Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128362
FIM THO World Supercross Grand Prix Series/AMA THO Supercross Series INTERVIEW I:had Reed More Focused Than Ever After the disastrous 16th place finish that he endured at the AHA Supercross season opener at Anaheim, Chad Reed was too upset to talk to the media Having had a week to think about it, Reed was willing to discuss the events Anaheim I after Friday practice at round two in Phoenix. Champion that he is, Reed said that he refuses to let Anaheim Iget him down. You are probably already tired of answering this question, but describe your disappointment after the way things went down at Anaheim I. The biggest disappointment is that I was in a good position, safe, and I just had some problems come my way. lhat's part of racing. you know? It can happen to anybody, and last weekend it happened to me. We'll move forward and try to do better this weekend. Stiles: 9. Reynard: 10. Carter: II. Balbi Jr.: 12. Johnson: 13. Ewing: 14. Blair: IS. Thomas: 16. Floth; 17. Martin: 18. Butler, 19. Holland; 20. Dostal; 21. Wilson; 22. Howe. Time: 5 min., 23.320 sec. MAIN (20 laps): I. Rkky Carmichael (SUI): 2. Kevin Windham (Hon); 3. Chad Reed (Hon); 4. Emesto Fonseca (Hon); 5. Heath Voss (Yam); 6. Sebastien Tortelli (SuI); 7. Nick Wey (Hon); B. Davki Vuitlemin (Yam); 9. Jeremy McGr.il.th (Hon); 10. Damon Huffman (Hon); II. Mkllael Byrne (Kaw); 12. 11m Ferry (Yam); 13. Erick v~1ejo (Yam); I~. Kyle LevvU (Hoo); 15. Hike laRocco (Hoo): 16. Sean Hamblin (Kaw); 17. James POYOtny (Hon); lB. jeff Gibson (Hoo); 19. "JYIer Evans (Suz); 20. T",,", Pastnna (Suz). Time: 17 min.• 22.470 sec. Margin of vktory: 10.<420 sec. FIM THQ WORLD SUPERCROSS GRANO PRIX SERIES POINTS STANDINGS (After 4 or 17 rounds): I.. Rkky Carmkhael (97/3 wins): 2. Mike laRocco (J7); 3. NKk Wey (76); ~. Heath Vos> (69); 5. Damoo Huffman (60); 6. Tyler Evans (51); 7. Kyle lewis (<4'1); B. Sebastien Tortelli (-42); 9. Tim Ferry (39); 10. Erick Vallejo (35): II. Jeff Gibson (30): 12. Jason Thomas (28); 13. (TIE) Sean Hamblin (22YJoe Oehlhof (22): 15. (TIE) Jam", Povolny (16VJosh Hansen (16): 17. Keith Johnson (IS): 18. (TIE) I~iah Johnson (14)/Justin Buckelew (14); 20. Doug DeHaan (II). AMA THQ SUPERCROSS SERIES POINTS STANDINGS (After 2 of 16 rounds): I. Kevin Windham (-17/1 win): 2. Rkky Carmkhael (45/1 win); 3. Sebastien Tonelli (33); 1. Emesto Fonseca (30): 5. Nkk Wey (29): 6. Mike LaRocco (18); 7. David Vuillemtn (17); 8. Heath Voss (26); 9. Chad Reed (25): 10. Michael Byrne (I B): II. Damon Huffman(I7): 12. (TIE) Jam.. 5tewan (I 6VJeffGI!>soo (16); 1~.JeremyMcG"'th(13); 15. T"'vUPa....ana(12): 16."JYIer Evans (II); 17. Kyle Lev,,;, (10); lB. Timmy Ferry (9); 19. Erick Vallejo (B): 20. Joe Oehlhof (7). UPCOMING ROUNDS: Round 5/3 -Anaheim, Colilornio, January 22 Round 6/4 - Son Froncisco, Colilornio, Jonuory 29 Making an Impact on Safety In an effon to more accurately diagnose the severity of impacts, such as the one suffered by Team Kawasaki's James Stewart Jr. at the Phoenix Supercross, there have been some new devices coming out which are hoped to increase the sport's safety. One such device is in the form of a small triangular unit that measures the severity of an impact sustained by a rider during a hard crash. "'t's a product called Shock Spotter," John Bodnar, the THQ World Supercross GP series doctor and head of the Asterisk Mobile Medical Center, said. "It's made by a group of engineers that got together, and they are riders too, to try to find a way to son of help decide whether your helmet has taken a hit that's bad enough to get [the helmet] tossed. Pretty much with any significant hit to your helmet you impact the inside liner. So your outside shell may look fine, there may not even be a mark on it, but the inside might be damaged, and unfonunately there's no way to really know, to the lay person. The helmet manufactures recommend that you send it in and they'll test it, and more than likely they will just say it's bad. You know, they aren't going to take a chance. But most people aren't going to go through the hassle of sending it in. Obviously, they want to keep using their helmet." So how exactly does something so small manage to measure such huge impacts without completely falling apan? Bodnar says it's actually really simple. "What the Shock Spotter does is it's set up to measure an impact that is significant enough to cause damage," Bodnar said. "They did their own study that decided how much pressure... It's basically a decelerometer. The way they make it, I guess, it's a glass cylinder and there are certain g-forces that will set it off. So, when you've got it on the back of your helmet, in the right area, the impact itself will suddenly set that sensor off. It's an idea. It's not the end all. In other words, if you hit pretty hard and it didn't set the sensor off and you really whacked it or there is actually damage to the helmet, you still want to throw it away. So it's not 100 percent as far as if this is what's going tell you your helmet is good still, but it's a good indicator. If you did get a mark on it, and the sensor goes off, then you need to toss the helmet." As far as making it mandatory for all riders to have the device affixed to their helmets, Bodnar says that won't be likely - at least for now. "I don't think so," Bodnar said. "It's a thing where the company is willing to give them all out to the riders. We're always looking for new safety devices, anything. to help out. It's son of one more indicator, one more safety device. They may down the road have some type of sensor, some companies may even incorporate it in their own helmet design. It might be something that eventually will be required. but right now it's just another safety device." 20 JANUARY 26, 2005 • CYCLE NEWS What exactly went wrong with the motorcycle? Just, you know, some mud got in the front brake, and unfortunately I had to try to get the bike over to the mechanics' area so that they could work on it without me getting all my points taken off me. They cut the [brake] line so that it just released the pads from the disc so that I could finish the race. How does that finish affect your approach or strategy over the rest of the season? Does it change in any way? No. My confidence level is high. You can't lose confidence in the mud like that, because it's anybody's race. You know. we sold out last weekend. The best I can do is just look forward, work hard during the week and do the best that I can on the weekend. I think that focusing on one resuk is not the answer here. It's a long season to go, and last weekend, you know, nobody is exempt from that. We have a lot of open stadiums to go, and that [rain] can happen again. We're just going to stay strong and stay in the game. How do you feel now that you've practiced on a dry supercross track here at Phoenix? We're just going to do the best we can. It's a good track, I think. The whoops look okay. It's the same every weekend. It comes down to the track. you know, who races the track the best on the weekend and puts the best laps together. We're going to try and do that this weekend. Briefly••• Continued from page '9 At least a few auto racing luminaries were on hand to watch the Phoenix Supercross, including three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Unser, 2004 Indianapolis 500 winner Buddy Rice - who lives in Phoenix - and NASCAR star Ken Schraeder. Josh Hansen was cruising around the Phoenix pits. The Red Bull KTM rider said he was just there to view the action. "~'ve] just come up here, to Phoenix, to just kind of check things out," he said. "Maybe this Saturday Ican Ieam some stuff from Dames] Stewart. Ricky [Cannichael] and Chad [Reed). I'm just hanging out, really low key, just getting ready for Febuary 12 [the first l25cc East Coast round)." As for testing, Hansen added, "Testing is good; I mean, the bikes are awesome, you know. lhey are handling good and stuff. I'm really excited about the new season for sure." According to Asterisk Mobile Medical Center's Dr. John Bodnar, the AHA is still considering whether or not to make the Hats Off system mandatory eqUipment for riders. Introduced to supercross last season, the Hats Off is a device that allows medical personnel to remove a rider's helmet without actually pulling on it to get it off. "Basically, this [device] is a bladder that blows up, kind of like one of those Mylar balloons; it tums Into a giant balloon is really what it is," Bodnar said. "So, this [balloon] goes up inside the helmet, and this [ripcord] goes down the left side... Just the ripcord will hang out just below the helmet. So, when someone crashes we have a hand pump or C02 device that actually inflates this, and what it does is push the helmet off instead of pulling it off, because the traction on the neck is what causes the neck... If you've got a fracture and you're pulling and stretching it, there may be pieces that are going to suddenly push in [to the spinal cord)." Bodnar said that he expects the AMA to make a decision as to whether or not to make the Hats Off mandatory for 2006 by the end of this season.