ChapMoto 2018 Supercross Race Recap Week 7
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?
https://youtu.be/1yDmFK_AMu8
TS: Zach Osborne, starting off the 1st round of
the East Coast series right with a Main event WIN!
MM: Wacko Zacho Osborne of the Rockstar Husqvarna
team getting his 250E title defense started off right. He was very
aggressive the whole night and looked to make a statement to
everyone that he plays for keeps!
TO: Jason Anderson is the only big name title contender that hasn't
made crazy mistakes. Jason had the best night/season so far!
KB: In the 250 class, Ozborne the reigning champ
came back out and took the 1st win. He was stoked and he deserved
it. In the 450's I'm going with Tomac. He rocked his hole shots and
really rode out the win, 3rd of the season. He has had some rocky
races this year, but this was a great win for Tomac.
EE: Osborne has my vote. He tucked his frontend in
the 25o Main and shuffled back to fifth, but yet battled back to
take the win and retain the red plate.
Who had the toughest night?
TS
: Martin Davalos. It's unfortunate to say the
least, considering it's his 11th year in the 250 class.
MM: Barcia Barcia Barcia for getting landed on by
Tyler Bowers and breaking a bone in his hand causing him to be on
the bench for a few weeks.
TO: Martin Davalos- Fastest in practice, won his
heat race and then taken out in the first turn. Ouch. Barcia also
had a tough night. Bummer for both these great riders.
KB: Justin Barcia with his broken hand. Hopefully
he can make it back out... but to be taken out by a freak
blindside, that's no fun!
EE: It's really getting ridiculous. Almost too
many people to list but I think this award has to go to Barcia for
obvious reasons.
Did anyone surprise you?
https://youtu.be/Q8x7YZboS4I
TS: Eli Tomac. I'm more confused with Eli than I
am surprised. Confused about the fact of how inconsistent he
is....
MM: Jimmy Decotis of the JGR Suzuki
team for his first podium in his 250 career.
TO: Tomac. He is so up or down. If he rode like he
did this last Saturday night without mistakes he would win the
championship no problem.
KB: My buddy Chad Reed continues to surprise me.
His heat race was awesome... then mid pack for the main. I am used
to it... but I totally thought he was feeling the track and was
going to pull harder in the main. Let's go Reed!
EE: No not really.
Who had the worst spill?
TS
: It's a tie between Barcia and half the 250
class that went down in the first corner.
MM: This has to go to that 250 guy that was punted
off of the track and spun out trying to re-enter the track. That
concrete floor looked more slippery than a politician.
TO: Davalos in the first turn pile up.
KB: The 250 Main hole shot taking out a dozen or
more bikes! That was nasty!
EE: It's a tie between Davalos and Shaw. That
first turn mash up was pure mayhem! I have watched the replay over
and over and I'm still not sure how he made it out without serious
injuries. As for Shaw, man that was just a really tough break. He
had a transfer spot out of the LCQ in sight and it all went
crashing down.
Best pass of the night?
TS
: Zach Osborne had some of the best passes,
making his way to the front in the main event.
MM: Pretty much any 250 pass in any race in Dallas
was RAW, like my sushi! Too many to name off.
TO: Zach Osborne on everyone in front of him.
KB: I really liked all of the block passing. It
was like a hockey match out there! One specific pass did not stand
out to me when watching, but I loved the action and the energy.
EE: That pass that Anderson put on Wilson in their
heat race was sweet.
Best battle?
TS
: The best battle was the 450 points race...
that's now come to a halt since Roczen & Barcia's recent
injuries
MM: RJ Hampshire of the Geico Honda team and
Austin Forkner of the Pro Circuit team in
their heat race.
TO: I like the 450 heat battle with Bowers, Peick
and Friese
KB: I love the battles in the front. The Ozborne /
Hampshire battle was great! Swapping places back and forth... that
is what I call racing!
EE: There were a couple good ones. The back and
forth between Webb and Musquin in their heat race was great. The
battle between Osborne and Hampshire was good too. I really liked
watching Anderson and Peick go at it too.
First turn pile ups, riders crossing lanes and running head on into each other, and riders losing control or getting knocked off track; there was a lot of mayhem Saturday night. Do you think it was the track design or are the riders just riding too far on the edge of control?
TS
: : I think it was the fact that it was the 1st
round of the 250 East coast. All the anticipation and nerves can
get a hold of you.
MM: All of the mayhem that took place in Big D was
the cause of two months of anticipation for the 250 East bros and
everyone was in Send It mode. The head on collision was bound to
happen once the track design was presented a couple of months
ago.
TO: It's a combination of faster bikes, tracks
breaking down as the night goes on and the riders having so much
pressure to perform. Look at Anderson this year. He's taken lessons
from Dungey and figured out you have to finish in the top 5 week in
and week out. It's a long season.
KB: I think it was a bit of both. The East guys
have been watching the West guys race for weeks and they have not
been able to participate. When the gates dropped it was ON and they
fought for it. I think the technical tracks are fantastic. I love
seeing the various riders find their "way through" and although
different in technique, they all put in a great moto.
EE: Thee tracks do seem to be getting pretty
technical and breaking down. I'd much rather see faster tracks
where there's more competition throughout the entire race rather
than just watching to see who can survive the corner let alone make
it to the finish line.
What's the bigger disappointment, Roczen out with a broken hand or Barcia out with a broken hand?
TS
: Both injuries are a big disappointment in my
eyes. Both Roczen & Barcia were second in point when they injured
they're right hand. (ironic)
MM: K-Roc is definitely the bigger draw for
Supercross but Barcia Barcia Barcia was starting to turn heads
again and it was a bummer to see him hurt and taken out for a few
weeks' time just as the best season of his career was happening.
Both are bad breaks for Monster Energy Supercross.
TO: Both had great stories this year. Comeback's
that had you cheering for both of them. It's bad for the sport that
they are both out.
KB: For me, Roczen and it is probably due to the
magnitude of the injury. I really want to see both guys back out
there. At this point Barcia will be back quickly I think and
according to the latest report, Roczen will be out another 6 to 8
weeks.
EE: I'm bummed by both of them being out. Both
those guys being out is a huge loss right in the middle of the
season for the sport.
We are nearly half way through the season and Anderson has a 36-plus point lead on Seely in second place; with a point gap like this and favorites like Roczen, Tomac, and Musquin far out of contention, this is when it's hard to keep some fans interested in the series, is there anything organizers can do to combat this?
TS
: If Jason Anderson has some type of bike
problem or crashes without finishing a main event.... that might
make thing interesting. As a fan of the sport, I'm not going to
stop watching just because the points leader has a decent lead.
Every weekend brings a different style track with different soil as
well. You never know what could happen! Heck, if Weston Peick stays
healthy and the top contenders keep crashing out... he might have a
chance at the championship!
MM: Without Feld Entertainment or Monster Energy
paying off El Hombre to sandbag a few races, we have to hope the
250E class is a barn burner. This is shaping up to be The Husky
Show starring El Hombre and Wacho Zacho for the next couple of
months until the series heads back West.
TO: I was hoping we would go into Las Vegas with
Tomac, Roczen, Anderson, Barcia, Seely, and Musquin all with a
chance at the Championship.Iit makes the series boring with the
outcome already pretty much decided. Hopefully the organizers learn
from this year and make the tracks safer next year.
KB: I think they should somehow give the fans a
little more insight into the lives of the "new favorites." Fans
follow their favs, and when they are out... the organizers need to
help fans find a new favorite. I hope that the new top dogs will
learn something from this experience and will step up their game so
that when the big dogs return, the race is a bit closer.
EE: I know motorcycles are dangerous and these
racers put their lives on the line week in and week out, but it
doesn't do the fans, the racers, or the teams any good if these
guys are constantly getting injured and sitting out one, two, three
races or entire seasons. Something has to be done, I just don't
exactly know what though. Tone down the tracks? Make the tracks
faster rather than more technical? Open up the lanes for more
passing? What I do know is this whole new point structure and
triple crown series means nothing if 1/4 of the field is constantly
in the pits waiting to heal up.
