia and Johann Zarco, have shown flashes of Ducati’s true

potential. As long as experience with the rubber is limited, so the results are destined to fluctuate. As Piero Taramasso, Michelin’s head of two-wheel motorsport, told Italian website GPOne, “You have to work on every track. You can’t find a magical set-up that works everywhere.” In many ways, 2020 has been a perfect storm of events. With Marquez’s return, a more conventional calendar and greater experience with Michelin’s new rear tyre bound to stabilise results next season, let’s drink it all in while we can.

Please make no attempt to imitate the illustrated riding scenes, always wear protective clothing and observe the applicable provisions of the road traffic regulations! The illustrated vehicles may vary in selected details from the production models and some illustrations feature optional equipment available at additional cost.

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Photo: R. Schedl

693 cc 75 hp 158 kg

The best lines happen offline. Just like surfing the web has nothing to do with the ocean, you will never Feel the thrill of twisting the throttle from behind a desk.

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PRODUCTS

DUCATI Ducati are moving quickly with their entry into the bicycle market and in particular the electric sector. On display here is the eScrambler (above): a collaboration between the Italian manufacturer and cycle brand Thok. Described as a pedal-assisted trekking bike for the city or country roads, the fetching yellow product features high-end components around a 250-watt Shimano steps E7000 motor with a 504 Wh battery, such as the Sram NX 11-speed gear system, Sram 4-piston brakes and Pirelli Cycl-e GT tyres. Mudgards, a luggage rack and lights ensure practicality as well as style. No word on pricing though. For more commuter options then Ducati’s union with MT Distribution had led to the creation of three

www.ducati.com

foldable bikes that are high on style and involve more Scrambler branding. The Urban-E uses a ‘handlebar has a fully integrated LCD display in the stem that allows the rider to control all the assistance functions, to check the remaining battery charge and to turn the LED lights integrated in the frame on and off’. The 378 wh battery is integrated into the frame while the suspension surrounds fat 20”x4” tyres with kevlar anti-puncture tech. The two Scrambler versions – the SCR-E and SCR-E Sport – has two sizes of battery permitting range up to 70 and 80km respectively. Lights and LCDs as well as premium suspension add to the overall allure and performance. Expect the wallet to ache.

TEST

By Roland Brown Photos by Joe Dick

PLUGGED IN TO ZERO’S SR/S

FULLY CHARGED

TEST

The SR/S, a faired sibling of last year’s naked SR/F, is comfortably the Californian firm’s best model yet (though its name is typically unimaginative and confusing). And I mean comfortably literally because, despite the full fairing, its riding position is not a racy crouch but slightly more upright and relaxed than the F-bike’s, thanks to higher bars and lower footrests. The fairing’s benefit is not simply wind protection but aerodynamic efficiency. Zero claim the cleaner air-flow improves range by 13 per cent, albeit only with a small and well tucked-in rider. The fairing also contributed to one of the SR/S’s most impressive attributes: its styling and build quality, which is far ahead of Zeros of old.

Simply looking around these SRs reveals attractive design, thick paintwork in grown-up grey or blue, neat finishes and a colourful TFT display. The days of Zeros having spindly cycle parts are over, too. The SR/S follows the F in being equipped with Showa suspension, four-piston radial front calipers, and cast wheels wearing Pirelli rubber in serious sizes.

not least because the hefty maximum figure of 190Nm (Ducati’s Streetfighter V4, by comparison, makes 123Nm) is delivered virtually from idle. Zeros don’t have gearboxes, and that’s fine when twist-andgo riding is as entertaining as this. Riding modes are more important than usual, because they change performance and range dramatically.

“CHASSIS PERFORMANCE WAS VERY GOOD, ALBEIT HINDERED SLIGHTLY BY THE BATTERY-BIKE’S WEIGHT – AT 229KG IT’S HEAVIER THAN MANY COMPARABLE SPORTSTOURERS...” Park one of these bikes outside the local biker café and you could feel as confident defending its look or components as you could its impact on the health of the planet. And the specification also includes a modern list of electronic rider aids, including Bosch traction control and cornering ABS, whose absence on previous Zeros seemed ironic. That power output is very adequate – good for over 120mph, albeit in short bursts only. But as usual with electric bikes it’s the torque production that impresses most,

Rain and Eco damp things right down, and are for slippery surfaces or limping home. Street is the natural default mode, giving smooth, instant torque along with reasonable economy. For normal riding it was fine but I much preferred the crisper Sport mode, or the custom Beast, provided I had plenty of juice left. In its liveliest state the Zero felt as quick as a typical 750 or 900cc multi, with ample grunt for effortless overtaking, and ultra-smooth cruising ability at the legal limit and more.

ZERO SR/S

I

t was the SR/S’s custommade ‘Beast’ mode that summed-up its appeal: full power and the sharpest throttle response, combined with maximum regenerative braking to give as much distance as possible. Created that morning and custom-named, too (using a smartphone app, naturally), Beast mode highlighted the SR/S’s technology and rider-friendly interface, just as you might hope for from electric motorcycling’s longest established manufacturer.

TEST

On main roads the SR/S’s only real niggle for me, being tall, was that its non-adjustable screen aimed noisy turbulence that drowned out the normal electric-bike whine. Hand protection would be helpful on cold rides too; at least the more upmarket of the two SR/S models has heated grips. Chassis performance was very good, albeit hindered slightly by the battery-bike’s weight – at 229kg it’s heavier than many comparable sportstourers. The tubular steel frame seemed rigid, steering geometry well chosen, and the Showa suspension – the familiar Big Piston Forks up

front, and a similarly multi-adjustable remote-reservoir rear shock – was very capable. Initially the Zero was on softened settings, which gave a plush ride but allowed some twitching when the pace hotted up. Firming up both ends took only minutes and added welcome stability, allowing enjoyable use of the Pirellis’ generous grip, and the powerful bite of the front brake. Ride quality was still fine, aided by the Zero’s broad dual-seat, which incorporates pillion hand-holds. That would help make the SR/S a decent long-distance bike, if it weren’t so limited by its range.

Price is the other issue. Good as the Zero is, there’s no escaping the fact that even the basic model (which is £19,590 in the UK) costs over twice as much as Yamaha’s Tracer 900 triple, to name just one handy petrol-powered alternative. The premium SR/S, with faster charger, heated grips and aluminium bar ends, is ten per cent more expensive still. At least the Zero would become better value the more you rode it. A full battery charge at home costs less than a couple of litres of petrol, and commuters would gain further if they could plug it in at work for a free top-up. Both Zeros also benefit from a government grant (currently £1500), and from cheap servicing because electric motors require minimal maintenance. Even so, you’d have to ride very regularly to make the sums add up.

This latest Zero is impressively fast, comfortable and capable, but until prices come down and charging networks expand significantly, highend electric bikes like the SR/S will make sense only to a small minority of riders. If you’re one of them, the future’s here already…

ZERO SR/S

My experience backed up Zero’s claim that you could expect 100 miles given fairly restrained riding, but a heavy throttle hand brought that down to 70 miles or less. That was no problem on a day’s launch ride, where a morning coffee stop and lengthy lunch gave ample time for recharging (which takes between one and four hours, depending on charger). Not all trips would be so accommodating.

PRODUCTS

INDIAN/BIKE SHED This is quite a cool link-up. There is no denying the brand appeal of both the revitalised Indian marque and the Londonbased (now LA as well) Bike Shed when it comes to style, credibility and attitude, and the two companies have combined for a range of apparel including women’s and men’s t-shirts, shirts, sweatshirts and headwear. No doubt capitalising on the new Californian base for Bike Shed, the collection will take pride of place in the establishment’s commercial area that stocks plenty of niche and appealing garments and products. We own several pieces of Indian’s clothing line and the quality is outstanding, although European buyers might want to watch out for US-style fit and sizes. Pick up any of the threads in London, LA, select Indian dealerships or online.

www.thebikeshed.cc

Yamaha have become more proactive with their race replica series again and this offering by Yamaha Motor Europe and the YART GYTR Pro Shop involves a Yamaha R1 being given an Petronas SRT overhaul. As well as the identical graphics and plastics kit the bike has a full carbon upgrade package, MotoGP winglet structure, Ohlins race suspension, a race spec damper and factory kit exhaust. More specs include a quickchange rear wheel system, racing footrests and ECU and quick action throttle, upgraded Brembo brakes and even a pair of Michelin slicks. Purchasing the bike means several MotoGP team goodies, including a VIP pass to a GP of the customer’s choice. Only 50 of the bikes will be produced worldwide and each model will be numbered and engraved. Price? Try 46,000 euros. Clicking on one of the images here will take you to the YART Pro Shop where you can ‘register interest’.

YAMAHA www.yart.site

WorldSBK BLOG

A QUICK BUT STEADY RUN With such a short season in 2020 I reckon consistency will be key to winning the title more than ever. There will be little opportunity to have a bad weekend or DNF’s if any rider has serious pretentions for taking the crown. In recent years Jonathan Rea has had an almost metronomic consistency in winning and finishing on the podium. If we see that over the next couple of races the title fight could be over before we know it. We have, however, been lucky enough to have two pretty topsy-turvy weekends in Jerez and Portimao to get us back underway in the 2020 season. Jerez was never a comfortably happy hunting ground for Rea and the Kawasaki team. They have recorded some of their most memorable moments at the Andalucian track but wins have been hard to come by. It was the same this time round as

Scott Redding underlined his class and stamped his authority on the championship. Rea still won the short Superpole race but Redding was hot on his heels and may well have bagged a hat-trick of wins if he hadn’t been caught up in a bit of a ding dong with Razgatlioglu in that ten-lapper. Fast forward a week and it was Rea that dominated in Portimao with Redding struggling a bit for form and only managing a podium place in race two. The title battle swung from one to the other over those events and it would appear that the pre-season speculation of a two-horse race is proving to be the case. Both Razgatlioglu and Lowes, who were winners in Australia, were there or thereabouts in Spain and Portugal

but both fell in race two at the Algarve circuit with Lowes notching up a DNF and Toprak finishing back in eighth. It has dropped them of the pace a bit in the title chase and with only five races remaining they will need to bag a few wins to gain ground. As we get ready for a double header of race weekends at Motorland Aragon we are pretty nicely poised with Rea and Redding separated by just four points. Razgatlioglu and Lowes are 30 points or so behind but a DNF for the front-runners will bring them right back into contention. Probably the most notable thing about those first races however was the heat. Saturday in Jerez saw the thermometer reach 40˚C. I can’t imagine what it was like to push yourself to the max in

BY ADAM WHEELER

BY GRAEME BROWN a 20 lap race but WorldSBK have introduced an amended schedule for these events to give the support classes more races and it meant I was out of the press office more or less from 9am until after 5pm. It was truly exhausting and probably the worst I have felt at a race meeting in the near 30 years I have been covering motorsport. I have been out in a snow-storm, at night, in temperatures well below freezing, covering rally stages and in torrential rain on several occasions but I have never worked in heat like that and felt as uncomfortable as I did. I always thought the heat and humidity in Japan at the Suzuka 8Hr in July was bad but it was nothing like the weekend in Jerez. Heading to Portimao where the temperature was 32ËšC with a bit of a breeze was bizarrely a welcomed relief.

It has been a pretty intense return to work as after the Portimao race I drove across Spain to Motorland where a few of the teams were testing. It seemed like a good idea back in July when I was organizing my travel but after 1300kms and 12 and half hours driving my backside has a different story to tell. I was glad to have a couple of days to ride my push bike and recover before getting into the test. There has been a little bit of back and forth in the rider market for 2021 with BMW announcing they have signed Michael VD Mark. Who will partner him is still subject to intense speculation with some suggesting that neither Sykes nor Laverty will stay. There is obviously a vacant seat at Yamaha that will be of interest to many, but the smart money is on Loris Baz to move from the Ten Kate team to the factory squad.

Ten Kate have shown in the last few races this year that they have got to grips with the R1 and even if Baz moved sideways a seat on their bike would be no bad thing. I chatted with a couple of riders and a rider manager over the course of those first re-scheduled races and it would seem that BMW have a substantial budget to back their challenge for a WorldSBK title. In past weeks they have announced that they are looking to back a satellite team to join SMR on the grid to give a bit of credence to that theory. It will be interesting to see what teams are in the running to fill that role and a couple of those currently competing in the Supersport championship have been mentioned. It may be a way for Jochan Kiefer to return to racing. He had fairly well advanced plans to run a Yamaha team in WorldSSP in 2020 but fell

WorldSBK BLOG

short in securing a sufficient sponsorship budget. That could be understandable with there being so many Yamahas on the Supersport grid and the reduced exposure the support class gets. Would a factory backed satellite project with BMW in WorldSBK be a better option for a German team however? Time will tell but a couple of extra BMW seats on the grid will give a few more options in the rider market. The rest of 2020 WorldSBK calendar has finally been set with the scheduled fixture in Misano binned in favour of a final race weekend in Estoril, Portugal in mid-October. I haven’t been to Estoril since the MotoGP race in 2008 but it was always a venue I liked. The weather on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean might be a bit more unsettled than the Adriatic coast but as race tracks go I am much happier to be heading there than to Misano to end the season. It’s only a month and a half away and after such a long wait to get the season restarted it seems odd that it’s going to be over so quickly. GeeBee Images

Please make no attempt to imitate the illustrated riding scenes, always wear protective clothing and observe the applicable provisions of the road traffic regulations! The illustrated vehicles may vary in selected details from the production models and some illustrations feature optional equipment available at additional cost.

V

Photos: R. Schedl, KISKA GmbH

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373 cc 44 hp 15 1 k g WP APEX Suspension

Ride your own way.

There are many things about riding that are dictated by habit. How you twist the throttle, how far you lean and where you go is up to you. The only thing that matters, is that you ride to get there.

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One-armed. Photo by CormacGP

ON TRACK OFF ROAD

‘On-track Off-road’ is a free, monthly publication for the screen focussed on bringing the latest perspectives on events, blogs and some of the very finest photography from the three worlds of MXGP, the AMA Motocross and Supercross series’, MotoGP, WorldSBK as well as the latest bike tests. ‘On-track Off-road’ will be published online at www.ontrackoffroad.com on the last Wednesday of the month. To receive an email notification that a new issue available with a brief description of each edition’s contents simply enter an address in the box provided on the homepage. All email addresses will be kept strictly confidential and only used for purposes connected with OTOR. Adam Wheeler Editor and MXGP/MotoGP correspondent Ray Archer Photographer Steve Matthes AMA MX and SX correspondent James Lissimore AMA SX Photographer Cormac Ryan-Meenan MotoGP Photographer www.cormacgp.com Rob Gray MotoGP Photographer David Emmett MotoGP Blogger Neil Morrison MotoGP Blogger & Feature writer Graeme Brown WSB Blogger and Photographer Roland Brown Tester/Columnist Núria Garcia Cover Design Gabi Álvarez Web developer Hosting FireThumb7 - www.firethumb7.co.uk Thanks to www.mototribu.com for the share PHOTO CREDITS Ray Archer, CormacGP, Polarity Photo, Simon Cudby, Joe Dick Cover shot: Jorge Prado by JP Acevedo This publication took a lot of time and effort to put together so please respect it! Nothing in this publication can be reproduced in whole or part without the written permission of the editorial team. For more information please visit www.ontrackoffroad.com and click ‘Contact us’.