10 Things to Watch: Toronto
Friday, March 23, 2012 | 4:00 PM
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PrintBy Jordan Roberts and Aaron Hansel
JS7
Keep your eyes peeled for… wait, no James Stewart? The team made the last-minute decision to not race this weekend with lingering effects from his crash in Indianapolis still being a factor. This will open up and already wide open field.
Deep Freeze
The weather in Toronto can be quite cold this time of year. How cold you ask? Cold enough that our own Steve Matthes has been known to don a set of long pants when in town covering the race. In the past, the dirt has been stored outside in the wet and chilly weather, which has resulted in frosty, frozen soil. When the dirt thawed inside the stadium, the result was a soft and wet racing surface that broke down very quickly. This year, the dirt was stored under a large freeway overpass in an attempt to keep the moisture out of it, which should make for a track that holds its form much better and longer throughout the course of the night.
Jumpstart
According to the Toronto track map on supercrossonline.com, there is a small jump about halfway down the start stretch. While not large enough to catch a significant amount of air, it’s definitely going to play a role in the riders’ ability to keep the power to the ground. Will the obstacle have a bearing on who nabs the holeshot, will it result in a multitude of first-turn pileups, or will it simply turn out to be a non-factor?
Wil Hahn will take the torch from Cole Seely.
Simon Cudby photo
Hahn’s Return
Wil Hahn is returning from injury and will be throwing his leg over Trey Canard’s ride as Cole Seely departs the Supercross class for the remainder of the series. Hahn didn’t have much time to shine after busting his hip with only one round of the Lites West Region under his belt, but many of the Red Riders from the Lites class have faired well as a fill-in rider for a vacant spot in the big bike class. Can Wil ditch the walker and keep the trend going?
The Showdown
Just a couple races into the Eastern Regional Lites Supercross series, it became obvious that Justin Barcia was the man to beat, prompting fans and media types to begin speculating on who the first person to challenge Barcia might be. Ken Roczen and Blake Baggett were two names that often topped the list, but in Indianapolis, it was Rockstar Suzuki’s Blake Wharton who stepped up and put an end to Barcia’s winning ways. Is Slash’s first victory since 2009 the confidence booster he needs to put together a winning streak of his own, or will Barcia’s first loss of 2012 serve as motivation to come back hotter than ever this weekend in Toronto.
The only two winners of the Lites East Region thus far--Barcia and Wharton.
Andrew Fredrickson photo
Feeling the Heat
By now, you’ve probably seen the footage from the first Lites heat race in Indianapolis in which Darryn Durham celebrated his narrow win over Ken Roczen by busting out a classic nac-nac over the finish line jump. Roczen showed his appreciation for the move by charging into the ensuing corner and peppering Durham with roost. You’ve got to love Durham’s bravado and Roczen’s fire in this situation, and it makes you wonder what might go down if the two get together again this Saturday night.
Rising to the Occasion
Davi Millsaps has scored podium finishes in the last two rounds with the absence of Reed and Dungey. Justin Brayton captured a career best second place last weekend after Stewart crashed out. Will these two be able to lay claim to the podium for the remaining rounds with the absence of the series’ heavy hitters? They have what seems to be a new level of speed, but there are still a select few who have yet to rightfully earn some podium hardware.
Look for things to get interesting if these two get close again.
Andrew Fredrickson photo
Returning Home
Cole Thompson has been able to log a couple of top-ten finishes this season in the Lites class after making an early jump up to the pro ranks. He has certainly shined in select rounds, but he has also had to deal with his fair share of DNFs, like last weekend in Indianapolis. A native to our northern neighbors, Thompson will look for redemption this weekend in the Motherland.
Canada: American in Canada
Jake Canada has been consistently moving up in the ranks in the Lites East Region. He started his season off by consistently securing tenth place finishes—an impressive feat for a rider who was relatively unknown before the season opener in Dallas. He improved his resume in Indy by bringing home a career best top-five finish in the main. We’ve seen that he’s consistently been a top-ten guy, but will we be able to consider him top-five material by the end of the series?
Will this be these be the new familiar faces on top of the podium?
Andrew Fredrickson photo
Foreign Competition
You haven’t seen much of Angelo Pellegrini on television, but he’s quietly been doing well. The Italian has qualified for three of five Lites main events so far, and recorded a season high of eleventh place in Indianapolis. It isn’t likely that we’ll see him battling for podium positions any time soon, but it’s going to be interesting to see what way he goes now that he’s got three Lites main events under his belt here in America. Was his eleventh in Indy as good as it’s going to get, or will he keep building and put it in the top ten in Toronto?
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Holeshot......oh wait, there's nobody else racing.
They used to say 'the rest of the best' would have to get out of their comfort zone to race with the top 5 in SX and just hang it out more. Now 4 of the top 5 are hurt from pushing the limits.
"Barcia's fire" how about his childishness. After this move and the one in Daytona where he went across the whole track to roost a lapper. His is turning into a big baby if someone even acts like they have a right to ride on the same track. Hope these other guys don't back down and give it right back even harder. He has lost my respect and from what we hear, a lot of the respect from the other racers.
I'm picking for Weimer to come out of his funk- and get on the box this weekend. Same goes for Malcolm- Both have an axe to grind right about now.
I'm not sure if Matthes is going to need long pants, at least not during the day. In Toronto it's about 20 degrees (Celsius) which is about 80-85, and has been for the last two weeks.
Racer X, Can we PLEASE go back to putting the higher quality pictures on the site so that when you click on them they show up full size? It was like that before you updated the website a while ago. The great pictures are one of the best things about Racer X. It can't possibly be due to them taking up too much server hard drive space. Anyone else agree with me?
Thanks for doing an otherwise great job with the stories and interviews.
@codyw20x--The article said "Roczens fire", and your right. Roczen showed some childishness at Indy roosting Durhamn because he got his feelings hurt after getting beat..
I dont know what your problem with Barcia might be, he has raced faily clean, cleaner than some in that class. He moved over on Wharton in the heat race to protect the inside in the next turn, he did nothing dirty or dangerous. I havent seen Barcia do anything dirty all year, last year either. Guys need to put thier purses down and race, or go sit in the girls locker room and pout..
GO BARCIA.. he is the fastest 250 rider out there, and will win this title..
@codyw20x: I agree but I think you mean Roczen. I think it is classless and ridiculous when a fast rider goes out of the way to roost, stuff, or otherwise let slower riders know that they suck (especially at local tracks). I have no issue with someone that has been dominant (like Barcia) being aggressive coming through the pack (seriously, if i am in front of a faster rider because the fast guy got a lousy start or had a get off, I will race him hard when he comes by, but i'm not going to get cute and try to cut him off and such, unless I feel like getting stuffed hard now, or sometime in the future). But Roczen's little tantrum - that's ridiculous. Karma builds.
They left this part out of the article and if you watched the heat races you know why he got roosted:
Darryn Durham smashed his Monster Pro Circuit Kawasaki into the Red Bull KTM of Ken Roczen in the opening heat race and then threw a nac-nac in the German’s face over the finish line. Roczen was obviously pissed and roosted the PC rider on his way back to the pits.
That is why he roosted him. Durham wanted to play slam dance with him.
DD's move on KR was clean and a great move with little or NO contact, KR got beat and will some more and pulled a rookie poutfest by roosting him that gave us all something to laugh at, and then called his mistake bad luck. Will someone clean his snotty nose, it's running. Hopefully KR will grow up and stop making excuses, he is a good rider. Should we tell him this is a mans sport??
I'm going out on a limb and predict with 100% certainty that after the Toronto round, the point standings will be:
1. Villopoto
2. Dungey
3. Stewart
@MX Bob - those spots are probably be safe until New Orleans.
JmM
Pala374
Penguin bob, 20 degrees Celsius is 68 degrees Fahrenheit, which is pleasant but not hot.
Roczen's appears to be a kid with a great attitude and personality. He made a bad choice and likely regrets it now. Don't be too harsh and stone him for one bad choice. He's a kid. They learn much more from mistakes than anything. I'll be hoping he pulls it together and gives us a great show in TO. Cheers.
Roczen's appears to be a kid with a great attitude and personality. He made a bad choice and likely regrets it now. Don't be too harsh and stone him for one bad choice. He's a kid. They learn much more from mistakes than anything. I'll be hoping he pulls it together and gives us a great show in TO. Cheers.
those bashing barcia need to rewatch the race wharton came over left on him first than barcia showed him whos boss and went right, that being said this is barcias year as was last year those guys really have no chance unless he goes down or gets a bad start wharton is awesome besides the hair but barcia is gonna walk right in on the 450's and be on the podium atleast every other weekend without a doubt
The lites are going to be exciting, i'm hoping DD can get a win and close the points gap on JB. KR is going to come out swinging, if him and JB start up front it could be the race of the year. We saw last week that KR doesn't like aggressive racing, and that's all JB knows. We should see some nice battles in the 450's, i would like to see BM DM and JB start up front together, we could see a first time winner this year if things fall into the right place. I don't think people should write off the 450 class just yet, we won't get to see the top 5 battle but there is a whole field of riders to watch race.
@GWN agreed. Ken is only 17 and he made a very minor mistake by being pissed off and showing it...(which I can say I was guilty of after a few bad motos when I was his age...and when I was much older lol) but in every other instance he's shown that he is a polite down to earth guy. He even went so far as to apologize to the fans for throwing away the lead in the main when they were interviewing him for the holeshot award (in the stadium interview, not the Erin Bates one). And to be honest I was expecting him to be less enthused to give the interview after how badly his race turned out, but he was very polite and gracious...so no need to get all over him about it.
And I doubt there's any reason to think the jump in the start straight will cause any more crashes then usual on the start. They used to have them back in the day without issue...I had a vhs tape with a few mid 1980's supercrosses on it that we must have watched a thousand times. I can picture the guys coming off the gate and over the kicker down the start straight clear as day....good stuff.