Ricky´s obsession with jumping the whoops.

What’s the deal with Ricky Carmichael constantly commenting on riders jumping the whoops instead of blitzing them? During this weekend’s race, he brought it up almost every lap, saying things like, “It’ll be interesting to see what happens when we enter the whoops,” and “I believe there’s no gain to be made by blitzing the whoops.” "yeah look, he has now also started to jump them and i belive it is much much quicker and safer" "absolutley, one hunnerd percent quicker now, not to talk about safer" 

It felt like he really wanted viewers to focus on the supposed benefits of jumping them instead when it clearly was not.

It almost makes you wonder, does he dislike whoops because of his own racing days? Was that not his strongest section because of his little-legs? Sometimes it sounds like he’s defending riders who can’t blitz them, even though being able to attack the whoops at full speed has always been a key skill for the top guys.

Especially now, when whoops have been such a big topic of discussion and there’s talk about reducing or even removing them at certain races. At the same event, we saw several 250 riders shine as diamonds when absolutely hammering through the whoops at incredible speeds. Even Chad Reed chimed in about how important it is to be able to blitz them if you want to be the best and referred to this past weekends kids burning through them.

Personally i love the whoops and how it seperates the riders, ever since James Stewart showed no fear and just grabbed a handfull of throttle to make some passes, but it feels like RC is buttering up the road towards them beeing obsolete.

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Joey Bridges
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2/24/2026 5:58am

And yet everyone's, rolling.

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AngryBear
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2/24/2026 6:32am

Was that not his strongest section because of his little-legs?

clearly you missed the era of ricky broadcast where he called out the 'long legs' advantage 

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Flatliner
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2/24/2026 12:39pm

If the ama-feld wanted,  you could eliminate jumping all together by making them how they used to be.

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Camp332
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2/24/2026 1:12pm

100 percent!

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The Shop

2/24/2026 1:18pm
Flatliner wrote:

If the ama-feld wanted,  you could eliminate jumping all together by making them how they used to be.

I remember when they had a knife edge in the bottoms so it was impossible to jump the. How it should be. BLITZ ONLY.

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jambalaya
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2/24/2026 1:30pm

Ricky likes to downplay the fact that he was actually very talented and no slouch through the whoops. 

James and Chad were better in whoops but it's not like Ricky was Justin Cooper

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Flatliner
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2/24/2026 1:33pm
jambalaya wrote:
Ricky likes to downplay the fact that he was actually very talented and no slouch through the whoops. James and Chad were better in whoops but it's...

Ricky likes to downplay the fact that he was actually very talented and no slouch through the whoops. 

James and Chad were better in whoops but it's not like Ricky was Justin Cooper

He was fast but also ate it plenty of times, and juuust made it through a bunch too.  Right wrist pinned and hope for the best.

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Wandell
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2/24/2026 1:43pm

MAYBE BECAUSE BLITZING VS JUMPING THE WHOOPS SEPERATES THE WINNER FROM 2ND PLACE WEEK AFTER WEEK!

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TeamGreen
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2/24/2026 1:51pm

At Arlington, there were riders that were pretty damn fast “jumping thru the whoops”.

Then there was Cole Davies…who was giving a live demonstration.

The live demonstration’s title…

This Is How You Ride The Whoops. 

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2/24/2026 2:25pm

Damn shame he got injured because Jorge was perhaps starting to find something in those sections. These aren't as big in comparison but still, they're the same whoops for everyone... 5:41

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DaveNoones
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2/25/2026 9:50am
What’s the deal with Ricky Carmichael constantly commenting on riders jumping the whoops instead of blitzing them? During this weekend’s race, he brought it up almost...

What’s the deal with Ricky Carmichael constantly commenting on riders jumping the whoops instead of blitzing them? During this weekend’s race, he brought it up almost every lap, saying things like, “It’ll be interesting to see what happens when we enter the whoops,” and “I believe there’s no gain to be made by blitzing the whoops.” "yeah look, he has now also started to jump them and i belive it is much much quicker and safer" "absolutley, one hunnerd percent quicker now, not to talk about safer" 

It felt like he really wanted viewers to focus on the supposed benefits of jumping them instead when it clearly was not.

It almost makes you wonder, does he dislike whoops because of his own racing days? Was that not his strongest section because of his little-legs? Sometimes it sounds like he’s defending riders who can’t blitz them, even though being able to attack the whoops at full speed has always been a key skill for the top guys.

Especially now, when whoops have been such a big topic of discussion and there’s talk about reducing or even removing them at certain races. At the same event, we saw several 250 riders shine as diamonds when absolutely hammering through the whoops at incredible speeds. Even Chad Reed chimed in about how important it is to be able to blitz them if you want to be the best and referred to this past weekends kids burning through them.

Personally i love the whoops and how it seperates the riders, ever since James Stewart showed no fear and just grabbed a handfull of throttle to make some passes, but it feels like RC is buttering up the road towards them beeing obsolete.

100 hunnert to hunnert n ten percent obsession

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3strokemx
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2/25/2026 12:16pm

"The reason I say that......"

The 1 time RC doesn't comment on his commenting and we have a thread about it.   Poor guy just can't get it right.

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Trickamoto
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2/26/2026 7:48am
What’s the deal with Ricky Carmichael constantly commenting on riders jumping the whoops instead of blitzing them? During this weekend’s race, he brought it up almost...

What’s the deal with Ricky Carmichael constantly commenting on riders jumping the whoops instead of blitzing them? During this weekend’s race, he brought it up almost every lap, saying things like, “It’ll be interesting to see what happens when we enter the whoops,” and “I believe there’s no gain to be made by blitzing the whoops.” "yeah look, he has now also started to jump them and i belive it is much much quicker and safer" "absolutley, one hunnerd percent quicker now, not to talk about safer" 

It felt like he really wanted viewers to focus on the supposed benefits of jumping them instead when it clearly was not.

It almost makes you wonder, does he dislike whoops because of his own racing days? Was that not his strongest section because of his little-legs? Sometimes it sounds like he’s defending riders who can’t blitz them, even though being able to attack the whoops at full speed has always been a key skill for the top guys.

Especially now, when whoops have been such a big topic of discussion and there’s talk about reducing or even removing them at certain races. At the same event, we saw several 250 riders shine as diamonds when absolutely hammering through the whoops at incredible speeds. Even Chad Reed chimed in about how important it is to be able to blitz them if you want to be the best and referred to this past weekends kids burning through them.

Personally i love the whoops and how it seperates the riders, ever since James Stewart showed no fear and just grabbed a handfull of throttle to make some passes, but it feels like RC is buttering up the road towards them beeing obsolete.

DaveNoones wrote:

100 hunnert to hunnert n ten percent obsession

in-er-esting

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R66
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2/26/2026 7:55am

At least we haven’t been told about the  “scoop tire” every other sentence. Oh but wait, Daytona is coming up. Drink every time you hear  them say “scoop tire.”

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3strokemx
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2/26/2026 8:12am

Noone in 250 east can play the piano?

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ab5772
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2/26/2026 8:18am Edited Date/Time 2/26/2026 8:28am

How does he feel about hoops?

2/26/2026 8:30am

There are a hundred things to complain about with RC in the booth, this ain't one. 
This is actual insight into the race, just like when he talked about the table section in regard to going over both tables or going on-on-off.
Just because he got a couple things right doesn't mean he belongs in there, but he did actually add something this week that some fans probably didn't see themselves. 

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mxaniac
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2/26/2026 10:35am

The whoops is one of the few areas of the track where an obstacle is handled differently. When one of the top riders does a different pattern in the rhythm section it gets discussed too, because it's a differentiator.

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2/26/2026 11:38pm

         I can understand folks dissecting Ricky’s command of the English language, however, anyone on this thread questioning his knowledge and command of a racing motorbike on a Supercross or Motocross track is beyond absurd.  Not one person on here is qualified to contradict his shared expertise.  Let the downvotes begin !

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Vet57
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2/27/2026 2:02am
images %281%29 13
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30minmotos
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2/27/2026 3:55am
What’s the deal with Ricky Carmichael constantly commenting on riders jumping the whoops instead of blitzing them? During this weekend’s race, he brought it up almost...

What’s the deal with Ricky Carmichael constantly commenting on riders jumping the whoops instead of blitzing them? During this weekend’s race, he brought it up almost every lap, saying things like, “It’ll be interesting to see what happens when we enter the whoops,” and “I believe there’s no gain to be made by blitzing the whoops.” "yeah look, he has now also started to jump them and i belive it is much much quicker and safer" "absolutley, one hunnerd percent quicker now, not to talk about safer" 

It felt like he really wanted viewers to focus on the supposed benefits of jumping them instead when it clearly was not.

It almost makes you wonder, does he dislike whoops because of his own racing days? Was that not his strongest section because of his little-legs? Sometimes it sounds like he’s defending riders who can’t blitz them, even though being able to attack the whoops at full speed has always been a key skill for the top guys.

Especially now, when whoops have been such a big topic of discussion and there’s talk about reducing or even removing them at certain races. At the same event, we saw several 250 riders shine as diamonds when absolutely hammering through the whoops at incredible speeds. Even Chad Reed chimed in about how important it is to be able to blitz them if you want to be the best and referred to this past weekends kids burning through them.

Personally i love the whoops and how it seperates the riders, ever since James Stewart showed no fear and just grabbed a handfull of throttle to make some passes, but it feels like RC is buttering up the road towards them beeing obsolete.

He’s so desperate to point out anything at this point that he used the jumpers as his time to seem like he’s providing the insight he’s supposed to.


Remember the race that James pointed to masterpools privateer 450 making the factory bikes look too stiff? Next round Ricky was going on and on TRYING to point things out like that but he just doesn’t have it.

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olds cool
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2/27/2026 4:12am

Can’t you just appreciate that he’s giving you a learning lesson and be satisfied with it?

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30minmotos
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2/27/2026 4:19am
olds cool wrote:

Can’t you just appreciate that he’s giving you a learning lesson and be satisfied with it?

I just feel like he’s been in a must situation with a lot of wood to chop and he cross rutted his 3 legged wheel barrow off the up ramp, and the reason I say that, is he just sucks.

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Joey Bridges
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2/27/2026 4:44am
olds cool wrote:

Can’t you just appreciate that he’s giving you a learning lesson and be satisfied with it?

You mean a, learing lesson ??

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