The following is not meant to be critical of the riders. It’s written from a shit-happens perspective and all of this shit has happened to a lot of us.
From what I’ve seen, both of them took a “mis-step” and contacted the ground with their foot in what is clearly a simple mistake. Both injuries clearly take place as the rider’s foot contacts the ground in a manner that’s defined as “rider error”…both circumstances have nothing to do with the track design or lay out.
Yet, I’m seeing all sorts of doom & gloom about the tracks and how dangerous Supercross is.
I did notice that lapped riders were “moving obstacles” or “virtual road blocks” in the some sections at times; but, that…too…is all part of racing.
As for Hunter’s crash…? What was the actual cause? Looks like he literally runs off the track while tripling out of the last turn & clipped a tuff-block as he is headed off the track…and I’m seeing posts about the tuff blocks being the problem? Again, completely rider error. That turn and those jumps were typical SX track features and the tuff blocks keep the riders from running off into greater dangers.
Kenny’s DNF? That was a mechanical…chain off…and that’s after colliding “mid-air” with Hand while jumping into the sand section.
The near-miss…the thing that could have been really ugly? Was Sexton crashing in front of Malcolm…again, it was just racing…and it was scary to watch.
But, it’s all racing.
In this era of 9 whoops (10 his week that some would call 11) & other track safety considerations, I’m seeing things like “foot down” injuries, riders bombing into or thru lappers and other incidents that are causing more mishaps than the tracks are.
Yes, they were on it.
Welcome to society today.monday morning QB’s, Fake outrage, people trying to find things to blame so they can put everything in a nice little box rather then actually use there brain.
Tracks are too dangerous, bikes are to fast.. were riders never injured in the 2000’s, 90’s, 80’s and 70’s?
Soggy…we’re going to have to establish an Official Vital Terminology before Falcon comes in there and does it for us: “Feigned Outrage” 😂
My opinion on Eli...he was on a fast lap to qualify better, he saw another rider up ahead that would jeopardize his line and decided to abort the lap...he had his foot off the peg or some how got his leg in front of the foot peg when he landed a smallish jump and the peg smoked his calf as his leg was in front of the peg itself. Had zero to do with the track. Just a unfortunate situation.
The Shop
Yes, I believe Eli's had to do with a slower rider in qualifying caused him to reconsider tripling out at the last second and dab'd his foot as a result of the effort to back it down......unfortunate.
Jett's was just a foot dab like Villopoto.
I agree the track wasn’t the problem, but why tuff blocks are still on landings and along the sides of the whoop sections is beyond me. I guess the advertisement revenue is more important than keeping your stars healthy and racing
I didn’t have a problem with the track. It was difficult.
Some people had big crashes and injuries, which newsflash does happen in supercross because It’s a dangerous sport.
Vital can be very sheeplike when a rider says they don’t like the track and suddenly everyone blames it for everything.
Eli is kind of lucky he only bruised his calf muscle and didn't snap his leg. Could have happened real easy from what I saw.
I think most of the people have said the bikes are too fast. Most people are pumped on the tracks this year.
Just lets you know that, 2 of the best riders in Mx/Sx can make the slightest mistake and get injured. Both my knees/ Acl”s torn from a momentary lapse of judgement & sticking my leg out….worse thing yiu can do but its human nature to do that when you think you are about to fall… I also agree Tomacs was due to an aborted jump combination when he seen the other rider in his path, but he had also dragged his foot in the rut milli seconds before that…..
Thought for sure tib/fib, does not take much to break those….
Strange that a rider of Eli's caliber had a foot dangling on the face of a jump, he got lucky, the price for that mistake could've been a lot higher.
Tell me about it. It's friggin horrible..Snapped both of mine at the same time in 2019. It made me quit MX. Hopefully Eli is fine and can race out the season.
Let’s blame the soles on Alpinestar boots. Too slippery.
Thats suck,man…. I snapped a fibula right above where my knee braces mounted on my leg……ez break but 3 months off….. getting injured definitely ruins the joy…
Glad it was an easy break for you. Both snapped about 3" below the knee. Both tib/fib had to be plated and then 8 months later a pelvic bone graft implanted onto the breaks to help the bones heal. My leg looked like it had zippers for about 10" on each side of the bones...lol. yeah...it was horrible actually.
Way way back during a race at Saddleback, my foot came off the peg (in front) and my foot bent all the way back under destroying my ankle. ET3 got lucky it wasn't worse.
Hope all the injured guys have speedy and full recoveries and get back on the track ASAP
For sure, but apprehension makes us all do super weird stuff. As bomber noted earlier (which I had no idea until this thread), if he was concerned about hitting someone it kinda makes sense. That kind of unexpected pause makes me feel like a wet light socket when I come up on someone that fast.
Regardless.. glad he’s okay. I’m not sure how I would cope with that kind of disappointment.
Pit Row
I saw the slomo vid where Jett gets into the back tire of JA21. It didn't look like much, I wonder if JA21 even gave it any thought. Jett started to tip over a little bit and put his foot down. Neither track had anything to do with ET3 or Jetts injury.
The tuff blocks are a 100 times more dangerous than the track. You don’t need to look any further than Pierce for that.
As far as Eli and Jett, they both made mistakes, but Jett’s looked pretty mild compared to Eli’s.
I don't have a problem with the tracks. If you make them easier it just means they go faster, and that is not safer.
Pierce brown broke his back, multiple red flags on the night.... sure there have always been crashes but the speeds have gotten to the point where the consequences for a rider mistake or fluke event just seem to be greater than they used to be. I don't think rearranging tuff blocks or limiting track design changes that.
Would love to see real data on this from someone who has the time though because perception is not always reality. Would be curious to know percentage of factory guys that have completed every round, or average number of rounds completed over the years.
Sorry Bro, I have had 2 full knee reconstructions and will soon be going in for TkR…. I know pain & recovery from moto…..keep fighting 💪
Hopefully all goes well for you. But, this is why I ride emtb's now. Kinda takes the place of the bikes.
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