Posts
6767
Joined
8/30/2008
Location
Stockholm
SE
Edited Date/Time
1/26/2012 9:03pm
I noticed a Swede Tom Söderström got a 14th place overall at the Swedish GP (for the American guys: it's the other series run manly in Europe). That makes me happy because we are so crappy as a mx-nation it's embarrassing. No I'm not doing anything to make things better and these guys that are fast in Sweden have more talent in their left nut than I have in total. Just saying it's amazing how a nation that used to dominate mx isn't able to create a top 10 rider in over a decade... This 14th place made me happy. Kid is 18, maybe he will progress from now on, but I have seen so many of these kids with similar performance actually decrease in performance, so I will stay pessimistic for another year...
Anyway, you as a Yank, or a French, be damn glad you have so much talent to be proud over...
Anyway, you as a Yank, or a French, be damn glad you have so much talent to be proud over...
Hey Doc,
What was the name of the Swedish kid who used to be top 10 in the 90s? He is from Tranas and used to ride for a Suzuki team sponsored by Chesterfield. Before him, I remember Jorgen Nillson finishing 3rd in the 250 cc class in 1987: do I remember correctly?
Or Joakim Karlsson?
I'm a bit ashamed, but I didn't ride or attend any mx during late eigties to early 2000. I was only riding and attending early to late eighties and made a comeback 03!
I got your pm by the way!
Later!
/Marc
Karlsson was an animal on a 500.
I think the main problem for youngsters is unless you really stand out like Roczen, Charlier et al or your parents are mega rich you don`t stand a chance of doing the full series only your home GP, Soderstrom given the chance and a few years under his belt of doing the GP`s could well be a top 5 finisher. Unfortunately we`ll probably never find out just like with Scott Elderfield from the UK.
The Shop
It was Karlsson, he rode well in the 125 (for that Suzuki Chesterfield team) and in the 500 (for RWJ Honda), but didn't accomplish just as much in the 250...
Jorgen Nillson finished 3rd (behind Geboers and Vehkonen) in the 250 class in 1987 riding a privateer Honda (truly privateer, if I remember well).
Damn. I envy the french the most...
Naturally there are many factors for the downfall, but one them have to be this: Finnish juniors can't start competing untill they're 12 years old. Previously this wasn't such a big deal, but nowadays it seems that the game is over before it even begins. I bet Herlings, Roczen and Barcia have competed since they were 5.
Also our tracks are pretty old fashioned and poorly maintained. I went to Uddevalla last weekend and now I envy the Swedes.
I remember a good Finnish rider in Mika Kouki in the late 80s early 90s...good times! And Matti Seistola wasn't bad either...just a bit inconsisten.
We have been wanting to do more of a story on whatever happened to Sweden. I remember all of the greats from when I was a kid, and even the ones I read about that were before my time: Hallman, Lundin, Tibblin, Aberg, Kring, Jonsson,Andersson, Hammergren, Torlief Hansen, etc. (whoops, and Carlqvist!)
But after like Jorgen Nilssen and Joakim Karlsson, there hasn't been much coming out of the country... Except those Girl with the Dragon Tattoo books my wife reads, and that author is gone already too. Have they banned most off-road riding or something?
DC
MX Sports
Will this make you feel better? The true goat.
And ABBA.
I'm backing it up :
A survey was taken around the world where the results were determined by:
Quality of women
Ratio of women per men
Ease of talking to women.
The top ten cities are:
10. Amsterdam, Holland
9. Tel Aviv, Israel
8. Montreal, Canada
7. Caracas, Venezuela
6. Moscow , Russia
5. Los Angeles, California
4. Varna, Bulgaria
3. Buenos Aires, Argentina
2. Copenhagen, Denmark
1. Stockholm, Sweden
Pit Row
And again, $. I doubt there are many parents who can afford or even have the possibility to take their youngster down to Spain, Italy, etc. during the winter, leaving work behind and focus their efforts into helping their kid progress as a rider. That's my .02
Seriously though, as Zenn pointed out, it probably has a lot to do with the fact that the sport has evolved and left Sweden (and the rest of Scandinavia it seems like, sadly) behind it. Unless you can afford to travel downwards on the continent each winter you're basically shit out of luck riding for a good few months. You can ride but it's usually pretty shitty really.
The other factor would be how incredibly inbred and behind the sport is/was for a good few years here. That part is actually getting better in my opinion, but there was a long while when our tracks looked straight out prehistoric compared to tracks elsewhere, that obviously doesn't help. A good rider is a good rider but if you've never had the chance to hit a double-jump (let alone something like a 120ft uphill triple jump) you wont exactly shine on the international circuits. As said though, this has gotten better during the last few years, which I'm thankful for.
A combination of both other nations stepping it up and Sweden stepping it down, would be my guess, more of the former than the latter I still think though. We had a good run in the olden days, perhaps we can make a return to the podiums in the future if things progress in the right direction locally. Who knows.
And nothing wrong with cheering for Söderström, he's a great rider. Being top20 in the GP's makes you no slouch for sure.
About mx in Sweden. The crazy thing is that the lack of competitive riders have nothing to do with tree huggers, lefties or whatever. All tracks are still open and honestly in comparison to the US and New England in particular a Swedish rider living in Stockholm have almost 10 tracks to choose from within a distance of 50 miles. The price for riding is newer more than $ 15, and you can ride at least 4 times a week if you feel for it. The downside is the winter of course and you have to live in south on Sweden to be able to ride without using spike tires. That could be a major factor but…
I suggest the previous stars you guys mentioned wouldn't stand a chance against the breed of today. When you have people like the Alessi family who literally dedicate their lives to motocross, and even have their own "education" at home, it's impossible to compete with that with just talent and say riding 2-3 times a week because it’s fun and you have talent. That was probably enough during the seventies and eighties and even maybe even during early nineties. If I remember correctly Carla and his fellow riders had regular jobs and kind of competed as a hobby?
Also others sports have a much better ratio in success compared to time and money for the parents. Say hockey, tennis or golf. Compare the time consumed and the amount of cash and the possibility for success. The kid can practically take the buss or train to practice. Also these sports make it possible to continue school. I had a friend that became one of the best hockey playes in the world, and we went to school and hanged out together between fith grade to highschool and he could be a rather normal kid until he became 18 where things turned really professional.
So the conclusion of this ramble is that the price you have to pay to become a rider isn’t attractive when you can become a successful Dr, lawyer with 1/50 effort and for free, or others sports have a much higher ratio of money and time invested and the chance of success. I think we are as good as we used to be, but that you guys are so much more dedicated.
So, I don’t see any future for Swedish mx, but I hope I'm wrong…
Wow, what a rant? Sorry…
Man , I wouldn't sweat it. You guys will have a fast bunch come out of there again.....it happens to every country. Even the USA riders in times past have sucked ( maybe not sucked.....but don't think they were the fastest in the world for sure )
It's all good man......pick your closest neighbor and root for him. I root all the time for guys like Wilson , Townley , Reed , Metcalfe and the sort.......because I dig them as a rider.....It doesn't matter where they are from!
You wouldn't believe how hard I used to cheer for Roncada to beat RC way back then! I was so sick of watching RC dominate.....I just wanted someone to beat him! OR....when DV had figured out MC's game , and starting giving him trouble.....I was rooting for DV big time!
Sure....I'm a patriot.......But i'm more of a fan of the sport in a whole! I don't care what country you ride for , as long as it looks like you try hard , really want to win and treat everyone cool.......I'll back you.
Honestly....right now....I have been rooting for Townley big time! I know that guy has the speed to win , and I want to see him do it! I have been a fan of his ever since i saw him keep RC in check a few years ago at the MXoN's race......when he was gapping everyone else in the world. Look at how he gave RV fits in the lites class a couple years ago to.......And RV is ( was.....probably still is ) the fastest outdoor guy on the planet along with James. He's getting his speed back after being off for almost 2 years.....and I root for him every chance I get.
Add it all up and there was a really big group of very fast men from a not-so-big group of citizens. Kind of like all those great Swedish tennis players, or motocross mechanics from Canada!
DC
MX Sports
We are simply caught up in the hype of US and GP racing without having anything to build up talents with. There is no money to help up and coming riders, to finance a MXDN team etc. We DO however have the newest transponders (which are 100$ to rent for a race). We are going backwards, and to the Swedes I have talked, it seems liek they are kind of stuck in the same situation. No one can afford or is willing to make the sacrifice it takes to become the best. And the few who can afford it, end up discovering women and alcohol and the "coolness" of getting a 3rd overall in the Norwegian championship. (which isn´t worth shit)
Another thing with us in Sweden is that we prefer practice before racing. There are very few races going on in Sweden at any given point which also might be something if there where more races maybe would induce speed and the right "think".
But again, for us it's a no brainer to try to become fast when so many others have both more incitement and better climate and we have other areas to choose from with a higher ratio of money spend and future success gain.
Hey Jeffro503 tnx for the support. The point as you say is to be a fan of the sport for sure. So I'm not in a fetus position and crying, just got a wake up call when I saw a Swede doing rather ok. So I'm all good.
Again, tnx people for the input and support! But again I'm fine!
Pourcel! Pourcel! Pourcel!!!!
And most races isnt that far away!
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