Racer and moto journalist Phil Nicoletti is back from injury and racing again. He spent the weekend off between High Point and RedBud testing and training, but he took the time to answer your questions.
If you have a question you would like Phil to answer, send them to phil@racerxonline.com
Phil, Okay, you got a race under your belt then a weekend off. Will “we” see big gains coming into Red Bud?
Steven Ames
Steve,
I don’t know about big gains. But the week after High Point I had three good days riding. A lot of motos to try and push through some barriers. It was really the only week I’ll have to log some serious time and not worry about a race on that weekend. Monday and Tuesday this week I was able to do some testing. I had been running spring fork for a long, long time. I made the switch to air fork this week. So, I’m going to give that a go. Last time I’ve raced with air was 2016 with JGR and we swapped to spring a quarter of the way through the Nationals. I haven’t had a lot of testing time on the new bike, but I’ve made this decision. The air will give me a tad more wiggle room on race day. You don’t know until you go racing, so we will see.
Phil,
When you were on the Pulp show last week (carrying Matthes as usual), you were talking about the engine package on your 450. You mentioned that you don’t want something that will tear your arms off, but it still has to be strong enough to get a good start. That seems difficult to achieve. Are you able to switch the engine mapping after the start or does Twisted have to create a package that is a ripper and mellow at the same time.
Good luck being back at the races, the Philthy nation is eagerly waiting to cheer you on!
Jimmy G
Jimmy,
Mapping nowadays is absolutely insane. What you can do with just a stock ECU with a Vortex or GET. My bike is ultimately stock. Stock piston, cams, crank, and head. We do have cranks coming, just not yet. My head is cleaned up a bit, but nothing is extravagant. I literally have only an FMF pipe and a Vortex box mapped by Twisted Development and some VP Racing fuel. Currently on the track I could use a little more. Not a ton, because they are hard to ride. But for the start I need a bit more torque. So, we have a map for that to help with the start. We also have a torque map for the track which I will use this weekend at a RedBud.
I watched the IMSA race at Watkins Glen Sunday. They have 5 different classes racing at the same time. They are constantly dealing with lappers, but yet they treat it as just part of their racing. Plus, these are different cars in each class, so the speed difference is huge between them. You’ve been on both sides of it, what are your thoughts…why does everyone complain about lappers in MX/SX?
Stan
Stan,
No one complains about lappers. They only complain about the lappers when they affect the outcome of a race. I still don’t understand how sometimes a lapper doesn’t understand that the leader is coming. I can’t speak for what happens in IMSA because I haven’t got a clue what happens in those events. But in our sport, if you get lapped twice you should be blacked flagged in my opinion. Especially in supercross, because it much more confined. But lappers will be and have always been an obstacle that’s tougher than the track at times. But in retrospect, how many times has a lapper made the excitement of a race intensify in the past? A LOT!
