The Special Edition

As a type of post-script to TGO, The Constant War, the producers of the highly acclaimed motocross DVD series now offer the Special Edition.

With over 100 hours of unused footage on their hands after completing The Constant War, director Troy Adamitis and his production crew have continued to move forward to create the Special Edition. Shot on both HD and 24p cameras, Special Edition picks right up where The Constant War left off.

Every bit as much as TGO, the Special Edition takes the viewer past the security guards, through the pits, inside the trucks and into the lives of the people who make the sport go on any given Sunday. The Special Edition bristles with the human drama that is so much a part of motocross. A sport unlike any other, a sport where man and machine work must work together like no other, the Special Edition displays how the best riders in the world truly do wear their hearts on their polyester jersey sleeves.

Hop on as the Special Edition takes you on a wild joy ride that begins at Hangtown 2006 when Grant Langston and Mike Alessi crash in the final turn of the first moto and scramble in the dirt and dust to get to their feet, get their bikes running, and to the finish line first.

Far off the beaten path, the Special Edition’s camera crew takes the viewer along on a visit to Broc Helper’s home nestled in the rolling pastoral hills of Pennsylvania. Lush, cool and green, Hepler shows just where he came from and where his odyssey in motocross stardom began.

The Special Edition offers up never before seen race action from the summer of 2005. Some of the most memorizing footage comes from the unforgiving cocoa brown sands of Southwick, Massachusetts as they conspire to sap the strength and topple the balance of all who challenge them.  Captured through a number of super slow-motion sequences, Motocross 338 portrays just how brutal and exhausting the sport can be to its athletes. One rider in particular, Ryan Mills, takes a beating at Southwick, wobbling along to miserable 40/13 moto scores.

A perfect personification of the ups-and-downs of racing, Mills then comes back at the very next round to win his first AMA moto at Red Bud. And it’s on this same hot, muggy afternoon in Michigan that rookie Jason Lawrence faces harsh reality when he realizes he’s been thrown in the deep end to fight 39 other men trying to make a living as professional motocross racers.

The Special Edition lenses follow David Bailey and his young Maestro Suzuki team riders at the Washougal National. As passionate and knowledgeable as ever, Bailey, a sort of modern day field marshal explains and passes critical information and knowledge along to the next generation of riders, all of whom hope to become champions.

And the mechanics are featured front and center in the Special Edition as film crews follow Mike “Goose” Gosselaar, the ace spanner man for “in our time” legend Ricky Carmichael. Rival mechanics Brent Miron and Jonathon Hoodie are also shadowed and it doesn’t take long to see that big-time motocross is not all glitz and glamour as the tuners are forced to not only work incessantly, but put under tremendous pressure and strain, as well.

Finally, the Special Edition also includes alluring footage of James Stewart captured from his tumultuous rookie season in the Motocross class. Blend in compelling story lines centering upon Davi Millsaps at Hangtown, Yamaha factory rider David Vuilleman, and working class privateer hero Nick Wey, and you have a film which will keep its viewers mesmerized each time the Special Edition spins through their DVD players.

The Special Edition is available now at $24.95 at www.nofearmx.com

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Part Number: 5024D

Ship Date: April 3, 2006

On Sunday afternoon, September 21, 1986, three American riders ruled the hills and skies of Maggiora, Italy, in the most impressive display of domination the 59 year-old Motocross Des Nations has ever seen. 

Managed by legend Roger DeCoster,  powered by the fierce competitiveness between American Honda's David Bailey, Ricky Johnson and an inspired performance by their teammate Johnny O'Mara on a 125, Team USA simply blew away the rest of the motocross world. It was the high point of a winning streak for the Americans at the MX Des Nations that would stretch 13 years from 1981 to 1994. It was also the moment that the United States of America became the undisputed leader in world motocross.

I arrived in England on September 25^th, 2008 to a chill in the air and slight dampness that hinted to rainfall prior to my arrival. This is a different trip, I am not just a crazed moto fan going to an international event to support Team USA and experience something on my “bucket list” (an international motocross event). But I am going as relatively new father traveling some ten hours to a far away country with a ten month old and then staying an additional week and a half to go to a family wedding in Leeds. Needless to say this trip was action packed and going to be a long one.

     The trip started out with us exiting London Heathrow in a right drive Volkswagen Passat diesel heading up the M40 to a town called Banbury. This was our first stop on the two-week trip, we wanted to see friends and do a quick overnight before heading north to Leeds and the Donington Park area. Banbury is to Formula One as Corona, CA is to motocross, kind of the epicenter of F1 and F1 development several teams make Banbury their base. Also in the area is Silverstone Raceway current site of the UK round of Formula One. KR Racing a former MotoGP team (Kenny Roberts team) also calls Banbury home, which is how he developed and built the KR Proton bike utilizing the local Formula One vendors.

     My first UK moto experience happened while driving up the M40 to Banbury, we exited to one of the many service/ rest areas that housed everything from Grocery stores, fuel stations, to sit down meals and a little gambling in the form of slot machines. As we pull in the parking lot I see two motor homes one of Ken De Dyker and the other of former world champ Steve Ramon. As I enter the restaurant portion I scour everyone to see if could recognize any familiar faces from magazines or Internet articles. I identified a group that consisted of what I believed at the time to be Steve Ramon, Ken De Dyker, Jeremy Van Horebeek and team manager, Joel Smets. This turned out to be true but I wasn’t up on the World Championship scene enough to positively ID these guys and approach them. But they seemed really relaxed and had lots of family around to it was cool to see that motocross carries a mellow, family atmosphere just like in the states.

     I had to pass on making my way to Donington Park on Saturday Day #1 of the event due to an opportunity to see an English football game (soccer). It was completely worth it Leeds United won against Hereford 1 – nil. Sunday came and my excitement was peaking and I was ready to see some racing. My mate Tom is new to the sport of motocross and I was a little concerned that I might be over hyping the experience and the MX Of Nations. But as I entered the gates at Donington Park I could tell that it wasn’t just built up hype, this event is special. It was apparent instantly we were at a world class racetrack seeing world class riders. Donington Park for those of you that don’t know hosts MotoGP, World Superbikes, and in the future Formula One this is pretty impressive venue. As we entered the pits/paddock area there were tons of tents, campers and race vehicles. 

It was blurred line between which motorcoaches were fans and racers. So as we are wandering and checking everything out and this guy gets out of a motorcoach in front of us, he locks it up and spins around, Chad Reed! At 9AM in the morning just running into Chad and Ellie Reed, no entourage, security, and no fan fare. Just a regular guy getting ready to do battle for Team Australia, he was really cool and was happy to let us take a photo or two.

     The pits, similar to the US but slightly different, the completely enclosed awnings are very professional looking. Inside they have these full photos of the racers that ride a specific bike. This helped immensely for a GP outsider, for example I came to one of the Yamaha team pits and I saw familiar team graphics but wasn’t quite sure who rode for them. Right behind the bike was a full photo of Josh Coppins and new World Champion David Philippaerts. I thought hey that’s smart make it easy for fans to associate a rider with a team and bike, and it provided additional signage opportunities for the sponsors. 

     The actual race bikes are very cool, not so different these days from a visual standpoint to the US bikes since the factories loosely interpret the production based rules the AMA has set out. I saw a lot of familiar wheels and hubs, carbon fiber companies, triple clamps, bars, grips etc. A few bikes were pretty trick looking, I particularly liked seeing a Repsol Honda bike and Solva Suspension (basically handmade works suspension). Everything looked similar it just had that Euro twist on it, that made it feel fresh and new.

     We waited for Team USA a.k.a. Team Monster Energy Kawasaki, for quite awhile before leaving to go look at the track. I later realized that the official autograph signings at different sponsors booths took place at 10:30AM. By the time I got back to the big Monster Energy mission control center, Team USA had been swarmed with fans. The team itself was huge, so many people were wearing the official team uniform, I would have to say they definitely had the biggest presence in the pits. I felt this was good and bad, great to see that Team USA took the race so serious and they came with their game face on, but it felt a little overdone and too hands off. The guys looked super serious and not as relaxed as other riders such a Brett Metcalfe and current MX1 World Champ David Philippaerts who were just cruising through the pits on their own. And don’t get me wrong I am not trying to be negative, but seeing the guys sign autographs at the well protected autograph assembly line seemed more of a chore than an opportunity to greet new fans. Needless to say I got horrible photos of Team USA and never got within arms reach of an autograph, I guess I should have tried to get a press pass.

     The race and track was amazing, from the cool but expensive grandstands, to the more food, beer, and product vendors than you could throw sterling at. To an uber cool giant jumbotron screen that helped you see portions of the track that were out of view. The Red Bull assisted energy, buzz, excitement was present and everyone at the race was cheering on their country, their riders, and any good races that developed on the track. There were costumes and wigs galore, face painting, and groups huddled around their countries flag. We had some obligatory English rain showers with the moments of sun that came through at the rights moments to keep the track from transitioning from tacky to a full blown mud race.

     The end result, Team USA takes their 19^th MX of Nations win! I am sure you’ve read the race reports James Stewart was on fire, except for stalling the bike, my mate Tom almost got to see his new favorite riders Searle, Simpson, and Mackenzie make the podium, the crowd really got behind those guys and you could tell it made a real difference in their effort. Chad Reed seemed to struggle a bit, especially off the start line. If you got a bad start it was very difficult to come from behind for everyone. But it was cool to see him on his Rockstar Makita Suzuki and see “Goose” spinning the wrenches. Lookout for Tommy Searle next year at the outdoors I was very impressed with his speed and also Sebastien Pourcel was quick for Team France. He challenged the  #1 Kawasaki of James Stewart for a handful of laps. He had great speed but the lack of “Stewart-esque” fitness was evident. Another stand out was Team Puerto Rico’s Zach Osborne, he should make an impression in the GP’s in 09’, he must really be embracing his change of teams, continents and scenery.

  1st Place Team USA

  2nd Place Team France

3rd Place Team Belgium

     For me it was a great event and trip, travel is still one of my favorite hobbies, new food, culture, landscapes and friends. Save your money, and go to races, I got flack for virtually reporting on an event, and in some ways the flack is justified, I didn’t experience the sites, sounds, smells, of a motocross or motorcycle event, they sure are unique. This trip got me pretty excited for the upcoming season, 2009 really should be a good one.

P.S. Driving on the right side isn’t as hard as it looks.