MXGP Vs AMA Motocross: How Top Riders Decide

HusqFan3
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HusqFan3
Edited Date/Time 6/1/2018 10:38am
This may be a stupid question for those of you who have been following the sport for awhile but I’m curious what are the biggest deciding factors that go into a rider’s decision to race MXGP vs AMA MX/SX. Obviously the top riders in both series are good enough to ride in either so why did riders like Herlings & Cairoli elect to stay in Europe while Musquin and KRoc decided to take their careers across the pond?

Obviously like most things in life I’m sure it comes down to money so curious how the pay compares between the 2 series. I’d imagine they must be at least somewhat comparable or else we’d see a greater concentration of talent in one series or the other.

Personally I’d love to see Motocross get to where say the NBA is as far as having a monopoly on attracting the very best talent from around the globe. Would make for a deeper field of talent which of course = better, more competitive racing.

Anyways curious to hear what those better informed than myself have to say on the matter.
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kb228
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kb228 5/31/2018 1:03pm
5/31/2018 1:03pm
People have always come to the states to race the best. MC, RC, Reed, Stew, RV, Dungey etc list goes on. MXGP has been good recently with 2 guys but historically it just hasnt been the “top” of the sport. And supercross is the premier series whether youre a fan or not.
Muscle-Milk-KTM 5/31/2018 1:56pm
5/31/2018 1:56pm
Bonanza69 wrote:
[img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2018/05/31/265009/s1200_A807A940_836A_4568_9EAD_EAE4F92D5292.jpg[/img]

Exactly what I was thinking.
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early 5/31/2018 1:58pm
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Bonanza69 wrote:
[img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2018/05/31/265009/s1200_A807A940_836A_4568_9EAD_EAE4F92D5292.jpg[/img]

It's beer and pretzels here in the U-S-A

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philG
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philG 5/31/2018 2:02pm
5/31/2018 2:02pm
Roczen and Marvin grew up wanting to race SX.. Everyone else wants to stay and beat Cairoli and dont care about SX... Ferrandis came because he aged out of MX2. Prado now says he wants to stay in europe , nobody else seems like they are looking to go now.
agn5009
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agn5009 5/31/2018 2:38pm
5/31/2018 2:38pm
kb228 wrote:
People have always come to the states to race the best. MC, RC, Reed, Stew, RV, Dungey etc list goes on. MXGP has been good recently...
People have always come to the states to race the best. MC, RC, Reed, Stew, RV, Dungey etc list goes on. MXGP has been good recently with 2 guys but historically it just hasnt been the “top” of the sport. And supercross is the premier series whether youre a fan or not.
MXGP has twice the depth of the AMA today. Like it or not, the AMA has tomac, musquin and Anderson as the guys who can compete with the best on any given day. MXGP has Herlings, Cairoli, Desalle, Febvre, Gajser, Paulin, etc. Thankfully the 250 AMA series looks great
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HusqFan3
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HusqFan3 5/31/2018 4:39pm
5/31/2018 4:39pm
To be clear my intention isn’t to start a debate regarding which is better or has more talent. I was just thinking how it’s too bad we don’t get to see the best riders each have to offer square off more often which made me curious as to why certain riders choose one over the other. Thought perhaps one was more lucrative while the other was considered more prestigious or something along those lines.
jorgechavez 5/31/2018 4:40pm
5/31/2018 4:40pm
philG wrote:
Roczen and Marvin grew up wanting to race SX.. Everyone else wants to stay and beat Cairoli and dont care about SX... Ferrandis came because he...
Roczen and Marvin grew up wanting to race SX.. Everyone else wants to stay and beat Cairoli and dont care about SX... Ferrandis came because he aged out of MX2. Prado now says he wants to stay in europe , nobody else seems like they are looking to go now.
Lawrence brothers?
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agn5009 5/31/2018 5:05pm
5/31/2018 5:05pm
philG wrote:
Roczen and Marvin grew up wanting to race SX.. Everyone else wants to stay and beat Cairoli and dont care about SX... Ferrandis came because he...
Roczen and Marvin grew up wanting to race SX.. Everyone else wants to stay and beat Cairoli and dont care about SX... Ferrandis came because he aged out of MX2. Prado now says he wants to stay in europe , nobody else seems like they are looking to go now.
Lawrence brothers and hopefully Gajser. Covington will probably return as well after next year. The young guys would be crazy not to come over. Ain't anyone beating Herlings for a long time unless he goes out with an injury.
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plowboy 5/31/2018 5:07pm
5/31/2018 5:07pm
Salaries on both sides of the pond are shrouded in mystery. Base pay, finish bonuses, c-ship bonuses, sponsor pay....mostly unknowns. I'd hazard a guess that for the top guys it's fairly comparable or we'd see a migration from one side to the other. Supercross is a wildcard for sure. If you've got that skill set it can really bump up the pay. I reckon it would take 5 to 10 mil to persuade Cairoli or Herlings to ride our nationals. They are frikkin superstars to most of the world....they should be here in the USA as well.
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scott_nz 5/31/2018 5:10pm
5/31/2018 5:10pm
Aussie, Kiwi's SAffa and to some extent the French look to the US first, and always have as we are brought up looking at the US supercross series on TV and we see it as the biggest and best series in the world, and since it pays the best as well mostly, probably helps,

the rest not so much, Roczen is probably the exception,

I think it is getting more so now with a bigger difference in riding styles, as the later you start supercross the harder it is to make it.
HusqFan3
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HusqFan3 5/31/2018 5:30pm
5/31/2018 5:30pm
scott_nz wrote:
Aussie, Kiwi's SAffa and to some extent the French look to the US first, and always have as we are brought up looking at the US...
Aussie, Kiwi's SAffa and to some extent the French look to the US first, and always have as we are brought up looking at the US supercross series on TV and we see it as the biggest and best series in the world, and since it pays the best as well mostly, probably helps,

the rest not so much, Roczen is probably the exception,

I think it is getting more so now with a bigger difference in riding styles, as the later you start supercross the harder it is to make it.
Interesting take. Appreciate the insight.
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MxKing809 5/31/2018 5:59pm
5/31/2018 5:59pm
It’s really SX vs. MXGP...
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hamncheeze 5/31/2018 6:09pm
5/31/2018 6:09pm
This is for sure going to devolve into a US versus Europe deal but the main reason any of the Euro riders come over is for Supercross. End of story. The French in particular have produced good SX riders: Bayle, DV, Tortelli, Roncada, Pichon, Marvin, now Ferrandis. This is because SX is a bit more popular in France versus the other countries. Bercy/Lille is a high-profile event and has attracted a lot of top Americans and this has provided incentive to young French racers. The Dutch and Belgians tend to just pound laps on the sand tracks and don't look to Supercross at all.

It's a daunting experience for a racer with little SX experience to come to the US and start out in SX. Look at a guy like Tonus, he had the speed and skill but had a ton of health problems and also hit the ground a lot in his time riding SX in the USA.
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HusqFan3 5/31/2018 7:35pm
5/31/2018 7:35pm
hamncheeze wrote:
This is for sure going to devolve into a US versus Europe deal but the main reason any of the Euro riders come over is for...
This is for sure going to devolve into a US versus Europe deal but the main reason any of the Euro riders come over is for Supercross. End of story. The French in particular have produced good SX riders: Bayle, DV, Tortelli, Roncada, Pichon, Marvin, now Ferrandis. This is because SX is a bit more popular in France versus the other countries. Bercy/Lille is a high-profile event and has attracted a lot of top Americans and this has provided incentive to young French racers. The Dutch and Belgians tend to just pound laps on the sand tracks and don't look to Supercross at all.

It's a daunting experience for a racer with little SX experience to come to the US and start out in SX. Look at a guy like Tonus, he had the speed and skill but had a ton of health problems and also hit the ground a lot in his time riding SX in the USA.
Sounds like a rational and well reasoned theory to me. Although I’d argue 95% of amateur riders in US also havent spent any significant time on a full bore SX track until they reach the pros either.
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line-up 5/31/2018 8:49pm
5/31/2018 8:49pm
hamncheeze wrote:
This is for sure going to devolve into a US versus Europe deal but the main reason any of the Euro riders come over is for...
This is for sure going to devolve into a US versus Europe deal but the main reason any of the Euro riders come over is for Supercross. End of story. The French in particular have produced good SX riders: Bayle, DV, Tortelli, Roncada, Pichon, Marvin, now Ferrandis. This is because SX is a bit more popular in France versus the other countries. Bercy/Lille is a high-profile event and has attracted a lot of top Americans and this has provided incentive to young French racers. The Dutch and Belgians tend to just pound laps on the sand tracks and don't look to Supercross at all.

It's a daunting experience for a racer with little SX experience to come to the US and start out in SX. Look at a guy like Tonus, he had the speed and skill but had a ton of health problems and also hit the ground a lot in his time riding SX in the USA.
Everything right, except Tonus is not really the rider you wanna use to support your theory..
He would get injured a lot before moving over here and now that he's being back for almost two years he keeps getting injured.
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Cortami79 5/31/2018 11:58pm
5/31/2018 11:58pm
line-up wrote:
Everything right, except Tonus is not really the rider you wanna use to support your theory.. He would get injured a lot before moving over here...
Everything right, except Tonus is not really the rider you wanna use to support your theory..
He would get injured a lot before moving over here and now that he's being back for almost two years he keeps getting injured.
Unfortunately Tonus hasn't finished a season healthy in a long time. I can't remember the last season he entered riding injury free from the start to finish. I wonder how because he really is a smooth rider and i love his style

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kongols 6/1/2018 12:08am
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philG wrote:
Roczen and Marvin grew up wanting to race SX.. Everyone else wants to stay and beat Cairoli and dont care about SX... Ferrandis came because he...
Roczen and Marvin grew up wanting to race SX.. Everyone else wants to stay and beat Cairoli and dont care about SX... Ferrandis came because he aged out of MX2. Prado now says he wants to stay in europe , nobody else seems like they are looking to go now.
agn5009 wrote:
Lawrence brothers and hopefully Gajser. Covington will probably return as well after next year. The young guys would be crazy not to come over. Ain't anyone...
Lawrence brothers and hopefully Gajser. Covington will probably return as well after next year. The young guys would be crazy not to come over. Ain't anyone beating Herlings for a long time unless he goes out with an injury.
Doesn`t look like Gajser is going to USA anymore. We`ll see.
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NVA57 6/1/2018 12:45am
6/1/2018 12:45am
Dreaming of racing SX since a kid is probably the biggest reason for Europeans to go over to the USA.
Lemon100
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Lemon100 6/1/2018 12:58am
6/1/2018 12:58am
If we take for example cairoli , He is one of the best motocross racer of the history , but what does He need to be a good supercross racer , just supercross skills ( the turn , seat bounce etc... ) and training ? I remember , few years ago , he do Bercy and he was lost on the track....
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Bearuno 6/1/2018 12:59am
6/1/2018 12:59am
MxKing809 wrote:
It’s really SX vs. MXGP...
This is it, in a nutshell.

You want to do SX, you go to the USA.

Plenty of youngsters see that as what they want.

Plenty, don't.

A few that initially want to do it, go over and find it's not 'all that' for them.

A few that initially want to do it, find it suites them to a 'T'.

Each to his own.

Yet, this will turn into a shit fight, I'm pretty sure of it.
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keinz 6/1/2018 1:14am
6/1/2018 1:14am
I don't remember when was the last time when we had so many US youngsters in Europe. In MX2 and EMX. Maybe it means something
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keinz 6/1/2018 1:17am
6/1/2018 1:17am Edited Date/Time 6/1/2018 1:18am
Motofinne wrote:
Exactly.
And if you look at the latest years injury parade, I think racing the SX is not so delicious anymore
Lemon100
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Lemon100 6/1/2018 1:21am
6/1/2018 1:21am
The other probleme is that no team have place for european rider.... look at the 250 teams in supercross they are all full with "good riders"
RichardLoots 6/1/2018 1:28am
6/1/2018 1:28am
its all about SX .. you like SX , go USA as thats the best SX series in the world.
Nobody goes to USA to race outdoors as priority ..
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keinz 6/1/2018 1:28am
6/1/2018 1:28am
Lemon100 wrote:
The other probleme is that no team have place for european rider.... look at the 250 teams in supercross they are all full with "good riders"
Who don't wanna move upSmile
Brownstone322 6/1/2018 10:38am
6/1/2018 10:38am Edited Date/Time 6/1/2018 10:38am
HusqFan3 wrote:
To be clear my intention isn’t to start a debate regarding which is better or has more talent. I was just thinking how it’s too bad...
To be clear my intention isn’t to start a debate regarding which is better or has more talent. I was just thinking how it’s too bad we don’t get to see the best riders each have to offer square off more often which made me curious as to why certain riders choose one over the other. Thought perhaps one was more lucrative while the other was considered more prestigious or something along those lines.
Most likely we'd have exactly what you described by now (in MXGP) had Supercross ("mini-motocross") not been invented to pander to fringe fans and outright idiots. There are a LOT of idiots out there, and never underestimate their buying power.
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