Welcome to Getting Social, a new blog feature on Motosport where we tackle the week's biggest news and explore social media avenues to fill you in on what's going on in the world of motocross.
The biggest silly season news so far has been James Stewart. Any time the "fastest man on the planet" is trying to work out a new deal it's going to make waves. Early on it looked as if he would be joining the Joe Gibbs Racing team in North Carolina on a Suzuki, as the team was rumored to be switching from Yamaha, but the latest rumors have him working directly with Factory Suzuki and not with JGR. James recently tweeted, "To everyone that is asking, I am working hard to get my deal done and it takes time unfortunately. As soon as I have something (I'll let everyone know)..."
Regardless of where JS7 ends up, it does look as if he will be riding yellow in 2012, though as you can see nothing is solid quite yet. Let's hope things get wrapped up before the Monster Energy Cup, as we'd love to see him back on the line as soon as possible.
Another huge bit of news to recently hit the stands is the announcement of Pro Circuit's first ever 450 rider in Broc Tickle. PC has been rumored to support a 450 program countless times over the last few years, but when it's time for the gate to drop, it never seems to work out. Well, all that has now changed as Broc Tickle will be the first ever PC 450 rider to hit the track in 2012. Tickle will make his 450 debut in the inaugural Monster Energy Cup on October 15 and reported to motoonline.com.au that he was "definitely happy to get a chance to line up on the gate with the top supercross riders before the start of the season" and that he would "certainly be using this race as a place to get some extra seat time on the 450 in a race setting." Look for Tickle to try and make good on his 2011 West Coast Lites title in the 450 class in 2012.
Speaking of Pro Circuit, while it looks like Darryn Durham will be joining the world's most successful Lites program in 2012, the rest of the team has yet to be announced. Blake Baggett and Dean Wilson will no doubt return to make good on their amazing 2011 seasons, but who will be the fourth PC rider? Stay tuned in next week as we continue to sniff out the trail.
Chad Reed recently announced that he will be pulling out of the Monster Energy Cup Supercross race in order to spend more time with his young family after a relentless SX/MX season. Reed tweeted earlier in the week, "Lots of questions about Vegas race...simple form. I'm beat and need family time! Been a MASSIVE yr that I'm very proud of. PR info to come..."
The big questions now is, will Reed be back with Honda in 2012. There certainly is room for speculation as his deal with them was only a one-year contract. However, given his success we don't expect to see Reedy on anything but Red in 2012.
