Motocross Performance Magazine Canadian Motocross news leader
After a bad start in the main event, James Stewart’s eyes were clearly focused on getting to the front.
There has been a lot of great performances over the years in all different type of sports. Individual performances that when witnessed seem to defy all logic. We’ve seen them done by names like Wayne Gretzky, Ayrton Senna and Michael Jordan, all of which are legends in their respected sports. In Supercross there has also been a few outstanding rides that have stood out over the years: Jeremy McGrath had a few that left us scratching our collective heads, Ricky Carmichael certainly had more than one in his great career, and earlier this season Chad Reed gave us one for the ages at Anaheim Two as he came from behind to win. For the 49,000 fans this past Saturday night at the Rogers Centre in Toronto and the millions of fans watching on television, the 20 laps James Stewart strung together in the main event is something that no one will ever forget, and will no doubt go down as one of the best ever rides in Supercross.
Right from the start of practice on Saturday, James Stewart looked completely on his game. After a big win seven days before in Detroit, James had every reason to be riding with confidence as he seemed to be getting on a roll. Another ace up James’ sleeve in Toronto was the track. In the past he has really excelled whenever the track is very technical. This has never really been a surprise with any of the elite riders in the series as their practice tracks are always tougher than what they find on the weekends. Basically, when the conditions are at their toughest, the cream usually rises to the top.
Lap after lap James found new lines and made his way past everyone to take the win. Even points leader Ryan Villopoto would have nothing for him on this night.
As a great practice session transferred itself into a routine qualifier win, the stage was set for James to go for his second victory in as many weeks. As the riders lined up for the main event, James seemed to make his only mistake of the evening as he lined up way to the inside where no one had got the holeshot all night. Perhaps James was thinking outside the box and figured that with his main competition on the right of him, the pack would drift wide in turn one and he could sneak himself a good start. Whatever his thinking was it didn’t work. James rounded the first turn near the back of the pack and for us watching, that is where all the fun began.
We all know about the brilliant passes he made late in the race to take over the lead, but I believe one of the best and gutsiest passes he made was on lap one over the first triple jump the riders approached. While the group of back markers around him took the cautious approach and decided not to triple the three jumps, James launched his RMZ450 into the smokey Rogers Centre air, mere inches away from his fellow riders, and cleared all three jumps. This brave move got him past a large group of riders, and in the process gave him some room to blitz the following set of whoops and pass even more riders. In every infamous come-from-behind ride, there is always one moment, early in the race, that you can look at as a possible turning point. I believe for James, this was it. Yes, he took a huge chance by tripling in traffic like that, but in this case it all worked out. That is one of things that separates the greats from the mortals.
Even as the track deteriorated around him James kept making small adjustments that allowed him to ride to victory.
What we got to see next was simply incredible as James found lines that none of his fellow riders had noticed. First there was his inside line through the longest rhythm section that kept him clear of the deepest ruts which allowed him to clear the entire section in three seemingly easy leaps. In the course of the first ten laps, James made numerous passes in this section, sometimes two riders at a time. Next up was the speed he was carrying through the tricky section after the first turn as he was wheeling over four small bumps and then tripling and then doubling into the corner. This not only took obvious courage on James’ part, but it took the timing and balance of a ballerina. After each lap it left us shaking our heads in absolute awe.
Once James caught the lead group he could then see the leader and there was no stopping him. With the entire crowd cheering for him, James started going triple/triple before the finish line, and for Justin Barcia, who had been leading since lap two, well, he must’ve felt like a freight train was closing in on him. With only a few laps to go James made his pass for the lead through the deteriorating whoop section and rode off to the win. Along the way, James flew past riders like Ryan Villopoto, Ryan Dungey, and Justin Barcia almost like they were standing still. On this night they were simply riders racing in James Stewart’s race, or just pawns in his talented game of dirt bikes
Now obviously these types of rides don’t happen every day. In the grand scope of human performance it’s impossible. But, when they do happen, all we can do is sit back and catch our collective breaths and process that we just witnessed something incredible. For 20 laps on a cold night in Toronto, Ontario, a city far off the Monster Energy Supercross Series grid with all things considered, James Stewart showed us what a human being is capable of on a motorcycle. With spring just around the corner and the 2014 Canadian riding season upon us, I can’t help but think that after Saturday night there will be a lot of kids out there on the track pretending they’re James Stewart as they blow past their buddies on the practice tracks. When the curtain does fall on James Stewart’s career one day, we’re sure he’ll look back at this race as one of his best. If that’s the case then it’s nice to know that Canada will always have a special place in his heart. If you weren’t a James Stewart fan before, then you most likely are now after the 2014 Toronto SX.
After 20 laps that will go down in Supercross history, James points and says “Your welcome” to the 49’000 people who came to watch.
