5 Things We Learned at Tampa: Hunter Hunted, KTM, Stew in Booth and More

Five Things We Learned…is a new-ish installment to the Vurb line of race coverage. It’s a quick hitting piece where I break down five trending topics from the weekend. We’ll put facts behind what happened and break down how it will play out. As always, please feel free to give your thoughts on these topics in the comment section. If you’d like to discuss any of these topics further or have a question for me you can reach me at [email protected]

KTM

Tampa Bay was great to the guys in orange. Cooper Webb got his first win since 2021 and his teammate Aaron Plessinger got on the box for the first time in over a year. Also, although Tom Vialle didn’t get on the box he is going to be great. KTM is trending up. PulpMX’s Steve Matthes reported on Twitter that team director “Roger DeCoster pushed to get three whoops removed” and apparently it happened. I find that a bit strange, but then again it’s 2023 and UFOs are taking over.

Hunter Hunted

Kids, never give up until you see the checkered flag. Nate Thrasher had this one all but won until Hunter “the bounty hunter” Lawrence dug deep and chased him down in the final two laps. The last turn pass was the icing on the cake. At this point, baring injury, I don’t see anyone else but Hunter winning this title. He’s 2/2 and has shown that he’s the fastest rider in 2023.

Stew in the Booth

I’m super biased about James Stewart. He’s the main reason I even got into this sport. You can guess why, so I’m not going to explain it. Yet, this announcer Stew is top tier and something I didn’t expect. He’s great. I had no problems with the announcing team on Saturday and I wish they would add Weigandt and Stew in full-time with Leigh Diffey and RC. 10/10

The Rookies

Haiden Deegan and Chance Hymas went 1-2 in their heat and 4th and 8th in the main respectively. These kids are legit and will be seeing one another every week for the next ten years or so. I really like this 250 East because it’s the perfect clash between the rookies and the vets. These guys have been consistent. 

Roczen

A fourth place for Kenny and HEP Suzuki on the night was a great bounce back from last weekend. It’s seems like Kenny is comfortable and knows what the bike is going to do, but you can also tell he’s a bit hesitant and doesn’t have that same spark we’re used to seeing. He’s still learning the bike and with time he will only get better. I still think we will see the best Kenny at Daytona and rounds after. The cool thing is that Roczen is delivering the best Supercross results that the team has seen. 

Main image: Jessica Reed

Written by Troy Dog

Faster than Slaw Dog. Editor-in-Chief

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