DThis weekend there is the national in Unadilla. Not a special race in itself, there would not be a few special guests. James Stewart, for example, makes his long-awaited comeback after months of injuries. Jason Lawrence, who saw his team go bankrupt after the SX season, also found a new sponsor and will be there. But most (European) eyes are undoubtedly focused on our Clement Desalle. Last year, the panda already participated in the national in Washougal. He did it purely because he wanted to. Without any support and with a second-hand standard bike, he opened many eyes there by competing at the front. This year he can count on the support of the 'Godfather of MX' in the states, Roger Decoster. Together with the support of the Geboers Rockstar team, Clement is this time the teammate of Ryan Dungey, who won everything except a few series this year. Goal? In Desalles' words, "I just want to do my best", but underneath it all anyone can deduce is that our biggest MX talent wants to impress in Unadilla, and above all make contacts for a possible transfer next year.
View the here RacerX Pre race show with Clement, among others
There is no doubt that Desalle is fast. But to really impress the Americans, he would have to be able to mix with the two names already mentioned. Dungey has dominated the entire season this year. The rookie is in both SX and nationals! a class stronger than the rest. Then there's Josh Grant, who on a good day can beat anyone within half a minute; the regular Andrew Short and the ever-strong veteran Kevin Windham. It remains to be seen how BT101 will recover from his serious crash in the previous race, but he also proved to have the speed to get on the podium.
The biggest question mark is James Stewart. After a persistent wrist injury, he was off the bike for months. In the reality series that was also shown on the site, you could notice that he was more distracted from the sport than ever, and that the motivation to continue was not always high. On the other hand, James Stewart is an unusual super talent on the bike. It's pretty obvious that he won't return without being 100%, and he's undoubtedly fast. But even though he is not competing for the championship, he has a lot of pressure on his shoulders. Dozens of sponsors are pushing him to see results. They invested millions in this boy and haven't seen anything from him yet. Imagine if he gets a beating around the ears from Dungey, how will he be able to deal with that? It will certainly be a competition to look forward to!
In addition, Roger Decoster will also announce his team for the MXON on Saturday. Earlier this week, some rumors leaked that the team would consist of Dungey, Short and Canard. But can the US team make it to this prestigious competition without James Stewart? We'll find out on Saturday!
In the lites class it will again be a fierce duel between the PC Kawasaki riders and the Geico Honda riders. Christophe Pourcel is always super fast in the first moto, but was not yet able to compete at the front in the second moto. Trey Canard, for his part, has really come into super form in the last few matches and with his upcoming MXON selection he might get wings...
