Just like that, the 2023 season of the AMA Pro Motocross Championship is over 25 percent done. The racing over the weekend provoked plenty of questions, too, and fortunately, former pro Jason Thomas is here to answer all of them in this week’s race breakdown.
Supercross and motocross are two different disciplines, but does having a race such as the Denver SX at elevation help when it comes to bike setup and/or riders getting used to the lack of power and feeling?
Jason Thomas: I think it can help soften the initial shock of just how slow the motorcycle feels. As far as how to ride the motorcycle, etc., I don’t think it crosses over too much because of the radical change in discipline. Supercross is about finesse and timing where outdoors is aggression, and at a track like Thunder Valley, you’re on the throttle almost the entire time. Even in the tighter sections, riders will remain on the throttle to a certain degree because of how deep the dirt is. That constant application of throttle isn’t an effort to drive forward, though. It’s to keep the front end from diving into the soft dirt and losing momentum. Keeping the throttle open even a small amount puts pressure on the rear end and lightens the front end.
As far as the elevation goes when considering the motorcycle directly, the engineers and technicians should be able to apply some of the data they acquired from Denver and SLC. They would likely run a different setting, as there are differences in the engine composition and gearing, etc., but the difficulties created via lack of oxygen are the same. More experience and applicable data are always better.
The weather was substantially cooler than we’ve seen in the past at Thunder Valley. Did this allow the guys to go harder, longer?
It definitely helped! Speaking from experience, you simply have more energy late in the day when it’s 75 degrees versus 95 at Hangtown. I think those who had to charge from the back of the pack like Aaron Plessinger, Dylan Ferrandis, Jo Shimoda, and RJ Hampshire, all felt better late than they otherwise would have. All of them are in shape but that’s not the point. Being able to put in your best laps in the final moments of the moto is so much tougher when the sun is zapping all your intensity.
We saw rain in the second half of the day. What kind of steps did the riders take to prepare for the rain, and who was able to use the conditions to their advantage?
I don’t think there was much to do other than maybe a few extra precautions taken by the mechanics. The riders’ approach would be the same. With fluid weather conditions, staying vigilant is the most important aspect. If heavy rains did come, having a gameplan for how the track would change is about all they can do.
We saw Plessinger and Ferrandis collide exiting a turn. Take us through your view of what happened, and who was at fault.
That corner had about nine ruts but the one Ferrandis chose had a nasty hook in it. That hook curled him back into Plessinger’s chosen rut and pushed them into a collision course. The timing was just so that when Ferrandis hooked back to his right, Plessinger was accelerating through that exact spot. It was a racing incident and an unfortunate one. Had it not been the first lap, it likely is avoided. The chaos of the opening lap adds to the lack of awareness for crossing lines.
We’ve talked at length about privateers taking advantage of the situation in the 450 Class right now, but one question we haven’t been asking is, just how much better are guys like Grant Harlan, Derek Drake, Ty Masterpool, and more, getting now that they’re getting a chance to spend time up front? Is their learning curve steeper when they aren’t getting shuffled back by a sea of factory bikes?
One weekend does not a trend make, so we will see. That Thunder Valley track was very unique. It was slow, rutty, and treacherous. As we move on, I will be interested to see if that was a one-off weekend fluke based on conditions, or if there is something to this privateer movement. I expect the factory teams to make adjustments based on the handling characteristics that they were all fighting and improve at High Point. Undoubtedly it did wonders for the privateers’ confidence, but I want to see continuation before I jump on board.
Speaking of Masterpool, the dude went 5-4 for sixth overall! Are we at the point where we can’t excuse his scores as a result of a thinner field? What was your take on his performance at Thunder Valley?
He was incredible! Keep in mind, though, this is a young kid who was on Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha and was podium level just a couple of years ago in the 250 class. He set the fastest lap time a few times that season and many thought he was on the precipice of a breakout season. Speed has never been hard to find for Masterpool. I thought he was going to win Red Bud back in 2020, that’s how fast he can be. The 450 machine levels the playing field some on machinery and brings it back to ability and talent. Masterpool has never lacked in either of those categories.
We saw Haiden Deegan make a few interesting decisions while battling to keep Hunter Lawrence behind him. What’re your thoughts on this? Is there an advantage to be had for Deegan to ride a wide bike in this situation, or is he missing an opportunity to ride behind Lawrence and learn from him?
I’m not a fan of this style of racing. I think it’s beneath Haiden. He is so talented and has such a bright future, I just don’t think he needs to go about it like that. He is learning as we go and is incredibly young so hopefully, he can work through the questionable decisions and be better for it. He’s much too good to resort to desperate attempts like that.
Justin Cooper was brilliant in the first moto, but unfortunately crashed away his shot at winning the overall when he went down in the second moto. What’d you think of his crash? Was it pressure-induced, or was just one of those things that happens on a tough track?
The first lap is an all-out sprint. Justin wanted to build a gap just like he did in the first moto and that takes every ounce of sprint speed that can be found. That puts riders on the limit, upping the likelihood of a mistake. It only takes one small bobble when you’re pushing that hard and that’s what happened. Pushing the envelope is high risk/high reward game, especially on a track that tricky. He was able to execute perfectly in the first moto, but it bit him on that first lap of the second moto.
I did like to see Cooper pushing himself, though. I felt that he was complacent or incapable of riding on the edge last season. He is a winning caliber rider in this class, but he needs to be his best self to do it. Saturday was the first time I have seen that version of JC32 in a while.
