Posts
192
Joined
12/5/2012
Location
CA
Edited Date/Time
8/28/2017 11:06am
If I were Musquin or even Baggett, I would not be very happy with KTM to say the least. I understand team orders as they exist in all forms of motorsports so I was very surprised to see Herlings stay in front of Musquin..... especially in that final moto of the day where Herlings actually eliminated him from potentially winning the championship.
Musquin did his part for Dungey, I thought it was a real slap in the face by Roger to bring in Herlings and let him go 1:1.
Thoroughly enjoyed watching Herlings but what if Tomac's bike had grenaded in the closing laps of moto 2.....what a mess that would have been. Did Herlings ignore team orders or was the plan to let Herlings finish where he may? Very odd decision by an icon like Roger DeCoster with a potential championship on the line.
Musquin did his part for Dungey, I thought it was a real slap in the face by Roger to bring in Herlings and let him go 1:1.
Thoroughly enjoyed watching Herlings but what if Tomac's bike had grenaded in the closing laps of moto 2.....what a mess that would have been. Did Herlings ignore team orders or was the plan to let Herlings finish where he may? Very odd decision by an icon like Roger DeCoster with a potential championship on the line.
....aand f*ck team orders
Team orders has no place in motorsports. Best rider should win - period.
The Shop
What if Musquin hadn't got injured?
What if Baggett didn't get injured?
What if Dungey hadn't retired?
2017 season is over the fat lady has sang.
Next up USGP, MXdN, winter, 2018 MX.
Did Musquin ignore Rogers orders of,"YOU" need to finish first and not worry about anyone else!
End of story, nobody bought Monster energy drink or a Kawasaki because of Tomac's performance.
Pit Row
Marvin realistically lost the title in Southwick with his crash out of second. Add those 22 points and he's the champ.
Blake lost the title in his crash with Anderson at Redbud. He was not able to ride to the level needed from there on out.
Ultimately Eli was the best guy through 24 Motos. It may not have been at the dominance level of what everyone expected after Supercross. But he got it done. Is the Champ, and team orders didn't play a factor in a 24 point margin.
If anyone thinks that Herlings came over to race just for the fun of it, then I have some ocean front property in Arizona to sell you.
• In Moto 1, Herlings had every opportunity to hand the lead to Musquin.
• In Moto 2, even after Musquin's crash, Herlings still had time to hand the lead back to Musquin.
This is how professional racing works and should work, assuming they're actually teammates, but there're a couple considerations in play ...
• Herlings isn't part of the AMA Red Bull KTM team, and he doesn't give a shit what Decoster thinks. He didn't even look at the pit board. He's not even on the same Red Bull KTM team as Cairoli and Coldenhoff.
• Herlings ain't pulling over for anybody under any conditions. Anybody who thinks otherwise doesn't know much about the Bullet.
So team orders were never in play here, even if they would have mattered, which, as others have pointed out, they didn't.
Obviously the knee injury slowed him down as well, to the point of mentally being out of the championship. That's why the brake issue at Muddy Creek didn't seem like such a big issue, because he had already had 3 motos of bad results in a row.
The crash out of second place at Southwick is really the kicker in my opinion. That 22 points was within reach. It wasn't a first lap crash or a tangle with another rider that put him to the back, it was a self inflicted mistake. If Marvin would have been able to salvage a tenth or a fifteenth in that moto he would have kept it tighter, but because of the other issues earlier in the year he was as desperate. The title was mentally over before Southwick, even if it wasn't, Tomac was on a roll winning 6 motos and beyond his issues from Geln Helen and Colorado.
Tomac had many self inflicted mistakes that he was able to salvage better results from. His crash at Millville, at Mt Morris, or Thunder Valley could have been worse. Tomac was the better guy over 24 motos. He might not have been the best at the final round or at Unadilla, but he was the best overall.
As it turns out, it didn't matter but I still question his decisions.
Congrats to Eli and Kawasaki on their championship.
Why would Hearlings listen to Roger DeCoster?
Would Roger DeCoster's "Team orders" hold any weight with Hearlings?
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