There are two viewing options for Supercross races. You can concentrate on a specific location on the course, or you can follow a particular rider. Nonetheless, you will miss opportunities with this sport’s rapid speed. Nonetheless, we were fortunate enough to get a behind-the-scenes peek during the 45th Supercross season opener. This year’s Anaheim 1 (A1) was held on January 5, 2019, at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California.
And as soon as the gates dropped for the first qualifying round, it became evident that a handful of the corners on this track would cause difficulties for the competitors. Why? Rain. But first, let’s discuss the history of Supercross and all that goes into creating Anaheim 1.
History of Supercross
There are two viewing options for Supercross races. You can concentrate on a specific location on the course, or you can follow a particular rider. Nonetheless, you will miss opportunities with this sport’s rapid speed. Nonetheless, we were fortunate enough to get a behind-the-scenes peek during the 45th Supercross season opener. This year’s Anaheim 1 (A1) was held on January 5, 2019, at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California.
And as soon as the gates dropped for the first qualifying round, it became evident that a handful of the corners on this track would cause difficulties for the competitors. Why? Rain. But first, let’s discuss the history of Supercross and all that goes into creating Anaheim 1.
- A total of 44 riders competed in the 250SX and 450SX main events.
- Six manufacturers, Honda, Husqvarna, Kawasaki, KTM, Suzuki, and Yamaha, enter their motorcycles in the race.
- Races are staged in 13 states over 17 weeks
- 52 tractor-trailers travel 1.57 million kilometers (981,448 miles) during the season.
Anaheim 1
Return to Anaheim 1. The annual season-opening race is generally a chaotic one due to the fact that many of the riders are on brand-new bikes and racing for new sponsors, and nobody knows how quickly the other competitors will push it. This year’s A1 race is no exception, as rain transformed the circuit into muck. The A1 race’s victorious rider, Justin Barcia, notes, “From the beginning to the end of the course, the terrain varied dramatically.”
The construction of the track, which consists of 5,500 cubic yards or 26 million pounds of dirt, requires 60 hours and a workforce of 20 people. During baseball season, that dirt is stored in parking lot 4B of Angel Stadium behind a layer of asphalt.
In the Supercross universe, the A1 track is as much a character as the racers and the motorcycles. With the exception of a retro-themed event, “no Supercross track has ever been reproduced,” according to Supercross director of operations Dave Prater. This year, the triple jump was 70 feet (21 meters) in length, and riders reached heights of 32 feet (9.8 meters) (9.7 meters).
The Riders and Bikes
As for the riders, they do get to practice on the dry track prior to the actual A1 race, but as rider Barcia notes, rain may wreak havoc on their preparations and render the countless hours of practice futile. Yamaha squad manager Jimmy Perry adds that when the track is wet, the bikes can pick up as much as 65 pounds (29 kilograms) of muck. The mud hinders the performance of the motorcycle, and the fastest lines on the track will be quite different when it is wet.
The bikes may appear to be over-hyped, yet they are constructed from standard manufacturing bikes. Since 1986, it has been prohibited to construct one-of-a-kind objects. Except for the suspension components, which are set to the preferences of each rider, they are essentially identical to what is available from a dealer.
Yamaha’s Perry comments, “You must work on your bike’s weak parts to make them as powerful as possible by investing money and people.” It’s eighty percent rider and twenty percent bike.
“There is no ideal arrangement. Ryan Villopoto, a former Yamaha rider, insists there is none.
Supercross Goes Super High-tech
Teams have been able to track and compare riders in real time for the previous three seasons due to LITPro’s superior GPS antenna and sensors. The LitPro enables them to view a variety of statistics on their iPhone or iPad. It monitors the cyclists’ locations on the course for the duration of the race. For instance, the system can track a leap from takeoff to landing and may occasionally predict the winner of a race by analyzing multiple analytic variables.
But, teams do not solely rely on technology to improve their racers. In addition, they rely on the knowledge of personal trainers. Aldon Baker, the trainer of four Supercross riders, explains that he works with his clients to improve their cardio and general strength. It helps increase their endurance, sprints, and starts in terms of competition. On race days, he often uses a spin bike to warm up his athletes. Spin bikes are his favored mode of exercise due to their low impact and portability. Baker’s clientele adhere to a pescatarian diet that emphasizes vegetables and high-quality fish protein.
Baker recognizes that it is strict, but he understands that he has only so much control. “The individual cannot be programmed like a robot,” he argues.
