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/847300
CN III ARCHIVES BY LARRY LAWRENCE J uly marks the middle of summer and generally the middle of rac- ing season. Midseason is a funny time in racing. The newness has worn off. We've seen riders on new bikes, most of the time we pretty much know the direction a series is taking. If we get lucky, as is the case in a few championships this season, things are still very much up in the air and we truly don't know what's going to happen. Take this year for instance. Mo- toGP is as wide open as it's been in years. We know Marc Marquez is always going to be the tough competitor that he is, but Maverick Viñales has been brilliant at times. Valentino Rossi is still in the wings waiting to perform another miracle and Dovizioso is certainly capable on the Ducati. The series very likely will come down to one of those four, but just who is anyone's guess. Jonathan Rea's stunning seven wins in eight rounds put him so far ahead in WorldSBK, it's hard to imagine anyone catching him, even if he has cooled a tad in recent rounds. In MotoAmerica it looks like the year of Toni Elias, but you never know—his Suzuki teammate Roger Hayden might get hot, or defending champ Cameron Beaubier might go on a tear on his factory Yamaha. But probably Elias. In MXGP the season is well past halfway and veteran Italian Tony Cairoli looks well on his way to winning back the world title. It would be his seventh in the premier class if he hangs on, ninth counting his pair of MX2 titles. In MX2 Cairoli's Red Bull KTM factory fellow rider Pauls Jonass is leading the way, although Suzuki's Jer- emy Seewer is still hanging tough in second. Hopefully the FIM World Motocross titles will still be undecided when the championship visits Gatorback on September 3. In our domestic MX series Eli Tomac has a surpris- ingly small 13-point lead in the 450MX class. Many thought the Kawasaki rider would walk away with the 450MX title after Ryan Dungey hung up his helmet, but Blake Baggett has had a revival and Jason Anderson shows brilliance from time to time. In the 250MX class, it's Zach Obsorne looking pretty solid at this point, with the Martin brothers, Alex and Jeremy, trying to keep him honest. In American Flat Track the story has been factory Indian's dominance, but even though they're both on new bikes this year, the battle is again probably going to come down to a last-race showdown between Bryan Smith and Jared Mees. Mees is a stronger overall talent, but Smith just might be the best miler ever. But most of the miles have been run, Smith only has a five- point lead and much of the rest of the schedule favors Mees. It promises to be interesting. And now a look back at some midseasons past. 50 Years Ago – 1967 Motorcycle racing in America was a bit easier to keep track of 50 years ago. Motocross didn't yet have a national championship and road racing was part of the overall AMA Grand National Championship. Profes- sionally the AMA Grand Nationals were the only game in town. At midseason '67 Triumph's Gary Nixon was leading the way holding a solid 66-point lead over Mert MIDSEASONS PRESENT AND PAST P146 Midseason 1992 and it looked like Damon Bradshaw (4) was going to challenge for the AMA 250 Moto- cross Champion- ship, but in the end it was Jeff Stanton taking the title.