San Diego is round two of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship and it is a great stop on the calendar. The weather is typically some of the best that the USA has to offer, and the Snapdragon Stadium venue has been a great addition. Not all rounds are created the same but make no mistake, San Diego is top tier.
The track for round two is much more standard issue. The rectangle shape of the stadium floor allows for long straightaways and bowl berms instead of the awkward angles that baseball stadiums force. Overall, it’s just a better layout for racing than a stadium like Anaheim can provide.
The start is long and wide, bending into a 180 right. There’s a theory that right-handed first turns lead to crashes as riders can’t utilize their rear brake as easily (don’t tell that to Max Vohland). Time will tell if we see any pileups because of the braking snafu.
The first rhythm section is going to be a 3-3-1 for most of the main event crew. There is a chance that someone goes for 3-4 but it won’t be the main line. A 180-bowl berm brings riders alongside the stadium sidelines and into the longest rhythm section for San Diego. There are several ways to attack this rhythm section and all of them include going fairly big. What I see being the most likely scenario is riders jumping to the downside of the first tabletop, then going to 3-2-3-2 into the next 90 left. The other bigger option would be to jump on-off the first table (or four here for the heroes), then 3-4-2. This line is not for the faint of heart so it would be a select few. I’m not even sure that it would be faster, anyway.
San Diego Supercross track mapFeld
Riders will stick to the inside of the 90 left and then go 2-3 into a 180-bowl berm. That berm sling shots riders into a prototypical triple (three foot-five foot-three foot variety) and into another bowl berm. Riders will fire underneath a tunnel bridge and a 90 left before entering the next rhythm.
This next section is a short chute with a double and then the finish line which is shown as a triple but almost always turns into a double.
After the finish line, a bowl berm sets riders up for a double whoop section that spans the length of Snapdragon Stadium. It will be interesting to see how riders put these together as there is a double in the middle but whoop master’s will be looking for ways to pass each and every time they arrive here.
Upon exiting the whoops, a bowl berm brings riders diagonally across Snapdragon but not before hitting the bridge tabletop. The next left will be a fast entry and riders will have to protect their inside if someone goes for a block pass. Riders will test both the inside and outside, but I believe the inside line will win out, with riders going roll, 2-2 into the next berm. The outside could be used for a 2-3 but it wouldn’t be much faster, if at all, and it opens up the inside line to passing.
The next berm brings riders back into the first corner for lap two.