Daytona pre-practice report
Saturday, March 5, 2011 | 1:45 PM
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PrintDaytona is here--and this is not your typical supercross. The track, as always, features a mix of super rough sandy stuff, with breaking bumps, whoops and holes unlike anything you would see in a stadium.
But there are true supercross obstacles, as well, like two triples, an on-off table top, and the biggest, gnarliest set of supercross style whoops you will ever see.
I asked Pro Circuit's suspension guru Jim "Bones" Bacon for some idea of bike setup here, and he admits it's a big of a compromise, because you have to run stiff, supercross-style stuff for the jumps. There are a lot of breaking bumps and chop, though, too, so they set up the back end a little softer to help bring the front of the bike up and keep the bike on top of the rough stuff. That slightly rearward balance hurts cornering because it takes weight off the front end, but there's much better traction in the sand than on the harder packed stuff like they had last week in Atlanta. So they're not as worried about washing out the front end, anyway.
The track is also fairly tight compared to prevous Daytona tracks, with a few switchbacks on the infield to set up potential passes.
The weather is absolutely perfect. There's a reason they have towns in this state with names like Winter Haven, Winter Park and Winter Garden.
In news, Justin Barcia indeed broke two bones in his wrist last weekend in Atlanta, but he tried riding on Wednesday and felt okay. He's wearing a wrist brace and thinks he'll be okay to keep on racing every weekend.
Kyle Regal has been declared out with a broken wrist.
Ian Trettel is back from breaking his collarbone after Houston. Sugery, a plate, and ten days of therapy have him feeling 100 percent.
A variety of riders are here just to watch the racing, including Tyla Rattray, Jake Weimer, Josh Grant and even the long-lost Christophe Pourcel, who joked "I don't race motorcycles anymore." You never know with that guy.
Timed practice sessions are up next. Follow our twitter feed @racerxonline for live updates.
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Time for Stewey to get smoked! Go Dean, and J' anderson
I would really like to see Pourcell out there mixing it up,
I'm curious about these "breaking bumps." What does it take to break them? Do they have hairline fractures, or do they shatter when a bike rides over them? Seems like it would be pretty difficult to actually break a bump. I mean, I can see shoveling the dirt, raking it, scraping it, blading it, tilling it, ripping it or dumping it. Maybe it would have to be soaked first, then frozen solid, before the bump could actually be broken. I don't know. This new technology in racetrack design has obviously left me behind. It's hard to understand why they would incorporate breaking bumps into a track, when it's so easy to find bumps that will not break under the most incredible punishment imaginable. Hell, they're all over the world, and they're free most of the time. Let's not spoil the riders by making bumps that will break on impact. This is motocross after all.
Speaking of breaking, and of broken bones, I was in the operating room yesterday while somebody got a plate on their collarbone. It always seems to me that a plate is such a primitive choice for fixing a bone. Aircraft airframe & powerplant mechanics and welders learn how to fix things right. Imagine your frame breaks, and to fix it you buy one of those four inch long straight steel straps with a hole every inch over at Home Depot, you put it on the side of your frame, put four wood screws in it and call your frame good to go. That has about as much structural integrity as a glass rod. It would be better to have a plate on each side with nuts and bolts going through, or maybe something wrapping all the way around the bone and bolted through, or even riveted.
You guys ought to see the trick tools surgeons get to use. Often, the newer resident surgeons have poor tool-handling skills, such as when they're drilling through bone and let the drill bit exit the far side of the bone, plunging into the meat as they follow through with poor technique, not holding the drill back as they drill, but holding it at arms' length. Or when they don't know how to use a jacobs chuck on a drill and the bit slips. I always want to tell them how to use these tools, but operating room etiquette prevents that.
@jairtime
I seriously hope your making some kind of joke that I missed about breaking bumps.
my bro just called from Daytona,,, he said Trettle wadded up real bad in practice,, wasn't moving when they took him away,,,,
How about some updates????? M. stewart cuts track 2 times and gets times deleted???
As for the "Stewey getting smoked" comment, Highly unlikely! Only he can smoke himself! He let Reed get the best of him at Atlanta and he knows that! We will see who gets smoked!
braking bumps have been around since motocross.they are not man made it happens when the riders are on the brakes when they are entering a corner and bumps start to develop and can get really rough and big throughout the day.
Yes, hillco. I'll lay it down here for those writers and riders who don't know the difference.
Brakes: those thingamabobs that slow the wheels down.
Breaks: (1) those things you don't get enough of. (2) that thing that happens when you bend a dry stick too far.
Braking bumps: those bumps on the racetrack, or off the racetrack, that develop usually approaching and entering turns or other obstacles. Caused by a combination of the soil agronomy, braking chatter, knobby tread pattern, compression and rebound damping or dampening, moisture content and other factors such as harmonics of the soil.
Breaking bumps: as far as I know, they have never existed to this day, unless you're talking about somebody popping zits. That could be considered "breaking bumps."
Anybody know any legit links too watch the race online? I found both the San Diego and Atlanta races streaming live on justin.tv the past two weeks but am having no such luck for Daytona!
Dude I like JS but really Reedy had him in Atlanta. It was JS fault all the way. Why would you leave the door open for someone to take you out. After you pass a guy you are supposed to check out but obviously he was unable to check out from Reed. Reedy was just that good in Atlanta. His move was dirty on JS but still JS shouldnt have let any doors open on the last lap.
Dungey will win tonight
If JS7 gets a poor start (not even bad) I can't wait to see who he lands on trying to come through the pack.
JS7 wins by 10 secs or more.....RV claims to have rode "smart" for 2nd CR22 third we he belongs
JS was fastest firts practic, with a 1:16:341 Reed 1:16:613, RV 1:17:123 RD 1:17:276 TC 1:17:794 NICE long LAPS!!!
dgizzy if JS went slow around the inside to Block Reed, Reed would have railed the outside and passed him.
Come on Stewart brothers!!!
If I were Stewart, I would do a Bob Hannah and brake twenty who's leg first chance I get. Reed has prooven he doesn't care if he hurts you, do it first and get him out of the way for the rest of the season.
Where's the Twitter feed today?
Just saw that Stewart just did one lap in 2nd practice, smart man, save energy, just like Pourcel did last year outdoors. I think everyone will like the new rules when they go into effect to line up outdoors according to first moto finish.
Lest race this is Daytona!
Dyslexics UNTIE !!!
WOW that pic of Windham cornering is awsome in the practice gallary. And yes I am a bit Dyslexic and have trouble reading this fine print we post.
@Jairtime, It will still work, you just have to install keen-serts or helicoils first.
and dont forget the blue loctite.
Jairtime, also, hose clamps work really well, and can be adjusted during the healing process, if you provide a removable access cover on the arm or leg.
just simple medicine !
just type in "racerx twitter" and you will get the feed.
I would love to see Pourcel on Grants Honda. I have nothing but respect for Grant, but let's see that bike on the line.
With 4 or 5 whoop sections, this track should play in Stewart's favor.
Man, that sky looks gnarly, in the practice photos. are you sure it isn't gonna rain ??
The hell with twitter ! what was I thinking ! this sucker is on LIVE in a few hours.
No way Reed not tonight- YOU ARE GOING DOWN REED, ON YOUR FACE!!!!
AND YOU ARE 20+ POINTS DOWN PUNK.
I never knew breyking bumps form during the race. Interesting...
I remember once my dad man was explaining to me in excruciating detail why dirt roads develop rolls in them, when I didn't even ask :(
Sounds like the same process sped up considerably.
Also, in the slide show, you can clearly see both Stewart and Dungey nursing broken wrists. It's anyone's race!
Oh, and I like the Thor helmet ad off to the side, reminding us all what a fatty Villopoto was.
@trick, when the broken halves of the clavicle is attached at one end, the only way to do the helicoils is if one half is reverse thread and the other is normal thread. Then you could crank the threaded rod to thread both of them at the same time. The problem would be that the clavicle would be longer than before, since the tool would have to be infinitely skinny to draw the halves of the bone all the way together. Then again, I guess one could just leave a gap in the bones to make room for the tool. Might make a decent fix.
I'm waiting for a bone welder to hit the market over at Harbor Freight Tools. I already have the plastic welder.
jairtime, the braking/breaking fox-pass (like it?) goes back far enough that if there existed an Oxford English Dictionary of the MX dialect, it would be acknowledged to be of sufficiently common usage so as to be judged as an at least acceptable application, if unfortunate. To paraphrase Moynihan, "we, as a society, are defining (the) dictionary down." In truth, the proletariat has always steered the language to the horror of the bourgeoisie. It's in the numbers; they are everywhere and they talk and scratch out little notes all the time. Regrettable, but what is to be done? All we can do is bleed them and release their toxic ethers. P.S. Weld bones or wield bones?
Jairtime do everyone a favor and just go away, clearly you are far to superior of a human and have never made a spelling mistake. Perhaps you should spend you're efforts stopping WAR, STARVATION,GLOBLE WARMING or something of that nature as clearly you think you're GOD or at least his son.
Drop DEAD A$$ whole...