USA Insider No.123: They Will Be Missed

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.

Oh, they’re starting to drop now. Rumours came out that Davi Millsaps hurt his knee again last week, and that news became undeniable after Monday night’s 2014 KTM SX/MX team intro. There, the Rockstar KTM team (Millsaps’ employer) trotted out Ivan Tedesco as a replacement for the injured Davi, although no specifics were given as to how long Davi will be out, or how many races Ivan will do. Will they both end up racing as teammates at some point? Will Davi miss the whole season? I think you’ll see Davi back at some point soon, but not at the opener in Anaheim. It’s a bummer to see him, apparently, stricken from title contention before the season even begins. I’ll try to get some answers soon, but the Rockstar team notoriously keeps things close to the vest at this time of year (oh, the trouble we went though last year with the are they/aren’t they called Rockstar Suzuki bit).

As for Tedesco, he’s been often-injured over his last few seasons, but he has a reputation as a heck of a test rider. That’s a big help since this Rockstar effort is so new to KTM. Also, he’s a big name. After a year off, it’s hard to say how fast Tedesco can go, but the name recognition and testing skills will trump any kid who could maybe scratch out a better result here and there.

Next up, Trey Canard. This news broke just yesterday when Honda sent out a press release saying Trey crashed over the weekend and broke his arm. He has undergone surgery and the PR says he will miss races, but does not specify how many. From what I hear, he broke his lower arm, which is a simple break and will likely take six to eight weeks to heal. Of course, it’s hard to say if he’ll hop right on the bike and go racing after that.

In today’s world, the graves are still warm when riders start asking about replacement spots. Rockstar didn’t take long to fill Davi’s spot, and I can guarantee you, dudes are angling for Trey’s ride as we speak. One team has potentially gone a step further. There are rumours that Phil Nicoletti will eventually join the JGR Toyota Yamaha team (photos of him on that bike have circulated on Instagram), but not as a full-on third rider. Instead, he could be pre-loaded as a replacement if Justin Brayton or Josh Grant miss a race – and, even crazier, the team would still leave Phil free to pursue a replacement spot if one opens up on another team. They’re just trying to help the guy out in any way possible and don’t want to hold him back. Sounds bizarre, but the replacement ride has become so common, a lot of riders do arrange their whole season around it. Tedesco never retired even though he couldn’t get a ride last year, so now he was in the right place at the right time. In 2012, Tommy Hahn basically did the same thing and ended up riding Canard’s Factory Honda 450 in the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Nationals. One rider’s loss is another rider’s gain, but it sure will be a bummer if Davi and Trey aren’t on the gate come Anaheim 1.