Gospeed Danny "Magoo" Chandler

Respects.



Invictus.

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

William Ernest Henley, 1875

Flying back from Anaheim 1 SX 2010

37,000 ft above Nevada with Charlie Winston’s Hobo playing some great tunes on my iPhone, here is a quick post I wanted to write since the 450 (SX) Main Event ended, last night at Angel Stadium. I am not going to come back on the racing part of the opening round of what looks like a promising-to-be-exciting AMA Supercross season, because it is going to be covered on all media websites and in all publications around the world of motorcycling. This is the first pro race of the season and all eyes of the world of motocross were on Anaheim yesterday. Photos of the new bikes, the riders, the track, the racing, the Monster Energy Girls, Muscle Milk Girls (hi Janelle and Casey!), Jaggermeister Girls and other Spike TV hostesses will be all over the Internet by this evening when I land in Chicago.

Photo by GuyB/VitalMX.com

This is always a busy round for the industry of SX/MX, the managements of most companies attend this race, lots of hand-shaking going on, lots of deals still taking place, lots of partnerships being built. For me it was a mix of taking care of different sides of business for AGV helmets, from sales & marketing to the rider-support part of my job. It is an important round because it was the first full-on race day with our new riders, Gautier Paulin and especially Davi Millsaps. Although we have spent time working things out before the race, it is very different on race day and it is important to learn the habits and needs of the riders on a race day so that everything works smoothly and the guys have to worry about nothing else than just racing. The first few races and the first weeks could be a bit challenging for the rider as well as the helmet brand as both try to find the right fit for the former. A very important point to keep in mind with DM is that he has been wearing the same helmet for over 5 years, a helmet that had not changed in shape nor fit since he started using it as a young amateur rider. Therefore it takes a bit of time to get things how they should exactly be.

Photo by TWMX.com

Before I get to the point of this blog-post, I have to say that I was very impressed with Gautier Paulin and his abilities. The kid is not only super nice, very humble and hungry to learn; he is also fast and will get faster. There were some high and lows for both GP321 and DM18 yesterday, from great Heat races to disappointing Main Events (and yes, only the Main Events really count) but overall it was pretty good for AGV and the return to the off-road market with the introduction of the AX-8.

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So, if there is one of two persons that read my blog they must be laughing at what I wrote about Kevin “K-Dub” Windham a couple days before Anaheim 1. All those things I said got shut down in flame by the #14 himself and with class at that. I really didn’t think that Windham could hang out with the young guns and not only race them, but more so go after them. Last night, after a decent start in 6^th, passing Millsaps by the end of the first lap, he chased down Brayton, Villopoto and Short, passing them one at a time to grab the 3^rd podium spot. Amazing performance and amazing racing by the #14. In 20 laps he proved I was very wrong to count him out already. 

Of course he was on the to win that same race last year before connecting with a downed Stewart in the whoops and led A2 for a good while letting the same Stewart by.

A1 thought:

Amazing Dungey

Bubbalicious is on it

Nike goes 1-2 for their first SX race

Shorty is actually looking fast, even if old man K-Dub got him towards the end.

Kevin Windham: Fantastic!

The 450 class is packed with a big group of riders who are on the same speed: Josh Grant, Short, Hill, Brayton, Villopoto, Millsaps, Tedesco, Reardon.

Bad night for the Monster Energy Kawi team.

Bad night for Chad who leaves A1 with a 25 points deficit on Stewart. You can’t count him out but can he come back like JS7 did it in 2009.

I see Nike’s arrival in MX as a very positive thing for the sport.

Mega Crash of the Night Award goes to Dan Reardon. Scary!

No Phoenix for me, I’ll concentrate on sales this week while preparing A2. Video-conferencing with Italy tomorrow, to tweak some things on the AX-8. We also have to work on our ad artwork for the MT-X helmet which is supposed to hit the market in a month.

Now listening to the Cold War Kids’ Loyalty to Loyalty

MX photo of the day

This is one of those photos that make you want to go ride.

2010 Teams Thoughts or Opinions

jhn145 at mxinsiders.com posted a good thread on the upcoming season. This is what I replied.

Great subject John. I think that the upcoming season is a very important one because it can be the beginning of serious changes in the landscape of US supercross. We are seeing bigger, stronger, factory-support teams with potential Top 7 riders (IT at Valli, Reardon at MotoConcept, Hahn and Moss at Motosport, Hill along JS7 at L&M and the duelists at JGR, GL8 at JLR). Is this the last year that Honda and Kawasaki will be factory-run teams? maybe not, if the title sponsors have enough $$, like the Fiat Yamaha and Repsol Honda teams of MotoGP, some factories will still be able to run their own structures.

It's hard to bet against the trio of Stewart, Reed and still somehow, RV, but behind the horde is hungry, will be very aggressive and in contract year motivation for some (the Honda boyz). I believe that, as much as JS7, CR22 and RV2 are strong and solid, anything can happen (as we've seen in the frantic 2009 SX series) and the Outsiders, the mega pack of outsiders, can do anything and surely score podium spots.

I can see DM18, Shorty, Ryan Dungey, Hill, Reardon, Moss, Hahn, IT, Josh Grant and JB114 play hard and race good.

DM is motivated, he is feeling good right now and seem to be happy with the 2010 450. Short for sure will be on it. IT has "revenge" tattooed on his knuckles. Dungey The Rookie will be on the gas on the 450, as he showed it in '08. all are strong racers, all can jump on any opportunity given by RV, JS and CR. This season, it's all going to be about the starts because lots of those guys are hard to pass and won't let any door open too long.

Is RV overrated right now, or is the hype justified? Is he back to his top form, is he 100% able to tackle James Stewart and Chad? is he good with the 450?

The season is looking good (although we've said that a lot, every December)
:)

The Return of the Nine-Three-Four!

With the release of the 2010 AMA allocated riders numbers, a big part of Franco-American MX history went away when Jake Weimer was allocated the #12 that represented David Vuillemin for so many years.
DV has moved on, retired from active racing and went back to his first AMA digits, those he was wearing on his herseys when he came to the US, those 3-digits number that were so cool for French riders, fans of US MX. Like the #111 used by JMB, the #934 marked the Cobra's definite move to the US at the time.

For me the nine-three-four represents DV more than the 12, because it's with his 3-digits signature that he entered and marked MX and SX racing on this side of the Atlantic.

DV934 is back!! Very cool actually. David posted these 2 pics on his Facebook account today, as he was workingo on a "MX riding tips" DVD shoot.

Motocross dei Campioni

If there's definitely an MX safari I missed this Fall, it's the Motocross dei Campioni (Motocross of Champions) organized by Valention Rossi as a fundraier for kids leukemia, 30 years after his dad Graziano and friends organized theirs.
All of Vale's friends and more came, along which Marco Melandri, Marco Simoncelli, Kevin Schwantz, Andrea Dovizioso.

Very cool little video by Gianluca Alessandrini:

Piecing It Together, DVD trailer

I saw this one on Racerxonline.com today. Very cool HD film on the off-road racing scene. Great teaser!

Piecing It Together teaser from Wasting Time Films on Vimeo.

Souvenirs from Chile

One of my friends is also one of the guy I enjoy reading the most. In the last years, his Thursday Rev-Up column on Racerxonline.com has been a weekly favorite. but Andy doesn't only write and before being a Fox rep, an MX journalist and recently work for his successful Nascar-driver-brother Clint, he was also one of those gnarly nutters on the Fox Terrafirma videos.

Andy's most (in)famous moment, Chile 1997. (at about 3:15 on the vid')

US Open of SX 09 - Friday practice

It's good to see some racing again even if the US Open is not looking close to what it was. The pits are small, there are much fewer semis and top 10 riders than ever (as many are here but without a ride like Chad Reed, Josh Hill or IT).
The track is extremely disappointing and I would say shitty compared to previous years. It looks easier than the usual Arenacross tracks, but of course James Stewart is way above the rest (including RV2 and DM18). James managed to make the track technical by jumping combos that only him could create. On the last practice he shaved his best time by 1 second, in the last lap when all other riders had already left the track. I hope for those guys their team filmed JS7.
DM is there, strong as well as RV and a looking-good Will Hahn, Dan Reardon has speed too.

A side note to welcome Ezra Yogi Lusk (#11) to racing. He's still way off the Top 5 but looks good for a guy coming back from 5 or 6 years of retirement.

Lots of crashes and gnarly riding in the 85cc practice. Adam "the future of US motocross" Ciancarulo is here but needs to tame it a little bit if he wants to stay on 2 wheels. Only one of the kids jumped the finish line double and it looked sketchy the 2 times he tried.

Here's some easy shots from this afternoon.

New 2009 AMA National Motocross Champ

Congrats to Chad Reed for clinching the title at Budds Creek today. From the beginning, I never doubted that he would win this title. Come on people, who wouldn't believe he could: he's Chad Reed! One of the 3 fastest guys on Earth on a dirt bike, one of the 2 most trained, fittest (unless illness as we saw) guy in the world.

"We don't race niggers here!"

said a track owner somewhere in the South, a few years back, "Good, because we came to race dirt bike!!" What a great reply by James Stewart senior. I saw this documentary few months ago on ESPN but DV12 just posted it on his blog and I wanted to share it again.

High Point MX National thoughts

A quick note before the 2009 High Point National starts Live on www.allisports.com. It's been a crazy beginning of the series in the 450 class with the injuries of title contenders and fastest guys, Ryan Villopoto and Mike Alessi. Everyone has been trying to make a pick for the "new" title contender and who's in line to take the championship but it is very hard to say right now. And maybe that's what makes this 2009 Motocross Outdoor Nationals very exciting and entertaining. I see 3 guys who can take it right now, Rockstar Suzuki Chad Reed, Joe Gibbs Racing's Josh Grant and Factory Honda Andrew Short. Even if the #29 is the furtherst in point, I believe that his consistency can pay. Shorty was involved in the title race 2 seasons ago, against Grant Langston and Alessi and must have learned from that. So, even if he's not really shining as Alessi, RV, Josh Grant and Chad have been until now, he's a serious contender.
Reed knows how to win championship and has shown some very good speed despite his health issues. As soon as #22's camp figure out his illness and get him sorted out, Chad will be the fastest on track.
Josh Grant has been a revelation this year. After a great rookie SX season he's been showing speed and a lot of potential in his MX 450 debut. He can take the title this year.

So, let's hope for lots of racing and let's see how this pans out.

Here's the link to the MX Sports/Racer X Pre-Race show with 2 of my favorite guys in the MX industry, andy Bowyer and The GOAT.

www.allisports.com

The 250 Class is as wide open as it was in Glen Helen but I think that the title will be go to either Rockstar Makita Suzuki Ryan Dungey or Monster Energy Pro Circuit Christophe "the crafty Frenchman" Pourcel.

On a personal note, I would like to have a thought and a prayer for our niece Ana Olson who passed away last night, at the too young age of 18. Very deep support and love to Remelle, Terry, Deny and all the family.