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Shame he can't snag Dunge more often.
Lots of good stuff. I was amazed how long it was, damn near 1.5 hours!
Good stuff Matthes, and good luck next year James!
The Shop
BTW, thanks a bunch, Steve!
Every time he does these he puts to rest so much crap that people talk about him. It's funny to hear him laugh about all the loonballs out there (here) that ride his ass constantly for no good reason.
Stoked James did an interview.
Hurry up A1!
Thanks Matthes for another great piece of work on your part. I would say hands down the best journalist in the sport. No offense to any others. I wish some of these guys who refuse to do interviews would just sack up and do them. I would love to hear him talk to RC, Hanny and J~Law!
My favorite part was when they touched on the subject of the MEC and what people were saying off the boards, "He should guy buy a pick up".
Cant wait for A1.
His answer on this topic wasn't really informative either. Basically, only info provided was the previous attempt where he felt the suspensions felt bad. I don't even know where to start to bitch and moan about this, so I just let it be and keep hoping for him to get over whatever "obstacles" he will encounter.
The Larry didn't get covered of course, while all the insiders know the details it seems (despite James said it was between him and Larry LOL).
The bike issue thing is still confusing, JGR really the answer to the issues he had previously? No one could figure out his YZF, and now all of a sudden they take some Nascar gadgets on bolt on? Sure, J-Bone sounds like an asset, but Sergio is the shit they say.
Nascar and $ smells like the decider, and the clause to ditch MX?
I hope James makes that program look good. We need more teams like JGR, and if he's successful it's good for all.
Second song- "Smith and 9th" by Reggie and the Full Effect (The Get Up Kids)
Outro- "Sade" by Alkaline Trio
Matthes a vivid vital member being confused why people are negative towards James made me a bit surprised? Really?
Great job Matthes.
Pit Row
I wasn't expecting much when I clicked play, but I actually really enjoyed listening to him chat relatively freely for once.
The plan is that James will ride outdoors in 2012 and 2013. If he wins either championship (SX or MX) in those two years, he can opt out of the outdoors in the 2014. MC did the same thing during his career and K-Dub is doing it now. Riding SX only is what lengthened their careers.
The NASCAR end of things did help the deal get done. James does want to get in to car racing when he is finished on the motorcycle.
They have a suspension dyno. They can take telemetry of a lap on their SX track, download it in, and mimic the shock or fork movement and look at the spikes. Then tweak something, and run it again and see what changed! They made their own shock! Need a different case cover? Run over and make it! Want offset races? Just go make them, fast.
Now, that being said, think about this. The YZF, in the hands of a top level pro guy, alot of things come to the surface that none of us will very likely never see. Who has done more R&D on that bike than anyone? JGR. Not talking about testing, R&D. They have done more than YMC USA. Engine, tranny, chassis, suspension, the works. If anyone can develope and move that bike, any bike, its JGR. The 09 honda started out as a roach, by 2011 its the best on the track. Same chassis, just figuring out things. Well, Yam is going thru the same thing.
To quote Josh Hill from 09.... "the bike is super responsive to the smallest change. Other bikes you can move something 2mm and kind of feel a difference, on that bike, you can moving something half a mm and its a BIG difference"
Plus remember, when your winning, you love your bike. When you are struggling, its always the bike. Regardless of the riders mindset, or his personal life, or his efforts- all of that can goto chaos and the cause of a bad year will always be the bike. Look at Dungey. Hes on the exact same bike this year as last year. This year, the bike is subpar. Last year, its the best thing since sliced bread. Last year, the bike would carve a pumkin, this year it wont turn. Last year he was on a roll and winning, this year it was a struggle, and just plain bad luck, and its the bike. Same for JS. Last year, everything went to chaos. His personal life was different, his team had internal issues, he struggled, of course it was the bikes fault.
The part I have an issue with is Matthes taking thinly veiled jabs at Dungey. Maybe because I am an RD fan I see things that aren't there but it seems to me he minimizes RD's accomplishments nearly any time his name is brought up.
In fact, when asking Stewart how he thought he would match up against the sport's current greats, Steve mentioned all but Dungey as being in that group. To Stewart's credit, the first person he mentioned as a real threat was Dungey. Stew then said RV was beating Dungey in SX so he knew the pace was high.
Steve also, for the umpteenth time, minimized RD's championships in 2010. He basically inferred that they meant less because the "best guys" weren't there. Really? I thought they all had the chance to be there. Dungey must feel really bad about winning it all that year, being it was his fault the other riders got hurt, pussed out, or just couldn't ride his pace.
As mentioned above, he loves to bash Vital as "a bunch of idiots" but he continues to post here, including spamming his work to further his interests.
Generally I like Matthes interviews but to me he can't land all the riders he should because of things like I mentioned above. I doubt he'll get a serious RD, RC, Hansen etc. interview because of the way he likes to minimize what they've done.
"Also too. Anyways" = annoying
Rant over.
My source is the JGR team. I speak with the guy that negotiates all the contracts for the team 4-5 times a week. I was at the press conference and talked to James at length about the upcoming season. There is an 'out' clause of sorts, but the expectation of the team is to ride both series. The 'out' clause is also tied to the NASCAR thing, making it very much in his best interests to ride outdoors. The option kicks in should he win a championship - which is the overall goal.
Check out the show some time! You will enjoy it!
http://MXMayhemRadio.com
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