James Stewart took a nasty digger on the first lap of the first practice, when he severely cased a triple and went over the bars. He hit his head pretty hard, and later in practice he hit it again after catching a tuff block in a triple-triple section, where he wadded up again. He did not come out for the second timed practice, but he must have been successful at shaking out the fuzz in his head, as he dominated the main event.
Ivan Tedesco fell victim to the huge whoops in practice, and the wreck induced spasms in his back. He was questionable for the main event, but he did come out and finish tenth in a pretty gutsy ride.
The ruts developed early inside Oakland-Alameda Stadium, well before the rain came. Most of the bowl turns yielded at least two big ruts to choose from, and even with multiple track-prep sessions, they returned each and every moto.
The hip-style jump turn made its 2011 debut in Phoenix, and it was back for the Oakland round. This section had two very different lines. The riders could either hit the rut and turn down over the small table (as shown by Cole Seely), or they could rail the far outside as a turn. It made for some cool photos.
As the day rolled along, the rut in the hip jump dug deeper and deeper, making for a pretty technical obstacle on the track. When the rain started falling, more and more riders chose to rail the outside turn and avoid the rutted lip whenever possible.
TAGS: 2011 supercross, dirt bikes, Monday Kickstart, moto, oakland supercross, One Industries, Photos, pits
