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I’ve watched every race of the GP’s this year. Beyond the first 3 seconds after the gate drops you would have no way of telling there’s only 20 riders.
What I do notice however is the comparative lack of lappers compared to the US Nationals. Moto 2 in Latvia they lapped up to 16th place; taking out guys who dropped out early (DNF’s) there were only 5 lappers left on the track. Moto 2 at Hangtown they lapped up to 19th place; with 3 DNFs there were 18 lappers left on the track including a couple of guys who got lapped twice.
More is not better in this case.
I think if you were to let vlogger Tommy searle start in mx2 right now, he could finish in the top 10 right now.....that says enough about the level in mx2 at the moment
You must be smoking some strong stuff if you think Searle is getting a top 10 in MX2.
Has there been any word on what’s breaking in Herling’s Honda?
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Not a chance. The dire standard of UK mx right now, flatters anyone near the front of the British Championship races. Our top rider gets blown away on the rare occasions he rides a GP, and the rest are not world standard. We keep hearing about the "new crop" coming through but even the guy blitzing the 125 class is struggling to score points in EMX125. There's been a lot of hard work done to improve things lately but the sad truth is that the UK scene still exists in a bubble of self-delusion about the standard of riders.
You can't be serious about this.
Kay karssemakers races in that english championship last year and doensen this year ... doensen scored plenty of points in the mx2 a few weeks ago in France,,,, and searle is, in my opinion still about at their level......
Yes ,I really think that... by the way l edited that post about searle a bit and removed the word easy .....
No word from him or Honda but if you look at the way he struggled to push his bike off the track, I reckon one of his wheels wasn't moving freely.
You're absolutely right. And unfortunately, it's going to be a little while until we have another front runner.
Be good to see Heyman get picked up to wildcard a few though. Mustoe had a respectable ride in Germany too.
Unfortunately the UK championship is seen as a bit of "race practice" where overseas riders come over, and are straight at the front of races while only riding at 90% to save themselves for the GPs. Meanwhile the UK riders are flat-out because their focus is on the championship, which ends up giving a false impression of how quick the UK riders are. Karsmakers and Doensen battle with UK riders when they're here, then are far ahead of them at a GP. They raise their game for the GPs.
How many times have riders like Watson and Mewse "given Herlings a good race" when he comes over, then are a minute down on him at a GP? The overseas riders are GP standard. Most of ours are not, which (as a long time UK MX fan) is pretty depressing.
I agree with you. Drew Stock is making everyone look stupid in the 125 class but in Europe he is nowhere. Billy Askew doing ok in EMX250 when he gets a good start. Why is Charlie Heyman, Charlie Hammond & Jamie Keith not doing any EMX250 rounds? You need to race in Europe to get noticed, no one is specifically looking at the British Championship for talent.
Money.
Pretty much yeah.
I thought it looked like he was hitting the starter after stopping and no go.
As Phil said, money is a big issue. But every other country seems to find a way? The UK champs are full of big setups and teams in matching gear, with everyone seemingly having a "trainer" etc so there's clearly some money being thrown at the sport. I watch the (very good) livestream of the races and if you didn't know better it looks like the UK scene is bouyant and full of fast talent. Unfortunately it's a false impression given because the championship exists in a bubble away from the rest of the world scene. Guys winning our races are nowhere overseas.
Our top boys stay at home so the riders challenging them only ever get to their level (which is getting lower). This has made the UK scene fall way behind over the last 10 years. In years gone by, riders would be top 15 in the UK races, do a few GPs then come back into the top 10 or better. Racing a higher standard of rider raised their speed. Staying at home just makes a rider stagnate.
There is a lot of time and effort (and money now) being put into the Youth structure in the UK, which is long overdue, but it will take time.
Our guys are fast on tracks they know, and grew up on, that are well prepped, when they got to EMX, they are all (not just our lads) treated as a cash cow/program filler that has do deal with tracks that are prepped to suit classes coming later in the day , and it makes it a lottery right from practice.
So when you look at the costs, to go and, be mid pack at best because you dont get a good gate pick, is it any wonder that less folk go.
Colmer has moved to MX2, and looks better for it , but he is a big lad now on a 250, Askew, & Brookes have both shown decent speed, and Mustoe is back to the form he showed last year now.
And there arent as many big set ups as you think any more, lots of the teams are just Vans and Pop Ups, (DRT,772, Tru7 Honda, and Chambers) along with loads of others, i see more big stuff at the plethora of other series TBH.
Heyman's team would rather spend their money doing AMA , and i dont blame them TBH , times are difficult at the minute for all the teams with sponsors not being as plentiful, and the fact we are so light on riders now at all levels makes the depth not as good as it was.
I dont believe our guys are not as good as the French, German or Belgian riders of a similar age, but we do lack ( and have done for a while ) a generational talent that actually carried that though to upper levels successfully.
Brian Gyles has quietly put in a good couple of EMX 125 rides. One to watch.
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Actually i think there is pretty decent British talent.
A national mx2 championship with a lineup of youngsters like Askew, Brookes, Collmer, Heymann, Keith, Mustoe, Richmond and Rizzi is much deeper then what for example Germany currently has in their ADAC youngster cup (just looking at German entries in that class).
The difference is that teams from Germany, Italy, Netherlands, etc seem to make a (partial) EMX/GP calendar part of their plans, whereas a guy like Ben Mustoe has done three emx250/mx2 entries in 3,5 season. Not sure what the reason is for that, looking at some of the setups of the British teams i cant imagine that 7,5k budget to do a couple of wildcards in europe is the main reason why we dont see these riders.
For many, Many years, a Works Honda failing, in any type of MC Sport, would be announced as it being due to an "Electrical Failure"
Didn't matter if there was a pool of oil underneath it, a piston logged in the gas tank, or, a 'leg' ( or two) out the bed.
But, it's highly likely, nowadays, for the Old Excuse, to be exactly what has happened! 😁
Very much so, he rode great in Latvia.
That's a good point about having a generational talent. We had a similar situation in the 1970's when the UK scene got a bit home-focused until Graham Noyce came along followed by the first raft of riders from the new schoolboy scene at the time. Suddenly we had talented riders who took on the GPs again, did well, and the next couple of generations wanted to emulate them.
All through the 80's, 90's and 2000's we had guys doing well at the GP's until the latest generation decided not to bother about ten years ago and we're now where we are. It needs a talented UK rider who wants to go all the way, starts early and for the UK sport to get behind him. Dipping a toe into EMX at 18, 19, 20 etc is too late. It'll need someone with a good eye spotting a 15 year old and taking them to the next level.
Well if a dropped valve hits the spark plug and closes the gap, it’’s technically an electrical failure 😂
It didnt lock up. It wasnt smoking, he rolled to a stop.
I doubt it was anything properly mechanical, more likely electrical/fuel pump /earth strap or summat.
Sorry Phil I was only joking; it did indeed appear to just cut out and roll to a stop.
no, that was me being dumb, i meant to quote your first post, not the second one.
I have had bikes stop like that due to blocked breathers, bike would run for 15mins and quit, but i doubt it was something as menial as that. Could have just been a plug coming adrift.
Hilarious that the video finishes half way through the final MXGP race and just before Herlings' bike expired.
hahahah that is hilarious
For whatever reason Herlings and Honda don't seem to have figured out good sand settings yet. He's great on hard pack.
The rage in his riding after getting passed by KDW in the first. That just doesn't happen to him
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