In just over a year a group of almost ten Grand Prix riders will be preparing for life and the next stage of their careers in the MXGP class under the current FIM ruling that states racers much leave the MX2 (250cc four-strokes) division before their 24th birthday. While the lead-up to 2015 will see a notable shake-up in the factory teams and start gate of the premier category, just one ‘rookie’ of note is getting used to life on a 450cc motorcycle for next season.
STR KTM’s Jake Nicholls is the only rider moving into MXGP from the upper echelons of the ‘junior class’ for 2014 and has been busy acclimatising to the demands of the more powerful machine. The Englishman bagged his first Grand Prix podiums in 2013 (two) and finished 7th in the championship riding for the Jacky Martens KTM team. With Martens assuming control of the works MX2 Husqvarna operation and Nicholls reaching the MX2 age ceiling the Brit had to move on and a slot in Steve Turner’s home-based set-up was an easy fit. Australian Dean Ferris’ departure to the AMA means that Nicholls is now the sole rider having to face Cairoli, Desalle and co.
“I don’t mind it [having the rookie pressure] and I’m open minded about the class,” he said. “I think at the start of the series taking positions between fifteenth-twentieth is not a disgrace because of how competitive MXGP is. Having said that breaking into the top ten straightaway would be brilliant. I want to build up through the season. I will be trying as hard as I can and learning on the way so whatever I come up with right at the start is not something I should be totally judged upon. I just want to get a nice foundation and go about improving.”
A testing period after the Motocross of Nations led to a six week break. Nicholls has since been accumulating the practice laps on the 450SX-F over the last fortnight and sheds some light on the transition. “I’ve done about five-six hours on the 450 so far and it feels very normal and I feel very comfortable,” he commented. “I honestly believe it will make me a better rider. My style is not really that ‘active’. You won’t see me hanging off the bike down the straight or with my legs everywhere, and it is definitely a contrast to my team-mate this year [Romain Febvre, who stays with the Martens team] where that approach works for the 250. I’m quite neutral with my body position and this suits the 450 more where there is so much power to play with.”
“I never really got used to the all-action style and I think it stems from when I was fourteen or fifteen and those 250 Hondas at the time were never that reliable so we went out and brought a 450,” he adds. “From a very young age I developed a riding technique that was based on the bigger bike. It was almost like I was a bit lazy, but I just found my way like that.”
Nicholls will be back in the British Championship in 2014 and will face HM Plant KTM UK’s Shaun Simpson for the national MX1 title. We ran a story recently where the Scot was undecided about the 350 or 450SX-F. For Nicholls there was no such debate: “It was always the 450. The 350 for me is still too much like a 250. I tried the Husqvarna 350 and I had the feeling that I could get to know the bike very well but I also realised the 450 was my thing and I could work on my conditioning and weight to take profit.”
“The 450 never ‘gets away’ and I know where it is going. It is easy to say all of this now because I have yet to race one in anger and I still need to build up speed but the picture seems very clear to me and I’m very happy.”
“I’m back in the British Championship this year and having Shaun [Simpson] there as well is really good because he will be strong from the outset and it gives me something to chase.”
Nicholls, who is one of the classic ‘slow-burn’ talents in the GP paddock with championship positions of 13th, 11th, 8th and 7th in the past four years, can also afford to fill out his tall frame now that the restrictions of barrelling a 250 against the likes of Febvre, Jose Butron and Glenn Coldenhoff have vanished. “For the last three years I have not touched a single gym weight just because of my size [180cm] and weight for the MX2 bike,” he explains. “I always wanted to bulk up a little bit but I had to be so careful on the 250 that I wasn’t giving much away. My natural weight is around 80kg and I had to drop it to 75. Now I’ve been able to put that extra five kilos back on and I’m enjoying seeing natural improvements in my strength in the gym. It was interesting ready Tommy Searle’s comments on his first year in MX1 and the strength he needed to use; I took that onboard.”
For every MX1/MXGP rookie disappointment story (like that encountered by the unfortunate Joel Roelants in 2013) there is almost double the amount of cases where results or form have been considerably eye-catching; Ben Townley, Steven Frossard, David Philippaerts, Max Nagl, Evgeny Bobryshev, Gautier Paulin and Jeremy Van Horebeek just some who have made a mark in their first term on the 450. While Nicholls may have had his best Grand Prix year yet in what his final fling in MX2, it seems like there is not much to fear for the likeable Brit in his next adventure. Crucially his learning season comes before the next MX2 ‘wave’ that could really shake up the Grand Prix landscape. Before the lights flick on at Losail on February 28th Nicholls is hoping for some race mileage and it seems like the Hawkstone Park international in the UK on February 23rd will be one of his very few opportunities. “Hawkstone is on the agenda but we still need to confirm our attendance as the bikes will be on their way to Qatar by that point,” he says. “The situation is similar with the Valence International [in France the previous weekend]. We’ll see. I’d like to race at least once before Losail but I won’t be scared if we don’t end up having the chance.”
