joshua's blog: RJ Says: State of Supercross

December 24, 2010

RJ Says: State of Supercross

As the West Region ends for a while, and East region gets ready to start up ... In 250 West Supercross 2010, Jake Weimer and Trey Canard are showing a lot of confidence right now. I'm very impressed with both of these racers right now. This past race at Anaheim was a good example for both of them.

Series points leader Jake Weimer has a great heat race with a win, even after that heat was red-flagged. Jake had some trouble in the Main Event, but showed his smarts by charging hard the full 15 laps, coming up to eighth at the finish ... that could literally save his season and potentially the championship title.

Trey had some problems in his heat, but came back very strong in the final - he won the 250 Main in Anaheim. That shows a lot of maturity from him as a rider.

They are both adapting well to the tracks, which this year seem to be a little tighter, which can sometimes make it harder to pass other riders on. Both are showing a lot of confidence, and a lot of maturity.

The big picture for the two of them right now is they get to settle down and take a break away from this series. Once you start racing in a new year, you reach a new plateau of physical fitness because you push yourself harder when racing as compared to practice. They've had six races back-to-back.

For Trey, he's supposed to be doing a few East Coast races for Honda Red Bull racing in the 450 Supercross class. That will be a good (and new) experience for him lining up against the guys in the 450 class. You have the top three guys in supercross from last year - James Stewart, Chad Reed and Andrew Short all out of action with injuries - the sky is the limit for everyone. I think it will be a great confidence builder as well for Trey to get out there and run with the 450's.

OK, now, big picture for the 450 Supercross class. You have three guys trying to separate themselves from the others, and it could very well be that one of these three riders will end up being the 2010 AMA Supercross Series Champion: Ryan Dungey, Josh Hill, and Ryan Villopoto.

Ryan Dungey, after coming off a great 450 ride in October at the Motocross des Nations, and starting this supercross season with a lot of confidence, ... seems to me, ... and I could be wrong, like he is thinking about the championship already. It seems like he's looking at a lot of different things possibly different than how he has in the past. He might be riding more defensively than he was earlier in the season ... he's looking at potentially different set ups for suspension and tires, and possibly more.

I think if Ryan rides smooth and calculated like he did at the first couple of rounds, he'll get back in the good groove that he was in.

Josh Hill: He's been there (near the front) every weekend. Once he gets his 'break thru' win of this season, he'll know that he can win, and I think he'll be a different rider. He's fun to watch, he's really quick in a lot of areas, and isn't afraid to mix it up with guys.

Ryan Villopoto: At the first couple rounds he didn't look real impressive. He wasn't 'putting it all together'. But now, and you saw it last weekend in Anaheim, he rode very fast, was impressive, smooth, and made very few mistakes. I think he's very comfortable running in the top position on the race track. Ryan looks to be 'coming on' right now, ... and Hill and Dungey will have to do something about it if they want it to change.

Trey Canard on top in Anaheim