Motocross Performance Magazine Canadian Motocross news leader
Is it me or has this supercross season really dragged on for a long time? Maybe it’s because I follow it day to day and travel to a few of them. There have been only 11 rounds out of 16 so far and the racing seems to be getting better and better in my view. The Lites series in the east has been really entertaining because picking a winner has not been easy. Starting with last weekend in Detroit, I am betting most of you had your money on Hill. Josh has the momentum and the speed to win this series, but unfortunately, the last lap of last practice projected a different outcome for Hill. He went down hard so the team decided to call it off for the weekend. I actually had Hill down on my pick and my buddy was kind enough to say I could choose another ride. I got lucky with my second option pick because I chose Stewart for the win.
The old adage “That’s racing” came into play last weekend and shows just how quickly the tables do turn. It was so crazy that Josh was looking really good on the Detroit track; lap times were solid, bike and set up were spot on, not to mention winning the championship was looking good too. Then bang, it’s all over for the night. I remember a few years back I had a GP rider on my team, Kornel Nemeth from Hungary. Kornel had been competing on the GP circuit for years and brought a lot of experience with him to Canada. At his first national in Kamloops, BC., Kornel went out for a few laps in the non-timed practice, then went back out for the timed practice and put in a few fast laps to check his lap times and the setup of the bike. He would stop in the pit area, change a few clicks to the suspension, then go out and do a few laps to see if that was better. I remember asking Kornel, “When do you plan to put in some hard laps?” He replied by saying “I only need one fast lap for gate pick.” I had to agree, it made sense. With a few minutes left in the timed practice, Kornel went out and put in a heater, and that was it. Top 3 time for the morning was perfect. Back at the truck I asked, “Is this how you do it at the GPs?” He replied, “Yes, why burn yourself out? You need to save the energy for the race. The track’s lines will change. All I need is a top 3 start and I will be good.” I now look at Justin Hill. How many laps did he put in that afternoon? Did he really need to pound out that many laps? Is there a right way?
After missing the Toronto round, it was good to see Martin Davalos back for Detroit.
With Justin Hill out for the night, this left the door wide open for Malcolm and Martin Davalos. There are a few other riders that have the talent but I had my money on Malcolm. He was hungry to win after the problems in Toronto. Amand Tonus from Pro Circuit Kawasaki had the start and was looking good out front. I’m sure his boss was happy that Tonus finally had a good start and was leading the final. Well, that sure didn’t last that long before trouble hit the Swiss rider. By lap four Tonus was heading back to the pit area. This gave Stewart and Plessinger the opportunity to move up to the front. Malcolm took advantage of the situation and moved his Geico Honda to the front and never looked back. Not far behind, Star Yamaha’s Aaron Plessinger held off the TLD KTM of Shane McElrath. Shane has had a rough few weeks, from leading in Atlanta to getting flat tires in Toronto. Running fourth and looking much better this weekend was Bowers. Making the top five was Martin Davalos; I was surprised that Martin was not on the box. One rider that had a night he would like to forget was Jeremy Martin. In corner one, he was pointed the wrong way after hitting the hay bail. Then he got going and was making up good time, but crashed again. This is where you can lose out on a championship.
So far the 2016 Monster Energy Supercross Series has been very exciting as every weekend there is usually at least six riders capable of winning. Photo by Frank Hoppen
Figuring out who the top 3 guys will be in the SX class from week to week isn’t that hard. Ryan Dungey is so damn smooth and in control of his KTM. This is obviously rubbing off on his teammate Marvin as well as Anderson. Funny how these three guys all train together with Alden Baker. Perhaps they’re onto something there. Hard work does pay off, I guess. Now that doesn’t mean the other riders don’t have a chance. It’s quite the opposite. There are seven riders that can win tonight; it’s all on the start. If Chad Reed holeshots you can bet he is on the box on lap 20. Ken Roczen has proven it. If Seely or Trey get the start they need, they could win too. Then there are the two KTM Red Bull guys. Don’t forget about the Rockstar Husky guy too. I would like to include Tomac but I really think he is much better suited to be an outdoor guy. So who is good at starting up front consistently? That would be Ryan Dungey. Well, his teammate pulled the start but Ryan got by on lap two and checked out. Second was a hard charging Anderson. He was handed second when Marvin went down on the last lap. Marvin then moved to third. Fourth was Chad and fifth for the day was Tomac. Right after the speeches and awards, the AMA changed the official results. Looks like Ryan jumped on a red flag, which gave the win to Anderson. Marvin moved to second and Ryan to third. I bet Marvin was kicking himself after throwing the win away on the last lap. We are going to take a little break this weekend for Easter and we will catch back up with things as they head west to Santa Clara, CA on April 2nd.
Andy White
