FXR Racing Presents Andy White’s Mid-Week Report

With all of the wet weather that has hit Southern California this week, how will the A1 track hold up for Saturday’s opening round?

Supercross fever is here once again and the 2016 Monster Energy Supercross series premier is only a few, short days away. Who is ready? Who’s not? Is James Stewart in shape and ready to go? Can Ryan Dungey win another series? What about the Lites class? So many questions. If you haven’t checked the weather report for the week in Anaheim, you probably should. It has been raining really hard the whole week…like really hard. Ryan Villopoto said, “I am sure glad I’m not racing this weekend!” Looking at photos from the stadium there must be at least six inches of standing water on the track. I have to remind myself that it is only Wednesday and I’m sure by race day the Dirt Wurx team will have the track all dialed…or let’s hope! I can imagine what the team managers are thinking right now, “Maybe we should have tested in mud?” I remember in 2011 at the Nanaimo National, round one; brand new bikes, brand new awning, brand new everything pretty well. The rain started Thursday and it stopped raining Sunday at 5pm only ten minutes after the final moto of the day. Everything had mud in it. Everything had to be rebuilt, from the engines to rebuilding the complete bike before round two. What a shitty way to start the season. I do feel for the guys this weekend. Let’s hope for some clear weather.

Chad Reed is coming into 2016 very motivated as he is now back with his old blue Yamaha Team. Will this combination be able to win some races and be in the championship hunt in what could be Reed’s final season?

If I was a betting man I would have to say Ryan Dungey is the favourite going in to the weekend, but you can’t count out Roczen, Bubba, Brayton, Canard, and if it is really a full on mudder that leaves the door open to just about anyone. The reports that have come out of California the past few days say we are in for another awesome 450 series. Let’s hope that no one gets hurt early in the series. It would be nice to see most or all the heavy hitters in Toronto this year. As the series moves on riders start dropping out, and by the last few rounds there are only a handful of fast guys. That’s not the best way to sell out a stadium with a skeleton crew that are racing. There are a few riders that will be a no show this weekend due to injuries; Andrew Short is coming of a shoulder injury; Blake Baggett is still a no go (not sure when either of these two riders will be ready to go). One rider that is looking to be the replacement rider for any team is Josh Grant. He kind of is the guy on standby. All the teams know he can do well but they just don’t have the budget to sign him.

After missing half of the 2015 season with a serious shoulder injury, Eli Tomac is healthy and ready to win on his brand new Monster Energy Kawasaki.

The West Coast Lites class has a ton of very fast riders this year. I counted at least twelve really good riders. We all know that the west coast is where you want to race. It’s the start of the season and this is where you get most attention. The media is all based in California. All the factory teams are pretty well all based just a few miles away from Corona, the heart of Moto USA. If you are looking to show your skills this is the coast you want to do it on. My money is on Cooper Webb and his teammate Alex Martin, but you can’t count out the TLD KTM squad, Factory Husky, Pro Circuit, Geico Honda and all the other teams and riders. There are two riders I will be watching, one is Canadian born Cole Thompson. Cole has signed to race on the KTM Slaton Racing program. I believe Cole has the speed to make the top 5 after doing so well at the Canadian AX tour series. The other rider is Jimmy Decotis, riding for Geico Honda. Decotis is just coming back from dominating the Australian supercross program and I think he will also have lots of confidence.

Where ever you are, if you don’t get TV coverage in your area I hope you can find a sports bar or buddy’s place to watch come Saturday night. It’s going to be a good one, soupy or not!

We all can’t wait to watch Cole Thompson compete this weekend on his Slaton Racing KTM. Cole will be racing in the West Lites Class with #127 on his KTM. Photo by James Lissimore