Supercross lappers ?

[The Honda Pilot]

I know I have never been out on the track durring a SX race so I do not know how hard the track is but why is there so many slow riders just barely putt putting ? some of these guys look like local guys who have no pro experience due to there wobbeling when riding and bad moves. What does it take to race a supercross if these slower guys are racing pro SX why dosent all the faster local pros race pro SX ? It looks like I could beat some of the lappers.

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Im no Einstein...But I might be a rocket scientist.

 

[marcusgunby]

I watched a local Sx race and thought the same so it entered next time round,imagine how i felt when most of those slow riders lapped me after 7 laps.By the end of the night i could race with the next slowest rider apart from me.

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[dirt bike dave]

Many of those lappers ARE faster local pros in their home towns. The top national level guys are just that much better and have lots more experience on the really demanding tracks.

Those guys that RC is beating by 5-10 seconds a lap in SX could come down to most local tracks and stomp everybody.


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1999 Honda CRE 250

 

[380EXCman]

Very few of the lappers are local pros. Most are guys following the circuit. Lappers in the main event are very very good riders. We have a local pro here in Boise that follows the SX circuit and has yet to make a main. He does qualify for the nationals and I think his best finish is 22nd. He stomps all the local pros around here. He finished 2nd to Damon Bradshaw at a round of the 4-stroke national here a couple years ago...

I look at it this way. The 20 riders in the 250's and the 20 or so in the 125's make up the 40 best riders in the country.............

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More to follow im sure.....

 

[dirt bike dave]

380excMan is right - the local guys almost never make the main. But you will see some of them out in the heats.

You have to be a god to make a 250 main, and RC laps up to 6th place and puts 2 laps on 12th. And the 12th place guy lapped the local pro in the short heat race, and the local pro would lap all of us.

 

[The Honda Pilot]

All you guys made a good point. Sorry I didng realize that before I posted. I guess they get tired or they are just trying not to get in the way of the riders in the lead because they show no signs of actually trying to do there best.

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Im no Einstein...But I might be a rocket scientist.

 

[IDkTm]

We have a local SX race here in town and have been fortunate to get some great riders to attend over the years like Jeff Willoh, Ryan Huffman, Jason Mccormick, Lance Smail, and some others about there quality. They pretty much always win. Watching them ride with our local pros is impressive to watch. Some of the people that have rode here have won pro races, but aren't contenders for a SX title or anything and might even get lapped a time or two. Goes to show the time of speed that RC and the others possess.

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[mx547]

also the tracks are much tougher than they look on tv or from the stands. my daughter raced the ktm challenge in dallas in '99 and we got to walk the track. i couldn't believe how rough it was. there were holes and huge bumps everywhere. some of the jumps were so steep that they were hard to walk up. they were so peaked that she actually high-centered the 50 a few times. and the whoops, i can't imagine trying to ride through something like that, much less skim over the tops of them. you could have lost a pee wee in them. i came away with a whole new respect for the riders.

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'00 Honda CR250
Honda of Tulsa

 

[VintageDirt]

Let's not forget that with 20 guys on an SX track only the leaders get to go as fast as they can. Everyone else is fighting for position and line selection. It could be that even the slowest guy in the main would be able to stay on the same lap as RC, if there were only two guys on the track.

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'00 Honda XR400
'81 Bultaco Sherpa T
'73 CZ 380
'70 Bultaco Sherpa T
WesBaca.com

 

[MX265]

I would love just one chance to be a lapper in a SX. Sounds crazy, but I would love to say that I just got roasted by RC or even MC. Just an opportunity to ride on that same track as those two would be good enough for me. And yes, I assure you, the slowest guy in the slowest group of qualifyers would make it look like I was moving at walking speed. That just goes to show you how good the top guys are. It's kind of scary that they can be that good.

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[moto1313]

Vintagedirt-You are way wrong. Nobody in the country can hang with the top SX pros if they were alone on the track with them. These guys have the timing, skill and sheer sack to pin it over jumps so peaked and dangerous you have to walk the track to begin to comprehend what they make look easy. I have walked several SX tracks and I consider my self a strong B class rider. I have absolutely no desire to ever ride a SX track. The chance of serious injury is ridiculously easy.

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[VintageDirt]

Who makes the main if not the top SX pros?

I only said the last place guy in the main MIGHT be able to stay on the same lap as RC. I certainly may be wrong. But, I wouldn't say I'm WAY wrong.

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'00 Honda XR400
'81 Bultaco Sherpa T
'73 CZ 380
'70 Bultaco Sherpa T
WesBaca.com

 

[ktmboy]

I had a friend about 12 yrs. ago who was an extremely fast local pro on the So Cal circuit. We all went to watch him ride the L.A. coluseum (Superbowl of motocross). After a qualifying race, a heat race, a semi, and an lcq, believe me, he was stoked just to be on the same track as the big boys. He was definately minor league compared to the national guys, and yet on his home tracks he was un-beatable. There are definately different levels of fast!

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