Fly'n Brian Myerscough Interview

MXA INTERVIEW: THE STRUGGLES OF FLY’N BRIAN MYERSCOUGH

On Sep 15, 2022 Last updated Sep 15, 2022

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BY JIM KIMBALL

WHAT CONVINCED YOU TO BECOME A MOTOCROSS RACER? My family lived in Calimesa. It was a small rural town right against the foothills. We had 10 acres, and I could ride my Honda MiniTrail right to the hills. Originally, I started doing trials events, and one day they had a trials at Saddleback, and that is when I first saw Jeff Ward, who was riding a MiniTrail 50. I was in awe of Jeff. He was so naturally talented. I did trials for two years, and then one day at Dead Man’s Point I saw a motocross race and decided, “I gotta try that.”

AND, JUST LIKE THAT, YOU WERE RACING MOTOCROSS? Yes. I was maybe 11 years old. I got a Steen’s 100. It had a Hodaka engine, leading-link forks and 16-inch wheels. I raced it in the 100 Junior class. A lot of the other guys had bigger bikes, like Hodaka Super Rats. My bike was a minicycle size. I got pushed around in the first few races, and then I got a Rickman Micro-Metisse 100. It was a full-size motorcycle with a Hodaka 100 engine in it. I began winning races.

 

YOU KEPT PROGRESSING? For sure. I did well right at the beginning with winning races and progressed from there. There are pictures of me riding the 100 Rickman. I was a small guy who rode big bikes before I got into riding the minicycles full-time.

WHEN DID YOU GET ON A MINICYCLE? We had an SL-70 that we used to race locally. My dad made it happen for me. Initially, my parents said, “You will never race.” My dad wasn’t into motorcycles, but he saw how I enjoyed it and said, “I gotta help that kid.” Bill Bell at Long Beach Honda built my SL-70. He was Mike Bell’s dad. They used to have a 75 Modified class, and I rode a stock 75. The first big minicycle race I went to was the 1973 NMA World Mini Grand Prix at Indian Dunes. I rode two classes. For a 12-and-over Expert rider, there were three main classes: 0-75 stock, 0-75 Modified and then 0-110 Modified. Flying Mike Brown was the fastest guy at Indian Dunes. He was the guy to beat. The Honda XR-75 had just come out, so I rode that in the Stock class, and then the SL-70, which was modified, in the other classes. I ended up winning both those classes.

“A LOT OF THE OTHER GUYS HAD BIGGER BIKES, LIKE HODAKA SUPER RATS. MY BIKE WAS A MINICYCLE SIZE. I GOT PUSHED AROUND IN THE FIRST FEW RACES, AND THEN I GOT A RICKMAN MICRO-METISSE.”

WAS THIS BEFORE TWO-STROKE MINICYCLES? Eventually, the Yamaha YZ80 came out, which was great. I rode that after the Honda. After that World Mini Grand Prix, they had what was called the Nationals at Saddleback. By that time, I was on XR-75s for each of those three classes. I won that event in 1973, and Jeff Ward was second in all of them. Then I got hooked up with J&B Honda and started riding for them. After the YZs came into existence we started racing those. At that time, my brother still rode. My dad bought a Yamaha shop in Redlands, and I was doing well. His main business was as a housing developer who built tract homes. With the Yamaha dealership, we also developed Myerscough Machines with Ted Moorewood. The aftermarket product was coming into existence more, along with mail order.

 

YOU EVENTUALLY WON MANY MINICYCLE RACES, DIDN’T YOU? I did, on both Honda and Yamaha. They had the Grand National Championship in 1985. It was 12 races during the summertime that crossed the United States. Not everybody was going to be able to follow all the races, but Jeff Ward, Mike Brown, Jimmy Holley and myself were there. That year, I won every class in the Grand National Championship series. It was a big deal back then. During that time Jeff Ward, the other kids and I would go to Saddleback and Carlsbad to watch all the pro guys.

Go to www.motocrossactionmag.com for the rest of this very good interview

Jett Headed to 450!

Two-time 250 outdoors champion looking ahead to premier class.

With his proper 450 race debut expected to align with the start of the outdoors season in 2023, the anticipated timing of Jett Lawrence’s advancement to the premier class has been all but formally announced.

The younger Lawrence brother captured the 250SX East regional title in Monster Energy Supercross before dominating the 250MX season outdoors.

Following his Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship triumph last season, Lawrence’s ascension to the 450 ranks has seen few interruptions. However, the 19-year-old’s near future came further into focus as the Fox Raceway finale approached and the Team Australia Motocross of Nations (MXoN) line-up was revealed.

During the Fox Raceway 2 National Staging Area Pre-Race Show produced by American Motocross, Lawrence confirmed the planned start of his 450 career will follow just one more Supercross season on a 250.

“In between Washougal and Unadilla, I did,” Lawrence said, responding to a question from television analyst James Stewart about acquiring seat time on a Honda CRF450R.

“I rode the 450 a lot, then I probably did two days on the 250. And then after this weekend, all next week, we’re going to be testing more motor stuff and more suspension stuff on the 450 to get it more dialed.”

During multiple podium interviews throughout his outdoors campaign, it was clear that Lawrence was thinking ahead to competing on a 450. Additionally, he’ll contest the Open class at MXoN on a 450, with the explicit goal of getting a head start on preparing to race the bike full-time.

Even for the current standout rider in the small-bike class, the transition to the 450 hasn’t been seamless.

“It’s crazy,” Lawrence said. “My 250 suspension feels amazing — I’m so comfortable with that. I know what it does. We took the exact same setting from that and put the forks and shock onto the 450, and it was horrible. It reacted totally different; I had no idea what it was going to do.”

Beyond bike set-up, Lawrence is already thinking about adjusting his riding style to get the most out of the Honda CRF450R.

“I was still, like on a 250, leaning back,” he said. “I almost looped out a couple times.

“Once I got more of that 450 style — staying further forward, being smooth on the throttle, and not just dumping the clutch and letting it go — at the end of the week, I ended up getting a rideable setting I was pretty happy with. But we’ve still got some more things we want to test, especially with the engine, the ECU, and that stuff.”

Lawrence’s first 450 race will occur during the MXoN at Redbud on September 24–25. Fans, the industry, and his competition will watch closely, knowing his full-time debut in the premier class is hardly more than half a year out.

Big Dave's Vet Weekend

32ND BIG DAVE VET HOMECOMING TAKES PLACE THIS WEEKEND AT HIGH POINT RACEWAY

1. 

Our friends at Lojak’s Cycle Sales invite you to come out and join our extended racing family on this special weekend as we celebrate our motocross heritage and the memory of “Big Dave” Coombs (1941-1998) with all of our friends – old and new. This event offers two days of unique racing and a wide selection of vet classes for all skill levels, as well as support classes for our younger racers. Spend Saturday night bench racing over adult beverages. This is a laid-back event that is sure to bring back cool memories

Honda's Side

Honda Statement on its Offer to Ken Roczen

TORRANCE, Calif. — Following Ken Roczen’s comments yesterday regarding his contract negotiations, American Honda Manager of Sports & Experiential Brandon Wilson made the following statement:

“We genuinely enjoy working with Ken and have loved having him on our team for the past six years. We have a ton of respect for the speed and talent he regularly demonstrates on the track, and even more so for the heart and dedication he has shown in returning from severe setbacks. In light of recent comments, we felt the need to clarify a couple of points. We were looking forward to continuing with Ken in 2023, and we recently made him an offer of a contract extension. That offer has never been rescinded, but it was declined by Ken and his team. It’s true that the offer included a stipulation that Ken not compete in a series that has positioned itself as a direct competitor to our supercross and motocross racing partners. We feel it’s important to support our racing partners and to treat all of our riders the same. That said, our esteem and appreciation for Ken are as strong as ever, and they won’t be altered by the fact that our priorities don’t happen to align on this issue.”

KEN ROCZEN “I AM A FREE AGENT”

Two-time Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross champion Ken Roczen took to James Stewart’s Bubba’s World podcast on Thursday with some interesting news. The 28-year-old German was in a contract year with Honda HRC and had yet to sign anything with them for 2023. According to Roczen himself, he is now a free agent moving forward, as the offer he had on the table from Honda was pulled.

Roczen has been with Honda HRC since late 2016 when he made his debut with the team at the Monster Energy Cup. Over the past six years of racing with Honda, he has won several supercross and motocross races while finishing runner up in Monster Energy AMA Supercross and Lucas Oil Pro Motocross twice. Though he hasn’t quite been able to capture his former championship glory, Roczen has arguably been the face of American Honda for the six years he’s been with the team.

“So, I’m in a position right now… my future has always been kind of set in stone for a long time; months if not years in advance,” said Roczen on Episode 0.8 of Bubba’s World. “This last week, it’s a funky feeling but basically, I am a free agent at this point which is kind of crazy. I’ve never been in that position. But it was ultimately these races that I committed to, these overseas races, and it’s not three anymore, it’s two. I haven’t raced over in Europe in a long time, I’ve never been to Australia. For me, the decision to race those races was fairly easy. Especially this late in my career, it was the right time. It’s just been way too long and since this isn’t a full series yet, I had the opportunity to make that deal. Which was a shocker to me, Honda decided to pull the offer that they gave me a week or a couple of weeks ago, which by the way, was a great offer. I mean, if I wanted to go after the money, then that would have been the smart thing to do. But I have committed to these races, and I just didn’t feel comfortable at all to leave fans hanging.”

Honda has yet to comment on the situation and there certainly are two sides to this story. For Roczen, he had committed to racing in the newly formed FIM World Supercross championship months ago. Since the announcement, there has been wild speculation on which team Roczen will be racing for in WSX since Honda HRC did not commit to the 10-race team program that WSX has laid out.

Read: Honda Releases Statement on Its Offer to Ken Roczen

Now we are less than a month away from the opening round of WSX in Wales and Roczen has still not announced to any of the 10 teams that are committed to race. But Roczen himself remained adamant over the recent stretch that he would be racing the series when the time came.

“There’s a lot of people overseas that don’t have the money to come over here and watch us race,” Roczen continued in his conversation with James Stewart. “So for me to be able to go back over to Europe and Australia next to also having a little bit of vacation. It’s kind of something that we don’t really have much time to do so. I wasn’t ready to disappoint the fans and pull out of this World Supercross thing. I decided to stick with it and Honda just decided to shockingly pull the offer. It was one of those things that had me a little bit shocked, but it’s a funky situation to be in. But at the same time, I’m sticking to my guns because I feel like I owe it to the fans, and I owe it to myself. I was looking forward to this whole thing months and months ago and that’s what I’m going to do.”

As mentioned, Roczen’s three-year extension with Honda HRC, which was announced back in May of 2019, would carry the German aboard the red machine all the way through about now. Contracts usually expire the first of October for that year of racing, which means Roczen was set to become a free agent regardless if he was unable to sign a new contract before that date.

Back in July, Roczen was a guest on the PulpMX Show and expressed an interest in doing supercross and motocross for 2023. While long-time counterpart Eli Tomac is set to race supercross only in 2023, Roczen seemed committed to continue racing the full American schedule with whichever team or brand that may be. In the Bubba’s World episode today, Roczen explained that his Honda contract that they offered him would have only been for supercross as the expectation is for two-time 250 class champion Jett Lawrence to race a 450 for Honda HRC next summer.

“The offer that I got was basically for supercross 2023 and supercross only,” said Roczen. “It was for great money. Everything made sense, and I was very appreciative that that happened. Unfortunately I made this deal that I had with World Supercross months and months ago. And I didn’t even… I was in contract yes with Honda, but we had a mutual agreement that hey, we’re not a big fan of this but for this year it’s a startup and things like that, that they were going to be okay with it. So, we didn’t worry about anything. And at that point, when we made this deal, I didn’t even have an offer yet or anything for the next year.”

 

Honda now has a clear vacancy in the second seat alongside Chase Sexton moving forward, unless Roczen and Honda can come to terms at a later date. It’s unlikely any of that news gets decided in the coming weeks as Honda HRC first has to turn their efforts to helping Chase Sexton, Hunter Lawrence, Jett Lawrence, and Gariboldi Honda transplant Mitch Evans at the 2022 Monster Energy Motocross of Nations next week. Honda HRC will also likely be helping Ruben Fernandez at MXoN.

“For sure got rid of the itch"...RD5 to Hang'em Up Again

Ryan Dungey impressed many this year with his return to racing always hovering around the top five after 5 years off to finish sixth in the championship. But it looks like he was still a bit disappointed not to be closer to the front despite enjoying his return to racing and after rumours it might race again next year it seems Ryan has decided to go back into retirement with his family taking priority.

Speaking to Michael Lindsay of Vital MX, Ryan said: “For sure got rid of the itch…I wanted the challenge of doing this summer and it was good. I’m not going to keep racing after this, this was the last one. I think i got rid of the itch, for me when i stopped in Vegas in 17 I stopped on top and that’s tough because in a way I couldn’t wait to be done but in a way , coudl I have kept going? You play that in your mind. It’s been five years later now I wanted to see from not riding at all over five years, is it possible to get back to that top level of shape. I think with another off-season and more prep we could get there but yeah, just couldn’t bridge the gap. Those guys are fast.”

Tomac Is King!

Tomac takes the crown with an incredible display of toughness.

To The Victor Go The Spoils...Drop The Gate!

This is the closest title chase in history, with the smallest points gap after 11 rounds. It got us thinking about other title chases in the premier 450 (formerly 250 two-stroke) class. Since the series has not always been 12 rounds, our list consists of the top ten closest title chases after 11 rounds heading into the 12th and final round.

The following stats are provided by Clinton Fowler.

#10 | 2013 | Ryan Villopoto 50 points over Ryan Dungey

Let’s face it 50 points after 11 rounds is not that close, but Ryan Villopoto was on fire that year. He only finished off of the podium four motos and the entire season and won an impressive 18 out of 24 motos. With that sort of dominance, it is actually impressive “Mr. Consistency” himself, Ryan Dungey, stayed as close as he did, eventually finishing the series 56 points behind.

#9 | 1995 | Jeremy McGrath 47 points over Jeff Emig

In 1995 all eyes were on defending AMA National Motocross champ Mike LaRocco and the 1994 MXGP champ Greg Albertyn. This much anticipated battle was short lived when they both had to sit out part of the season due to injury. At Budds Creek Motocross Park it looked like the title contenders would be Jeremy McGrath and Doug Henry, that is until Doug suffered a gnarly crash breaking his back. That left only Jeff Emig to challenge McGrath for the title. Even though he was 47 points back after 11 rounds, by the end of the season The King of Supercross proved he could win outdoors, too, winning by 60 points.

#8 | 2017 | Eli Tomac 28 points over Blake Baggett

Even though 28 points after 11 rounds does not seem too close, the 2017 season was action packed. Eli Tomac came out at round one swinging, but then had some bike issues at round two. Blake Baggett looked as though he could be as dominant on 450s as he was on 250s, that is until he tore a ligament in his thumb at the RedBud National. Marvin Musquin started the season slow, nursing a knee injury, only to heal and pick it up by the end of the season. He was able to close the gap to only 17 points by the final round.

#7 | 1999 | Greg Albertyn 21 points over Kevin Windham

Three-time World Champion Greg Albertyn would finally get his one US title in 1999. It would not be an easy run. There was not one dominant rider in 1999 like in most years (Though it appeared that the 1998 World Champion Sebastian Tortelli would be until he broke his wrist) and the series saw seven different overall winners in 12 rounds. Surprisingly the ‘96 and ‘97 outdoor champion Jeff Emig did not win a single round and it was just down to Albertyn and Kevin Windham at the end. Albertyn would eventually win by 29 points.

#6 | 2018 | Eli Tomac 20 points over Marvin Musquin

Eli Tomac’s 2018 title defense was a nail bitter. A mechanical at RedBud leading to a DNF and a very fast and consistent Marvin Musquin brought the title chase down the last moto. He won the championship over Musquin by 16 points.

#5 | 2014 | Ken Roczen 20 points over Ryan Dungey

Even though 20 points is the same difference between Tomac and Musquin in our last entry, Ken Roczen and Ryan Dungey break the tie because by season's end there were only 14 points between them. Roczen started the season off strong, like he always does, and Dungey finished strong which led to some close racing. Eli Tomac missed the early rounds with injury but got in between them at the end and helped Dungey close the gap, but it was not enough. Roczen was able to win the 450 title in his rookie year.

Ken Roczen claiming the premier class Pro Motocross title in his rookie season in 2014. Simon Cudby

#4 | 2011 | Ryan Villopoto 14 points over Ryan Dungey

For as many titles as Ryan Dungey has (three in 450 motocross) it is surprising to see him appear on this list in second place just as many times. Two-thousand-eleven started off as a three-man battle with Chad Reed leading the points until Millville when he got “Chadapulted” off of the track. From there it just left "The Ryans" again battling it out. It was a close battle with only 12 points separating them after the final moto of the season. Bike problems at a couple of rounds must have left Dungey wondering “what could have been.”

#3 | 2007 | Grant Langston 8 points over Andrew Short

How exactly does one beat Ricky Carmichael in Pro Motocross? Quite easily if Ricky races (and wins) only six rounds on his farewell tour. With Carmichael only doing select rounds, and therefore out of the championship hunt, everyone assumed the crown would be handed over to James Stewart. Then Stewart suffered a knee injury, and the championship was wide open. Grant Langston came on strong at the end, winning the last three rounds winning the championship for himself and Yamaha with 16 points over Mike Alessi.

#2 | 1996 | Jeff Emig 8 points over Jeremy McGrath

Old rivals Jeff Emig and Jeremy McGrath battled it out during the 1996 season. McGrath, the defending champion, held the points lead until he miscalculated a jump at Spring Creek and cased a table-table, hurting his foot. He tried to tough it out and still get points, but Emig was coming on strong. Emig opened an eight-pint lead, but McGrath was able to heal up enough to go 1-1 at the second to last round. This left them just two points apart heading into the finale, making it the closest championship (with this many rounds) in this class until this year. Emig rebounded with a 1-1 at the finale to take the championship by 10 points, as Mcgrath went 2-3.

#1 | 2022 | Eli Tomac 1 point over Chase Sexton

And that brings us to 2022, going into the last round, where Eli Tomac leads by only one point over Chase Sexton. It would be easy to look at this list and think that Eli has been in this situation before, once with Blake Baggett and once with Marvin Musquin. But the fact is no other riders have been this close before and we have no idea how this is going to pan out. Riding smart for points at the finale is one thing, but this weekend will require an all-out attack (and likely moto wins) to ice the crown. The only thing we know for sure is that this Saturday at Fox Raceway at Pala is going to be exciting to watch!

Marvin's Back!

MARVIN MUSQUIN TO RACE 250 CLASS AT FOX RACEWAY 2 NATIONAL

The 2022 Pro Motocross season finale is set to go this Saturday at Fox Raceway in Pala, California. Since both the first and last rounds of the series have been held at Pala, this one is technically called the “Fox Raceway 2 National.” This weekends race is already set to be an exciting one in the 450 class with Eli Tomac having a one-point lead on Chase Sexton in the 450 Championship standings. The weather is playing a factor into this race, with the heat wave Southern California is facing, we’re expecting temperatures in the 105-degree range on Saturday. Because of the extreme heat, MX Sports has decided to decrease the duration of the motos from 30-minutes plus 2-laps, to 25-minutes plus 2-laps.

In other news, the 250 class will see some new faces this weekend! Marvin Musquin had a Supercross-only contract with KTM for the 2022 season and during the summer, while helping the Red Bull KTM team test their factory race bikes and while helping the KTM R&D department develop 2024 model bikes, Marvin was able to negotiate another one-year Supercross-only contract for 2023.

Then, Marvin Musquin was selected to represent Team France at the 2022 Red Bud Motocross of Nations in the 250 class, alongside Maxime Renaux and Dylan Ferrandis, who will compete in the two 450 classes.

Now, in preparation for the Motocross of Nations coming up in three weeks, Marvin is lining up in the 250 class, alongside Red Bull KTM’s 25o rider, Max Vohland.

Toni Bou On Course For a 16th TrialGP Title After Another Win In France

After a clear win in France, Tony Bou looks odds on to wrap up his 16th straight World Championship.

Toni Bou moved to within touching distance of the 2022 TrialGP title at the TrialGP of France – the fifth and penultimate round of the 2022 Hertz FIM Trial World Championship.

Staged at Cahors on a sweltering day, the opening five sections were plotted in a quarry where competitors went head-to-head on steep, loose bankings studded with daunting rock steps. From here it was down to the banks of a nearby river and a series of massive, man-made sections comprising enormous rock steps and yet more heart-stoppingly steep bankings.

Bou set a furious pace from the start and established an early lead with just a single mark lost on section three where the rest of the TrialGP field all picked up maximums. This feat was repeated on section 11 which featured a monster triple step on the exit that looked impossible on first inspection and claimed first-lap fives from everyone apart from Bou who skipped through for a dab at his first attempt.

The Spaniard, who’s aiming for a record-breaking 16th-straight title this season, was on six marks lost at the halfway stage which handed him an eight-mark advantage over compatriot Jaime Busto with Miquel Gelabert a further three adrift in third.

On lap two Bou picked up his first maximum of the trial on section three but added just one more mark to his total to end the day on 12.

Following an expensive opening lap, Adam Raga pulled things together on lap two with his score of seven lifting him up to second on 25, two ahead of Italy’s Matteo Grattarola who produced a brilliant nine-mark performance on lap two.

With just eight marks separating the leading riders it was tight at the top with Gabriel Marcelli and Gelabert completing the top five as Busto slipped to sixth after going off the boil on lap two.

“Today we got off to a very good start,” Bou said. “I felt good on the bike and that showed throughout the trial. It was a trial with few mistakes, but with the chance of messing up, so we had to be careful in the most complicated sections. The only serious error I made was in the tricky section three. Overall, we had a very complete trial, picking up just 12 marks. I’m very happy and in terms of the championship, these are very important points. In Italy we will have to have a normal race, taking care of the physical aspect and the bike too. We will go after another title, after a very good year in which we have been very consistent in all the championships.”

There are now just two scoring days to go at the TrialGP of Italy in the middle of September and Bou’s advantage over Busto – who’s the only man still in with a mathematical chance of dethroning him – is now 36 points with just 40 left up for grabs.