The MX wheel turns slowly
By John Dickinson on 27th Aug 10
History has a strange habit of repeating itself, so as KTMcelebrates its 350cc World title its all been done before...
Champions are like buses, there isn't one for ages and then two speed past one after the other. And this week we have two newly-crowned 2010 champs – interestingly, both defending title-holders – Tony Cairoli who tied-up the World MX1 series in Brazil and James Dabill who is British Trials Champ for a second time having won in the slightly less exotic setting of Devon.
Cairoli is now an old-hand at picking up World crowns – this is his fourth – having proved to be the best in both MX2 and MX1 classes. He is not just a great rider but a very exciting one to watch and as such is a huge spectator draw – something that MX currently needs by the barrowload if it really is to expand onto a true world stage as Youthstream envisage, with rounds at all four corners of the globe. It is a truly grand vision, which of course someone or something will have to pay for. TV rights, sponsorship etc., etc., – but there is a lot of white hot competition out there even confining the battleground to motorsport. F1, MotoGP, World Superbike and BSB – all are fighting their corners like demons and the world recession, which I think we can all see isn't going to be fixed overnight, is ravaging them all.
But that's a discussion for another day!
The big news about Cairoli's 2010 win though is the fact that it has been achieved on a bike of 350cc capacity. Funny how things go in circles. Back in the day, which in this case is the 1960s, big, beefy 500cc bikes ruled the roost in the MX1 class of the day which was... the 500cc class. No surprise there then.
BSA Gold Stars, Matchless G80s, Husqvarnas etc., etc. All full-on long-stroke 500cc motors wedged into big strong (read heavy) chassis that in general needed similarly sized riders to boss them.
Enter BSA who had enjoyed some scrambles success with its tidy little unit-construction 250cc model, the C15.
It was light, comparatively powerful and a world away from the clunky 500cc thumpers.
So some bright spark at BSA (I'm betting some T+MX reader can tell me exactly who it was...) came up with the plan of bumping the capacity of the lightweight a tad, to 420cc.
The result was a ‘new' kind of 500cc model, one with the lightness and handling of a 250 with power not far short of a full 500.
British ace Jeff Smith – on his way to legendary status – used BSA's new baby to win his first World title in 1964.
BSA then upped the capacity to 440cc the following year – released the model to the public as the Victor – and Smithy completed his memorable World Championship double.
Mind you, if you do believe in the wheel turning a full circle, as I hope I have justifiably demonstrated, you need to hear the next bit.
After the four-strokes discovered that the holy grail was light weight coupled with ‘ample' power, other factories, led by CZ, went on to prove that the theory worked even better if you made the bike lighter still with a medium capacity two-stroke motor with their 360, 380 and 400cc developments...
Could this happen again and we see a new two-stroke revival?
If you ask me my answer would be a definite ‘very easily' but with one huge proviso.
The powers that be would have to WANT this to happen!
At the moment they don't want it to – end of.
Hence we have classes dominated by four-strokes simply because the strokers have been legislated out.
I have yet to see a legitimate argument as to why this is the case.
It certainly can't be on pollution grounds as KTM, at least, has enduro bikes that meet all current PLUS currently planned future levels.
And it certainly isn't on noise grounds as strokers are, in real terms, not just on manipulated decibel levels, much less intrusive.
But for what it is worth, I would ask you not to write the two-stroke off just yet... it is only my opinion, but I think there could well be a few twists and turns to come in the two-stroke story.
Hats off to KTM management though for having the courage of their convictions in a world where one factory never sneezes without all its rivals catching colds... and to Cairoli for taking on the challenge and proving the point!
Meanwhile, James Dabill was proving, if proof were needed, that he is indeed heir apparent to Dougie Lampkin as Britain's top trials rider. ‘Dibs' has broken clear of the pack of young guns and his two British titles in two years speaks for itself.
‘Dibs' would be first to agree that he has one more step to make at World Championship level – and contrary to what some might say I reckon he still has time on his side to get there.
Jeroni Fajardo is living proof of that. The Catalan Beta rider, formerly Gas Gas number two to Adam Raga, has hung around the fourth, fifth, sixth slot for several years until suddenly, Jeroni made the jump this year to challenge consistently for podiums and, when Toni Bou has an off-day, even the win.
Stick with it Dibs!