Racer X Notebook: RedBud
Monday, July 4, 2011 | 12:35 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.
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Print- Even heavy rain on Friday couldn’t dampen RedBud’s sparkling reputation. The pits were pretty much covered in standing water by Friday night, and the track was soaked. In fact, the rain came in harder than predicted, so instead of sealing the track in, much of it had been ripped up, allowing the rain to do even more damage. Friday’s amateur racing on the national track was cancelled. But a good old dose of sunshine on Saturday took care of that, and most riders said the track was even fun by the first practice. By the motos, any thoughts of this race being a mudder were gone. As Brett Metcalfe explained, “It’s RedBud, you knew it was going to turn out okay.”
- Rain was expected on Saturday by around 3 p.m., but it never came. Clouds finally did roll in by the end of the final moto of the day—the second WMX moto—but they never opened.
- For the first time this year, the 450 class raced before the 250 class. Why? To fit their moto into NBC’s 5 p.m. Eastern live slot.
Hahn finished sixth overall in his first action of 2011.
Photo: Andrew Fredrickson
- Tough day for the GEICO Honda team. Wil Hahn finally returned to action after missing the entire 2011 season thus far with a broken back and broken shoulder, and he rode well, going 8-6 for sixth overall. But Eli Tomac missed the motos after crashing hard on LaRocco’s leap in practice, then getting clipped by another rider as he attempted to get up. Tomac took an ambulance ride to the hospital to be checked out, but he later returned saying he was bruised up, but nothing was broken. "I'm sore, but I'm all good," Tomac said. "I'm actually feeling a lot better. If it would have happened in the first practice I probably would have been able to race (in the second moto). I just feel lucky I didn't get injured." Justin Barcia led the first moto before crashing and then crashing again due to a front wheel problem. He finished 30th. For moto two, his kill switch wire malfunctioned as he was headed to the gate after the sighting lap. He was unable to start the moto. Lance Vincent once again showed great speed, but he got stuck in a muddy spot in moto one, pushing him back to tenth, then had a big crash in moto two, knocking him out for the day.
- Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jake Weimer holeshot the first 450 moto, but bike problems dropped him out of the race. He returned for a ninth in moto two, giving him 13th overall.
- Weimer got the start in that first moto, but Davi Millsaps made a quick pass and held the early lead. The Muscle Milk/Toyota Yamaha JGR rider hung on to finish third after Chad Reed and Ryan Dungey got by him. Unfortunately, Millsaps twisted his knee early in the second moto, and could only soldier on to a 13th place finish. His teammate Justin Brayton, in his second race this summer after returning from an ankle injury last week, logged 5-7 scores for sixth overall.
- The muddier soil conditions did make the 130-foot LaRocco’s Leap unjumpable for the 250 riders, especially since the third jump had been built up a little bit higher this year than last. For those wondering, Andrew Short was getting the Leap done like the rest of the 450s on his KTM 350 SX-F.
Weimer got the holeshot in moto one but could not make it last.
Photo: Andrew Fredrickson
- The MotoConcepts Yamaha team had two new members under the tent, with Jake Canada getting a boost after his strong performance for ninth overall last week in Colorado. He went 11-30 for 18th. Ben Lemay also joined the team and went 16-16 for 18th. Canada and Lemay are replacements for Christophe Pourcel, who was terminated from the team earlier in the season, for Kyle Chisholm, who is back on the mend as he is still struggling with injuries from supercross. Tommy Hahn got collected in the first-moto Villopoto crash and hit his head, so he was unable to continue. He came back in moto two but crashed early on an off-camber, putting him way back. He rallied to 12th.
- Young Australian Tye Simmonds was back in action for the J-Star JDR KTM Team after missing a few races with bronchitis, he turned in 17-15 scores for 16th overall on a 350SX-F. Australian veteran Michael Byrne broke a chain in moto one, but he put his BTOSports.Com/BBMX Suzuki into 11th in moto two, edging Simmonds with 15th overall.
- Who were the consistent guys at RedBud? Lucas Oil/Troy Lee Designs Honda’s Christian Craig went 10-10 for 10th overall in the 450 class, and DNA Shred Stix/Star Racing Yamaha’s Kyle Cunningham went 4-4 for 4th overall in the 250 class.
- Lots of folks were wondering why Brett Metcalfe was running a vest in the second 450 moto. Well, he wanted to wear it on the sighting lap, as the vest is chilled and keeps body temperature down. But he meant to take it off before the moto—he simply forgot to do it. Metty says he got really, really hot en route to fifth in that moto.
- Metcalfe is much happier with his bike setup now. He came into the year a little bit off of his usual pace due to a wrist injury, and now that he is getting faster, he’s had to revise the bike to match. “Things should be much better from now on,” explained the Aussie. “I had some ideas on what direction I wanted to go, but I finally just told these guys to use what they know, and they have the bike working awesome.”
Durham's hot streak continued with a sixth in moto one.
Photo: Andrew Fredrickson
- Metcalfe has a two-year deal with Rockstar Makita Suzuki so he is set for 2012. But rumors persist that Ryan Dungey is not coming back to Suzuki next year. Chad Reed continues to make hints about his team going after Dungey, but KTM is making a big push on the Dungey front, even bringing in global racing boss Pit Bierer to RedBud despite the brand’s European team racing a GP in Sweden.
- Privateer Honda rider Scott Champion went an unlucky-sounding 13-13 in his motos—but scored 10th overall. Nice job, Scott! Darryn Durham continued his run of strong riding with a sixth in the first moto, but bike problems knocked him out of moto two. And Sean Hackley scored his first points of the year with a 20th in moto one, and was running 14th in moto two until he ran into problems and fell back.
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Good racing all weekend!!! Cant wait for Pala and hopefully the titles come down to the last race !!!!
Hey Weege, LaMay got 17th overall.
Also, Deano jumped the leap on the sighting lap...although I'm sure you heard that by now.
Hey guys,
I often see pics of riders wearing Oakley goggles with roll-offs such as the one of Dungey in the intro pic. I have never ever seen a place to buy these. Do any of you know how to get them or if the public CAN even get them?
Was Barcia on Larocco's old cr250 on Sunday? It was a treat to watch for sure.
what happened with Licthle? I have not seen his name in a while till saturday,and now he is dead,whats the story racerX?
The coverage on NBC was to put it bluntly piss poor. Speed and CBS do a much better job by actually showing some of the racing. There was more adds and crap about other sports then there was racing. If they can't do a better job then this next time then they shouldn't bother, I know it is great to get live coverage but would they have gotten away with that kind of crap while showing a baseball game.
smith makes the roll-off system for the oakleys. you an get it from tucker rocky.
I saw a 60 minute infomercial with about 15 minutes of racing. Of that 15 minutes, the whole drama SHOULD have centered on whether Reed could get past Alessi. It determined the overall and the points leader losing/maintaining/adding to his point lead. We missed the pass, saw it in replay with an anecdotal comment. Wow.
Watched with a friend of mine and his family. Lots of skin, boobs, tight spandex, tattoos, endless "kidie-crack" energy drink promotions dressed up as special interest segments. I was embarrassed.
Where is BUBBA?????LAROCCO'S LEAP KX-125.BIG BALLS.
I told all my freinds to watch the riders go over the 130ft uphill leap as it would be "awsome" .., So how did the camera angle make it look like a 30ft double? Those cameras need to pan out some to give us some perspective, I guess the thought was some poor sole was going to case it and make for good TV....
I think the track looked like crap. Mud so thick, it was stopping the riders dead in their tracks in certain sections. And as far as Dungey and his team choice next year.... Does he want to make huge money from a signing? =KTM or some yamaha team. Does he want to get on really good equipment, and earn the big money? =Some kind of honda ride. The KTM is gonna damper his career with their pushing that 350, and If James cannot string together a good season on that yamaha, no one can. If James comes out next year on any other brand, Thats good proof the bike is no good.
Chad has got to be having the time of his life stringing together these wins against the young-uns. Nice job. Enjoy the Bahamas, well deserved.
@KTM300, I was at Red Bud when Stewie was racing his KX250, and he WAS NOT hitting Laroccos Leap every lap, I think he only hit it about 3 times the last moto. RC hit it every lap and did a no-footed can-can over it on his last lap. RV did it on his KXF250 during the same race that year. None of the 250 guys were hitting it Saturday.. Reed is looking pretty good, he is fast. The guys on here who think he isnt are lying to themselves or just haters. the guy is fast and can win this title, Straight-Up!!
they should have dropped the (Larocco Leap) name after 1996 when he didnt even jump it. and moved over in front of JMG so he couldnt do it ...
jmg fro and some others did it every lap....
Those 8 points Villopoto salvaged in M1 will be pivotal come Pala.
JimM
hey bd200 bubba did clear it on a kx125, I was there..... just sayin
@Nate
Thanks.
@ joshuamccollum If you would have seen how much it rained Friday you would not call the track crap, thanks RB crew for saving the race by working all night! Also its not the bike its James!
If the AMA is thinking they are making huge mainstream gains by having big networks like NBC covering a race they are sadly mistaken. The coverage is embarrassing. It down right sucks. And having Jamie Bestwick do coverage!! Give me a break. This tool has no idea what it takes to ride a dirtbike. Where is David Bailey? This is a step backwards for motocross.
the coverage on nbc was horrible, i would much rather watch it on speed or fuel
"The KTM is gonna damper his career with their pushing that 350, and If James cannot string together a good season on that yamaha, no one can. If James comes out next year on any other brand, Thats good proof the bike is no good."
Wake up dude, they ain't pushing the 350, its rider choice,in Alessi's case he chose the 450.
how about some coverage about the rider that died after the first moto? josh lichtle...
Just saying i think Micheal Byrne was the first to jump the leap on a 125. And as for the KTM 350 they are pushing it and i think that will change next year Alessi had to fight hard to ride the 450 outdoors.
only wat ive heard might not be true
Why is there nothing on Josh Lichtle????
Very disappointed in racer x.... If James Stewart farts they post it right away, yet it's now been two days since motocross lost a true fan loved rider and they haven't said one thing about it!!!
Jason did a great job as always this wk end. RIP Josh Lichtle.
Barcia was shredding LaRocco's '05 CR 250 2 stk Honda on Sunday's
Pro Sport event. He pulled out for the second moto's.
I see some posts about the track...gotta say Tim and his crew worked their
butt off Fri nite late and early Sat to get track racy after the hard rains on
Friday.
REDDDBUDDD.
Wit #27
Racer X is my favorite MX site and magazine in the world but I do not understand how there has been nothing posted about the passing of Josh Lichtle. Privateer or big star, this tragedy deserves mentioning for God's sake.
No notes on Villopoto? Coming from dead last to 9th on a bike that was borderline of being black flagged and then coming out Moto 2 and taking care of business.....Great ride for RV....Sorry to hear about Josh....and Dungey going to Two Two would be a mistake....I think their personlities would clash after a while.....
Racing was good... BB is the man.in 250's. So glad to BB running the show in the 250's....Glad neither Wilson or Ratray can keep up and BB expects to kick their asses...... 450's are a trip keeping it tight almost wish RD would wake up and take things over for good. keeps it fun to watch.
Speaking of watching .... wow does NBC suck at MX television.. Skateboarding representing??? Jamie bestwick has no place in the broadcast.The pit chick wasn't too good either. Why is it producers think we need a brit accent in the booth? He brought nothing, knows nothing ..Nothing... Sargent Shultz would have been better. Speed, Fuel and vali webcast is much better than NBC.
MX-Life GP coverage is the best besides not having commercials the broadcast is much better. Stay at home Jamie B...thought we were going to get a girl like a Jamie little from ESPN.
Hey BD200 whan you going to start slamming your boy Barcia for crashing out of it?? He crashed away 3 or 4 leads so far!! You ALWAYS slam JS for that, Saying he is out of control or riding over his head so come on slam your boy now!!
. RV showed he is the one to beat, Just needs to start in the top 5 and its his IMO. He left RD for dead in moto 2!!! and came back to 9th after a VERY nasty crash at the start of moto1, RD or Reed I don't see doing that..... I see a 1-1 soon....Maybe a few with some good starts.
dlux201, hes he did, I was there too. But the track gets tore up at the bottom and the smaller bikes really struggle to hit it sometimes.
BILLC, I NEVER slammed Stewie for crashing out. I slammed him for crashing into other riders. If he crashed by himself, big deal. Landing on riders and t-boning them is a problem, falling by yourself, doesnt hurt anyone but you.. thats his problem, maybe he needs to back it down a hair, he is pushing too hard for that win.. And Barcia isnt my boy, I dont really cheer for him, I just thought he spanked the field in supercross. I kinda like /tomac myself if I have to pick a favorite. And you seem to be pretty hard on Barcia, how come you NEVER said this same things about Stewie?? Especially when he was taking othewr riders with him when he crashed. Will you even answer that question??
Ummmmmmmmmmm YES you have bd, You always say he was riding above his abilty, Daytona he took only himself out and you still said it. All I am askin is treat JB the same way.
.As for him being your boy... Well YOU are the one who told us how your son and him talked for 20mins and what a great kid he is and all that....soooo
. And what did I say about JB that you want me to say about JS?? All I said is he is doing the SAME thing JS does and YOU bash JS but NOT JB. So See I realy did not say anything about him. I do not bash JS for trying and I am not bashing JB for it either.
One more thing on the Taking out others, JB did do that to #125 right? Just like JS got bashed for taking out K-Dub right?? If someone was behind JB this weekend they would have been "takin" out too right?? I don't think that way but many do, If you are in the front and go down you are NOT resposable for the guys behind you IMO.
@BILLC, just because a bunch of guys rip on Stewie, it doesnt mean it was me who did it. I NEVER ripped on Stewie for "taking out" Windham at Vegas. NEVER The only time I bashed Stewie was for knocking down RV, and landing on Thomas, and spearing Reed, that was it. And I feel he was riding over his head on several tracks. I still belive that. But I have never bashed any rider for getting run into. That just doesnt make sense.
And I did talk to him, and said he was a great kid, that is true. He was a great kid, so what. There are a ton of riders I have talked to who were great.
You need to remember who said what about your boy Stewie, I never said a word about him "taking out " K-Dub. Find somebody else to start an argument with. And about treating riders the same, look in the mirror BILLC, you are as guilty as anyone. What if Baria knocked down as many guys crashing as Stewie did?? You would be ready to hang him, but you make excuses when Stewie does it.
I actually just went back and looked BILLC, the only thing I said about the crash was "Windham had nowhere to go" and that was it. So get your facts straight before you accuse me of anything there BillC. It wasnt me..
@bd200 So let me get this straight, James landed on a guy that admitted that it was his own fault he got landed on....The thing with RV was a total racing incident and happens at every race and How did he "spear" Reed? Atlanta was totally Reeds fault because James had nowhere to go and Dallas, James had nowhere to go....Anyone who rides knows the difference between racing incidents and blatant take outs. The only blatant takeout move I've seen from the two would be Reed running James off the track in Vegas 09 because Reed's a sore loser. Watch Atlanta again, James had already Apexed the turn short because he was expecting reed to come in hard and was already ON the gas exiting the turn when reed came in on him. I'm sorry but lappers get in the way ALL the time and Jason Thomas admitted he was in the way....Let it go man geez!
mechanix, were did I say Stewie "took out anyone?? I didnt. I let it go LONG ago, it seems BILLC cant. Ask him why he cant let it go, not me..
@mechanix 81 I think your whole post went right over bd200's head.
.bd200 ya just said "The only time I bashed Stewie was for knocking down RV, and landing on Thomas, and spearing Reed, that was it" ....Thats where. WOW
. Also bd200 you skipped my question........ "what did I say about JB that you want me to say about JS".....
I guess what I am saying it that I NEVER said Stewie took anyone out on purpose. Get over it BILL, good lord. I do not slam Stewie like others on here, and I dont see alot of simalarities between Barcia and Stewie except they both crash alot. But Stewie has taken more guys with him,
So I guess your original question was will I start saying the same things about Barcia as I have about Stewie?? Well if Barcia gets a GIANT ego, and starts dancing on the finish line, and takes out alot of riders when he crashes, and says he's the fastest man on the planet I will. But he hasnt done any of those things.
Regarding jumping the Leap on a 125: Fonseca did it in 2001(?) on his 250F. Travis couldn't leave it alone and attempted it on his RM125, came up short, and blew his spokes out.