Houston Practice Report
Amp'd Mobile Supercross moves somewhat east this weekend for the Houston SX, and the dirt is notably tackier and softer than what the riders saw last weekend in Anaheim. That means more traction, but also more ruts and general track deterioration. The Dirt Wurx crew has built in plenty of options on this track through the rhythm lanes, although most of the options seem about the same on speed.
Particularly interesting on this track are the whoops. There are two sections which are not only long, but they are very fast because they both give the riders a long, flat run into them (last week's track had two whoop sections right out of corners). The riders go across the start straight before hitting one set of whoops. That might be a problem, as Ryan Villopoto, for example, was absolutely and completely flying through the second set of whoops, and then went flying over the bars in a hard crash. He was up and okay, but he didn't go through the section as fast after that. Also, those whoops claimed Steve Boniface, who went down hard and may not make it into action tonight.
Villopoto did set the fastest Lites laps, but it was very close in both sessions, with Yamaha rookie Josh Hill on his heels each time. Josh Grant was in the mix in the second practice.
As for the 450 guys, James Stewart was fastest in both sessions, which shouldn't be a big surprise. Chad Reed was around a second off in both sessions, but, he seemed to be trying a large variety of jump combinations, which may pay off as the night goes on and the track wears down.
Kevin Windham was third in the second practice. Good to see K-Dub up there.
That's the report. Be sure to listen to the Supercross Live! webcast tonight at www.supercrossonline.com . It starts at 7 p.m. CST. Racing airs tomorrow on CBS for those of you who can wait.
