USA Insider No.116: MX des Loss

Welcome to our weekly web-exclusive column, Transmoto’s USA Insider presented by Lucas Oil. Penned each week by our man on the ground, Transmoto’s US Correspondent, Jason Weigandt, the USA Insider presents the story-behind-the-stories of the AMA supercross and motocross scene.

Mayday mayday! Last week’s USA Insider hinted that a Dean Wilson/Chad Reed tie up could eventually be coming for season 2014. I was just doing some simple math, as Reed hinted at getting a teammate and working with Mitch Payton and Pro Circuit, while Wilson finds himself on a massive Pro Circuit team with a total of seven riders. And while Pro Circuit was originally going with a two-truck operation in the pits for 2014, those plans have been shuttered. So why not send Dean on an apprenticeship with Chad?

I now have confirmation that this is not happening – Wilson is absolutely, positively locked into the regular Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki team and will not be joining TwoTwo Motorsports for 2014. Wilson presents maybe the best (or one of the best) bets for Pro Circuit to win a title next year, so the team will not be farming him out anywhere else. Plus there are too many ancillary sponsors, like gear/goggle/helmet deals and the rest, that can’t merge between two totally different teams. Dean will race a 450 at the Monster Energy Cup this month (your first chance to see him race a 450 indoors) and then park it and race a 250 for all of 2014. Wilson will probably be the only Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki rider racing the Cup, as of now I hear his six other teammates won’t be competing.

So who is Reed thinking about as a teammate? I’ve heard a rumour, but I can’t even go there and I don’t think it will happen, so it really doesn’t matter. Sorry!

How about this des Nations bit? Team USA, obviously, didn’t perform as hoped and came up second, which might as well be last the way the fans over here see it. Much of the ire is based around Ryan Dungey, who struggled to 6-7 scores in his two motos. Yes, Justin Barcia had a crash-induced 11^th and Eli Tomac a similar 16^th, but they had good speed the rest of the day. Dungey just seemed off.

Now there’s much buzz after Roger DeCoster, in an interview with Euro motorsports site MXVice.com, said “Ryan thinks the bike was the problem, it’s himself.” You rarely hear public scrutiny like that in this sport, so you know what comes next: is the Dungey/DeCoster relationship on the rocks?

Hardly. In fact, these hard truths are the very reason Ryan Dungey has come to love Roger DeCoster so much. Two years ago, while Ryan was still riding Suzukis and Roger had already moved to KTM, Roger told me the main trouble Ryan will have without him is not having someone around him to say no. Riders are always searching and always theorising how to do more and how to get better. Sometimes you need a father figure to step in there, stop the madness and just put an end to it – sometimes you have a combination that works, and no further changes are needed. Clearly, Roger feels Ryan already has that combination already. And don’t expect the combination of these two to have trouble after this race. When Roger DeCoster tells it like it is without flinching, he gets back more respect back because of it. Heck, that respect is a big reason as to why Ryan Dungey rides for him in the first place.