#8: MXGP of Latvia

-MAVERICK- wrote:

Yeah. France will need to send someone to the US eventually. Ferrandis won't be racing for many more years. Someone's going to have to take over to...

Yeah. 

France will need to send someone to the US eventually. Ferrandis won't be racing for many more years. Someone's going to have to take over to fly the flag. 😄

ohh_454 wrote:

I’ve been saying in other threads that Mitch needs to get Valin over here on a PC bike. 

JBone19 wrote:

He’s a solid guy outdoors. Did he race some French Supercross in his youth years?

ohh_454 wrote:

I’ve been saying in other threads that Mitch needs to get Valin over here on a PC bike. 

JBone19 wrote:

He’s a solid guy outdoors. Did he race some French Supercross in his youth years?

ohh_454 wrote:

I’m not sure if he has, but he’s young and the frenchies tend to do well in sx. Sign him to a 2-3 year deal and...

I’m not sure if he has, but he’s young and the frenchies tend to do well in sx. Sign him to a 2-3 year deal and give him some time to develop. The kid won the last mx2 race, the potential is definitely there. 

quadzrulebro wrote:

Seems like ultimately, the younger generation in Europe all want to come race SMX and make the big bucks once they prove themselves and are able...

Seems like ultimately, the younger generation in Europe all want to come race SMX and make the big bucks once they prove themselves and are able to land a ride with a premier team in the US.  What young, fast European hasn't been shopping for a ride in the states?

rsd47 wrote:

These things tend to go in cycles imo. People see how 'easy' it was for the Lawrences to transition, Vialle managed to win a couple of...

These things tend to go in cycles imo. People see how 'easy' it was for the Lawrences to transition, Vialle managed to win a couple of regional titles, Prado only took a year to become a podium guy despite a tricky first season and virtually no SX experience, and now the Coenens (Lucas especially) look like they could be generational talents with that same potential to make the switch and win in the states.

Sooner or later we'll get a run of outdoor warrior kids, or a few people will make the switch to the States and really struggle, pick up injuries, or derail their careers and that'll make a few people think twice. It shouldn't be this easy for so many euro and GP riders to just become title contenders in SX with no pedigree or experience, we're just seeing some unbelievable talent at the moment. 

You can also still make a LOT of money being a GP great like Cairoli or Herlings without having to ever risk the supercross stuff, move away from friends and family, or put with a bunch of Americans 😆.  There will always be people who  pick their home comforts over the big switch

Finally, a lot of it is probably down to the people running the shows. Despite the complaints about the AMA and  Feld, the people running the GPs right now are worse. The fields are smaller than ever because it's so expensive to compete, the riders have a crazy travel schedule and are forced to put themselves at risk more than ever with the Saturday quali races for points and so on, they rarely feel respected (see the recent Febvre interview), and as a viewer of GPs since the late 90s I don't think I've ever been less invested and excited about the product that I'm getting for the price I pay to watch. As long as this is the case and the promotes don't change, more and more riders will see a trip stateside as the golden goose. 

I honestly think the biggest change we'll see is mid pack talent making the switch to pro motocross for the summer and trying to qualify for the SMX playoffs. Being a privateer is virtually impossible in Europe now, but someone like Guillod was able to come to the US, only race the 11(?) nationals, qualify for the playoffs, and even earn himself a team in the process. He completely revived his career doing this, only had to do half a year of racing, and fans all loved it. If I'm Seewer or basically any fast GP rider without a good factory ride, that's the path I'm taking. Honestly shocked Coldenhoff didn't do that, but maybe he felt it was too late in his career and too much of a risk

*Edit: and if I'm a smaller privateer team that is already planning on doing all the outdoor rounds, MXGP is where I'm doing my shopping every summer if riders get injured or don't work out. Offer to provide a bike and some help with travel, and see who believes in themselves enough to ride for free and try to qualify for the playoffs. I think it would be surprising how many good riders would go for that over trying to cobble together a privateer team and race a handful of the European rounds of the MXGP series 

quadzrulebro wrote:

That didn’t answer my original question, though.  Who will be the next rider after the Coenens to graduate to SMX?  I’d like to pay attention so...

That didn’t answer my original question, though.  Who will be the next rider after the Coenens to graduate to SMX?  I’d like to pay attention so I can learn a bit about them before they come over.

kaidodragon wrote:

I was animating some local SX junior and he was doing well, dominating the field very easily with a smooth style. But the track conditions and...

I was animating some local SX junior and he was doing well, dominating the field very easily with a smooth style. But the track conditions and the competitors were nothing like the USA soooo hard to say. I think his bike lacks a lot of power in MX2.

ohh_454 wrote:

I’ve been saying in other threads that Mitch needs to get Valin over here on a PC bike. 

JBone19 wrote:

Jules Pietre is under the guidance of Cedric Soubeyras right? He knows how the USA stuff works. 

ohh_454 wrote:

I’ve been saying in other threads that Mitch needs to get Valin over here on a PC bike. 

THE mx addict wrote:

Valin will probably have to make a difficult choice for the future: stay in Europe (Kawasaki wants to keep him, KTM and Triumph want to hire...

Valin will probably have to make a difficult choice for the future: stay in Europe (Kawasaki wants to keep him, KTM and Triumph want to hire him) or fly to USA to ride for Mitch (PC team)...

JBone19 wrote:

Jules Pietre is under the guidance of Cedric Soubeyras right? He knows how the USA stuff works. 

THE mx addict wrote:

Pietre will have a lot of work to do before eventually coming to America...

Juck wrote:

If Langenfelder doesn't get back to his 2025 form next GP and stay that way the rest of the year I think he's out of the...

If Langenfelder doesn't get back to his 2025 form next GP and stay that way the rest of the year I think he's out of the championship. It's odd that he's been so off this year.

Juck wrote:

If Langenfelder doesn't get back to his 2025 form next GP and stay that way the rest of the year I think he's out of the...

If Langenfelder doesn't get back to his 2025 form next GP and stay that way the rest of the year I think he's out of the championship. It's odd that he's been so off this year.

Juck wrote:

If Langenfelder doesn't get back to his 2025 form next GP and stay that way the rest of the year I think he's out of the...

If Langenfelder doesn't get back to his 2025 form next GP and stay that way the rest of the year I think he's out of the championship. It's odd that he's been so off this year.

Mavetism wrote:

Still a long way to go aswell though, Sacha looks crazy right now but it only takes one bad race to be in this thing again...

Still a long way to go aswell though, Sacha looks crazy right now but it only takes one bad race to be in this thing again. I'm actually scared that both Coenens want to go for all three nationals this year despite both being red plate holders, I hope nothing bad happens to them 😅

Juck wrote:

No fucking way. 3 mechanical DNFs this year and it's only round 8. What the fuck is going on at HRC