Team Puerto Rico

Is Puerto Rico a country? Technically speaking, no. Does it have its own unique culture, traditions, and economy? Yes. Were some of the US territory’s riders at the 2008 Motocross of Nations originally from there? Sure. Did all of those riders have at least a miniscule connection to Puerto Rico despite not currently residing there, claiming it as their birth place, or having some family blood related to the small island? Nope, not at all.

Team Puerto Rico’s involvement in this year's Motocross of Nations was historical. Not because it was their first time competing: they attended the 2007 event. This year, though, the team qualified, and in doing so, had the first woman to ever compete in a men’s professional motocross race.

Tarah Geiger was born in Puerto Rico and lived there for most of her childhood, and is currently one of the fastest female racers in the world. She was not quite at the same speed as the rest of the field in her motos, but she held her own and represented her birthplace well. However, one of Puerto Rico’s riders did not represent his birthplace well at all, despite having one fantastic moto. Zach Osborne placed fifth in his first moto, but he is not from Puerto Rico, he has ever been to the island, nor does he having any heritage there.

Zach Osborne hails from Virginia, and as an amateur standout, was a shoe-in for a factory ride upon acquiring his professional license. With stints spent at both KTM and Yamaha of Troy here in the US, Osborne suffered through a few injury plagued
seasons before finding a spot on the British based U-Tag Yamaha team about halfway through the 2008 season. Contesting both the British National series and the World GP series, Zach had some outstanding rides, including one moto win in the latter series. Since the U-Tag team chose to help out Team Puerto Rico, why not bring on their star rider to help with the effort? I bring up this topic not out of an inquiry into national loyalty or patriotism, but more so in terms of the definition of the FIM Motocross of Nations rules.

The rules clearly state that a rider participating in the MXoN must hold a passport from the nation they are representing. Therein lies the problem. Puerto Rico, as stated earlier is not technically a country, but instead a United States Territory. The race is called the Motocross of Nations, not the Motocross of Places That May or May Not Be Nations But For the Sake of This Race We Will Call Them Nations Anyway. Not only does the MXoPTMoMNBNBFtSoTRWWCTNA sound ridiculous, it also deflates the prestige of the race.

The other issue is the rule about passports. Since Puerto Rico is a US Territory, its residents hold US passports. Zach Osborne holds a US passport, thus he was allowed to represent the small island of four million people. Using this logic, the US could essentially send a few teams of its best riders, one from the US, one from Puerto, one from Guam, and how about a few from the Virgin Islands just for kicks. Or, following that same line of thinking, each American state should be able to send a three-person team to the MXoN.

The Solution

The problem with Puerto Rico’s presence at the most important and longest running motocross race in the world has nothing to do with the island or its riders, the problem is the way in which the team was allowed to compete and the rules that were bent to get them there. In order to maintain prestige at a prestigious event, rules must be adhered to otherwise some legitimacy is lost.

1) The FIM could change the regulations to be more lenient so riders could represent the country of their choosing. Perhaps at least two of the team members would have to claim residence or hold a passport for the place they are representing, allowing one of the three team members to hold a passport from outside of the represented flag.

*This would fit with the situation Osborne found himself in, but again detracts from the prestige of the race.

2) Rules could be made more stringent, not only requiring a passport, but a rider must also currently claim residence in or have lived in the place the are representing for a minimum of, say, three years.

3) Expand the rules of what defines a nation for this particular event. Again, Puerto Rico is not a nation unto itself, and should technically not be allowed to compete, which would seem unfair by most standards. However, if the definition of a nation were simply expanded to include island territories and the like, with their own cultures, economies, and in some cases languages, they would be allowed to compete as long as they followed rule #2. This would allow places such as Puerto Rico, Scotland, and even Guadalupe to legitimately compete as a nation at this classic event with out any doubters.

I introduced this topic not as a naysayer, but as an absolute die-hard fan of motocross racing and the Motocross of Nations and what it stands for. The race is our sports World Cup, when the best three riders from each nation gather to claim king of the hill once a year. Who knows, maybe it should be more like the World Cup of soccer, and occur only once every two or four years. Such a step would greatly increase the anticipation of the event, draw more press coverage, and certainly make it more affordable for smaller teams such as Puerto Rico or Mongolia. Although, maybe we should just move one step at a time, and come up with a clear definition of a nation first.

Every year when the AMA Outdoor Nationals kick back to life with a resounding roar off the first gate drop, there are always a few expectations. More than likely one or two riders are expected to separate themselves from the rest of their respective class as the dominant player/s for the remainder of the season. We are already know who those individuals are so there is no need to delve further into that subject. But also every year, especially with the outdoor series, we expect the unexpected. More specifically, it is almost presumed that one or two riders will emerge from privateer, triple-digit obscurity, to prevail as the feel-good story of the season. Back in 2002 that story belonged to Sean Hamblin, then it was Juss Laansoo, and just last year the honor went to Gavin Gracyk.

Yesterday at the second round of the AMA tour held at Hangtown, several riders proved they have the potential for such accolades. Three names come to mind that, just two weeks ago, nobody was talking about, or should I say most pundits had forgotten: Steve Boniface, Sean Collier, and Cody Cooper. You may or may not have heard of one or all of these names, so here is an extremely brief history of each rider.

Steve Boniface is a French rider who has been on these North American shores since 2001. He has also been on numerous teams and posted several good results throughout the years. However, the passed few years have not been kind to Steve, and this season he found himself without any real support.

Sean Collier hales from California and after a 2006 breakthrough supercross season, the young rider had some tough luck. He also entered the series as a true privateer.


Last on the list is New Zealander, Cody Cooper. At the end of last year, Cody came hear to test his might against the Americans and in his first race he rode away with fifth overall at the series’ penultimate round in Texas. While that should have marked his arrival on the US scene, coupled with posting the fastest practice lap the following weekend at Glen Helen, Cody seemed to disappear among 2008 championship speculators (although he did secure a ride with the Suzuki City/OTSFF/Rockstar team).

So why have these three individuals been chosen for fairy-tale potential? Because yesterday all three of them very simply kicked some factory rider butt. Collier and Boniface finished fifth and sixth respectively in the first moto, while Cooper ran up in the top five as well until a crash late in the race. Although only Boniface was able to repeat his performance in the second moto, all three of them showed a heck of a lot of talent and potential.

I will be the first to admit that when I saw the #141 of Boniface battling with the #101 of Team Honda’s Ben Townley at the end of the second moto, my first thought was, “that’s not cool, lappers should move out of the way!” My realization that Steve was not being lapped was the inspiration for writing this blog entry.

With the amount of high-dollar phenoms out on the track, it is refreshing to see new number plates getting their share of the limelight. This sport may savor its factory stars, but when those core riders who make up the majority of the forty-man gate are able to breakout to combat the elite, they deserve some recognition.

Two weeks ago, Tom White was kind enough to show us around his Early Years of Motocross Museum. This time around I wanted to capture a bit of the essence of what his collection is really like. The branding and design of each motorcycle all have something unique about them and are glimpses into that era of motocross. To view more photos click on the 2008 Photos link to the right.

FAUX-STROKE ERA

I can vividly recall the first AMA national event I attended that was primarily comprised of 4-stroke bikes. Back in 2005, on a sunny and disgustingly humid day in Southwick, Mass., the first 125cc class moto blasted off the starting gate with a noise that proved sound is actually vibrations. My chest rumbled, my ears shook, and the sound caught me so much by surprise and that it just plain scared me. As the riders rounded the first turn, the only 125cc motorcycle in the group could very well have been an electric bike, for that familiar whine of the small machine was completely drowned out by the thirty-nine thumpers.

Just the shock of that experience had me thinking the races were no longer enjoyable. Two-strokes were entertaining, exciting, and at their worst (silencers with worn out or no packing) tolerable. Conversely, 4-stroke machines would only attract core fans to the races and elderly enthusiasts who were already hard of hearing and can recall the first era of 4-stroke motocross machines. Of course, as a hardcore fan myself, I did not stay away from the races for long, and the new machinery has proven to be more popular than anyone predicted.

Nevertheless, I still occasionally lament the slow fading of two-strokes in professional racing. Premix, blinged out works pipes, those were the days, right? But when I truly think about it, I am barely old enough to complain. For me and most fans below 30 years old, the two-stroke era was really just a blip on the map in terms of how long we have been following the sport.

To be honest I have only attended one single AMA Professional Motocross or Supercross without a four-stroke in the main event. The 1997 St. Louis SX was the first pro race I ever saw, and try as he might Lance Smail just could not get that enormous KTM530 around the track very well. Thus both main events were 4-stroke free, McGrath proved he was still capable of winning (much to my delight), Roncada demonstrated how to lug around twenty extra pounds of In-N-Out Burgers on the track and win, and Carmichael showed glimpses of the GOAT he was to become (although he was still a lamb at the time).

When I attended the same event the following year, Yamaha had already proven their commitment to 4-stroke development with their production YZ400F that Doug Henry would utilize in capturing the outdoor National Championship later that year. After that it was a gradual turn over to thumpers that seemed to increase exponentially. In reality, there was a combination of factors that lead to the endangering of tiddlers and 250s (in the premier class). The manufacturers, the EPA, and consumers all had a hand in the process, and while many of us miss the buzz of the 2-stroke, we have long been rumbling along in the modern 4-stroke era.

To be continued....

While the fourth round of the 2008 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series may have been held in the largest state on the West coast, it was a big night for one of the smallest states on the East coast. Names such as Jason Weigandt and Ronnie Faisst must have felt some pride for their home state. On a night that had so many potential winners, heartbreaks, and breakdowns, New Jersey native, Jason Lawrence, emerged victorious under harsh conditions.

So why was Lawrence’s win so important for a state with only two official racetracks? Aside from the fact that Jason is the first Jersey racer to achieve factory sponsorship since Mickey Kessler, his Saturday night triumph also marks the first professional AMA win for any rider from the most densely populated state in the nation. This is not to say there have never been any NJ riders who accomplished notoriety on the pro tour. (For a full run down of New Jersey motocross racing history check out njmotocross.com ).

In the 70’s it was Mickey Kessler representing Dirty Jerz on the AMA motocross tour. The local hero achieved factory support during his long career and finished as high as sixth in AMA points standings.

And just like any good rock station representing the 80’s, 90’s, and today, Bayville, NJ’s Barry Carsten was pretty much the only rider consitently representing the Garden State on the AMA circuit through much of those three decades. As a matter of fact he placed as high as fourth overall in the 1989 Eastern Regional Supercross Series.

However, while Kessler and Carsten are probably two of the nicest people one could ever hope to meet at the track, Jason Lawrence has established himself as a slightly less refined individual. In a sense he propagates the Jersey stereotype of being rough around the edges and ready to fight at the drop of a hat. And, while up until this point in his career he is probably better known for his off- track antics, he can now say he has accomplished something his predecessors never could. Jason used his East Coast amateur racing days, which essentially means racing in the mud half of the year, to guide himself to his first professional win.