Pondo's Yule Blog
Published: 17th December 2007
Author: Pondo-ho-ho
On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me…
…Pondo’s annual rambling, end-of-season, roughly-festive run-down of the motocross movers and shakers of the last 12 months. Well, with the racing over for another year you’ll need something to read while the egg nog goes down…
“On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me,
A fast Yank who's ginger-y!"
Ryan Villopoto has had a break-through year in 2007. Already on the cusp of magnificence after a stellar rookie year in 2006, the Pro Circuit youngster raised his game again this year. Beaten only once in supercross, it seemed at first that a now-healthy Ben Townley might be able to give him a battle. But when the pressure started to build in the latter half of their epic outdoor season it was Villopoto who just changed up a gear and motored away with the sort of soul-destroying pace that turned a battle into a rout and even turned a disaster of a first-turn crash into a strong haul of points. And with the title in his hands once more, his showing at the des Nations was truly the stuff of legends - there aren’t many ridiculous achievements in the sport that a certain Ricky Carmichael hasn’t already managed but even he never won both his des Nations motos outright on the small-bore bike…
“On the second day of Christmas, my true love almost gave to me,
The FIM MX1 world championship before the fates cruelly snatched it all away…”
In contrast, it sometimes seems that the only thing that Josh Coppins can be consistent at is maintaining his status as the nearly-man of motocross. The likeable Kiwi, who’s already spent many of his best seasons battling Stefan Everts at the height of his astonishing powers, came out swinging and kept punching hard all the way through the summer, coming close to building an unassailable lead. Close but no cigar… A freak accident in the Czech Republic at round 11 left the man who’d carried the red plate of the championship leader from the very first moto of the season with a broken shoulder. He sat out a couple and desperately tried to heal up but when he came back, with that magnificent lead all but gobbled up, even riding conservatively proved too much and the weak shoulder re-broke without him even falling off the bike. It was a pain barrier too far - but if history teaches us anything it’s that Josh Coppins comes back stronger, year after year…
“On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me,
Flamboyant speed and the ability to switch to a big-bike and win…”
Antonio Cairoli had a point to prove in 2007 - dethroned by the consistent and quick French youngster Christophe Pourcel in ‘06, Super Tony came out and had Pourcel nailed on pace from the start. This year, however, he was there at the finish at every MX2 GP bar one - and at that one he switched up to the MX1 class and won that, too. The stylish Sicilian is one of the most expressive riders on a bike - he just looks like he’s having more fun than everyone else - and he was devastatingly quick all year long. The only blemish on an otherwise outstanding year was the Motocross des Nations - the much-vaunted showdown between Tony and Ryan, to prove who’s the best MX2 rider on earth, proved a disaster for Cairoli. Bad starts, crashes and bike failures will ruin anyone’s day but although he has no choice but to concede Budd’s Creek ‘07 to Villopoto, Super Tony once more has a point to prove when they next meet…
“On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me,
A fairy-tale ending to the best career in motocross history…”
After the longest farewell tour in history, Ricky Carmichael finally closed the book on his professional motocross career and he finished as only he could - as the captain leading his country to victory in front of his home fans, topping it all off with an utterly dominant moto win. Although most recently James Stewart has shown that he’s got more than Ricky can handle indoors, the outdoor motocross circuit is still emphatically Ricky’s kingdom - the guy won every full outdoor championship that he competed in (10 years straight), went two of his three Honda seasons without losing a moto (and only lost two motos in the other year - 36 motos, 34 wins in his career on a red bike) and never missed a start of a national from the time he turned pro until he went part-time as planned earlier this year. And having retired the King, Jeremy McGrath, at the end of his day Ricky avoided that ignominy by going out on top of his game and on his own terms.
“On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me,
My second FIM Motocross world championship…”
From the spectator side of the fence, it seems sometimes that Steve Ramon’s second world title must be somewhat of a poisoned chalice - with Josh out winning motos from the start, after a bright opening it didn’t even seem like he would be among the main challengers to try and catch the flying Kiwi. But when Coppins lost his rear brake that fateful day in the Czech Republic, running over the berm, over the bars and out of the title driving-seat, Da Bomb’s ace card began to look very strong indeed. Without a single GP win and with only a couple of moto victories to his name, Steve scored good points in every single moto and when Josh withdrew completely after his British GP re-break, the Belgian found himself with an easy tap-in to seal his second title. Kevin Strijbos was waiting in the wings should the experienced Ramon falter - but that’s just not in his nature. From the outside it might seem that the title should go to Josh - but the bottom line is this; whoever has the most points at the end of the season is the world champion…
“On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me,
Another trophy to complete my set from around the world…”
Grant Langston - surely to god there’s a book in this guy in the future? The affable South African came to Europe, leaving family and friends behind, as an impressionable youngster to win a 125cc world crown. He switched to the States, took East and West 125 SX championships, came as close to the 125 outdoor title as you can without winning it when his rear wheel broke at the last moto of the year before clinching it a couple of years later. Withstanding injury after injury after injury, he won a factory Yamaha ride for 2007 and duly landed them the MX1 outdoor title as well after James Stewart injured himself out of the championship. It’s astonishing to think that Grant’s still a young man - only 25 - so there could still be a lot of chapters to write for the popular Saffer…
“On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love showed to me,
A glimpse of a post-Carmichael world but I was too hurt to exploit it…”
James Stewart was another rider who had a season of mixed fortunes - long touted as the rider to bring the fight to Carmichael, only in the last few years has he shown signs of the metronomic consistency you need to beat the best. And this year he proved his mettle by beating Chad Reed to the supercross title - he was well on the way to the outdoor title, too, until a serious knee injury ended his year early. With Villopoto due to move up in the next couple of years, Stewart may well find himself in Carmichael’s position as the wily master facing the Next Big Thing - if he can mature as Carmichael did he can rule for as long as he stays fit because there are no question marks over his pace…
“On the eighth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me,
A world number two plate to put on my factory KTM…”
KTM’s British prodigy raised his game once more in 2007 - from his pro debut with Molson Kawasaki as a 15-year-old, Tommy Searle has always set benchmarks for his age. Qualifying for a GP and scoring points on home turf at Matchams as a 16-year-old, winning the British Under 21 title the same year before making his debut podium in front of his home crowd a year later, then finally taking his first GP win another 12 months down the line - year on year, he’s been getting better and better and better. This year he had the misfortune to be facing Cairoli and Pourcel, both former champions, enmeshed in a battle of their own and although he could get them in sight from time to time he couldn’t consistently give them a fight. But that number two plate is on merit and if he can keep raising his game it’s not beyond reasonable doubt that he could realistically challenge for a world crown before he heads Stateside…
“On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me,
A bitter-sweet 2007... “
Kevin Strijbos had a season of truly mixed emotions - the Belgian youngster on the factory Suzuki won grands prix and ended the season ranked second in the world for the second year running but not only did he lose his Suzuki ride to Ken De Dycker after a knee injury caused a mid-season slump, he also missed out on representing his country at the des Nations - instead of sending the world numbers one and two Belgium sent numbers one and five. With a shift to the Kawasaki GPKR team on the cards for ‘08, Kevin has a lot of motivation for showing anyone on a yellow bike the way home - and in a less “factory”, more open and friendly team environment, with proven race-winning bikes, he might just thrive…
“On the tenth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me,
Another Japanese Grand Prix win…”
Billy MacKenzie must have one of the strangest records in racing - the young Scot is surely the most successful rider at racing at Japanese Grands Prix (if that‘s a category of racing record), winning the GP in the Land of the Rising Sun for the last three years, twice in MX2 and this year on the big bike. Whatever it is he does over there it seems he’s started to do it elsewhere too, taking a top 10 finish in the world championships and winning his first title as an adult with the British MX1 championship. With a shift to a red bike on the cards for ‘08, it’s to be hoped that he continues to improve - it would be great to see him win in front of his home fans instead of as far away on earth as the GP circuit gets…
“On the eleventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me,
A nomination for the gutsiest performance of the year award…”
2007 was another solid year for James Noble - the Yorkshireman was rock-solid all year long, scoring points in all but three motos en route to the world number 11 plate for 2008. But the absolute name-on-the-map moment came at the des Nations - an innocuous moment landing from a jump dislocated his shoulder and left him in agony without him even falling off his bike and it seemed that Team GB may as well withdraw on the spot when the rules forbade team manager Mark Eastwood from donning his own kit to take his place. But in a show of astonishing durability, James took to the line for both his races anyway - if he as much as started he would score last place rather than the 50 points a DNS earned. And as riders dropped out in the early stages, James fired up the Honda and circulated for a few slow, painful laps as even a point or two made a massive difference at the end of the day. An incredible effort - Noble by name, noble by nature…
“On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me,
A BMW ride in the GNCC…”
“Alas, poor Crock Star, I knew him well; a fellow of infinite jest…” Poor Gordy’s had a rough go of it for the last few years, injuries and just plain terrible luck dogging his efforts to make good on the promise he showed as the world number three as a youngster back in 2001. But he’s landed a trip to America for 2008 - the ginger Irishman is off to race David Knight in the American GNCC championship with a factory BMW/Husky ride. Knighter might well prove too tough a nut to crack but it’ll be a welcome change of scene for the fella and hopefully the catalyst for one last glorious season in the sun…
That’s it from me for 2008 - have a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year. The 2008 season is only just around the corner…