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Are You Ready For the Start of the New Season?

Nope, I’m not talking about A1. Sure, the rain stayed away, the crowd showed up, and the riders raced, but to be honest, the race had (at least to me) a slightly weird vibe to it. It felt like everyone was going through the motions just trying to survive it and move on. In some ways, that makes Phoenix the start to the real first race of the season.

Phoenix is guaranteed to feature something more akin to what we’re used to seeing on the track, and a whole lot more like what the riders have been preparing for over the last several months. No one preps for the kind of conditions that we had last weekend. You’d destroy your practice track, equipment, and maybe yourself. I will admit that I was relieved to see just about everyone get out of there healthy, though I am waiting to see how Jake Weimer is, and whether Chad Reed’s hand injury becomes a factor to his season. He obviously did a great job last week, and he has plenty of experience riding through pain.

How about James Stewart? Well, I think there’s little doubt in anyone’s mind that it would have been a very interesting race had he not gone down in the first turn. Did he back off after carving through the pack and getting to second spot? Definitey. That’s a good thing, too. There wasn’t much reason to take all the chances necessary to try and close the gap to Chad.

Watching some of the message boards this week, I was bummed to see some of the tongue-waggers piling on various targets. Sure, the JGR MX/Toyota/Yamaha squad didn’t have the greatest intro, but I wouldn’t be in a hurry to write them off after one race…particularly one like A1. Also, the Honda Red Bull Racing guys are definitely better than they showed. There are still plenty of questions to be answered about the season.

Obviously the work that Ryan Dungey and Johnny O’Mara have been putting in paid off last weekend, as he scored his first Lites win of the season. Jason Lawrence looked impressive as well, and many expected him to be a little closer to Ryan, especially in the mud. But a daring pass by Dungey, and a mistake or two by Lawrence separated the pair at the finish line. But there’s little doubt about the message that Boost Mobile Yamaha of Troy Team Manager, Chris McAvoy, flashed to Jason on the podium. Your time will come.

Be sure to check in here and at www.motodrive.com throughout the weekend. I can do quick updates on MD via my iPhone, and we’ll be adding updates from the track, along with our usual Pit Bits and post-race coverage over on Vital MX.
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