Racerhead #3: San Diego Supercross Preview

On Saturday morning I stopped by the Red Bull KTM tent to chat with Roger De Coster, and he said there have been some internal changes with the team. Roger made it sound like the U.S. group will now have more say in supercross suspension setup, and a key WP (suspension) staffer in Austria who was overseeing the program has now been moved to other areas. Chase seems darned happy with his bike these days, which is a massive difference from this time last year, when he podiumed Anaheim 1 but said he didn’t even think he was going to finish in the top ten! It’s not all roses, though. Chase said the biggest breakthrough really only took place on Monday before the race, and he finally got the feel he wanted. He also says he still wasn’t fully satisfied, and there is more work to do.

If you’re looking for excitement this year, seeing Sexton, Ken Roczen, Jason Anderson, Cooper Webb, and Eli Tomac in good form at Anaheim while 2024 Supercross Champion Jett Lawrence struggled definitely makes for a fun story-line. We expected a slow start for the Honda 450 program this year, we spoke about this in our Monster Energy Racer X Supercross Preview Shows a month ago. The new 2025 Honda has not transitioned to supercross as easily as it did in motocross or SMX, plus, since then, the team has taken on new Showa suspension components, a new ECU supplier (GET), and new race fuel (ETS). I love the sliding scale of being ready for round one. Every year, someone gets it right and someone needs more time. Last year it was Sexton and KTM struggling, this year it’s Honda and the Lawrences (Hunter was 11th). Variables in racing are more fun. Will Honda figure it out? Absolutely. But it will be fun to watch the defending champ have to dig out of a hole.

This weekend, Ty Masterpool is subbing in for Levi Kitchen. I know Masterpool fans are mad that starting Ty at round two will hurt his title chances, but I don’t think anyone, including Ty, considered this a potential title year in supercross. Do you know Ty doesn’t even have a top-10 finish in his career in supercross? He has failed to even make the main several times in his 250SX career. This is a learning year. From what I heard, Ty’s agent Lucas Mirtl actually asked Mitch Payton if Ty could fill-in as soon as Kitchen went out on Saturday. I think this move works well in a few ways. First, there’s less pressure. Second, I don’t think this West field will be as deep as the now-loaded East, which recently added RJ Hampshire, Austin Forkner (again, now with Triumph), and Kitchen to its ranks. Third, West gives Ty a mid-season break to focus on motocross testing. On the drawback side, Ty could possibly have benefited from a three more weeks of prep if he had stayed in the East, but I think the stiffer competition there negates that. Let’s just see Ty get through supercross healthy and learn for the future, and see what he can do fully prepared for the summer. Title contender?