LA Supercross Spoiler

[shreddr]

anybody catch the race on CBS? what an awesome battle!! it is going to be an excellent season!!

[cageyar]

That's was one of the best I've seen in a long time.
My read on Stewart is he often makes a mistake when pressed - that and maybe conditioning but he had plenty of time to get ready.
Villipoto is looking hungry and fast.

[Chris Canning]

We only go Anaheim this week and that look good.

[signit98]

Except for his badly timed wash out, Stewart has - once again - shown the blazing speed that has branded him the fastest rider on the planet. He also showed some grit by picking the show off the ground and charging back to second place.

Here is what Pastrana had to say:

"Any way you look at it, he's the fastest rider ever to throw his leg over a motorcycle,"

With Stewart, it's very often feast or famine. The stats say that in 89 percent of his starts, he's either crashed or won. A few times he has managed to do both. He's crashed some 10 times while he was in the lead.

Good for Villopoto, though... he looks hungry! I agree, should be a fun season - let's hope nobody will get injured.

[BumbleBeemer36]

I caught it purely by accident - just it time for the final. I told my wife, just watch, Bubba will go down while he's in the lead. Sure 'nough. Poor kid.

But then getting all the way back to 2nd? How awesome was that?

I was bummed for him but I guess he's probably used to it by now.

[cageyar]

No doubt Stewart is fast and his line selection is very aggressive - he caught Dungey out several times.
But Villopoto started 9th and was reeling Stewart in before he tipped over. Stewart's been fast for a while but Villopoto has matching speed this year.
Dungey going to have to click it up a notch if he's going to hang with these two.

[bradzdotcom]

interesting dynamics and techniques.

stewie is always faster when he has to come from behind. if he gets a holeshot, he zips out front, then starts thinking, then falls down.
dungey is letting himself get slapped around. he got a bit more aggressive this weekend, but he still got knocked around.

of the three, villopoto is the only one doing things very differently.
if you watch carefully, you'll see that he often rides with his toes on the footpegs, where the other two ride their feet further forward....putting the pegs more under the arch.
most of the time, Poto's big toes won't reach either the shifter or brake pedal.

this not only allows him to turn the bike easier, but it puts more body weight down low. he's turning the bike more through the pegs, less through the bars. it's more precise and if either wheel starts washing out, it's easier to correct.

that's part of the reason he has such good corner speed. the weight is down low and it's easier to re-point the bike if necessary.
he also doesn't get caught up in the brake/shifter like the other two do. there's a bit more foot shuffling going on, but i think his is a better method and seems to be panning out.
i didn't see him doing this a couple of years ago, so i wonder if it's something he discovered during his comeback from the munched leg (which is only at about 80% right now). marty tripes used to ride on the balls of his feet. worked for him too.

anybody catch ralphie's apology about the rear wheel sensor on stewie's bike?
yamaha had a snit fit about last week's broadcast portraying it as possibly cheating. yamaha made sure the ama official and ralphie both explained on air that data aquisition is legal in practice and qualifying, but not during the race.
i guess spending a few million for tv spots between the race action probably gets you a fair share of attention when you complain.

[bradzdotcom]

bit of an update.

after the shock and awe of villopoto's kawasaki and it's launch control, and the myth that stewie's yamaha was using traction control, we have the first gadget/gismo sighting on the hondas.

trey canard's clutch:



seems to perform the same function of setting engine rpm until the sensor realizes the clutch lever has been dropped.

yet, using a sense of humor and gutting some off-the-shelf honda parts, the data saving unit they're using in practice and qualifying is stuffed underneath a plain old hour meter...which still retails all its functions.




can't wait to see what secrets get revealed this saturday....suzuki has yet to raise their skirt.