You could not ask for better weather than the day we're having here at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California. Or, more accurately, you could ask for better weather but it would be impossible for that to happen. Unless for some reason you like rain and cold.
Where were we?
Yes, the weather is superb at Anaheim today, the perfect setting for what should be a great day of qualifying and a great night of racing. The track looks technical and tight and should produce long lap times--kind of like Anaheim 1, but without some of the wall jumps that all the riders love to not like. The whoop section is very deep, and Lites riders were struggling with them in the first practice. Before the 450s came out, the track crew built a small bump at the beginning of the whoop section to help the bikes get on top. It worked....almost too well, when James Stewart wheelied into the section and nearly looped out and what appeared to be Mach 5 speed. He gathered it back up, but everyone was hauling through the whoops for the rest of that session.
So far no one has created any special jump combinations through the rhythm lanes, but the lane after the first turn looks ripe for someting cool. Right now everyone is just doubling through them, but expect that to change. Corners could be a big factor here, though. Dean Wilson tells us flat turns will be key tonight, as this track features more of them than usual. And one flat turn is in the sand, and riders were struggling in that corner until a rut began to develop by the end of the seeded SX class session.
In some news from the pits, rumor has it that Billy Laninovich may take over Trey Canard's Honda Muscle Milk 450 when the series moves East. Josh Hill says his broken leg is headling nicely and hopes to be back riding a week from Monday, with hopes of racing Atlanta or St. Louis. Broc Tickle says he has some new works forks this weekend and is hoping to transfer his speed over from practice times during the week into the race--he's just trying to find that comfort level in the SX class. The Rockstar Suzuki team now has Randy Lawrence working with both Jason Anderson and Martin Davalos--Lawrence hooked up with Anderson last summer and the program appears to be making gains. Davalos started working with Lawrence this week in hopes of finding the missing ingredient to transfer his fast qualifying and heat race laps into main event results.
We've got plenty of videos posted and more to come. And be sure to follow us on twitter @racerxonline
