There’s an interesting trend going on in the pro Supercross pits, one that is not that old, but has been picking up steam the last few years.

Just take a look around the pits next time and check out all the old riders that are coming out and helping the new guys. We’ve got Jeff Stanton with Justin Barcia, Ezra Lusk guiding Davi Millsaps, Tim Ferry helping out Trey Canard to name a few.

It seems the current generation of racers see the old guys as being able to offer something to their careers.

Look at some of the managers in the sport as well, sure old racers have been there before over the years (Eric Kehoe taking over Honda of Troy was one of the first), but in the case of the GEICO Honda team, the performance of the team has greatly improved since Mike Larocco took over there.

In fact, Mike breaks down some of the testing for the riders before they get to try something to see if it’s a direction that the riders need to go in.

Mike’s theory is that testing is confusing and the less options, the better so that’s why he still gets after it on the bike to make sure he streamlines the process.

Ezra Lusk has been working closely with Davi Millsaps in 2013. Image: Simon Cudby.

Star Racing has hired Ryan Morais this year to manage the promising careers of riders Cooper Webb and Jeremy Martin. ‘Mo’, as he is known, is one of the most organised guys out there and was a real thinker on the track, as well as a good tester.

Ryan recently made the comment to me that he’s been on the bike quite a bit lately in trying to make the bike better for the upcoming Motocross season.

The riders dipping into their pockets to hire ex-racers is more and more prevalent. It really started when Ricky Carmichael hired Johnny O’Mara in 1997 to help him out and show him the training ropes. That obviously worked out pretty well and it continues on today.

All three of Stanton, Lusk and Ferry have done well for themselves over the years and don’t need the job, so that might be the key to why these things are working.

Sometimes the rider needs to be told something he doesn’t like to be told. Any of these three riders wouldn’t be scared to do that as opposed to a coach or trainer that needs the job and is not willing to upset the rider for fear of getting canned.

Ferry says that he’s had inquiries from other riders in regards to him getting with them to help them out and he may do something, but for the most part, Canard’s got his services for now.

What exactly do these riders help out with? Well it’s a multitude of things really. Stanton is far enough away from when he was winning to titles that he really can’t tell Barcia how to ride the bike. The evolution of machines and riding skills since Stanton raced is pretty far down the road.

Tim Ferry is in the corner of Trey Canard at Team Honda. Image: Simon Cudby.

But what Stanton can, and does, help out with is the mental game of being a racer. And he was always a great trainer so he’s got that aspect covered. The human body is the human body, things haven’t changed so much there that Jeff’s advice on what to do isn’t going to work.

There are also the day-to-day things that these riders can help out with. For example Lusk had a huge falling out with his family while he raced over finances and other things.

Millsaps has had that same stuff happen to him, the pressures these kids find themselves under in regards to parents, girlfriends and ‘friends’ trying to help is enormous and mistakes are easy to make.

If you don’t think that Millsaps has bounced some thoughts and gotten advice from an older and been-there Ezra Lusk then you’re crazy.

There’s so much more off the bike that racers today can benefit from as well. Dealing with the media demands, who to trust and who to not trust are all things that young racers, caught up in the moment of trying to be better, don’t always notice.

These older riders know what happens when they spotlight goes dark and as well have the wisdom to look back at what they did that was right and more importantly, what they did that was wrong.

It’s a smart investment to make in getting someone that you can trust and can help you. And in the case of Millsaps, Barcia and Canard- it’s paying off big time.

Ryan Villopoto has the ball rolling back on the East Coast. Image: Simon Cudby.

On another note, well leading 70 out of the last 100 laps and taking five straight wins is a pretty good indicator that the 2013 American Supercross series isn’t really as wide open as we thought it was going to be.

Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto has really grabbed this thing by the throat recently and has an almost one race lead in the series. RV’s going for his third straight sx title which would put him with legends like Bob Hannah, Ricky Carmichael and Jeremy McGrath.

Not that he notices or cares about that stuff very much. Ryan’s as oblivious to his march upwards in the record book as any rider I’ve ever been around.

So what’s been the secret for Ryan the last little while? After all, it wasn’t that long ago that we had four winners in the first five races and things were wide open. To me it’s a few different factors:

1. The bike is settled down. Early on the switch to Showa air forks was a factor in Villopoto’s performances, the technology is still new and the crew at Kawasaki took some time to figure things out. RV wasn’t that pumped on his bike on the hard pack California track conditions and it took a little while to sort out a setting that worked the way RV liked. As well, a triple clamp change made in St Louis (most likely offset) has been big and he hasn’t lost since. Happy bike, happy rider. It shows.

2. The grind favors Ryan. The American series is 17 races in 18 weekends. Yeah, that’s gnarly. So as the series rolls on and the flying, the practice laps, the work increases the body wears down a bit. And with trainer Aldon Baker in his corner monitoring everything that Ryan does, the grind isn’t affecting him as much as some of his competitors. It’s hard, hard work and right now Ryan (and Ryan Dungey as well) are showing that they’re prepared for it.

3. His starts have been much better. Maybe the above two factors are responsible for these being better but whatever it is, RV’s starts have gotten a whole lot better than they were early on in the season. And as we all know, starting up front is a hell of a lot better than the alternative. Villopoto hasn’t had to work as hard, put it out there as much, when he’s out front. He controls the race and it’s the others that have to push. The starts have been better and so has he.