Americans are pretty proud about their motocross heritage. If you look at the Motocross des Nations results for the past two decades or so, it is pretty clear that the United States has had, on average, the fastest motocross racers in the world.
I suspected that started to change, at least in the MX2 class, in the last couple of years. After James Stewart left the AMA 125 motocross class (now called “Motocross Lites”) for the larger-displacement AMA class (now called simply “Motocross”), the sea of riders that have fought over second place behind him (frequently 30 seconds or more behind him) populated Motocross Lites. Are these riders as fast as their European counterparts racing MX2?
MX2 names like Ben Townley (who moved up to MX1 this year after winning the MX2 title), Tyla Rattray, Marc De Reuver, and others have shown great speed, and even more style than some of the American riders. Were they faster? Leaving James Stewart out of the equation, I think so.
Recent races by American Mike Alessi in Europe (including a GP last weekend, where De Reuver and Rattray both came from behind and passed him in the first moto), as well as pre-season races by Alessi in Europe earlier this year (where some of the Europeans showed superior speed, as well), seems to confirm that the best of MX2 are now faster than the best of American Motocross Lites. Alessi finished a close second in this year’s Motocross Lites championship (the last year it was called the AMA 125 class).
With the Motocross des Nations coming up next weekend in Ernee, France, the United States would still have to be the favorite to take the win. With a dominant Ricky Carmichael (Suzuki) teamed with Kevin Windham (Honda) and Ivan Tedesco (Kawasaki) the U.S. looks the best on paper. Do not expect total dominance like some of the prior years, however. Several other teams could win the event without creating a huge upset.
