Sign of the (Lap) Times: San Francisco

Supercross class

Let’s start with the Supercross class from Saturday night, which almost everyone could agree is an “instant classic.” The fastest lap of the night once again goes to James Stewart, who logged a 42.719 on lap on lap 10, trying to make up time after he hit neutral and cart-wheeled his KX450F over a soft and rutted step-on-step-off section.

RC was second fastest Saturday night, but he was the most consistent. His best lap of the main event came early, and RC was able to stay within three seconds of that time for the entire main event. His slowest time of the main event was a 46.227; Stewart’s slowest was a 52.686; and Reed’s was a 53.514, which came on lap 10 when he lost control and launched his bike off the side of the track. The precipitation proved to be a factor, and it swayed in RC’s favor.

Another interesting sidebar is that once again, lap times were in the low 40-second range. Taken from www.amasupercross.com, RC’s average lap time was 44.916, and the 20-lap main event finished up in 14 minutes, 56 seconds. Is it maybe time for longer tracks? How about 25-lap mains?

Biggest surprise:

Although he didn’t finish in the top 10, Cernic’s Kawasaki’s Paul Carpenter had some very impressive lap times in the main event. Last week he told us that he finally has his bike dialed in this online interview, and his 45.276 was within one second of both Tim Ferry and Ivan Tedesco’s, giving Carpenter the sixth-fastest lap time of the night. His best time was also faster than that of MDK/Xyience standout Nick Wey, so we may be seeing Carpenter on the podium very soon.

Paul Carpenter had the sixth fastest time in the Supercross class

Villopoto lit up the Supercross Lites class once again, but Yamaha of Troy’s Jason Lawrence is closing the lap-time gap every weekend—a few tenths of a second at a time. This week Lawrence’s fastest time was just barely over a half-second slower than Villopoto’s; J-Law just needs a better start to make a real run at the #51. Solid as always, Villopoto averaged a 45.936 through his 15-lap main event (which lasted just over 11 minutes).

It’s interesting to note that the SoBe/Samsung Mobile Honda teammates Josh Grant and Jake Weimer didn’t use speed to finish 2-3; they used smarts and consistency. They had the sixth and seventh fastest times in the main event. Also, a nod to Team MB1/Deluge Honda’s Kyle Partridge, who had the eighth-fastest time in the Lites class and finished sixth!

Biggest surprise:

Martin Davalos and the Red Bull KTM squad must’ve figured some settings out last week, as Davalos looked like an entirely different rider on Saturday night. If it wasn’t for some bad luck (crashing on top of a fallen-but-impossible-to-miss Chris Gosselaar) Davalos had a lock on a podium position. Davalos’ fastest lap time of the night was third best, which is quite an improvement over the first three races where he was seventh fastest at Anaheim 1 and only tenth fastest at both Phoenix and Anaheim 2. Here’s hoping that the young Ecuadorian could keep it on two wheels next weekend in Anaheim.

Martin Davalos was on it in San Fran!