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/842139
VOL. 53 ISSUE 25 JUNE 27, 2016 P147 throughout the year that his main goal was to get through healthy, and he did. Look up the list of 450cc rookies who score points in every single race in their rookie seasons. It's a very short list. But it all came apart in 2016, starting with a massive crash in the whoops at the supercross test track about three weeks before Anaheim I that left the diminutive star with a broken collarbone, broken ribs, a broken scapula and a myriad of internal injuries/ bruising. He came back during Supercross, still struggled, but eventually put in a couple top- fives before the outdoors picked up. Outdoors wasn't much bet- ter, either. Baggett grabbed third in the first moto of the season, behind eventual champ Ken Roc- zen and defending champ Ryan Dungey, but that was it. He put up a lot of zeroes riding through injuries, and didn't show up to a bunch of the races, ending the season 22nd in points. It's as if all the hurdles Baggett leapt in 2015 came back at him and crushed him a year later. His first two seasons in the class, he honestly looked like he was "sur- viving" out on the track more than he looked like he was "racing." And then he signed with the Butler Brothers to race on their Rocky Mountain ATV-MC KTM team for 2017. Immediately, as of Anaheim I, Baggett looked like a whole new guy. This is no joke. Al- though the results weren't imme- diate, you could see it in how he was riding at the very first round. Even in practice. The riding style we were accustomed to seeing as "Blake Baggett," where he was nearly motionless on the bike, looking like he was along for the ride. Gone. Like magic, Baggett was active on the bike, whipping it around, scrubbing it over ob- stacles, and generally looking like he was trying to will it to go faster. At round one, he was sixth-fastest in qualifying, less than 4/10ths slower than Ken Roczen. I brought this "new" Blake Baggett up to his team manager JR Boyd at round two in San Di- ego. He immediately just pointed over to Michael Byrne and said, "That's all him." Baggett got on the box in Atlanta, and spent most of the last half of the series duking it out inside the top five. But again, results or not, Baggett just looked better. He looked like he was rac- ing his 450, not riding it. And this is a very key distinction. Byrne is also the guy Baggett has directly credited with help- ing to teach him how to test his motorcycles. Byrne has been working as a test rider since he quit racing, and it's a subject he definitely understands. And it's the key to understanding Baggett leading the points now. When I saw Baggett in Las Vegas, I mentioned how much better he looks now on his KTM than he ever did on his Suzuki, then I assumed he was "ready to go" for the outdoors. I asked him how that was going, and he said, "Eh... Don't know yet." I was kind of puzzled, but didn't push it. At Hangtown, Baggett went 6-8, but seemed fine. I expected more, but it wasn't bad. Between Hangtown and Glen Helen, Baggett got some testing done and changed basically everything: Suspension settings, engine parts and even his engine mounts. He went on to go 8-2 at Glen Helen. Then he tested more, and that's when he caught fire at Colorado. Since moto two at Glen Helen, Baggett has gone 2-3-1-1-2-3-3 despite crashing in the first turn twice. His line choices outdoors have always been creative, and they still are. He's clearly the fastest guy on the track when Eli Tomac isn't, but Tomac's bad races are worse than Baggett's. There are seven races left in this championship now, which means there are 14 more motos that represent opportunities to make up or lose points for both Baggett and Tomac. If Baggett wins this title, it will be one of the most remarkable underdog per- formances in a long time. But if he does pull this off, the question then becomes: Does he stay where he is? Or does he fill that big void that was recently cre- ated at Red Bull KTM? CN