Watching the television broadcast of the 250cc main event in Toronto, Canada this weekend, it appeared to me that Ricky Carmichael loves his new Suzuki RM250!
Carmichael won the race handily. Of course, his primary competition (including Chad Reed, James Stewart, Kevin Windham, et al.) was absent from the race. He did walk away from Mike LaRocco and Tim Ferry, however.
Regardless of the level of competition, Carmichael was riding his new bike more aggressively than he appeared to ride the last time I saw him race supercross (in the 2003 season). It is clear that a number of riders, including both Carmichael and Chad Reed, have been developing techniques mastered by James Stewart. One of these involves intentionally washing out the front wheel on jump faces (something that has become known as “the Bubba scrub”) in order to keep the bike low, get back on the ground quicker and drive forward. Carmichael is clearly now a master of this technique.
Carmichael also appears to be much more aggressive in the way he moves the bike around. All-in-all, Carmichael looked extremely quick. He has raised his game in supercross.
