2021 Fox Raceway One Motocross | Kickstart

Count the Rockstar Energy logos. Pepsi's acquisition of the brand has caused some changes in marketing strategy and the end of multiple deals through motocross (Canadian MX and freestyle riders mainly), but we've been assured that they will continue to have a presence with the Husqvarna team in 2022 and beyond. Good to know, especially as we approach an exciting signing season.

A few parts on Justin Barcia's Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/GASGAS Factory Racing machine stand out. The most obvious is the massive fuel tank, which has an increased capacity and hangs much further down than the OE unit for better weight centralization. The length of an MX moto, plus Barcia's heavy throttle hand, means the bike needs every drop of ETS race fuel that it can get. Look closely at the radiator shrouds, and you'll see a set of extensions that keep the lip of his boots from getting caught in corners. The last is the spar between the frame rails, which adds more rigidity to the steel frame, but is usually only used by the KTM-Husqvarna-GASGAS riders in SX.

A handmade titanium fuel tank deserves all the protection that it can get. Team Honda HRC applied thin sheets of clear vinyl to their units to protect them from roost and rocks.

Qualifying strategies: join the crowd on the starting line and hope to score a clear line for a practice start, or wait for the pack to blast off and then take your pick? Dean Wilson opted for the latter option.

Tire choice was a big topic at the opening round. Truckloads of silt and sand were dumped onto the track ahead of the pro event, which made certain sections deep and soft, which would have been perfect for a paddle tire. However, other areas of the rock-hard California clay were untouched, which suited a traditional knobby tire much more, especially late in the day. More riders seemed to stay with an intermediate tread pattern on their rear rubber.

Jason Anderson was on the gas all week at Fox Raceway. We noticed the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing rider's line choices during the Tuesday media session and followed him closely on Saturday. El Hombre was sixth quick in Timed Qualifying, made mistakes in 450 Moto One on his way to tenth place, and put in a fast but quiet fourth place in 450 Moto Two. The 10-4 finishes put Anderson sixth overall.

Jason Anderson was on the gas all week at Fox Raceway. We noticed the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing rider's line choices during the Tuesday media session and followed him closely on Saturday. El Hombre was sixth quick in Timed Qualifying, made mistakes in 450 Moto One on his way to tenth place, and put in a fast but quiet fourth place in 450 Moto Two. The 10-4 finishes put Anderson sixth overall.

How fast were some sections of the track? We discussed the details about specific areas, including MPH and technique, with riders in both classes. Check the home page for the return of Speed Trap!

1 & 2

Eli Tomac has a lot of eyes on him right now. The Monster Energy Kawasaki rider comes into the season with plenty of things going on in his program, including a possible fourth 450 MX title, a looming departure from Kawasaki, and a second child, all assumed to be responsible for recent results. Eli maintains that his focus is still to be at his best and go for race wins, as it's always been, and he had a few good moments at the opening round (fast laps in motos, battles with Roczen-Musquin) on his way to 9-8 finishes and ninth overall. There is no need to worry about his summer yet, even if he's twenty points down of the leader, as he's right with fellow championship contenders Musquin, Webb, Osborne, and Cianciarulo in the standings with twenty-two motos left to go.

First day on the job. With Supercross complete, Broc Tickle has taken on a new role with Monster Energy Kawasaki as a tester and, if ever necessary, fill-in rider. BT20 has ridden almost every OEM over the last few years, either in races or at practice tracks, and helped the TLD KTM crew sort out setup issues they had in 2019. Congrats, Tick!

Practice start with Hunter Lawrence. Cool to see the individual bands of roost thrown up by the Dunlop tire.

Has Jerry Robin worn the same thing twice this year? The well-supported privateer makes the most of CANVAS MX's blank slate gear sets with designs, sponsor logos, and bright colors. Jerry paired the green pants and jersey to a new 6D Helmet painted by apdesigns.

Blue skies and big air. Alex Martin was one of the few riders who repeatedly hucked the speed-check single after the first turn during the motos and got his Manluk/Rock River Yamaha/Merge Racing YZ250F to land in a small pocket before the tabletop, a distance of about 30-35 feet. The latest Troll Train vlog shows how the opening round went for Alex and is loaded with info about his bike setup, nutrition talk, and expectations on the track.

Stilez Robertson put in a good showing during 250 Moto One. The Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing rider was questionable to race the opening round as his knee injury from SX was a worry, but he latched onto the lead group during the first part of the race and battled for position with established talent on his way to a 10th place result.

Anyone see what happened to Austin Forkner in the first moto? The Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki rider must have gotten into it with another rider or bike in the early part of the race because the front of his Fox Racing gear was ripped, and there appeared to be tire marks on his stomach. It must not have been too serious, though, because Forkner went 7-8 for eighth overall at the opening round.

Ty Masterpool was quick but mistake-prone at Fox Raceway. The AEO Powersports-backed rider put in lap times on pace with front-runners in both motos, but get-offs kept him from getting results. His crash in the closing moments of 250 Moto Two was particularly rough; he hit a rough spot on the face of the uphill double and was kicked into an endo.

Experience versus youth with Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing's RJ Hampshire and Stilez Robertson. Note the difference in tire choices between the teammates.

Battles

Max Vohland continued the tradition of a first-year rider leading laps in their debut 250 MX race. The teenager aced the start in 250 Moto One and immediately put some distance between himself and the rest of the pack with practically flawless laps and blazing speed. It was an impressive showing by a rider that wasn't even in the B Class at Loretta's last summer.

Unfortunately for Max, a mechanical issue with the bike took him out of the race. The Red Bull KTM engine started to give off puffs of smoke around the midway point in the Moto, an issue that worsened as time went on. Vohland tried his best to keep the bike going, even changing lines to maintain momentum, but he pulled the plug with a few laps to go. You have to applaud the young rider for maintaining his composure, especially on camera, after the race was over.

Shoutout to Tyson Johnson, a California local that showed speed at Fox Raceway. Chicken Little was 22nd overall in the Timed Qualifying results for the 250 Class, but a crash and issues in Moto One kept him from finishing in the points or lining up for the second gate drop.

It's great to see Jacob Hayes back on the track. The longtime racer had a career-best season going in 2019 until a badly broken leg required multiple surgeries and put him on the sidelines for more than a year.

Now recovered and into a new routine, Hayes lined up as an independent in the 450 Class at the opening round and posted 20-36 finishes for 24th overall.

Lot of orange fenders. There were ten KTM 450 SX-F machines in 450 Moto One, a quarter of the 40-man field. Adding in the Husqvarna and GASGAS bikes takes the total up to 20. Yeah, half of the starting line was on European equipment.

Ongoing restrictions in Canada have caused some turmoil on the upcoming Triple Crown MX tour, and with the start date still a ways off, riders like Cole Thompson decided to make the trip to Fox Raceway. The Red Bull KTM Canada rider went 22-24 for 26th overall. Are gate drops in the US worth Canada's mandatory quarantine upon arrival at the border?

Tyler Medaglia has quite the schedule this season. The two-time Canadian MX champion has decided to hit a random mix of WORCS, GNCC, and MX races in the United States over the spring and summer months, aboard a GASGAS off-road bike that the OEM loaned him. Medaglia posted 18-21 finishes for 21st overall in the 450 Class.

Look for Mitchell Falk to be on the starting line at West Coast Nationals this summer (Thunder Valley, Washougal, Fox Raceway Two, Hangtown). Aboard a modestly modified GASGAS MC450F (Race Tech suspension, stock exhaust) and pitted on his own, Falk went 23-23 for 25th overall.

Didn't realize this pass was for the lead when we saw it. Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha's Dylan Ferrandis was already pressuring Cooper Webb for a position, and after Adam Cianciarulo went down in 450 Moto One, DF14 upped the intensity, reeled in the Red Bull KTM rider, and took the top spot all in a matter of moments.

Adam Cianciarulo was right where we expected him to be in the early laps of 450 Moto One: up front. The Monster Energy Kawasaki rider has been focused on the outdoors for the last few months, with plenty of laps at Fox Raceway, and it showed in his 2:18 time during practice. If not for a massive rock in a flat turn, AC might have run unchallenged to the checkered flag. Fortunately, he was able to dust himself off from the crash and finished the day into the top-10.

Could Chase Sexton be the breakout rider of the summer? In his second MX season in the 450 Class, the Team Honda HRC rider is on the shortlist of title contenders and is in a good spot, points-wise, after one race. A crash at the start of 450 Moto Two put Sexton at the very back of the pack on the opening lap, and despite a track that was considered one-lined and challenging to pass on by the competition, he managed to climb back to 10th place at the checkered flag.

It's going to be interesting to see how Justin Barcia and Aaron Plessinger do this summer. Both riders have undergone substantial bike changes in the last twelve months (Barcia from Yamaha to GASGAS, Plessinger from the factory Yamaha to the Star Racing Yamaha), and these races will be transparent tests of their setups and skills. Oh, and then there's the fact that Plessinger will be on similar equipment to Barcia next year after his move to KTM.

Two of the quickest lads to come from the UK.

There were a lot of independent teams and privateers at the opening round. Yes, much of the attention goes to factory teams and race winners, but without guys like Jeremy Smith/SGB Racing/Ryan Surratt/Fredrik Noren/Team AllSouth/etc., the starting line of the 450 Class would have been half-full at best (we counted 19 factory/OEM-supported riders and 21 individuals or teams in the 450 Class results).

How many total MX moto wins, overalls, and championships are in this photo?

The last lap of 450 Moto One was a close one. Dylan Ferrandis seemed to be in cruise control on his way to the checkered flag and might have been oblivious that Chase Sexton was in an all-out sprint to catch the leader. The two riders crossed the finish line within 0.099 seconds of each other, a difference of a few feet, with the win going to Ferrandis.

We'd love to see the gear and rpm data from Jett Lawrence's Team Honda HRC CRF250R. The young rider was on rails at Fox Raceway as he dodged bumps and rough terrain with sweeping lines. The engine and suspension never seemed overworked or out of rhythm, remarkable on a track as harsh as that.

Another solid opening round for Justin Cooper. The Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha rider is known for being strong at the start of a season, something he showed again with laps led in 250 Moto Two and a third-place overall result.

Carson Mumford's status for the summer was questionable a few weeks ago due to a slow to heal shoulder injury, but after some additional therapy and a training program created by Davi Millsaps, the second-year pro was able to make the opening round. A 15th place finish in 250 Moto Two while wearing a neck donut was the highlight to Mumford's afternoon.

Good day for Michael Mosiman. The Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/GASGAS Factory Racing rider was just behind the leaders on the track, but was one of the few to finish in the top-five in both motos (4-4 for fourth overall) and had comparable lap times on the stopwatch. He'll be one to follow once the series goes East.

There had been a noticeable dropoff in fans at recent pro races at Glen Helen and Fox Raceway over recent years, either because spectators see the same riders weekly or that post-race traffic is an hours-long hassle. But people with eager to get out and see the action at the opening round, we'd say this was an excellent turnout for a SoCal National, and hopefully, the numbers increase at upcoming races.

Ken Roczen's results might have been the biggest surprise of the day. Word from the test track was that the Team Honda HRC rider had been off the pace in the last few weeks, something that seemed to be true during Tuesday's shakedown and his own comments in Wednesday's press conference. But a racer is a racer and Roczen stepped up in a big way when it mattered, like leading every lap in 450 Moto Two.

Where were Zach Osborne and Adam Cianciarulo, last year's 1-2 championship finishers, at Fox Raceway? 10th and 11th place, respectively. Both riders had high points (AC's practice speed laps led, ZO's second moto charge) and low moments (AC's fall and arm pump, ZO's first moto) but had otherwise positive opening round.

Justin Barcia was one of the fastest guys at the opener. The Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/GASGAS Factory Racing rider was on the move in Moto One, passing from sixth to third in the last half, and hovered around the top-five in Moto Two until some late-race madness pushed him back to sixth place. We cannot wait to see how this bike looks on rutted, technical East Coast tracks.

We wish everyone could have seen the all-out fight that took place in 450 Moto Two. Osborne, Cianciarulo, Anderson, Webb, Tomac, Musquin, and Craig all ran from sixth place to twelfth place and stayed within sight of each other through the middle of the intense race. The moves that the guys were making on each other, from blocking lines in turns to aggressive scrubs on jump faces, showed just how good each guy is and how much they want to finish ahead of each other.

Christian Craig's future is set. On Friday, CC signed a new one-year contract with Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha to race the 250 Class in Supercross and the 450 Class in National MX in 2022. The recently broken leg and limited riding time didn't seem to hamper Craig at Fox Raceway, and he went 11-9 for twelfth overall.

It's been a long, long time since we've seen a healthy and fast Aaron Plessinger on an outdoor track. The Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha rider told us that he feels very comfortable on the bike, that it feels like it handles well around the roughest sections, and he put in a pair of impressive 4-2 finishes on his way to third overall. How long until High Point?

This was Cooper Webb's first MX in a while (he pulled out early last season with a back injury). The Red Bull KTM rider has been at the local practice tracks a lot lately, which fed the preseason hype in the Stopwatch Nationals, and he showed some of that speed with laps near the front in 450 Moto One. A late error in 450 Moto Two took Webb out of that big battle we mentioned a few photos ago, and his 5-11 finishes put him eighth overall on the day.

Riders said that this race track was one of the toughest they've faced in years, if not their entire career. Fox Raceway is a unique beast because even though riders know the layout well, there's nothing they can do to prepare for how the mixed sand-hard pack terrain will develop, given the limited prep and number of laps during race day.

Congrats to Jeremy Stenberg and the Dirt Bike Kidz crew for their title sponsorship of the opening round. The lifestyle brand has exploded in the last two years, growing from simple T-shirt orders in the garage to a full-scale operation managed by Twitch and his close circle of friends that sells clothing, mini bike parts, and safety meeting supplies. It's great to see something this core get embraced by the MX masses.

Could Dylan Ferrandis be a genuine championship contender in his rookie season? It's not out of the question. The Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha rider knows how to string a summer of racing together (he is the defending 250 MX champ), and he isn't as young as most are in their first year on the big bike (he's in his mid-20s), so he shouldn't be as inclined to mistakes from over-riding. Up five points in the standings to second-ranked Roczen and twenty-one to tenth-ranked Osborne, Ferrandis' bike will be complete with the red plate at Thunder Valley.

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