When Ferrandis came back from injury mid way through the nationals he was starting up front, way better than usual. Didn't seem like many others took note of it, and it wasn't really that significant because he was still far from his top form of 2021 so for one, he wasn't doing much with the starts and secondly, we didn't know the reason for his better starts.
I believe his poor starts are almost entirely because of bike setup, you can see his reaction times are fine when the gate drops, but the bike usually takes a while to get going off the start. I remember back in the 2020 250 season he changed his bike setup at one of later rounds, possibly the last one and he said that it made it the bike better off the starts but worse everywhere else, which resulted in him starting like 20 positions further up the field than usual but also not running the same pace he had been running the rest of the season during the races. So when he was getting better starts in 2022 I thought that it was possible he made those changes to his 450 race bike.
However at the MXoN we saw Ferrandis still get good starts, but also run his 2021 pace or at least close to it. Now there was only 3 races, so not a huge sample size, but if he continues to get those starts and run his regular pace, that is going to be huge. The biggest result of these newfound good starts I think, is that if he has his regular pace and gets good starts during SX, he will be a title contender in my opinion. There were multiple races in supercross last year where Ferrandis was the fastest rider setting the fastest laps, however only finished an unremarkable 5th place or so because he started 17th. If he runs that same pace but starts up front he will win races and could win the championship.
Am I blowing this out of proportion or is this as big of a deal as I think it is? Feels weird that I haven't seen anyone else mention this yet.
I believe his poor starts are almost entirely because of bike setup, you can see his reaction times are fine when the gate drops, but the bike usually takes a while to get going off the start. I remember back in the 2020 250 season he changed his bike setup at one of later rounds, possibly the last one and he said that it made it the bike better off the starts but worse everywhere else, which resulted in him starting like 20 positions further up the field than usual but also not running the same pace he had been running the rest of the season during the races. So when he was getting better starts in 2022 I thought that it was possible he made those changes to his 450 race bike.
However at the MXoN we saw Ferrandis still get good starts, but also run his 2021 pace or at least close to it. Now there was only 3 races, so not a huge sample size, but if he continues to get those starts and run his regular pace, that is going to be huge. The biggest result of these newfound good starts I think, is that if he has his regular pace and gets good starts during SX, he will be a title contender in my opinion. There were multiple races in supercross last year where Ferrandis was the fastest rider setting the fastest laps, however only finished an unremarkable 5th place or so because he started 17th. If he runs that same pace but starts up front he will win races and could win the championship.
Am I blowing this out of proportion or is this as big of a deal as I think it is? Feels weird that I haven't seen anyone else mention this yet.
Not sure I would yet rate him with Gajser and not yet with Herlings.
He kicked ass in 2021 and looked like the fastest guy on the track at Red Bud.
Although he might, I am not sure he will run at the front of the pack in SX. He certainly will at MX.
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An interesting thought:
In a series where the five fastest French pro MX'ers all competed, how would they finish?
My guess: Renaux, Ferrandis, Febvre, Vialle, Musqvin.
I reckon Kellen has got it about right
I wouldn't agree his starts have been better.
He has plenty of good starts in his career.
Look at the stats.
2021 his average start was 5.7
2022 his starts were 1, 12, 13, 12 = 9.5
Mxon his starts were 14, 1= 7.5
Statistical he is worse.
Throughout his career he gets a lot of 7-12 place starts with the a top 3 start about 1/4 of the time.
So his starts are consistent with his career.
Pit Row
Marvin is STILL fast as can be. On any given day, he could STILL beat all the other flying Frenchmen.
The five guys I listed all have world-class-speed
He made only one mistake for the whole weekend.
The one during the race 3.
At the start of the race 2, he did not fall at all. Just a rider who falls right ahead of his front rear.
And at the very end of this race, yes he fell, but while he was far ahead of the first rider behind him, he took his chance, somehow safetly, in the last good spot to try a pass. It didn't workout, he fell at very low speed and was able to get back very quick on bike and finish the race without losing any spot.
It was a good attempt, one that he had to make.
His race2 comeback has been fantastic, epic ! (btw, at two or three laps of the checker flag, he stop at the pit to change his goggles)
Two more laps and he would have finished 4th.
Just after, for the race3, obviously he was a bit tired.
The whole weekend, he had been attacking the track as no one else.
His way of riding is brilliant, perfect for the spectators.
And with that, he wins championships.
What more could we ask for !?
Didn't Ben Watson win the MXGP class at last year's MXoN? I guess he could also be considered the 4th best rider from UK 🇬🇧
Ferrandis, Febvre, Vialle, Renaux,... Musquin(since two years he doesn't ride in MX, and somehow he is getting old)
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