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Welcome to the offseason and our new ongoing “Team Previews” column. Every week from now until the Monster Energy Supercross season starts in January we will be profiling a big team in the sport. We’ll go through the changes that have been made, analyze results, and give each team a grade on all of their offseason moves. This week we have Team Solitaire and you will find the full schedule below.
The Biggest Question Mark: Will the Solitaire boys be able to lock in The Olive Garden or Pop Tarts as a title sponsor?
Who’s In:
#71 Cole Thompson (250SX West)
#73 Robbie Wageman (250SX West)
#? Dominique Thury (250SX East)
Who’s Out:
Solitaire will be adding a rider to the mix this season.
Last Season’s Supercross Results:
Cole Thompson – 10th Overall (250SX West)
Robbie Wageman – 11th Overall (250SX West)
Dominique Thury – 28th Overall (250SX West)
Last Season’s Motocross Results:
Team Solitaire is a supercross only team.
Cole Thompson- Did Not Race.
Robbie Wageman- Raced two rounds, but didn’t score any points
Dominique Thury – 60th Overall (450MX)
Best 2023 SX Finish:
Cole Thompson – 9th (Oakland and Denver)
Robbie Wageman – 9th (Glendale)
Dominique Thury – 16th (San Diego)
Best 2023 MX Finish:
Cole Thompson – Did Not Race.
Robbie Wageman- 33rd Overall (Spring Creek)
Dominique Thury – 22nd Overall (RedBud)
Offseason Grade: B
The Rundown:
Oh Team Solitaire, one of everybody’s favorite teams in the pits. These guys are privateer heroes and have been since Ryan Clark first started the team in the mid-2000s. Since then the riders on this team have been giving the factory riders fits from time to time. The Solitaire program that you see today started in 2017 and it’s what team owners Ryan Clark and Chris Elliott have coined Solitaire V2.
They’ve run a 250SX West Region program, however this year they are doing the East Region as well. The Solitaire team will also race as much AMA Arenacross as they can this year with a full-time effort going there in 2025. Solitaire has extended their partnership with Heartbeat Hot Sauce to a long term deal and they’ve also brought in another big sponsor with Crocodile Cloth.
With riders on each coast in 2024, the team plans on having Cole Thompson and Robbie Wageman race some 450s on the East. Thompson returns to the team for his second season and he will continue on his 250SX success that he had last season. He will finish inside of the top ten in points with a plethora of consistent finishes.
Wageman raced for Solitaire in 2021 and 2022 and he did so well that BarX Suzuki came knocking and gave him a one year deal to race indoor and outdoors. The 2023 season did not go the way he had planned, but the Solitaire crew loves him, so they brought him back for 2024. Wageman throws plenty of nac-nacs on the parade lap and that makes for a happy team.
Dominique Thury returns to the team as well in 2024. He will be racing Arenacross and then follow that up with the 250 East Region. Thury did not have the year that he wanted in ’23. He’s usually there to fight for the top 15 and the potential for the top ten is there when all the stars align. He’s done it before. Yet, this past year everything seemed to be a struggle and he wasn’t able to progress and bounce back quickly. Thury only made two main events in 2023. He’ll look for a redemption year this season.
The boys over at Team Solitaire choose to ride Yamahas because they want the best package right out of the box. From there they are able to add their knowledge to the mix to create a really great bike. If you’re at a race this season definitely stop by the Solitaire pits and say hi. They have a fun pit presence and they might even have some Olive Garden catering going on. You should also interact with them on Instagram and Twitter because they also love that. The Solitaire guys are awesome and are one of the most approachable teams in the pits of Monster Energy Supercross.
2024 Rider Projections:
Cole Thompson – Cole has the speed to max out near the top five if all the planets align, but for the most part is a consistent top ten guy. He will finish in the top ten in 250SX West Region points.
Robbie Wageman – Wageman never gives up and he will be in the top ten of the 250SX West Region at most of the rounds and should finish top ten in points.
Dominique Thury – Thury should be in every main event this season, he just needs to find a good rhythm of confidence in order to do so. He’s finished in the top ten before and he needs to put himself in the right positions to do so, which means getting good starts and consistent laps.
Thanks for reading my series of team previews for the coming season. If you’d like to talk about these or any of the other stories that I’ve written you can email me at [email protected] You can also reach me on Twitter/Instagram: @troydogvurb
2024 Team Preview Schedule:
10/13 – Troy Lee Designs / Red Bull / GASGAS Factory Race Team
10/20 – Monster Energy / Pro Circuit Kawasaki
10/27 – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
11/12 – Monster Energy Kawasaki Factory Racing
11/27 – Heartbeat Hot Sauce/Team Solitaire
11/28 – Rock River Yamaha
11/30 – Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing
12/1 – Muc-Off FXR ClubMX Yamaha
12/3 – Rockstar Energy Husqvarna
12/5 – HEP Motorsports
12/8 – HBI Racing Kawasaki
12/12 – Triumph Racing
12/15 – Madd Parts Kawasaki
12/19 – Liqui Moly Beta Racing
12/22 – MotoConcepts Racing
12/29 – Firepower Honda
1 /3 – Phoenix Racing Honda
1/ 5- Bar-X Suzuki
Main image: Team Solitaire
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