After spending a month in Europe in the deep sand preparing for and racing the 2019 Motocross of Nations in the Netherlands, Rockstar Energy / Husqvarna’s Jason Anderson is looking for a little offseason before beginning his brutal Supercross prep boot camp. Last weekend Jason pulled out of the Red Bull Straight Rhythm event after riding some practice, and last night he updated us all and said that he would also be sitting out the 2019 Monster Energy Cup on October 19.
“Just updating everyone about the Red Bull Straight Rhythm and the upcoming Monster Cup,” Jason said from his Instagram account. “Everyone knows that after the last Outdoor National Zach and I went to Europe for a month to train for the MXON and our Country.”
“My plan was to come back and do the 2-Stroke Red Bull Straight Rhythm first,” El Hombre went on to say. “Truth is after only two days on the bike after riding in deep sand for a month I just didn’t feel comfortable and choose to not race. I apologize to all my fans who showed up to see me ride but switching to a 2stroke after riding a 4stroke is harder than what you think it might be. “Because I’ve been going wide open and not having much time to prepare, not to mention I haven’t had any offseason preparing for all these events the Team and I feel it is in my best interest that I not race the Monster Cup. I wish I could have been able to race and apologize to all my fans who were hoping to see me race at these events. Right now I need to let my body rest and get ready for the long season we have coming up for SX and MX. Want to thank my team and my mechanic C-Low for all the support and hard work they put in all the time.”
I stand 100% in support of Jason’s decision here and I also hope that in the future we can see more top riders in the USA forgo the offseason exhibition races in favor of representing the USA and their fans at the MXoN. Sounds great, but I am not holding my breath on that one.
We at MotoXAddicts would like to thank Jason, Zach Osborne, Justin Cooper, and the whole Team USA crew for their collective MXoN effort in 2019. We will cross our fingers that this starts a trend that can eventually get the USA back on top of the MX world.
Feature photo by: Simon Cudby