And it has two names.
The first name is “Live, pay-per-view internet webcasts”. For the entirely reasonable sum of $4.99, a company called Mediazone streamed the 2005 Motocross Des Nations to anyone who wanted to see it; in fact, you can still see the archived version for the rest of the week. For less than the cost of an overpriced beer at a Supercross, I was able to watch, live and in real-time, Ricky Carmichael beat the best racers in the world. It was a phenomenal show, and to top the whole thing off, there were no commercials whatsoever. No breaks in the action. A single, moto-savvy announcer who could actually correctly pronounce all of the riders’ names. It was pure moto-magic, and it makes no sense at all that the American series have yet to be covered in the same way. We certainly have the technology, and the audience is just waiting for the opportunity. All we need is for certain persons to make the decision to do the right thing, for a change.
The second name of the Future of Motocross is Ben Townley. The young New Zealander put in the ride of his life at the 2005 Motocross Des Nations, turning lap times with a tenth or two of RC, and clearly beating Kevin Windham straight up, two motos in a row. Townley will be coming to America in 2006 to race for Mitch Payton on the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki squad in the 250F class, and he made it very, VERY clear on Sunday that he will be the man to beat. Current AMA 250F champion Ivan Tedesco could not even get close enough to Townley to smell his exhaust. I don't know what young Ben's supercross skills are like, but his outdoor style reminds me of Chad Reed; if Townley is anything like Speedy Reedy indoors, he's going to have a heck of a career in America. The just-married Mitch has got to be triple-happy right about now!
The Future is bright indeed.
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