The Moment: Unadilla
Monday, August 20, 2012 | 2:10 PM
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I saw Michael Byrne early on Saturday morning, and when I asked about the track and Unadilla's painful roost, the friendly Australian answered back, "Don't worry about it, I plan on being up front."
I'm not sure if Byrne was just confident or merely making conversation, but what he said proved true. He snagged the holeshot in the first moto on his BTOSports.com Suzuki. James Stewart rode past, but then crashed, and soon Jake Weimer did the same. A few laps in, Byrne found himself with a big lead, and not completely by accident. Stewart and Weimer had crashed, but Byrne was riding well, and no one else was catching him.
Byrne lead for a majority of moto one at Unadilla, but suffered a lateral tibial plateau fracture in his leg.
Simon Cudby photo
Initial reports are that Byrne will miss 6-8 weeks.
Simon Cudby photo
I'm not sure if Byrne was just confident or merely making conversation, but what he said proved true. He snagged the holeshot in the first moto on his BTOSports.com Suzuki. James Stewart rode past, but then crashed, and soon Jake Weimer did the same. A few laps in, Byrne found himself with a big lead, and not completely by accident. Stewart and Weimer had crashed, but Byrne was riding well, and no one else was catching him.
Byrne lead for a majority of moto one at Unadilla, but suffered a lateral tibial plateau fracture in his leg.
Simon Cudby photo
"I was like, 'Who is winning?"' said Broc Tickle, who was in second. "Then I saw it was Michael Byrne, and I'm not lying, I was pushing it hard and I wasn't catching him. I was like, 'Man! I thought I was riding good!"'
Byrne's lead wasn't wavering, as he kept his head down past the halfway point, holding about seven seconds on Tickle (who series points leader Ryan Dungey could barely catch by the end of the race). It all looked good for an upset win, which would be the first-ever for the BTO team in AMA Pro Motocross, and, Byrne's first career 450 moto win. Unadilla has been good to Byrner in the past, as he grabbed podium finishes on a 450 there in 2008 and 2009. But this time it looked like something much, much more special.
Until suddenly his race--and season--ended in the blink of an eye.
Byrne didn't even crash. He stuck his leg out and caught his foot. The impact was severe enough to break a bone. That was it, a painful, heartbreaking ending to what was set to the be highlight of Byrne's 13-year odyssey in the U.S.
Initial reports are that Byrne will miss 6-8 weeks.
Simon Cudby photo
The latest we hear is that Byrne may only have a lateral tibial plateau fracture, which is better than the broken tib and fib feared at first. He is headed to Dr. Steven Augustine's clinic in Jacksonville to determine the damage. If that's the case, he's looking at a 6-8 week recovery. Better yet, we hear Byrne is set to sign an extension with the BTOSports.com Suzuki team, so he should be set on employment next year, which is more than many riders can say.
But that's next year. For Byrner, his moment was about to come this year with a long-awaited moto win--and that hurts just as much as the injury that ended it.
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No question he was going to win that moto!! To bad. Some guys always seem to have the bad luck.
@ BillC No dought about that ...........................
Too bad. I was hoping he would pull it off. Like Tickle said, he wasn't just out front, no one was catching him.
You can never say "no question," but it was looking good and I was happily amazed to see it. When we saw him slowly circulating off to the side of the track, I was thinking, "Bummer, he must be having bike problems." But to break his leg without even falling.... Ugh! That truly was Byrner's best chance to win an AMA National moto.
This moment is going in the "pool room"
Truly lame to have it snagged from you like that, i thought he was gonna pull it off too.
This is really sad but i didnt realise he'd been around for 13 years.
doubt, not dought. Please learn. Love you all, but why does this bug me? Is it a Canadian or Australian thing? Spell check thing? I got nothing, sorry for anyone that gets hurt for sure. 13 years is a great thing to have in this sport. I know horsey riders that have less and still have great coaching careers. Go Burner, don't be a burn-out! hehe
That sucked. He was flat out flying. Get well soon.
Just goes to show, whether you're like Stewart, who nobody will deny has great speed, or Byrner (or Les Smith now for that matter) MX can be cruel and injuries spare no rider. You don't have to hit the dirt for bad things to happen. These guys are all fast, some more so than others, but when you carry that much speed through rutted corners and snag a foot, something is going to give-unfortunately it's usually something on the rider. Just look at RV's seemingly innocent crash. Bottom line, at the speeds the top riders are carrying, small mistakes are amplified, which makes what they do and make look so easy, all the more impressive. For all those who hate on Stewart (and I'm not a big fan myself, but have mad respect for what he can do on a MX bike), there isn't a person posting on this site that could hold a candle to his ability and speed. I'm sure watching Unadilla on TV hardly does justice to how difficult and technical that track was to ride, much less at the speeds those guys carry. Props to all the riders, they are truly amazing, riding ruts like those at 'Dilla has to be one of the hardest things to do. If anyone wants to rip on Stewart, maybe he needs to work on riding ruts, seems that's where he's been suffering from crashes...
Can we please get a pit reporter that speaks American!
There's no such language as "American"! Give me a break.
LOL Maico , i think your parents dropped you on your head when you were a baby!!! sorry to hear of your problems dude!!!
26 should get out there and race, no excuse...Stewart-haters think he should be riding regardless of broken shit...
no difference...
and yes haters, you sound that stupid...
Anyone who has been watching Burner race over the years knew he was going to end up on the ground. Its like believing Izzy or Wharton will match their first moto scores (or better them). Just doesn't happen.
Wishing MB a quick and full recovery - I had a TP fracture/shatter in 2004, it takes a while to heal and is a tough one to recover from. I didn't crash in mine either (cased it in the whoops and femur slammed into tibial plateau and shattered). Doc Sanders in Houston did excellent job in getting it back together right after first Doc didn't.
MB's riding at Unadilla was great - always knew he had it in him! Come back strong and fast again MB!
hawk529 wrote:
Your'e a f...ing dick!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Why are you talking about Stewart, this is a J Law thread.
@halfe316 Stewart broke his finger. Byrne broke his leg. Hello? See the difference? Back in the day, Eric Goeber
Don't know what happened there, but I was saying that back in the day, Eric Goeber broke his foot and had to be carried to and from the bike to race it! That is the kind of thing the true heros of moto do. He had pins in it as well. You can't tape a broken leg! Not baggin on Stewart, as I respect his abilities on a bike. Just sayin'.
Yes I did think Byrne had that win he was looking as smooth as anyone can on that track. Heal up well dude! Gof or it again!
The proper thing to say is speak english, then there are a lot of different dialect in America. Ya ever try to figure out what someone form Maine is saying? I speak Motexan if ya wanna know and gee wilikers glad for Dungy and Katoom! Well yall take care naow!
@iloveyoulongtime: "Why are you talking about Stewart, this is a J Law thread." - funniest comment of the day. By the way, about your name, shouldn't it be meloveyoulongtime?
True Bucky but they all ride when hurt if their in the points, JS is not so why take the chance? I love to see him out there the more the better. Could you just see the boards this week had he won the first moto the crashed out in moto 2?? LOL good times
I hope that was an ego boost! Byrne was riding great, however, that is the exact reason why I WILL NOT
I hope that was a huge ego boost! Byrne was riding great! However, that is the exact reason why I WILL NOT wear tech 10's. I will give that they are super comfortable, but from the start of their market I could feel that there was no support to them. They have always felt loose in the ankle to me and they easily fold side to side. I have seen many of my friends do the same exact thing. To me they are over rated, unreliable, and unsupportive. I do however wear the tech 7's, a mix between the 10's and 8's and I absolutely love them! Great support of the 8's and a great durable sole of the 10's