In this month’s instalment of Matthes Answers, led by PulpMX’s Steve Matthes, get his take on a variety of different topics, plus some early silly season rumours from the 2023 Monster Energy Supercross Championship as the second half of the series begins. If you want to send him a question, simply get in touch via the @motoonline socials and we’ll pass on the most timely questions each month.

Image: Octopi Media.

Why is Haiden Deegan so polarizing? People either love him or hate him…

They do, right? Well it’s a combination of people loving the family through the wildly successful YouTube videos that don’t have a background in the sport, so they’re just fans of Haiden and the family. Logic about racing be dammed. And then the people that just don’t get it, that they’re upset about the family being ‘internet famous’ without really doing anything. I get all of that, we’re in a polarized world now in 2023, people either love you or hate you. There are plenty of people around the amateur MX scene that aren’t fans of Brian and Haiden, they’ve seen the takeouts and the bit of arrogance from them, sponsors have been burned here or there, and all that typical stuff. And to be honest, to start everything that Haiden’s done has been great. You don’t get to where he is without the hard work behind the scenes and you can see that. Well, now with this heat race and Haiden’s immaturity at the press conference, we’re back to people remembering the amateur moto stuff and then the vlog stuff that’s always been carefully crafted to make the family look like the best, so the fire gets stoked again. Me, I’m a ‘results on the track’ guy and that’s what I go off of. I don’t have to like a rider personally to do my job and praise them. All the other stuff is noise and doesn’t really matter. So far, Haiden is the real deal and hopefully we don’t see more of this heat race/press conference behaviour.

Wildest rumour you’ve heard about the 2023 silly season?

Well, we know Bobby Hewitt is going to run the Triumph SX/MX team and they’re going to be based out of Georgia and use Matt Walker’s facility as their testing grounds. So, with Bobby’s background, I heard that Jason Anderson is already locked into a deal with them, but that doesn’t make sense I say because they’re not going to have a 450 bike until 2025 (or longer) and to that I was told that Jason was going to just sit out of racing and test and develop for them. Yes, that’s wild.

Where do you see PulpMX in five–10 years time?

In 10 years time, I think I see it all over with. I’ll be in late 50s and I don’t want to keep asking 17-year-old kids how their set-up is. I’ll be retired I think, or I hope. But five years, yeah, I think we’ll still be cranking out shows – maybe not as many and maybe the travel won’t be as hectic, but yeah I’ll still be doing something. I hope. All is well with the PulpMX universe of shows and things… maybe I’ll hire someone to keep things going at the races. I don’t know to be honest, but I do think I’ll be done covering the sport in 10 years.

Image: Octopi Media.

Could Team Honda HRC really be Jett and Hunter Lawrence on 450s in 2024?

I know JT dropped that on the PulpMX Show, but I’m not so sure about that. It’s not what I’m hearing. I’ve had riders tell me that they’ve had talks with Honda about that second spot next to Jett next year, so there’s that. Hunter’s dominant right now, yes, but it’s not like he can’t go and defend his title in 2024 – he’s not a ‘the dude’s go good, he’s bored’ thing. I could see Hunter doing 450MX in 2024, for sure, but 450SX next year? Not so sure.

Can we consider the new generation KTM ‘fixed’ after their documented struggles of last season?

Funny how that works, huh? Even Justin Barcia, who is on the new bike this year, seems to have no issues with it. Maybe it wasn’t the bike? You’ll never know. I’m sure some of the struggles last year was the new bike, heck I had Ian Harrison admit that to me last year, but again, like I say, it’s just a motorcycle, it’s not splitting neutrons here. I’m sure with a full off-season for the Austrian guys to dissect it, look at what makes the bike happy or not, they’ve found improvements, but I’d say it’s also Webb going back to Baker’s Factory, AP being more comfortable on it that makes the bike look better more so than some ‘magic setting’.

What’s going on with Jason Anderson? He hasn’t been the same rider as last season.

Yeah, he really hasn’t. At this point last season, Jason had three wins and two other podiums, so a 50 percent podium rate through 10 races. This year? Just two podiums and no wins, but strangely enough basically the same amount of points – 187 last year to 180 this year – but nowhere close to the top of the points. And it’s a real question as to whether he wins a race this year or not. After his 450SX title, it was a fair criticism of Jason from people around him whether he was ‘all in’, like you need to be to be at the tip of the spear. He went to Kawasaki, changed a lot of things around him and last year was a success, but also, a bit of fools gold in that he swept the races at the end of the year when Webb and Roczen were out and Tomac was nursing that knee injury. Still, it was great and people would logically think he could keep it at the same level for this year. It hasn’t happened and looks like it won’t happen, if I’m being honest. Did he fall into the ‘too comfy’ trap that some said he did in his last years at Husky? His contract is up this year, so one would think he would be motivated as all hell to get things done. Obviously, if you’re a listener you know that Jason and I don’t talk much… or at all! I know people who know him well and, all that I gather, maybe he’s a bit too comfy with everything and doesn’t want to go that little extra. He’s still having a good season, just not a great one.