Cycle News

VOL. 55 ISSUE 3 JANUARY 23, 2018 P105 recover and work on their motor- cycle, if necessary, just by virtue of the 450SX class running their two heats. And similar can be said for the break the 450SX guys get between their heats and LCQ, with the short break and the 250SX LCQ between the 450SX heats and 450SX LCQ. After the LCQs, normally there's a longer intermission, and then the 250SX main lines up and races, followed almost immediately by the 450SX main. In the new Triple Crown format, they have to design the breaks into the schedule. The first 250SX main ran, followed immediately by the first 450SX main, and then there was a 33-minute break before the sec- ond 250SX main began. Then, after the second 450SX main, there was a 21-minute break be- fore the final 250SX main began. The second break is shorter because the second set of races is a total of eight minutes longer. The solution to this track time and the long breaks can come just by making the races them- selves a little bit longer and the breaks a little bit shorter. This is the kind of issue that can be resolved incrementally, and it's not a big problem as far as I'm concerned. However, the racers almost universally weren't happy with this new format. The racers in the press conference were col- lectively critical of this format, and Dean Wilson's complaint to me afterward was that the additional risks aren't offset by additional rewards. "I don't really like it," Wilson said. "It's a lot of racing and a lot more risk. I just like the normal schedule. You could go 1-1-1 for 26 points, the same as one main-event win, so it's more risk for the same price. I don't really like that." Chad Reed told me his main complaint was that someone could go down in the record books as a "supercross winner" without winning a single race on the night. And, indeed, a 2-3-2 would've won the 450SX class by virtue of the number of points scored by winner Eli Tomac. When I asked Wilson if it would make a difference to him if each main event paid points, he said, "See, that's something I think would maybe make it a little bit better." Zach Osborne told me that same thing in the off-season. And if we awarded points in each main event, meaning there would be 78 points on the line rather than 26, it would change things dramatically in the cham- pionship chase. For example, Joey Savatgy was the most dom- inant rider at A2, going 1-2-1 for the overall while the rest of his class was much less consistent. He came into A2 seven points behind points leader Aaron Plessinger, and left A2 tied for the points lead with Shane McEl- rath, with Plessinger just two points back. But Plessinger in particular had a bad night at A2, going 6-4-7 for sixth overall. Had points been awarded for every main event, Savatgy would have an 11-point lead over McElrath right now, and Plessinger would be 16 points back. And honestly, that seems fair to me, consider- ing the standout performance Savatgy had at A2. He should be rewarded for that. Similarly, in the 450SX class, the points lead for Jason An- derson would be 11 over Cole Seely either way, and Tomac would go from 43 points behind Anderson to 44 points behind, but Musquin—who had a DNF in his three mains—would go from 34 points behind as it sits, to 58 points behind. And that seems fair to me with a DNF in there. And Ken Roczen had a rough night at A2, too, finishing outside the top 10 twice. As it sits, he's 14 points behind Anderson, but if they gave points for each main, he'd be 28 points back. The Triple Crown event isn't perfect, but if they could give the racers more track time, cut back on the down time, and award points for each of the main events—or, at minimum, some bonus championship points for winning any of the mains out- right—it would probably be more popular. CN

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