These are strange times in the motocross world. It appears (according to the rumor mill) that James Stewart and Joe Gibbs Racing are set to part ways. I guess the honey moon didn't last very long and like a Kardashian marriage it is headed for divorce. It is odd since at the start of the season both parties were so in love with the other. For Stewart it was a home coming of sorts as he was to be reunited with former mechanic and current Joe Gibbs Team Manager Jeremy Albrecht. With personal phone calls from the coach Joe Gibbs further courting James and the temptation of a Nascar drive when his motorcycling career ended.
How times have changed. James initially rode cautiously and still crashed and then with wild reckless abandon and crashed some more. Eventually James crashed himself out of the championship and on to the injured list. Is it that James has failed to gel with the seemingly odd handling of the new generation YZ450? He has had troubles adjusting to it since its inception. However Joe Gibbs Racing they were supposed to be able to work magic and make the Yamaha do what James wanted. Maybe James couldn't tell them which direction to take and has become lost and disillusioned in developing this bike for his riding requirements. Perhaps the Joe Gibbs Team think James is giving less than 100% effort, especially during the week with training and testing. James certainly has plenty of possibilities for being distracted - TV show (is it still on? I only ever saw one episode and that was enough for me) he has more money than he knows what to do with (especially at his age) lots of fancy cars, a nice pad and I am sure an active social life. Maybe the truth is that it is a bit of both. James doesn't feel comfortable and confident on the bike especially when pushing and the changes maybe didn't make as much of a difference as hoped so the James backed down the training and allowed more distractions to enter and this leads to the team thinking they are getting less than 100% from the rider.
For sure this supercross season has seen more than normal amounts of carnage, crashes and injuries. Of all the class favorites only Villopoto has escaped unscathed and picked up his second championship in the process. Carnard, Morias, Reed, Dungey, Stewart and a bunch of others have been beat up and injured this season. Are the tracks to difficult, or poorly designed, the four stroke bikes which have a larger displacement and weigh more than the 250 strokes that they replaced or is it just that everyone is pushing so hard and fast now? Whatever the reason it has been a season marred with injuries.
Now come the interesting twist! Chad Reed who is both the rider and team owner at Two Two Motorsports ( I personally hate the name and think it would have been better named Reed Racing!) gets injured while in a tight battle for the championship and at the point of crashing looked to be the fastest and most consistent rider on the circuit. I dare say that if Reed had not have been injured Villopoto may not have earned his second championship. The problem for Chad is that now he has all the personnel and Factory Honda's sitting around doing nothing, and sponsors not getting any exposure. Realizing the extent of his injuries Chad decides to hire New Zealand speedster Ben Townley away from the Australian Honda squad that he had signed on to race the Australian Championships this year having been banished from AMA racing and World GP's for being constantly injured. For 2012 Ben Townley was looking like a new man fully healed from all previous injuries and rejuvenated he promptly spanked all the New Zealanders for their National Title and was on his way to doing the same when he was contacted by Chad at Two Two. Unfortunately Ben had a nasty crash at an Australian Championship round, which he was using as warm up for the US AMA series. It was to be his last ride in Australia before coming to the US to begin preparations with Two Two Motorsports. I wish Ben Townley a speedy recovery but the extent of his injuries are such that I am sure he will not be racing for the remainder of 2012. This leaves Chad Reed and Two Two riderless again!
In the strange but might be true category we have Stewart possibly with out a ride since his relationship with Joe Gibbs Racing seems sure to end in a divorce, and Chad Reed needing a rider that has championship potential. The Honda CRF450 seems to be a known quantity as Chad was leading the series in 2011 before his crash at Milleville and Barcia has won on it at the end of 2011 joining as a fill in rider for the last 3 races last year. If Stewart thinks he needs a different bike, could the Honda be the bike that allows him to regain the mantel of the fastest racer in the world? I am sure Reed doesn't want to pay James, especially since James has harpooned Chad on more than one occasion possibly costing Chad at least one or more titles. On James side of the coin if he does leave the security of a 3 year deal with Joe Gibbs then where does he go? He left Kawasaki and they have Villopoto anyways. Honda has a full stable and I am sure they are trying to make room next year to be able to keep Barcia on Red bikes in 2013. KTM has Dungey and the young Euro guns of Roczen and Musquin will be moving up at some point. Yamaha doesn't have an official team and he will not be welcome on any of those teams and it seems he doesn't like the bike either so I don't see that working. Suzuki could work and apparently he did test Factory Suzuki's at the start of the year it is rumored that he was very comfortable and fast on them. The one factor stopping Suzuki is budget. So James options seem limited, especially if he doesn't ride outdoor motocross. However, if he did ride the outdoor series and ripped it up on the Two Two Honda's then suddenly his stock will rise and he will be a desirable commodity. It could be interesting.
My personal feeling is regardless weather Joe Gibbs Racing and James split or stay together, James will not race the outdoor motocross series. I don't think James is motivated by money anymore, and he has a perfect season and outdoor title on his mantel already. Racing the outdoor series requires LOTS of physical training, riding the bike, pounding out numerous laps on burnt out tracks and testing. All things I suspect that James now loathes. I think he still finds Supercross interesting as it is a test for him to find new lines and ways over the obstacles, it allows him to be creative and I think that is what currently drives James and provides him with contentment and is his motivation.
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