Motocross of Nations team boss Mark Chamberlain will not announce his selection for the event at Assen in Holland on September 28/29 until after this weekend’s MXGP of Turkey at Afyonkarahisar following Max Anstie’s withdrawal on advice from his doctors.
“The team is the most important thing for me,” said Chamberlain. “That’s where I’m at. If I have to wait and people get impatient it’s not going to bother me because I’m looking at the bigger picture.
“My only concern is to get the best three riders available on the best equipment on the startline.”
Chamberlain’s original selection of Ben Watson, Max Anstie and Shaun Simpson was well-received but Watson then broke his wrist in Italy and Anstie was diagnosed with a punctured lung sustained a fortnight earlier at Lommel.
While Watson was immediately counted out, there was an outside chance that Anstie could still be fit in time but that possibility was finally quashed by his doctors last week.
“Officially, [Anstie] wasn’t counted out but from my point of view a week ago we were thinking of a plan without him. The news wasn’t positive and I guess Max along with everyone else was hoping for a turnaround but I’d already started thinking about how we were going to go about things without him in the team.
“I’ve got options and the obvious one is Adam Sterry on the 250 and then we’ve got to think about who’s replacing Max but we’ve got to make sure we explore those options properly.”
Logistics also play a big part in team selection but Chamberlain is keeping his cool as he pulls together all the parts of the puzzle.
“We never expected to lose two riders in one weekend so now it’s a case of trying to make the team plus one reserve and it’s more to do with confirmation from the manufacturers – bikes, all that stuff – which is why we’re not going to say anything until after Turkey. That’s the official line.
“We don’t want to talk out of turn – we need to make sure the correct team is announced and to do that we’ve got to make sure the correct backing is in place.”
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