USA INSIDER #174: BLUE CREW

Transmoto’s weekly web-exclusive column, the USA Insider, penned by Jason Weigandt, presented by Ipone.

Team USA has been selected for the Motocross of Nations, with Justin Barcia on a 450, Jeremy Martin on a 250, and Cooper Webb bumping up from his usual 250 to a 450 for the MX3 class. Webb is just 19 and a rising star, but certainly not an established player like Eli Tomac or Trey Canard (who have both dealt with injuries this year) or, of course, Ryan Dungey, who has asked to stay home after six-straight appearances for Team USA. Webb is a salty personality, not afraid to talk trash, ride rough and never one to shy away from a challenge. That mentality will serve him well in France.

By the way, this is an all-Yamaha team. That makes it sound like a perfect family unit, and the three riders get along fine. But behind the scenes it’s exposing more of the differences between the traditional factory units and today’s privately owned teams. All three riders have factory support, but Barcia rides for the Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) team and Webb and Martin ride for Star Racing, owned by a man named Bobby Reagan. Ultimately, Reagan and Coy Gibbs (Joe Gibbs’ son, who operates the JGR team) will be shelling out their own money to race the event. Regan told me he spent $20,000 last year on Martin’s MXoN effort, and with Webb now joining him, that price tag will climb. By the way, Team USA has never featured an all-private team line-up until now.

Yamaha proper is also involved. Most fans probably think all is well since these teams are putting Yamaha bikes up front. But Yamaha would still like to have an official factory team if they could just find the sponsorship dollars to make it happen. The existing factory unit closed for 2010, after the economy tanked and an outside sponsor could not be found. Yamaha then funnelled the Gibbs and Reagan teams money, bikes, parts and assistance, which kept Yamahas on the track at a fraction of what a factory team would cost. But most of the old factory team employees are still around, lending assistance to JGR and Star. Yamaha’s head racing man Keith McCarty has told me over and over that if they had the outside sponsor and the budget, they’d have kept the factory team all along.

Now a new opportunity could arise with Chad Reed, who I hear is working with the Yamaha folks to perhaps bring the factory team back (Reed, by the way, raced for factory Yamaha here from 2003-2006). This is where it gets complicated. First, Webb will have to get a 450 for the event, and Gibbs has one, but the factory Yamaha guys still build stuff and could make him one, too. Which will Webb pick? Second, the Gibbs 450 team has been starving for young talent through the years, because Star hasn’t had success until recently, and thus hasn’t funnelled any decent prospects up the pipeline. With Martin and Webb, Star finally has talent. But by the time they’re ready to go to a 450, will they do it with Gibbs, or will Yamaha have a factory team again, and take them? Expect much negotiating behind the scenes regarding money and technology. As Gibbs, Star and Yamaha work out the logistics for the des Nations, and with the prospect of the factory team rebuilding with help from Reed, things that happen over the next few months will have a big impact on the future of Yamaha racing.