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Words: Lewis Phillips Images: Supercrosslive.com
Max Anstie of the Fire Power Honda squad won this past weekend’s stop on the 2023 Monster Energy Supercross schedule in a convincing fashion. It was Anstie’s first win in the series that he first appeared in back at the start of 2010, yet it was not surprising at all. Why so? It rained and, as fans around the world know, Anstie is just amazing in the mud. Here are some tips from ’63’ on how to perform in the adverse conditions.
I guess that is all from me, Lewis Phillips. An easy week for me, so let me hand the laptop to Anstie…
1. Every movement needs to be smooth and less energetic, because you are trying to get traction at every chance. The delivery of the power needs to be smooth. The body position must be more neutral, because being too aggressive is slower instead of quicker. I ride in a higher gear, but only where that is an option. The priority is staying off of the clutch as much as possible.
2. Preparation is my greatest tool – goggle prep and a plan on what to do when stopping for goggles is crucial. What was my plan in East Rutherford? If I put my arm up in the air at any point on the track, then my team manager would radio down to my mechanic that I was coming in on that lap. The team’s engine guy was in the mechanic’s area with a spare of goggles and ready to make it happen.
When switching goggles, the plan was to keep my hands on the bars from start to finish. The mechanic would put the goggles on top of my eyes, but angled down so that no mud would get in. It is important to take as long as necessary when switching goggles. I would rather take an extra five minutes to get my goggles dialled in and make sure that there is no mud in my eyes. I can make that time up on the track as long as I can see. I would never run two goggles at the start, like some riders have done.
3. Run foam on the helmet. I run tighter helmet pads too – that is my trick. I have done that ever since the Grand Prix of Brazil back in 2012, because my helmet was so heavy at the race that it kept tipping down. I have run tighter helmet pads ever since and that has worked well. The foam on top is to make sure that the mud does not stick, whereas some people run a goggle lens to extend the visor to make sure that no dirt or rain gets on the goggles.
You can put a little bit of Vaseline around the frame of your goggles to stop mud from sticking to the frame, but you do not want to put it over the vent holes, because if it wet then your goggles will fog up more. You want to get maximum airflow through there, obviously.
4. I run perimeter-sealed tear offs or you can just use electrical tape. I tape around the outside of each stack of seven so that no water can get behind each stack. I ran three tear offs on top of the roll offs in East Rutherford. I run tear offs, as long as it is not actually raining. I ran tear offs at Matterley Basin in 2017 – it is a lot easier to see with them. You only have that one little strip with roll offs and, yeah, that is not great.
5. You just have to use your common sense when you are riding. The highest part of the berm will be the driest because the water will run to the bottom, so search out the lines. It is exactly the same with the jump faces. The bottom will be the softest, because water travels down, so always prepare yourself for the bike to suck you in at the bottom. It makes perfect sense.
6. Oh, as far as the bike goes, my team stuck duct tape over all of the holes down the side of the bike to make sure that water would not get into the airbox. They add some extra grip tape to the bike too, just so that I can hold my position once the seat gets wet and slippery. Little modifications like that go a long way and that goes along with my point about preparation. Consider everything!
