ChapMoto Supercross Race Recap Week 10: What We Saw In Daytona
This is a new series in which we will look back at
the past weekend's Supercross race and give you our thoughts and
perspectives on what we saw. We've posed several questions based on
the evening's events to a motley crew of Chaparral Motorsports
staff (and one outsider) and provided you with their answers and
insights.
A little background on the respondents in this series:
Dave Damron (DD): Chaparral Motorsports founder. Racer, team owner,
manufacturer, retailer. Dave has seen it all and done it all on two
wheels.
Travis Snyder (TS): Chaparral Motorsports Offroad Products and
Apparel Manager. Travis is one of our in-house moto racers. A Honda
guy, Travis is either at one of the local tracks or prepping his
bike for his next event.
Mike Medina (MM): Chaparral Motorsports Technical
Advisor/Communications Specialist. When Mike's not at the office
he's in the pits spinning wrenches for the Enticknap brothers, #722
Adam (The Seven Deuce Deuce) and #723 Tyler.
Eric Ellis (EE): Chaparral Motorsports Marketing/Social Media. Eric
is just a Harley guy who likes to watch Supercross.
The Outsider (TO): N/A. The outsider is not a Chaparral employee
but he is an industry veteran with a good perspective on the
inside.
Being that Chaparral Motorsport is part of the Monster Energy|
Yamalube| Yamaha Financial Services|
Yamaha Factory Racing team with two-time Supercross Champion
Chad Reed and two-time 250SX West Region Champion Cooper Webb
(making his debut in the 450 class this season) we focused a few
questions on the their performance. Also, we had the opportunity to
toss Reed and Webb a few questions in between their busy schedules
so you could get some perspective on the races directly from the
riders.
Let's start off with the questions we sent to Chad Reed and Cooper
Webb first. Since Cooper is still recuperating from his
shoulder injury we left him off the questions this week.
Reed:
How does racing in your backyard at Daytona affect your overall
mood and disposition? Are you more relaxed, or do you feel more
pressure?
CR: A home race is always fun. It's a nice, easy,
two-and-a-half-hour drive from my house in Dade City over to
Daytona, and with 17 races over the course of 18 weekends, it's
great to be able to sleep in my own bed on Saturday night after the
race. I definitely enjoyed it.
You looked good on Saturday night, got good starts in both the
Semi and the Main, and you rode really consistently. What did you
think of your evening?
CR: Daytona has long been a favorite event for me.
The team made great progress with a solution to help me with my
starts, but I'm extremely disappointed in myself for making a
mistake that cost me another podium. I'm focusing on the positives
from the weekend.
What We Saw
General questions:
Did anyone surprise you Saturday night?
[caption id="attachment_62501" align="alignright"
width="200"]
Photo: Honda Powersports USA[/caption]
DD: Jeremy Martin on the 450 was a surprise,
because in the Main he went the distance at a very strong pace for
a 2nd place.
TS: I want to say Jeremy Martin, but that kid is a
bad ass already. Anyone that didn't consider J-Mart on the podium
at the Motocross of all Supercross Tracks, then you've been under a
rock the past couple years. He's showed us that him and his Honda
250 don't work well together on a true SX track. What would really
surprise me is to see J-Mart on the podium in Indianapolis next
round! On that note, does anyone know if he's going to continue on
K.Roc's bike until west coast is back??
MM: J-Mart on the HRC Honda CRF450R leading the
450 main event for 12 laps keeping ET3 at bay was definitely a nice
surprise. I had hoped for good things from J-Mart for Daytona and
he delivered with a 2nd place podium which won me a free bar tab
Saturday night from my comrades.
EE: Absolutely! Jeremy Martin killed it Saturday.
What an awesome debut on the
Honda CRF450R. He had the second fastest lap time in qualifying
and then got the jump at the start of the main and was maintaining
Tomac for the first ten laps until Tomac saw an opening and took
it. Martin had a great race looked really impressive on the big
bike.
TO: Jeremy Martin
What was the highlight of the night?
DD: Other than Martin on the 450 It was great to
see Adam Cianciarulo win and go the distance and not fold under
pressure from Savatgy. Adam also used a different Dunlop tire he
used a Sand rear tire while Savatgy used the SX tire and I think
that helped Adam get a better drive through the sand better.
[caption id="attachment_62498" align="alignright"
width="300"]
Photo: Jeff Kardas
@kardyphoto[/caption]
TS: Adam Cianciarulo getting his first win since
2014! It was also nice seeing J-Mart lead 11 laps on a Honda at the
one Honda sponsored event, until the green machine of Eli Tomac got
sick of eating sand for 11 minutes. (see image)
MM: Although I loved seeing Kawasaki dominate the
Daytona Supercross presented by Honda, with ET3's win in the 450
class and Adam Ciancarulo's win in the 250 class, the highlight for
me was seeing the frenchman #108 Dylan Ferrandis get his first
podium finish in the 250 class for the Yamalube/Rockstar team. He
had a good week last week in Toronto and stepped his game up even
further to capture 3rd place. Bon Travail!
EE: It may be messed up, but the highlight of the
night for me was watching Dungey toss his goggles in frustration at
the end of the main. Not that I don't like Dungey, but it was good
to see him show some emotion. He's just always so subdued it gets a
little boring watching him. He doesn't get overly excited when he
wins and doesn't really let his emotions show when he loses (sure
it a mature a good face to show the kids, but you want to see the
guy is like us) so I liked seeing him get a bit
angry/frustrated.
TO: Jeremy Martin moving up to the 450's and
keeping Tomac at bay for half of the race and hanging on for 2nd.
Great Ride!
What did you think about Jeremy Martin's debut on the 450
Honda?
DD: He did a good job of riding the 450 after
qualifying 2nd he got a so-so start in his heat and had to ride the
semi for a 5th place but then came out swinging in the main Eli got
the hole shot but Jeremy hung tough and led the first 10 laps
before Eli got him but he hung on to finish a very respectable
2nd.
TS: Travis likes.
MM: J-Mart's debut in the 450 class was
impressive. I had him picked for a podium spot after watching
practice sessions at Milestone MX during the week and all through
qualifying during the day. The bike does not know he is sitting on
it for being such a little guy. 2018 Factory Team Honda needs to be
K-Roc and J-Mart. Seely is not cutting it for me.
EE: I loved it! He'll be a force to be reckoned
with once he makes the jump to the 450 class full time.
TO: If this is a preview of the outdoor nationals
J-Mart will be a podium contender.
Who had the toughest night?
DD: Chad had a pretty tough night having to ride
the semi but I think the toughest night belongs to Dungey but he
fought it right to the end making a last ¼ lap pass of Seeley to
get 4th.
[caption id="attachment_62503" align="alignright"
width="300"]
Photo: Honda Powersports USA[/caption]
TS: Ken Roczen. Having to watch J-Mart ride his
bike while sitting on the sideline. I'm having a hard time
believing that his arm will ever be 100% again... Prove me wrong
Kenny.
MM: The rider who had the toughest night or day,
goes to our friend #67 Jimmy Albertson on his privateer Suzuki
RM-Z450. In qualifying session number two Jimmy had a gnarly crash
which resulted in multiple injuries ending his season. First
reports are fractured vertabrae, a broken hand, and bruised lungs.
Get well soon Jimmy.
EE: That would probably be Jimmy Albertson. He had
a bad off in the qualifying and ended up in the hospital with some
pretty gnarly injuries. Sounds like he's got feeling all through
his body, which is great to hear.
TO: Marvin Musquin- 15th and dropping to 4th in
points.
How about Dungey? He was pretty frustrated at the end of the
main.
[caption id="attachment_62504" align="alignright"
width="300"]
KTM Factory Racing[/caption]
DD: Dungey just proved why he is a champion, he
never gave up and pushed right up the end.
TS: Well duh. I would be too! Being the points
leader and all, Tomac is truly making this a Championship race.
Dungey honestly got a horrible start and paid the consequences on
the toughest track of the season. I'm wondering if his goggle rep
gave him the necessary amount of tear-offs for starting in 17th
place. Or did he pull the whole stack on the first lap? Either way
he wanted no part of those goggles after the race.
MM: The Diesel flinched on the starting gate and
had the worst start of his season in 17th place after the first
turn. This was another damage control race for him and a sense of
panic was evident in his riding which was not caught on TV. He gave
a champions effort to claw his way back to 4th place with a last
second exchange for two more valuable points by passing Cole Seely.
These two points could become huge at the end of the season.
EE: Yeah not something we typically see from the
Diesel. Not sure why he was so frustrated he rode an incredible
race coming all the way back from a 17th place start to
finish fourth is really impressive-especially on that track.
TO: Dungey is very competitive and he knows he
lost valuable points.
Thoughts on Tomac's night? What do you think about his chances
at the title?
[caption id="attachment_62510" align="alignright"
width="300"]
Photo: Kawasaki
USA[/caption]
DD: Tomac is in the zone right now where
everything he's doing is working unlike the first couple of races
of the season when nothing was working. If he can stay in the zone
this championship will go down to Vegas.
TS: He better pray to the motocross Gods that him
and his Kawasaki
have no race issues. Eli is starting to realize Dungey's program is
one of the toughest to break. If these two stay injury free (knock
on wood), this battle is going to the final round in Vegas. Meaning
those extra 2 points Dungey received in the main event after
passing Seely on the final lap are going to be important.
MM: ET3 did exactly what I expected him to do at
Daytona. It may have taken 12 laps to get by J-Mart, but the
inevitable pass was going to happen. J-Mart did not have 20 laps in
him with being used to 15 lap main events. ET3 got maximum points
and a little gift from Dungey that could have been a huge gift. His
title chances are very much intact and The Diesel cannot have
anymore lapses like he had in Daytona.
EE: Tomac definitely showed why experience pays
off. Rather than forcing a pass he waited lap after lap until the
time was just right and then took advantage of it was gone! It was
another great night for the Kawasaki rider. I thought his chances
at the title were going to be a long shot, but that just might not
be the case. This is getting to be a real chase.
TO: Tomac is on the next level now. He will win
the championship if he doesn't make any major mistakes. Tomac is
setting himself up as the rider to beat outdoors also.
Reed questions
How about that loop out? What do you think happened
there?
DD
: It was unfortunate that he crossed up out of
the rut and while hanging on did the "whisky throttle" move, Chad's
unmanned YamaRocket almost took about Justin Brayton.
TS: Seemed like a simple mistake. He was lucky the
bike stayed running as well as nothing getting bent up. Solid
finish after that.
MM: Reedy got cross rutted going into the right
hand turn and ran over some tough blocks. His hand rolled off of
the throttle and torpedoed his bike into the traffic in the next
lane. Luckily Justin Brayton just missed being hit by Reed's bike.
Just a racing mistake. After the race, I found those ruts in that
corner to be knee high on myself, GNARLY!
EE: That was pretty crazy. Brayton got so lucky
because that could have ended his night real quick. Looks like Reed
just lost control and the bike shot out like a rocket.
TO: Whiskey throttle. Chad will make the highlight
reels with that crash.
Overall, what did you think of Chad's performance on
Saturday?
DD: Chad had a solid 4th place start and ran there
for the first eight laps then lost a couple positions and then had
his whisky throttle stunt, but he got back up and raced back up to
a 6th place finish.
TS: He rode awesome. Another great start in the
main with a solid finish in 6th.
MM: Reedy was having a decent day in qualifying
being the 12th fastest but we know race time is where its at. His
starts were getting better as the night went on and got into the
main event with a 2nd place in his semi race behind Vince Freise.
He got a great start in the main event and was pushing for a 3rd
place spot on Justin Brayton, but then the brain fart happened. He
got back up to 6th place to end his evening. It could have been way
better.
EE: Not too bad. He would have had a great shot at
the podium if it weren't for the slingshot. I feel like he's right
on the edge of getting a win.
TO: Chad looks extremely fast, but just isn't
putting together all the pieces in one night.
