If you were not at Milestone MX today then you missed it!

Around midday a shiny decked out black Escalade rolled through the pit area at Milestone MX with an equally shiny Factory Suzuki RMZ450 in the back and a bold number "7" on the side plates. I thought this would be interesting as haven't seen James on an outdoor track since last year at Milestone where he had a decidedly "couldn't careless" air about him and I said that I didn't think he would race any Nationals in 2011, guess what I was right. Also I know James doesn't care to be out in California either, but according to Mike Webb James has set up shop out here in California for the past few weeks and will remain for a few more to get the set up of the bike right, so it appears that James is serious about his switch to Suzuki. So which James would turn up today? As it turned out it seemed like a happy and very friendly James turned up. James burned up lap after lap and even took to the Vet track when they were watering the main track. The rest of Team Suzuki turned up an hour or so later with Metcalfe turning up as well. Mike Webb and the Team Suzuki were ripping through there testing program like a well oiled machine.

It has to be hard for Mike Webb as both riders have very dissimilar riding styles. Brett Metcalfe has your more classic motocross style and Stewart has a style all of his own but I would call it the newer more aggressive style where you ride the front wheel or over the front much more, scrubbing jumps and attacking the entrances of each corner. For Stewart's style the Suzuki RMZ looks to be a perfect fit.

I like Mike Webb and have know him for many years and I personally think he has certainly pulled off a massive coup for Suzuki, he now has his work cut out for himself but I think it will all pay off in the end and Suzuki and Stewart are my picks for the 2012 Outdoor MX title.

Suddenly the 2012 US National Championship looks exciting! Let me know what you think.

Read a very frank interview with James Stewart here:
http://espn.go.com/action/fmx/story/_/id/7925278/james-stewart-explains-why-left-joe-gibbs-racing-motocross

2013 AMA Supercross season schedule!

With the 2012 AMA Supercross season just completed and with all the title contenders suffering server injuries throughout that series, the 2013 sSupercross season is already shaping up to be a battle for the ages, with many questions to be answered. Can Villopoto, Reed and Canard recover from the serious injuries that they received? Will Dungey and the KTM come together to be a dominant force? Will James Stewart and Suzuki be a winning formula? What about the Wiley veteran Kevin Windham? Or will be a new young lion in the form of Justin Barcia who is moving up to the 450 class after winning 2 lites supercross championships. Perhaps a new player will emerge? Here is the schedule and be sure to book well in advance at MotovacationUSA as the spaces are limited and will surely fill up fast.

 

                                                              

Date Venue City
January 5                                  Angel Stadium                                      Anaheim, Calif.
January 12                                Chase Field                                           Phoenix
January 19                                Dodger Stadium                                    Los Angeles
January 26                                O.Co Coliseum                                      Oakland, Calif.
February 2                                Angel Stadium                                      Anaheim, Calif.
February 9                                Qualcomm Stadium                               San Diego
February 16                               Cowboys Stadium                                 Arlington, Texas
February 23                               Georgia Dome                                      Atlanta
March 2                                    Edward Jones Dome                             St. Louis
*March 9                                   Daytona International Speedway            Daytona Beach, Fla.
March 16                                   Lucas Oil Stadium                                 Indianapolis
March 23                                   Rogers Centre                                       Toronto
April 6                                       Reliant Stadium                                     Houston
April 13                                     Metrodome                                           Minneapolis
April 20                                     CenturyLink Field                                   Seattle
April 27                                     Rice-Eccles Stadium                             Salt Lake City
May 4                                       Sam Boyd Stadium                               Las Vegas

The Joe Gibbs Racing and James Stewart divorce is FINAL!

The marriage between Joe Gibbs Racing and James Stewart was supposed to have been made in heaven. It had all the ingredients: Factory supported equipment, the freedom to use other / better equipment if the Factory equipment wasn't working, long term contract with lots of money, close knit East Coast based team whose base is geographically located near Stewart's, reunited with former Team Kawasaki mechanic Jeremy Albrecht who is now the team manager at JGR, James brings a race and championship pedigree with him, as well as the moniker of being the "fastest rider on the planet" sprinkle on a healthy dose of car racing career after you finish your two wheeled career and it should have been HAPPILY EVER AFTER!

Where did it all go wrong?

• The Yamaha YZ450F - After James left the San Manuel Yamaha team, which he owned a large portion of, at the end of the 2011 supercross season he apparently purchased and tested a Suzuki. James even tested a factory version of the Suzuki while also in discussion with Gibbs Yamaha. There was even talk of Gibbs going from a Yamaha Team to a Suzuki Team in the off season. However when all the smoke cleared Gibbs stayed with Yamaha and somehow had convinced Stewart that they could work some magic with the YZ450F and it would be to his liking so James signed on for - 3 years. Was it the Yamaha YZ450 that was the red headed step child in this marriage that James could not tame? Or was it that the Suzuki that seemed like a persistent mistress that kept calling and tempting James to break the marriage?

• No California Testing - Joe Gibbs Racing is based down in the heart of Nascar racing on the East Coast in Huntersville. NC. They have their workshop, test tracks, training facilities all there in North Carolina. Unfortunately the Supercross season kicks off in California and spends the first 6 weeks out West. That equates to 1/3 of the season. The dirt and conditions in California, specifically Southern California are far different to those in Huntsville NC or even Haines City Florida when James is based. It came as no surprise to me that the JGR team was scrabbling at Anaheim 1 switching tires and brands of tires etc and generally struggling. I was also confident that their setup would work on the East Coast tracks with the different dirt they have there. What would be interesting to me would be weather they would get so lost with settings trying to figure out the Californian rounds that they would still be lost when they got back East. I figured if James could stay close to the leaders in the points chase he could stamp his authority on the championship once it headed East. With a win at Daytona I sensed an East Coast tear coming for Stewart, however it ended in a heap in the dirt at the next round. I have no doubt that not testing in California was a definite misstep.

• Is James still interested in racing? James Stewart has been racing at the very leading edge of the competition since he hit the scene riding a PW50 and beating others who were riding far superior equipment. James has been in the spotlight as the first African American to really excel in the sport of motocross since his childhood success, and he has had to carry that burden for well over 20 years. Perhaps James has tired of carrying the load? James has earned many millions and financially is set for life, won all the major championships, had a perfect season - so what new challenge is there? Combined with the fact that James has had a Supercross only contract for 2009,10 and 11 he has lots of time off and I am sure he has found plenty of new distractions to fill his time and life. Plus the more time you take away from racing you begin to loose that competitive edge as you allow a new guy to gain momentum and confidence. It seems James can be blazing fast for a lap, a heat race but a 20 lap main event you can see James lose concentration and focus then regain it back. Some of his crashes happen while his concentration lapse. 

• When did Jame loose confidence in the bike? the team?

• When did the team loose faith in James?

Well the separation, which was disguised as an "injury" and one of the worse kept secrets in the motorcycle industry became official, James and JGR are no longer together and the divorce is complete, here is the statement:
"Effective immediately, JGRMX (Joe Gibbs Racing - Motocross) and James Stewart Jr. have mutually agreed to release Stewart from his contract for all Racing and Media Relations responsibilities that were assumed by him at the beginning of the 2012 racing season. We wish to thank James for his contributions and wish him the very best for the future."

What does the future hold for James?

It is also a poorly guarded secret that James has been riding and testing a Suzuki RMZ450. Initially it seems that he wanted to get on the Moto concepts team with Mike Alessi. The hang up there was that Moto concepts is sponsored by DNA energy drinks and JT riding gear and James is heavily supported by Red Bull and  Answer. So it looks like James will run a Factory Suzuki with Red Bull support in the outdoor motocross series.

My question is that if James Stewart is so heavily involved with Red Bull why wouldn't Red Bull hook him up with a Factory KTM? Obviously the new KTM 450 is a very competitive motorcycle, as Ryan Dungey has taken it to 4 Supercross wins this year. Also the KTM450 is at the start of its development cycle so it will only get better as time progresses, the RMZ450, while it is a proven and known quantity, it is at the end of it's development cycle, and I am not sure what budget Suzuki has for future development? If I was James I would have maybe pushed for a Factory KTM. Anyways, even though I am not a huge James Stewart fan, I truly hope he can secure a bike and does ride the outdoor motocross season and re ignite his career because the sport is more interesting with James involved than without him.

The next phase of the "Fastest Man on the Planets" career. Good luck to Mike Webb and all the Team Suzuki crew.

What is your opinion?

Stoner beats Lorenzo, the rest of the field and more importantly he beat the dredded arm pump!

Casey Stoner takes his first victory of the season in a somewhat dominating performance over Lorenzo, the margin of victory being almost a second. The arm pump of the previous round now a distant memory and everyone should now be more concerned that this season will be a Stoner rout.

Pedrosa beat out a determined Cal Crutchlow, who must now be putting a lock on the second Factory Yamaha ride for 2013 that is currently belongs to Ben Spies, as Spies finished a lowly 11th.

As for the Factory Ducati Team? Nicky valiantly rode in third early but slipped back to 8th at the end, although still ahead of his more highly paid and celebrated team mate Valentino Rossi. One must wonder is the marriage of an Italian Rider on an Italian bike headed for an ugly divorce? Even with the new chassis the Ducati still seems to have some handling kinks that even the magical Valentino and his team of wizards can not straighten out. Will this be his last season in Moto GP?

As for the CRT class, does it make the racing more interesting? Or does it just fill the gaps left by the fact that only 3 manufacturers are still racing and that there basically only 6 full factory riders.

Truly it does not matter what they race, plastic toys, Vespa's, Superbikes, Moto GP or anything in between the cream will always rise to the top and currently the cream of the cream is Casey Stoner, the most alien of all the aliens.

What do you think?