Presented by 6D Helmets

With little racing on the schedule to discuss, we rang up Brett Smith of wewentfast.com for this week's episode of the 6D Helmets Kickstart Podcast. A career moto journalist, Smith's latest endeavor are a website and social media channels that share the stories of the sport, but with a focus on timeless tales and not the news of the day. A few months back Smith acquired the entire inventory of Terry Pratt's book, "Grand Prix Motocross: The 1972 World Championship Season." Filled with images and reports collected by Pratt during his year in Europe following the series, it's an incredible look at the early years of motocross. If this is something you'd like to add to your collection, we recommend that you act fast, because the inventory is limited and it will never be printed again.

Presented by Ogio Powersports

There was no racing in the United States this weekend, so we phoned up Broc Tickle for this quick Ogio Powersports How Was Your Weekend Podcast to see how his preparations for the Tampa Supercross are coming along. Tickle's suspension will lift on 2/10/20, and he is planning to contest the last 2/3 of the Monster Energy Supercross series aboard a privateer Husqvarna with backing from AEO Powersports and FXR Racing. After we chatted about the Post Malone concert he went to on Saturday night, Tick got into the nitty gritty of what it's gonna take to make a serious return to racing in February.

Presented by Fly Racing

He may be on the sidelines with a hip injury, but Rockstar Energy/Husqvarna Factory Racing's Dean Wilson is back in the spotlight again. Last year, Deano gave away a Husqvarna TC 50 to a deserving youngster, and this year he's bumped it up to a TC 65! We chatted with Deano about his desire to give back to the sport, as well as how his recovery from the dislocated hip he suffered at the Monster Energy Cup is going, and lots more!

Presented by 6D Helmets

This was a busy weekend for the SML staff, and we were on opposing sides of the world covering events. Here in SoCal, we hosted the Seven MX Mini Major at State Fair MX and nearly 600 minibike racers showed up to compete in what has quickly become the most important mini race of the year. Seven MX COO Dennis Bloch joins us to recap the event in today's episode, and we also phone up Michael Antonovich, who just got home from the Supercross de Paris, where he watched Justin Barcia, Malcolm Stewart, Dylan Ferrandis, Jeremy Martin, Vince Friese and Justin Hill lead the way.

Presented by Fly Racing

This week's episode of the Fly Racing Swapmoto Podcast is an hour long talk with RJ Hampshire. These last few months have been massive for RJ, as he left the GEICO Honda team with a year remaining on his contract to join Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing's 250 program. It was a deal that many knew about during the summer months, but per RJ, the ink wasn't dry until the last race of the nationals.

The team change has had a major impact on Hampshire's life, because it comes with a spot in Aldon Baker's training program alongside Anderson, Webb, Musquin, and Osborne. To make the most of the opportunity, Hampshire has made the hour plus move from his home in Wesley Chapel Florida to Clermont, and has spent the past few weeks doing everything on bakers schedule to be ready for the East coast kick off of the Supercross season. As you'll hear, Hampshire is already seeing physical changes thanks to the intensity of the workouts and the diet.

Hampshire was widely expected to be a constant contender in the 250 when he was signed to GEICO Honda, but things didn't go the way he and the team anticipated due to injuries or performance issues with the CRF250R. All is still good between the rider and the team, something RJ made clear when the topic of getting out of the contract came up, and that's a rare thing in our sport. But with a bike that suits his riding style and increased confidence, it's clear that he has his eye on a title in 2020.

The Dubya USA Vet World Championships went down today at Glen Helen Raceway and SmarTop/Bullfrog Spas/Motoconcepts/Honda rider Mike Alessi made a last-minute decision to join in on the fun and showed up literally 20 minutes before the gate dropped on the first 20 Pro moto and went on to sweep the title with a 1-1 tally. On this week's 6D Helmets Kickstart Podcast, we chat with Mikey about his new Vet World Championship, the Monster Cup on a two-stroke, and reminisce about his long pro racing career.

Enjoy!

Presented by 6D Helmets

The summer of 2018 was a strange time for Phil Nicoletti. Despite having a number of top-ten finishes and even an overall podium to his credit, the New Yorker had no lucrative offers on the table to race in the United States. With all stateside options exhausted, he took a contract with the Rockstar Energy/OTSFF/Yamaha team to contest the Rockstar Energy Triple Crown series in Canada that promised two years of full support and a confirmed status as a front-runner in the very competitive field. It's a route that a handful of riders have taken in recent years, especially because the series offers a 100,000-dollar (Canadian currency, by the way) payout to the person with the most combined points from the Arenacross, motocross, and Supercross tours.

After an eventful year that included race wins, podium finishes, and that impossible to miss incident in the post-race cooldown zone, Nicoletti clinched the title with a sizable margin over defending champion Cole Thompson. The move north has given Nicoletti a new lease on his career and at 30 years old, he feels that he has a few more years to stack wins over the border.

Presented by Fly Racing

One of the biggest storylines of this offseason is the JGRMX operation. A staple of the sport for over a decade, it is the only factory Suzuki motocross effort in the world and is always a place riders keep in mind when it comes to signing a contract for the next season. Unfortunately, this has been a very rough tear for the North Carolina-based operation has felt the effect of Suzuki's recent inner-company restructure and for a while, it was unclear if they would even be at Anaheim One in 2020. Although a number of riders rode the team's Suzuki bikes in 2019, Alex Martin is the only person with a confirmed contract from the manufacturer and team for 2020, and much of their future will revolve around him. The team resumed a normal offseason testing schedule a few weeks ago, with Martin back on the RM-Z250, so we rang him up to get the story straight. Always a good interview, AMart openly shared insight on the past race season, the current situation at JGRMX, and what he sees for himself in the future.

Presented by 6D Helmets

It's been over a year since we've gotten to see the number-six machine of Jeremy Martin line up behind a starting gate. After breaking his back at the 2018 Muddy Creek National, the former 250 National Champion underwent three major surgeries to properly fix the damage to his body. With only a few weeks of training and testing under his belt, Martin made a last-minute decision to compete at last weekend's Monster Energy Cup and showed flashes of his old self as he raced to an eventual eighth overall aboard his GEICO Honda CRF450R. JMart called in for today's show after a long day of testing in Hesperia, in preparation for the upcoming Paris Supercross.

Presented by Ogio Powersports

It's been an exciting few weeks for Adam Cianciarulo. After wrapping up his first 250 National Championship at Iron Man MX a few weeks ago, the Floridian has been getting his feet wet aboard his new Monster Energy Kawasaki KX450, as he will make his premier class debut this weekend at the Monster Energy Cup. For today's How Was Your Weekend Podcast, we phoned up AC to check in and see how he is getting used to the new bike, his new team, and his new teammate, and more! Enjoy!