250 Words: Hangtown
Tuesday, May 24, 2011 | 2:40 PM
GYTR (Genuine Yamaha Technology Racing) is Yamaha’s performance and racing accessory brand. GYTR products are developed and tested to the highest standards by Yamaha’s in-house factory engineers. Used extensively by the Yamaha Race Teams, these factory parts are readily available to every Yamaha rider.
Tweet
Advertisement | Advertise with Us
Share
Comment
Email
Print
You already know who won the races. But 250 Words looks back on the weekend again with another look from another angle.
With so many title contenders so evenly matched, it was hard to pick a favorite for the Hangtown win, let alone the whole 2011 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross 250 Championship. So we all dug into what little evidence we had to try to make predictions. Supercross, finished just two weeks ago, could provide a clue, and as a result, names like Barcia (the new East Region Lites Champ), Tickle (the new West Region Lites Champ) and Tomac (the close runner-up in Lites West points) came to the forefront.
We should have looked more closely. At the beginning of the night at the Vegas SX finale, Blake Baggett scored the win in the final East Region race of the year, making a last-lap pass on Ryan Sipes. Unfortunately for Blake, his win was quickly forgotten in the mix of Vegas races, including a wild, wild West title fight, the East/West Shootout, and the dramatic conclusion of the Supercross Class Title. By the end of the night, three hours later, Baggett’s win was forgotten, and the “who is going to win Hangtown?” talk focused on others.
As soon as Eli Tomac nailed the first holeshot of the season, it seemed like it was on. Tomac won Hangtown last year, and he was coming in with extra motivation based on coming up short on the supercross title. But motocross doesn’t always work that way—sometimes coming in extra pumped up makes things worse. For whatever reason, Tomac didn’t have the Hangtown 2010 magic this time. Instead, three riders who didn’t have the supercross season they wanted—Baggett, Dean Wilson and Tyla Rattray—feasted.
In a class this close, it’s simply too hard to make guesses as to who will win each week. No less than 10 riders could have come out on top at Hangtown without shocking anyone—in the case of Baggett, or anyone, these wins should not come as a surprise.
With so many title contenders so evenly matched, it was hard to pick a favorite for the Hangtown win, let alone the whole 2011 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross 250 Championship. So we all dug into what little evidence we had to try to make predictions. Supercross, finished just two weeks ago, could provide a clue, and as a result, names like Barcia (the new East Region Lites Champ), Tickle (the new West Region Lites Champ) and Tomac (the close runner-up in Lites West points) came to the forefront.
As soon as Eli Tomac nailed the first holeshot of the season, it seemed like it was on. Tomac won Hangtown last year, and he was coming in with extra motivation based on coming up short on the supercross title. But motocross doesn’t always work that way—sometimes coming in extra pumped up makes things worse. For whatever reason, Tomac didn’t have the Hangtown 2010 magic this time. Instead, three riders who didn’t have the supercross season they wanted—Baggett, Dean Wilson and Tyla Rattray—feasted.
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
I hope someone got fired this week for Barcia's and Tomac's bike set up. They are going to have a long season of Pro Circuit beatdowns if that keeps up.
HOLESHOT!!!!
NOT!!!
Tomac's bike looked fine he lead for awhile he just got winded. How do you tell with Barcia he pogos all over the place every race. He just made a mistake in the second moto. Geico is in trouble their main man moved to the 450 class.
Barcia's style didn't seem to mesh with the rough track. He looked sketch everywhere and you could see the crash coming.
LawnDart - I couldn't agree more. He looked really sketchy the whole time. He reminds me of a young JS7. really fast but really sketchy
Baggett riding reminds me of a young Pro Circuit 51 named Villopoto and Stroupe. It could be a breakout year for him. Barcia needs to settle down off the rev limiter and try to smooth out his riding, i'd slap him around if I was his mechanic!!
That's two years in a row Hangtown had a first time winner in the 250s.
Most of you guys probably never got to see Bob HURRICANE Hannah or Danny MAGOO Chandler in their heyday...
Barcia has a heavy dose of both Magoo & Hannah's Hang-on-and-just-Pin-it style of racing.
The rev-limiter protects the motor; I don't think anyone at Honda is too worried about it. Now it's become Barcia's signature/style and may even intimidate some guys he's closing in on to pass in a corner.
Whatever works..., and..., it would be boring as hell for the fans if ever guy rode the same way out there. Can't all be as smooth as KW14, can they?
@KG: I was around and both knew and rode with Magoo. He was an absolute fan favorite and always fun to watch much like Bam Bam. Unfortunately, much like Barcia, he spent way too much time picking himself up off the dirt to collect many titles. Today the competition is way too stiff to give away points on stupid mistakes. I think Barcia needs to smooth out and use his head a little more in order to become a consistent condender. In the meatime I'll enjoy watching him pin it to the rev limiter.
Bagget was on the gas, nobody was beating him at Hangtown.....
Barcia does ride alot like Magoo and Hannah...Funny thing is, so does Stewart yet people ridicule the poor guy (Stewart) to no end because he fukin goes for it..sometimes he wins sometimes he crashes, but I am sure there are alot of guys who back off and have no wins.......The overreving would be better if it was a 2 stroke.....4 strokes sound like ass when they over rev....
Barcia is going to need to change his riding style if he is evr going to do well outdoors.
When you ride at teh limiter like that you are compressing the suspension and missing out on the valuable useable stroke. This will make the bike kick and ride rougher than it needs.
While the suspension techs can try and valve for this there is not much yu can do as you are removing the spring from the equation.
someone please get that kid to shift up one gear everywhere.
There is no way (NO WAY) he will be able to transition to a 450 with a style like that. He will kill himself.
@KG "The rev-limiter protects the motor; I don't think anyone at Honda is too worried about it. Now it's become Barcia's signature/style and may even intimidate some guys he's closing in on to pass in a corner."
Well, he kept reving on Durham in the corners and it didn't seem to have any effect. I am not nor have I ever been a pro, so I'm assuming here, but that stuff can't be effective at the pro level. Pros pass with line selection, momentum and executiing in the corners. Reving it on guys and slaming them to get by are B class tactics.
@ DirtNapper,
I agree: Durham is one of those guys who is on the cutting edge of being a weekly top-5 guy; not a Barcia rev -limiter target, if you know what I mean...
and... Regarding Barcia's rev-limiter-busting antics...,
it still can rattle some of the back-markers who are not fighting for the podium, but rather, 21st through 40th...,
obviously it's not so effective on the top guy's (thought that was a given).
If a guy is a tittle twitchy, it can get in another guy's head a little bit.
Been there, done it, had it done to me, etc.
How did RC used to ride? He was always letting it hang out & pinning it everywhere. He had his fair amount of crashes, just never got seriously hurt. IMO.
@DirtNapper
... er...., a 'little' twitchy... ['tittle' ?!?]
@Open Class
Disagree with your theory. Hitting the rev-limiter does not further compress an already imperfect, non-sorted-out suspension set-up beyond just pinning it without hitting a rev-limiter. The two are not dependent nor always effected by the other.
Most of the noticeable rev-limiter 'moments' are either in the air or with the clutch in..., sometimes while under braking too.
'Pinning-it' on a "Four-stroke" or a 2-stroke, hitting or not hitting the RPM ceiling..., none of these will determine suspension dynamics, good or bad.
Damping, internal valving, spring choice, weight/mass of [cooling] oil, etc., are all measured to get the best possible result for a rider's riding style, weight, track conditions and so on...
Riding a completely different class of 'bike' having different power-band/torque/speed characteristics naturally demands some adapting from every rider who ever graduated from (in my day) a 125 to a 250 to a 500 and you either did it or you crashed your brains out. It's no different with today's 250f's & 450f's.
Barcia is, at the moment, a better SX rider than Outdoor MX...,
I think he will smooth out and get in a groove as the season progresses and has the skill and desire to one day ride a 450f well...,
maybe even better as he grows into in a few seasons.
Honestly it's fun as hell watching Barcia ride. I see absolutely no reason for the guy to change at all. Regardless of what anyone on their couch thinks, he still just a kid, still having fun, and still riding in the pro class ( I guarantee no one giving him advice on here is even in his league ). I hope that he keeps putting on a show cause I'll keep watching.
Keeping the bike in the rev limiter is like coasting. The bike isn't accelerating at all. Looks good to uneducated spectators, but in truth, he's only coasting.
If he kept it on the pipe without revving it into the rev limiter like that, i.e. upshifting one more time at the ends of the straights, he would pick up 1.5 seconds a lap.
Keeping it into the rev limiter is less physically demanding, and it's kind of an amateurish thing to do - it's like coasting into the turns - but it's costing him lap time. He's not riding at his full potential when he's comfortably nestled into his rev limiter. Come on, Barcia. Somebody on your team has GOT to be telling you. Listen! Practice making that extra upshift and that extra downshift at the end of those straights! You're killing your lap times! You've got to get disciplined to take it to the next level! Your laziness is costing you 1.5 seconds a lap! That will cost you a title sooner or later if you don't master that skill! Dedicate yourself to taking care of that, because that is your most glaring flaw that is costing you the most lap time.
Wilson goes 1,1 for serious redemption at freestone.
Leave it to jairtime to come up with the most idiotic comment in the history of keyboard commandos. I've seen him throw some pretty ridiculous comments out there about Stewart, but this one takes the cake.
Did you go out and collect some data at the practice track w/ Barcia? Did you measure his lap times, first with him shifting at a time you deem appropriate, and then not shifting at all? Man, you really do know your stuff, down to 1.5 sec/lap. One has to wonder, with all that knowledge contained in that head of yours, how you haven't owned/operated a championship winning team. You, sir, are a newb.
Had a buddy that rode the same way! whata waste of revs!!
@Gills
To your 95% accurate point..., "no one giving him (Barcia) advice on here is even in his league" ... How ironic is it that your post was followed by..., ADVICE! That is possibly the most ironic follow-up post ever..., and completely lost on the person posting it. No big surprise, considering the source.
Barcia has only known one throttle position since his 85cc days and earlier. Lot's of guys have done it [2 stroke/pre-rev-limiter years] throughout the sports history; over revving is not exactly a new phenomena.
For all anyone knows, the 'keep the throttle in the 'Pinned' position/fan the clutch when necessary' technique Barcia uses might also be easier for a guy who's raced through wrist injuries -and useful to keep from stalling the bike in certain circumstances too.
But really, a 1.5 sec detriment to his lap times...?I don't think so, Idiot. For someone to presume he knows what Barcia needs to do to 'take it to the next level' and that his technique is being handicapped by 'laziness'...? You are a J@ck@ss.
Jairtime..., why do you keep pretending to know so much but prove to know so little with your inexperienced observations and half-wit comments!?
Do you know anything about gearing & sprocket selection and the trade-offs for such decisions? And stop repeating your same point over and over in the same post.
A completely laughable quote from a clown who knows a lot less than he thinks he does about racing..., especially considering the fact that Barcia just won the East Lites Crown. Thanks for giving us a good laugh (again).
dude!
I really dislike seeing all the hate that goes on in these forums, but Dak446 comment was hell funny. I'm still laughing.
I guess you think each AMA pro does everything as perfectly as it can be done. Funny that you think of them as Gods. They all have room to improve. A lot of people notice that Barcia is hurting his lap times by constantly over-revving. On four strokes, it's more of a penalty to over-rev than on two strokes. Sure, he won a title, that's great. He could have done it by a larger margin. If you don't know that over-revving is bad for your lap time, you must be a novice.
Everyone's a pro on these stupid posts aren't they? The day you beat someone in a race is the day you might be able to give advice to that person you just beat. Surprised half of you keyboard jockeys even know how to start a lawnmower never mind a dirtbike...
Keep polishing that 'terd' of an argument, Jairtime. It suits you well.
Let us all know when the AMA record books start keeping 'stats' on the margin of victory a rider has in winning a title, Jairtime.
You bring a terrifically novice p.o.v. every time you say word 'one' on these posts. It's like watching someone self-destruct. Always comical; keep those antics comin' !
It's going to be Wilson, Baggett, or Barcia for the win this season. Whomever stays the healthiest. Should be an awesome season for the 250s!
Musquin will come back swinging in a couple of rounds. From 40th to 6th in the 2nd moto? A good start is the key!
Man, both of KG's posts are perfect. jairtime couldn't make himself sound like any more of a C rider if he posted pictures of his visor angled down covering his twisted up goggles, elbows down, hanging off the rear fender doin a rooster-tail