2020 Florida Motocross | Kickstart

A big change in weather from Minnesota to Florida was an element that everyone had to keep in mind on Saturday. The temperature was in mid 70s when we got to the track in the morning and a light fog, heavy humidity, and gray sky hung around through most of Timed Qualifying. The cloud cover burned off just as the 450 A Group rolled out for their last session of practice and from that point on, the heat index hovered just under 100 degrees. Will this be the last hot day of the summer? The upcoming Colorado race looks like it’ll be similar to Spring Creek, while it’s too early to say for the California round.

Did you see last week’s “Checking In With” interview with Brian Fleck? Dunlop Motorcycle Tire’s Off-Road Manager has been a staple of the pit area for years and was willing to chat about the different traits of the traditional knob MX33 and scoop-style MX11 and MX12, the reason many US riders don’t run mousse inserts, and how track prep has changed his job. You can find it on the site or our YouTube.

Cameron McAdoo woke up on Saturday morning feeling unwell, something the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki rider believed to be food poisoning, but stepped up when it was time to race, battled for a pair of top-10 finishes in both motos, and ended the day seventh overall. The Kawasaki press release mentions throwing up before, during, and after the motos. Brutal.

10-10 for eleventh overall. Yeah, Christian Craig got shaft in Jacksonville. This has been a very good summer for the Team Honda HRC rider, as he’s finished in the top-15 of every moto run and is a solid eighth in the championship standings (he trails teammate and seventh-ranked Sexton by 44 points, is ahead of ninth-ranked Savatgy by 16 points). His move to Star Racing in 2021 has all but been announced and it’ll be interesting to see how he does on the blue bike, particularly the 250 in Supercross.

Digging. Props to Alex Ray for finishing both 450 Class motos in the points at the Florida rounds, despite a mid-day engine change and an exhaust issue in Moto Two. We’ll give you a big Happy Gilmore style check at the end of the season.

Fox Racing surprised Adam Cianciarulo with a custom painted, very personal V3 helmet at WW. AC is a longtime and open fan of blink-182, so apdesigns took elements from the band’s art and laid it on the shell in neon colors.

The chinbar and eyeport were also finished with the checkered pattern and airbrush accents. Also, the ARMA logos on Adam’s Intake Breathing band is for sure something that Nick Wey recommended.

This small area Zach Osborne’s Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing FC 450 is loaded with plenty of trick parts. The red background is by far the most eye-catching, but it’s important to point out the rounded spars of the triple clamps (changes the rigidity of the front-end, split design alters the clamping force on the fork), the drilled washer holding the plate one, the small light-up tachometer that lets Osborne know when the bike is at optimal RPM on the start, and a GPS location tracker just in front of the ProTaper handlebars.

The goods continue behind the plate, where you can see that Osborne’s opts for the Showa steering damper (something that a handful of KTM-Husqvarna riders run), the wiring and attachement for the tach, the massive WP fork legs, and a slew of fasteners, which are tightened to a particular torque number that Osborne and the team have come up with.

Side shot of Justin Barcia’s Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing YZ450F, particularly his KYB shock. Barcia, KYB, and enzo racing have worked all summer to find a suitable setup for the bike, an ongoing task that Barcia has told us he’s enjoyed. Will Ferrandis or Plessinger make use of these settings next year? Or is Barcia’s riding style too unique?

It was good to see Ken Roczen out and about at the track on Saturday. The Team Honda HRC rider’s decision to skip the summer was met with both praise and criticism, but considering his busy personal life (getting over the energy-draining illness, becoming a new father), it’s safe to say that he had a good reason. For those of you wondering if Roczen’s been on the bike, we’ve heard about a recent ride day he had with Blake Baggett and some sporadic motos at the private practice spots around central Florida. The break is about to be over, because Team Honda HRC will be busy this offseason testing the new CRF450R for Supercross.

Alright, here’s a shot of the new red cross flag safety lights in action. Introduced at Spring Creek, the signals were again placed in the approach to some of the bigger jumps on the track in Florida and were used alongside the usual flagman.

What do you personally think would be easier to see during a moto: LED signals or the man with the silk flag?

Style Icon. Do you want to see big whips over LaRocco’s Leap or very fast bow-legged berm blasts? Justin Rodbell can do both. The SGB/Maxxis Tires/Babbitt’s Online rider has been a surprise of the summer, thanks to points scored in 12 of the 14 motos while balancing a regular job as an HVAC installer in Maryland, and he powered to 14-19 finishes for 17th overall in Florida. Rodbell will end the season ranked somewhere between 15th to 18th in the 450 Class championship, all depending on these last four motos.

Kyle Chisholm’s appearance in Jacksonville had an impact on the results of the 450 Class. The Florida native has spent the summer renovating a house, but with the race a few hours away, he put down the tools, packed up the truck, and put in 15-12 rides for 14th overall. We talk all the time about how talented and badass the top-20 guys are, so for Chisholm to step in for a day and run the pace shows just how experienced and talented the veteran racer is.

Riding dirty. A number of mechanics opt against the mid-morning pressure wash between practice sessions, due to everything from the limited time to wash and prep the bike to the reduced risk of getting water in an important area like the electronics, intake, bearings, and bushing.

Take a cue from Derik Dwyer and Alex Campbell: Don’t touch the power washer wand between your five-lap motos on the Vet Track.

Don’t expect Justin Cooper to get in the middle of this championship battle. The Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha rider was asked if he would take part in “team tactics” to help Dylan Ferrandis win the title, but Cooper was quick to put an end to that sort of notion. “I don’t think I would ever get that pit board, honestly. Maybe if it was like a championship last moto of the year. They’re not looking at it like that. They want Dylan to win the championship, obviously, but it’s really let the best man win,” he explained of the Star Racing squad. “Jeremy and Dylan, they’re going to do their thing. I’m going to be trying to do my own thing and try to get on the podium or even go for race wins. That’s my goal. Whether I gain points on Dylan, I’m out there to do my best. So, I wouldn’t really roll over for Dylan, and I wouldn’t roll over for Jeremy. They’re going to duke it out on their own.”

Mason Gonzales has had a hell of a rookie year. The Rock River Yamaha rider entered the summer practically unknown (except for the diehard amateur crowd) and through seven rounds has become the standout of this year’s Loretta Lynn’s A Class graduates. A massive get-off over the in-field tabletop (same jump as Hampshire) was the high and low point to Gonzales’ home race, but he was lucky to get away uninjured and will line up at Thunder Valley.

Brandon Hartranft knows he’s riding for a contract right now and told us that it’s something on his mind at all times. “I think about it when I go to bed, when I wake up, when I’m riding and training. It’s kind of the motivation right now and I think I deserve something,” the Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull KTM rider told us after charges from deep in the pack for 13-9 finishes put him 10th overall in the 250 Class. One of the main contenders for a spot on the GasGas bike next year, he acknowledged that it’s not a for-sure extension just yet. “I guess we’ll see. I’ve put a lot of effort in and worked hard, but the motivation right now is to get another deal.”

One of the many uses for duct tape.

Shoutout to the people putting together the pieces of Chase Sexton’s setup each weekend. It’s common for Alpinestars-backed guys like Tomac and Barcia to stay in their “signature” looks through most of the season, so Sexton’s recent change to the brand menas every moto is a new look. Matching the camo of the jersey to the neck brace graphics, the chrome goggle accents, and Chicago Bulls style “23” on the top of lid are all cool touches.

Sexton is eager for a win as the season winds down. We talked about his rookie results after the race and while he is happy with the progress made, he intends to end the summer with moto and even overall wins. “I feel like I have spent enough time in second place. I think when I win, it’s going to click. I’m not new to running up front so I should be fine. Yeah, the pace is fast, but I ran in second place and was right behind AC for pretty much the whole race in the first moto. I need to pull a holeshot and go. I think I’m definitely capable of winning and that’s what the goal is,” he told us in HWYW. “I think I’ve proved a lot of people wrong and I don’t think a lot of people thought I’d be that good. There is no question that my speed is good, I’m definitely as fast as everybody out there, but I’m a rookie and make those mistakes. I need to tighten those up a bit and I think we will be good for Supercross next year.”

Florida was tough for Benny Bloss. The KT Tape/Truck Center/Donnell’s rider was eighth fastest in the morning session, an impressive pace for a privateer, crashed out of Moto One, and pulled out a few laps in 450 Moto Two and ended the day with 39-39 finishes for 38th overall. Here he is making the 450 look like a mini bike during practice.

Detail-oriented

Power to the ground.

Jeremy Martin and Zach Osborne were two of the guys we noticed to wear cooling vests on their parade lap. This hasn’t been an especially hot summer, so some riders welcomed the heat index and humidity on Saturday.

JMart’s vest is made by Ergodyne and retails for 40 bucks.

Dylan Ferrandis has made mention of starts being an issue all season, something he seemed to have figured out in Florida and told us was due to a change he and Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha have made to the bike. “It’s 100-percent a bike change. When we had tests before the season, I built my bike to go fast the whole lap and the whole moto,” he explained. "I think in the beginning of the season, I think I was faster than I was today because of the setting of my bike. This setting was not the best at the start, so we changed it to be better at the start. It’s a less faster on the track, but better for the start which is right now more important.”

250 Class battles.

Joey Crown and Hardy Munoz in a mid-moto battle. It’s hard to say which of these two riders has the more dedicated, stick by their side fanbase. Crown has the support of the Michigan Mafia to go with a history of fast laps and strange issues, Munoz has the South American and amateur die-hards that celebrate his gutsy and sometimes aggressive rides.

What did Jeremy Martin have to say about team tactics? "I don’t know about that. Obviously, Dylan went 1-1 last weekend at Millville, and then he went 1-1 this weekend. So, there’s no team orders on my side. Obviously, I was on Jett [Lawrence] in the first moto and then I couldn’t get around him and my brother. I think it was my brother. I couldn’t get around Jett, and then Jett just got away. He got second and I got third. So, I don’t think there’s really any team orders from GEICO or there’s any team orders from Star," he stated in the post-race press conference. As for his championship outlook with two rounds to go, Martin explained that he's just going to race for the win every time and feels that it'll be a heads-up duel with Ferrandis. "Definitely Dylan was riding really well today. He got really good starts both motos. He was out of the gate better than me. So, I did what I could. I was kind of fighting it all day today, but I did everything that I could. We have two rounds left, so we’ll hopefully fight it into the end here and see what happens... I said it earlier this year, I can’t control what he’s going to do. I think Dylan respects me. Obviously, he knows I respect him. We race each other hard. May the best man win. It’s been a fun series so far and hopefully we can make it a barn burner here down to the end."

Let’s say the Florida National is the “home race” for the Lawrence brothers. After spending the first year of living in the US in California, the GEICO Honda riders made the move to the other side of the country and made central Florida their basecamp. Jett has undeniably improved at each race this season and was doing all he could to score second place in 250 Moto One, but a fifth-place finish and the results of Cooper and Martin in 250 Moto Two blocked him from the overall podium.

The season is over for Mathias Jorgensen. A recent rise in COVID cases in his native Denmark spurred his insurance company to issue an alert for all to come back home, with a chance of a lapse in coverage if he doesn’t return in the next few weeks. The timeline would allow a chance to race the last two rounds, but because of the situation and a need to sell everything he has in the USA (Kawasaki KX motorcycles, his van and trailer, assorted equipment), Jorgensen has decided to tie up the loose ends. Message him on Instagram to see what is for sale.

Eli Tomac offered plenty of insight in his How Was Your Weekend interview. After being a bit off in practice and Moto One, the Monster Energy Kawasaki rider had a breakthrough in Moto Two and put in his first hard charge since Ironman, which he explained in our one-on-one. “It was nice to be back on the podium. I’ve been in a funk lately, the last few weekends I have been searching, for one being buried on the start for one and not having the speed. I’ve also been missing some speed in qualifying, so that’s something I have been searching for as well. I wasn’t quite there this week, but overall, Moto Two saved the day for me. In Moto One I was like, ‘Here we go again.’ But in Moto Two my body felt a lot better and I don’t know how. It was pretty warm today and I almost felt more hydrated for Moto Two, just felt better in general and like my old self, like I did in Indiana. It’s been a month since I put a moto together like that and it’s been tough.”

Tomac’s take on the season as a whole was equally telling. “I feel fine at home and I come to the race and don’t have the result,” he explained of his recent frustrations. “I was getting to a point where I was starting to lose my mind and get frustrated, just frustrated that I wasn’t able to go forward in the motos and was stuck in sixth or wherever I was, not moving forward like usual. It was nice to find that again in Moto Two.” Like we said last week, Tomac is technically not out of the title, but it would take a big run of race wins and some setbacks by others for him to clinch championship number four, and he discussed that as well. “I’m so far out of it that all I’m looking for at this point is a race win at one of these two. That would be great.”

No matter how many times we see it, the one-foot stoppie to set the holeshot device is badass.

450 Moto One start. This shot could spur a handful of conversations, from Osborne’s launch to Cianciarulo’s stand-up technique to Rodbell’s privateer power to Tomac’s rank in the running order just a few feet out of the gate.

What’s it like to hold a factory 450 wide open around a sandy berm turn? Watch Adam Cianciarulo’s GoPro footage on our site to see the Monster Energy Kawasaki rip the edge of the track.

- As for AC, we noticed him moving his left arm after the 450 Moto Two run-in with Musquin, something the team told us was due to a slightly sore shoulder. Understandably frustrated with the incident and loss in points, he put on good face for the TV camera’s post-race interview and explained the situation in the team press release. “We put ourselves in such a good position both motos to grab another overall and close the points gap so I’m pretty disappointed with how the second moto went. I needed to be a little stronger at the end of Moto 1 to hold off (Zach) Osborne and Moto 2 I felt like I was doing everything right but left the door open and came together with (Marvin) Musquin. I did everything I could to salvage what I could. The good news is we are healthy and know what we need to improve on for the last two rounds.” He is still second in points, down 29 to Osborne but up one on Musquin.

Joey Savatgy isn’t stoked on his summer. The JGRMX/Yoshimura/Suzuki Factory Racing riders run of six-straight top-10 moto finishes have been good, including 8-9 at Florida for ninth overall, and he’s often in the mix with guys that have been racing all year or have been with their teams for extended periods of time. He’s not taking much solace in that and said, “I’m like, the first slowest guy out of the group. There are the top-six, top-seven guys every weekend, but I’m the first guy that’s just outside of that and it kind of sucks. I guess if there is a positive it’s that the group in front of me are a bunch of dudes that can go fast on a motorcycle and they have everything going right now, everything is working good, their bikes is working good, and they’ve been racing. So, with that being said, I’m the first slowest guy off that group and sometimes I get left in the middle of nowhere. There will be a gap in front of me and gap behind me, so I’m in a world by myself out there. We need to find more speed to be up there with those guys. We’re not terrible. In my mind it feels really bad, but on paper it’s not as bad as it feels. I’m also used to being a lot more competitive and having it in me, feeling like I could run with those guys, it’s tough to do that.”

Glimpse at the future. We’ve talked to a lot of people lately, from industry people to mechanics to racers, and many agree that Cianciarulo and Sexton are going to be the new guard very soon, with Dylan Ferrandis set to make his move to the big bike this offseason.

The last two weeks have been brutal for Marvin Musquin. The Red Bull KTM rider told us that his crash at Spring Creek was a simple mistake that caused the back of the bike to step out on one of the hilly turns, that the get-off slightly injured his thumb, and he was only able to ride one day this week due to help it heal. His vicious slam during the final practice took a huge toll on Musquin, but he was determined to race and went on to score 3-3 finishes for second overall. Was sitting out the day an option? “No, there is no giving up and I’m really glad that we got it done. I got really good points, lost points for sure on Zach, but that’s the way it is. I gave my best. We go out there, see out it goes, and I don’t want to say that there is no option, but at least we tried.”

9-8 finishes for ninth overall. Just another solid, steady day for JGRMX/Yoshimura/Suzuki Factory Racing’s Freddie Noren.

There were plenty of lines to choose from in Florida.

Justin Barcia’s 450 Moto Two crash had a big impact on the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing rider’s overall and championship standing. Down on the opening lap, he pulled into the work area (he apparently bypassed a large part of the track to get to there, but we didn’t see it), had mechanic Billy Hartle take are the damaged parts, rejoined the race, and finished 13th. The 5-13 finishes put him 10th overall, while Blake Baggett hopped over him for fifth in points. Only one point splits the two with four motos to go. Pay close attention to this going forward.

Mitchell Harrison explained his day in the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki press release. “I just didn’t ride the best or what I felt like was to my full potential. The first moto, I didn’t get the best start and just didn’t really go forward or backward. In Moto 2, my team had my bike so dialed in and I felt more like myself, but little mistakes kept costing me as I hit the ground three different times,” he shared in the post-race debrief. “I pride myself on my fitness and usually when it’s hot and humid like this is when I shine and my competitors fade, but today I didn’t feel like that was the case for me. I had 10th in Moto 2 and made a costly mistake on the last lap which resulted in losing multiple positions.” A look at the lap times shows he had the pace to be in the top-10 during Moto Two until issue on the last lap resulted in a 3:09.521 time.

Jordan Jarvis is becoming one of the best female motocross riders of the modern era. This end of a formal WMX championship means that Jarvis splits her time racing the Women’s class at Loretta’s and attempting to make the fast 40 in the 250 Class at the Nationals.

Backed by the SGB/Maxxis/Babbitt’s Online crew, Jarvis made her first-ever pro moto as an alternate in Florida, struggled with a poorly running bike, and went the full distance of the long moto for a 32nd place results. Congrats to Jordan and her crew for the accomplishment.

Simple reminder to grip with your legs.

Update on this factory cooling part on Marvin Musquin’s Red Bull KTM. Frankie Latham told us that it directs the hot air toward the bike and away from the rider’s leg. Little strange for the hot air to go at the hot engine, but maybe it is either a very small amount or done to help Musquin’s knee.

Spring Creek and WW were two tracks that we were very eager to see Max Anstie ride. Hard crashes and some tough days have taken a toll on the Twisted Tea/HEP Motorsports/Suzuki rider, but he got into the flow and found some GP lines during 450 Moto Two to finish fourth place. That ride saved the day, as the 13-4 scores put him seventh overall. Which Suzuki rider finishes the summer higher in the championship: Savatgy or Anstie? The JGR rider is currently ninth with 147 points while the HEP rider is tenth with 139 points.

One thing we noticed from the two 450 Class motos was Eli Tomac’s goggle choice. The Monster Energy Kawasaki rider opted to run a roll-off film system during the first race of the day, when the track had been watered and was still heavy, but then switched to standard tearoffs for race two. We noticed that ET3 was out of tearoffs midway through Moto Two and kept that in mind for some reason…

That observation led to a very interesting talk with Zach Osborne after the race. The Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing rider explained his strategy for keeping Tomac behind in the closing laps of the race and tearoffs was a factor. “I didn’t let off, but I didn’t hammer, because I knew I wasn’t going to make the gap bigger. So I almost kind of waited on him to make contact, because I knew that I needed to hammer to try and keep him behind me and make as much roost as possible.” When we pointed out that Eli was out and asked if he knew that, Osborne figured as much because he was out himself. “I didn’t know, but I was. We both wear Oakley and so I was like, ‘He’s got to be close to out of tearoffs, so the more I can roost him, the better I’ll be. It’s the stuff like that it takes to make happen that maybe some people don’t see.” Wow.

Don’t downplay the importance of Osborne’s 1-1. The issues at Spring Creek put his championship lead in a precarious position and he came into the Florida round determined to stop the momentum that Cianciarulo had gotten going in the last two rounds. A good start and bar-to-bar battle with AC for the holeshot set the tone early (“We almost came together right at the line. That’s when I knew it was kind of on. He was racy and I was feeling racy as well. We were just both trying to make something happen,” he said in the post-race press conference) and after a slight dip midway through the moto, he rallied to get by the two rookies for a big moto win. He took advantage of the Cianciarulo-Musquin run-in during Moto Two, passed into the lead, and held off Eli Tomac in an excellent battle to sweep the day, score maximum points, and reaffirm his place at the top.

“After last weekend, with the front tire going flat in the second moto and losing that many points in a day, it’s tough. I knew that I had to bounce back in a big way and I was able to do that. It was a lot of pressure today and this week. I had to go 1-1 today, I had to. So, to make it happen feels amazing,” Osborne shared in How Was Your Weekend. Like usual, Osborne is embracing all that is going on around him and staying positive as he closes in on the championship. “I look forward to finishing this thing off. It’s been a long year, a long summer, and it would be amazing to reward my team with a little bit of champagne at the end of the season.”

Onto Denver.