Puerto Rican Nations team outshine USA
By Alex Hodgkinson on 16th Aug 18
The confirmation at Unadilla on Saturday of the US team for the Motocross of Nations was upstaged in no uncertain terms when the Puerto Rican team was presented out of the back of an e-zee-up.
Even team manager Rick Johnson took a back seat as off-road legend Travis Pastrana, who has not raced seriously since 2006, rolled out his RM250 smoker and was joined in the line-up by Ryan Sipes who will race MX2 and Ronnie Mac!
According to a press release sent out by Nitro Circus, Pastrana has agreed to make a visit to the gym and dust off his Suzuki RM250 under one condition the team would need to raise funds to give back to Puerto Rico during their time of need.
"Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico almost a year ago, said Pastrana, and still to this day thousands of people are without the basic resources they need.
"This is an awesome opportunity for the motocross community to get behind and give back to the beautiful island of Puerto Rico.
"Im also excited to be a part of the largest motocross event ever held in the United States and to give the old guys someone to root for as Team Puerto Rico looks to qualify on two-strokes."
MX2 rider Sipes has faced a mixed programme this year with occasional AMA Nationals as well as US flat track where he recently won a TT event. Mid-west hillbilly Ronnie Mac aka Jimmy Albertson adds the ultimate clown experience to the PR gag, though it is unlikely that the FIM will accept dungarees and a sawn-off helmet as suitable clothing!
Should the entry be accepted, neither Pastrana (Open class) nor Mac (MXGP) will be able to ride a 500 smoker and Sipes will be restricted to a 125, severely impairing any hope of a transfer to the main programme against the four-strokes of twice the capacity that will be raced by everybody else.
FIM rule 2.2. MXN indicates that the bike of the Open class rider at the Nations must meet the requirements of the MXGP or MX2 class which, in the case of two-strokes, means over 175cc up to 250cc for MXGP and over 100cc up to 125cc for MX2.
Whether the team is eventually allowed to compete or not, merchandising with all proceeds going to hurricane victims is already available at www.ronsontop.com
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