Thunder Valley is maybe not that underrated anymore? We’ve been talking about it being so underrated for so long; it’s probably now properly rated? Not sure, but this weekend I thought the track would be a lot worse than it was. Lots of rain all week and on Friday made me think it was going to be rut-cross, where you’re locked into a 60-foot rut the whole way up and down the hills.
But the track crew did a good job, and yes, it was bad in spots, but the riders I talked to about it were all pretty happy with it. The new track changes were also met with universal accolades, which, if you know riders, is pretty rare.
Seeing how much weather this track was hit with and then watching the race play out makes me shake my head even more at those dark times in the nationals when we would water the crap out of it, throw some rice hulls into the dirt, and every single track was the same with massive ruts. Like, we didn’t need to do that! It didn’t help the racing at all, and I like the last few years of trying to keep some of the tracks natural dirt and texture in them.
He’s not a machine; he’s a man! That’s what I thought when Aaron Plessinger zoomed by Jett Lawrence! No one passes Jett Lawrence! Well, not really, but you get my drift, right? AP’s line was a little better than Jett’s, so that was a sweet move by the #7, but not to worry, Jett found a way past and withstood pressure from AP the rest of the moto and then ET in the second moto to, yet again, win the national. After AP got him with a few minutes to go, it was like Jett woke up and decided that wasn’t going to work, so he got him back and pulled back out. Looked easy for him.
I know some people say that he’s pushing as hard as he can and he just makes it look effortless even though he's going almost as fast as he can, but not to me; I think he’s got another gear in there. We’ve seen it a time or two when he really needs to make some time up. To me, when he’s got someone on him like AP and ET in the two motos this weekend, he knows what lines to take, how fast to go, and is playing it smart. As amazing as it seems, I believe he’s got another gear in him. Also, both he and his brother said they’re happier with their bikes after some setup stuff at the harder California rounds.
Plessinger has been great to start the year; we knew the Lawrence brothers and Eli Tomac were going to be great (heck, we also knew Chase Sexton would be great but now he's banged up), but AP7 doing this? Yeah, I don’t think we had that on the bingo card. He’s tied with ET for the second most podiums, and he’s led 15 laps, second to Jett’s 71 on the year.
Tomac’s riding very well, but yeah, he’s losing grip to Jett in this title and hasn’t passed him yet. Also, that’s two crashes in six motos for Eli, who normally is as solid as they come. I think that when he gets clean air, Tomac can get to and run with Jett (notice I didn’t say “beat”), but he can’t seem to consistently get out of the start like the Hondas can. And yes, we’ve had two epic Jett/ET races, but we haven’t seen him “battle” with Jett just yet. Like, how is it possible that AP and Hunter have passed Jett in six motos and Eli Tomac hasn’t? Weird, right?
I asked Hunter Lawrence, who had a good day going 4-4 which somehow meant fifth overall, what it was like having Eli Tomac behind him, and his answer was great. He basically said it makes him wonder if he’s riding a different track than Tomac! Like, his RPMs are low, he’s creeping around an inside rut, and then he hears ET wide open on the outside. Hunter said that he’s wondering if there’s a three-foot berm out there that he can ride wide open that he missed?
A tale of two motos for Justin Cooper: in the first, he started okay and then ended up in fifth, way ahead of sixth but off the lead pack of guys. In the second moto, great start, even led for five laps, and then ended up in a great battle before settling for third. Hmmm, JC32—start dependent? Odd. Anyway, he’s off to a great start to the season, and I heard from someone on the team that he’s now running the scoop tire every single race—even Washougal! Been a long battle with his team to get JCoop onto the scoop.
Man, Chance Hymas had one of those days that you dream about as a rider. Fastest qualifier, two holeshots, led every lap, and went 1-1 on the day. Doesn’t get any better than that, right? No, like for real, IT DOES NOT get any better than that. The HRC rider is way back in the points after a poor Hangtown where he didn’t start the second moto, but all he can do is win races from here on out. In a way, it’s good for Hymas to take the pressure off him and allows him to maybe send it a bit more because against Deegs. He needs serious luck to get himself back into this.
Chance said on the PulpMX Show Monday that the key for him was to not charge too hard and override the track. You had to take your time out there, and “slow is fast,” he mentioned.
We asked Hymas why he was so good, and he said he likes ruts…well, we’re going to High Point where there are serious ruts, so he’ll be good again this weekend. Hymas has won motos, he’s won overalls, and he’s won one supercross, but 2025 Thunder Valley was his best day as a professional.
Haiden Deegan had closed on Hymas before his bike started to go late in moto one, so while he nursed it home, we were robbed of a great battle. But in moto two, Hymas simply pulled away from the points leader. Hey, if your bad day is 2-2 and that’s WITH a bike issue and you’re still 50 points up on the dude who beat you, is it really a bad day?
Mitch Payton’s guys had a great day with Levi Kitchen and Garrett Marchbanks flip-flopping 3-8 moto scores. Kitchen got third overall, Marchbanks fourth, and both riders had some awesome rides in coming through the pack. We all know the Star Yamahas have a little extra in the motor department, but sneakily in the last year or so, Team Green’s found something also. We’re at elevation; Levi and Garrett are not the smallest guys, and they were yanking other riders out there. Okay well thes starts weren't good but they looked fast in the motos....
Marchbanks was on the Pulpmx Show Monday night and talked about how he’s based in Southern California, hoping to go east (didn’t sound promising) and working with Broc Tickle for on-the-bike coaching and Alex Martin for off-the-bike training. Garrett has always had this speed before, but to me, he’s never been able to be this fast for this long—his consistency has hit a new level. Marchbanks said he thinks his time in the 450MX class the last two years has helped his race craft on the 250. Also, he doesn’t have a contract for next year, and Payton’s PC team seems to have one spot left, so a lot is riding on this summer for the #36.
Some other news and notes:
I don’t know if it’s full panic button for Kawasaki and Jorge Prado, but it’s not good right now. He was way back in qualifying until late when he got a good lap in, and then in the motos, he was way off the pace. In the second moto, he pulled it in with either a crash, a bike issue, or as Kawi PR said: he hit a kicker. Okay. So far, the MXGP champion has been way off the pace and doesn’t seem happy with his bike. Thunder Valley was the worst of his three USA nationals so far, and yikes, it doesn’t seem to be any closer to getting better.
I’m in the camp that it does take the European riders time to adjust to the lack of, well, time on the track each weekend, and they’ve got to figure it out quickly. Many GP riders in the past have brought this up when they come here, but still, others like Clement Desalle have run up front with the same program. I thought many people *cough* JT were too high on Prado’s chances here in the USA in his first year, but I thought he’d be at the tail end of the Lawrences/Tomac/Sexton race up near the front. Instead he's 30-60 seconds back and battling with the non-title contender guys. I know there’s some discourse on his bike not being fast enough, but c’mon, it’s a factory bike, and look at his starts this weekend up a hill and at elevation—he was inside the top 6-7 both times.
Speaking of world champs that are a bit head-scratching, Tom Vialle started up front in both motos and went backwards to 6-5 scores. He’s not panic button or anything like that, but through six motos, it’s just been okay for Vialle. Who had Tom Vialle being more successful in SX than MX in his third season in the USA?
Mikkel Haarup ran third in moto one and came from dead last to 13th in moto two. The Dane will just be better from here, I think.
In the department of “IDK man,” Ty Masterpool has been sick for, I think, all three weeks now? His second moto drop-off is alarming compared to his first moto speed, and even Kitchen told me he saw him throwing up before moto two. What’s going on here with an illness that won’t go away? IDK man.
Valentin Guillod was really good in moto two with a top ten. He told me after that he hopes to stay in the USA, make SMX, and get a ride here. He's pitting beside Rock River Yamaha right now, but none of his deals now are binding, so if someone has a fill-in spot, he can move.
Benny Bloss got a lot of passing points and was much “better” in Lakewood than Hangtown, where he had some bike issues. He was around twentieth in both motos and moved forward.
Holeshot and one lap led for Club MX’s Coty Schock! That had to have been cool for him and the team. What wasn’t cool was swapping out into the aluminum structure off the side of the track. Ouch, bro.
I don’t know why Freddie Noren is off to a horrific start . I keep waiting for him to be better. Maybe it’s the pressure of getting close to John Dowd’s all-time start record?
Thanks for reading OBS; email me at matthes@racerxonline.com if you want to chat about this or anything else. We’re onto High Point!
