What We Noticed: San Francisco
January 16, 2024
Ahhh rain rain. Here’s what we noticed from the mudder in SF.
- Worst Mudder Ever?
Not sure what the vibe was like from TV, but being there in person seeing all the chaos unfolding was unreal. You never really know how bad the track is going to be until the good guys get on it, and right away in qualifying sessions, ALL of the riders were struggling; panic revs and endoing everywhere. The track got worse and worse throughout the day/night as it continued to sprinkle/lightly rain… it never rained hard enough for water to run off the track. Instead, water continued to pool and soak into the mud, making the mud heavier and harder to maneuver. At the end of night, no one was jumping ANYTHING… not even a small double.
- Starts Were Everything
It’s not coincidence that the guys to lead entering the first/second corner led every lap and won. Conditions were so bad that there was hardly any time to make up consistently on the track. You had lap times that oscillated back and forth by about 6-10 seconds, but this was the case for almost all riders so it was deceiving; it looked like someone was catching one lap only to lose the same amount of time the next lap. Ken Roczen was about the only rider that made his way back from a bad start, but even he was into third pretty early into the race and remained stagnant from there.
- Sexton Not Satisfied
Don’t get me wrong, he is pumped on the win! And he should be, first win for the new team in only the second round is a big deal. However, you could tell at the press conference that he know it was a mudder and came down to the start, so it doesn’t say much about his speed or comfort on the bike right? He stated he was disappointed it rained because he made lots of progress on the bike leading up to the race, and wanted to showcase that (which he never was able to truly in these conditions). He will have to wait for SD…
- Jett and Webb Struggles
Kinda interesting that the two best/fastest riders from A1 were notably the ones that regressed the most (you could make an argument for Justin Cooper too, who didn’t even make the main). Sure, lots of guys struggled, crashed, had poorer finishes, etc, but Webb and Jett just looked off compared to their competitors in the mud. Most of the time in the mud you stay in your position (if you’re not crashing), but Jett and Webb both were getting passed without making any huge mistakes. Add-on the couple crashes they did have, and they fell back quite a bit position-wise.
-
Season Woes
Tough luck continues for a few to start the season… both Husky 450 riders (Craig and Stewart) were down once again on the first lap and had a tough at coming through the pack. In the 250s, Nate Thrasher barely scored any points for the second week in a row, and bike problems for both Vohland and Shimoda force them far down into the points standings. All of these guys have to be frustrated with the starts to their seasons…
-
Oracle Park Press Box
I’m not complaining about being in the press box; often times the best seat in the house! But the press box specifically at Oracle Park was tough to see out of. They had a plexiglass cover which was deeply scratched / dirty, not to mention it was pretty low in the stadium so you really couldn’t see what was happening on the far side of the track. Again, not complaining about being in the press box, but it’s something I noticed!
