Vital MX Pit Bits: 2023 Charlotte SuperMotocross 3

SuperMotocross is here, and so is Pit Bits

ML512

9/13/2023 6:40pm

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Place holder — The #2 is back on blue and it just looks, right? Michael Lindsay

Place holder — Similar to Tomac, Webb is running X-Trig triple clamps and KYB's LSF hybrid fork. Michael Lindsay

Place holder — Alex Campbell, who has wrenched for Dylan Ferrandis since arriving at Star Racing, has moved over to Cooper Webb for the future. Michael Lindsay

Place holder — The classic moto gloves for autograph signing. Michael Lindsay

Place holder — Some speculated that Webb might be a on a hydraulic clutch after years aboard them at KTM. Nope, he's a cable clutch guy. Michael Lindsay

Place holder — Cooper Webb had two Monster Energy helmets ready for the weekend. One with a nod to his hometown. Webb has raced for Monster Energy before, 2017-2018, and has raced with Red Bull and Rockstar as well. He's won titles as a Red Bull and Rockstar athlete, but not with Monster...yet? Michael Lindsay

Place holder — A sight we will only see for two more races, as Dylan Ferrandis will depart Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing after the LA round of SuperMotocross. Funny enough, Yamaha's 450 program will have #3 of Tomac, #2 of Webb, and the #32 of Cooper in 2024 (funny number alignment). Michael Lindsay

Place holder — Since Unadilla, Ferrandis has been racing on a set of spring forks a production KYB shock tuned by Factory Connection. It's been quite the saga for FC this year, having worked with Ken Roczen shortly, assisting Max Anstie to a 250 Supercross win, and now Dylan Ferrandis as he has had his best performances of the year. Michael Lindsay

Place holder — We noticed a lot of riders jumped back on their Supercross setups, regardless of what they tried in outdoors. In this case, we're referencing Haiden Deegan who made the move back to KYB PSF1 air forks for Charlotte (which he ran in SX), while he had started running KYB spring forks at round two of Pro Motocross. Michael Lindsay

What's the extra transponder for? The leader light system we saw tested in Supercross with Feld and Phil Nicoletti. The system was made mandatory for SMX and according to quite a few upset mechanics, they weren't informed until Friday morning. — What's the extra transponder for? The leader light system we saw tested in Supercross with Feld and Phil Nicoletti. The system was made mandatory for SMX and according to quite a few upset mechanics, they weren't informed until Friday morning. Michael Lindsay

Place holder — The leader lights were on some bikes and not on others for Friday, as many were not about running them with no testing for electrical interference on their own bikes. Ultimately, everyone was required to run them on Saturday. Michael Lindsay

Place holder — Jade Dungey came up with a unique solution of where to locate his leader lights, so they didn't interfere with fork swaps. While we applaud the series for trying new things, at times everyone should be in on the discussion and find the best solutions. A common complaint amongst the mid and smaller-sized teams in our sport. Michael Lindsay

Place holder — Hmmm, after racing all of Pro Motocross on the production 48mm air fork, Aaron Plessinger was back on spring forks. Unlike the 52mm works spring forks he ran in SX though, he was now on a set of 48mm kit spring forks like any joe blow can purchase. With production upper tubes though, not the Pro Component kit tubes. Michael Lindsay

Place holder — Truck drivers are ALWAYS working! Here, Cory Flewellen transfers fuel from his larger tractor tanks to his generator tank on his trailelr. Michael Lindsay

Place holder — Everything is polished on this rig, even the things that don't see the light of day very often... Michael Lindsay

Place holder — Frankie has traded carrying T-handles in for carrying around paperwork. Team Coordinator life at its finest. Time sheets? Technical documents? Flight info? Maybe a lunch menu? The world may never know... Michael Lindsay

Place holder — A good ole mud scrape for Philthy's bike between practices. Michael Lindsay

Place holder — Speaking of the angriest man in motocross, check out his latest FTA gearset. Michael Lindsay

Place holder — Nicoletti ran PSF1 air forks in Pro Motocross, but was back on his spring fork setup from Supercross for Charlotte. He's one of a few riders that told us he'd probably bring a set of Supercross and motocross suspension to Chicago for Friday practice. Michael Lindsay

Place holder — Marchbanks sticks with the traditional cable clutch on the '23 YZ450F

Place holder — while Nicoletti opts for the GYTR hydraulic unit.

Place holder — Marchbanks had this trick carbon fiber airbox lid from P3 for the new YZ450F. Michael Lindsay

Place holder — Speaking of riders switching suspension, after racing High Point aboard a KYB PSF1 air fork, Roczen was back on A-kit Showa suspension for Charlotte (similar to what he raced in Supercross). We've seen him doing a lot of KYB testing as of late and still think he'll make the full-time switch for 2024. If we're the betting kind. Michael Lindsay

Place holder — Chisholm and Noren were on KYB front and rear.

Place holder — We believe one was air and the other spring, or both air.

Place holder — Ken Roczen also had something new in the wheel department. Michael Lindsay

Place holder — While the rest of the team uses stock hubs, Kenny has swapped to Haan hubs for durability reasons.

Place holder — Dubya USA put them together with D.I.D. rims for Roczen.

Place holder — While we've seen Cianciarulo race in Fox's new V3RS helmet, this was Kenny's first public outing in the helmet that release in a couple weeks. Michael Lindsay

Place holder — Deano picked up a new sponsor for SMX and potentially for 2024 as well, as Off-Road Warehouse picked up the most premium sponsorship location outside of helmets, the butt patch. The brand has supported teams like FXR/Chaparral Honda in the past and currently works with Nicoletti and ClubMX as well. Michael Lindsay

Place holder — PEP handles the Vortex ECU tuning for the Firepower Honda team of Dean Wilson and Max Anstie. Michael Lindsay

Place holder — Pro Circuit has slightly changed the mounting and location of the electric water pump, choosing to now let it just float between two radiator hoses, instead of hard mounting it. They mentioned that hard mounting it had created durability issues with some pumps but allowing it to float has reduced or eliminated those problems. Michael Lindsay

Place holder — Jason Anderson was another rider who went back to certain SX components, such as a traditional shock (instead of the BFRC he ran in Pro Motocross), along with standard engine mounts instead of the cutout ones we saw during the later stages of motocross. Michael Lindsay

Place holder — Anderson usually never runs ribs on his seat cover, so seeing one with ribs all the way down the side was a surprise. We're guessing the team was expecting potential rain and mud in the first moto. Michael Lindsay

Place holder — When truck driving just becomes too hard, you trade the big rig in for a RV. Welcome back Jerry, who's now driving Barcia's RV for SMX. Michael Lindsay

Place holder — It looks like Ty Masterpool will be staying with HBI Racing in 2024. Michael Lindsay

Place holder — Along with Caden Braswell. Michael Lindsay

Place holder — Jerry Robin was one of a few van faring privateers that opted into SMX. Michael Lindsay

Place holder — Colt Nichols partnered up with Bubba Pauli's Madd Parts Kawasaki team for the three SMX races, with some support from Rick Ware Racing and Pro Circuit. Michael Lindsay

Place holder — They just can't stay away...Derek Rankin returns to the pits as the crew chief in SMX and 2024 for Madd Parts Kawasaki. Welcome back Derek. Michael Lindsay

The Tedder's had two different colored machines under their tents, as the Hills each chose to ride the bikes they'd been racing recently instead of the team's usual KTMs. Maybe this will continue into 2024?

Place holder — Haiden Deegan getting a serious adjustment after a big get-off early into Saturday... Guys like Dr. Steve Navarro (pictured) and Dr. G (Rey Gubernick not pictured) have been hitting the races for years and years to take care of the sport's biggest stars. Michael Lindsay

That's a heck of a lineup. — That's a heck of a lineup. Michael Lindsay

We're about done cleaning the red clay off our shoes and we're onto Chicago! — We're about done cleaning the red clay off our shoes and we're onto Chicago! Michael Lindsay

Related:

Vital MX Pit Bits

Charlotte Motor Speedway

SuperMotocross World Championship

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