2011 Vets Motocross Des Nations

Jim joined Team USA at the  2011 Vets Motocross Des Nations event held at Farleigh Castle.

Check out the latest RACER X Magazine for an amazing article on the event. 

Check out the video of the action at the following link. 2011 Vets Motocross Des Nations
 
Sun and Gibson Wage Battle in England
JT Racing USA team riders podium at Veterans Motocross

 September 30, 2011 - Los Angeles, CA - The 600+ year old Hungerford Castle was the backdrop for some slightly less ancient men and machinery to race for international honors in the 40+ Vet MXdN Twinshock Championship. A total of 14 teams from 12 different countries competed at Farleigh Castle's nostalgic natural terrain motocross track in Somerset, England, where JT Racing's Chuck Sun and Jim Gibson helped put the American team on the podium!

Together with Jeff Stanton and Scott "The Burner" Burnworth, Team JT riders Sun and Gibson rode to a third-place finish in front of nearly 15,000 motocross enthusiasts. The competition came down to a fourth-moto nail-biter between the USA and the Brits 1st team. While top honors went to the Twinshock UK Team from Northern UK followed by the JBM Belgium team, the Americans completed out the podium.

"All the US team riders contributed with strong performances to land a podium position," Sun commented. "I rode a 1981 Maico 490, and the crew from Maico's Only UK were instrumental in supporting our team."

JT Racing's Jim Gibson was also mounted on a Maico for the event, and through the assistance of the Maicos Only UK team, he was able to deal with a slipping clutch in time to score valuable points for his team.
 
JT Racing's Jim Gibson proudly represented the USA in the 2011 Veteran Motocross des Nations at Farleigh Castle. 
 
 
MXT RIDER SUCCESS
Jim has been training Andreas Steiger from Switzerland for 21/2 months.  His progression has been incredible.  Andreas cut 10 seconds off his laptime while training with Jim.  Andreas recently raced an AMA Amateur event at Glen Helen and he won the novice class on his Suzuki 250F!		  

Motocross Training Tips By Jim Gibson

MX Des Nations Team Rider And Former Factory Honda
And Yamaha Pilot Jim Gibson Talks Moto
By Dennis Cox | 2011-07-26

Video by Brennan Wright
Photos by Dennis "Ketchup" Cox

When it comes to motocross knowledge, Jim Gibson is a treasure trove. Jim has raced for over 30 years, both at the factory level and today as a Vet and Vintage racer. After a factory career that spanned Honda and Yamaha rides, Jim now has his own company called MXT or Moto Xcross Training. Gibson will be coming onboard at DIRT ILL offering riding, training, conditioning, and overall mx tips on how you can become a better all around racer/trailrider or off road recreationalist.
As a member of America's gold-medal winning, 1982 Motocross and Trophy Des Nations team, Gibson has raced against some of the most legendary members of the Motocross World. It was Jim, Danny "Magoo" Chandler, David Bailey, and Johnny O'Mara, who won both the Motocross and Trophy Des races, back in the early eighties, and Jim has always been considered a technical rider, who studied the course, competition and machinery in his racing career. Jim offers his MX training camps in sunny So Cal, but is not against traveling to different parts of the country to spread his moto-skills to audiences in different parts of the country.If you want to come out to the Left Coast, Jim and his crew even put up boarders, wishing to study at one of his Jim's schools, near the Mecca of MX in So Cal, at Murrieta, CA. For more info on Jim's MXT courses, you can contact him at (951) 265-7866 or jim@jgmxt.com  We're looking forward to working with Jim and will be following the progress of one of his most promising protege's- Mitch Vandemortel, a talented, hard working intermediate who we will follow in his quest for MX stardom.

 
 
 
  DIRT ILL will be featuring a continuing series of "How To Ride MX" tips from MXT's chief instructor Jim Gibson (shown here with student Mitch Vandemortel). Jim is a wily veteran with years of moto skill, and will impart them to our readers, via a series of instructional videos and print stories, here at our web site and digital magazine. Stay tuned!
 
CALVMX HOSTS JIM GIBSON’S INAUGURAL VINTAGE MOTOCROSS SCHOOL
 By Steve Caro, Otay Lakes, CA. March 28
The inaugural Jim Gibson/CALVMX Motocross School took place under clear skies and plenty of wind Sunday,
March 28.  A class of 19 riders was enrolled to learn the techniques the former factory rider and Moto Cross of Nations
team member had accumulated during his highly successful career.
      

From several pre-75 machines through the Post Vintage class and up to and including three modern bikes, the line
up of bikes spanned the history of motocross. Gibson’s syllabus stressed technique over machine capability which
allowed for easy accommodation of the various era machines.



Gibson’s first lesson on the day was illustrating the centers of the machine. They consist of the...  
By shifting weight forward and aft, the rider can change the weight bias of the machine
which in turn will affect the reaction of the machine to the course.
 

Throughout the day, Gibson emphasized minimal body movement on the bike. He stressed keeping the majority of
the riders’ weight centered towards the rear of the machine with the rider leaning forward in the “attack” position with
both elbows up. He pointed out that with everything going on during a race, it was a waste of energy to be moving
unnecessarily on the bike.
 

One of the most interesting topics covered in the class was cornering. Proper body and weight position enable the
machine to turn when and where the rider wants to go. Weight on the inside peg was shown to be all that was needed to
get a machine turned. Sometimes a mere tilt of the head and shoulders was enough for a turn. Used individually or in
combination depending on the situation, both will benefit the individual rider tremendously.
 

Other subjects covered during the day included proper use of both brakes combined with a downshift, extensive
coverage on proper starting technique (smooth clutch action over drag bike style dump the clutch and hammer the
throttle) and mentally linking the track together ala road-race style instead of breaking the obstacles into individual units.
“Maintain a flow” is how Gibson put it.
 

Obviously one six-hour course is not going to turn a rider into a potential world champion. With an instructor like Jim
Gibson, it will however provide the individual with a basic skills package to allow the rider work at taking his/her riding
ability to the next level.
 

The Jim Gibson/CALVMX Motocross School is well worth the ultra-low tuition fee. Gibson’s low key demeanor and
thoroughness in his instruction will benefit any rider no matter what their skill level is. If you have the desire to improve
your ability and want to spend time with one of the best racers of his time, check the schedule for his next school. You
will not regret your investment.