Post by Mx Life286 on Dec 27, 2005 2:33:46 GMT -5
It's always fun observing starting line techniques and tactics…not only by the riders themselves, but their mechanics as well.
At Binghamton, Ivan Tedesco's mechanic, Jon Mitcheff, was busy scouting at the gate Sunday morning, well before the two championship motos. Of course, Ivan didn't have to qualify, because he was leading the championships, but early morning rain had left the entire start area rather soupy. So what was he looking for? He was watching the starts, trying to figure out the slope, and to see how the start area was draining (or not), and where the best starts were coming from.
Last weekend at Steel City, we spotted Davi Millsaps' mechanic, Carlos Rivera, was busily filling dirt in the starting gate to create sort of a land bridge across the open gap in the mechanism.
While Davi's not generally known for his starting prowess, one thing's for sure. In a class where getting off the gate well is all-important, Carlos isn't going through that effort if he doesn't think it's helping.
www.transworldmotocross.com/mx/content/images/sep05/090505/_Y5L0327sm.jpg
At Binghamton the traditional best spot to start is all the way at the right side as you face the gate. Unfortunately, with the way the water was draining off the track, that also made it the "wetter" side. You can see the mud that was pushed off the track, which is why Jon was busy scouting conditions in the early qualifiers to try and figure out where Ivan would be starting from.
Anyone who doesn't get off the line quickly in conditions like this had better have plenty of tear-offs.
At Binghamton, Ivan Tedesco's mechanic, Jon Mitcheff, was busy scouting at the gate Sunday morning, well before the two championship motos. Of course, Ivan didn't have to qualify, because he was leading the championships, but early morning rain had left the entire start area rather soupy. So what was he looking for? He was watching the starts, trying to figure out the slope, and to see how the start area was draining (or not), and where the best starts were coming from.
Last weekend at Steel City, we spotted Davi Millsaps' mechanic, Carlos Rivera, was busily filling dirt in the starting gate to create sort of a land bridge across the open gap in the mechanism.
While Davi's not generally known for his starting prowess, one thing's for sure. In a class where getting off the gate well is all-important, Carlos isn't going through that effort if he doesn't think it's helping.
www.transworldmotocross.com/mx/content/images/sep05/090505/_Y5L0327sm.jpg
At Binghamton the traditional best spot to start is all the way at the right side as you face the gate. Unfortunately, with the way the water was draining off the track, that also made it the "wetter" side. You can see the mud that was pushed off the track, which is why Jon was busy scouting conditions in the early qualifiers to try and figure out where Ivan would be starting from.
Anyone who doesn't get off the line quickly in conditions like this had better have plenty of tear-offs.