Five Takeaways From Supercross Round 6 At Minneapolis
In years past we've recapped each Supercross race with a series of
questions posed to several of our Chaparral Motorsports employees
and industry insiders. This year we've decided to change things up
a bit and will be posing questions to you guys via our Facebook and
Instagram (@chaparralMoto) pages, so be sure to head over and give
us your thoughts on our questions. For our blog we are going to
give our insight on the Top Five Takeaways from each race. A mix of
highlights, lowlights, or just random observations; you'll get to
read what we saw, or what we thought we saw.
Editor's note: I have never raced dirt bikes, so I have no
personal experience as to the grit and grind these guys sacrifice
their bodies to week in and week out. But I love watching the races
and respect the hell out of each and every one of them for putting
their lives and livelihood on the line each and every time they
roll up to the starting line.
#LimeGate
Rash and thrash hit riders and bikes after the San Diego race in
what has now been dubbed #LimeGate
across social media. In addition to the response that
Feld had in regards to the situations, it was good to see
Monster Energy Supercross Senior Director of Operations, Dave
Prater, get in front of the camera with Ralph Sheheen to discuss
the controversy. Sure it was a stilted and scripted interview but
at least he went on camera to acknowledge that they screwed up and
are trying to rectify the situation by taking care of the riders
and not using any more lime. I wonder though, is the $5K they
offered the riders enough to repair their bikes or make up for the
injuries they suffered? What about long term effects? I wonder how
the riders feel about the amount? Prater also stated that they
won't be using lime again and are reaching out for information on
other solutions that can be used to help create a safe track
environment, which is great to hear. Hopefully they find something
soon.
Musquin Makes Multiple Mistakes
Musquin had a good main even ride with a third place finish, but I
bet he wishes he could have had that heat race back. He was doing
great for the majority of the race trying to chase down the race
leader Justin Brayton and then around lap 8 everything went
sideways and Musquin hit the dirt three times in one lap to drop
from second to barely keeping himself out of the LCQ with an
8th place finish. Musquin is having a pretty good
season. He's tied for 3rd overall with Tomac and only
sits two points behind point leader Roczen. However, we about 1/3
of the way through the season and he has yet to make the top step
of the podium.
Mayhem Hit The 250 LCQ
No matter whether it's the 250 or 450 class, the LCQ races are
always some of the best events of the night program. The riders put
it all on the line for their one shot at the four available slots
in the main events. I don't know if it was because there was no
lime used in the track prep (do they use to use lime for the indoor
venues, I have no idea) but the track seemed pretty beat up, dry,
and really rocky in certain parts by the time the 250 LCQ started.
So you take a worn down track and 22 riders ringing it out trying
to get into the main and things are going to get interesting. And
they absolutely did!!
By the start of the second lap, Samuel Redmond was looking good
with a transfer spot lined up. He made brief contact with Lane Shaw
in the first turn which caused Redmond to temporarily lose balance.
He quickly regained composure but then completely lost it later in
the lap in one of the rhythm sections. Redmond ejected over the
bars and slammed into the dirt. He crawled off to the side tuff
block holding his head and thigh but apparently made it out of the
night with only some scrapes and bruises.
About ten seconds after Redmond went down Joey Crown and Shaw were
coming out of a rhythm section together and Crown jumped off the
braking bump leading into a turn and slightly got bucked off the
pegs. By the time he came back down he was pointed nearly
perpendicular to the turn and off the back/side of the seat which
caused him to whiskey throttle. He ended up blowing through the
tuff blocks at the top, launched over the lip of the berm, and
disappeared on the other side. It was pretty wild.
Then barely another ten seconds later with 3:20 remaining, Shaw and
Alves got together in the last turn and both went down. There was a
pack of riders immediately behind them and before he could crawl to
the sideline for safety Shaw got ran over by three different
riders. The first rider barely caught his leg, but the other two
plowed over him with both wheels. It looked pretty painful.
This all occurred on the same lap within about 30 seconds. It was
like watching a game of Twisted Metal!
Webb Stalked Savatgy
Cooper Webb had another great night in which he displayed his
patience as he stalked Joey Savatgy for 14 laps waiting to make his
move. Webb got a good jump and grabbed the holeshot but Savatgy
quickly took the lead and Webb settled into second. It was pretty
tough to pass on that track so Webb just steadily tracked Savatgy
and kept him within striking distance. Then after 14 laps Savatgy
made a slight mistake and Webb took advantage and rode onto his
third victory of the season. Webb has the most wins so far this
season but sits one point behind point leader Roczen.
You have to give it up to Savatgy because he really knows how to
make a difficult track to pass on even more difficult for those
behind him. Not only did Webb sit behind him for the majority of
the race, but once Web was gone Roczen pulled up behind Savatgy and
struggled to get around. It took Roczen nearly five minutes to
finally pull ahead of Savatgy and by the time he did he had the
Baggett and Musquin there as well and they both eventually put
moves on Savatgy as well.
When Will Roczen Win? Does Roczen Need a Win?
It's now been more than two years since Roczen has won a Supercross
race. The last race he won was in San Diego right before he had
that massive crash that nearly cost him his left arm. While Roczen
has the red plate and only a one point lead over Webb, he's been
all over the podium except for at the top. Roczen has been on the
podium more times than not this season but still can't seem to get
the W. His closest shot at a win this season came in round three at
Anaheim when he lost the first triple crown race to his rival Webb
at the very end of the race-it wouldn't have given him the overall
win for the evening but at least it would have been a win.
A one point lead isn't much, but at least it's worth the red plate.
The question is, can he go through an entire season without a race
win and still clench his first ever Supercross championship? It
would be an amazing feat. I did some quick research in the AMA Supercross archives
that go back to 2003, and in 16 years there hasn't been a racer who
has won the title without winning a race during the season.
The one rider that has come closest in the past 15 years to doing
this was Ryan Dungey during his final year of professional racing.
During the 2017 SX season Dungey only had three wins and squeaked
out the title with a four point lead over Tomac. It helps that
Dungey was only off the podium four times that season with all four
of those being 4th place finishes.
Roczen's worst finish this season has been 5th; whereas
Webb's worst has been a 10th. But as Dungey has proven,
domination doesn't win championships, consistency does.
