Supercross riders ready for another "mudder" of a race Saturday night in San Diego
After the first “Mudder” of the season every rider looks to get back on track during Supercross Round 3, San Diego.
Unfortunately, weather may be a factor this weekend as well, San Diego has historically held the most mudders as any round on the Supercross schedule and there’s currently a 50% chance of rain starting at 5 PM PT on Saturday.
“I think this was one of the gnarliest one’s for sure,” Ken Roczen said of the San Francisco Mud Round.
A fully healthy Eli Tomac is ready for potentially a breakthrough finish tonight in San Diego. Photo: Align Media.
The good news is that if the rain comes it will be mellow in comparison to the deluge that fell over Oracle Park last Saturday, where we saw the reigning Supercross Champion Chase Sexton take a massive win. Sexton is the only 450 rider with the possibility to start a podium streak after securing third place late in Anaheim 1 and his perfect performance in the night show for San Francisco.
While San Diego is not one of the tracks that is notoriously tied to Eli Tomac and his past dominance, he is the only current rider to win multiple races in San Diego. Tomac is also coming off of his first podium since returning from his Achilles injury sustained during Round 16, Denver last year.
Tomac secured his first podium of 2024 in last week’s mudder and while a cleaner race might’ve shown more of his recovery, it was clear that Tomac is at a higher comfort level than he was after A1.
“My goal was to get on the podium,” Tomac said, “I mean, that was my mindset. That's how good I felt physically. I wasn’t limping my way in here at all. This is where I want to be and where I hope to be. Anaheim 1 was obviously really tough for me. It was just totally off, I rode really tight. There was nothing good about it, but (at San Francisco) I put myself in a great position off the start. It’s so key to be at least top three or in the front couple of guys there to not get sprayed with mud when we go to that first turn.”
Jett Jostled
Last week, we saw Jett Lawrence be fallible, which is not something we’re used to. Lawrence seemed to struggle the most of the top 450 riders in the mud. The winner of Anaheim 1 found himself in multiple crashes, off-pace and lapped on the final lap by his old teammate Sexton. Lawrence ultimately finished ninth and moved to second in the early championship points race as Sexton took the lead.
Jett Lawrence practices his jumps in preparation for tonight's race in San Diego. Photo: Align Media.
Due to his level of talent and tendency to make grand statements (i.e. going for 72 wins), Lawrence’s performance will be under a microscope for the foreseeable future and possibly his entire career. During Friday’s practice, Lawrence lost control on the back rhythm section and completely separated from the bike and it appears that he jammed his wrist. He was able to recover and record more laps with seemingly ease but his wrist may be an important factor going forward.
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Hunter Lawrence Revival
San Diego will be an important bounce back for both Lawrence brothers as Hunter Lawrence also looks to improve on his performance over the last two weeks. Lawrence was the first notable rider to not make a night show this season after crashing out of a heat race and narrowly failing to make it out of the Last Chance Qualifier during A1.
Last week at San Francisco, he finished in 10th place, one lap behind the leader. These two performances place the rookie 450 rider down at 15th in points and he’ll look to pull up as the season continues. Hunter knows that the only factor in his control is himself.
Hunter Lawrence (right) is looking to bounce back from less than ideal performances in the first two races this season. Photo: Align Media.
“Myself,” Lawrence told Auto Racing Digest prior to Friday’s practice ride, “It’s the only factor that I can control. I go out there and I do the best that I can to get the 100% Hunter Lawrence and the most performance out of myself. Anaheim 1 was arguably a bit out of my control but (stuff) happens and on to the next. San Fran, weather. Everyone is dealt the same cards so you just go out and do the best that you can. We’ll continue to do the same this weekend regardless of weather.”
The Prado American Experiment
Jorge Prado will start his final Supercross race this week as his American Supercross Experiment has come to an end. Prado is needed back in Europe to defend his championship in the MXGP series.
Tonight will be Jorge Prado's last SX event before he heads back to his native Spain to return to racing in Europe. Photo: Align Media.
After a 13th and seventh place finish through the first two rounds, it’s clear that the Spanish born rider has found comfort in the new discipline. He’s gone from being worried about riding the whoops to making passes and nearly keeping pace with the top of the field.
“To be honest I’ve never been worried about the whoops, Prado said before starting Friday’s practice before cheekily adding, “The thing is, I’m worried about the whoops in the main event. Not just the whoops in general, only when they get very rough.”
The Other Rookie
Justin Cooper was the most recent rider expected to make the Main to miss it. Like I said after Hunter and Anaheim, I predict that every week we have one rider shock us by getting stuck in the LCQ or even failing to make the night show. Until there’s a level of attrition, the field is stacked against the smallest mistake.
Cooper, who is determined to prove his new spot in 450s, was the only rider that Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing pulled up from the 250 class to start a 450 campaign this year and there’s pressure for him to move towards the front. He finished in eighth place at Anaheim as the second-best Yamaha.
Make sure to catch all the action of the Supercross’ 50th anniversary race tonight on Peacock. Qualifying will kick off around 3 PM EST and the Night Show starts at 8:30 EST.