1. The Layout - I thought the layout changes were overall worse. They kept everyone closer, but it made it wayyy harder to pass and the racing was pretty eh because of that. Seems like they're always changing sections of the track even though they're fine as is. The roller and "wall jump" thing on the down hill were dumb. The one spot that allows the riders to let off the brakes and send it and make passes was taken out. If it weren't so deep and rutted the tighter sections might have raced well, but with the direction the track prep has gone the past few years with it becoming very rutted, I don't see how they thought it was a good Idea.
2. Prado - I don't even know what to say. His riding and results have been almost embarrassing for a multi time world champ. We haven't even seen a glimpse of speed from him, no holeshots, no pace in quali, no running upfront, nothing. I get the bike isn't where he wants it, but you just gotta ride what you have. I thought we'd at least see him getting 5th.
3. Sexton - I honestly think that Sexton would have won Hangtown and likely today, I also think he would be the quickest right now. Jett doesn't seem to have 100% fitness (though he's close) and he's obviously struggling with the bike. The whole ordeal with Chase right now is weird.
4. Masterpool - good pace, doesn't have 35 +2 in him. He needs to get in shape. No its not because he's sick, we saw this last year also, he fades.
5. Tomac - man it was so frustrating watching him have the pace, but not be able to make passes. Part of it was the layout and part of it was him. He needs to get a start, not going to beat Jett starting outside the top 5 every round.
I'd like to see Masterpool get some good finishes.
These Tomac vs Jett battles are fun to watch. Two different styles for sure.
Couldn't agree more about the track layout. That first 450 moto was hard to watch. Eli clearly had more pace and could get along side hunter but could never make it work the way the track layout was.
I was watching the PC guys and other than Masterpool they all got brutal starts but Levi and Marchbanks really charged up to the front. Garret must have got screwed over in moto two somehow?!?
I was pumped for Schock to ride upfront on his 450 for awhile.
Garrett was outside the top 20 after the first lap I believe. He’s been riding good, he’s on a one year deal and doing a good job at keeping his ride id think.
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For the first 250 it looked like they flattened out some of the corners, which allowed the riders to make some passes. It seemed like as the moto went on the same problem arose.
Yea I really like Ty and want him to do well too. He was absolutely smoked the second moto, they gotta figure something out. What good is top three speed if you fade that hard.
As much rain as they got this week, the result was going to be ruts. Overall I thought they did a good job getting track race ready, practice and qualifying looked sketchy.
Thank you for mentioning the rain. For the amount of water they got, the track was pretty damn good and racey. I prefer less rutty conditions to allow for more movement around the entire track also, but you can only control so much. I thought the track crew did a great job with the cards they were dealt.
Yeah, no way to avoid "overwatering", you can't turn the weather off. I rode Thunder Valley once the day after the regular afternoon showers. I could hardly get around the track. There was standing water and deep mud in some of the corner. Being from SoCal where I pack up if it the water truck makes more that one pass, seeing how fast those guys were was really impressive. I can see where it would rut up the way it did.
We were there yesterday. The track has always taken on water pretty well so ruts were to be expected. I personally liked the new sections and thought it added quite a bit more track to the top. Usually when you come off the road double it’s just a wide open bike swapper to get to the T Valley sign.
I watched the high lights lastnight. It has to be the worst track of the series . It seems like it’s go up a hill & down a hill with added corners to slow them down with deep ruts to stop bikes to create passing.
Garrett went down in the first corner of moto two and got up dead last.
What happened to Jo the first moto?
Nothing, just started way outside the top 10th, didn't really seem comfortable for the first half of the race, was around 9-10th most of the race and then got back to 8th in the end.
I was there and the track changes were excellent. They somehow made more of the track accessible to the fans on the inside and I really enjoyed my day walking around. Had more fun there than ever before and didn't sit down once the entire time.
I've wondered about Ty on this.
When he was a privateer years ago and showed up to Red Bud on a "stock" motor KTM, he had a great first moto and then faded in the 2nd.
Fast forward to last season when he signed with Pro Circuit 2 days before the Pala, (first race of 2024). He won High Point but was getting run down hard, and his lap times dropped drastically. He showed the fading in several races last season.
So far this year, it's kinda the same thing. I know he trains as hard as anyone. So I'm not sure it's a legit fitness issue. Sometimes it can be other things. My wife watches some of the racing with me and she knows how much I root for Ty. She sees the same thing with him fading late in moto's and then having considerably worse 2nd moto performances. She says it's possibly genetics somewhat. Two riders could follow the same training regiment and one will respond different than the other.
Whatever it is, he's got to improve there. Hopefully he does. He's got some tracks he perform very well at coming up. High Point and Red Bud being possibly his best 2. Anything less than podiums at those 2 should be a disappointment.
Tomac doesn’t have what it takes to beat Jett straight up. He’s at his limit and is just barely hanging on. He can’t pass Jett because he’s exhausted just trying to keep up. Beast Mode won’t get it done on any consistent basis against a rider as smooth and effortless as Jett. This reminds me of the 250 outdoors years ago with Wilson V Barsha.
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I think Jett is both really fast and smart. He’s unlike anyone these guys have raced. But I don’t think tomac is tired or incapable of running the pace. You almost have to be perfect to beat Jett outdoors.
I liked the track changes. Opened up the track more and flowed better and the spectator tunnel makes getting around the track as a spectator way better. I do think that they probably could've made the mound going over the tunnel less abrupt though so I'm with you on that. Not much they could do about the rain and Thunder Valley tends to be pretty rutty regardless even without it.
I agree on the layout. The old longer run to the top with high speed rollers to a left turn down the hill with brutal braking bumps and a distinct inside or outside turn uphill through deep rollers had distinct lines to chose momentum on the outside to go up the deep rollers or protect the inside but less momentum up the rollers, was one of my favorite parts of the track to both ride and watch. An actual track improvement would be get rid of the stupid double jink turn, that allows 2 line blocks, before the big triple and just widen a big left turn straight into the triple that allows a distinct inside and outside line and harder to block a faster rider.
Of the first three tracks, I'd say only Hangtown suits Tomac. He's been hit or miss at Thunder Valley over the years. I did not expect him to win there this year. The outside lines were of no advantage and the track looked to be slowed down everywhere from previous years. He does well on high speed tracks and mentioned that in a recent interview. Basically that none of the national tracks are faster than what he practices on so he is very comfortable with going as fast as the national tracks are.
This just seems very similar to 2022 where he doesn't really Pick up until High point. He was down double digits to Chase at this point in '22 so I dont think its the end of the fight but he's battling Jett instead of Chase this time. I just hope it stays close enough to keep it intersting through round 11.
I'm old school...and by that, I hate the rutocross slot car racing tracks that makes passing more difficult and takes away from riders choosing more lines to use. No doubt , the rain helped with that this week but it's an ongoing theme for a number of years. I know that kinda prep isn't going away, but not a fan. I'm also jaded on that as I personally suck at riding deep ruts.
Yeah i have no doubt they changes were better for the fans, but the racing was pretty eh because of the changes.
You act like the track was changed dramatically. The downhill you're pouting about is actually longer than it was before and 90% of the track is the same.
This was better… that downhill (red) is steeper than it looks and the braking bumps were brutal…especially if you went inside. The deep uphill rollers made you pay for the inside line. Good racing/passing area.. I have always hated the double jink before the tripple(yellow). It funnels 2 times for blocking. Instead make it a wide left handed into a good passing area of the track. Better racing.
….also liked the rollers behind the start gate. Bring it back.
The weather leading up to Saturday was a double whammy for the changes they made. On one hand it was fun to watch those guys figure out how to make speed in that soft, turny, rutfest. On the other hand, it had to be a frustrating sumbitch to ride!
“soft, turny, rutfest”… Thunder Valley on any normal day. I don’t think the weather changes were as much as all that vs had they over watered it like they always do there.
I'm not acting like the track changed dramatically, I think the couple section changes dramatically changed the racing. It turned it into a freight train and extremely hard to pass. Yea it was a little linger this year, though I didn't really like last years layout either. I think its best when the down hill is long and the guys can just let off the brakes and send it. The 2019 layout was SOO good IMO. This years layout did do a great job of keep everyone close tho and TBH it likely would've raced better if it didn't rain and wasn't so rutted, but that's no ones fault, thats just mx
I thought the layout was OK but that heavy rain Friday really changed the prep and I feel the track would have raced very differently if that didn’t happen. As a fan watching on TV, I somewhat enjoyed it as it really made the riders think about line choice but I can see a casual fan getting pretty bored watching them tip toe around such a technical track.
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