The Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki team, in general, has been experiencing a lull that they may not have ever experienced before. The most dominant 125/250F team in AMA history, the Pro Circuit squad only managed two supercross wins in 2013 – one with Dean Wilson at the East series opener in Dallas last year, and then a second win with substitute racer Tyler Bowers at the Las Vegas SX finale.
The first team to really step up to the plate and match Mitch Payton’s powerhouse was the GEICO Honda team, run by Factory Connection Racing. In 2010, Pro Circuit landed both 250cc SX titles with Christophe Pourcel and Jake Weimer, and the East/West Shootout in Vegas demonstrated the height of domination, as Pro Circuit swept the top four spots with Weimer winning over Josh Hansen, Pourcel and Dean Wilson. Outdoors, though, GEICO Honda’s Trey Canard got on a tear and stole the title away from Pourcel at the series finale.
For the next couple years, the two teams traded titles almost exclusively, with GEICO Honda taking the 2011 and 2012 250 East titles (Justin Barcia), the 2012 250 West title (Eli Tomac), the 2013 250cc East SX title (Wil Hahn), and the 2013 AMA 250cc National MX championship (Tomac). And Pro Circuit snatched the 2011 250 West SX title (Broc Tickle), and the 2011 and 2012 AMA 250cc National MX titles (Dean Wilson and Blake Baggett). The only other title in those three years went to Ken Roczen in last year’s 250cc West SX championship.
There are a lot of reasons that Pro Circuit has come up short recently. First, other teams have definitely upped their game. Proof of this comes from the fact that, in the 2013 AMA 250cc National Championship, Wil Hahn scored the most holeshots in the 250cc class, and the two next guys on that holeshot list were Hahn’s GEICO Honda teammates Zach Osborne and Justin Bogle. Second, and perhaps a bigger reason for Pro Circuit’s recent tough times, has to do with the team’s racers. Truth be told, Blake Baggett and Martin Davalos likely could’ve and would’ve been contenders in the 2013 250cc West if not for Jessy Nelson going down in turn one at Anaheim 1, resulting in his bike cleaning out Davalos (who DNF’d due to a crushed radiator) and Baggett (who ended up with a broken/dislocated wrist that troubled him throughout outdoors). And after winning round one in the East, Wilson lost a couple races and then tossed himself on the dirt, badly injuring his shoulder, while in the heat of the championship battle.
And sometimes, when things are going bad, it can seem like the world is against you. Just as things were starting to turn around for the PC team this past weekend in Oakland, with Dean Wilson (fastest all day) leading the main event on the final lap, and his teammate Justin Hill sitting a solid third, Wilson’s bike stalled in a very unusual spot that indicated a mechanical issue (not rider error), causing him to roll a triple jump and hand the lead to Jason Anderson, who took the win.
It was definitely the most promising showing for the Pro Circuit squad in quite a while, but was foiled on the final lap with a freak mechanical issue.
Justin Hill is showing us something new. He’s fast, has an aggressive style, and he’s pushing for results for the first time. Hill seemed all too willing to use 2013 as a “learning year” instead of going for results too soon, and his perceived lack of effort had some people scratching their heads. But that guy is gone now.
And, for the first time in 2014, Dean Wilson lived up to his pre-season expectations in Oakland, and he’ll be hungry going into Anaheim 3. He’s a whopping 21 points out of the championship lead, but there are still five rounds left to run. He can get back in it with more rides like that.
Perhaps the bigger story is the fact that neither of the teams dominating the 250cc West so far are GEICO Honda or Red Bull KTM. Instead, it’s TLD/Lucas Oil Honda and Rockstar Energy KTM. GEICO Honda, Red Bull KTM and Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki are all playing catch-up to those two right now.
Photo by Steve Cox
