On the Lamb: 250SX East Preview

Zach Osborne returns for one last farewell to the 250 class, and to defend his #1E. Photo by: Simon Cudby

“On the Lamb” is a moto editorial series written by MotoXAddicts owner, Dan Lamb. It is brought to you by Race Tech Suspension and Engine Services

The 2018 Monster Energy Supercross, an FIM World Championship series touches down just outside of Dallas, TX. in Arlington for round seven of the 450SX Championship and round number one of the Eastern Regional 250SX Championship. In the Western Regional Championship, we’ve been treated to four different winners over the first six rounds with the class so deep that there could actually be at least two more riders added to the win list. Will the East produce that kind of parody in ’18? It’s hard to say, but lets talk about the top ten riders and see how it looks.

1st: Zach Osborne – #1e

With the Western Regional class so deep, it seems like a given that the Eastern Regional class would be light at the top, and at first glance, it does look that way. The obvious choice as the favorite to take home the most wins and likely the title out east has to go to the returning Champ on the #1E, Rockstar Energy Racing / Husqvarna’s Zach Osborne.

In 2017, Zach broke through for the first main event win of his career and the flood gates broke wide open. Zach won the first race of his veteran career at the 2017 Atlanta SX and parlayed the confidence gained into four more main event wins, but it was a pass on Joey Savatgy for 7th with just two turns to go in the season that made him the Championship. From there, Zach took that Alpha mentality outdoors with him and ran away with the 250 AMA National Motocross Championship as well. In my eyes, the 2017 double Champ is the odds on favorite to repeat as Champion in the east.

2nd: Dylan Ferrandis – #24

For my number two spot heading into Arlington, I’m picking more off of the eye test, intuition and if I wanted to be even more vague, I just have a damn feeling on this one. Monster Energy / Star Racing Yamaha’s Dylan Ferrandis jumped the pond for the American SX dream in 2017 and had a debut season that was better than most expected in SX. There are quite a few things that I saw in ’17 that I really liked from the Frenchman, but what impressed me the most was his patience and consistency under fire and his “I don’t care who you are or that you don’t know my name” aggression.

While a lot of Frenchman have succeeded in SX, even more have failed and the failures are usually due to wanting too much too fast which more often than not led to injuries. Dylan never looked like he was riding over his head in ’17, and he was never shy about getting aggressive when he thought it was there for the taking. Dylan did not score a win in ’17, but he did walk away with two impressive rookie podiums. I think ’17 was just the warm up for the #24.

3rd: Jordon Smith – #45

My number three pick is a toss up between Monster Energy / Pro Circuit / Kawasaki’s Austin Forkner and Troy Lee Designs / KTM’s Jordon Smith, and I’m giving the nod to Jordon due to his two wins in ’17 and on experience. Jordon found his stride on the KTM last year with five podiums and two wins, and early in the final main event of the season, it actually looked like he was going to steal the Championship from Savatgy and Osborne.

While Osborne and Savatgy were marred in the pack with issues, Smith had the good start, the points lead and only two riders in front of him. Unfortunately, SX can be a cruel mistress and moments later he was on the side of the track being asked by the medics if he knew where he was. 2017 may not have ended well for Jordon, but he was unconscious for the only bad part, so I’ll bank on his confidence only remembering the good. If the #45 is up front this weekend in Arlington, get used it.

4th: Austin Forkner – #35

Austin Forker is one of the mysteries of the class.  By week three, we could be talking about the #35 having two wins or we could be talking about him somewhat struggling just inside the top five. Neither would surprise me. After having a stellar rookie outdoor campaign in ’16, I think Austin was a victim of some overly lofty rookie SX expectations in ’17.

Austin struggled with getting acclimated to the early race intensity in SX and he struggled even more in the whoops. While his Freshman campaign was not all good, it for sure was not all bad either. It all comes down to expectations and I cannot remember the last rookie that scored two podiums while people seemed let down by it. Overall, it was a strong rookie year, and as long as he thinks of it that way, it’s a great year to build off of for ’18. This isn’t the 125cc two-stroke class that’s ruled by teenagers anymore. This is the 250 class, and grown men rule this world now.

5th: Martin Davalos – #29

Martin is one of the four riders with past main event wins. Like his teammate, Monster Energy / Pro Circuit / Kawasaki’s Martin Davalos is also a mystery—maybe even a mystery wrapped in a riddle. After two seasons away from Mitch Payton’s squad, Davalos returns for another shot at becoming a 250SX champ. One thing we know for sure, Martin will definitely win heat races. The Ecuadorian will have the speed to win, and he will definitely have the fitness, but will he be able to conquer the mental side of it? That in my opinion has been his Achilles’ heel over his lengthy career.

His SX career has always been two steps forward, three front end washout backwards. They say a tiger never changes his stripes, but this is one time it would be awesome to see a stripeless tiger on a #29 Kawasaki. Martin catches shit for how long he has been in the 250SX class, but the bottom line is he has earned every ride he has gotten and he will more than likely be up front in ’18 earning it again. He may be pushing 30, but the man has skills, period!

6th: Jeremy Martin – #6

When I started this list, I really didn’t think the East could be as good as the West, and the more riders I mention, the more I could see the East being as good or even better. My sixth rider in my top ten ranking, Jeremy Martin, is also one of the four men with past main event wins. Unfortunately for him, throughout his SX career he has also been the only rider that could straight up not qualify for a main event one week and win the next.

In an era of SX specialists, the two-time AMA National 250 Motocross Champion is 100% a motocross specialist so far in his career. Like Davalos, this is another one of those can a tiger change his stripes deals. In J-Mart’s first five years in the 250SX class, he has finished 9-10-3-3-13 in the championships. While it’s not out of the question, I just cannot picture him having the most points when the series lands in Vegas. For Daytona, though, he is my guy.

Tied for 7th Colt Nichols – #31 / RJ Hampshire – #36

Number seven and number eight on my list are two guys with many of the same attributes and flaws and rather than write the same breakdown for both, I’ll just write it one time and call them tied for 7th. Monster Energy / Star Racing / Yamaha’s Colt Nichols and GEICO / Honda’s RJ Hampshire have both shown flashes of brilliance over their young careers, but they both spent most of ’17 SX recovering from injuries.

We are now eight riders into my top ten and we are still talking about a podium threats with the potential to win and even an outside shot at the title. Nichols started 2017 with a 10-3-4 scorecard before having to check out of the Championship with an injury. Colt returned from injury for the outdoor season and his last memory of racing is scoring his first-ever AMA National podium at the 2017 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross finale. Colt has some solid wind at his back heading into ’18.

Like Nichols, RJ also had some breakout rides during the 2017 outdoor season—finishing with two moto podiums in the AMA Nationals and winning the MZ2 class at the 2017 USGP. Unlike Nichols, though, RJ has not been on a SX podium since way back in 2015. If that streak ends early on in ’18 he will be dangerous. If someone asked me to give them my dark horses for ’18, Colt and RJ would be near the top of that list. Both

9th Jimmy Decotis: – #47

Alright, we’re down to my last two in the top ten, and unlike RJ and Colt, these guys could not be more different. My number nine is Autotrader / JGR / Suzuki’s Jimmy Decotis–AKA Jimmy D, AKA The Rippa–and a the sophomore pro with no nicknames that I know of yet, GEICO / Honda’s Cameron McAdoo. Last year the veteran Jimmy D. had an awesome season with three top five rides, but with two 4ths and a 5th, that ever elusive dangling carrot known as the podium is still the #47’s career goal.

Jimmy was so close in ’17, and I really hope ’18 is the year for him to get on the box just so we can see how the Peabody, Mass Rippa pops the cork on a champagne bottle. Jimmy’s late-race fitness was all that stood in the way in ’17 and I’m sure has been part of his focus heading into Arlington.

10th: Cameron McAdoo – #66

When it comes to GEICO / Honda’s McAdoo, I would probably put to big question marks after his name. To be honest I almost put Luke Renzland 10th, but I gave the nod to Cameron based on bike, team and the expectations that come with it. Cameron’s move from Motoconcepts to GEICO last season was one of of the feel good stories of the 2017 winter, but with only two races left expectations were not what they would normally be with a team like GEICO / Honda. A year later, he is now going to be expected to perform and we have no data on how the #66 will perform under these conditions.

Coming up through the amateurs, Cameron was always just slightly under the radar and he never had that big factory ride nor the pressures that comes with it. If he lost to the Austin Forkners of the amateur world at the time, well that’s to be expected; he’s a privateer. When he beat someone like Forkner, the praise flood gates opened. Now, though, there is no excuses and he will be expected to be fighting inside the top five or he will be looking for a new job.

Well, there you have it, my top ten for the 2018 Eastern Regional 250SX Championship. Three riders that just barely fell outside my top ten are Traders Racing / Yamaha’s Luke Renzland, Troy Lee Designs / KTM’s Sean Cantrell and Rockstar Energy / Husqvarna’s Michael Mosiman. These are three guys that could easily be top ten guys, but for right now I’ll just call them honorable mentions.

While just about everyone is picking Mr. Osborne and his #1 plate to dominate this series, the unknown heading into any round 1 always brings anticipation and excitement. I would guess at least 4 of the other 9 riders I listed in the top 10 do not have Osborne picked as their favorite and legitimately think they can dethrone him. Then there are a few others that have the talent to manufacturer that kind of confidence with the right things happening. Bring on Arlington!

Check out the 250SX East pre-entry list for the 2018 Arlington SX below.

250SX East Provisional Entries — Entry Count: 43