Last night at Philly, I saw Jason Anderson “turn down” into tighter, waaaay tighter, than normal “Jason” lines…especially while entering the more difficult turns. You know, those low tricky entries executed in a way that’s usually reserved for Copper Webb…?
He’d enter tight and low and turn down…even lower…keep turning in…down…really low…for an even tighter exit.
He commented on the podium…they’ve been working on set-up. Well, it looks like they’re making progress and he’s more confident in the turns.
In the heat I watched him struggle a bit with wheel spin on launches and between jumps…but, eventually he got a handle on it and quit shorting/casing landings and beating the shit out of himself. Damn, some of those “shorts” were fugly…but, he sorted it out and held on for his 1st heat win since…what…Detroit last year…?
By the time we got to the main, I could plainly see, he’s “found something”. He’s turning waaaaay better and he’s “making” traction. He’s not merely finding traction. He’s not just hooking up in certain sections…in all these things I noticed last night…
He’s making traction.
He’s getting his body down low and sometimes even hanging off the back of that thing to make it happen…which he’d done before…
But, the difference…the change…that I saw was how hard he was doing this in those low tight lines and still hitting combos and jumps at speed after these tight “inside line” turns. Also, this was how he was setting up for a passing…along with his fast “inside-out” in the sand.
The bike is new. The settings are new…and, my guess is…they’re finally getting somewhere that makes him feel a bit more confident and capable.
So, Turn Down for What? For traction and passing on a track where both were hard to find.
Let’s see if he keeps it up as we close out the season.
A holeshot by El Hombre would mean trouble for the rest of the field right now. Would love to see him bust out a win in one the last rounds.
Jason is one of my favorites. Racing is always more interesting when he’s in the mix.
He did say they found something in the bike this week. You have a good eye.
He wins SLC. You heard it here first
The Shop
I’d love to see another or 7th different main winner this year. That should be Jason; but, he’s got to get up front EARLY and lay down the kind of laps we’ve seen him throw down mid or late in the main.
Can't remember him being the greatest holeshot artist.
Even back in his 250 days.
His epic, coming though the pack to run down Seely at the end were awesome.
Been a fan ever since.
I think we see Jason ride better as the hunter / chaser , opposed to being chased. He seems to really wick it up if he has a carrot to chase.
I expect Anderson to be sneakily good in outdoors this summer
Detuned the motor to be mellower with less wheel spin?
Naw, probably the chicken wings.
Seems to be also spending allot of time at Club mx lately.
He had a real cool line at Philly just before the sand section. He wasn't the only one to do it, but I thought he was the cleanest. As Team Green said, he was turning better and better. He arced the turn early, and then tripled into the sand section. He must've got 3 bike lengths on Tomac in that one section, and I think startled Tomac when he passed him. Nowhere near him, until he was.
Watch out when a racer is happy.
Another rider with another story about trying to get the Factory Kawi boys to open up about settings and poof...... He goes east and gets some testing done and wuahlah on the box.
They’ve been really, really good to Jason. They do anything & everything they can to get the bike right for him. From trying all sorts of suspension & chassis settings to adjusting ergos of whatever-else Jason and Rango come up with.
Also, Jason seems to be wiling to try whatever they do come up with.
These things are a 2 way street.
The current chemistry at Kawasaki seems pretty damn cool to me. From practice to testing to the typical “Day at the races”…they’re doing just fine. They just need to keep their heads down, get this new scooter dialed in and keep moving forward.
Another thing, while I’m kinda bummed that Adam’s had such a hard time with his arm & it’s sad to see him go, the future “squad” at Kawasaki is looking pretty damn good.
Prado & Hombre should be fun to watch.
Pit Row
Is this future squad public info yet?
Put down the fent George
Jett will be in title mode and Webb will be trying to mess with Jett. Those end of year races are always weird when it’s title time. I could see Ando stealing one
Here’s some clues to where El Hombre’s at…
https://www.vitalmx.com/videos/features/jason-anderson-philadelphia-vital-mx-interview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3D8n-kVwAg
Adam had a little video about traction control on YouTube the other day, maybe they dialed that in for the tight turns and wheel spin between transitions?
I think Jason’s TC is in his right wrist and frontal lobe.
Well, since I’m thinking we’ve got a coupl’a crazy races ahead of us these next 2 weekends…
I just booked the flt to Denver. Because, it’s time to be at the stadium when El Hombré cuts loose.
See you at the races.
Manny
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