Come tutti gli anni o stagioni ribadiamo il concetto, siamo all’inizio e non si può già dire chi sarà i campione o chi farà bene o male, può ancora succedere di tutto, infatti già alla seconda gara c’è stato un ribaltone, non per tutti, ad esempio Barcia, Tomac, Stewart, questi hanno fatto simile, meglio o di più, Justin Barcia è tabella rossa e se anche non vincerà i titolo(a detta di molti messaggi sui social) cosa che non è detta perché sta facendo bene, i tempi ci sono e il gas lo ruota, siamo all’inizio e magari arriva in forma per dare le zampate che servono! Idem Tomac, dato come uno che con la blu non si sarebbe trovato ha vinto la sua heat, ha il tempo migliore e deve affinare tante cose, ma si vede che si trova bene e ha voglia di fare bene!
Per il resto, partiamo dal presupposto che ci sono 9 piloti in 10 punti, sabato si corre la terza gara e la pista sarà la medesima con tratti tecnici, solo un tratto di whoops!!! Ma tornando al mischione, mooooolto bene Jason Anderson, si vedeva alla prima che aveva un bel passo, magari non da vincere ma per fare bene, alla seconda ha dimostrato che non era un illusione A1, ha vinto Oakland ed è secondo in campionato, si sente bene e deve solo concentrarsi, se poi in breve entra in forma è uno dei 10 che può vincere il titolo e uno dei 15 che può vincere delle gare!
Nella classe 450 non c’era molto che sembrava avere molto senso, e molto di quello che è successo all’apertura è stato capovolto ad Oakland come abbiamo detto, infatti Aaron Plessinger montato sulle orange ha dimostrato di lavorare e esser veloce, la prima nelle retrovie e la seconda pronto a puntare alla vittoria, molto peggio i suoi teammate, Cooper Webb si dice febbricitante ma Marvin Musquin dietro costantemente, non hanno fatto una pessima gara ma a livello punteggio si sono equilibrati tutti, è anche normale direte voi, siamo alla seconda……quindi è inutile anche approfondire il discorso, lo ribadiamo per chi sui social parte in quarta dicendo “te lo avevo detto” oppure “non vincerà mai” o ancor megli “è finito e farà piazzamenti”.
Aspettiamo sabato prossimo per guardare meglio alcuni piloti, tutti sanno che la partenza è ancora più importante quando ci sono 15 piloti che vogliono partire davanti, noi ci saremo ancora a guardare e analizzare, ma anche settimana prossima sarà troppo presto, tra 4/5 gare inizieranno a sgretolarsi in classifica e il più costate, il più veloce, il più sano sarà davanti!
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Jason Anderson: Man, it’s been a while. I almost won a race in Salt Lake City, and I won some and was able to win that championship and now coming back and being 28 years old, being able to know I still have it and it feels amazing. 47 races is a long time to not get a win. I always felt I had the talent to win, it is just I haven’t been putting it together and you know this year realistically, I mean, last year I only had two third places and a handful of top five finishes. It you look at it, I was on the decline, but I kept believing and trying every day. For me, racing is still my number one thing. I have done it since I was little, and it is a family thing, and my grandparents took me everything. Even through tough times I love it and that is what it is. Fail or succeed that is what it is. I don’t let people into my life and dodge the media guys, I still love dirt bike racing.
Aaron Plessinger: “The opening round was a little rough for me but I re-grouped and had a really good week with the team. We did some testing with the whole crew and spent some time at the track and man, did it turn things around. I’m stoked! This is my second podium ever in the 450 class and I can’t thank these guys enough. It’s my first year on this bike, so I’m stoked on Red Bull KTM and everybody out there. Thank you!”
Justin Barcia: “I was just riding my race and having fun out there. I got a little tight in the middle but I was able to regroup. I saw Eli coming so I knew I needed to put the hammer down and I really wanted those two in front of me but they rode awesome, AP and Jason. I want to dedicate this race to Fed [Ryan Fedorow], he unfortunately passed away last week, so this is for him and I feel like he would be proud of me tonight. I can’t thank the whole team enough. We’re going to keep coming up here, it was fun tonight!”
Eli Tomac: “Overall, it was a good day with a really good qualifying result and a great heat race. It was a good track all day, and I enjoyed riding it and racing it. We worked on starts all week, and I was able to put myself in a good position in the heat race and got the win. I was feeling really good going into the main event. I was a little bit farther back on the start but made some good passes early on, and I was doing everything I could to push, but I couldn’t quite get to the podium spot. I made big improvements from the first round, and I know we’ll get there. It’s just a matter of fine-tuning at this point.”
Malcolm Stewart: “I think the night was actually kind of quiet for me. I’m stoked on the way I’ve been riding but starts are holding me back a little bit. It’s part of racing and we can take what we’ve learned from here and move forward. We’re still in a really good position for points so I’m stoked on that and just the whole program I’ve been on, I’ve never had this much fun! It’s only the second race and I feel like I’ve been racing for so long. The whole vibe and happiness has been great, so I’m looking forward to another great week.”
Dylan Ferrandis: “I felt good all day. We had a really good lap time during practice, but we got a really bad start in the heat race and had to fight my way up to fifth. Then in the main event, I got a little better start, but it was still not very good. I had another big fight to come back to the front and gave everything I had to come back to sixth. I think I could’ve got a top-five finish, but I made a mistake and missed a big double on the track, so I lost a lot of time. I closed the gap to fifth and finished on their rear wheel, but it was not enough. We’ll take this; it’s better than last weekend for sure, but it’s not really where we want to be. Step-by-step, we need to move our way up each race.”
Cooper Webb: “Tonight was a tough one, to say the least. I came down with a cold yesterday and fought through it the best we could today but definitely didn’t feel great at all. Practice went pretty good with third but I just tried to save as much as I could for the Main Event. I had a terrible start in the main and I made my way forward as best I could. It was definitely tough battling the sickness but I’m going to get healthy this week and go into San Diego with a fresh body and fresh slate. As far as the championship goes, we’re still in a good spot so we’ll see where it ends up.”
Marvin Musquin: “In the heat race, I didn’t get a good start and unfortunately it didn’t work out. In the Main Event, I was on the outside gate and I actually had a better start but it was difficult in the first few laps mid-pack. I got a little bit better after four or five laps and I was trying to attack Cooper but I started tightening up and I didn’t keep that momentum until the end. I know I need to do better, so we’ll work on some things this week.”
Chase Sexton: “Round 2 in Oakland started off good; the first couple of qualifying sessions were good and then everything kind of went downhill. Ken and I got together in the final session and both of us went down pretty hard. After that, I actually ended up winning my heat race but besides that I kind of just felt uncomfortable in the whoops and with the track in general. It was a tough day for me, but I’m hopeful for a better finish in San Diego. I’m excited to get back to work this week and get ready for next weekend.”
Adam Cianciarulo: “This was another challenging weekend for us, but we have a number of positives to take away from it. I got out to two holeshots and was feeling comfortable up front early in the Heat Race and again in the Main Event. I did the best I could with my situation tonight and that’s what I’ll continue to do each day going forward. We are still on track with our goal of getting healthier every week and progressing back to full form as the condition of my shoulder improves.”
Ken Roczen: “Not really much to say about Oakland. I feel like the day already started off kind of weird and we weren’t really feeling that great on the track, but we did the best we could. Chase [Sexton] and I went down pretty dang hard in the last qualifying practice. I got really lucky that nothing worse happened, as Chase kind of used my head as a whoop! It all happened so quickly and it was ultimately just me going down and falling into the wrong spot. The heat race was decent; I got second there. Going into the night show I put everything aside and tried to stay calm. We got off to a decent start, but I was probably around fourth or fifth and just struggled in the whoops; we’re just not good enough in them and we have to get better. That was a spot that bit me again, and after that there really wasn’t that much I could do. I finished 13th, but I’m going to keep my head up and charge hard again next weekend.”
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