Slaw Dog
I Think Ferrandis Will Be Much Better
Concussions are a scary beast. Anyone who has had one (or a few) knows it can take a while to feel normal. With that said, I think Ferrandis will be much close to the Honda Reign of Terror that is Jett Lawrence and Chase Sexton over the next few rounds. With so much time off, Ferrandis is still struggling through some setup issues, as he alluded to in the post-race press conference.
“It seems long time ago to me, but obviously coming back from injury is never easy,” he said. “You can be champ, but injury is injury. You have to rebuild yourself. You have to come back and try again, so it’s what I did. For sure, I’m very happy to be here but a little bit surprised also. The last few weeks have been very tough for the team and myself. We’ve been struggling a little bit with the bike. That new chassis Yamaha 2023 was way better in supercross, but more difficult in motocross, at least for me. So, we had to try a lot. Again, today every session we tried stuff on the bike. So, obviously my first session was terrible with P13 in practice. Then we just improved session after session. So, I’m very happy. Very thankful for all the big work from the guys in the team. I’m lucky they work this hard because the way it was this morning, I would have never finished on the box today. So, I think now we can move on and build more pace and try to be more performance. Try to be more confident on the bike and improve my pace, my fitness and everything, and just improve myself race after race.”
I Think Deegan Is a Title Contender
Yep, I’m going there. I’m not saying he’s going to win the title, don’t be trying to come back in Cold Takes Slaw at the end of the summer. BUT, this was a super duper impressive performance from the rook. Yeah, one round and the field is deep and he is going up again some grizzled veterans, but this kid just has “it”. What’s “it”? If Slaw knew, he’d be out there doing it. I just know it when I see it.
“My goal is I wanted a top five at the first round, and wasn’t expecting a podium at the first round,” he said after Fox Raceway. “So, I was able to mark two goals off in one. I’m excited about that. Outdoors is a serious time, so we had to cut the hair and stuff.”
I Think Hunter Is Still My Title Favorite
You know you are an amazing rider when you can have a massive crash the Monday before the first round and still take the overall. After Fox Raceway, Hunter detailed what happened and hot damn, to think he wasn’t 100% and STILL won the overall???? That would worry me if I was the rest of the field.
“I had a massive crash on Monday and I’ve torn all the fascia and cartilage off my rib,” he said. “So, I did three laps on press day. I’m a gamer and I was going to show up to win, but I’m like, hey, I’ll be happy with a top five. Just damage control. Like I said, Thursday I could barely even ride. So, it was good. I feel like on this track, the second moto, I definitely made my life easier because coming through the pack, this track it’s so hard to push faster than the set pace, let’s say, just because of how the track forms up and stuff. It’s like it has a set pace. Once you get your rhythm, that’s all you can really get out of it. You’ve seen with Jett and Chase. They didn’t really drop the hammer like some other tracks where there’s two and three seconds coming off their lap time towards the end. It was kind of set pace. You could maybe go faster, but you could end up on the ground.”
I Think Vohland Wins a Moto or Two
Let’s forget about Supercross. We ain’t talking about that no more. Maximus (yes, I will always call him that because it’s a top 10 name) Vohland is the real deal outdoors. A solid second in moto one and he came back from 16th (after lap 1) to ninth in the second moto and was charging all day. This weekend we go to his home track, so maybe it happens then? Either way, I got him for at least a moto win or two.
“Pretty happy with today,” he said. “It’s always an achievement to end up on the box, even if it was for a moto, so it’s another stepping stone for me. I was really looking to get on the podium overall today, but qualified well, was fast in the first moto, and second moto I felt really good, just a couple of mistakes cost me. I felt I had everything it took today, just tangling with the rider in moto two really hurt, but I’m stoked to be headed to my home race in Hangtown next week and we’ll fight for a podium.”
I Think I’m Happy for Jett Reynolds
I don’t think this, I am. I get it, Capital J journalist and shit and we don’t root for riders, but how would you not be happy for this kid? He’s been through hell and back with injuries and to do pretty dang well at the opener is something we can all appreciate.
“I didn’t come in with much to expect other than wanting to ride well, stay healthy and learn a lot,” said Reynolds. “I think overall we accomplished that and I learned so much that I know we can build on for the next few rounds. If I had anything I’d hope for this season is to be better at the end than when I started and this is the starting point of all that.”
Main image: Kawasaki
