TMX SAYS: Home advantage

That was true of absolutely everyone bar the Brits who had to contend with the deep sand of Hawkstone every other year rather than the grassy slopes of Farleigh Castle which, back then, was way more our cup of tea...

Anyhoo, over the years that home advantage seemed to disappear bit by bit to the point where Italian riders now win in Holland (it used to be the norm that they'd all fail to make the cut for Sunday's races) and a Dutch racer can win absolutely anywhere – provided he doesn't spam himself first.

However, it would seem that the home advantage is still alive and kicking over in the US where a second-string local like Josh Grant (whose results in the AMA series have been less than stellar) can somehow beat the majority of the MXGP elite in a straight up scrap. 

While there's no denying that the 29-year-old Californian is a bit of a Glen Helen specialist, it was a bit of a shock that the same guy who got absolutely trounced by Shaun Simpson at Unadilla could manage to go 3-1 at the season finale to beat everyone bar newly crowned world champion Romain Febvre. 

Okay, it was really, really hot and as the last stop on an 18-round tour maybe not everyone's heart was in it but I found it a bit disappointing that only Febvre stepped up to the challenge set by the local lad. 

Actually, the event itself failed to deliver on what it initially promised and that's a real shame considering it was arguably one of the best tracks of the series... 

It's understandable that the Euros would be a little jaded as the 2015 MXGP series has been particularly brutal. Believe it or not only eight riders managed to make it to every single round – that's Febvre, Gautier Paulin, Evgeny Bobryshev, Simpson, Glenn Coldenhoff, Todd Waters, Jose Butron and Kei Yamamoto – and of those only the champ and the Hoff scored in every single moto!

The rate of attrition was even higher in MX2. Only seven riders started at all 18 rounds (although world champion Tim Gajser failed to race either moto in the UK after biffing himself in morning warm-up) and absolutely nobody scored points in all 36 motos – eventual runner-up Pauls Jonass came closest hitting the points on 35 occasions which is impressive in itself considering the terror crashes he picked himself up from in Sweden and Mexico.

I get what Youthstream were trying to achieve by returning to the US for the final round but in terms of entertaining their key audience, starting and ending the series with overseas races didn't really do anybody any favours.

Getting back to the subject of home advantage for a moment I'd like to say a big well done to the Spanish TdN team who took their 10th TdN win on the bounce at the weekend in Tarragona! 

Now I know you're all thinking that the Spanish team have actually won the last 12 Trials des Nations and that's true but what I'm on about is the fact that the team of Toni Bou, Adam Raga, Albert Cabestany and Jeroni Fajardo have stuck together and beaten everyone in this event since 2006 – now that takes some doing!