What We Noticed: Anaheim 1
January 09, 2024
First round done… sixteen more to go! Excited and feeling so energized to have racing back. Here’s what we noticed from Angel Stadium!
- Cooper Webb is Fast
Most impressive 450 rider for sure is Cooper Webb. It might be weird to say that he’s “fast” (as in, that should be a given for a 2x supercross champ), but this is the best Webb we have ever seen at A1 in my opinion. Webb is a guy that never shines with speed; instead his success comes from consistency and late rate charges when the track breaks down. This year though? Exact opposite! Webb was one of the fastest all days and looked amazing out there… only thing that kept him from that second was a nasty endo. If Webb brings speed like this to every race, he’s a real title threat once again (which in my mind was a question mark entering the season.
- Jett Making History
Sure, Jett made history by being the only 450 rider to win their first ever 450SX, but that’s not exactly what I’m talking about here… instead, Jett is all-focused on beating McGrath’s record of 72 wins. It’s insane to be talking about this at such an early stage of Jett’s career… but with his race craft, ability, confidence, and young age you can’t help but think he has the best shot of doing it that we’ve seen in a while. McGrath commented in the offseason that he thought it was funny that Jett was already talking about beating his record before he even had a single win. Well, now Jett has a win, and it just so happened to be at his very first race! Watching him maintain that lead and look so comfortable out front, I couldn’t but feel that we are all witnessing history in the making… 1 down, 72 to go!
On another note, he’s confident, but he’s also very humble. Watching and hearing him at the press conference, you can tell he hast the utmost of respect for his competitors and records. The kid is the full package!
- Beaumer Hype
It’s only one race, but this kid looks like the real deal… haven’t seen a rookie like him since Deegan/Jett? He was super smooth all day, and seemed to adjust to the track right away. He got good starts both races and looked comfortable running the pace up front… he just belongs their! Awesome pick-up for KTM.
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Veteran 250 Riders
On the other end of the spectrum are the guys who finished 1st and 2nd. Both RJ Hampshire and Jordon Smith have declared themselves as the guys to beat for this championships. There were a lot of uncertainties entering this race as to who would step-up to fill the shoes left by the Lawrence bros… would it be Shimoda, the guy replacing them on Honda? What about blossoming Kitchen or Vohland or Thrasher? The team green kid on RDL even suggested DiFrancesco… Well, turns out it’s the two veterans so far! The theme at the press conference was that these two grew up racing each other, know each other very well, and enjoy racing each other hard. It’s cool to see them both up there, and it seems everyone expects them to stay up there. My only concern is that they also both happen to be some of the sketchier guys at their pace. So time will tell…
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Plessinger and Ferrandis Sneaky Good
They were impressive! They probably didn’t get much TV time, but a top 5 for both of them is a great way to start the season. Plessinger was super fast all day, and Ferrandis charged really hard at the end to almost catch him. If you give either of these guys a top 3 start, I think a podium is in the works! And I don’t think I would have felt confident saying that entering this year.
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Media Scrum and Press Conferences at the Same Time
The media scrum (where we can interview riders 1:1) and press conferences are happening at the same time after the races this year. We didn’t know that, so only got to go to the press conference were we able to ask a few questions. Check it out on Supercross LIVE’s YouTube! Moving forward, Andrea and I will take turns going to both of these, so expect some more 1:1 interviews soon!
