DAVID VUILLEMIN MOTOCROSS SUPERCROSS OFFICIAL BLOG

VERTICAL KILOMETER RACE...

2012-01-29T10:43:00.000-08:00

Race length/Longueur de la course: 1.9km/1.18mile

Elevation: 1000m/3280ft

Average Grade %/% de la montée: 52%!!

OAKLAND SUPERCROSS RESULTS

2012-01-28T17:43:00.000-08:00

450 OVERALL TIMES

LITES OVERALL TIMES

250/450 COMBINED TIMES JUST FOR FUN

LITES MAIN EVENT

LITES POINTS STANDING

450 MAIN EVENT

450 POINTS STANDING

PHOTOS BY VITALMX.COM

OAKLAND TRACK PHOTOS

2012-01-28T12:00:00.000-08:00

Photos by Steve Cox & Dave Prater

Mon analyse de la moto de Bubba en Français...

2012-01-25T21:10:00.000-08:00

Lebig a fait la traduction de quelques passages de mon analyse de la moto de James Stewart sur son site.

Vous pouvez la lire ICI:

DOES YOUNG TALENT NEED MORE STRUCTURED TEAM TO SUCCEED?

2012-01-25T16:49:00.000-08:00

I've been around the American series for a while now with my ups and downs. I can't help notice all the young talents that signed good contracts with factories or factory supported teams. Most of them had a bright future, some disappeared quickly, some never won a race, some even ended up locked up in a jail somewhere…

Teams/factories, more several years ago, would go on crazy bidding wars to get the next Johnson, Stanton, McGrath or Carmichael but without giving them the structure to help the prodigies bloom. There isn't really a team that propose a full package to help the riders improve their speed, fitness and mental. How many times I was on a track at the same time as some 18 year old factory/factory supported riders on their own just riding and looking lost out there. Pro Circuit has been successful. Riders, Mechanics and crew fear Mitch Payton which is a psychology to put pressure on everyone to succeed with one of the best bikes you can get. It has been working for 20 years but it didn't work with everyone. We remember the episode of the bidding war between Honda and PC to sign Bobby Bonds. Maybe one of the most expensive contract ever for Kawasaki and PC.

Joe Gibbs Racing tried a new concept a few years ago having their riders live by the race shop and followed by an ex football trainer on a daily basis in a sort of team sports bootcamp. The key word in this sentence is "football". I respect this concept but a football trainer would not even make you faster from the truck to the starting gate. In every team sports, you have rules, curfews, training scheduled even for Kobe Bryant and Tom Brady. Why not having those in motocross? We spend a lot of money (I am not against that part) on riders and let them do their own thing. If they are not successful, its like throwing 100 dollar bills out of the window on the freeway. At the end of their contracts we don't re-sign them. We pick other ones and so on. This year, the Rockstar Suzuki Lites team hired Randy Lawrence to take care of their riders. He has knowledge and experience and it can only help that team to improve.

You can count on one hand per decades the riders that won races or championships that were on their own like Bailey, O'Mara, McGrath, Bayle, Reed, Pourcel… Most of the kids with a decent contract have the wrong priorities… They need the new truck, the 24" wheels, the Kicker sound system and give more importance to a shoe deal than their actual sponsors that pays their bills and what could be their retirement...

RC had his mom, Jeannie. Her nickname wasn't "Meany Jeannie" for nothing. Bubba had James Sr. Mike Alessi has Tony and even if I don't agree on their program and approach, Tony was always here to make sure Mike was doing his homework. Whatever how good their program is, you have to respect Tony and Mike to follow it at 100%. My dad would make Tony Alessi look like Chuck'E'Cheese. He was super hard on me, used to beat me when I wasn't doing as good as he thought I could. If I had to do it again, I can assure you I would do it again but I would have stop racing way before I turned pro if he wasn't there and would have never won a GP or a Supercross race.

I am not saying every riders would win with a "dictator" in charge of their training/practice sessions, some aren't strong enough for it or ready to do the amount of work required but it would have helped most of them. I am not saying to need to beat the riders to go fast and win but to give them a structure with knowledge, experience and respect.

I would bet a bunch of money that Kevin Windham, even if he had an awesome career, would be the GOAT today if he had "Meany Jeannie" on his side…

Just something to think about. Instead of gambling of a rider's potential and dedication, why not giving him the tools to become a great investment...

LOS ANGELES SX BY GoPro

2012-01-24T23:46:00.001-08:00

LA SX TOP 10 RIDERS ANALYSIS....

2012-01-24T14:41:00.000-08:00

450:

CHAD REED: Chad was once again little off the RV/JS pace in practice. It has been the case for the first 3 races now which isn't a big deal for him. He has a long of experience and I don't think that's affecting him now. He has the ressources, with his technique and his experience, to turn it around during the race. In the Main, Chad really turned it around. It was a Championship contender that showed up. Chad was aggressive, fast and started jumping new stuff right at the beginning of the race. It was one of Chad's best race of his career. At almost 30 years old, Chad looked 5 years younger on Saturday
RYAN DUNGEY: I didn't see Ryan super comfortable in practice even with clocking the 3rd fastest time .8 sec behind RV. RD5 did a steady and consistent Main Event. Just like in Phoenix basically. Ryan rode good to stay in the Championship race. Nothing amazing, just mistake free and consistent. RD never looked like he could race with Chad for the win. He took advantage of Bubba taking Weimer out in the 5th lap and Bubba doing a "Bubba" (crashing) in the 12th lap. I think Ryan will step it up during the season. His bike needs some more tuning, he needs more race time on it and I am sure his speed will improve soon. He will be there all season long but RV will not crash at every race like he did in Phoenix and L.A.
JAMES STEWART: I pretty much sum it up right HERE
RYAN VILLOPOTO: RV1 is the man to beat this year but he helped his competition in Phoenix and Phoenix by being way back in the first lap of the main events. Ryan is the fastest so far, only Bubba could clock a faster lap than him in practice, and has the best fitness. He showed it in LA by doing his best lap time in the last lap of the 20lap race. Ryan has the best package right now and will have to stay out of trouble on the starts and first laps.
BRETT METCALFE: Brett got his second top 5 of his career this weekend. His first was in muddy condition in Oakland 2011. Brett has been off the pace in SX since he moved to the 450 class. He is not a SX specialist and this top 5 will be great for his confidence. He started 5th and stayed in there. BM24 will have to find .5 to a second a lap consistently to get another top 5 but he is well capable of doing so. Brett had the 7th fastest lap in the Main Event.
DAVI MILLSAPS: Here is another rider that had a good race in LA. Davi started 8th and moved up to 6th. He took advantage of Weimer's crash but got pass by unstoppable RV1. His lap times were good and consistent. He is a great SX rider and will improve too. Look for Davi to fight for a top 5 with a better start. His fitness was questionable in the past but he has been doing his homework in the off season dropping 38 pounds. That's a lot of weight! He was 6th fastest in the Main in LA. Good to see him on the right path.
JOSH HANSEN: Josh has been doing great this year and has been under the radar. His performance since the opening 10-10-7 have been under rated. Josh is a great SX rider and he came ready to race in 2012. He impressed me in Phoenix in practice looking fast and smooth without seeing his lap times. He was "only" 17th fastest in practice in LA but it's tough to judge since there was only 1 practice due to the weather. JH100 ended the first lap in 11th worked his way up to 7th with the 9th fastest lap in the Main passing, 2011 lites rival, Broc Tickle in the process. That was a great ride
BROC TICKLE: Broc got his best finish of the year after missing the Main in Phoenix and a 12th place in A1. I think we are expecting a little more from Broc as the 2011 West Lites Champion. 6th on the first lap of the Main. Broc got passed by Millsaps and Hansen. He had a bad lap in the middle of the main, 4 seconds slower than his average, which I didn't see from what. Broc is learning the 450 class but should be doing better as a Lites Champion and being in one of the best team there is.
KEVIN WINDHAM: Kevin surprised everyone with a 4th in Phoenix where he could have got a podium with a little more fitness. KDub started 14th and worked his way up to 9th. He was 10th fastest in the Main. KW will be 34 in February and that is already impressive to be competitive in a stacked up 2012 450 class. Kevin will have to get better starts and will do good this year on more technical tracks and in the mud. It doesn't look like it's going to rain in Oakland but there are a lot of open stadiums until the end of the year. Kevin will also keep impressing us by doing crazy tranfers in the dark during opening ceremony
MIKE ALESSI: Mike was 18th fastest in practice just like A1. He did better in Phoenix were he was 10th. Mike had a great start in the heat race and rode good and consistent finishing 2nd behind Bubba, just like Anaheim. Mike hit the gate in the main and was last in 18th (Not 20th because Canard and Morais weren't there anymore). He ended the first lap in 12th. Josh Grant and Tedesco crashed soon after. He was 10th on lap 2 and stayed there. RV passed him and Weimer got taken out which left him in 10th. Mike was 11th fastest in the Main. To get closer to a top 5, he will have to start in front and fight to stay there. You will not see him go thru the pack "a-laVillopoto" but with his abilities to start in front from anywhere on the gate, Mike will eventually best his best finish of the season (9th) soon.

LITES:

ELI TOMAC: Eli has been, for me, the fastest guy since the opening. He is fast, aggressive, hungry, has the fitness and jumps stuff like the 450s. He has been struggling with starts and making a few mistakes. He knows how to start, he proved it by holeshoting the LCQ from the last gate on the outside in Anaheim. He needs to be more consistent off the gate and then he will tough to beat. He is the RV1 of the West lites this year. Eli was the faster man on the planet in LA clocking the fastest lap in the 250/450 Mains combined.
DEAN WILSON: Dean is/was the favorite to win this Championship coming off a great summer and a Lites National Championship. The speed isn't quite there yet even if he won in Phoenix. He should have won A1 but Seely passed him and went on to win the race. He took Dean 13 laps to get around Zack Osborne while Tomac was checking out. Dean was .8 sec slower than Tomac on their fast lap and was 15sec behind at the checkered flag. In maths strictly, that's 1 second a lap...
ZACH OSBORNE: Zach has been on fire in the first 3 races. Great style, fast and getting on the podium this weekend. Nobody was expecting him to do so well after being away from US SX for so long. On a YZF that is getting old and almost obsolete against the other brands, Zach is showing that he wants to come back to race in the US soon and what best way to show it than getting on the box. Teams, sign this kid up for 2K13! Great job Snackpack!
TYLA RATTRAY: Tyla isn't a SX rider but he is in it to win it. He's compensating his lack of SX skills and experience with hard work and dedication. He didn't have a great race in LA, top 5 start and rode consistent. He wasn't super fast in the main, only 9th fastest, but the guy will be there every weekend and will give 100% everytime he sits on the bike. For this, he deserves props.
JASON ANDERSON: Jason needs credit. He has been under the radar like Hansen but he is riding great. He has a good technique, he is a good jumper and makes it look easy. Has been consistent with a 7-7-5 finish on the first 3 races. He got in the main by winning the LCQ, 9th on the first lap by having a terrible pick on the gate. Top 5 with this circumstances is a good accomplishment.
MAX ANSTIE: Another kid under the radar. He was doing great in the heat race and got taken out. 6th in the heat race. He came back from outside the top 10 to finish 6th. That was a great ride. This is another rider that is here to prove himself that he has a place in the US. I don't think he will stay in the GPs much longer. He's only 18 and has a lot of potential.
MICHAEL LEIB: The 20year old SoCalian had 2 disastrous seasons in GP and he's back in the US as a privateer. Michael has been working hard to get back in SX form. ML had a close to top 5 start and rode really well fighting for every spots. After missing the main in A1, 11th in Phx and 7th in LA. It would be tough for him to do much better, he was "only" 13th fastest in the main but you have to give him, and his dad, credit for being up there in a stacked and equipment-competitive class. Keep it up Michael...
MATT MOSS: His highlight of his season before LA was his take out on Sipes in the Phoenix LCQ. Matt did good at Dodger Stadium. He was only 16th on the first lap and passed a bunch of guys to get 8th. He's a replacement rider if I remember right and had a great ride!
MARTIN DAVALOS: Everyone knows Martin is fast and can start. But in between those 2 facts there is the crash factor... Seems like MD is taking way too many dirt samples for many years. He holeshoted the main, rode great for a while and crashed. Got up in 6th and got passed at the end by Anderson, Anstie, Leib and Moss. As a Lites veteran now, Martin should be doing better.
BILLY LANINOVICH: After a few sabbatical years, Billy is back on a Honda as a privateer. The 29 year old, 2004 (?) San Francisco 125cc winner got his best finish of the year (14th-12th-10th) and he is 10th in the standings in front of a bunch of supported riders getting paid to ride. 16th fastest in practice, started 14th in the main, came back in the top 10 with the 14th fastest lap time. The stats aren't that bad and can only get better. He has experience, knows the sport/class well, has great bike skills and can stay in the top 10 with the proper training/preparation.

REEDY & DEANO @ CASTILLO RANCH

2012-01-24T12:31:00.001-08:00

Quads on ice...

2012-01-23T12:40:00.001-08:00

CHAD REED IS FEELING IT...

2012-01-23T12:32:00.001-08:00

Funny editing from LA SX

MY OPINION ON BUBBA'S BIKE

2012-01-23T09:12:00.001-08:00

Do I think the Yamaha YZF450 was born bad? NO! I owned one, I rode a few, I worked on them. I give you that we have to have a different approach when working on it and setting it up. If you do whatever Suzuki did with the chassis on Dungey's RMZ450 in 2010, it would not work. Making a Yamaha like a chopper like RC/RD/RV's bikes can't work because you make the bike worse by doing that. There has less weight on the front end on the new generation of the YZF450 which results in having a light feel on the front. Light feel means that you could lose the front. Look at Bubba's bike in 2011, rock hard front forks, super soft rear shock and shock sag (measure of the length of the travel of the shock on the stand minus the same measure while sitting on the bike. Let's say 105mm is standard measure for SX) at well over 110mm… I am sure his bike felt like your Dodge Ram pickup truck in turns after 5 minutes of rain…

His 2012 set-up on the chassis looks way better. I notice that his bike is still pretty stiff but the balance looks better than 2011. Being stiff like Bubba is good for jumping and charging around the track but you have to be on the gas all the time to make your bike settle. I really think he made improvement on his bike this year but it still hurts his traction on both ends. Seems like he is on egg shells going in the turns and even on acceleration. Don't even start talking about the Pirelli/Dunlop tire fiasco. Tires are important but the set-up of his bike isn't helping his tire/traction feel. They are trying to put a band-aid to fix a broken bone, it isn't the solution. BUT the chassis isn't the only problem in my opinion…

After watching his GoPro Helmet Cam Video from the L.A. Main Event (RIGHT HERE), I noticed something about his engine. Dude, that bike sounds like a YZ125 running out of gas in Alaska in the winter? His bike sounds super lean, super aggressive an going thru the RPM way too fast. This bike isn't easy to ride, it's not linear, lacking torque and no throttle control. I am sure this engine is super bad ass on a Dyno but on a hard packed slick track with a winter dew? Rumors say that he started using 3rd gear on starts this weekend in LA. If true, it would make sense. His bike lights up way to much and way to fast to start in second. All he would do his spin the rear wheel or wheelie if he'd catch traction...

I really feel like his setup could be improve drastically in no time. You can see that it's not the same Bubba as before. Yes, you are going to tell me, he's still crashing… On that part you are right, but his genius moves, his super speed aren't shown really often these days. There is less and less sparks and awesomeness in his riding. When you see him get passed by Chad in the Main in L.A. (nothing against CR22, I thought he had one of his best races ever this weekend) but it's not the Bubba that we know. In his "A" days, he would have passed Weimer in 2 turns without knowing Jake was on the track. Haters will say he's done and will never win again but I say that his biggest competition this year is to make a controllable and efficient bike to show his full potential. If not, he can stop thinking of beating McGrath's 72 SX wins record and start thinking having fun turning left like Ricky Carmichael…

L.A. SUPERCROSS

2012-01-23T08:11:00.000-08:00

FULL 450 TV PROGRAM IN HD!!

5min with Bubba's GoPro Helmet Cam

Bubba's crash in practice... OUCH!

LITES:

Overall
1. Eli Tomac
2. Dean Wilson
3. Zach Osborne
4. Tyla Rattray
5. Jason Anderson
6. Max Anstie
7. Michael Leib
8. Matt Moss
9. Martin Davalos
10. Billy Laninovich
11. Nico Izzi
12. Ryan Sipes
13. Vince Friese
14. Teddy Maier
15. Cole Seely
16. Scott Champion
17. Nick Paluzzi
18. Gavin Faith
19. Marvin Musquin
20. Travis Baker

250 Class West Coast Championship Standings (After 3 of 7 rounds)
1. Eli Tomac (63pts/1 win)
2. Dean Wilson (62pts/1 win)
3. Tyla Rattray (60pts)
4. Cole Seely (47pts)
5. Zach Osborne (47pts)
6. Jason Anderson (44pts)
7. Marvin Musquin (42pts)
8. MAx Anstie (32pts)
9. Nico Izzi (32pts)
10. Billy Laninovich (27pts)

Top Lap Times
1. Eli Tomac 53.915
2. Martin Davalos 54.380
3. Dean Wilson 54.705
4. Marvin Musquin 54.889
5. Zach Osborne 55.018

450s:

Overall
1. Chad Reed
2. Ryan Dungey
3. James Stewart
4. Ryan Villopoto
5. Brett Metcalfe
6. Davi Millsaps
7. Josh Hansen
8. Broc Tickle
9. Kevin Windham
10. Mike Alessi
11. Jake Weimer
12. Kyle Chisholm
13. Nick Wey
14. Andrew Short
15. Weston Peick
16. Kyle Partridge
17. Josh Grant
18. Ivan Tedesco
19. Trey Canard
20. Ryan Morais

450 Class West Championship Standings (After 3 of 17 rounds)
1. Ryan Dungey (67pts/1 win)
2. Chad Reed (63pts/1 win)
3. Ryan Villopoto (63pts/1 win)
4. James Stewart (48pts)
5. Jake Weimer (48pts)
6. Kevin Windham (43pts)
7. Brett Metcalfe (42pts)
8. Josh Hansen (32pts)
9. Andrew Short (32pts)
10. Davi Millsaps (27pts)

Top Lap Times
1. Ryan Villopoto 54.341
2. Chad Reed 54.446
3. James Stewart 54.565
4. Ryan Dungey 54.750
5. Jake Weimer 55.313

CANARD/MORAIS CRASH ON LAP 1 OF LOS ANGELES SX

2012-01-22T00:41:00.001-08:00

DODGER STADIUM by CHRIS GANZ...

2012-01-20T22:36:00.001-08:00

WARDROBE MALFUNCTION

2012-01-20T15:26:00.000-08:00

Shift logo on the left shoulder becomes s#$%...

~~~

Le logo Shift devient S@#$ sur l'épaule gauche...

ARENACROSS CRASH BY TYLER BOWERS...

2012-01-19T01:25:00.001-08:00

THE KING OF SX STILL RIDES... (1/17/12)

2012-01-18T15:56:00.001-08:00

GLEN HELEN 2000. MY FIRST MX IN THE US

2012-01-17T21:14:00.001-08:00

PHOENIX SX by GoPro

2012-01-17T20:43:00.001-08:00

Motorcycle vs Car Drift Battle 2

2012-01-16T23:14:00.000-08:00

100 YEARS IN 10 MINUTES

2012-01-16T21:49:00.001-08:00

BUBBA'S GOPRO @ PHOENIX SX

2012-01-16T18:09:00.001-08:00

LAKERS @ CLIPPERS VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS

2012-01-15T15:51:00.000-08:00

Click to see the highlights

PHOENIX RESULTS & MAIN EVENTS VIDEOS

2012-01-15T14:52:00.000-08:00

LITES MAIN EVENT

450 MAIN EVENT

250 RESULTS

250 Overall
1. Dean Wilson
2. Marvin Musquin
3. Tyla Rattray
4. Eli Tomac
5. Cole Seely
6. Zach Osborne
7. Jason Anderson
8. Nico Izzi
9. Max Anstie
10. Travis Baker
11. Michael Leib
12. Billy Laninovich
13. Bruce Rutherford
14. Vince Friese
15. Teddy Maier
16. Scott Champion
17. Gareth Swanepoel
18. Jean Carlo Ramos
19. Adam Chatfield
20. Martin Davalos

250 Class West Coast Championship Standings (After 2 of 7 rounds)
1. Tyla Rattray (42pts)
2. Cole Seely (41pts/1 win)
3. Dean Wilson (40pts/1 win)
4. Marvin Musquin (40pts)
5. Eli Tomac (38pts)
6. Jason Anderson (28pts)
7. Zach Osborne (27pts)
8. Nico Izzi (22pts)
9. Travis Baker (22pts)
10. Max Anstie (17pts)

Top Lap Times
1. Eli Tomac 52.385
2. Dean Wilson 52.523
3. Cole Seely 52.554
4. Tyla Rattray 53.811
5. Marvin Musquin 53.024

450 RESULTS

450 Overall
1. Ryan Dungey
2. Jake Weimer
3. Ryan Villopoto
4. Kevin Windham
5. Chad Reed
6. Andrew Short
7. Trey Canard
8. James Stewart
9. Brett Metcalfe
10. Josh Hansen
11. Ivan Tedesco
12. Kyle Chisholm
13. Davi Millsaps
14. Justin Brayton
15. Chris Blose
16. Mike Alessi
17. Kyle Partridge
18. Tommy Hahn
19. Nick Wey
20. Jimmy Albertson

450 Class Championship Standings (After 2 of 17 rounds)
1. Ryan Dungey (45pts/1 win)
2. Ryan Villopoto (45pts/1 win)
3. Jake Weimer (38pts)
4. Chad Reed (38pts)
5. Kevin Windham (31pts)
6. Andrew Short (29pts)
7. James Stewart (28pts)
8. Justin Brayton (25pts)
9. Brett Metcalfe (22pts)
10. Josh Hansen (22pts)

Top Lap Times
1. Ryan Villopoto 52.030
2. Ryan Dungey 52.058
3. Jake Weimer 52.389
4. James Stewart 52.394
5. Chad Reed 52.825

Photos by TWMX

NEW ORLEANS 2000

2012-01-13T17:42:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Tony Blazier for posting it on YouTube...