Cycle News

Cycle News 2020 Issue 02 January 14

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1200048

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P112 CN III EMPIRE OF DIRT BY STEVE COX I 've always thought that one of the major appeals of motocross racing—or motor racing in gen- eral—was that it was an individual sport as opposed to team sports. In team sports, you can do your job perfectly fine, but if the rest of your team doesn't, you can still lose. In individual sports, the presumption is that if you do your job, you win. Upon further review, this doesn't really apply at the top level of motocross/supercross racing. MX/SX racing is a team sport in the truest sense of the term. Factory racers are the best of the best, and they're expected to give their team results on the weekend. And believe me, all of them want to deliver on that expectation. But just as in any other team sports, other mem- bers of the team and/or coach- ing staff can make or break the season for any factory racer. Look no further than Red Bull KTM's defending AMA Super- cross Champion Cooper Webb. Webb spent two years with the Monster Energy Yamaha team and had very little to show for it in the end, then in his first year with the Red Bull KTM team, he won a championship. The simple fact is that the race team Roger DeCoster assembled at KTM is full of people who do whatever it takes to get their jobs done, as evidenced by their winning four of the last five AMA Supercross titles (all five if you consider Husqvarna to be a de facto part of the same camp). Monster Energy Yamaha's Jus- tin Barcia said he has struggled with his setup at Yamaha for a while, and although he didn't elaborate too much, he said that former 125cc SX Champion THERE'S NO "I" IN RACE TEAM EITHER Have Justin Barcia and his Yamaha team found the right combo to win, or at least compete for, a Supercross Championship in 2020? So far, it seems like it. PHOTO: STEVE COX

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