Davey Coombs interview (big)- MXoN USA 2022 or 2023, plus no USGP 2019

FlaNard wrote:

All respect to DC but I'm not sure that I agree that the lack of track soil/prep diversity isn't hurting our guys. I get his point...

All respect to DC but I'm not sure that I agree that the lack of track soil/prep diversity isn't hurting our guys. I get his point about not intentionally making shitty tracks to prepare our guys but I'm old enough to remember each track having it's own characteristics and challenges. Guys with great throttle control like K-dub could win on a slick track because the track really let that skill stand out. You don't really see that anymore.

theprizefighter wrote:

Look at it in reverse; he [i]should[/i] make tracks to prepare for adverse conditions since it won't hurt their skills on a track with normal conditions...

Look at it in reverse; he should make tracks to prepare for adverse conditions since it won't hurt their skills on a track with normal conditions. At the end of the day, the losses for team usa the last few years speaks volumes. Bagget was lapped by Herlings a few years ago, and he was the national champ. Open your eyes and stop being a politician for your series.

TXDirt wrote:

DC will absolutely look at things because the loss at Red Bud did damage to the perception that the "best riders in the world ride AMA...

DC will absolutely look at things because the loss at Red Bud did damage to the perception that the "best riders in the world ride AMA Pro Motocross"

That is not the case any more.

That's damaging to the business of MX Sports and AMA Pro Motocross.

Any competent business leader would be evaluating it.

SCR wrote:

[img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2018/10/17/296440/s1200_s1200_StusiakSears001.jpg[/img] Sears Point. Best idea I've ever heard.

Sears Point. Best idea I've ever heard.

St Ann More wrote:

Except Barcia said he'd been pretty much full-on MXdN prep prior to the event and had only practiced SX twice between finishing the season and MEC...

Except Barcia said he'd been pretty much full-on MXdN prep prior to the event and had only practiced SX twice between finishing the season and MEC.

Didn't Eli say similar, just a few days of SX?

Most want an excuse to justify the loss at the MXdN and will hang off whatever slice they can. God forbid giving MXGP based riders credit without a but...

Huckster wrote:

Actually if I remember correctly Barcia said be crashed hard his first day back training and didn’t ride for a while leading up to the MXoN

St Ann More wrote:

Excerpt - "I took a week off after the season, crashed on the 2nd day back riding, so took another week off". Therefore Barcia had four...

Excerpt - "I took a week off after the season, crashed on the 2nd day back riding, so took another week off". Therefore Barcia had four weeks of preparation for the MXdN."I've been on the Motocross of Nations train, so I only have two days of Supercross before this (MEC), very little preparation for this race".

Eli said similar and i'm paraphrasing, but a little time off, MXdN prep, just a few days of SX.

But yeah "winner winner chicken dinner" (obviously not you) in response to posts like "Would you rather win at MXON or make a million dollars at MEC", "factory teams and the US riders focus on the most and it showed at the MXON", from absolute basketcases who either have selective comprehension or are simply lonely upstairs!

TXDirt wrote:

DC is completely right. The US went over to Red Bud unprepared, to the point of arrogance it seems, and got curb stomped on the World...

DC is completely right. The US went over to Red Bud unprepared, to the point of arrogance it seems, and got curb stomped on the World stage. From Roger not picking inside gates, to the riders being unaware they added sand to the track (did they even do track walk??), to Eli it seems not practicing any starts off a metal gate.

This complete ass kicking of AMA circuit riders hurts the series more then anything over the last 5 -10 years.

They got stomped when it mattered most, by the best riders in the world. Sure does take the shine off the AMA US Circuit riders, that's for sure.

keinz wrote:

Sry, but I don't understand what a hell are you talking about? riders being unaware they added sand to the track. What a surprise??? Euros didn't...

Sry, but I don't understand what a hell are you talking about?

riders being unaware they added sand to the track. What a surprise??? Euros didn't even seen the whole track before

to Eli it seems not practicing any starts off a metal gate. Isn't all the SX 18 round starts from the metal gate???

SCR wrote:

[img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2018/10/17/296440/s1200_s1200_StusiakSears001.jpg[/img] Sears Point. Best idea I've ever heard.

Sears Point. Best idea I've ever heard.

SCR wrote:

[img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2018/10/17/296440/s1200_s1200_StusiakSears001.jpg[/img] Sears Point. Best idea I've ever heard.

Sears Point. Best idea I've ever heard.

RandyS wrote:

I've had a feeling ever since Sears Point ran that one off race that some day we're going to lose Prairie City and the Nor Cal...

I've had a feeling ever since Sears Point ran that one off race that some day we're going to lose Prairie City and the Nor Cal national is going to end up there. I've got an envelope full of negatives from that day that I've never printed. I need to get a good slide scanner.

SCR wrote:

[img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2018/10/17/296440/s1200_s1200_StusiakSears001.jpg[/img] Sears Point. Best idea I've ever heard.

Sears Point. Best idea I've ever heard.

RandyS wrote:

I've had a feeling ever since Sears Point ran that one off race that some day we're going to lose Prairie City and the Nor Cal...

I've had a feeling ever since Sears Point ran that one off race that some day we're going to lose Prairie City and the Nor Cal national is going to end up there. I've got an envelope full of negatives from that day that I've never printed. I need to get a good slide scanner.

SCR wrote:

I would like to see a mxdn or GP at Sonoma . But it would be a sad day if they took Hangtown off the schedule...

I would like to see a mxdn or GP at Sonoma . But it would be a sad day if they took Hangtown off the schedule. I would like to see those pictures you took.

wfo4ever wrote:

The real answer is money. Would you rather win at MXON or make a million dollars at MEC. Also It costs the USA OEM factory teams...

The real answer is money. Would you rather win at MXON or make a million dollars at MEC. Also It costs the USA OEM factory teams a lot of money to go to MXON for not much if any return on their investment. Remember they are from Japan and Austria not the USA. As far as our Outdoor tracks most fans want to see big jumps and other obstacles like SX. Also most fans (not us diehards) would rather watch SX in a big covered stadium with A/C and comfortable seating and have a great view of the track. They do not want to be outside in the hot sun all day playing and texting on their phones, with limited viewing at most outdoor tracks. If you have young kids, SX is much better to attend. SX has a family seating area, is much more kid friendly with lots of things to do in the pits. SX is where the money is with the large crowds and that is what the factory teams and the US riders focus on the most and it showed at the MXON. MXGP has great racing, buy the pay per view for the season, you will be glad you did.

TeamFlannel wrote:

^^^this^^^
winner winner chicken dinner

St Ann More wrote:

Except Barcia said he'd been pretty much full-on MXdN prep prior to the event and had only practiced SX twice between finishing the season and MEC...

Except Barcia said he'd been pretty much full-on MXdN prep prior to the event and had only practiced SX twice between finishing the season and MEC.

Didn't Eli say similar, just a few days of SX?

Most want an excuse to justify the loss at the MXdN and will hang off whatever slice they can. God forbid giving MXGP based riders credit without a but...

ajv#26 wrote:

Davey Coombs is a big fan of the sport, and while he is the front man of MXSports, and runs his very famous RacerX magazine and...

Davey Coombs is a big fan of the sport, and while he is the front man of MXSports, and runs his very famous RacerX magazine and website, he will always be a fan first. I called him up to ask his opinion of the current domination by European based riders at the Monster Energy Motocross of Nations, and also ask what changes might be possible to help Team USA get back to where they once were. It is an interesting and long read, but very worthwhile.

MXlarge: While the result wasn’t what American hoped for, the event must have been what you did hope for?

Coombs: With the very unfortunate and unexpected results from Team USA aside, it was a fantastic event. I think everyone at Redbud and at Youthstream should be really proud of how that came off, despite the weather. People might have left disappointed that homeboys didn’t win, but everyone had a smile on their face, because it was a wonderful shared experience. It was like going to Woodstock and tramping around in the mud with a bunch of friends and get to whoop it up and wave flags and blow airhorns. Just celebrate motocross and that is what the Motocross of Nations always was in Europe and I am glad we were able to pull it off in America too.

MXlarge: I was speaking to Tony Skillington from the FIM this morning and he also felt like he was driving into Woodstock with the massive car parks and camping grounds. The track was obviously really nice before the rain came, and the infield was like a golf course. I would love to see Redbud when it isn’t raining.

Coombs: You are obviously always disappointed when it rains, if you are the promoter, the fan or the racer, because it’s such a fun race track and such a fun event. We all rallied together, but it would have been so much better if the weather cooperated, but when you run an event that far north, in the country, we have seen mud and rain in England and mud and rain in Belgium, and now in Redbud. When everyone pulled in there, it looked like a golf course or a city park. The promoter can be really proud of that, and they did the one thing we thought impossible to do, they improved on the Redbud facility, it was truly well organized and looked like a million bucks.

MXlarge: Tony (Skillington) mentioned how well everyone worked together and how the relationship between MXsports and Youthstream has changed a lot since the USGP last year. Can you talk about that?

Coombs: I think it is a gradual thing, and of course it started when Giuseppe picked up the phone and called after he made the difficult decision not to go back to Glen Helen and this was back in October of 2016. We have been working to rebuild, I don't know what you would call it, the rivalry that evolved out of the AMA pitting us against one another for the purchase of AMA motocross, and it was something that we wanted and felt we deserved and it was an opportunity for Youthstream. Once we got past that, we looked at the bigger picture, which is the global growth of motocross, and also circle our wagons for the threat that is upon us, which is a generation of kids that would rather races cars on a computer than go to a motorcycle race. We have a lot of common challenges we need to work on. So we got together and are working together. Jacksonville last year (USGP) was our first time working together and we found out our weaknesses and strengths and moved forward. We mutually decided that Redbud was the place to bring the Motocross of Nations back to the United States. We all worked together to make it as good as possible, just as we will in 2022 or 2023 when we bring it back. We are not in a hurry, we have a lot of work to do and other countries deserve it in the meantime and I plan to be at all those races, helping out or watching as the luckiest motocross fan in the World.

MXlarge: Tell me, because Redbud was such a success with shitty weather, would you consider keep going back there, like they do with Ernee in France?

Coombs: That is a good question and here is the thing, Redbud is the biggest facility that we have and some other tracks couldn't fit everyone in. There are not a lot of places that can hold an event like that magnitude. I would love to see it back at Redbud one day, a dry Redbud, but we will wait and see. We will talk with Youthstream, with David (Luongo), Daniele (Rizzi) and Giuseppe (Luongo) envision and go from there. That was the fourth des Nations at America and that was the fourth facility, and as much as I love Redbud, I wouldn't mind seeing it moved around to some other deserving promoters. The thing that surprised me how many people brought their bike trailers. I thought it would be cars and campers, but a lot of people came loaded up for the weekend and took up a lot of parking. It wasn't as much as a one-day crowd as I expected, but more of a multiple day crowd, and that was pretty cool.

MXlarge: Tell me something then, what facilities could hold the MXoN in America? What about Washougal, that looks like a beautiful place.

Coombs: it is a beautiful amazing motocross track, but it is limited in the size of event it can host. The tracks that could host the MXoN, Unadilla is possible, I think obviously Budds Creek, but I don’t know if they would be ready in 2022. Mount Morris could do it with the added land we have. Indiana if we didn’t plant corn that year, and of course Glen Helen, if you could get in there and do the upgrades that a lot of people want to see for some time. I know southern California wants it back, but also places like Road Atlanta, Watkins Glen in New York or Sears Point in California. The mud last weekend made me realize why Youthstream want to go to Auto facilities with good infrastructure, but also good hills, like Brescia in Italy in 2009. We have a handful of motocross tracks available and a handful of car tracks that would be good for it.

MXlarge: Now with the success of Redbud, any chance of running a Grand Prix at that facility, as its clear the spectators would come?

Coombs: We are talking about that, but Youthstream don’t want to commit until they are sure they have the top AMA riders, and having talked to our teams, asking if they would do it in 2019, and none of them would commit, including the ones backed by Monster. Maybe we can try again in 2020, but right now all of the things I mentioned about the challenges of the US schedule, it doesn’t just go for MXoN, but also a USGP and also for the Monster Cup, because a lot of good riders didn’t go to that, including Ken Roczen. We have a lot of races trying to squeeze in and Motocross of Nations is the most important, and then comes MEC and then the USGP and also races like Paris and Straight Rhythm. It is a long season, and riders need to rest sometime.

MXlarge: You know what has also changed, I spoke to a lot of GP riders this week, and many of them start their training again in two weeks for 2019. It isn’t just the AMA guys who don’t get a break.

Coombs: Oh, I have no doubt, and you know please include this and that is because their schedule is also a month longer than it used to be. Back in the 2000’s there were no GPs in September and I know that is evolution and we still have 12 races, but it is condensed because of supercross and in MXGP the calendar trumps all in Europe. I know while our guys are having a very small off-season, so too do the GP guys.

MXLarge: It was very touching on the Friday when Amy and Tim spoke about their Dad and the importance this race had for their family and Amy got very emotional. You know the history of that family. How important was it for the Ritchie family to have that race and have success with it?

MXlarge: It was very important, and I think I can speak for every promoter, Worldwide, that one of the dreams is to one day hold the Motocross of Nations. And I know for Tim, it was always at the back of his mind. He had flirted with the idea a number of times, but it just wasn't the right time. They lost their Dad last year, and we called him mean Gene, but he really wasn't mean at all, he was a good motocross man, great promoter, owned a motobike shop, you didn't know my Dad, but he was a lot like big Dave (Coombs). It was very fitting, that not so long after Gene passes, Tim and Amy are able to run a race of that magnitude, sort of as his legacy. He was a hard-working promoter and a visionary, put a lot into motocross, raised a lot of motocross families and I think a lot of them went back last weekend. In part to watch the race, but also for more than that. Redbud wasn't just a National track, for years it was a Trans-AMA track, they had amateur nationals before Lorette Lynn’s. To run that race, which stands above MXGP, above all Pro Motocross. It was very fitting and I could see why Tim and Amy were emotional about it and they should also be proud of the race they pulled off.

MXlarge: Speaking about the results, and as we mentioned it didn't go to plan for Team USA. After that Saturday, when Herlings crashed, went to the mechanics area, and still came through to finish third, and Antonio won by 25 seconds or something. At what moment did you think they might have trouble, Team USA?

Coombs: Geoff, I was concerned when I got there on Tuesday, because I looked at the track, and it was decidedly different. I know that there has been a lot of talk about the amount of sand brought in, but I knew Team USA had not gone back to do a trail run (at the circuit), like Team France do, which is an obvious recipe for success. I think they expected the same race track we had every July, when it is hot, and its hard-pack, and choppy. The combination with the rain and the sand, I think it threw everyone off. That said, having not brought in that sand, it would have been a mess.

MXlarge: It would have been Unadilla 1987 all over again.

Coombs: They saved the race track with the sand, even though it took away our guys comfort. They just didn’t come prepared for sand or the mud. It gave them a lump in their throat. As muddy and messy as the parking lots were, imagine what that race track would have been like without sand.

MXlarge: You could actually see in some areas where there wasn’t sand and it was very sloppy.

Coombs: Yes, down at the bottom, where it is really dark. That area is soft in the summer, I can’t even imagine how it was at the MXoN. But also Eli breaks his bike and then Plessinger crashed on the jump and I think he was maybe more rattled than he though, and we see that often when a rider goes down, he isn’t the same afterwards, and with Barcia, he never got the starts. You could make a dozen excuses, but at the end of the day, I think our three guys picked a bad day to have a bad day. Last year Max Anstie won the Motocross of Nations, this year Glenn Coldenhoff won the Motocross of Nations. Sometimes guys have the best days of their careers and we had guys who used to do that for us back in the day, its been a while though. You can point fingers at Roger, you can point fingers at the riders, or the track, but I think it was a whole array of things, that got everyone off their game. We don’t start on those grids, we have ones for Supercross, but they are different, and nobody studied that.

MXlarge: I saw on your Racerhead column on racerxonline.com that you mentioned some possible changes to your series, that might help Team USA. It was obvious the European (based) riders adapted to that track better than the AMA based riders.

Coombs: Remember this Geoff, where was Ken Roczen, he had his first day of the year. Ferrandis did better at the National than he did at the des Nations. I think all the people who expected Redbud, got thrown for a mental loop, and shame on them, but I don’t know how else to explain it. There is no way Ken Roczen is that bad, or Eli or Justin are that bad, but they rode out of sorts. Glenn Coldenhoff, how many podiums has he had this year?

MXlarge: I don’t think he had one podium.

Coombs: He had a phenomenal race, he was like Paul Malin in 1994, or even Max last year and that is my point. The track was open game for anyone. Herlings was what I expected, Cairoli did not, Prado did what I expected. Jeffrey did not. I thought Jeffrey would be 1-1 easy, I didn’t expect him to be beaten by Coldenhoff. But man, the Dutch are looking good for next year.

MXlarge: They have gone 2-2-3 for this event and really should have gone 2-2-1, and now going in as big favourites, they probably won’t win in 2019 at Assen, that is how this race is.

Coombs: That is the way it works. Look how much we favoured Team USA until we got there. And remember this, next year at Assen they are not going to bring in a bunch of hard-pack dirt. They will bring sand, and granted it was good for the event we had sand, but I wish our guys would quit practicing at Glen Helen and go practice on a sand track.

MXlarge: I would like to make it clear that Youthstream had nothing to do with the sand being brought in, because it seems there is some comments that make it look like they changed the track, when it fact Tim mentioned before the event he wanted the track not to be touched, as he wanted to do all the work on it.

Coombs: No, let me clear that up, it was all Redbud, and I think they anticipated the weather and they choose well and saved the event, but all home track advantage was gone.

MXlarge: The schedule, obviously the AMA based riders had a big gap between their last National and the MXoN and I do think that did affect the performance of the AMA rider to some level. Is there any way you can run later into the season to come closer to the event, which is often run the last weekend of September or first weekend of October?

Coombs: I agree, and if you can point a finger to anything and that six-week period, you know Tomac was practicing for supercross and Outdoors too, and Plessinger was riding a 450 getting ready for supercross, and Barcia was practicing trying and win a million dollars last weekend. I will give you another point, Villopoto when he went over and did that year of MXGP, his first race he almost got lapped and second race he won and then he was back to his normal self, and then unfortunately got injured in the fourth race. If the Eli Tomac who rode the Monster Cup last weekend, rode like that a week earlier, we might have had a different result. I think the time off hurts our guys more than we realize, especially when its run on October 7. I think Assen will be the last weekend of September, so they are pulling it back a bit. I asked our US teams, do you want me to pull back the schedule and race into September, they are like no. The teams want to get off the road and that won’t change, because the des Nations is important for the five or six guys who go, but it isn’t important for the industry and race teams and other riders. They want to heal up, spend some time at home and get ready for 2019.

MXlarge: It is very positive that Barcia has mentioned he would spend a month in Belgium to prepare for Assen in 2019, and Tomac has said he wants revenge so maybe will come do some races in Europe. It’s a long season, but maybe it’s a kick in the ass that lose in Redbud and they know they need to work harder and be better prepared.

Coombs: I hope they do, because it was a tough moment, none of those guys have been on a winning version of the MXoN. Eli hasn’t, Justin hasn’t, Osborne hasn’t, Anderson hasn’t.

MXlarge: Only Baggett in 2011 of the current American riders has won it.

Coombs: Yes, in 2011, but he didn’t even do that well in France that day. I am sure he would like another bite of the apple. We know the race is going to be Assen, we know the race is going to be sandy. I would love to see those guys go to Caroline, south of the border, in the sand and work as a team for a couple of weeks. We have gotten away from the thing of pitting together, working together and its nobodies’ fault. You finish eight months of solid racing, and the last thing you want to do is go into bootcamp for a couple of weeks, but if we want to do better than we have the last few years, we are going to have to put in a different type of work, because it hasn’t worked the last few years. You can always point to that one thing, like Tomac crashing in Germany, Anderson getting landed on, Martin breaking his foot in Latvia and we still made the podium, but this (Redbud) was just a horrible day for all three guys, and really, apart from Ferrandis, it was a horrible day for all the guys on the AMA circuit. And I don’t think that is because we are slow, or our tracks, or the format, I think it does have to do with the period between the last National and the MXoN, and you did have some tired, but very sharp MXGP guys. They had a tough road too, coming straight from Imola and that can’t be easy and having different tracks and different weather and everyone. The MXGP guys just dealt with it better.

MXlarge: Do you think it does have to do with the tracks to some point. In MXGP they are very diverse, some are really ugly, messing and difficult to ride, some are like Matterley Basin or Latvia, really nice circuits. And from what I understand, and see on race footage, the AMA tracks all look rather similar. Made groomed too much?

Coombs: Put it this way, I am not going to make bad tracks for the Nationals, to get guys ready for any bad conditions they might have at the des Nations. They deserve the best track we can give them. The idea that we over-groom our tracks is bullshit, you can’t over-groom a track in 12 minutes, because everything is run live and we just don’t have time to do that. I don’t know where that comes from, unless it comes from people who don’t even come to the Nationals, Geoff (laughing)?

MXlarge: I have never said that (laughing), but I have read that.

Coombs: I know, but it is easy to say that, but I can tell you, the track our guys ride are also different. The last two rounds were two complete mudders, and that should have helped them, but those races were two months ago, not lost Sunday. What I do wish, is we could change our schedule, but I also wish Youthstream would instead of having three MXGP rounds in September, why not have one and the MXoN and put those other races somewhere in the middle. A 20-race series is a lot and we have a 12 rounds series, and nobody (in America) is ready to take their time and finish our series in September. I wish there was a way to solve this and I know David and the guys from Youthstream are looking at it. Its tough to be at your best when the race is six weeks after our season ends. I also wish they would move the Monster Energy Cup back a few weeks, to put it up against the MXoN puts guys like Tomac, Barcia and others in a tough position.

MXlarge: Saying that, you have to give your hand up for Antonio, who didn’t race Italy because of a crash, came to the MXoN battered and bruised and went and won that Saturday qualification race?

Coombs: If Antonio doesn’t lose his goggles in that last moto, you have a different team winner, or if Vlaanderen doesn’t get hurt, Holland win it. The point is in the case of Holland and Italy, you could point at that one thing that went wrong. Same with France and Tixiers bike going off in the first moto. Our guys just had bad days and bad starts. I really hope we can get back to where we were, because I don’t think people appreciate the work and effort put in by the riders who keep training and the effort from Roger de Coster. We deserve to be at our best. When we went home and licked out wounds, Eli went to Vegas and made a million dollars on Saturday night and he could point to his preparation and the mind-set to motivate him even more. Our guys get conflicted by the million dollars a week later and I think if we moved the MEC back. But man, it was a great race, and I look forward to being in Holland next year and seeing how they do, because they are due. They promoted the first one in 1947, and having won one, and wouldn’t it be great if they get their first in Holland next year.