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Although Roczen is definitely the man of the moment with his two consecutive wins, I contend that Hunter’s return to the podium… and to a share of the points lead… is more meaningful in terms of establishing momentum towards the title. That he was able to accomplish that while “banged up” with a sore wrist against a difficult track makes it even stronger.
The pressure is on!
Kenny has been on a different level the last 2 races. Unless you are seeing something im missing. Then I would say Kenny has the momentum.
Three races ago in Birmingham, Hunter qualified faster than Kenny, finished his heat with a faster time than Kenny and won the main.
In Detroit, Hunter also qualified ahead of Kenny, also finished his heat with a faster time than Kenny, and was arguably reeling in both Sexton and Roczen before he endoed and coughed up all those championship points. One could say that this was when Hunter lost momentum; I don’t think so. This was, however, the start of Kenny’s current win streak.
In St. Louis, the injured Hunter was off pace all day and night, but was still able to score a podium and clawback points on the championship leader Tomac, which in my mind is the positive turnaround that restores his title trajectory. A healthy Hunter has already proven to have the speed and racecraft to beat Kenny straight up. We’ll see what the next race holds.
"belongs" is doing a lot of heavy lifting here
Yeah, good point. I recognize my position is unorthodox; a racer with 2-1-1 finishes over the last three races definitely seems like they have more momentum than a racer that went 1-18-3. But context is key here. Go back 6 races and it’s Roczen’s 4-3-5-2-1-1 vs Lawrence’s 1-2-1-1-18-3. I think the rebound is the momentum difference.
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That last third from Hunter, he lost to Kenny and Justin Cooper though, not even a healthy (?) Tomac. It's a gradual rise to consecutive wins for Kenny while being a sharp drop from the top for Hunter. If I were to think of "momentum", at this very moment, it undoubtedly belongs to Kenny.
Both of them are in good form, would hunter have beaten Kenny if his wrist was 100% last weekend? Who knows, I am just glad the race for the championship is close
Personally I’d go with the guy that has made up like 30 points in two weeks and had a perfect weekend but ok
I bloody hope hunter has it next weekend ! This rocket fueled roczen seems unstoppable..mind you roczen has had flashes like this in sx and then..managed to crash himself out so it's no certainty. Anyway if hunter doesn't take it I hope to God Ken does it !! 🇦🇺🇩🇪
Momentum is constantly shifting.
It's looking more and more like it's shifting back and forth between just the two right now.
Momentum all KR at the moment…but Hunter is game…Tomac is wounded or mentally drained? Webb has not had the raw speed to be factor this year …
Hunter was catching Kenny in Detroit when he crashed. I watch the timing, maybe a little too closely, and before Hunter crashed he knocked 3 seconds off the lead.
Last weekend Hunter was riding with a wrist injury. I also believe Hunter has a lot of momentum.
I also think people are blinded by bias and want to see Tomac or Roczen win because they’re not fans of the Lawrence’s and nostalgia feels good to them.
Hunter taking Kenny out in that sand section a few races ago might loom large if it stays thisclose.
Ken was managing the lead on a sketchy track
I can agree with this. I think Hunter is still kicking himself for not settling for third in that race.
Respectfully, he had two riders close the gap to under 2 seconds from like 5. I’d argue that he wasn’t managing it but was struggling to keep a comfortable lead
He was riding within the limits of the track. That’s why he didn’t cartwheel
Interesting take, but I disagree. I was just thinking out loud to my wife last weekend about how I wondered if the last two races re-discouraged Hunter into believing his place truly is 2nd. He was on fire for a while and must have begun thinking he was the man, but now? There must be at least a little bit of doubt in his mind.
And on Kenny's side, he's fired up. Tired of hearing that he fades and proving he doesn't. Loving his bike. Winning two in a row, while the announcers say out loud, "This is the Kenny we expected in 2017." He caught, passed, and rode away from Hunter in the heat and the main. Whether Hunter is injured or not, that's a statement.
Things in Supercross change rapidly, but for now I'd say Roczen has the momentum.
He said it himself in a post race interview: "I wasn't the fastest in the beginning of the race, I knew they were both coming. I changed my lines from qualifying and from the heat race and then ending up changing them back".
They were catching him because he was trying different lines. Once he went back to his old lines, he got away again from Sexton and was pretty much able to build a lead.
Hunter without a doubt was the fastest guy until his crash though, he was hauling. That last half whoop shouldn't have been a thing though in the first place. A lot of riders skipped the right side of the whoops entirely.
Pit Row
I told you guys. Now, how about deleting those unlikes to unhide this thread.
Ha, I know that’ll never happen. Good job in Nashville, Hunter! Keep up the mo’ 👍
The greatest vaudvillian of all time said:
Turns from hunted into Hunter, I've come to take what's mine!
Say what you want about Tomac’s and Roczen’s performances, but Hunter rode awesomely, that track was gnarly.
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