Thumpa Report

Written by yzthumpa Tuesday, 11 January 2011 14:30

The much hyped 2011 Supercross season is upon us, and Anaheim 1 delivered as promised. And as usual, the Thumpa Report's crack photography staff was on hand and right on target to deliver all the hottest action.

The 2010 season saw two of the sports biggest stars - James Stewart and Chad Reed - absent for most of the season. The mass appeal of riders of their status is obvious...

...and that's why they haul in the big dough.

However, stars of this caliber often command the majority of a sponsor's advertising budget. With all their eggs in one basket, the absence of a rider like Stewart or Reed can have major effects on the sponsors via the lack of visibility of their product. Of course, the company can enlist the riders for other duties such as promos, dealer meetings, and autograph signings.

However, nothing compares to having their rider win a race in front of a packed stadium and national television audience, or thanking their sponsors in a podium interview. As is the case with any other sport, the loss of its megastars can also affect the sport as a whole in terms of fan interest, ticket sales, and TV viewership.

In addition to the loss of Stewart and Reed early on, Ryan Villopoto was also lost to injury later in the season near the peak of the tightly contested points race. Thus, with the dawn of the 2011 SX season, both the industry and fans alike sought the same thing from their biggest stars:

A return to their classic form.

And Anaheim 1 did not leave them wanting.

Picking up right where last season left off, the spotlight once again shined brightest...

...on the dynamic duo.

The two Ryans, winners of a combined 13 races last season, made it look easy on their way to a 1-2 finish.

Lingering effects both physical and mental often plague even the best riders after such a long convalescence.

But Villopoto continued to work his magic...

...and had this one well in hand after seizing the lead from holeshotter Ivan Tedesco after just 3 laps.
Ryan Dungey had to work just a little harder to get around teammate Brett Metcalfe and Tedesco, but never faced a serious challenge thereafter on his way to the second step on the podium.

The podium's 3rd occupant faced a far different path, however. After setting a blistering pace in practice that set him apart from the field, AMA officials held an emergency meeting prior to the start of the race in an attempt to level the playing field. While Stewart's qualifying position earned him first gate pick, officials decided - in a move that would henceforth become known as the "Bubba Amendment" - that Bubba would in fact be given a special starting block.

After giving the field the mandated head start, Stewart crossed the first turn line in 17th place. After 1 lap he stood in 11th place, then proceeded to pick off riders at will. By race's end, Bubba had reached podium position, just 3 seconds behind Dungey and another 3 behind Villopoto. Make no mistake - Bubba Stewart is still the fastest man on the planet. However, this is a season like no other. In years past, it was almost a given that riders like McGrath, RC, Reed, and Stewart could start dead last or close to it and still grab the checkers first. But this year, the field is dense. A decent start is virtually a necessity to win with so much talent on the starting line. You just can't spot a 10+ second lead to the likes of the Ryans. It's rumored that Bubba will now run practice on a Vespa to equalize qualifying times and give the appearance that he's from the same planet as the rest of the field to avoid the mandated head start penalty in future races.

The one man who came closest to matching Stewart's pace in practice was somewhat of a surprise.

I can't say it's a huge surprise since I picked him to win the title this year, but I don't think many expected him to be quite that fast right from the start. With a poor gate pick after qualifying through the LCQ, Canard got a mid-pack start but had little problem working his way through the field. Deftly passing quality riders such as Grant, Windham, Metcalfe, and Tedesco along the way, by lap 9 Canard had moved into 3rd position. Though succumbing to Stewart around lap 12, Canard ended the night with a solid 4th place finish.

At the opening round, Canard clearly established himself as one of the big 5. What established these guys as the big 5 was not their final order of finish, but the means by which they achieved it. Aside from Canard being passed by Stewart, the top 5 guys moved in only one direction all night long - forward. While several big name riders got good starts and gradually drifted back throughout the main, this select group of guys showed that they can run near the front regardless of starting position. Canard passed no less than 5 riders on his way to 4th, and Stewart passed at least a dozen, as did our 5th place rider....

...The Forgotten Man.

Yes, I'm talking about Chad Reed. While Bubba crossed the holeshot stripe in around 16th or 17th place, right along side him was Reed. While everyone is talking about Bubba's charge to 3rd, few are mentioning Reed's charge to 5th. After the first lap Stewart and Reed stood in 11th and 12th. Yet by night's end, the only rider Stewart passed that Reed didn't was Trey Canard.

Entering the season without a factory ride, Reed took it upon himself to start his own team with little time to spare. Many questioned whether he could build a competitive bike - but after 38 race wins and 2 SX titles, fans should know by now that Reed has always held the formula for success.

While some had written off Reed heading into this season, he proved at Anaheim that once again he will be in the thick of the title race.

If there were an award for "Best of the Rest," it would have to go to the 6th place finisher, grisled veteran Kevin Windham.

The old guy still has speed, and the only knock on him at A1 was that he got passed by Canard, Stewart, and Reed along the way.

After any race - and especially the season opener - the moto message boards are sure to come alive.

And after A1 the hot topic was the fate of the KTM 350. And the concensus of opinions was...

...Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time.

While the 4-stroke revolution was initially met with some skepticism, over the years the bikes have lost a ton of weight and the only knock on the 450 seems to be that it is often just too powerful. Many will note that the top riders on the 250F are posting lap times just a tad shy of the 450. But the 250 does lack that "blip it and grip it" burst of power. So if you're approaching a triple but got a bad drive out of the turn, there's always that apprehensive little question -

Would you still hit it?

Logically, the ideal compromise between power and handling for Supercross would appear to be the 350. So all eyes were upon the KTM team at Anaheim, and to most the results were somewhat disappointing - 10th for Andrew Short and 14th for Mike Alessi.

So now there's an even bigger question surrounding the 350 -

Are we evolving or devolving?

In my opinion, people are totally overreacting after one race. Mike Alessi has been out of Supercross for a while, and I don't think many expected him to do much better in his initial outing. Andrew Short has typically been a good starter, but so has James Stewart - and no one is questioning the Yamaha after Stewart's poor start. Likewise, with the cast of characters in this year's field, a top ten finish is nothing to be embarrassed about. Josh Grant finished 9th and no one is questioning the Honda. There will be much shuffling of positions in this year's series, especially amongst 6th-10th place. So before we fire Andrew Short, throw the 350 off a cliff, and hang Roger DeCoster in effigy, let's just give the 350 a little more time.

So the season is finally under way. And Aneheim 1 has set the bar high for the rest of the year. If there's anything wrong with the 2011 Supercross season, it can only be this:

Are we enjoying this just a little too much?