Your Supercross Rundown | 2023 Tampa

Welcome back to the 'Supercross Rundown' on Vital MX, a collection of notes from the week that was. This particular feature was designed to inform and ensure that you are all up to date ahead of the race weekend. Not only are there notes from the past few days, but there are also some observations from press day and random thoughts that had to be put down somewhere! If you want to discuss this feature or any additional hot topics, contact us on social media (@VitalMX on Twitter and Instagram) or enter the chat on the forum.

Rider Injuries

Another quiet week on the injury front, thankfully, but there is no Dylan Ferrandis in Tampa, after that hard crash in Houston just last week. Ferrandis must follow the concussion protocol before he hits the racetrack and, despite the fact that he has said that he aims to be back in Oakland, those close to him have mentioned that is a little too optimistic. The good news is that he'll return at some point soon, so we will not be without the '14' for an extended period. The same cannot be said for Malcolm Stewart, who had that knee repaired on Thursday.

In more knee-related news, Nick Romano of the Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing squad has bowed out of 2023 Monster Energy Supercross (and likely the whole of Pro Motocross too). Romano needs a full knee reconstruction and that will obviously take a while, which is quite the blow for the talented rookie. Will this have an impact on his future employment at Yamaha? Time will tell, but his back is up against the wall and there are a lot of talented amateurs in the Star Racing system. It was a difficult week for bLUcRU, when you lay it all out.

Supercross Press Day

Well, we have a solid track layout in Tampa and a lot to dissect! Shall we head into the meat of this feature? Houston was such a fast-paced circuit and this is the complete opposite of that, which put a smile on Cooper Webb's face. The layout is a lot tighter and there should be more scope for cutting down in the turns, which will put '2' at ease. See where I am heading with this? I believe that the track design will lead to Webb being just as competitive as he was at the first three rounds, which is great news for the series.

There are thirteen whoops here, versus eleven in Houston, so this is the largest set that the elite stars have come across in 2023 Monster Energy Supercross. The dirt here is unlikely to break down, weather aside, so one would think that they will be skimmed all night. Will the riders jump them to ensure that they can keep as close to the inside as possible in that ninety-degree turn that follows? That was a theory that was in the air on press day, but the whoops cannot be ridden in the media session.

There are not too many options out there, so it is unlikely that we will see a special line. There is one portion of the track that has some potential. There is a single, tabletop, two singles and then a dragon's back. Have you kept track of that? There was a rider who went single, from the table to the first single and then leaped into the dragon's back (two whoops from the top). It was actually quite quick and did not pop them as high as one would think, so maybe that could be a line? It is likely that all of this is irrelevant…

Why is that? There is rain forecast and it seems fairly persistent. The worst part about this is that it is meant to hit hard once the races start and, at that point, Dirt Wurx cannot do much at all. It was meant to rain on press day initially, but then it was pushed back and it has been forecast for Saturday ever since. There have been a lot of instances like this in the past, where we have been just fine, but this feels like a concern, just because of when the storm is supposed to hit. Time will tell. Yes, it will.