San Diego Practice Report
Practice is complete here in San Diego, which is supposed to be home of the best weather in the country. Not so much in supercross country, though, where this event has carved out quite a rep for cold weather and wet and sloppy track conditions. But we doubt the event will be moved to April anytime soon, so the riders will have to deal with it. Hey, most of them have houses an hour from here—come on down and enjoy the beaches in a few weeks.
Heavy rain yesterday softened the track up quite a bit, and the whoops are paying the price. There’s a giant rut down the left side, and the whole section is so treacherous that some riders have had to resort to jumping through. We expect them to be fixed back up for the night show, but the dirt is so soft that they might get beat up again anyway. Overall, the track is presenting a strange mix of sloppy, rutted sections in some areas, tacky dirt in others, and then harder, slippery stuff in others. That’s quite a challenge! So the real key tonight will be handing that dirt, and how it impacts the corners and the whoops. The obstacles are pretty similar, so we’re not sure if there will be any major separation through there.
As far as times, Ryan Villopoto ended up the fastest overall based on his blistering time in the first practice session. James Stewart was fastest in timed practice two, but RV’s time from the first session edged him out. Justin Barcia was third fastest, followed by Davi Millsaps and Justin Brayton. It’s worth noting that Stewart and Millsaps were the two fastest in the final session, which, although slower overall, might be a little closer to the actual racing track conditions.
The JGR/Toyota Yamaha team announced that Josh Grant is out for the night, he’s dealing with an ankle injury and other ailments logged over the last few races. Velocity3 Yamaha’s Kyle Chisholm is out for the night, too, after a big practice crash.
In the 250 class, Martin Davalos was on fire, logging the fastest time in both timed sessions. Title contenders Ken Roczen and Eli Tomac weren’t glued to the top of the lap time charts like they usually are, although Tomac did end up second overall, with Roczen fifth. It looks like some other riders can get in there and battle for it, like Zach Osborne and Cole Seely. Times are posted below.
450 SX
1 1 Ryan Villopoto Kawasaki KX 450F 46.999
2 7 James Stewart Suzuki RM-Z450 47.105
3 51 Justin Barcia Honda CRF 450 47.310
4 18 David Millsaps Suzuki RM-Z450 47.390
5 10 Justin Brayton Yamaha YZ450F 47.461
6 5 Ryan Dungey KTM 450 SX-F 47.556 47.556
7 29 Andrew Short Honda CRF 450 47.982 48.568
8 41 Trey Canard Honda CRF 450 48.080 48.389
9 22 Chad Reed Honda CRF 450 48.152 48.664
10 47 Matthew Lemoine Kawasaki KX 450F 48.514
250 SX
1 40 Martin Davalos Kawasaki KX 250F 47.685
2 1 Eli Tomac Honda CRF 250 47.806
3 338 Zach Osborne Honda CRF 250 47.967
4 43 Cole Seely Honda CRF 250 48.145
5 94 Ken Roczen KTM 250 SX-F 48.209
6 32 Malcolm Stewart KTM 250 SX-F 48.265
7 21 Jason Anderson Suzuki RM-Z250 48.412
8 38 Kyle Cunningham Yamaha YZ250F 48.620
59 Christian Craig Honda CRF 250 48.777
10 31 Travis Baker Yamaha YZ250F 48.810