Racer X Notebook: Indianapolis
Monday, March 14, 2011 | 11:15 AM
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Print- Last weekend’s Daytona race was easily the roughest and toughest on the tour, but Indianapolis presented challenges in its own right. The track was technical already, with two particularly challenging jump combinations—one between the sand section and the big triple, and one after the 180 degree turn that came next. Jumping these jumps each lap was tough, but the soft, rutted soil made it much more challenging. “It was really though,” said Trey Canard. “Obviously it wasn’t as tough as Daytona, but with the ruts in the faces of the jumps, it was really demanding.”
- You may be thinking, “What’s the big deal with ruts in Indianapolis? Isn’t this track always soft and rutted?” Actually, over the last few years, riders mentioned how the track had become dry and hard packed. This year’s return to softer soil actually caught a few riders and teams off guard.
Wilson has struggled since winning in Atlanta.
Photo: Matt Pavelek
- Tough couple of weeks for Dean Wilson. He crashed twice last week—including one big over-the-bars dismount that the TV cameras didn’t pick up. More problems this weekend: he crashed in the sand on the last lap of practice, then got a bad start and crashed again trying to come through. Since winning his first supercross and grabbing a share of the points lead two weeks ago, Wilson has dropped to fourth in the standings with eighth and sixth place finishes.
- After a string of consistent rides, Red Bull KTM’s Andrew Short had a bad night in Indy. The Throttle Position Sensor (TPS) on his bike broke, knocking him out of the race and resulting in a 20th place finish.
- Dodge Motorsports Hart and Huntington’s Ivan Tedesco started the race strong, running in the top three. But two crashes set him back, one caused by losing traction near the finish line turn, which had been dug all the way down to the plywood. At the very same moment that Tedesco fell, his teammate Chris Blose crashed in the next turn. They finished a disappointing 18th (Blose) and 19th (Tedesco).
It was a tough night in Indy for Dodge Motorsport Hart and Huntington’s Ivan Tedesco.
Photo: Matt Pavelek
- Daytona usually requires a completely different bike setup than a typical supercross race like Indy, but one team actually stumbled on a better SX setup thanks to the rough track in Florida. Muscle Milk Toyota JGR’s Justin Brayton ended up using a softer shock at Indy, and he rode well, carding his first top-five finish since taking a fourth at Anaheim 2.
- Trey Canard and Ryan Dungey came together on the first lap of the race right before the finish line jump. Dungey knifed inside of Canard in the previous corner and held his line through the next turn, causing Canard to bobble and stall. Canard dropped from 5th to 19th. “I was so mad,” said Canard. “It took at least ten laps to get that out of my system.” After the race Canard rode past Dungey and tapped him in anger. He later went over to Dungey’s pit and apologized once he cooled down.
- Rockstar Makita Suzuki Team Manager Mike Webb explained that last week’s engine failure in a heat race for Dungey was caused by something outside of the engine—probably a rock—punching a hole in the case. Webb said the transmission, crank and other bottom end components were still in working order, and the engine was still spinning freely when Dungey came into the pits, so clearly the hole was not created by a broken internal part.
- Brett Metcalfe skipped the race after a series of hard crashes over the last two weeks.
- Veterans Nick Wey (Valli Motorsports Rockstar Yamaha) and Michael Byrne (BBMX BTO Sports Suzuki) logged their best finishes of the season with 8th and 13th place finishes, respectively.
- Remember last week, when JDR J-Star KTM’s Tye Simmonds said he had to go to Canada to get his Visa issues sorted? It worked, apparently, because he was back at the races and made the main event. The 18-year-old Aussie finished 16th.
- Malcolm Stewart is beginning to settle down and log solid results. After 14th on opening night in Houston, he has gone 8th, 7th, and 4th in the last three rounds. Matt Lemoine also scored his best result of the year in Indy with a fifth.
Malcolm is beginning to find his groove in the Lites class.
Photo: Matt Pavelek
- Red Bull KTM team manager Roger DeCoster said the team will begin outdoor testing this week, and the riders (Andrew Short and Mike Alessi) will have their choice of racing a 350 or 450 for AMA Motocross. “We want them to ride whatever they think will help them win,” said DeCoster. “And that could be a different bike for each rider.”
- Muscle Milk Toyota JGR’s Davi Millsaps looked to have a good race going before he crashed and hurt his hand and thumb. He soldiered on even though the hand had pretty much went numb—then he stalled on his last lap to drop back to a eleventh.
- The key to holding on to a win for Ryan Sipes? “I didn’t even think about winning it,” said Sipes on the podium. “I think that was my problem last year in Dallas, I started thinking about finally getting a win with about two laps to go. That doesn’t work. So I just blocked it out of my mind until I got to the checkered flag.”
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Trey- good call to check yourself man, we don't need anymore jerks in supercross. Alessi- Take the damn 450! We need more guys up front. Wey- Nice work OG. Sipes- Take it home! Dungey- Your faster than reed. DO SOMETHING!
I know the topic of track design has been debated for several years now, but Indy was just ridiculous for me. The live events are fantastic, but when we have track designs that are incredibly difficult and one-lined, it makes watching these races boring as hell. Someone needs to look at these designs from the fan perspective. We need racing, not follow the leader. Passing areas are essential.
It appears to me that the emphasis is on making the tracks more difficult as opposed to opening it up for more competative racing. The lanes can only be so wide, but the turns can be wider. On TV, when they showed the overhead cam, you could see one line, period.
would have been a good, close race if reed was on his game, oh well
RD5 please be more aggressive !! your faster than your results.stick a wheel in there and take the position (reed) away....and before i forget Villopoto way to show everyone what a true heart for the sport is.and dont listen to all the JS this JS that ,just keep showing them the results !! SCOREBOARD BABY.........
my bad RD1.....sorry
Per Ralph's commentating, I am still Googling "who is the beast from the SOUTHeast"?
Per Ralph's commentating, it is noo-cleeee-aaaar not nuke-u-lar, when speaking of the cowboys.
hope this helps.
DeCoster says "and that could be a different bike for each rider". Ok Roger, you've done your due dilligence for the P.R. dept. now, put (both) those guys on the 450's and start getting them back up front. I am SO over the 350 situation at this point. I have an idea to get the 350's up front and winning......eliminate half of the strokes.
You can put Short and Alessi on anything you want and give them a 5 second head start and it isn't going to change much. They will not beat RV, RD, CR, TC, or JS no matter what they ride. Sorry--It's not the 350.
what was the deal with CR after the race?
What I have said before to JDubya, Give RV or JS a 350 and they will still be the two fastest guys IMO.
Incorporating some fresh layouts sure couldnt hurt the tracks but the track builders have cleary been ordered to "jump for show". That being said Indy didnt look like it flowed to well to me. , lotta over jumping and close calls an the downsides going on.
JimM
My notes:
Reed: Always seems to be something wrong with him or the bike when he gets smoked. Stewie passed him and pulled away with ease...So did RV...
Alessi: I saw Mike pretty much "pull over" again this week and let a racer by without a fight.....350's are not going to cut it in SX or MX if you dont have the rider to do it.Short is their only chance in SX since Alessi cant race and Alessi had one good moto at Hangtown last year and nothing after that.....
Dungey: Get out the tissue....
Too bad Alessi didnt do that for RV2. He stayed in the way for about half a lap. And Canard better apologize to Dungey, who is he too complain about being aggresive?? He will knock someone down in a second. RV2 got knocked into the finish line tower by Canard once.
@Rick Melon, you said Reed always has a bike problem or something whenever he gets beat?? Kinda sounds like Stewie also. Always an excuse when he loses.
Did not here JS cry this weekend BD, Said he just did not get it done Like he has said before. Why do you dislike him so much??
i figured reed was in for a long night when he stalled in the opening show. i was pulling for him to stick to rv. it was one lined,worse indy track ive seen and ive been to a lot.one cool thing im not sure if the tv caught it,brayton was tripling b4 the sand section.very cool. everyone looked on edge,track was super tech with ruts etc. everyone made mistakes,rv about ate it over the dragon back. oh and little bubba,good ride,but your gear is fugly.switch colors. carry on.......
I dont know about the " a rock did it " DNF story...again..
waaaaa uh waaaaaaa!!!!! I Need a pamper change, I went # TWO/TWO!
Wow looks like everyone on here has it all figured out! Why talk shit? We should all be smiling ear to ear if we consider ourselves real sx fans. I know I am!
I am a little offended at comparing a very talented riders number to a body function. From his win record, it is quite obvious that CR, is one of the most technical SX riders out there. I know it sounds a little ironic, but Chads riding is definateley not worthy to be compared this. His talent is in the top 5 to 7 percent of al motocrossers out their.
BillC, its allStewie has done is say he lost because he didnt get to ride all week. He said he didnt get to ride because of his crash at Daytona, and thats why he lost. He said it in Indy after the race. And I have read it on this site somewhere, he was making another excuse. He does it every time he gets beat. He cant just say, "He beat me" he is too arrogant and egotistical. Its why I wont cheer for him.
Ashley Phillips interviewed him before Erin Bates did, right after the race and had him on the big screen, and he said " i had a bad week after the Daytona crash, I couldnt ride all week, its what happened, if I could have, there would have been better results". His words, and its an excuse. that is why BillC. tired of his excuses. Be a man and say he beat me. RV was turning laps as fast as Stewie, he wasnt going to catch him. Whenever Stewie put up a faster time, RV would put up a faster lap. Kept him in check.
WOW finally someone gets it, that is bd200 does. Well said. Just admit someone was faster that night. Its not hard, heck, I gotta do it all the time.