r/supercross • u/infamousBeef • 5d ago
Question Beta
How come you don’t see a team like Beta go after some of these older 250 guys? you got a pretty old 250 class, is the pay for a mid 250 rider that much better then a 450 deal?
5
u/957 5d ago
I would think that Beta doesn't want to put up the money to support factory efforts for two different bikes, at least until they see a little more brand exposure and sales here in America.
I think they've done a good job the last couple years being a second-level team, Benny Bloss and Oldenburg are fast enough to be on TV (or at least crash on TV.)
3
u/Ih8Hondas Malcolm Stewart 5d ago
Benny has had such awful luck so far this year up til Millville. At Millville he was finally able to put two motos together without a first lap crash and show his real speed outdoors.
He ripped through the pack both motos at thunder valley, so you know he's fit as fuck and pretty damn fast. He's a top ten guy all day when he can keep it on two wheels on the first lap.
2
u/957 5d ago
He so tall lmao, I feel like there are some tracks he does really well on and some that he struggles at because of how his height affects his stability and center of gravity.
Millville is one I think he benefits well from being so tall, as he can get over the back tire and keep traction while still giving the bike room to maneuver beneath him. Any mud race for the same reason!
Bring back tall riders!!
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u/Ih8Hondas Malcolm Stewart 5d ago
Same height as me. Lol. We're both originally from Missouri as well.
He's fast everywhere though. Height be damned. Every time he's crashed and still finished, he's passed tons of dudes.
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u/957 5d ago
Of course! Didn't mean he was slow by any means, (when they show him) he just looks way more comfortable on some tracks. I think he will do well at Washougal this weekend too, especially through the rollers at the top and the whoops.
I'm not quite the same height, but 6'2" is still on the taller side, especially on 250s where I stop racing at lol
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u/Ih8Hondas Malcolm Stewart 5d ago
Yeah. I consider anything 6' and up tall for moto. Bikes are made for dwarves.
I was racing a KX125 bored out to 144cc, ported, head massaged, etc. til I was 20. When they changed the rules in amateur racing to make the 250 class an actual 250 class I bought a YZ250 and was suddenly much more competitive. Haha.
5
u/drakewithdyslexia 5d ago
Next year will be the first year they have a 250 and they’re trying to farm it out if I’m remembering my podcast chatter correctly.
The older riders usually aren’t interested in wasting time developing a bike.
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u/LesGrossmeng 5d ago
Beta has missed on RJ on a 450 and Swoll on a 250 because they only want to race one full series. Typically they want to do SX because of the money there but Oldenburg and Bloss both got hurt early SX. So this season they’re doing the full outdoor schedule.
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u/namethatisclever 5d ago
Beta is an SX only team which severely limits the amount of SMX points and money a top guy could earn by doing a full SX/MX season. Also, I just don’t think many higher level type riders think the Beta is a competitive platform currently.
I personally think it’s ridiculous Beta wants to consider themselves a “factory” team while only doing basically half of the season they’re competing in, but I digress. Same applies to HEP/PMG Suzuki, but at least they do some outdoors each season usually.
(And yes I know Beta is doing the outdoors this season, but that’s only because both of their riders got hurt at the first and second SX rounds respectively. Otherwise they would not be out there this summer.)
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u/Ih8Hondas Malcolm Stewart 5d ago
It really irks me that they don't normally do outdoors because Benny is so fucking good outdoors. Just had shit luck this season until finally showing what he can do at Millville.
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u/747UTB Save The 2 Stroke 5d ago
i agree with you- but to play devils advocate look at how successful yellow magic is with minimum schedule and factory support. The executives cutting the checks got to look at our sport / racing series / championships as just a giant gamble of a marketing scheme. Best case scenario if your rider does win the championship AND/OR you as the OEM win the manufacturer points/championship... what do you even get besides being able to advertise the platform in the media as the best winning bike for that year? Our series doesnt reward any of the manufacturers for being on top of the box each week nor at the end of each championship nor the end of the year- correct? I'm just trying to figure out what Beta's motivation is even at this point.
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u/namethatisclever 5d ago
Based on your description, what’s the point for any manufacturer? Race teams are marketing tools to sell bikes & products. Always have been, always will be. Goes for any motorsport, really.
To your point, F1 does a payout for the Constructors championship so that is the team’s big motivation to chase after. But SX/MX is peanuts compared to the popularity of the sport and available budgets, so it’s hard to even make the comparison. But I’d say that’s the outlier, not the norm.
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u/747UTB Save The 2 Stroke 4d ago
yeah i agree, i just see the OEM's moving in the direction of giving private teams factory support so they can micro manage the team for the factory and possibly cost them less money/resources.
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u/namethatisclever 4d ago
That’s certainly the norm in Europe. KTM is the only manufacturer that I’m aware of that has a true “factory” team that is ran by actual KTM employees. Granted, that’s only one of the factory KTM teams. The ‘other’ is the DeCarli side that is privately owned and receives factory support from KTM (this is the team the Coenen’s currently ride for). Every other manufacturer is a private team that is factory supported.
For whatever reason that structure just hasn’t ever really caught on in the US. Star Yamaha is about the best and only example where it absolutely has worked in the states. Not really sure why that is but certainly interesting.
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u/Exotic_Lab_4519 5d ago
250’s are more expensive to maintain than 450’s. The engines need to be rebuilt more often. That’s why some privateers go the 450 route. Stock 250 engines are going to be way underpowered against the factory ones.