Daytime has been MIA because I actually have been at the races with my kid and a little preoccupied. What is weird is I see less of the racing when I am attending than I do when I am at home watching. Once Aden’s moto is done, I am usually back at the truck getting things ready for the next moto so I miss a lot of the 450 stuff. Well, this week I made sure to watch the 450 class a bit more and of course paid attention to what was going on in the 250 class. Here are some takeaways from Colorado.
Jett Lawrence: Even though he is limping around the pits, the dude looks to be back to regular scheduled programming out on the track. I got to watch with my own two eyes the past three rounds and to me it looks like we have a smarter, hungrier Jett Lawrence. Sure, Hunter is better and can run Jett’s pace but I think Jett just has too much in his bag of technique that puts more pressure on other riders to ride just out of their comfort zone when Jett is still in his “cozy place”. As much as we normally hate to see the same guy winning, it is nice to see that technique/style/speed back in real life.
Deegs: You can’t play both sides of the coin so let’s just go with Deegs is finding out what real 450 speed is with the Lawrences. I will say Deegs speed is getting better (like 450 moto winning better) and I think we will see him win a moto or two here and there but I there will be some “rough tactics” that come along with those wins. I don’t see him running away with a moto if the Lawrences are in the top 5 off the start. The cutting the track thing is legit on both sides to me. AMA had the right to dock him and if it was me, I probably would have taken the same line as Deegs too if I was racing. As a racer, that looks like a creative line because the markers weren’t there or were knocked down. It’s a tempting thing, those creative lines. When you’re making up time in a section yet you legit think you found a “creative line” and justify it in your head while you’re racing, it’s tough to get out of that line. Once Deegs fell he reset and it didn’t matter but I will say I “get” why he took it. No hate comms.
Lucas Coenen: I was thinking Coenen was going to win leading into Thunder Valley. I know it’s production based racing here and we were at elevation but I really thought Lucas was going to win at least a moto (and he almost did). Comparing Lucas to Jett, there is still a lot to be learned for Coenen. Lucas looks more Jett like in MXGP but when I saw him at Thunder Valley he had more bulldog in him than I originally thought. His corner speed matches Jett but the finesse leading to those corners do not. I will say with him racing a couple races over here only will make things worse for the other MXGP riders when he gets back.
Garrett Marchbanks: A fourth overall! Not bad for a bike that is a POS. That is a joke by the way. I know that Garrett rides A LOT different than Chase but this proves that the bike is capable of some great finishes. A fourth matches what Chase did but it’s nice to see “G” get some results for the brand. It sucks that Chase crashed on Friday and I do think that was a bike malfunction, not a ridder error, but having Kawasaki rebound with a good result is great for team moral and for Marchbanks! A lot of people thought Haarup was going to be better than Marchbanks at the beginning of the year but having been around both of the guys I still was leaning towards Garrett and so far it looks like “G” has been the faster of the two.
Jo Shimoda: I am sure Jo would have liked to win a moto for the overall but hey the check cashes the same right? With Hymas having some trouble the first few rounds it’s good to see Jo getting up front for team HRC Honda. Jo doesn’t look like he has the raw speed of 10 and 47 but his fitness looks really good at the end of these motos. Jo’s style is deceiving as his riding style is so “450 like” that it’s hard to tell if he’s really pushing. This is coming from a guy (me) that rides smooth so I get Jo. I see, Jo! Great sneaky ride, Jo.
Nick Romano: This has got to be the feel good story of the outdoors so far. Nick has no ride and a borrowed 450 earlier this year to getting a full Pro Circuit deal. Now normally when this happens it doesn’t go as well as this. But… Nick has been in complete DAWG mode and is acting like his life depends on his results with this ride. Maybe they do? I try to tell my kid that you’re not just proving to your team that you deserve your ride but also to other teams that are seeing this. Nick is putting A LOT of great riding on tape for others to see as well.
Kitch: What a dig in the second moto for 47. You could see how much he was depleted after that ride as he was dry heaving from swelling dirt all moto. That second moto dig saved his day and a second overall along with sharing the red plate is what he was rewarded with. Kitch is my pick for the title.
Sacha Coenen: My kid got some MXGP lessons in both motos. In the first moto Sacha did Sacha things and crashed a couple times so Aden got to see him twice the first moto. In the second moto, Sacha also did Sacha things and pulled away for the win so Aden got to see him as he lapped him. Sacha has so much roll speed through corners that it literally looks like he isn’t using any brakes to pivot his machine through them. A nice blend of aggression and technique.
