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Race Day
Round 7 of the 2006 AMA Outdoor National Series takes place at the Thunder Valley MX Park near Denver Colorado. This is the second year that the Thunder Valley circuit has hosted a round of the AMA Outdoor Nationals. As a track that is still new to the majority of teams competing in the series, Thunder Valley poses challenges that are unique among the tracks visited by this series.
Thunder Valley sits at over a mile above sea level, which poses jetting and fuel issues that aren’t easily resolved. Many learned last season to chill their fuel in order to reduce the risk of fuel boiling in the fuel line and causing vapor lock. The larger problem at Thunder Valley is with motors running hot. Tuning at this altitude is a delicate balance between horsepower and heat dissipation.
Some are opting to maximize horsepower and cross fingers in hope that their cooling system will keep the engine from melting down. Others have employed a strategy of sprinting for a couple of laps and then backing it down for a couple of laps in order to protect the engine. Everyone is looking at keeping the heat from the engine away from the fuel in the tank, which is difficult on a modern motocross bike. The old tricks of putting heat reflecting tape on the bottom of the fuel tank and insulating the fuel lines are all being tried with varying degrees of success. In the end, everyone is racing under the same conditions, which means that survival today may be dependent on a variety of guesses and experiments.
There were no major surprises in Saturday practice as the usual crop of fast riders set down fast times. In the Lites class, Ryan Villopoto’s time was unusually fast compared to the others, and instead of the usual 2-3 seconds separating the top twenty in the field, we are looking at 5-6 seconds between the best times in the top twenty. With the nature of this track and the challenges posed, it is no surprise that one of Mitch Payton’s Pro Circuit bikes would lead the early pace by a wider than normal margin.
In the Motocross class, Chad Reed, who currently holds second in the season points standings opted out of Saturday practice in order to allow his knee additional time to heal. Reed injured his knee at Unadilla. After sitting out the last round at Unadilla after suffering a terrifying practice crash on Sunday morning, James Stewart has returned. What is truly unknown at this point is the status of Stewart’s overall health. James struggled last season with stomach issues, and has spent much of this season taking soil samples. There is a rumor going around that the Kawasaki team is having problems sorting out the rear suspension of Stewart’s KX450F, but with Stewart’s On-The-Edge style of riding, even the smallest error in setup could cause devastating results. This is something that us mere mortals never have to worry about. Based on Stewart’s lap times and the fact that he is now completely out of championship contention, the prevailing opinion around the pits is that he will likely take it a bit easier for the rest of the season. Stewart has already proven that he can run with Carmichael, and with the two running at a win or crash pace for the first few rounds of the series, and James getting the short end of the stick nearly every round, it only makes sense that James would treat the rest of the season as a learning experience. At this point Stewart is most likely looking towards nest year’s Supercross season for his chance at a dominant run for the title.
There is a VIP among us this weekend that we are all very glad to see. Ernesto Fonseca, who ended up paralyzed from the chest down after a practice crash before the start of the season, is taking a short break from his rehabilitation in a nearby hospital to hang out and be part of the show here at Thunder Valley. Thanks to overwhelming support from the motocross community, and a strong family to back him up, Ernesto has come a long way in a short time. He is now able to use his palms to control a motorized wheelchair and have some independence. There is much hope that he will regain the use of his hands and fingers as his rehabilitation continues.
Ernesto is obviously doing very well in spite of his situation and is a source of hope and inspiration for the entire motocross community. Lites Class (250F)
Last weekend at Unadilla, Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto wrenched the season points lead away from his longtime rival, KTM’s Mike Alessi. Alessi has shown a newfound maturity this season and definitely has his eyes on the championship, but will he be able to continue to beat Villopoto straight up? This is the question that is on everyone’s minds as we get ready for the gate to drop on Lites Moto 1.
Having watched Villopoto since his debut towards the end of the 2005 Motocross season, it is clear that he is gaining momentum with each race and it shows in both his results and his pace, which seems to go up a notch each weekend.
Colorado is also home to Andrew Short, and he has legions of local fans lining the track and cheering him on. It has yet to be determined whether this helps Short, who is generally a very quiet sort, or whether the pressure of pleasing his fans will be too much. At the start of Lites Moto 1 it was Brian Johnson out front with the holeshot. Local hero Andrew Short bounced off of Josh Grant. Grant went down, collecting Jake Weimer, Brett Metcalfe and Ryan Sipes, while Short was able to stay on two wheels and quickly make his way to 2 nd .
As the lead pack wove it’s way around the circuit there was a tremendous amount of passing taking place. Ryan Sipes passed Short for 2 nd and Villopoto followed Sipes past Short, but short quickly took back 3 rd from Villopoto. Then Sipes takes the lead and swaps hard in a narrow section, nearly bringing the entire pack to a stop. Ryan Villopoto passed Short and Johnson for 2 nd, which spurred a four way battle for the lead. Meanwhile, Alessi was sneaking up in 5 th place. Then Sipes went down and Villopoto inherited the lead. As the second lap got underway, Alessi passed Johnson for 3 rd, while MacFarlane, who was running 9 th, went down and lost positions. At this point Ryan Villopoto began to check out and started putting 2-3 seconds per lap on the field. Broc Hepler, who was running 10 th at the start of the second lap, passed his way up to 6 th by the end of the lap. On the third lap Hepler made his way up to 5 th, then on the fourth lap to 4 th. MacFarlane, who had recovered from his earlier crash had made his way up to 5 th, with Davalos, Boniface, Ramsey, Danny Smith and Matt Walker making up the balance of the top ten. Then something happened that doesn’t happen very often in the Lites class. The top ten spread out and held their positions for the rest of the Moto. This is something that we normally only see in the Motocross class, but today the Lites class looks a lot like the Motocross class with Villopoto putting time on the field with every lap and the top ten sorting itself out early and remaining static to the end of the Moto.
Villopoto took the holeshot in Lites Moto 2 and looked like he might check out early, but then went down, giving the lead to Short. The Colorado fans were on their feet as Andrew Short took the lead and began to push for all he was worth. Things were looking up for the Colorado native until almost the end of the first lap. Short began to slow at the end of the lap and Hepler went by him without much of a challenge. Short signaled his pit when he rode by with a shrug that seemed to indicate a mechanical problem of some kind. Short didn’t get much farther before his bike quit and his day ended, leaving his local fans disappointed.
With Short out of the race, Hepler was doing his best to hold on to the lead as he was being pressured by Villopoto. Hepler is a veteran and knows how to ride a wide bike. Helper continued to hold off Villopoto throughout the 2 nd and 3 rd laps, while the two of them set a very fast pace and began to gap the field. On the fourth lap Hepler caught a rut and had his feet blown off of the pegs. This allowed Villopoto the opportunity to pass Hepler and Villopoto began to sprint away from Broc. Alessi did his best to take advantage of Hepler’s misfortune, but Hepler held him off and reopened a gap on Alessi.
At the front of the pack Villopoto ran a repeat of Moto1 and put 2-3 seconds per lap on the field. At the end of the second Lites Moto is was Villopoto, Hepler, Alessi, Grant, MacFarlane, Davalos, Troy Adams, Brett Metcalfe, Nathan Ramsey and Matt Goerke for the top ten. For the overall on the day it was Villopoto, Hepler and Alessi, with Villopoto adding an additional ten point pad to his lead in the series.. Motocross Class (450F)
Although the finish in the Motocross class has been predictable, the starts have been anything but. Last week Davi Millsaps served notice on the class with two holeshots as he led the first laps of both Motos. And with Carmichael known for either getting great starts or horrible starts, it is anybody’s guess who is going to cross the stripe first and what sort of carnage is to follow.
While Carmichael has made a habit of charging to the front and leaving the pack, with Stewart and Reed at less than 100%, and Millsaps and Windham showing weekly improvements, the race for 2 nd and 3rd could get quite interesting.
As the gate dropped on Motocross Moto 1 it was Millsaps with the holeshot. Carmichael, Reed and Stewart all got poor starts, while Byrne, Windham, Preston and Ferry were all out front chasing down Millsaps.
Windham quickly passed Byrne, while Carmichael, Stewart and Reed made their way up through the pack. On the second lap Carmichael passed Ferry, Preston and Byrne in quick succession to take over 3 rd, while Stewart made his way up to 7 th and Reed to 11 th. On the third lap RC took advantage of a bobble by Windham to make an easy pass and then set off after Millsaps. Millsaps was able to hold off Carmichael until the fifth lap, while it took Stewart until the eighth lap to get past Windham and Millsaps. Reed was unable to pass either Windham or Millsaps, while Carmichael sprinted to a comfortable lead and Stewart settled into a comfortable 2 nd.
The running order stabilized with RC, Stewart, Millsaps, Windham, Reed, Preston, Byrne, Vuillemin, Ferry and Wey running in the top ten. Then disaster struck Reed on the last lap as his motor expired, allowing Josh Summey to sneak into the top ten. In the second Motocross Moto Kyle Mace took the holeshot, but was quickly passed by Davi Millsaps. No sooner had this occurred than RC blew by everyone to take the lead and he would never look back. At the end of the first lap it was Carmichael, Millsaps, Reed, Byrne, Ferry, Windham, Preston, Stewart, Daniel Sani and Antonio Balbi Jr. in the top ten. By lap five Stewart would make his way up to 4 th, while Windham continued making his way up through the field. On lap 12 Windham passed Stewart, who was at this point quite obviously not riding at his normal pace. At the end of Motocross Moto 2 it was RC, Millsaps, Reed, Windham, Stewart, Ferry, Preston, Byrne, Mike Brown and Josh Summey. For the overall on the day it was Carmichael, Millsaps and Stewart. Wrap Up
As we head for next week’s round at Washougal, Washington, we all have to wonder whether we are seeing the beginnings of another era of dominance. One can’t help but draw parallels between Ricky Carmichael and Ryan Villopoto. There is a strong physical resemblance with both of them being short redheads, but perhaps an even stronger resemblance in their approach to competition. Both are constantly pushing themselves to be the best, which is evidenced by Villopoto’s use of every line on the track, and both have that need to compete and win……..and perhaps dominate.
Washougal is the home track for Ryan Villopoto, but by his own admission he hasn’t raced there in many years. Not that this should make any difference as Villopoto seems to be able to size up a new track with just a few laps of practice, and by riding lots of different lines is quickly able to find the fast way around the track with several alternate lines for passing and riding in traffic.
Mike Alessi, meanwhile, continues to show an amazing improvement in his maturity, and while he continues to have up and down results, he has shown that he can be the fastest guy on the track. If Alessi figures out how to make good passes, he could be back up on top very quickly. With Andrew Short’s misfortune and Brock Hepler’s late start to the season, they are both now put in the role of playing the spoiler. Both Hepler and Short have shown themselves to have the ability to run fast laps and to come from behind to catch the leaders. With good starts, either of these riders should be able to get out front and stay out front.
This all brings us back to Villopoto, who may have stepped it up a notch, ala the RC playbook, and if this is the case, he will be very hard to catch unless the top riders in the Lites class can also find this extra bit of speed. In the Motocross class we are going to have to wait to see what the new era will bring. As we pass the halfway point of the season, Carmichael has continued to indicate that there is a possibility that he could run a full season of Outdoor Nationals next year. This will depend on Carmichael’s finishes in the early rounds and whether or not he is in contention for the title. On the other hand, the NASCAR rumors surrounding RC continue to grow, so we will all have to wait and see what is in store for 2007.
It is also obvious that James Stewart has backed down a couple of notches. Whether this is due to nagging injury, or self-preservation is unknown, but it leaves the question as to whether James will step up to challenge RC before the 2006 season winds to a close. Interestingly, though, James was unable to make the podium ceremony at the end of the second Moto due to exhaustion. The real excitement in the Motocross class is with Millsaps, Reed and Windham. Davi Millsaps continues to improve week after week. Who would have thought after his horrible debut at Hangtown that halfway through the season Davi would be the guy to beat for 2 nd? And Windham seems to finally be finding his stride in the second half of the series. With Reed riding injured and Stewart an unknown, there is a definite possibility that Millsaps and Windham could end up in a battle for third overall, much like Fonseca and Vuillemin did last season. Millsaps and Windham are only separated by five points, with Millsaps currently holding on to third overall for the season. If Reed’s injuries are holding him back, there is also a possibility that the duo could close on Reed’s second overall position and we could end up with a three way battle at Glen Helen. This would add some much needed excitement to a Motocross class that has become all too predictable.
As we roll into Washougal for round 8 of the AMA Toyota Outdoor National Motocross series we will begin counting down the Motos remaining in the season and looking for late-season skirmishes to commence. With a scant 24 points separating third from sixth in the Lites class, it is still anybody’s race. And one mistake or bad Moto for Villopoto would quickly turn the Lites class back into a six way battle for the overall. Washougal is another unique circuit, with it’s giant hillclimb and narrow lanes winding through the trees, it’s truly anybody’s guess as to what will happen. May the best combination of man, machine, luck, perseverance, preparation and training win….. |
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