Last night I watched the recap from the Stop Watch Nationals at Glen Helen and I was surprised that not a lot of the pros from the main circuit showed up other than some guys from the TLD Team, KTM, and KTM Offroad. Broc Tickle looked really good on his Kawi. You would think that more teams would show up to knock off the cob webs and get some real testing in before outdoors starts instead of running mindless laps around the same test track over and over. Are the teams just afraid that their riders might get hurt? Doesn't seem like much of a logistics issue to pack up a box van from the team hub and go race one day. If you guys ran a factory team what might your reasons be for not showing up to an event like this? Other than the potential for a rider getting hurt, I don't see any negatives... Thoughts?
The guys that are gonna win PALA don't need to race broc tickle to get ready
I always thought that the term "stop watched nationals" referred to a bunch of pro's practicing at Glen Helen with their lap times being unofficially compared to see who's the fastest preseason. Has it always been an actual race with gate drops and even champaign at the end?
Also I know that he's in a 450 on a track with hills, but damn, Broc looked pretty dang good. And what happened to Pierce 2nd moto?
The big names are in Florida and Georgia, or hurt
Not that many are in town...
HRC boys, Florida. Shimoda was there but was just testing and rode practice.
PC boys, Kitchen is in Florida. Mcadoo and Hammaker were there hut didn’t race, just ride and tested.
The two TLD 250s did it, Barcia is back East.
KTM, I think Beaumer was the only one out here for that day. A lot of the other guys were here early in the week but I think they went home.
BarX brought all their healthy guys, but it looks like they all had DNFs of some sort.
Anderson was there, but didn't race, rode the open sessions and tested.
I'm going to guess that some didn't feel it was worth lining up for a thrown-together race, due to risk vs reward. Racing against a bunch of guys that aren't even doing Pala and you don't know who you can trust, GH can really bite you, and most guys are deep into testing with the barely two weeks they have between races. They know how to race, they've been racing all year.
Honestly, there isn't a ton of reasons to do it.
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I believe that this is the first time it’s been an actual race with gate drops and purse money. From what I know, you are correct that it has always been an open practice day where lap times were compared and I am sure someone will correct me if I am wrong.
My thoughts from 15,000km away…
Why would factory riders bother with a race on a track not on the national calendar, when they only have 13 days between the end of SX and the start of outdoors?
What value does it bring them?
Counter point: They already ride there a decent amount to test, and usually on a track that has a mix of pros and Joes. So at least the race filters out some of the AM dudes who can possibly take you out.
Thoughts? ....Quote - "You would think that more teams would show up to knock off the cob webs and get some real testing in before outdoors starts instead of running mindless laps around the same test track over and over."
(Any team trying to do "real testing 6 days before round 1 gotta be a circus)
With all due respect Sir, you are have no idea what the "big teams" preparation is like.
Quote - "Doesn't seem like much of a logistics issue to pack up a box van from the team hub and go race one day."
There aint no cobwebs to knock off! These guys are better off utilizing a day to fine tune, you may not believe it but they are already dailed in for next weeks Pala. Why would you they want to send a Box van and crew to sit at some event waiting for their turn to spin some laps? That ain't testing or helping them for a Pro outdoors.
Just my take and I have worked for some big teams in the past.
Seems to me some teams DID use this event for testing…
They had more big names than I anticipated. It’s cool and all but most the these guys don’t need to get the rave cobwebs knocked off ad they have been racing. They just need to get Mx final touches in and get the flow back.
It’s really odd that some people think professional athletes who have been competing since the beginning of January need to race a one off event to get better 🤔
These big name guys have MX,SX, and SMX in their contracts they aren't racing any races not in their contract for free.
It's just another opportunity to get hurt for no reason or purpose
Ok if you are Ryder D and this big time amateur and then you have JuJu. Dude caught and passed Ryder D and he rode mostly jet skis. Probably not the greatest feeling in the world. Also, hoping Pierce stays healthy.
Pretty cool of Glen Helen and TLD to pull this off. I can see why factory riders were not there but the lack of true privateers blows me away. Plenty of guys could have used the extra coin for a days work in my opinion.
did the Tick beat mumfy??
Mumford was not there. Not even sure that guy plans on racing this summer.
He got some more “outdoor” testing in. Got a nice check. Got a feel for his on-track speed versus other current pros under a more competitive environment than what he usually sees.
If you watch the vid that’s posted in the original thread of Broc’s post race interview, it was a good day for him…in general.
Pit Row
Usually the guy standing on the #1 box beat everyone else
That's Ryder D couldn't tell. Tick put 13 seconds on him. Oof.
Tickle was a legit top 10 guy/has some podiums on 450s not all that long ago. Ryder D will most likely be a solid top 10 guy in 250s but never make a dent in the 450 class. Tickle doesn’t get enough credit for how good he really was/is.
The point is that Glen Helen offered it. It was there if anyone wanted to participate. Cool thing imo
Not sticking up for Ryder D. but it seems like someone believes everything they hear on TV. JuJu has been racing moto since he was on 65s at lorettas and maybe 50s and has been on 250s for a year longer than Ryder d maybe even 2yrs since Ryder was hurt for a yr...
Not saying he didn’t race as an amateur just pointing out that he focused on another sport and just because he was on a 250 longer doesn’t mean much when Ryder D is hitting every major event his entire amateur career(unless injured).
I kinda looked at this like the Thursday night PIR race before Washougal.
Ryder D had pretty much no breaks from half way on both motos. Completely boiled the fluid
Not that long ago? Last time he was a real podium threat was '16, '17. He wasn't even a top 10 guy in '21 and he's 34yrs old. Ryder should be blowing his doors off
Would you believe Broc’s riding and training are as good or better than they’ve ever been?
Well, he didn’t blow his doors off. And he also beat Beaumer. So maybe Tickle is just still very fast??
I hope GH does it again next year it was a great event, to see this type of race on a Thursday was like being invited to a private race that you only hear about. The guys that showed up and raced were going for it big-time, if you were a guy trying to qualify for a National this would be a good way to test the waters.
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