15 minute read
AGONY AND ECSTASY
AGONY
BY JOY BURGESS WITH RACHEL GUTISH PHOTOS BY MARY RINELL, WILLY BROWNING, MICHAEL ANTONOVICH
W
hen racing’s good, it’s good; and when it’s bad, it really sucks!” — AMA Motorcycle Hall of Famer and flat track champion Kenny Coolbeth
Agony. Ecstasy. Winning. Losing. Joy. Pain. Excitement. Frustration… it’s all there, pressure-packed into the simple phrase racers utter every single weekend of the year — “That’s racing!”
It’s true, and universal, too. Racing is the ultimate gamble; you can train, prepare and even be the best in the world…and yet there’s never a guarantee. Sometimes the cards you’re dealt can be cruel.
A near-perfect example of this yin and yang of competition happened just weeks ago with two of our national race teams competing on the world stage — the U.S. ISDE and U.S. Motocross of Nations teams.
For the ISDE U.S. Trophy teams competing in France Aug. 29 – Sept. 3, misfortune struck hard and early, with the U.S. Junior World Trophy team — which included Cody Barnes, Mateo Oliveira and Austin Walton — getting knocked out of contention on Day 1 after a mechanical failure. The World Trophy Team — made up of Layne Michael, Dante Oliveira, Kailub Russell and Josh Toth — struggled the entire time, too, finishing in fifth place.
But it was the U.S. Women’s World Trophy Team — which included returning champs Brandy Richards and Rachel Gutish, along with new ISDE rider Korie Steede — that faced perhaps the greatest agony. They arrived in France as the 2021 victors, holding the trophy high during opening ceremonies in the town of Le Puy en Velay, and everyone there — American and European alike — agreed they were a shoo-in to win again this year. But even an 11-minute lead late in the game wasn’t enough to save them from a day-four disaster that ended their chances.
Cruel cards for the ISDE crowd, indeed.
For the U.S. Motocross of Nations
AND
Team USA’s 2022 ISDE and MXoN efforts underscore the unpredictable and often-cruel reality of racing ECSTASY
Inset, Top Left: U.S. MXoN team Chase Sexton, Eli Tomac and Justin Cooper. Middle: U.S. ISDE Women’s World Trophy team Rachel Gutish, Brandy Richards and Korie Steede. Bottom: U.S. ISDE Trophy team Kailub Russell, Josh Toth, Layne Michael and Dante Oliveira.
team, it had been 11 years since the U.S. had claimed the coveted Chamberlain Trophy — though two of those years the U.S. did not participate due to COVID.
This year’s Motocross of Nations competition was held on U.S. soil for only the fifth time in history at Red Bud Track ’N’ Trail in Buchanan, Mich., Sept. 24 and 25. Italy came into the event as defending champions, but there was a palpable feeling among the thousands of American race fans gathered at Red Bud that this just might be the year Team USA brought that Chamberlain Trophy back to American soil… …And they did!
The ecstasy was tangible, in the crowd and on the faces of Team USA members Justin Cooper, Chase Sexton and Eli Tomac as they sprayed champagne on the podium after the final moto.
An agonizing loss and an ecstatic win… Like we said, that’s racing. THE AGONY
“People pay thousands of dollars to hike through the French mountains,” ISDE U.S. Women’s World Trophy team rider Rachel Gutish told American Motorcyclist, “and here we were, doing it for free. Brandy, Korie and I joked about this because we’d already hiked 27 miles in two days — and by the end of ISDE prep week we’d hiked around 60 — so what else do you do but laugh?”
Keeping a positive attitude during
RACHEL GUTISH
ISDE prep week — and race week, too — is critical. Individual racers come together and compete as teammates for the U.S., and that involves piling in the team van, walking miles and miles of tests, discussing lines, and complaining about how much their feet hurt, which actually makes racing the hundreds of miles during the Six Days seem pretty awesome by the time prep week ends.
“While we were walking,” Gutish said, “trophy team mechanics were busy uncrating and reassembling the motorcycles. There was time spent out on the test track making various setup adjustments, then tech inspection, registration and, finally, opening ceremonies.”
Opening ceremonies brought plenty of fanfare and joy for the U.S. Women’s World Trophy team, who’d claimed an exciting victory in 2021. “Brandy and I took turns carrying the trophy through the streets during the opening ceremony parade,” Gutish said. “The trophy had my name on it, along with Britney Gallegos’ and Brandy Richards’, and we were proud to carry it.”
“Unfortunately,” she added, “that ended up being the only time we laid hands on the trophy this year.”
After the high of opening ceremonies, the real work began on Day 1. Miles of riding tests and transfers on the rough mountain terrain in France took their toll.
For the U.S. Junior World Trophy
team, it was over before the race really even got started, with a mechanical failure for Cody Barnes eliminating their chances on the first day. The World Trophy Team was struggling, too.
“Today was tough,” Team Manager Antti Kallonen said on Day 2, “I’m not going to lie about that. Our guys were a little bit off, and we’ve got to reevaluate what we did and what we need to do going forward.”
Meanwhile, the women had plenty of reason to be upbeat.
“By the end of Day 3, we had an 11-minute lead,” Gutish remembered. “We were on pace to surpass our 15-minute win last year, and once again Brandy had won every test so far. Korie was having an incredible ride, and I was riding well enough to get the job done, if not live up to my own expectations.” “There’s almost something noble in continuing to ride to the hardest of your ability, riding hundreds more miles through adversity when you know you’ve already been beaten.”
RACHEL GUTISH
“Really,” she continued, “all three of us should have been happier with how things were going. I think none of us felt we were riding our best, even though we were still leading.”
Despite their sizeable lead, plenty of preparation and their best efforts, sometimes in racing things just go sideways…and everything changed in the blink of an eye.
“Day 4, we were already tired,” Gutish said. “Time is different, fatigue had set in, thoughts were clouded, and staying focused became increasingly difficult. But as I pulled into Checkpoint 3 after bending my clutch lever and trying to put a new one on, Antti came up to me and told me I wasn’t to pass Brandy in the next test, and if she crashed, I needed to stop and help her. When he told me to leave my fanny pack on and have a phone to call the team doctor if needed, I knew something serious was up, and found out later she’d crashed hard in Test 1.”
Though Rachel never saw Brandy in that test, Brandy did crash again, and had 10 feet of snow fence wrapped up in her rear wheel.
“I was terribly worried about Brandy,” Gutish continued, “and when I got to the end of the test, Brandy was slumped over her bike. Later I found out that for part of the day she was so concussed she wasn’t sure where she was or what
event she was racing.”
The call was made not to let Brandy go back out, and instead she was transported to a local medical facility. And while the dream of taking the trophy back to the U.S. again slipped away, Rachel was relieved.
“It broke my heart, because despite the concussion Brandy finally realized what was going on,” Gutish said. “I could see the pain in her eyes. But I felt a sense of relief, really. It’s cool to win the trophy, but it’s not worth someone’s life.”
“My head wasn’t really there,” Korie Steede said that day in France. “I was just really worried about Brandy. It’s a bummer we lost her, but our biggest concern was just making sure that she is okay.”
The same day, the U.S. World Trophy team suffered another loss, when Dante Oliveria had a mechanical issue that resulted in a four-minute penalty. Still, they were the only U.S. elite team to finish intact, finishing fifth place behind Great Britain, Italy, Spain and France.
Despite the U.S. Junior World Trophy Team and Women’s Trophy Team being out of contention for the win, the remaining riders still fought on for the red, white and blue.
“There’s almost something noble in continuing to ride to the hardest of your ability, riding hundreds more miles through adversity when you know you’ve already been beaten,” Gutish said. “We know the work and money that’s been put into us being there, so we rode like we were still fighting for the championship for the next two days — we owed that to our country. We weren’t just racing for ourselves…we were racing for the United States, the AMA, our sponsors, the people who gave up their time to help. Win, lose or draw, you’ve gotta give 110 percent to the very last mile.” THE ECSTASY
Just a few weeks after the U.S. ISDE team came home with disappointing results, the 76th FIM Motocross of Nations (MXoN) was preparing to kick off, with Team USA riders — Star Yamaha’s Eli Tomac and Justin Cooper, along with Honda HRC’s Chase Sexton — sitting around a table in the Team USA hospitality tent discussing line selection, the weekend’s track conditions and strategy for the motos the following day that would result in the Chamberlain Trophy being awarded to the best motocross team in the world.
The next day, those three riders would become that team.
Red Bud was packed for Friday evening’s opening ceremonies, with American flags flying as far as the eye could see as the fans cheered for Team USA. And the excitement and expectation for the team to pull off a
Gate drop at the 2022 Motocross of Nations at Red Bud. Initial gate picks are chosen by lottery; in it, Team USA ended up with gate pick No. 15.
win on U.S. soil was palpable.
But it had been 11 years since Team USA had claimed the Chamberlain Trophy.
“Back in 2019 [the last year the U.S. competed in MXoN —Ed] we put a lot of work into Motocross of Nations,” Justin Cooper told us, “and though that Saturday went well for us, Sunday was a disaster with all the rain we got. I was hurt and couldn’t give it everything I had. So this year, I just felt double the pressure.”
Saturday was a long day of qualifying, and Saturday evening Team USA went to bed with predictions of heavy rain, continuing that night into Sunday morning. The forecast was right, for once, and the conditions added an extra layer of difficulty in their hunt for the world title.
“Mud is really a true test,” Tomac said. “There is so much that can go wrong.”
“Since it rained again this year,” Cooper added, “I had 2019 in the back of my mind, and the conditions were once again very tough and super tricky.”
At the MXoN, riders compete in three classifications, ones modeled after the class structure of the FIM Motocross World Championship – MXGP (450cc machines) and MX2 (250cc machines), with an Open division giving riders a choice of displacement. Riders race in combined motos: one moto includes MXGP and MX2 riders, one includes MX2 and Open riders; and another includes MXGP and Open riders. Each team’s rider is scored where they finished in the combined motos, and those scores are tallied to determine the winning team, with lowest score at the top of the list.
In Moto 1, featuring 450cc MXGP bikes and 250cc MX2 motorcycles, many eyes were on Team USA’s MX2 rider Cooper. He was blisteringly fast in qualifying on Saturday, and some wondered whether he could do what Team USA’s Ryan Villopoto did at the 2007 MXoN at Budd’s Creek — winning the overall riding the smaller-
displacement bike.
But conditions were not 250ccfriendly. The soil was deep, slick and sticky, which handicapped the smaller bikes. That was clear on the start, with Belgium’s Jago Geerts, aboard an MXGP bike taking the holeshot over Tomac.
Tomac wasted little time getting to the front, however, grabbing the lead by the second turn. Geerts kept Tomac honest, but the American kept hammering and pulled away late in the race, winning the moto.
Moto 2 featured MX2 and Open classes, and Team Honda HRC’s Chase Sexton, who grew up just a few hours away from Red Bud in Illinois, was competing on what was basically his home pro track, where tens of thousands of fans, most of them from the Midwest, wanted to see Sexton dominate.
The hope that the track might dry was dashed as a steady rain began falling, resulting in a chaotic start, brutal roost, and plenty of riders going down in the mud. But Sexton
Above, second from left: AMA Motorcycle Hall of Famer and U.S. MXoN Team Manager Roger DeCoster. Third from left: Eli Tomac, Justin Cooper and Chase Sexton raise the Chamberlain trophy high in an unforgettable moment.
JUSTIN COOPER
and Cooper pulled through, Sexton finishing in second, while Cooper took fourth place.
Sexton moved into third place quickly in Moto 3, but Tomac was outside the top 10, getting held up when Belgium’s Geerts fell at the start. Heavy rain made the last few minutes of the moto chaotic, yet Sexton maintained a third-place finish, while Tomac moved up to sixth, giving the U.S. riders a commanding overall win.
“The rain, it really could have leveled the playing field,” Tomac said after the final moto of the day, “but we came through.”
“I really wanted to go for the win in the third moto,” Sexton added, “but I didn’t know where trying to pass would be safe. I’m just glad I was able to get it to the finish line and end this year on a high note.”
Sexton’s use of “high note” was quite possibly the biggest understatement in a decade of motocross, as it described the scene on Red Bud’s victory podium to a
T, and amplified what was a truly epic win for Team USA — one that rivaled the wins in the early 1980s for pure, adrenaline-crazed excitement.
“When we were on top of that podium, there [was] nothing like it,” said Tomac about the moment the three young men stood together, lifting the Chamberlain Trophy high in front of thousands of flag-waving American fans. “I will never forget that moment. It will stay with me forever!”
And getting to that moment of ecstasy was very much a team effort.
“The cooperation between everyone — riders, manufacturers, team members, sponsors, all of it – was off the charts,” AMA Director of Racing Mike Pelletier said, “and it’s amazing to look back on now. I want to especially thank [team manager] Roger [DeCoster], who always gives his all to this event. His experience and leadership help in ways that can’t be quantified. Also, we appreciate the support from his employer, KTM North America, which allows Roger to be part of this effort each year.”
As for 5-time world champion DeCoster, he was characteristically gracious. “I have to thank these three guys, Justin, Chase and Eli, for riding their all and for letting me be part of this,” he said. “To win this after so many years of the team not doing so well, it’s very satisfying. Thank you to everyone who helped us.”
AMA President and CEO Rob Dingman summed it all up pretty well the evening of the race.
“It’s an honor to have the support of so many stakeholders at this event,” said Dingman. “Here, we are one team, Team USA, and I’m very proud to say, today we are definitely the best motocross team in the world.” Ecstasy. It happens once in a while. Even in racing. AMA
CHASE SEXTON
