Photos by Rich Sheppard
How do you ride sand?
There is no big secret to perform in the sand. First you have to change your bike setup a bit. No need to drastically change your bike for Southwick but a little bit will help. You have to raise the front a bit and stiffen it up. A chopper-type bike with be more stable in the sand and the front end won’t tuck as much. Then, I’m a big advocate of riding smooth and keeping your momentum, even on a regular track and in the sand, it’s even more important. You have to choose lines that will slow you down the least in the turns. You don’t want to stop and go because instead of going forward your rear wheel will dig holes… And lastly, you have to use your legs a lot and ride standing up more than on a regular track. It means that your fitness needs to be on point. We’ve seen a lot of guys on Saturday fading quite a bit. If you ride technically good in the sand, you need more energy/strength than on regular dirt because there are less parts to rest.
And obviously guys like Tomac and Musquin ride it great but are there some riders that shine in it as opposed to what they do on other tracks?
Eli and Marvin rode well with two very different riding styles but I still think Eli’s riding style suits these track conditions better. Just like in Red Bud also, Eli isn’t scared to travel the distance to keep his momentum and we saw he was using way more outsides than Marvin. I thought Marvin had too many lines that would’ve worked if Southwick was a regular dirt track but are not good enough in the sand. Opening the entrance of the turns is very important and helps keeping your speed in the turns. The more you get in tight the more you have to slow down and turn sharp.
Automatically, you slow down too much doing so and it’s difficult to get a good drive coming out of the corners. Too many riders ride 1- too aggressive, and, 2- with a regular track mentality. For example, in High Point or Muddy Creek, it’s efficient to find lines to miss braking and acceleration bumps that evolve during the day. In Southwick, if you want to miss bumps and find smooth lines, often it makes you lose your momentum. That’s what I saw, too many riders behind were looking for smooth lines where a guy like Tomac would take the fast line fast without worrying about bumps. You have to prioritize speed in the sand rather than finding smooth lines. But to do so for two 35-minute motos, you have to have strong legs and be very fit.
Congrats! The rider you coach, Dylan Ferrandis, won the overall with 4-1 scores. His starts made it harder on him and he got a bit lucky with a collision of the top two riders but he was great. Talk about what you saw in his race and what he told you afterwards?
I’m not gonna say anything about starts. I will not use the excuse of bad starts for any results. For me, starts will never be a key of a race. It’s a key for second tier riders who don’t have the speed and skills to go thru the pack after a mediocre start. A holeshot will help them tremendously, I get that. I never say ‘you need a good start to win’ and I will never say that. Dylan is not working that hard to need a good start if you ride technically good.
If you’re faster than everyone, if your racing IQ is on point, if you have a good strategy and if you are ready and fit the way you should be, you don’t need a holeshot to win. RC didn’t win a zillion MX races because he got holeshots. He did it because he was faster, fitter and wanted to win more than anyone else. With the starts Dylan took this weekend, he could’ve done better. His first 10-15 minutes of both motos weren’t good enough and not what they should be. He’s still lacking the experience of racing, that’s only his 3rd race back and only 6th race in 2018. Before that, his last MX race was Budds Creek in August 2017. He lacks reflexes, creativity and aggressiveness in the first few laps. It’s understandable and he will get better. I’m not worried about that. I thought his two second halves of the motos were very strong. He looked fast, in control and in looking at his body english, never looked tired. He caught everyone at the end of the motos. The technique I want him to ride with is also improving. He was more creative on the track this weekend compared to his first two races. For the first time in my post-racing career, I’m working with a rider who follows my riding philosophy, my training program, my views on how a bike should work and who’s serious, dedicated and follows instructions to the T.
I’m happy for him even if I think he can do even better. I’m here to keep him grounded and tell him what wasn’t good and on what he/we should work on. Lot of people thought and still think I’m a clown in this coaching role and I was almost starting to think I wasn’t maybe cut for this role after a few experiences that didn’t work the way they should. Ultimately, I’m thankful working with Dylan and I’m happy he’s having some success again and cashing bonus checks but most importantly for myself, he’s proving to me that my philosophy, my views on training and riding are actually working. There isn’t only one way to win in SX/MX. You can do different things to get to the same results but it’s good for a coach to have the confirmation his program is working. I couldn’t have had that confirmation for myself if Dylan didn’t have 100% confidence in me. It’s great and thanks Dylan, I was starting to worry about my abilities…
The pass attempt by Alex Martin on Austin Forkner- what did you make of it and take us through why he did it and if it was that bad
I actually didn’t think it was that bad of a move but it was a devastating crash for both of them. They were both going for the overall of the day. Lot of people are saying it was dirty and Alex was out of control but I din’t think so. Here’s why. The way Austin was opening his turn on that particular action, it looked like he was going to use the outside line. His line was actually good, I always like when riders anticipate and open their turns but, putting myself in A-Mart shoes, I think he thought Austin was gonna go outside when he decided to make his move. I don’t think his intent was to take Austin out. It looked more like an accident to me. If I really want to be honest, Austin shouldn’t have blown his lead like he did, that would’ve never happened… His lead on Alex on lap 8 was 5.6 seconds (his biggest lead of the moto). In the next 3 laps and before the collision, the lead went to 3.3 to 1.7 and 0.8sec…
What else did you see in the 250 MX class?
Not really because I was focused on Dylan’s lap times and riding. The only thing I can talk about is Aaron Plessinger who’s coming off with 9-5-3-7 scores in the last 4 motos. His lead in the series in now under a moto at 23 points. A-Mart is riding well and he’s got a good dynamic. Aaron will have to regroup and not lose too many points anymore. The more points he gives to A-mart, the more pressure he will put on himself which isn’t good. Everyone knows that it’s easier to be the hunter than the hunted so it’s better to be hunted with a big points lead…
Eli Tomac and Marvin Musquin put on a great race in the first moto, Eli made some mentions of Marv’s creative moves while behind him. What did you see in that first moto?
It’s funny because both were good and bad in opposite sections of the track. In the slower section, Marvin was more creative, he was jumping the big single after the mechanics farther than Eli and making time. The turns following that, Marv was also better with better line and playing with the track better. All the way to the 180-degree slow tree turn, I felt like Marvin was yarding Eli a bit. After the tree turn and all the way to the mechanics, Eli was flying and also catching him back. It did that for most of the moto. Marvin was obviously not able to see what Eli was doing good in the part the Kawasaki rider was catching him.
On the other hand, Eli was seeing and watching everything Mavin was doing good and he started doing it at the end of the moto. That was a big factor in the end of the race. Eli didn’t lose time in the first half of the track, stayed close to Marvin until he got to the section he was great at to attack and pass Marvin… It goes along the lines of what I’ve been saying about Eli this MX season. He impresses me the way he rides nowadays. He’s smooth, he doesn’t over do it, he’s patient and waits till the end to make a pass (like in CO with Roczen) and rides with his head more than in the past… But then, the second moto happened…
In the second moto Tomac appeared to have it and was FLYING, then crashed twice to give the OA to Marv- what happened?
Like I said above, Eli changed for the first 11 motos of the season. He even settled for 3rd last week (which was a great strategy) in Muddy Creek, things he would’ve never done in the past. He’s been riding with a lot of maturity compared to previous years and more in control. In the second moto in Southwick, I don’t think it was the old Tomac back but more an excess of confidence because he was flying and pretty much walking on water. He was almost 4 seconds faster than Marvin on their fastest lap in moto 2. With excess of confidence comes lack of concentration and in my opinion, that’s what happen there. I actually only saw the first crash when he tucked the front end and went over the bars. He didn’t crash because he was going to fast or because he was riding over his head. I think he was concentrated enough and wasn’t careful enough about where his front wheel was. That’s all and nothing to worry about. But he was flying! He passed Marvin in the second lap and in the next 4 laps he built a 12.5 second lead! That’s pretty impressive…
Are you surprised at Roczen’s last four motos?
I had hopes for Ken after Colorado and his 2-2 score for 2nd overall. I thought he got better and better from the start of the season to that 5th and 6th moto. And I was glad he was improving and getting back (slower that he’s hoping I’m sure) into a top 3 guy and it was very positive. Since then, in the last 6 motos, he’s only gotten two moto podiums out of six starts. He often starts really well too. I have no idea what’s going on with his program and at what percentage is at from his top form. Does he even know if he’ll ever get back healthy at 100%? I don’t even know so it’s difficult for me to say anything about Ken. I just watch the races and see the results. They were best in Colorado for him this season but have gone worst since. As for the reason why, I can’t tell you…
Is Chad Reed selling everything to move in with you and you’re training him for 2019 SX?
I don’t think Reedy is ready for a DV rocky style type of training and a DV style of riding philosophy even if I truly believe it would help him tremendously…
