Well, four rounds down and seven to go for the AMA Pro Motocross Championship, and the first break in the series as well. I wrote this a couple of columns ago, High Point is also the first time that we could see changes in the order, or riders emerge (or fall back) as it’s the first east coast race, the dirt changes, ruts form, and your bike acts a bit differently from the first three rounds, or your skills might be better (or worse) on dirt like that.
Here are some random thoughts on random things after four rounds:
Now having said that, to me High Point looked a little unlike High Point in that it wasn’t ripped with deep ruts like it usually has been. In fact, some spots were very shiny and hardpack. We had Aaron Plessinger on the PulpMX Show Monday and he didn’t seem like he was a fan of it. I mentioned to him maybe take that paddle tire off and he said, “Ask everyone else to then!” meaning he didn’t want to give up the tire for the start. Last week we had Garrett Marchbanks on the show, and he mentioned he didn’t like Lakewood either (which was a bit like High Point) and then the actual track guy from Lakewood called in (Shane Schaefer) and G was disputing what Shane was saying!
The bottom line is that there’s 53 ways to skin a cat (or prep a track) and you’ll never make all the riders happy. It’s bizarre to see riders that do well or set personal bests and then spend time complaining about the track. It’s hard as a media guy to figure out what the riders like or don’t like. I felt watching High Point that the riders could go inside and out and make passes. Other years when I watch it, it seems like you have 80 ruts across the track coming down a hill and you have to pick one, lock in and go for a ride straight down. That doesn’t seem ideal to me, but AP was saying on the show that seemed to be better?
Yeah, I don’t know man. “What did you think of the track today,” might be the most loaded question in motocross history!
What a day for Hunter Lawrence! Two dominating rides with a 1-1, and has little bro Jett ever been beaten like that? Chase Sexton beat him in a moto at Washougal, Hunter beat him a week after he was injured at Hangtown and then? No one has taken Jett to the proverbial woodshed like Hunter did at High Point with two great rides. Jett was right there in moto two and Hunter motored away again. Great day for Hunter and it puts him right back into this thing with his second 1-1 of the year after Jett had ripped off four in a row. I have to admit that I thought this thing was going to see Jett pulling away easily, especially after he was on the PulpMX Show talking about how his ankle was getting a lot better. Hunter really showed something to me and everyone else with his ride.
Jett was really good but he did seem to settle in early in each moto and sort of give it to his brother. I’m sure he’s seen this Hunter before and knew that taking a 2-2 was the best move. When Jett was behind Hunter in the moto, Hunter went faster than his baby brother for nine straight laps! Pretty amazing really. Yes, Deegs caught Jett in moto two and yes, Jett was cruising by himself. When he saw Deegs coming, he set his personal best on the second to last lap to make sure that the #38 didn’t get any hope. All the Deeganites need to chill a bit.
Speaking of Haiden, third overall is good for him but I thought he was better last week when he actually caught Jett and Hunter in the motos. Yes, it was helped out a lot by cutting the track, but he still looked to me to be feistier in Colorado. Maybe the bike being down on power helped him there. He’s been getting better since Pala for sure, I thought this was a bit of a step back for him. In moto one he was .6 seconds right behind Jett but finished seven seconds back by the end.
I’m a bit let down by Jorge Prado through the first four rounds. That Pala ride was great, and I thought we’d see more of that. Now I gotta be thinking that his opener was a case of having spun a lot of laps at Pala during the SX season. He’s back east now but early on, it was a lot of Pala. He’s doing WELL, but to me, not GREAT you know?
Another note on Prado is he’s a great starter and hasn’t been credited with one holeshot in eight motos and his average starting position is just fourth in the class right now. That’s a huge strength of his and we’re not seeing it so far.
And more on starts. As we’ve seen, Deegs can’t seem to get his starts consistently down. He’s had some good ones but not enough of them and that leaves him with a lot of work to do. Also, the Honda Aussies have the bike and the skills (it’s NOT ALL BIKE BTW-SOME OF US FOUND THIS OUT FIRSTHAND) to grab some amazing starts. Hunter’s been unreal with a 1.8 average position at the white stripe, compared to Jett’s 5.6, and it’s going to be tough for Deegs to beat BOTH brothers off the start. He could get one of them here or there but both of them? Hard to see that happening with big improvements from Haiden. So therefore, to me, his job is going to be extra hard all summer long.
Garrett Marchbanks and Aaron Plessinger seem to be emerging the last couple of weeks as the best of the rest (after the top four) and Marchbanks is really getting some confidence going here. Plessinger was on the show and mentioned that yes, he knew he could be up there but after he got boat raced in Lakewood which left him very upset, having a rebound moto at High Point was nice. Even a veteran like AP needs to be up front to know he can get back there, as it had been a long time since he was with the top group. He mentioned he needs to work on his sprint speed right now, as the top guys are pulling him and he then catches them later on.
I was on the Cornelious Tondal train for top privateer in the 450MX class as there’s always “that guy” every summer who wows us but don’t look now, there’s a new old favorite emerging in Val Guillod! The Swiss Master was the guy last summer and did great, but a slow start this summer allowed the Norwegian to grab some hype. Well, Guillod is back and rode well the last two weeks. “Jorts” is ripping on his Gizmo Yamaha and with Tondal’s DNF in moto two after colliding with Dylan Ferrandis, he moved ahead of him in the points.
Speaking of Ferrandis, he was my sneaky good pick for the year and part of that was because I thought the Ducati bike was going to be better in MX than SX. But, outside of Hangtown, we’re all still waiting. Crashing out hard at High Point wasn’t ideal for sure and now we wait. He has won at RedBud before so maybe that can be the start of the turnaround?
In 250MX, it was Cole Davies who went 1-1 to win the first 250MX overall of his career and get close in the points standings. “We” wondered if Davies was going to be a bit like an Ernie Fonseca or Mickael Pichon, who were so good in SX but never quite got to that level in motocross. After all, we didn’t have a lot of background on Davies in MX. Well, he’s showing us now, after a moto win in Hangtown, some crashes but speed at Lakewood and now this, that maybe the rookie outdoor rider can win this title. He only had the fifth best lap time in moto one but worked through Casey Cochran and Julien Beaumer to win. Moto two, he was gone early.
Julien Beaumer keeps getting better each week, his second in the moto at Pala was great and I was impressed and here he is, seemingly getting more confidence each week. He was never this good in motocross BEFORE that gnarly back injury! Crazy good stuff and his second overall was impressive. KTM is working on a multi-year deal for him from what I heard.
We haven’t seen the best from Jo Shimoda just yet and here he sits just one point back of the points lead. His race craft trying to get a rookie kid was something else in moto two. Like, Jo, what are we doing out there? Strange to see the rider with the most experience take some of the weirdest lines to try and get by a kid in his, what, sixth career national? He would go outside without carrying more speed, he would go inside in the same rut as Minear, his attempts at passing before the RC tunnel jump were just weird and I imagine HRC guys were pulling their hair out. Anyways, Jo got on the box and again hasn’t had that “Jo” type of ride yet either, so I guess it’s fine.
Levi Kitchen held onto the red plate after a day where he crashed and also went backwards early in the motos. He salvaged his day but rough one for Kitch for sure. Going 6-5 and getting the fourth best points total on the day tells you all you need to know about the 250 class this year.
Super bummed for Seth Hammaker. I was saying on the show a couple weeks ago that I thought he was a little like a mini-Hunter Lawrence in that he’s in shape, he’s fast and he’s not going to hurt himself. I really thought the crashes were a bit behind him but in High Point, well, we all saw what happened. Weirdo Larry Loopout and he might be out for a bit. Hopefully not but man, that was weird. Just another thing I was wrong about!
Out of all the Star Yamaha kids not named Cole Davies, it seems like the young Aussie Kayden Minear might be the next best one? His third in moto two was good, he’s been very consistent while Cade Dudney has been better OA, Landon Gordon has run up front a lot more, Carson Wood passed a lot of riders in one moto and has a top ten, but Minear’s got steady rides and is doing pretty well. It’s still way early in the process of who’s going to stick and who isn’t but so far, it’s maybe the most unheralded rider that is doing it.
Like we’re waiting for Ferrandis in 450’s, we’re doing the same with Chance Hymas in 250’s. He had an okay second moto at High Point, he was sick at Lakewood, and he’s got a couple of top fives in motos. He’s rebounded before well from injury but man, you just never know and right now, we don’t know if he can get his old magic back.
Thanks for reading OBS from High Point, we got a week off and then it’s time for America’s 250th birthday and REDDDBUUUUDDDD! Email me at matthes@racerxonline.com to chat about this or anything else.
