Unadilla iLap
There's no better known motocross track in America than Unadilla, and no better person to take a walk around it with than Roger DeCoster. The Man used to race Trans-AMA races here, with annual battles with Bob "Hurricane" Hannah that people all over the world still recall. Then Roger managed Team USA to the win here at the 1987 Motocross des Nations, in one of the muddiest version of that event the sport has ever known. Lately he's managed everyone from Jean-Michel Bayle to Greg Albertyn; from Ricky Carmichael to Ryan Dungey. We spotted Roger while he and AMA Pro Racing's Roy Janson were taking their own walk around the track, so we tagged along…
The Man says he's never seen the track in better condition. The Robinson family has hauled in countless loads of dirt onto the oldest track on the AMA circuit. They have sifted out the rocks (with the exception of the starting line, and that will hopefully happen in the a.m.) and added some cool jumps and hooks to challenge the riders on their modern four-stroke equipment.
The first turn is flat and short, then it begins with some long sweeping straights, a new step-up jump than crosses under a bridge, plus old staples like Gravity Cavity and The Wall (which we prefer to keep calling by its old nickname, Screw-U). The track has more flow, and DeCoster said that it has changed a great deal since he first visited here on a Suzuki in 1972 (at least he thinks it was '72). The track is also very wide in some sections, not-so-wide in a few others. It should get rough and it will be fast, but not as fast as it was just three or four years ago.
Follow the pictures here, in order, from start to finish to get an idea of what Unadilla Valley Sports Center looks like and how it will race tomorrow. Remember, races start at 12:40 p.m. EST (due to the 3 p.m. live NBC show). You can see the first battle between Ryan Dungey and James Stewart, and everyone else, on www.allisports.com
