There is a valuable commodity in MXGP that is not quite as noticeable or as sexy as wins or podiums. In the last four-five years especially – with the escalation of long-term injury problems – it has come more to the fore: ‘presence’. The sheer act of ‘being’. A simple look at the Yamaha factory team provides an illustration. After six years with a major sponsor and a three rider line-up in the premier class the Rinaldi squad seemed to defy logic for 2014 with one rider, and a virtual MXGP rookie at that. It shows just how fruitless planned strategies and contingencies can be. For two seasons Yamaha had minimal results or even representation in MXGP due to injuries and then banked on Jeremy Van Horebeek to reset and re-establish their very capable YZ450F technology and the Belgian posted ten podiums in a row. It is a scenario impossible to predict and after the misfortune of 2012 and 2013 it was a bold move by the Dutch and Italians to opt for a strong one-rider set-up. It paid off. Yamaha are back.
Around this time a host of talented and fast athletes are waiting for riders at the top of the supposed pecking order to make decision on their futures, prospects and employers. In MXGP that means anybody who can hold a light to Tony Cairoli. Not many, and involves salary figures that touches almost seven digits (if the latest rumours are to be believed). Justifiable in some respects but it still signifies an investment in ‘potential’ rather than ‘delivery’. There is never a sure thing in motorsport, as much from the manufacturer of the machinery as there is from the athlete’s side, but there are different racers and different ploys. Watching Van Horebeek every weekend it is clear that he is not yet near Cairoli’s level to actually win races and usually cannot match the speed that pops up from the likes of Clement Desalle and Gautier Paulin, the leading protagonists of MXGP at this current time. Van Horebeek’s season has been far more emphatic however due to his results and the kind of consistency he showed in his maiden term on the 450 in 2013. In the end JVH should be banking a contract improvement/extension that will also lift him to the standard that Desalle and Paulin are demanding. It might be a large leap from podium runner to race victor but the Belgian has laid all the groundwork and has augmented his profile and career by producing exactly what Yamaha needed.
The top ten of MXGP is full of riders with immense promise but with their own stories behind their position or progress. At OTOR we’re a fan of what Briton Shaun Simpson brings to the show and as the KTM rider sits fifth in the world it is curious as to why he is not attracting more factory interest. The Scot celebrated that stunning triumph at Lierop last year but otherwise is a reliable and dependable part of the second group of MXGP behind the podium contenders. Since a blameless horrific leg break in 2009 Simpson has finished each season (unlike Paulin, Desalle, Steven Frossard, David Philippaerts, Max Nagl) and racked-up points without pause. It is the kind of ‘long-term championship approach’ that riders like Philippaerts (Italy’s first MXGP champion) and Steven Frossard (championship runner-up in 2011) are desperate to get back to. While each manufacturer wants the Desalles, Paulins and Herlings to hog TV pictures, advertising images and lead the racing effort the ‘Simpsons’ of the paddock – of which there seem to be few judging by the harsh injury rate each year across eighteen GPs – are a cost-effective and essential investment in ensuring that the bike and sponsors are out in front of the public each weekend (Simpson has also been racing British, Dutch and Belgian championship events) and all the money and hours poured into the truck, set-up and development is also vindicated.
If Simpson continues in the confines of the Hitachi Construction KTM UK squad or whether he gets an offer to transfer his continuity to another brand and crew then the message of 21st century motocross has to be out there somewhere: winning is the golden egg but preservation is becoming the new payoff.
