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Vital MX Pit Bits: Atlanta 3 3

Squeezing the last of the juice from rounds 13, 14, and 15.

64 GuyB https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/users/64/avatar/c50_110811guyb_redbud_1449985751.jpg?1449984985 https://www.vitalmx.com/community/GuyB,64/all 07/10/06 9429 3581 46002 870 2413 30809 41 1719 2 185

GuyB
4/20/2021 5:56 PM

The biggest change to the final round in Atlanta was moving the start. The S-bend through the first couple of corners made for some interesting racing.

We hadn't seen much of Bevo Forte during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, but he came out to check out the action in Atlanta. He also had his personal tribute to the recently departed Ralph Huffman from Washougal MX.

It's cool to see KTM Team Manager, Ian Harrison (and Roger DeCoster), leaving the swanky confines of the Red Bull KTM pit area and checking in with some of the KTM/GasGas privateers in the pits.

This wall jump was no joke. Get well soon, Chris Blose.

Dr. Navarro straightening out Stilez Robertson.

How's this for a mobile pressure washer setup?

The off-camber section after the finish line added a good chunk of tech to the A3 track...and the riders were digging some crazy ruts.

Cooper Webb was feeling the red gear during practice for A3.

We're still wondering if this is like one of those ball 'n stick sports, where if a bike leaves the field of play you get to keep it. Aaron Plessinger waved us off during practice when we started zeroing in on his bike.

Ken Roczen chatting with Team Honda HRC race team manager, Erik Kehoe right after practice. Ken was flying during practice, in the heat, and early in the main event. Don't count him out.

The Dunlop crew, slingin' tires.

Meanwhile, over in the fan expo area, the Unknown Industries guys were busy burning up tires. This was just before he popped a rear after smoking through the tread.

Yep, just a little tire shredding going on.

The good news is, they had a whole bunch of spares in the trailer...and a lot of practice at changing them.

The freestyle crew got rained out last Saturday, but made up for it at A3.

We may have been in this position before, but not intentionally.

The safety aspect on freestyle landings has come a long way. The airbag style ramps available now are so much better than the old days.

Do you know how we know that Taka Higashino has been working on his stretching? Just check the last out the shots above and below.

LeBig was pretty unhappy when GuyB told him that after ten years of trekking around the Nationals towing a trailer, he was going to skip it this summer. LeBig does similar, but in a van.

Supercross whoops. Now available in extra-chunky style. We were happy to see the Dirt Wurx guys remove a couple of the whoops at the start of the longest section (which had 18 whoops) before the start of the night show. That allowed people to carry more speed as they exited the flat sweeper before them.

Jason Anderson (and Alpinestars) brought the party to the race with this set of gear.

Bell has finally released some of the info on the new Moto 10, and our staff will get to try it later this week. Eli has had eagles as a stock graphic on his signature helmets in the past. This isn't stock.

It was interesting to see the difference between the first race, where the riders went into the sand rollers as they were exiting a 180 corner, vs. the later races, where they were coming into them at much higher speeds. With the chicane after the finish line, they weren't getting into them quite as quickly, but as you can see Eli Tomac was still in full attack mode.

It was a bummer to see Jason Anderson going so fast in practice, and end up with a 14th for the night. He clearly had a lot more speed than what he garnered for a result. He looked particularly strong through the whoops. Let's see if he can use that to his advantage for the rest of the season.

The crowd was big, noisy, and ready for a good time. This was the route to the fan expo during the final 450 practice, which was a good chance to get up close to the riders.

Hmm, does anyone want to bid on an autographed bass to help benefit St. Jude's? This one has autographs from Cooper Webb, Ken Roczen, Eli Tomac, and Justin Barcia. Check out <a href= www.stjude.org/supercrossauction for this and other items." data-credit="" data-original="https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/stories/2021/04/20/full_042021pbatl30034_179074.jpg">