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I don't see Qatar as a 'European track', nor the typical 'GP track'. It was more of a glorified night track.
I think DV is right on
Here in Latvia you had to hand the key`s to Youthstream a week before the race and all of prep after that was done by YS crew.
The Shop
But when they reach Europe he will have the rock hard, gravelly surface of Arco di Trento to set up for first, before the loamy, choppy sand of Valkenswaard the following week. Then it's back to hardpack at Talevera in Spain, followed by Matterly Basin, a track which I think he will feel most at home.
But I wonder if the euro tracks require such a different bike setup how did Team USA manage to dominate the MXdN for so many years in a row?
I keep hearing the excuse of the bike not being right and it being a new series, blah blah blah. RV has done exceptionally well at the MXdNs on foreign soil. Why are any of these races any different?
You can even go back to 2008.
Donington was a manmade track built primarily for the '07 GP and used as a last minute replacement for the '08 MXdN. It did get pretty rough but the dirt, mixed with a lot of woodchip, was quite forgiving.
Saint Jean d'Angely doesn't get particularly rough. It's hard pack and doesn't really rut up that badly. Quite a few of the top MXGP riders were absent that year too.
Instead, if the track isn't perfectly prepped and groomed everyone complains.
But I've seen Dungey live in Teutschenthal and his bike was acting weird as well. I cant see stuff like that as good as DV and I'm sure it wasnt as bad as RVs bike last weekend but it didnt act as good as his competitors from what I saw (Tomac and Barcias Hondas looked better).
We will see how Thailand goes (new track, no team will have a perfectly worked out setup for that track) and then he has 2 full weeks off, they will get things figured out then pretty sure.
AC didnt go 1-1, he's only 13 points ahead now. It's gonna be good!
Pit Row
I believe in 2003 or 2004 the AMA Racing started grooming tracks. RC called MX highways and he lost a tad of his advantage. Wonder if DC and crew have really put our riders at a disadvantage via MXDN and MXGP due to USMX track prep.
But at the end of the day, how many titles do the 2 of them have? I would think they have a pretty good idea how they like a bike to behave.
Can he really change his bike completely like DV is suggesting and be comfortable from the get go? I mean he is used to his settings since, well, forever. Can he adapt to the GP settings so quickly? I really hope so!!
By y2k, the Euros were catching up to our fast paced sprinting and learning to whip and scrub, all the while we made SX more and more important. The SX series got longer and we did less and less motocross, while they perfected their motocross technique and raced all year. It should be no surprise to any one that they have caught up to us, just like all the new kids can whip and scrub just like Bubba.
Evolution never stops, get busy living or get busy dying!
At the Nations, the track doesnt get as hammered as a GP.. and as has been said before , the fact that the US has such a huge advantage with rider numbers always helps... US riders always come to the nations as 3 factory riders.. in 2011 at St Jean, the third Belgian rider was a postman... Italy doesnt have a strong MX 2 rider, the dutch have Herlings and DeReuver, but struggle for a third rider, the Germans had Roczen Nagl and Schiffer who wasnt even a GP rider , and they won... its just about who is fit , and who gets starts and is lucky.. you could say that luck ran out for the US the last 3 years, but i just think other people didnt have bad luck, Germany were worthy winners in Lommel, Belgium at Teuchenthal, and the French in Latvia.. its the same every year, anyone can win , but they can just as easy not win.
You also have the fact that not all the fast riders are in the same race, and a few more good riders just dont get picked , and the age rule for MX2 always fucked people over where they had to leave 3 good riders on the sidelines and pick a kid instead.. i think at St Jean , Tommy Searle was aged out of the MX2 nations spot because he was too old , even though he finished runner up to Herlings.... i will go as far as saying that if that rule still stood , (i think it was under 20 one year) i dont think a euro team would ever won again, simply because having young guys on factory bikes at that age is limited.
The whole MXGP field has 3 factory KTM's 3 Huskies, 2 Honda,s 2 Yamaha's, 2 Kawasaki's , and 2 (usually but 3 this year) suzuki's , and that is to go round the whole of europe.
The tracks are just prepped differently, and they all have different dirt, and the bumps just come out with more kickers than rollers... is noticable that Dungey was blamed for poor set up in Teuschental by Decoster, and the bike looked just like DV said about RV, low in the the rear , and kicked out at the front.
That said , Ernee in France this year is a bit wierd, quite narrow , and a lot of man made stuff, its a typical French track , but i dont see it being an issue .. it will be a great race as always.
i will concede and say that he indeed should have done a couple pre-season test races... he looked out of sorts from the gate-drop... weird indeed.
also, that track was a fucking turd, and i don't even want to see anyone try to compare that steaming pile to the Utah National track. props to those euro's for hauling that much ass on such a shit-hole track
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