Racer X Notebook: Daytona
Tuesday, March 8, 2011 | 3:50 PM
Matrix Concepts is based in Valencia, California founded in 2009 and is used by the top MX/Off-road race teams in the world and offers a complete range of track/garage necessities that include personalized off road motorcycle Stands, Loading Ramps, Tie Downs, Tool Boxes, Utility cans and Worx Mats.
Tweet
Advertisement | Advertise with Us
Share
Comment
Email
Print- This Daytona track was unanimously voted harder and more physically demanding than last years. Lap times were about 10-12 seconds longer that last year, and the overall race time for race winner Ryan Villopoto went from 21 minutes 36 seconds last year to 26 minutes 40 seconds this year.
- “It was really tough, rough and demanding,” said Chad Reed in the post race press conference. “More so than last year. I liked it, though. This is the way Daytona is supposed to be.”
Reed enjoyed the typical rough and tough Daytona track.
Photo: Simon Cudby
- Bike setup is tough on this track, since it’s somewhat of a hybrid supercross and motocross track rolled into one. “You have the breaking bumps and holes like a motocross track, but you can’t soften it up because you have to be able to handle the supercross obstacles,” says Pro Circuit’s ace suspension tuner Jim “Bones” Bacon. “The main thing we do is bring the front of the bike up, maybe by going to a lighter rear spring to get the back end to settle down. You need the front up for those bumps. If we set the bike up with the front end high last week in Atlanta, you’d wash out the front end in every corner. Here we have good sand and traction and ruts so washing the front really isn’t a big issue, so we can run the front high.”
- TwoTwo Motorsports Bel-Ray Racing team manager Dave Osterman said they had a much, much different setup compared to a typical supercross race. “And we’ve never raced here before, so if we get it wrong, at least we have an excuse!”
- You may not think of the Lites race winner, Blake Baggett of California, as a favorite on a rough, sandy track like Daytona, but he actually rode with the leaders for most of last year’s race, finishing fourth, just five seconds off of race winner Christophe Pourcel. And speaking of Pourcel, the two-time Lites SX Champ returned to the scene at Daytona! Well, as a spectator. CP is back in Florida working on preparations for this summer’s Lucas Oil AMA Motocross Championship. Rumors have linked him to several Honda teams, but Pourcel would only answer the question in his typically dry, understated fashion. He said, “I don’t ride motorcycles anymore.”
Pourcel was out enjoying the racing at Daytona.
Photo: Simon Cudby
- Justin Barcia has officially broken his wrist. Two bones, in fact. He did in a crash near the mechanics’ turn last weekend in Atlanta. “I’m not going to hide it, I want the fans to know so they don’t talk trash on me if I’m only getting second,” he explained. Barcia rode on Wednesday for a photo shoot and said he felt okay, and he held on for second in the main event. He says he’ll spend the weeks between races off the bike trying to recover, and thinks the wrist will keep getting better.
- Ryan Sipes took third in the Lites race on his DNA Shred Stix/Star Racing Yamaha. “I want to give it up to Barcia, we had a good battle for second going for awhile and we kept it clean,” said Sipes on the podium. “We’ve had some problems in the past so it’s good to know that’s behind us.”
- Blake Wharton took fourth, withstanding a strong challenge from Matt Lemoine on the MotoExtreme Kawasaki. Lemoine caught Wharton but then stalled, and lost almost 20 seconds refiring. He finished ninth.
- Rockstar Suzuki’s Jason Anderson finished sixth, which was impressive, actually. The rookie bent his shift lever and was stuck in third gear for most of the race.
KTM is happy with their progress thus far in the season.
Photo: Simon Cudby
- The Red Bull KTM team is happy with their progress, putting three 350SX-Fs into the top ten, and four into the main event. KTM’s Ian Harrison says they really haven’t made major bike changes over the last few weeks, the riders are just pushing hard and learning to adjust to the new machine. KTM is thinking big picture on the 350 project so they’re not worried after some rough results in the first few rounds. And they’re ready to change if needed—team riders are allowed to race a 450SX-F outdoors if they so desire. The KTM bikes are so interchangeable, Ken Roczen’s wrench Carlos Rivera doesn’t even need to build a new bike when Roczen goes from 250 to 350. They simply put in a new frame and engine, and bolt up the same suspension components and everything else back up.
- Another rough weekend for Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Brett Metcalfe. He crashed twice on the same lap, once swapping into Trey Canard, and then crashing on the gator pit a few moments later. To give you an idea how much time he lost on that lap, Metty went from a 1:23 lap on lap 12, to a 2:10 on lap 13. He never gave up and finished 18th.
- Nico Izzi looked super fast in practice, and he had a good jumping combination into the gator pit. Izzi pinned his Kilbarger Racing Honda and jumped over the gap in the bottom, stepping right onto the table top at the bottom (James Stewart’s super fast line in the main event saw him jump from the table top at the bottom over the top of the next jump). Izzi was fired up and motivated all day—he says he’s back training with his dad like he did in his amateur days. Unfortunately, he crashed in a rhythm section in the main event. He got up a lap down and actually ran right behind the front runners to test his pace before pulling in.
Mistakes would once again cost Izzi in the main.
Photo: Simon Cudby
- By now you probably all know what happened to James Stewart in Daytona—holeshot, early lead, huge crash, fought back from last to ninth. But in case you’ve been living under a rock, that’s what happened. He got up right in front of race leader Ryan Villopoto but never went a lap down, staying in front of RV the whole way. Late in the race, a fan who had missed his big crash probably thought they were watching an exciting Villopoto/Stewart duel for the win!
- Check out today’s Racer X Bench Race Ammo. Things are looking good for Villopoto right now.
- Crazy night for Mike Alessi. He jumped the gate in the main and got stuck in it, so he had to roll back and start about last. He later went off the track and hit a flagger—who, contrary to rumors was not seriously injured—and then found himself in the top ten late in the race. Then he moved over for Stewart when the blue flag came out, because Mike thought Stewart was about to lap him. He finished tenth.
Did you like this article?
Check out HIGH/LOW
in our Latest issue of Racer X available now.
Each of the five major manufacturers had its ups and downs during the 2013 Monster Energy Supercross campaign. Page 118.
Look for the verified symbol 
Impulse Studios
Alessi hit the gate in the Heat race...not the main as he was riding down the side of the track with the Dunge.
I noticed in another publication, Reed was referred to as " Two Two Motorsport Honda's Chad Reed " and there seems to be a growing support of Reed by Honda...He is now parked next to Honda rigs....Taking part with Team Honda & Geico Honda autograph sessions.....full privateer style....Ironic as soon as Reed has a breakthrough perfromance at Oakland and after he thanks Honda before anyone else, he is running up front....hmmmmmmm... Osterman says " we never raced here before".....cut the crap....I know he is joking, hopefully.....but seriously
Yeah Reed's gotta be raking in the money somehow, he's not just burning up his money to race. He's making money.
I read on here that just his winners purse and Honda contingency money from his win earlier this year netted him $24K.
Villopoto rode smart to just pace himself and maintain the gap on the 2nd place rider and ignore Stewart, who was only trying to get some front-of-the-pack face time when he was almost a lap down.
I think Stewart was getting tired after 6 laps when he crashed due to his unsustainable pace, and when he got back up, he settled into a more reasonable pace where he wouldn't get so much arm pump. Let's face it, he wasn't riding that first 6 laps at a pace he could sustain for 20 laps. That's why he made the mistake! He had arm pump and was getting winded by over-amping and his timing was off as a result.
Lol jairtime strikes again. You are a poor excuse for a motocross fan. You clearly have no idea what you are talking about and it reflects in every one of your posts
tomktm, twotwo motorsports costs for every race are probably at least 10 times more than the $24K you say he got at S.D. Very funny dak446, jairtime certainly spreads it on thick there, hopefully he's not misinforming too many newbies or casual fans with nonsense similar to this.
the 7 takes the curves at a much higher rate of speed than the other drivers. IMO, if the other drivers would increase their speeds in the curves it would make them fast like a drifter!
Dak & Joe, what's your explanation for Stewart augering in on a simple triple on lap 6? Isn't Stewart above that? Surely that triple wasn't too difficult for a man of his skill.
Arm pump. It happens to anybody who over-amps and sets too fast a pace. On a track like Daytona, with kickers, square-edged bumps, rough sand whoops, a long track, stiff suspension settings too stiff for a lot of the bumps, and a track that's a lot rougher than the groomed SX tracks they're dialed in for right now, it's totally understandable that an over-eager rider who's trying too hard would get arm pump in six blistering laps.
Certainly your golden boy isn't such a novice that he would crash on such a simple triple due to a lack of skills. It was arm pump! Nobody is immune from that.
Stewart had about as much chance of running that pace for the entire race, as a one-legged man has of winning an ass kicking contest.
Or...
Stewart has as much chance of running that pace for the entire race, as Matthes has a chance of shoving a pound of melted butter up an eel's ass with a hot soldering iron. - quote of a famous MX publication editor
Simple triple jump? Did you see anyone else doing that jump constantly? You are sadly mistaken if you think anything on that track was ' simple'. Do you honestly believe the garbage that you incessantly spew? He survived a wreck that would have made 99.99% of people who have ever thrown a leg over a motorcycle lay in the dirt hoping for the medical crew to scoop them up.
fan out not, you know as well as anyone else watching that js7 has one hell of a heart.
I promise you Stewart didn't have arm pump, brain pump maybe. In case you haven't noticed Stewart has had more head scratching, unexplainable and some just plain stupid huge get offs than any top rider, probably ever. And some pros never have arm pump issues.
Actually dak446, I'm pretty sure everyone tripled that jump every time. Like two straights before that one there was a rhythm section that everyone else was going double\ triple and James was the only one going triple\ double ( Windham did it a few times late race) which looked much faster.
J airtime , with his moronic comments , strikes again and again, fan maybe , racer ,doubtful
No late in the race people stopped doing it. It was a sketchy jump that was inconsistent at best, and there was little room for error there and everywhere else on the track. It may not have been super hard compared to the other stuff he was jumping but it certainly wasn't easy
Jairtime how is it you know everything? Did JS7 phone you up to complain about arm pump? or was it just you're spidey sense? Stick to reading comic books, because If you watch and pay attention as he approaches the jump he clearly intends to seat bounce but his front wheel misses the face which caused the bike to catapult him the way it did. Again stick to comic books....
HEY! jairtime I'm the only idiot on here check out my last post! Jeesh how bad is a guy when my posts look better? I should go to a different site now because it seems like anyone can be stupid on here now.
I'd say that JS7's wheelie was most likely a result of the following ingredients:
1. A 60 hp bike (I'm guessing, it might be a few less)
2. 2X4-stiff forks hitting a bump
3. He was probably in such a good "groove" that he relaxed and didn't even think something like that was possible. I'd say that is a lot more likely than arm pump.
A very reliable source told me that JS7 saw a hot monster girl checking him out so he popped a wheelie up the face of the jump for her, but it didn't work out so well for him or maybe it did as she would have given him a great deal of sympathy after the race
Can't wait to see Pourcel back to racing!!! He has a great style on the bike and he should push a lot more this 2011 season... some things to prove on his side!!!!
Stewart having arm pump?? I think each one of those top guys don't know what that is since they were 14 years old!!!
Too bad for Izzi, better luck next time!!!!
Dak446 do you have a pro card, cause you seem pretty skilled? (sarcasm)
lol james stewart with arm pump? your joking right? if u have SEVERE arm pump your not gonna get up after a gnarly crash and complete another 14 laps on Daytona at its most demanding conditions and STILL throw down the fastest lap. he fell cause his bike is fast as shit n he lost the front end up the face before that crazy ass triple, understandable mistake, now stop with this arm pump foolishness.
Just look at how out a shape he was at onadilla, the guy doesnt even trane, never did. i heard french guys dont even trane at all. Thats not how you win a champinship.
Very apropo username dumbass, acceptance is half the battle.
@jairtime your either full of HOT air or shit LOL. A couple years ago JS7 had that surgery that take something out in your arms so you cant get arm pump. The real reason he wreaked was becus he had alot of speed coming out of that turn an hit the gas a little too hard an rode a wheelie up the face of that jump, an anyone who's ever done that knows what happens. Exactly what did. You are clearly a JS7 hater an thats sad, that guy has alot of heart as do alot of other riders. In the feature try an be a little more classy when talking about someone who has done so much for the sport so many of us love.
I guess you guys are right. It wasn't arm pump.
It was a lack of national caliber seasoned rider ability, a lack of mental acuity, and a mistake. Hey, everybody makes mistakes. When a guy like Stewart tries to win practice, ride over his head to prove he's faster for six laps, then crash and get lapped so he can stay ahead of the series leader on the track to score some "look how fast I am" points, it shows why he makes those mistakes.
Look at all the followers he generates with that strategy. Gosh...with that strategy, one of these days he might want to go for a popularity contest title! Just think. He could run a #1 plate just for practice laps, since he's the champion of practice! He'll always be able to end any argument about race wins or championships with, "Yeah, but I had the fastest lap time at some races."
Being able to splatter and continue is cool, but it's like some fighter who can take a punch. All it says is that he has a thick skull and no defense, or in Stewart's case, a thick skull and all the consistency of extra chunky peanut butter.
There is no such thing as 'riding over his head'. That IS his head.
oh gooody trick made a comment and trick I am not making fun of you I know what you mean some of my best races I dont even remember whth I did nor how I passed 27 people in one lap. I was riding in another zone! and no it was not the 125 beginer class lol. no offense meant trick. I kike you dooood.
Stewart will bounce back. That's what champions do. That ride at Daytona was inspirational.