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Supercross & Motocross
AMA MX: Burning Q - Can Stewart Achieve Perfection?
James Stewart marked his Suzuki debut and full-time return to motocross racing with a 1-1 sweep at Hangtown. Is there any chance he could repeat his perfect season of 2008?
Yoshimura Suzuki's James Stewart (Photo: Suzuki Racing)
James Stewart’s return to Nationals competition at Hangtown could not have gone any better. He posted the fastest lap in practice and proceeded to sweep both of the day’s motos. Despite having just a couple weeks to familiarize himself with his works Suzuki, Stewart looked more comfortable at Hangtown than he did the entire Supercross season with JGRMX.
Stewart has been absent from outdoor competition for essentially three full seasons, making the achievement all the more impressive. But the last time he did put in a full effort, Stewart swept the entire season. So after his Hangtown dominance, the question has to be asked -- can he once again complete a perfect season?
It’s obviously too early to make such a huge proclamation, but it's one of those items that simply needs to be addressed.
Proving just how quickly that kind of talk came about following the opener, Stewart addressed the possibility to the media at the post-race press conference, firmly stating that the perfect season isn’t on his mind in any way. In fact, Stewart even suggested that a championship might even be considered a surprise. According to James, he’s not out here to win this summer. He’s out here to get familiar and comfortable on the bike. Based on what we saw, things are going quite nicely in that respect.
With the likes of Ryan Dungey, Mike Alessi, and Brett Metcalfe on the gate with Stewart, the competition is considerably stiffer in 2012 when compared with 2008. Dungey is a former champion and Alessi and Metcalfe stand as race winners. All three showed the ability to run up front once again at Hangtown and you can only expect they'll go better as the season wears on.
Obviously, as his competitors get better, so will Stewart, but with 22 grueling motos remaining, it's a long shot to think he'll be able to make his way through each one without some sort of costly hiccup along the way. The advantage he had in 2008 was such that his hiccups didn’t necessarily spell disaster. But this season, there’s little chance a mistake won't be capitalized on by the opposition.
Moreover, based on Stewart’s comments, the title doesn’t necessarily seem like the priority. Given that James is one of the fiercest competitors the sport has ever seen, it’s difficult to believe there is any truth to that. However, as a much more mature rider, it is easy to believe Stewart now understands that a win isn’t always a must, particularly at the Nationals.
Bottom line -- there are just too many factors and too many talented competitors for another perfect season to be considered a realistic. That doesn't mean we won't see JS7 rejuvenated and his career put back on track this summer. He’s taken heat from the fans and some of the media since making the move to Supercross-only contracts. The highs and lows he experienced with JGR and the subsequent move to Suzuki only added to all of that. But, at the end of the day, Stewart is perhaps the most transcendent rider in the sport, and when he’s winning, people tend to pay attention. And given that he won the first time out on the bike, the “experiment” could already be considered a success.
It’s a boon for the sport to have James back at the Nationals. There's little question that the world is paying attention to see exactly what he might accomplish this summer, particularly after his sterling effort at Hangtown.
Stewart has been absent from outdoor competition for essentially three full seasons, making the achievement all the more impressive. But the last time he did put in a full effort, Stewart swept the entire season. So after his Hangtown dominance, the question has to be asked -- can he once again complete a perfect season?
It’s obviously too early to make such a huge proclamation, but it's one of those items that simply needs to be addressed.
Proving just how quickly that kind of talk came about following the opener, Stewart addressed the possibility to the media at the post-race press conference, firmly stating that the perfect season isn’t on his mind in any way. In fact, Stewart even suggested that a championship might even be considered a surprise. According to James, he’s not out here to win this summer. He’s out here to get familiar and comfortable on the bike. Based on what we saw, things are going quite nicely in that respect.
With the likes of Ryan Dungey, Mike Alessi, and Brett Metcalfe on the gate with Stewart, the competition is considerably stiffer in 2012 when compared with 2008. Dungey is a former champion and Alessi and Metcalfe stand as race winners. All three showed the ability to run up front once again at Hangtown and you can only expect they'll go better as the season wears on.
Obviously, as his competitors get better, so will Stewart, but with 22 grueling motos remaining, it's a long shot to think he'll be able to make his way through each one without some sort of costly hiccup along the way. The advantage he had in 2008 was such that his hiccups didn’t necessarily spell disaster. But this season, there’s little chance a mistake won't be capitalized on by the opposition.
Moreover, based on Stewart’s comments, the title doesn’t necessarily seem like the priority. Given that James is one of the fiercest competitors the sport has ever seen, it’s difficult to believe there is any truth to that. However, as a much more mature rider, it is easy to believe Stewart now understands that a win isn’t always a must, particularly at the Nationals.
Bottom line -- there are just too many factors and too many talented competitors for another perfect season to be considered a realistic. That doesn't mean we won't see JS7 rejuvenated and his career put back on track this summer. He’s taken heat from the fans and some of the media since making the move to Supercross-only contracts. The highs and lows he experienced with JGR and the subsequent move to Suzuki only added to all of that. But, at the end of the day, Stewart is perhaps the most transcendent rider in the sport, and when he’s winning, people tend to pay attention. And given that he won the first time out on the bike, the “experiment” could already be considered a success.
It’s a boon for the sport to have James back at the Nationals. There's little question that the world is paying attention to see exactly what he might accomplish this summer, particularly after his sterling effort at Hangtown.
SX Seattle
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