The Honda CRF450R has given life this year to not only Kevin Windham, but privateer Damon Huffman. While Yamaha’s Tim Ferry moved away the YZ450F he rode in supercross last year to the two-stroke YZ250 (and there are rumblings that Heath Voss has entertained the same transition), Honda has riders deliberately choosing to race their CRF450R instead of the two-stroke CR250R.
Just a few weeks ago, people were talking about the big 450cc four-strokes only working well at certain tracks. They were called “four-stroke tracks”, because certain features gave the 450s the advantage.
Windham has stated from the beginning of this supercross series that his big Honda works well everywhere. I think that he (along with Damon Huffman) has proven that point this year, already. Watching Windham race so closely with two-stroke mounted Chad Reed the last few weeks has made it clear that the machines are very equal on the track. The four-stroke seems to get through the corners as quickly as Reed’s two-stroke, and Windham has become just as quick as Chad Reed through the whoops (and Reed is the master of the whoops).
In the end, Honda is proving that the CRF450R can run up front consistently in AMA Supercross main events. In the process, it is changing the underdog status of 450cc four-strokes in AMA Supercross racing.
