Smarty’s AMA Motocross 2014 Season Preview
Ok, we are on the brink of one of the most highly anticipated championships in recent years, so let’s take a look at how the 2014 AMA Motocross Championship is shaping up.
The 450 Class:
Obviously the big news leading up to the opening round at Glen Helen was the withdrawal of the 2013 Champion Ryan Villopoto who has just had surgery to fix his injured knee in preparation for the 2015 season. So, with RV out, predicting the championship winner got that much harder, but there are still plenty of potential winners.
You don’t have to look past the Red Bull KTM pairing of the ever consistent 2012 Champ Ryan Dungey, and former World Motocross Champion Ken Roczen as true title contenders. Both are fit and fast, they will win motos this year, and there is no reason to bet against either of these riders to be in contention at season’s end.
While talking about the orange bikes, Rockstar Energy Racing KTM have Davi Millsaps back on the bike and according to insiders he is looking very fast in recent testing, while the BTOSports KTM team will only have the evergreen Andrew Short on the start gate until Matt Goerke heals up from a broken elbow suffered during supercross..
Ok, here is where it gets very interesting, Monster Energy Kawasaki have hired Brett Metcalfe to replace Villopoto on the factory KX450F and the Aussie is fighting fit and looking to make the most of this opportunity while his team mate will be the highest paid ‘top tenner’ on the circuit in Jake Weimer.
Chad Reed will be back on the Discount Tire Racing/TwoTwo Motorsports Kawasaki KX450F, but the former champion has only been back on the bike for a short period after his injury suffered during supercross, so it could take Chad a few rounds to get to the front of the field.
Team Honda Muscle Milk’s Justin Barcia and Trey Canard are both fit and looking to be at the front of the pack all season but there is a question mark over both riders consistency.
Lucas Oil/Troy Lee Designs Honda’s Malcolm Stewart has more talent than you can poke a stick at and will have races where he shines while at others you won’t even know he is there. GEICO Honda’s Eli Tomac broke his collar bone a few weeks ago and is frantically trying to get healed enough to be on deck at Glen Helen, while his teammate Wil Hahn may be back for the last three rounds after suffering a cracked skull, broken right humerus and broken collarbone in supercross.
Ok, here is where Suzuki is at. First up we have Yoshimura Suzuki’s James Stewart who hasn’t finished a series for years (5th overall in 2013, 11th overall in 2012, didn’t race 2011, 35th overall in 2010) but with RV out Stewart will be very motivated to win this championship while over at the RCH Soaring Eagle Suzuki we have Weston Peick and Ivan Tedesco looking at getting two more yellow machines into the top ten.
Toyota/JGR Yamaha’s Justin Brayton, Josh Grant and Phil Nicoletti have all done so and are all capable of leading races with Brayton the best chance of taking it to the finish line but of the three he is the one who is still recovering from injuries sustained late in the supercross series. Nicoletti is supposed to be only racing the first three rounds then fill in if Brayton or Grant is injured.
Smarty’s Top Ten: 1. Dungey. 2. Roczen. 3. Metcalfe. 4. Reed. 5. Stewart. 6. Canard. 7. Barcia. 8. Milsaps. 9. Short. 10. Weimer.
The 250 Class:
Starting with KTM once again, you would be pushed to bet against former World Motocross Champion Marvin Musquin who is coming off an injury that sidelined him from the supercross season but leaves the Frenchman fit, fast and ready to win another title. Over at the Rockstar Energy Racing KTM team we have the hard charging duo of the new 250SX Supercross Champ Jason Anderson, and 2013 AMA Supercross Rookie of the Year Joey Savatgy looking to make a name for themselves on the outdoor circuit.
Valli Yamaha is throwing their expertise behind another former World Motocross Champion in Christophe Pourcel who, for the people new to the sport, is no stranger to racing in America and in fact came close to winning the 250 Championship in 2009 and 2010. If the quirky Frenchman rides to his full ability he will be a contender.
Yamaha will also be supporting Cooper Webb, Anthony Rodriguez and Jeremy Martin in the 250 class and all three youngsters have the speed and the desire so it will be interesting to see how many of the blue bikes end up at the front of the field by season’s end.
Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki has two championship favourites and former 250 champions in Dean Wilson and Blake Baggett looking to make the most of their final year in the 250 class while veteran Darryn Durham and teenage sensation Justin Hill join the long list of potential race winners.
Like the Pro Circuit team, GEICO Honda hasn’t put all of their eggs in one basket and they have Zach Osborne, Justin Bogle, Zach Bell and Matt Bisceglia vying for the top spot on the podium while over at the Troy Lee Designs/Lucas Oil/MAVTV Honda team have Cole Seely, Shane McElrath and Jessy Nelson are hoping to make the most of their fire breathing CRF250R motors.
And let’s not forget our very own Jackson Richardson. ‘Jatz’ is only going to do the opening three rounds on his privateer Honda but I honestly think that he has a chance at popping into the top ten on a regular basis if he rides to his full potential.
Smarty’s Top Ten: 1. Baggett. 2. Musquin. 3. Wilson. 4. Anderson. 5. Hill. 6. Webb. 7. Osborne. 8. Bogle. 9. Durham. 10. Savatgy.
2014 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championships
- Rd 1: May 24 Glen Helen National San Bernardino, Calif.
- Rd 2: May 31 Hangtown Classic Sacramento, Calif.
- Rd 3: June 7 Thunder Valley National Lakewood, Colo.
- Rd 4: June 14 High Point National Mt. Morris, Pa.
- Rd 5: June 28 Tennessee National Blountville, Tenn.
- Rd 6: July 5 RedBud National Buchanan, Mich.
- Rd 7: July 12 Budds Creek National Mechanicsville, Md.
- Rd 8: July 19 Spring Creek National Millville, Minn.
- Rd 9: July 26 Washougal National Washougal, Wash.
- Rd 10: August 9 Unadilla National New Berlin, N.Y.
- Rd 11: August 16 Indiana National Crawfordsville, Ind.
- Rd 12L August 23 Utah National Tooele, Utah
