O'Mara still guiding Supercross's next generation

By Eric Johnson 

After a brilliant summer-long fight with fierce rivals Mark Barnett, Jeff Ward and Ron Lechien, Johnny O’Mara snagged the 1983 AMA 125cc National Championship. One year later, O’Mara earned the 1984 AMA Supercross Series Championship. Along the way, O’Mara was also a member of Team USA, which in 1981 became the first American effort to win the storied Trophee and Motocross des Nations.

Once The O’Show called time on it all at the conclusion of the 1990 racing season, the Californian had amassed 16 AMA national victories and two AMA national championships. His career bolstered by a fierce commitment to training and world class physical fitness, O’Mara put all of that to further use in 1996 when he went to work mentoring a young rookie racer named Ricky Carmichael. And the rest there is history. Inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2000, O’Mara is still fast at it in global supercross ad motocross racing, working as a racing advisor and confidant to the Australian brothers Jett and Hunter Lawrence. The former is recovering from a recent training crash at the Dog Pound facility, which is taking up much of O'Mara's focus at the moment.

“Jett did make a little hiccup in training, which led to small crash,” said O’Mara of the miscue that left Lawrence with a fractured right foot and ankle area and on the Injured Reserve List for the next three months.

“That just goes to show you that they’re not bullet-proof. Jett pretty much went down without the bike and then landed on his foot. That’s how the incident happened. With the big picture and if you look at what the injury was, it was a mild dislocation and fracture of the ankle. There was also the injury to the talus and navicular. The navicular is in your wrist, but it’s in your foot also. That definitely required surgery, which he got in Florida.

"We were happy with the surgeon who did it. We got lucky, you know? We didn’t have our doctors from California here. That’s always a concern for us, but we needed to get it done. We couldn’t get Jett transferred to California because of the nature of the injury. We just needed to take care of it right then and there. It turned out well. He’s resting and recovering. The first couple of weeks will be pretty tough for him. The crash didn’t touch his knee. That’s his bad knee that just got repaired last year. No problem on the knee. It was just Jett’s ankle that took a big blow.

“What is exactly that window or time period for healing?” asked O’Mara. “I’ve already heard 12 weeks, which is three months non weight-bearing. I would say it’s probably not that long in our world. He’s so young and strong and we have a great team around us with rehabilitation. We always feel like we can speed it up a little bit. That’s just me being confident in our team of people that are around us. It’ll be day by day, week by week, month by month. We’ll constantly get X-rays every two to four weeks to see how everything is looking in there. He’s got some hardware in there that instantly gave him some stability with the screws and stuff like that.

“Obviously we know just what happened to Jett a couple of days ago, so that changes his whole start of the 2026 season. Jett will just be in the recovery mode and we’ve already got his stuff all taken care of. There will be a lot of stuff in the next couple of weeks as far as rehabilitation goes. So that would be on Jett. Hunter is good to go. He’s been on a program for quite a while. Hunter is as prepared as Jett in all reality for the 2026 supercross season. 

O’Mara says he has complete faith in the reigning SuperMotocross World Championship victor.

“I never doubt him,” nodded O’Mara of Lawrence. “Look what he does. It’s crazy how genetically gifted he is and how committed he is. He has a desire to win at all costs. He’s got a pain tolerance through the roof. I don’t doubt him on anything, he just has a foot injury. He’ll live for another day. He’s 22 years old. He’s in the prime of his career. It’s a setback. You don’t like to see many of these in your career because we know each time this happens, it probably takes a little time off of your career in all reality. But I think Jett will recover fine. It has an effect on him, but I also kind of feel that it doesn’t have an effect on him. He just motivates himself to come back even stronger.”

Along the lines of the merciless, all-in approach to racing and racing preparation made world famous by Carmichael?

“Absolutely,” says O’Mara. “He’s in that category with the greatest of all time. He’s one of them with the mindset and the whole package. He’s one of the greatest, definitely. And we’re still just watching greatness right now. And we’ll continue to watch. He’ll come back and he’ll be spectacular. There is no doubt about it.

“The one thing I will say about Jett before the crash is that we were just really super happy where the bike at,” continued O'Mara. "It’s not a new bike or anything. We just keep on scraping away on that bike to make it a little bit more comfortable for the boys, meaning Hunter and Jett.  That was a little bit disappointing, because Jett was so good with this bike. He was always great with it anyways, but we felt like we made some improvements in some areas where it just makes their job a little bit easier. Hunter now has the opportunity to showcase that here in just a few weeks. He’s ready to go.”

Undisputedly the best and fastest SuperMotocross athlete on Earth, Jett Lawrence’s untimely absence from the competitive fray throws the door wide open for a new championship leader.

“It’s up for grabs now,” said O’Mara on the absence of Lawrence and his Honda CRF450RWE. “In my eyes and how I look at it, you put Jett aside a little bit. Now everybody says, ‘The series is wide open now!’ I’m sure that’s how all the guys look at it. They don’t want to see Jett hurt. In my opinion, the best guys want to beat racers. It’s bittersweet when this happens. It's open now. We’ll know after the first five, six, seven races how it is all panning out. We’ll get a feel for the lay of the land of the 2026 series. We’ll see how everyone is looking. It’s a very long series. As everyone knows it’s a marathon. I’ve always said that. I’ve said it for years. It’s a marathon. Stay healthy. Be strong after halfway. It’s like a chess match. It really is.”

O’Mara first started working with the Lawrence brothers during the summer of 2019, and up to this point in time, could not be happier with the successful trajectory of the dynamic duo.

“I couldn’t be more pleased,” he admitted. “It’s what we envisioned. It’s what I personally envisioned. I knew the skillset. I knew the skillset even before I knew Jett. I knew how good he was technically. And Hunter is right in the same category. He just had a lot of injuries earlier in the career and now you are just seeing some of the real Hunter coming out. He’s already won championships, and that’s why he is such a factor in the 450 class. Nothing surprises me at all. I don’t have a crystal ball, but it is kind of what I envisioned, for Jett to be that dominant. I feel like Jett is always going to be a threat to win every race he lines up for. Literally like a Ricky Carmichael or a James Stewart. We used to think, ‘How can anyone beat James Stewart?’ All those guys when they went to the line, there was a high possibility that they were going to win.”

Meanwhile, the bulldozers and full dump trucks are beginning to hold station over at Angel Stadium – the location for the opening round of the 2026 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship on January 10.

“I’ve been around it for so long," he says. "There is a lot of hype. I’m starting to feel that anxiety of, ‘Okay, it’s already here.’ I’ve been here so many times. We just kind of go about our business. You clock in and clock out. It’s a new season. Yeah, while the duo changed a little bit with Jett now being out, Hunter is ready. I’m happy where he is. We’re just trying to maintain our preparation right now. We’re just doing little maintenance stuff now just going into the season because it’s only a few weeks away. We know what we are racing on as far as the setups. Yeah, were ready to go. It’s just kind of like staying calm, cool and collected, you know?"

Rewind 42 years, and O’Mara clinched the 1984 AMA Supercross Championship for Team Honda. O’Mara has always remained linked to the HRC empire, and is enthused that the Lawrence brothers go out to wage war every weekend with the same badge.

“I was at Honda in the 1980s when it was the powerhouse Honda team with full HRC backing,” he said. “I’m happy with where we are at. I feel like we have the closet package and program to that. That’s going back. That’s what I envisioned. That’s important to the team. I just feel so fortunate that we were able to build this. Every single person that is on the HRC Honda team is really dedicated. Everybody does their part.

"When someone needs to step up, they step up. There is never a weak link. It’s just a well running machine – like an assembly line. We have Japan completely behind Hunter ad Jett. It’s very similar to last I saw with Honda, which was the Ricky Carmichael era with Honda. Ricky also had all that and that’s when Honda was winning a lot. Sometimes I just jump on the boys’ bikes and I just want to feel it. I don’t even put on a full set of the gear and go hit jumps. I just want to feel the acceleration of the four-stroke.

"It is truly amazing. All I have is memories. When I retired, I retired. But when I get off Jatt or Hunter’s bikes, I kind of just shake my head and say, ‘Oh man…’ I can’t believe it. I can’t believe the power delivery and how smooth the bikes are. I can’t believe how insanely gnarly they are and how fast they are. I just sit there and go, ‘Wow.’ I can see how they can jump 65 feet in first gear with a five-foot takeoff. There is nothing they can’t do if you have the skillset.”

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Mike Brown on Ryan Hughes coming to meet him after his crash

They were bitter rivals during their careers as they battled tooth and nail for race wins and titles but two of the most aggressive and commited riders in the sport, Mike Brown and Ryan Hughes, still have a lot of respect for each other all these years later.

This was in evidence recently when Hughes went to meet Brown just when he needed it most, with Brown just out of hospital following his scary crash earlier this year that left him with a broken neck and even having a stroke. Brown didn’t even know Hughes was coming in what was a great surprise for the 2001 US National 125 champ to reunite with and old rival and friend.

Brown told us of the meeting: “To see him, it’s crazy. I didn’t know he was coming to see me. That was my first day out of the rehab. So I was driving from Atlanta back to my house and drove through the airport and Denise was like, ‘oh, we’re going to pick somebody up here.’

“I didn’t know he was coming – had no idea! I pulled up the airport and I said, that’s Ryan Hughes! And, you know, he stayed for a couple of days, which is awesome. Like I said, yeah, we had battles, fist fights, literally fighting. So that was good to spend time with him, it was good. He means well and it helps a lot.”

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Jeff Emig - The Rock Star

 from mxlarge.com

Jeff Emig might have just one premier class AMA supercross title, but it is probably one of the all-time shocks when he beat home Suzuki mounted Jeremy McGrath in the 1997 AMA Supercross championship.

A winner of the MXoN with Team USA in 1992, 1993 and 1996 and a winner of AMA motocross and supercross championships, he was one of the best of his era and an American legend. Below he talks about some important moments in his illustrious career.

Moving to 250’s

Jeff Emig: I was thrown to the wolves in the 250 Supercross class. I wasn't physically mature enough and certainly not mentally mature enough. I needed more time to develop. Unfortunately, because of the progression points system, I was moved up before I was ready. Therefore, I would start at the front, only to be passed or crash. Supercross wasn't good for me in 1992, but in the 125 Nationals, I found my form as a professional racer. Halfway through the season, I started winning races and eventually won the 125 National Championship in the final moto of the final race. I finished 1992 on a high note, winning the Motocross des Nations with Mike LaRocco and Billy Liles in Australia.

The Big Change - Kawasaki

Jeff Emig: After four years, I was there, just behind Jeremy McGrath. But I needed a change. I'd been with Yamaha for a while. My lifestyle was really enjoyable off the bike. We had a good time and were burning the candle at both ends. Keith McCarty and I didn't really connect with who I was as a person. He wanted me to clean things up a bit, have a little less fun, and be more serious about racing. I felt like he wasn't engaging with me. Yamaha gave me a great offer, but Roy Turner at Kawasaki showed a lot of interest in me. When I signed that Kawasaki contract, it was the most money I'd ever made in my career. Roy was thrilled to have signed me. I don't remember Keith feeling the same way about me.

1997 – The Season

Jeff Emig: From mid-1996 to the end of the summer of 1997, I basically won everything. I was at the pinnacle of the sport, winning the 1997 Supercross and National Championships in the same year. I was named to my sixth Motocross of Nations team and was the King of Bercy. I was having the best time of my life. In retrospect, in 1998, I was basking in the previous year's accomplishments. Supercross was a real struggle, and I couldn't focus. But in the middle of the summer of 1998, I got back into shape. I won four outdoor races and said, "Okay, I'm getting back on track." During practice in Millville, I rolled my right wrist forward and hurt my right thumb. I won both motos that day. A week later, my orthopedic surgeon said, "Your thumb is broken. We have to work on it, or you're going to mess it up even more." I had Lasik surgery on my eyes and thumb. During this time off, I just had fun.

The Rock Star

Jeff Emig: I didn't have long hair, smoke cigarettes, or walk around with a bottle of Jack Daniels, but in a way, I wanted to do that. I I never really wanted to be a professional athlete; I always wanted to be a rock star. Later in my career, when I got the tour bus and all that, it was my way of manifesting my desire for that rock star lifestyle. It was definitely fun, and I had a great time. Fans loved it. It created the image I wanted, and I felt like it was pretty authentic to me. Ultimately, it probably wasn't the best career choice if you were a professional motorcycle racer.

Coldenhoff to Brazil

The following comes from Geoff Meyer at MXLarge.com

Glenn Coldenhoff has been a major part of the Grand Prix scene now for a decade and a half and has scored GP wins in MX2 and MXGP, not to mention finishing third in the world in the 2025 MXGP rankings. With standout performances in MXoN in 2018 and 2019, going 1-1-1-1 in Redbud and Assen, the 34-year-old Dutchman has, without question given it his all.

What’s strange, though, is that when it was time to look around for a ride for 2026, the third best rider in the 2025 MXGP championship was left with nothing, or at least, nothing he felt worthy of his experience and results. Glenn had great success with the Fantic racing team, but the Louis Vosters owned team that operated Fantic's MXGP squad is now moving to run Ducati's MXGP team, and that left Glenn in a tough spot.

We caught up with Glenn to chat about his new deal, racing in the Brazilian motocross championship, where he will be celebrated for his achievements.

MXLarge: Glenn, congratulation on your new ride in Brazil. But you must be a bit disappointed that there wasn’t something there for you in MXGP for 2026?
Glenn Coldenhoff: I don’t know, I have done MXGP for 15 years in a row and been there for a while and like you said, finishing third in the championship I felt I should get a ride that I deserve and that opportunity wasn’t there. So, I made the decision to stop racing MXGP and it’s a big decision, but if I’m not being rewarded for the job I am doing, then it isn’t worth doing it for me.

Did you have offers from factory teams and it just wasn’t good enough?
Yes, I had the chance to stay with Fantic, but I would have expected to have at least the same amount of money as this year, but it was a lot less. I don’t blame them, because I really like them, and Fantic became like a family to me and the things we accomplished together with the team from Louis, it has been huge. A lot of effort and hard work from them and I still have a super good relationship with them. Like I said, I don’t blame them. For the private teams it’s a tough time and that is the situation.

You have always come across as a positive guy, and you always seem to like the fly-away events. Going to Brazil, which is similar to Argentina, a place the MXGP paddock have always loved going, could be a really positive experience. You have a small family, so if you are going to do something like this, you need to do it now?
It is definitely a new experience, but I will stay in The Netherlands, same as always and just make up and down eight or nine times, so the situation at home won’t change much. I will go for some testing and in January and then we have an official team launch. The people from the team are really motivated to have me and put in a big effort and as you said, the Brazilians are so enthusiastic and the messages I have through social media, it’s insane. I don’t know yet what it will be like, but people in the team, they tell me, it is going to be insane with the supporters, it will be crazy. Some races they had 30,000 people watching the race. I’m curious and excited and a big chapter in my life and I am taking it with both hands.

You might end up being the new Jett Lawrence, or Jeffrey Herlings of Brazil?[Laughing] I don’t know. For those guys, it is going to be something very special. I always tried to do a good job with MXGP, especially at my age. I still think I can do this for a few more years and I will continue to train like I do for MXGP. Same amount of effort and in that part, nothing will change. It is a different championship, new tracks. I mean, I have done MXGP for 15 years and it’s often the same tracks. I would have liked to go to Foxhill, as it looks like a good track on the videos, and a really historical one and a pity I miss that one, but generally, I have all new tracks in 2026 and I am excited about that.

Do you know the weekends you will have free and would you possibly want to fit in a few rounds of MXGP? Maybe even Argentina, as it will be close to your new fans in Brazil?
No, I won’t do Argentina, I don’t think so. I will start my preparation a bit later and so far, I don’t have bikes, so I don’t have the chance to train. Physical training I am doing, but I need bike time. I am setting up my own race team, and I plan to do some Dutch races, the Belgian international in Keiheuvel, those kinds of races. I will do around 10 races in Europe. As for MXGP, once I get my program going and I can get some good engines and it doesn’t cost me too much money, then I there might be a possibility in Arnhem as it’s one I like. Then the Dutch GP is always special for Dutch guys. I’m setting up everything at this moment and am very busy. We will see if I do some GPs or not.

I assume with all the travel backwards and forward to Brazil, you won’t want to also be flying to America for some rounds of the AMA national, or would you like to do that?
I always wanted to do any race in USA, and I would prefer to do a complete season, but also there things didn’t work out [for 2026], so that is a bit of a shame. That was also something I was working on, and it didn’t turn out good. For one or two races? Why not, I am open for that. I keep a lot of things open, and we will see how things are going. A round in the U.S. is definitely something I am thinking about.

Does it surprise you something didn’t work out in America, as you see guys from MXGP races the Nationals and doing pretty well. Did it surprise you that you couldn’t pick something up there?
Yes and no. The main thing there is obviously supercross and I think in 2026, Guillod will also do supercross, and then motocross and teams in America are keen to sign riders who do both, and not just outdoors. I will not do any supercross, for sure not, because I didn’t grow up with it. I did a track walk there in 2015 and it’s no joke! I think Jorge Prado is a good example of that. He is a super talented kid, but to do supercross there, you need a lot of practice and at the age of 34, it’s way too late [for me]. I would love to do outdoors, but the teams were not interested in just that.

You raced 15 years in MXGP and given a lot of good results, GP wins in both classes, MXoN success, you have also raced for a lot of teams in the paddock. Can you give me two or three of your highlights?
I think 2019, with Standing Construct KTM. It started off really bad, with a big injury in December [of 2018], and then, I had my best results the last five rounds of the championship. I was a long way back in the championship and finished third. Two GP wins, a lot of moto wins and the last five GPs, I wasn’t outside the top five. Also, MXoN in 2019 and also 2018. Last year was also one of my highlights and I was strong straight from the beginning. I used to be a guy who started slow, usually get better results at the end of the season, but this year, I was there from the beginning.

Leaving MXGP at 34 years of age, I would imagine it will be hard to get back into a team, for sure with all the MX2 kids coming up and taking places. Are you looking at maybe returning in 2027?
It is open. Training wise, and everything else, I will work the same as I always have, so if I can jump back in in 2027, I would do it and if the opportunity is there, I would jump in. Just this year there is no chance and why I moved to Brazil.

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