Taking over from a legend like Roger De Coster is no small task, but Mike Pelletier embraced the challenge head-on in his first year as Team USA manager at the Motocross of Nations. With the event making its U.S. return at Ironman Raceway, Pelletier found himself leading a squad that faced late injury setbacks, tough competition, and the pressure of home soil – yet still delivered an impressive runner-up finish behind a dominant Team Australia.
We caught up with Pelletier to reflect on stepping into the role, navigating last-minute team changes, and guiding his riders through the intensity of the Nations format. He also discusses his experience visiting MXGP rounds in Europe, his thoughts on the track conditions at Ironman, and his optimism for Team USA’s future.
GateDrop: You had very big boots to fill with Roger de Coster, but this is obviously your first year being team manager. Just before we get stuck in, how did you find the role first and foremost?
Pelletier: It was awesome. It’s been a dream come true. I’ve been saying it’s impossible to follow Roger de Coster and fill those shoes. They’re huge shoes with what he’s done for us but we put a good team together and a second place. We’ll leave with it here today and we’ll take that for sure. We’ll come back swinging next year with more motivation.
GateDrop: When it was decided Roger wouldn’t continue in the role, was it always going to be you? Did you ever consider hiring another big name? Or what way did the cookie crumble for you to get the role?
Pelletier: Sure, we found out at RedBud this year actually at a conversation with Roger that he was stopping. We were kind of planning this, it was going to be eventually this was going to happen. So I went around to the paddock and the OEMs and the teams and everyone you could possibly think of to see what they wanted to do. A lot of the fingers started saying, hey Mike, I think you should do it mostly because we can be unbiased. I can find out about rider contracts, lingering injuries, things like that. They’re very open even here with things going on with motorcycles. It was a good test run this year and it really worked well so I think we’re going to continue that for sure.
GateDrop: You’ve been involved in the Motocross des Nations event before for many years I believe. So that probably helped that you that know about the event and you have experience helping even though you weren’t the team manager?
Pelletier: For sure, I’ve been doing this since 2017, my first year with the team. I’ve been intimately involved with the AMA side of it. I’ve seen the ins and outs of how to do it and I think it worked this weekend. I used a lot of that knowledge coming into this weekend.
GateDrop: The last SMX, it didn’t go to plan, I am sure it was pretty stressful the last few weeks. Just how was the thought process after everything that happened? And ultimately how did you end up with those three riders?
Pelletier: Yeah, it was a challenge. Anytime you lose one rider injury, even a week before the event started, never mind losing two injuries so that was a hard challenge, but these guys stepped up. When we called they wanted to do it, we gave Haiden a chance to ride to see if he could do it but of course he couldn’t. Justin Cooper was right there in that 250 training in case that did happen. He rode great, RJ rode great and Eli’s the team captain. Helped a lot during the week trying to figure this out as well. So it was awesome.
GateDrop: Was it a little bit awkward with Justin? Because it sounded like initially after SMX he told he was definitely in and then all of a sudden he was reserve rider. Obviously he’s here racing, so that’s good. But was it a little bit awkward at the start of the week?
Pelletier It wasn’t for us. Once we knew Haiden wanted to try it after the surgery, we wanted to give him that opportunity and that’s when we put Justin down because we couldn’t wait too much longer and not commit to RJ. So once we committed to RJ, it made the most sense to put Justin on that 250 as the start bike transition, all that. So as soon as Haiden couldn’t do it, Justin was right there in the wings ready to go.
GateDrop: I think on Monday, didn’t both of them ride a 250? How did that track day go?
Pelletier: They did, they were both on the 250cc. I think it was Tuesday. But then we made that decision rather quickly and then we moved into the week and here we are in second place.
GateDrop: Here we are in Ironman. What’s your thoughts on the format? First of all, it’s very different to AMA. It’s all one day, boom, boom, boom. I mean, we’re here on Thursday. It’s a long weekend. What’s your thought on the format? Do you enjoy it?
Pelletier: I enjoy it. I’ve done a lot of GPs and travelled over and viewed those. So I have a little experience seeing how that works and it’s a long weekend, but a lot of track time for us too. So we need that, just like anybody else does. Going into the weekend, different track prep and things like that. I love the Motocross of Nations, it’s one of my favourite events of all time. I’m just happy we’re leaving here in second place.
GateDrop: You mentioned you’ve been to a few GPs. I didn’t know that actually. Was that this year?
Pelletier: Yeah, I did Loket and Lommel actually this year. I do a couple for the FIM on that side throughout the year. So I usually get two GPs in a year. So it’s a good learning experience.
GateDrop: That’s quite cool, because Loket and Lommel are always within a week. And they’re completely different conditions. What’s your thoughts on MXGP and the type of tracks them guys raced?
Pelletier: It was great. I think we can take some things from them. And maybe I can bring some of the things over to here. The universal language is Motocross. So it’s just one of those things I love going over and seeing how they do it different ways and just kind of learn from that.
GateDrop: On the track this weekend, was it that much different from a national? A lot of the riders I spoke to said it was more hard pack…
Pelletier: The track pack prep was a little different than we’re used to. I think they had some good racing lines and it really built into some good racing. You heard Eli in that press conference say that as well. We’re happy with it, for sure.
GateDrop: Just on all three riders this weekend, I feel like they’ve done the country proud. Just Australia are so damn good. These Lawrence brothers are unbelievable but I don’t think you can beat yourself up too much, because those guys give everything.
Pelletier: Certainly not. The Australians are going to be tough. We knew they were going to be tough. There’s no secret there. They’ve done it all year long and winning last year as well. We knew it was going to be a tough task. But we threw everything we had at it. These guys stepping up after a long season. I can’t ask for much more than that.
GateDrop: And Eli, did he change anything on the bike? Or was it maybe just a mindset thing? He wasn’t terrible on Saturday, he was still good. But I felt like he ride a lot better today. Do you feel the same?
Pelletier: He found some things on the track mostly. In different sections and he really turned it on that last moto. He was strong all weekend with that. He really put it in there on that last one.
GateDrop: Obviously next year is France. Are you hoping that all the American riders are all going to want to go to France? Sometimes I feel like they all want to race in America but sometimes you’re scratching your head when it comes to Europe. Are you hoping these guys can be committed to going anywhere in the world for the event?
Pelletier: Sure, I hope so. I think we’re going to turn that page here. There’s a lot of excitement building up behind the scenes now. I think there’s a lot of excitement just to race for their country anywhere in the world. So that’s going to be great.
GateDrop: Haiden Deegan, obviously he didn’t ride last year. It looks like he tried everything he could to do this year. Do we think we’ll see him in France and in Assen?
Pelletier: There’s a chance. We’ll see how his year goes. But I think he had two lingering injuries obviously the last two years. So he’s obviously going to be in a conversation each year if he keeps doing what he’s doing for sure.
