With East coming up, curious to hear everyone's predictions.
IMO I think Cole Davies takes it. Probably the best Supercross racer on raw talent we've seen in years, and defo the best 250 rider in the whoops. He looked like Jett year 1, and rode at a level way above both Deegan and Jett in their rookie years.
His results were volatile (due to bad luck like first turn crashes), but it hid how consistent his speed was at each round. 8-4-3-3-7-5-1-1-5
For context, the 8th at A1 was his debut (only 17 years old). The 3rd at Glendale he went 1-1-8 (First turn crash in last moto). The 7th at Arlington was due to a 17th in Main 2 from first turn crash, but he went 4-1 the other two motos. The 5th at Indy was due to an early race tip-over in the sand in lap 1-2. And the 5th in Denver was due to the Deegan takeout (otherwise would've gotten 2nd or 1st).
So that effectively implies he could have won 4-5 races out of the 9 he raced in his ROOKIE year (with podiums at 2 more). With how good his technique is, I wouldn't be surprised to see him clean up the silly tipovers. And the experience of 1 year, will give him the racecraft to avoid first corner crashes.
That said, Seth Hammaker looked very good all year, and has the maturity over Davies. With his shoulder fixed, I wouldn't be surprised to see him take it either.
Also is Jo Shimoda back for Round 1? ML says that the riding he did last week went surprisingly well and he would bet on him lining up. But Matthes on the Review Pod said he talked to Jo, and Jo said he's not making Arlington. If he is back, I think Shimoda still needs to prove his SX chops (he's struggled with triples and whoops before -- hence the neck injury from the whoops crash).
Lastly, Thrasher and Brown and Bennick will spice things up, but Thrasher is way too inconsistent and I don't think year 6 will change anything considering he hasn't made any changes to his program. Brown and Bennick got talent and a lot of speed, but they are also very crash prone, so we will see if that changes this year.
If I had to bet, I would go 1. Davies 2. Hammaker 3. Shimoda (if he lines up) 4. Brown 5. Thrasher 6. Bennick
Hammaker has unfinished business. Would be nice to see him take it, for himself and Kawi!
While west has had tons of drama, I'm ready to see how east goes off!
I'll watch cole davies.
I saw Jo-San run down a set of stairs and on flat ground at A1. At the time, I was shocked his mobility was that good considering his injury. It definitely made me think he was farther along than what was being reported. I did think he would line up for round 1 of east SX, but yeah Matthes is saying he heard from Jo himself that he’s not going to ride, so idk. I wouldn’t be surprised though if he did.
It would be a top-level Jedi Mind trick to say you aren't riding and then show up after all. Your competitors would all have to reconsider their hopes.
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Wow Jo is in!
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DU1DeCWD_l4/?igsh=NGl0aWQwOWxrNDV6
Davies reminds me a lot of Ernesto.
Casey Cochran is my sleeper pick. Kid is an amazing talent, and his starts are always on point. I think he'll be on the box more often than not.
If Davies has continued to progress at the rate he was going, this could be a tough one for the rest of the guys riding east...
Have to drop the gate a few times to know for sure.
idk man, I'm still sticking with someone with the initials "J.S." for the title
I'm hopeful Seth, Brown , or Shimoda. This is looking like a deep and talented field for sure.
Cochran ends the year with at least 3 second places, interested to see how Evan Ferry does
Hope Jo is healthy enough that he doesn’t re-injure himself with an otherwise minor fall. Can’t wait for the east-west shootouts
All time look
If Jo can finish in the 4-6 range the first couple rounds he’ll absolutely have a chance at the championship. Happy to see he’ll be riding
100%. Ernie was a bit more composed his first season. But lots of similarities between the two talent/skill.
I’m liking Davies and if Bennick brings the comfort that he had in futures, he’ll be good. Always rooting for PB. Looking forward to the shakedown this weekend.
Ernesto came in and cleaned house on the YoT 250F, same as Chad Reed. Cole reminds me of both of those guys but with first year hiccups.
Pit Row
You do realize that before Fonseca cleaned house in the 2001 west SX series on the Yamaha of troy 250F with 5 wins he did likewise in the 1999 east SX series - his rookie season on the YoT YZ125 but had 6 wins.
This is what I was referencing.
Davies gives me a lot of vibes from Hansen (style not agression), Pourcel, Windham, Musquin... He has such a controlled style! For the sport it would've been better that KTM or anyone else than Star Racing would've signed him! He showed everyone that he had speed, style,... in those SX Future races!
If you see who Star has signed in pro ranks and amateur ranks, you ask yourself the question: What are Honda, Kawasaki, KTM Group, Triumph, Ducati... going to do in the future?!
Mitch should’ve been all over Davies and Minear, really wanting to see Mitch/PC start winning again
Bummer.
Who y’all got as a surprise performing privateer. I really thought Gage Linville was going to do well this year but since he got hurt I’m not sure who will step up now.
One guy that nobody has discussed is Coty Shock. The guy is solid and always around that top 5 mark.
Japanese rider makes surprise attack on Military Appreciation Week. Sounds like a story line from the Winners Take All cutting room floor.
Davies/Shimoda/Hammaker all east season long…Except the east/west shootouts, then Deegan will likely dominate! Sorry but he is something else…
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