Vital MX Pit Bits: High Point

New points leaders, first-time winner, and more.

GuyB

7/2/2021 9:17am

While it was all blue atop the leaderboard in Colorado, that had changed to red for High Point, with Ken Roczen in the 450s...

...and Jett Lawrence on the 250s.

The recent passing of Scott Sheak was a tough one. We spotted his daughter, Brooke; and widow, Amy, visiting with some of the teams in the pits.

Most of the goggle guys have pre-done suitcases with mud-prepped goggles that they pull out when needed.

Ah, it's nice to see an unmasked tech inspection. They're still doing the abbreviated version, where riders just pick up packages with their transponders.

The hole in Dylan Ferrandis' bar pad? That's where his launch control and second map button live.

Getting ready for the races? Nope. Getting ahead of the curve for practice bikes. Dylan Ferrandis is planning on spending some time in Florida in the coming month or so.

Sure, it was father's day weekend, but...

After years of wrenching for Malcolm Stewart, Jason Montoya has taken over the spanner duties on Pierce Brown's GasGas.

Dilan Schwartz had some good results at High Point and was definitely on the gas.

Adam Cianciarulo waiting on practice. His first moto win was big. He's definitely sneaking up on an overall win.

A handful of riders in each class (including Eli Tomac here) experimented with jumping into the roller section.

On the opposite side of the track, Ken Roczen (shown here), and Dylan Ferrandis were among the riders tripling uphill before the big monster tabletop.

Trey Canard does lots of video capture on his iPad, so he can look over it after practice and race sessions.

Hmm...that neck roll on Carson Mumford looks familiar.

Oops...looks like Dylan Ferrandis lost the gas cap cover portion of his seat in moto one.

Bonus style points for RJ Hampshire. We can't help but wonder how the results would have differed if it wasn't for an errant chain in moto one. Unfortunately, he had a bit of bad luck in moto two, going down on the start.

Pierce Brown was the only Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/GasGas Factory Racing 250 in action...but we're also wondering what kind of conjuring by Jerry Masterpool is going on in the background...

Yep, safety-wired spoke crossings are a thing.

Kailub Russell made his late debut for this season under the Red Bull KTM tent. He's been healing up after a serious jaw injury that caused him to miss the start of the season.

Cooper Webb checking out the front end of his Red Bull KTM.

Getting the assorted pieces on top of the bikes can be a challenge, particularly when you're stuffing a larger tank under the seat. Nice job here.

With rain in the forecast, the Star Yamaha mechanics were digging out their rain covers.

Most often you'll see the Star Yamaha bikes running a Cycra cover with a cutout for extra airflow.

Austin Nicholson did some cool artwork that he was giving to various riders, including AP.

Here's a bit better peek at the tall clamps that Christian Craig is running on his bike.

Phil Nicoletti is running these Luxon clamps on his Club MX Yamaha.

It's interesting to see where you find 3D printed parts...like these shroud extensions.

Ah yeah, we haven't had the blistering hot days yet, but the teams are ready for them.

Clark Jones prepping the front ends for the Twisted Tea H.E.P. Suzuki squad.

Robbie Reynard and Mitch Payton, chatting before action started on Saturday.

Man, we can't help but think that things would be a bit different if Max Vohland had won that first moto at Pala. That would have been a huge confidence boost.

The track crew did a good job of balancing the forecast (of heavy rain), and the reality (of mere sprinkles during moto one of the 250s). This was during practice.

Yep, Jett has a bit of marketing genius in him. The sign contest he promoted on his social media created quite the turnout.

There were tons of sawdust added to the track. In some places it looked like there was more sawdust than dirt.

The big jump on the far side of the track was a good place to grab some sweet style shots. Here are three of our favorites. That's Fredrik Noren...

...Christian Craig...

...and Justin Bogle.

Theo gathering data from Eli's bike.

We dig the old school look of the Hallman gear by Thor. Who remembers the tan Hallman leathers?

Jarrett Frye showed some good speed at Thunder Valley and was looking for more good results at High Point.

Unfortunately, he got hit by the bad luck bug, and crashed shortly after the first turn in moto one.

Speaking of frustrating, a whole bunch of riders, including Jo Shimoda and Jack Chambers went down on the start. But Shimoda's handlebar was under the chain, and through the swingarm, making it nearly impossible to pull apart. Bummer for both of them.

First overall? Jalek was looking for confirmation on his result after he crossed the finish line.

That's pure joy right there.

Rookie winner problems. After a day of beating up your hands on the track, you get handed a bottle of champagne to spray. Apparently, Jalek received the world's toughest bottle to open, and Jett was trying to help him get it open.

We're not sure what's better. Seeing someone get their first win, or seeing a bunch of super-hyped fans back at the races. Either way, it was a good day.