ChapMoto 2018 Supercross Race Recap Week 6
Last year we started a new
series called the ChapMoto Supercross Race Recap, where several
Chaparral Motorsports employees gave their thoughts on the past
weekend's Supercross event. That series was so fun and popular that
we decided to keep it going. It's a pretty simple concept; we pose
about 8-10 questions to the group regarding the evening's
activities, highlights, and lowlights and they reply with their
thoughts. This is meant to be a casual, fun, and lighthearted
series.
The Chaparral Motorsports staff (and one outsider) consist of:
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.
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.
Kyle Bradshaw (KB): Chaparral Motorsports Marketing Department. The
newest team member, Kyle is a highly experienced offroad/ADV/dual
sport rider who splits his seat time between his stable of KTMs and
his custom Honda VTX1300.
Eric Ellis (EE): Chaparral Motorsports Marketing Department/Social
Media. Eric is just a Harley guy who likes to watch Supercross.
Who had the best night?
TS
: The #1 of Justin Hill finally got his first
win of the year. He was patient, yet aggressive the entire day.
MM: The best night goes to El Hombre for winning
the 450 main and extending his points lead. He can now take a night
off if he wanted to and still have the lead.
TO: Jason Anderson. He's riding really good this
year, but more importantly, he's not making all the stupid mistakes
his competition is making!
KB: Justin Hill. He has not yet this season done
anything exciting. Has been a no-name out there... just riding
around. Sat night he won! Not only did he win, it was the first
time Suzuki has taken a win since 2013 if I am remembering
correctly. If so, best night goes to Hill and Suzuki!
EE: In the 450s it was Musquin. I think all the
discussion about the bump between him and Anderson the week prior
and all the questions about how it affects their relationship as
training partners finally lit a fire under his butt. He was looking
like Marvin of 2017 out there. In the 250s it was Justin Hill's
night for sure. As reigning 250 West Champ I expected to see him on
the podium a lot more this season. Not sure if he wasn't quite
dialed in with the
Suzuki RM Z250 or what, but it looks like he might have figured
it out now.
Who had the toughest night?
TS
: It's a tie between - Roczen, Tomac, Webb,
Seely, McElrath, Savagty, Martin, etc. #WelcometoSX
MM: The tough night is split between ET3 and K-Roc
for their DNFs in the main event. K-Roc has now injured himself
again and will be out for a while. ET3 is having the worst luck I
have seen.
TO: Roczen. He threw away a chance at the
Championship.
KB: Man... this could go to a handful of riders
this week! Before the event in practice Savatgy crashed and a track
worker picked up his bike and grabbed throttle ROOSTING his leg! No
way! Good thing he was okay! Bogle's 450 heat race crash left him
with a broken arm after Lamay's tire contacted Bogle's helmet and
then his arm, making them both crash off the track. No bueno! Then
there was Hoeft's crash in the 250 LCQ. He landed on his feet, but
it looked painful! At the end of the 250 LCQ, #138 was in 2nd place
and was pushed off the track by 2 Kawi riders! My wife was
literally crying for him she was so sad. "It isn't fair" she
sobbed... And then Roczen... getting his arm jammed between the
swingarm and the wheel shredding his gear! No thank you. Pretty
crazy night of racing! It was entertaining.
EE: Bogle, Roczen, Tomac in that order. Bogle=
tough crash, injury. Roczen= tough crash, injury could have been
much worse. Tomac=I have no idea what happened but it's not looking
good for ET3.
Did anyone surprise you?
TS
: Ralph Shaheen surprised me, he wasn't wearing
a pink or purple shirt....
MM: Justin Hill of the JGR Suzuki squad for
finally showing up in the 250 main event and scoring a win.
TO: Anderson just keeps surprising me week after
week.
KB: My Buddy Mr. Reed #22 pulled off a 2nd place
start! Well, before the red flag...Which resulted in a mid-pack
start for the second attempt. I was hopeful for a couple laps. And
then the candle was blown out... Sorry Chad. I was rooting for
you!
EE: Musquin. Since his injury he hasn't ridden
with the same speed and determination, but he turned it all around
on Saturday night.
Who had the worst spill?
TS
: Ken Roczen for sure. Cooper's real wheel
gobbled his arm up! Be thankful it wasn't his left arm... that
could have been career ending!
MM: The worst spill of the night is perhaps Justin
Bogle getting landed on by Ben Lamay which resulted in a broken
arm. Bogey had doubled the triple jump section and Ben had already
committed to the triple jump in the first lap of the 450 heat two
race which resulted in a red flag restart. Honorable mention goes
to K-Roc for his run in with Cooper Webb and Broc Shoemaker for
breaking his A-Kit Showa fork in half after cartwheeling through
the whoop section in his practice.
TO: Roczen, Bogle, Tomac, take your pick.
KB: Natural spill or forced spill? Man there we a
lot of spills in SD this past weekend. I touched on most of them in
the Toughest Night question.... and if Worst Injury was in
question, I'd have to give it to the broken Bogle who is probably
in surgery as I type... But
EE: Bogle. He was just getting used to being back
on the line after being sidelined with the concussion and now he's
out again. Bummer.
Best pass of the night?
https://youtu.be/aanL5jXAvSk
TS: Baggett punting Seely off the track late in
the main event!
MM: Cooper Webb on K-Roc in the 450 main event
just before they got tangled up.
TO: Hill in the 250's
KB: My favorite pass of the night was in the
beginning of the second 450 heat race where Webb passed Musquin. He
just cut right in there, it was textbook! Then as the night
progressed, Cinciarulo passing his teammate in the air was awesome!
And then.... what became my favorite pass at 3:45 left in the 250
Main, Hill laid a pass on Cincerello and then it was ON and quickly
turned into the best battle of the night, Hill vs Cinciarulo.
EE: The pass El Hombre made on Seely to take the
lead and win.
Best battle?
https://youtu.be/ZdGKpCnjP5Y
TS: Hill vs. Cianciarulo in the 250 main
MM: Cole Seely and "El Chupacabra" Blake Baggett
trading passes in their 450 main event.
TO: Hill & Savatgy
KB: Hill vs Cincerillo hands down. Major game of
Cat and Mouse with the two riders swapping places and battling it
out. Great racing!
EE: In the 250s I enjoyed watching the Cianciarulo
and Hill go at it and in the 450 you couldn't beat the
Seely/Baggett battle. Those guys traded positions like five or six
times. It was great!
What did you think of the incident between Cooper Webb and Ken Roczen?
TS
: It's unfortunate. 100% a mistake on Kenny's
end. Something he will truly regret when the season is over.
MM: K-Roc had a mental lapse of judgement when he
tangled with Cooper Webb. Coop made a fast aggressive pass and
K-Roc looked to return the favor in the next corner, instead he
looped out and tore up his right arm with Coop's bike resulting in
a DNF and ending his title hopes.
TO: Fighting over a girl? Crazy!
KB: Roczen needs some more practice before pulling
BamBam moves on Race Day.
EE: I know there's been some off track kerfuffle
between the two, but really I don't think what happened to Roczen
was a result of any kind of aggression or attempt at retaliation
for the pass Webb had put on him the turn prior, as many have
speculated. In my rudimentary knowledge of Supercross and from my
armchair quarterback analysis it looked as though Roczen went into
the turn one lane below Webb, his rear tire lost traction/slid
outward which upset his balance and caused him to roll back hard on
the throttle and lose total control of the bike. In the press
conference after the race, Baggett commented on how the track was
moist and slick and that they were always getting wheel spin.
That's what I saw: loss of traction, wheel spin, hook up, loop out,
and then Roczen's hand playing Webb's rear spokes like a
Ukulele.
Eli isn't having the season many expected. Just bad luck or do
you 
think there is more to
it?
TS
: I think it's a combination of bad luck along
with issues within Tomac's head. He's proven to us twice this
season that he can block those issues out, but ultimately he needs
to be more consistent.
MM: I think it is a combination of both bad luck
and pressure to perform and to be "the guy to beat". His
championships hopes are all but gone now with his DNF in San
Diego.
TO: Bad luck? Or do you make your own luck?
KB: Bad luck for sure... and maybe a hint of "I
deserve to be up there" thinking is allowing the universe to use
him as an example? Either way he has a lot of ground to make up
when it comes to wins and points.
EE: I don't know what's going on with Tomac, but
it's not good! I read somewhere that he had ripped his grip after
going down in the first turn at the start of the main and that he
had bike issues. I was in the stands and all I saw was him ride
into the pits, speak with his mechanic/team, and then blast away
into the tunnel never to return. If he had issues with his
Kawasaki KX 450F it was hard to tell. Webb had bike issues too
after that mix up with Roczen and I saw him ride into the
mechanic's area two or three times and at one point he was off the
bike kicking the front wheel/end and then jumped back on the tack
to salvage a few points.
Predictions for first race of the 250 East?
TS
: Zach Osborne
MM: Wacko Zacho Osborne of the Rockstar Husqvarna
team to sweep the 250 East class starting next week. Write it
down.
TO: Davalos
KB: Being a NorCal boy... I have never really
followed the East series. I am pretty stoked to follow this year
and to learn their riders and programs.
EE: My money is on Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull KTM
rider Jordan Smith. He was right up in there last season with
Savatgy and Cianciarulo and was only 12 points behind east coast
champ, Zach Osborne. He should be primed and ready to jump out the
gate and take the win.
