Feature Story
The Weeks Between: Preparing for SMX
Inside Monster Energy® Kawasaki’s Transition Between Championships
The final checkered flag of the Pro Motocross season marks the end of one championship, but inside Monster Energy® Kawasaki, the work toward the next begins almost immediately. With only a few weeks separating the Ironman National from the opening round of the Monster Energy® SMX World Championship, the team must transition a program built around a summer of outdoor racing into one prepared for the unique combination of motocross and supercross found in SMX. With the three track layouts varying between supercross and motocross styles, this requires teams to prepare for three rounds that can demand something different each weekend. Riders adjust their preparation, motorcycles are rebuilt to a new specification, testing resumes, and even the logistics of a race weekend begin to change. The process takes place throughout Monster Energy Kawasaki, but Garrett Marchbanks and the No. 36 crew offer a closer look at what happens during the short window between championships.
For Marchbanks, the first priority following Ironman is taking advantage of a rare opportunity to recover. “I basically take two days off, which gives me an extra day to reset from outdoors and recover,” Marchbanks said. “Then, we’re usually back riding Wednesday and Thursday on the SMX track and getting back into the swing of things.” While Marchbanks takes those first days to recover, the work on his motorcycle has already begun. The day after the final Pro Motocross round, mechanic Derik Dwyer stayed behind to re-prep the No. 36 machine, tearing the bike back down and beginning the move from its full motocross configuration toward a setup suited for SMX. Rather than simply switching back to a supercross setup, the team uses its experience from previous seasons to find a starting point between the two disciplines. “We make a hybrid setup and start there, taking into account what worked and what didn’t work in the past,” Dwyer said. “By the time we get to the first race, we’ll probably have a few updates with gearing, suspension, and some of the chassis settings.”
Dwyer Working on Marchbanks' Bike at Detroit Supercross
Marchbanks with Wirdeman at Salt Lake City Supercross
Across the team, the process goes deeper than adjusting individual settings. Engines and suspension are rebuilt as the motorcycles move to another specification, with finding the right balance between motocross and supercross suspension among the biggest priorities. Monster Energy Kawasaki Crew Chief Oscar Wirdeman and the team returned to riding and testing only days after Ironman, with the mechanics having already built the SMX bikes on Sunday following the final race. “Looking at the track maps, it seems like SMX may be catered a little more toward supercross, but you never know what you’re going to get,” Wirdeman said. “You have to be ready for both.”
Marchbanks with Crew at the Kawasaki Test Track
Finding that balance extends onto the test track itself. With Marchbanks describing SMX as essentially a faster style of supercross, the team modifies the Kawasaki supercross test track to increase the speed and better replicate what he is likely to encounter during the playoffs. His training program doesn’t require the same level of change, with recovery becoming more important following a long season aboard the premier class. “Nothing really changes too much, but with such a long season racing the 450 class, we’ve backed the training down a little bit,” Marchbanks said. “Instead of doing longer rides, the focus is more on recovering and staying fresh for the race weekends.”
Marchbanks’ feedback during those testing days helps Dwyer and the team continue refining the SMX package before the first gate drop, but his personal priority during the transition is less technical. With the three playoff rounds determining the World Championship after a combined 28-round Supercross and Pro Motocross campaign, staying fresh becomes increasingly important as the stakes rise. After months of racing and training, keeping the time between championships enjoyable is part of making sure he arrives at each race ready to perform. “The biggest thing is keeping it fun on the bike and staying fresh for every round,” Marchbanks said. “We want to put ourselves in a position to have good weekends throughout SMX.”
Marchbanks with Crew Checking Suspension at RedBud
Away from the motorcycle, SMX also changes the team’s normal race-weekend routine. The first playoff round in Columbus and final round in Ridgedale include Friday on-track activity before Saturday racing, while the second playoff round in Carson remains a single-day traditional program. For the full Monster Energy Kawasaki crew, the two-day rounds mean arriving earlier and adjusting its logistics accordingly.“We get the bikes built, have practice on Friday, and then race Saturday,” Dwyer said. “Logistically, that changes things for the majority of the team, because everyone has to arrive a little earlier.” Once racing begins, however, Dwyer said the objective remains familiar: “You show up, you’re there for a reason, you execute, and then you go home.”
By the time Monster Energy Kawasaki arrives at the first round of the SMX Playoffs, much of the work completed during the weeks between championships will no longer be visible. The motorcycles will look familiar and the riders will line up alongside the same crew, but behind that familiarity is a program that has spent the break adapting to what comes next. For Marchbanks and the No. 36 crew, the days following Ironman offer a glimpse into a process taking place throughout Monster Energy Kawasaki, proving that when one season’s final gate drops, preparation for the next one is already underway.
