Posts
3781
Joined
8/15/2006
Location
City, WA
US
Edited Date/Time
1/27/2012 1:53am
With the 2011 season so close in points and with at least five guys who can win , what should they do next season ? Ride conservative and try to be consistent ? Hang it out , press hard for as many wins as possible early and try and get a little points cushion . One or two bad races can throw a season away as we seen with Reeds big crash , Dungey's DNF / DNS . RV even missed a SX main event . It will be interesting to see what happens early in 2012 .
In my opinion
RV is the guy to beat . He will be at A-1 looking to hit a home run . I can see him busting out some big wins early with the way he is riding now . I think he will have a stronger season next year and defend both titles .
James just needs to keep it on two wheels . Time is running out .
Dungey better get more aggressive or he won't see another championship .
Reed will get that fire back and will go at with RV and JS
Trey will be hungry as ever . I think it will take him a few races to get back to speed . He needs to keep it on two wheels as well .
I just don't see who else could win a 450 race with these guys racing and raising the bar to another level as the sport evolves .
In my opinion
RV is the guy to beat . He will be at A-1 looking to hit a home run . I can see him busting out some big wins early with the way he is riding now . I think he will have a stronger season next year and defend both titles .
James just needs to keep it on two wheels . Time is running out .
Dungey better get more aggressive or he won't see another championship .
Reed will get that fire back and will go at with RV and JS
Trey will be hungry as ever . I think it will take him a few races to get back to speed . He needs to keep it on two wheels as well .
I just don't see who else could win a 450 race with these guys racing and raising the bar to another level as the sport evolves .
JS needs to tune it down and be more consistent
CR doing great like usual, consistent yet agressive
RD needs to just go for it
TC needs to not get injuried
The Shop
JS: Needs to ride his own race. Kill it when he can. I hope to see if can still have those soul crushing rides with this new crop of guys. As far as game plan, I think it's more bike setup than anything for him. It seemed like they started chasing things last year in the wrong direction. Hopefully Tim Ferry is part of the JGR team next year.
CR: It will be interesting to see which CR shows up? If it's CR on a factory Honda with all the confidence from before the crash he could be the favorite this year. I hope he has a good off season to reconnect and pick up where he left off killing it.
RD: Without mechanicals he would have two titles. Much of RD's success lies in the hands of DeCoster. If anyone can get a new bike to perform at that level and not break down, it's DeCoster. If Dungey works on anything this off season it needs to be stuffing passes when he needs to.
TC: Much like RV the last few years, TC needs to just stay healthy the whole season.
JH: I want to get in on the Josh Hill nut swinging early. Before his ribs a few years ago, he was the man and in control of the series. Unfortunately he hasn't been on the bike much but he had some serious speed and next year he's going to be on a very good bike. I can see him mixing up with folks on bottom of list.
In 2009...Grant was in control of the series after only the first 2 rounds...Reed took the points lead after A2 (Rnd3).
Hill did however win a SX back in 2008 in the later part of the season and also got 3 other podiums that year ,but he wasn't in control of the series.
But I wouldn't consider being tied ...as being in control of the series esp. when tie breakers are decided by wins (Dungey had already won a couple races). RV was just right behind them and took over the lead of the points the next weekend in INDY.
Where did I say RV didn't earn titles? I stated a fact: without the mechanical DNFs Dungey would have won. Where did I say RV didn't earn his title? Judging from your spelling and location you probably spend more time on top your mom than actually reading what people write.
Pit Row
Dungey can't just be as fast as he was on the Suzuki. He has to be faster, because that's what RV will be. It's possible he'll step up the pace, but I wouldn't put too much money on it.
Stewart will likely have the same speed he always has, which will still be enough to keep pace with RV if not gap him regularly. But if his consistency doesn't improve on his new team, he won't be racking up the wins as he should, and most will go to RV.
Reed's Millville crash did a number on him mentally, but SX is a different game, one that Chad plays very well. If he's back on the Honda he should be plenty comfortable, and have the consistency that he (sort of) lacked in 2011. Not too likely he'll be carrying in any extra speed, though, which he'll need to deal with RV.
Canard is one of the "wilder" wild cards, I think. He was faster than Dungey last year if not quite as fit, and his consistency was getting better as the year progressed. That was a long time ago, though, so we'll see. The good news for Canard is, I (and probably many others) didn't foresee Villopoto taking his '10 speed into '11 after his injury, but he arrived at A1 faster and more determined than ever.
So maybe the guy who said RV would get 10 wins this year wasn't THAT out of his mind. If the other 4 don't pull it together in the next two months, SX just might be a jog for Villopoto. Unlikely but possible.
Can't wait for the new season!
1.) James Stewart: Needs to stay injury-free, get good starts, ride consistently, ride faster than most others most of the time, get through lappers clean, and avoid mechanical failures.
2.) RV: Needs to stay injury-free, get good starts, ride consistently, ride fast, get through lappers clean, and avoid mechanical failures.
3.) RD: Needs to stay injury-free, get good starts, ride consistently, ride fast, get through lappers clean, and avoid mechanical failures.
4.) TC: Needs to stay injury-free, get good starts, ride consistently, ride fast, get through lappers clean, and avoid mechanical failures.
5.) Josh Grant: Needs to stay injury-free, get good starts, ride consistently, ride fast, get through lappers clean, and avoid mechanical failures.
6.) Andrew Short: Needs to stay injury-free, get good starts, ride consistently, ride fast, get through lappers clean, and avoid mechanical failures.
7.) Mike Alessi: Needs to stay injury-free, get good starts, ride consistently, ride fast, get through lappers clean, and avoid mechanical failures.
8.) Jason Lawrence: Needs to stay injury-free, get good starts, ride consistently, ride fast, get through lappers clean, and avoid mechanical failures.
9.) Christophe Pourcel: Needs to stay injury-free, get good starts, ride consistently, ride fast, get through lappers clean, and avoid mechanical failures.
10.) Bob Hannah: Needs to stay injury-free, get good starts, ride consistently, ride fast, get through lappers clean, and avoid mechanical failures.
I do take issue with #3 though. He's gonna wreak havoc on the series no matter what happens! Look out competition, RD is about to make it look easy. (/sarcasm)
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