Valentino Rossi was the huge story in motorcycle racing this past weekend. His victory at the Dutch TT was the first since 2010 and has breathed a major breath of fresh air into MotoGP. And how about Rossi’s ironman teammate Jorge Lorenzo? Coming back to Assen to score fourth after breaking his collarbone, flying back to Spain to receive surgery and then back to the Netherlands to race Saturday made this one of the truly epic weekends in the history of MotoGP and a race that will be talked about for years to come.

It was a sad weekend and one of reflection in Motocross racing. It was announced that this weekend’s outdoor national at Southwick would be the last. Southwick was perhaps the most unique venue on the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross calendar. The legendary Massachusetts circuit has hosted outdoor nationals since 1976. Known as the “Sandbox”, the track has featured many oddities among podium finishers since its deep sand racing surface is the only one like it in pro MX. So Ryan Dungey will go down in history as the final winner at Southwick that made legends out of riders like John Dowd and Doug Henry. The event will truly be missed.

Tom Sykes took over the lead from Sylvain Guintoli in World Superbike this weekend with a dominating double win on his factory Kawasaki. Sykes is looking more and more like this year’s champ. It will be great to see Sykes and the rest of the WSBK stars at Laguna Seca in September. I just hope fans show up. Interest in the series is definitely down in America without American riders. Can you say Josh Hayes wildcard?

It was a rain-soaked weekend in Lima, Ohio, which meant the cancelation of the Lima Half-Mile, one of the coolest races on the AMA Grand National calendar. Like Southwick in motocross, Lima is unique for its deep crushed limestone racing surface and it brings back the old-school style of flat track racing with riders going through the turns at full-lock, controlling their arc with the throttle. It’s the race where everyone rides their motorcycles to and the Allen County Fairgrounds has perhaps the most enthusiastic, rabid flat track fans in the series. It’s a great summer event. Unfortunately we were all looking skyward Saturday and Sunday and saw nothing but gray skies. Good news for defending Grand National Champ Jared Mees, who is out with a broken arm. The cancelation of Lima means he’ll only miss one national, the Half-Mile in Hagerstown, Maryland, this coming Saturday. Mees will probably be quietly performing a rain dance next weekend too, but let’s hope for a good Saturday of racing weather.

They had an X Games in Germany this weekend, but it wasn’t the X Games, just X Games Germany. I think these multiple X Games creates confusion and dilutes the big X Games in August, but apparently ESPN has figured out a way to milk additional revenue from the name. Just know that the real X Games happen in August in Los Angeles.