Tomac - as crazy as it may sound might have had the most impressive rides of the day. I said this in a different topic, but this was Tomacs third MX race in the last two years and he handled Prado, Herlings and Hunter Lawerence to name a few. He had the raw pace but just couldn’t hold it the entire time as to be expected coming off of two injuries in back to back years. Races like this prove that some guys just have it and most don’t. Tomac is in the former. Kind of like watching Roczen in the opening laps, we know he is not even close to 100 percent, watching him in the opening laps old and beating down is something to behold. Prado is not the sprinting king Roczen shows it all the time.
Gajser just had his Everts moment, no one gives a shit or ever mentions Everts 10 titles or any of his 101 GP wins. He passed a second hand Stew, yeah I said it, that’s his career highlight without a doubt. Well 5 time world champ Gajser who is two crashes away from being a 7 time world champ just had his Everts moment. I’m a massive Gajser fan and I struggle to think of his greatest race. Valkenswaad one year he put 45 seconds on Herlings in a moto but didn’t win the O/A. Gajser got passed by Jett and rode on the absolute edge and blitzed Jett at the last corner to steal all the glory for himself. Like RC in 03, Everts in 06. Their teams lost but they won the battle.
Jett, He is the best racer in the world and it’s more and more obvious. Weather it’s a SX, MX or SMX he is the over whelming favorite to win that given event. He was the only one up front in Moto3 that gave away the top gate pick, this is a TEAM race after all and it cost him the overall in the end. It don’t matter Australia won and going into Ironman MxDN next year it’s going to be who in the hell can beat Jett. He came off of an injury that took Tomac out for much longer and looked like he had hardly missed a beat. He might be Australian but the USA is his house, pray for everyone next year at Ironman on his turf, his goal is to embarrass the world in 2025.
Lucas Conen - (Spell check) He is arguably the fastest 250 MX rider in the world. Him or Deegs. It seems rude that Kay won the MX2 title but Lucas is the one with that next level speed and in that moto before his crash he was showing it. The names that he was passing on his 250 and catching is unreal. Hopefully Him and Deegan is the new Roczen and Tomac.
Disappointments - AP, He does not bring his A game to Europe. Jett, Hunter and Tomac showed the pace is good, real good in the states but he just can’t bring it.
Prado - Always seemed to be moving back, the only time he had fight was when he was about to be passed by a 250.
Vialle - The Star of France last year was awful this year.
Who else did I miss. Agree or disagree?
i think you are massively underselling de Wolf. First of all, Coenens laptimes where not that much fasters, this wasnt seconds a lap faster, after lap 2 he only gained 5,5 seconds on de Wolff in the rest of the race before he crashed. Second of all, de Wolf held it together for 2 motos whereas Coenen crashed himself out. I found it an extremely mature ride by Kay which got NL on the podium.
i was also impressed by Fernandez. Hopefully he can be healthy for a full season next year,
I would not call AP’s performance a dissapointment. He put in two solid motos. Webb’s quali and 17’th were dissapointments and his last moto was about where i expected him to be.
Otherwise, pretty spot on.
Well on a slightly lesser level, how about Conrad Mewse going from 17th to 6th in the second race?
Also the Brazilian rider Fabio Aparecido dos Santos. He was running top 5 for about half the open qualifying race and still finished in 10th.
AP finished right where I would have expected. If you thought he could straight up beat those 3 guys ahead of him then you don’t pay much attention to the MXGP series. Renaux and Fernandez are really, really good.
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I agree with a lot of things you said, but AP impressed me to be honest. I expected more from Reneaux and Febvre, they usually step up at their MXON performances, Vialle too.
Prado seemed like he gave in after Fernandez crashed, he will leave to test SX soon.
As a Dutchie, I hoped (and expected) to have Herlings up front with Gajser, Jett and Tomac during the final moto. Matterly is not his greatest track (even though he had that legendary battle with Cairoli a few years back) and I think he was riding a bit tight. Coldenhoff did have some bad luck, but he didn't show the raw speed either.
The race itself was awesome. I loved seeing Tomac up front and pulling the holeshot in moto 3, he looked pissed off after the moto though! Gajser beating Jett was something I didn't expect. If you don't know him, please watch his vlogs. Such a likeable guy and a true humble sportman, whom really appreciates his fans
What I meant when I say it’s rude in my post is that it’s probably rude of me that Kay won the title and is a deserving champion but the trajectory of Lucas is next level. At 17 is where Kay is at 19/20 but faster. Crashes happen at these events with 250s pushing so much. It happened to AC after winning 6 450 titles in a row in 2014 while gaining on the leaders.
Fernandez is legit, I’m not that surprised that he did as well as he did.
Please explain the GP series, I’m all ears or in this case all eyes.
I don’t care that he got 4th overall, class rankings haven’t mattered at this event in a long time. He got handled by multiple 250s in his first race, and in general his pace wasn’t there. Webb had a faster lap time then him in their combined race and Webb did one motocross race this year and didn’t even finish it. I know what he is capable of, at home he is nearly on Hunters level. At this race he wasn’t close to Hunter who had issues himself. Mewse who is fast especially in GB got around him late in a moto, the resource gap between Mewse and AP is astronomical.
You missed Simon Laengenfelder who was 3rd basically 95% of the race 2 on 250, just behind Fernandez and Lawrence.
Some riders who don't get a place in the spotlight but I believe do earn it: Kārlis Reišulis, Enzo Lopes, Conrad Mewse, Mikkel Haarup, Julius Mikula.
Wrong, wrong and wrong again
Tomac was brilliant but certainly not the rider or the weekend that goes to Tim 243
Beat Jet straight up
De wolf and Lucas and laeganfielder where next up
Tomac carried his form as being USA top 450 guy and proved once again he’s one off the best in the world but he got the perfect start and had no roost to deal with but faded to third.
Kyle Webster, P11 in moto 1, 2nd 250F across the line, finishing behind Ken Roczen!
If you didn't notice he had a patch on his hand on the podium from being hit with a rock mid moto 1. Apparently he received a bunch of stitches between the motos it was that bad.
Not going to take anything away from Tim, but the other guys you mentioned were no where near as impressive as Tomac.
Zero Motocross races in 23
Rode the last two MX races in 24 after recovering from yet another injury.
MxDN was his third MX race in the last two years also his third MX race on that bike as well.
Everyone else you mentioned is fully fit and fully healthy sans Jett.
In the first moto Tomac passed Herlings and Prado and the second moto he passed Prado as well. Tim sure he won full props he went 1-1-1 but to say Lucas, Kay and Simon were more impressive is just flat out wrong.
Mikkel Haarup, last to 10th in race two.
Karlis Reisulis won the B-Final for Latvia then placed second overall in MX2.
Plessinger was way better than i expected, especially after how it went for him last year.
Tomac also impressed me a lot. As mentioned above, he's not raced motocross much recently.
Do have to agree for gajser, hes a 5 time champ but he won all those titles when jeffrey crashed out so ppl dont count him up there with the greats. I think this ride showed ppl that hes no joke and a 5 time champ for a reason.
If I had to pick one it's Karlis Reisulis. Second best MX2 rider after already racing the B-final Sunday morning. Dude raced for like two hours on Sunday.
Sounds crazy now, but him, his faster brother and Pauls Jonass could podium or even win one of these events in a couple years
Without Webster holding his own on Sunday Australia doesn't claim victory. He was brilliant.
Imagine the pressure the guy was feeling being the 3rd guy in THAT lineup.
Prado was by & far was the most unimpressive rider of the weekend. Coming of a dominant season & back to back GP titles & he did nothing come the main races.
Herlings, I didn’t expect him to win. He’s been playing second fiddle to Prado & Gajser all year, I didn’t expect him to be any different at the weekend.
The whole USA team impressed me, Tomac with his clutch rides & with decent rides from AP & CW. They came close to winning.
From the side line Simon L and Lucas Coenen looked great out there. Prado and Vialle after winning their qualifying races massively dropped the anchor. Probably not comfortable with vision or getting roosted in the pack
Pit Row
You do realize kay,Lucas,Simon are practically kids and made Vialle look very average on a 250 not to mention cooper and antstie
I was there and they where way back when those kids where going for overall podiums. I honestly thought Deegan was the best 250 guy on the planet, now I’m not so sure.
Again I think I'm most impressed with Team USA's 250 rider. In 2022 J.Cooper was the hero of the team landing that 4th place in race 2. This time it was Webb with an amazing 9th in his 2nd Moto. Any top 10 from a 250 rider at this race is outstanding.
Enzo Lopes MXGP class
Qualifies 22
Moto 1 15th place
Moto 2 11th place
Put him 9th overall in the MXGP results. Has not raced in a year or so. Has arm problems and can't hang on. Comes out and finishes 9th overall in his class. Does not get any TV time and I did not hear a word on the broadcast about him. I think a great result for Enzo. I'm impressed.
Webb’s “2 weeks on a 250” went pretty damn good in many eyes. As the MXON races progressed, so did his results.
I’m stoked he “volunteered” for this and I hope it was eventually fun for him. Yes,”fun”. We all know that dude just wants to win…and…still…I think I saw him smiling on the podium. Good for him and his team. I’m so impressed that they were in the running for the win while some folks were calling them a “B Team”!
🤣
While we’re here, Kyle Webster on the 250 for OZ put in a coupl’a impressive rides that shouldn’t be overlooked. The kid has grit and know he’s got a trophy and an experience that are both firsts for him and his country. So impressed by him and The Brothers Lawrence. Again, congratulations!
Gajser…crushing it on the last lap. Racing to win. “1-1” World Class Racer. PERIOD.
Aaron Plessinger. Damn. Puts in 2 solid motos…and to think of allllllll the stupid shit people -in here- said about him…during his best 450 season? Well, I’m thinking he’s set the record straight. I think we can all agree that when you use both of his moto scores to get 2nd on the world stage…he earned his place and he represented his country all the way on to the podium.
Coenen & De Wolf. Damn. The argument over who makes the fastest outdoor racers seems like it’s going to be ongoing…those dudes were shredding! Tho, I think the argument over who’s the fastest among the 2 of them is still, also, an open issue after yesterdays 1st moto.
Dylan Wright. Yes, I know a lot of people won’t get where I’m coming from with this…but…just this last June, Dylan had one of those crashes that scared the hell out of all us that have followed him…I mean…just…bad; and, we watched his true speed take the entire summer to slowly return. Yesterday, he put in Canadas best result after a few years of really bad luck and declining results. He got 13th in the last moto and he had to fight for that. Mad respect to the Canadian Bad Ass and a shout out to his Team Mgr, Kourtney Lloyd, for getting them there every year.
The gentlemen from The Netherlands. From getting tossed on to the ground to getting up on the podium. Nuff said.
The fans. The MXON fans. My absolute favorite rave-come-portable-insane-asylum…from all over the globe…
All the flags.
All that cheering.
Amazing.
And Alberto Forato
Yes to Coenen, after passing de Wolf and others he ate up Vialles lead in no time at all in the qualifyer too, hugely impressive on Sunday putting it to many top 450 guys, unfortunately he's been prone to crashes which ultimately cost him the MX2 championship, he even started off completely on the back foot in Argentina giving a head start to everyone after crashing out of a Moto and had many more smaller mishaps but was quicker than Kay the majority of the time... Insane talent, same goes for Kay but Lucas looks like the next Roczen
Laengenfelder went somewhat under the radar but seriously mpressed too, he put in the fastest lap in the heat race and backed it up well a 3rd place on Sunday too,
Mikkel Haarup impressive coming through to 10th on Webb
Karlis Reisulis, him and his brother could even emerge in the same way as the Coenen's if things fall into place
Conrad Mewes, 6th place looking more like a regular 450 front runner
When Webster placed 11th in the first Moto, I thought it was game over, congratulations Oz
Agree with Prado, great heat race, put in a sprint similar to what he can do and he showed a lap of blistering speed early in the last race passing Tomac but after ET pushed him that was it, it almost seemed like he had a hangover from the high of winning his championship after that, goggle issues aside
Coldenhoff and Vialle had days to forget
Ditto on Jett the best anywhere,much the same withTomac, particularly that last race,, back on top form, the US put in 5 solid top 10 rides guaranteed to be on the podium, that's how you it's done
Gajser, wow, he did the unthinkable and what no one else has manages, Jett was pushed to the same edge as he was on... Race of the year
Herlings, not at his best most of the year, niggling injuries haven't 'helped, pretty much as expected, unfortunately we probably won't get to see him at a MXdN on sand to see what he does best which would be a sight to see
What a day, edge of the seat stuff, the race that never fails to deliver
Forato was incredible. Qualifying and the motos, just catching Roczen like it's no problem, and after missing pretty much the entire year. I was not expecting that.
A lot of good names here! I have to give another shout-out to Reisulis...the dude won the B-final, then went 12-8 for 2nd overall in MX2!
Another guy that deserves props is Oriol Oliver. He had a rough first moto but then went from 21st on lap 1 to 13th in moto 2. Clutch ride to keep Spain in the hunt. Bad luck for Fernandez in moto 3 and the Prado fade made it an afterthought, but that 13th put Spain 2 points out of the lead heading into moto 3. If Fernandez doesn't go down they were right there for a win or podium.
Haarup also went from 29th to 10th in the second moto. Sick ride.
Expected more from Vialle, Prado (gave up one Fernandez went down?) and Herlings. 5-5 was solid but I thought he might run down the leaders both motos and he just never made the charge.
AP rode well like AP does. But he showed just as I had said since August that he doesn’t advance. He started 4th and finished 7th. Started 14th and stayed in 11th before the crashes/DNF’s which is all part of racing. Webb climbed through the pack on a smaller, unfamiliar bike and ran the same lap time as AP who is coming off his best season ever. Hard to say if the results were to change if AP was given the better gate pick in moto 3.
Tomac was brilliant, performed incredibly well and was only a couple percent off the race winners, which is mighty impressive despite his situation. He is an all-timer, and I'm so glad I got to see him in the flesh before he retires.
Where the riders leave the paddock to enter the track / start gate, they have to ride past a big line of spectators with paddock passes. They make a line that they have to almost fight through to get to the track, and Tomac got a hell of a cheer through there, lots of back pats and jeering. Despite the concentration ahead of starting a race, you could see in his face that it meant a lot. He's massively respected around the world.
Roczen was a fan favorite in the paddock, and got a lot of cheering and patting as he went through. He kept his helmet off so you could see his positive reaction to it. He's just not quite there performance wise these days, but that's all good.
Gajser was incredible, but I still think Jett showed himself as the top dog by performance, despite Gajser passing him at the end of race three. Jett fought past everyone in that race, and had it not been for lappers and perhaps a bit of lost concentration at the end, I don't think he'd have been passed.
Prado didn't really show up in my eyes, I thought he'd be more of a threat.
I wanted to see more from Herlings, but he wasn't really on his A-game.
The whole race was legendary. We will never get all these greats on the track at the same time.
Tomac killed it. Not racing motocross in two years, coming off injury and to run up front for 20 minutes is impressive. He was just as fast Gajser and Jett. I think once he realized AP wasn’t moving forward there wasn’t much to gain by going Gajser’s pace. He and Jett were on the ragged edge.
AP was disappointing. I don’t think he moved forward at all. He got gifted a bunch of positions in the last moto. Febvre and Roczen were both in front him. He looked uncomfortable, his bike setup looked terrible. Would love to hear what DV thinks because it looked like the KTM was beating the shit out of him. I like AP but he just doesn’t perform well under pressure. Some guys thrive in it, he’s not that guy.
Webb put a good moto in and I think he was catching AP. Would have been cool to win it for him, since they got robbed that year JA21 got landed on.
Tomac is 32 years old, it just makes it that much more impressive. He’s almost 10 years older than Jett and Prado. 4 years older than Gajser.
Dos Santos from Brazil, never heard off that guy! He rode really good on the Saturday! Impressive, got some good names behind him.
Fernandez all weekend and last moto from almost last to 12th!
Prado really screwed Spain with milking it in the final moto. Spain came 9 points short on the podium as he went from 1st to 14th. He is been the most disappointed IMO.
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