Motocross Performance Magazine Canadian Motocross news leader
I can remember thinking to myself back in December how supercross was only a few short weeks away and now it’s almost over! We are 12 rounds deep out of 16, so only 4 left to go. Where did the time go? Is the buzz about the series over now that Ryan Dungey has a 42 point lead? Is it because he seems to win almost every race? Is it too predictable now? I have picked the winner for the last few weeks now and I think I might put a few bucks down on a 6/49 ticket. At least we have the Lites class to cheer on. Oh wait…Cooper Webb has the west pretty well locked down. Okay, so the east is pretty damn exciting and I’m glad the teams are headed back to the east. I was a little shocked on how empty the Santa Clara stadium was; it does hold 65,000 plus fans. Perhaps California has been a little over saturated with supercross rounds. I can guarantee one thing though, Indy will be jam packed! There are loads of supercross fans in those states around Indy. I am surprised that the depth of the 450 class is still pretty solid. We even saw the return of Bubba last weekend. There are only a few guys still hurt and let’s hope no one else gets injured before Vegas.
It was great to see Ryan Dungey and James Stewart back on the same race track in Santa Clara. Photo by Frank Hoppen
So looking back at Santa Clara Supercross, the first thing, I was impressed that Ken Roczen kept Dungey honest for the full 20 laps. Mind you, Ryan didn’t have to ride over his head and he does have a good points lead. I am pretty sure the focus is still to win everything. You just never know what the future holds in supercross. The two leaders were on a different level than the rest of the field, because their lap times were pretty low. If you calculate the time it took to run the 20 laps at 43 seconds a lap that equals just over a 15 minute moto. That seems pretty short to me. I think it should be a 20 minute moto total. This way we get our money’s worth when we pay fifty bucks for a cheap seat. The rest of the final race was not that thrilling, no one was really passing anyone. I was a little surprised that Barcia finished 16th for the night. Justin is just back on the bike, but I really thought he would have a bit more in the tank. James looked great in practice and in his heats. The question everyone had was, would he be able to complete all 20 laps? Well he didn’t, but to his credit it wasn’t his fault because this time his bike had a mechanical issue.
With only one round remaining in the 250SX West class, Cooper Webb is firmly in the drivers seat. Photo by Frank Hoppen
The Lites class was pretty predictable as long as Cooper stayed on his Yamaha. Even if he starts outside the top 5 he still seems to find his way to the front. If Cooper continues riding like this he will be offered one solid 450 ride with big dollars. I feel Mr. Webb is the next rider to watch in MX. He has the full package: style, speed, confidence and heart. Zach Osborne had a great weekend and I was pulling for him for the win. It would have been pretty cool to see him get his first SX win. Joey Savatgy looked good but was off the pace. At the last few rounds, Joey has gone down hard. I am pretty sure he was banking on a podium finish. The Yamaha Rockstar team was looking really good at the beginning of the final with Harrison and Martin plus Webb up in the top 5. You don’t see that from that team too often. I heard earlier in the week that our only Canadian supercross rider, Cole Thompson, went down hard during the week. I’m not sure we will see him at the last round as it’s now testing time for the CMRC Rockstar Energy MX Nationals. Vegas is one of the toughest supercross tracks around; super hard pack with killer, massive jumps. I am pretty sure the Canadian KTM team is going to put pressure on Cole to skip it.
Will we see Cole Thompson at the the final round in Las Vegas? Photo by Frank Hoppen
This coming weekend the east Lites guys are back at it. Can Justin Hill jump back where he left off? Does Malcolm have momentum now? Can Jeremy Martin find his way to the top of the box? Don’t leave Martin Davalos out of the mix, he did have the points lead a few weeks ago. Only time will tell. That’s all for this week. Catch you after Indy!
Andy White
