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1571
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11/13/2011
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Edited Date/Time
2/16/2012 11:42am
Currently watching the 2001 SX races (thanks TBlazier) and I must say, the tracks were alot better/more technical and fun to watch compared to todays tracks which are pretty boring and cookie cutter IMO.
The tracks from the early 2000s seem to have alot more options..steeper jumps, dual lane whoops, step on/off/overs, better rythm sections, deep whoops, tunnel jumps, the occasional big quad that only 1 dude on a 125 would jump.. and todays tracks seem to have only one big section where only a few dudes will put something together that no one else is doing..the jumps are more distance-orientated as well
Would the racing be any better on a more tech/slower track?? I think the riders would have to have more control as it'd be easy to over jump stuff...
The tracks from the early 2000s seem to have alot more options..steeper jumps, dual lane whoops, step on/off/overs, better rythm sections, deep whoops, tunnel jumps, the occasional big quad that only 1 dude on a 125 would jump.. and todays tracks seem to have only one big section where only a few dudes will put something together that no one else is doing..the jumps are more distance-orientated as well
Would the racing be any better on a more tech/slower track?? I think the riders would have to have more control as it'd be easy to over jump stuff...
I think Dungey and Reed would be doing amazing on those technical tracks, especially Reed. On those same tracks, Stewart's win total would probably be cut in half. Hard to say where Villopoto would be. With his tenacity though I would expect him to be up at the top still.
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It looked awfully big.
I think in some cases there were obstacles (quads) that only 1 or 2 250cc guys were jumping.
Pro Racing is all about selling product. That isn't anything new it's always been that way, right?
The difference is that the capabilities of the equipment that's being put on the stage to "Perform" in todays shows has come down.... The bikes are heavier and don't handle as well.
Dirt Works's basically works for the manufacturers. Their job is to build a stage that allows their bkes and riders to perform to their potential, so that they can put on the best possible show for the bike and equipment buying spectators.
When the best riders in the world were paid by the manufacturers to ride light, fast 2 stroke machines, tracks used to be made very estreme and difficult so that the full potential of the bikes and riders would be demonstrated. The best riders in the world were able to do much more extreme things on those bikes....
Now that the best riders in the world have it in all their contracts that they must ride bikes that don't perform as well in order to make their mortgage payments... tracks must be built much flatter with smaller jumps, gentle takeoff angles, smaller whoops, little tiny on/off table tops, and little tiny berms. The best riders in the world aren't able to do quite the same level of things on todays bikes....
She buys that as much as I buy it for SX tracks.
But im under the impression dirt werx. probably want's to build those type of tracks again, but under current contracts of feld and possibly even monster.. they have to adhere to a specific set of rules saying there has to be a triple along each side etc.
id personally prefer if they had rhythm sections along the outside lanes of the stadium, so they could make for more options on the inside go like, 2-3-3-2 and on the outside of the lane make it 3-2-3-1... a guy can only wish,
I guess maybe today's tracks aren't usually as peaky as some of the tracks awhile back, probably more for the safety of the riders than to suite the bikes.
Does anyone remember the Atlanta SX in 2002? That track had a crazy section that Kdub and Pastrana would quad into. We need a video of that one.
The Jump is a 1:08 https://youtu.be/MyhqnFMYn6E
Obstacles that made for a challenging rhythm section then could likely be cleared altogether with 450s. They basically don't require a bowl-berm and can hook up from slick insides. A cool track could certainly be made though.
I think the biggest problem is the dirt budget. Can't get too creative without the materials. Dirt Wurx seems to bring in only about 2/3s of the soil they used to, and seldom use the over-under bridge.
Pit Row
but instead of "snowman, flake, tree, angel, star, bell" it's "standard size triple, standard size on-off gay ass table top, standard size gay ass single to put you on top of the even gayer table top thing, small lame berm, standard size finish double, one lined sand section"
https://youtu.be/pDniLM2bvHE
Also, if I were Rich Winkler, I'd be designing more flat corners into tracks (another thing racers probably hate). The 2010 tracks had a couple and I thought they made for excellent racing. Guys would go around the inside and double, or go wide and triple, and since there was no berm to rail, it made both lanes just about equal in speed.
Do the smaller, weaker tracks of today make sense if the bikes are actually "Better" dirtbikes now???
A THUMPER HUMPER in the industry might say - "We have to make the tracks tiny now with little jumps, little whoops, little berms, because the bikes are so fast now that we don't want to put any dirtbike obstacles in the way...."
BUT - That sounds like some bullFoop you might hear as a dealer tells you he's got dusty 4 strokes for sale at a discount... Nice try but that doesn't make sense.
Do the tracks have to be built small and flat now because the 4Foopty's are SO fast that they can't race on big obstacles??? Would they be jumping "Full Sections"???
A FOOPER TROOPER in the industry might say - "IF the tracks were built with those big jumps, big whoops, and big berms nowadays, the 4Foopty's would just jump the whole stadium and bounce off the roof... No one would have to truck them to the next round because they could just JUMP to the next round..."
BUT - When you watch the races with the big jumps and whoops in them, there were 4Foopty's in the races, and they weren't jumping whole sections... that's for sure. Maybe if a triple counts as a triple during the heats and main, but counts as a "Full Section" during the Semi's and LCQ... If that was the case then yeah, Foopers jumped lots of "Full Sections".
Brap
Does that make it better?
Same goes with 30 +2 in SX, yes the lap times are too short, yes the main event is too short but who wants to watch the slower riders get lapped twice or three times? Would that make SX more popular to the general public? How much harder would it be for a rider to get sponsorship dollars if he is getting lapped twice?
Longer tracks and more parity between the bikes is what I think would improve the racing overall
For reference http://vimeo.com/m/3945205
It was good to see the young version of the "old" guys .Other than that,the good old days are now.
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