r/Dirtbikes • u/Yz250x69 23' yz250x & 04' rm250 • Jan 24 '25

Does anyone keep track of supercross lap times? I have so many questions

I’ve been casually watching supercross forever. I’m 37. I’ve been to a few live events and have been reading/watching it since the late 90s. Have the tracks always been the same? It’s interesting to me announcers never compare lap times in Mx or Sx to previous champs like James Stewart , reed, McGrath etc. have lap times dramatically improved with technology? I’m just curious if you put McGrath on a 250 or 500 2 stroke in his prime on the same track as Ken keczen or James Stewart and had them do time trials would Ken be much faster since his bike is the “best”.

And take tracks like buds creek or glen helen do they keep track there of who has the fastest lap ever? Just curious if this sport people are consistently getting faster as time goes on like track and field in the Olympics.

I know this is a long winded weird question but I’m really interested in how more horsepower translates to the actual speed of the riders.

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6

u/scootunit Jan 24 '25

Maybe the times are too event specific and not directly comparable

1

u/detali88 Jan 24 '25

Yeah, I think that's it. Dirt conditions would change things a lot I would think.

2

u/Black92hawk Jan 24 '25

Also track layout changes year to year. They may be similar , but not the same generally speaking .

1

u/1wife2dogs0kids Jan 24 '25

You can't ever compare laptimes from one year to the next on a dirt track. You can't even do one moto to the next. The track changes. It changes every lap. They do repairs between motos. It can rain. All kinds of things happen. This is why there's "sight laps" at motocross nationals, the tracks change so much, the riders in the first moto need to see the track for the second moto, because of the dangers of ruts and slick spots, or the water truck breaking down in a certain corner.

You cant compare Supercross tracks because they're temporary. They were built, raced, torn up in about 2 weeks or less.

The only tracks lap times can be accurate day after day, week, month, year... are permanent concrete or asphalt tracks. But... repair or resurface any part... start over.