Smarty’s Moto Wrap for July 15th, 2014
Last weekend was a cracker weekend for KTM on the racing front. Antonio Cairoli and Jeffrey Herlings dominated the MX1 and MX2 classes respectively at round 13 of the World Motocross Championships in Finland, while Kirk Gibbs and Caleb Ward took out the MX1 and MX2 classes respectively at the Australian MX Nationals round held up in Conondale on Sunday.
Back that up with Ryan Dungey and Ken Roczen dominating the 4540 class at the Red Bud round of the AMA Motocross Championships, and at the very same meeting Jason Anderson took his first ever AMA National moto win in the 250 class.
It’s been a tough week for the Aussie motocross scene with multi motocross and supercross champion Jay Marmont retiring from the sport at season’s end, followed by the news that Ford Dale and Jake Emanuelli will be out for the remainder of the 2014 season after being injured in the lead up to the Conondale round of the MX Nationals.
The Conondale layout for round 7 of the MX Nationals was really interesting and quite a change from the last couple of years. Thankfully, they reshaped the landing area after ‘Lawson’s Leap’ (they were calling it Suzuki Leap on the day), giving most of the top riders the ability give the huge leap a real go, thus giving the crowd something to cheer for each lap. If you haven’t seen it before there is some footage on Facebook, this jump rivals the famous ‘Larocco’s Leap’ at Red Bud in America for air time.
Kayne Lamont and Luke Arbon did come up short and smashed their wheels on ‘Lawson’s Leap’, but the riders that cleared the down ramp were gaining several bike lengths over the riders who didn’t commit to the launch. Awesome stuff!!
Lawson Bopping and Ben Townley were back in action at Conondale but it wasn’t a great meeting for Lawson, who scored no points on the day, while Townley managed a credible sixth overall.
How about Caleb Ward? This 17-year-old kid is the real deal, his two opening moto wins and the overall win in the MX2 class at Conondale backed up the Far North Queenslander’s round win at Wanneroo earlier in the season. Look for the KTM privateer to take this form into the final three rounds of the series.
Antonio Cairoli has agreed to ride the MX2 class at the 2014 Motocross of Nations, so that his team mates David Philippaerts and Davide Guarneri can ride their favoured MX1 machines. IF Jeffrey Herlings remains in the MX2 class for the Dutch team, that alone will be enough of a drawcard for the World’s biggest motocross event, but when you throw in the rest of the 250F speedsters there will be plenty of interest to see how the former World MX2 Champion fairs on the smaller capacity machine.
Cairoli’s only real threat to the 2014 World Motocross Championship, Clement Desalle, missed out on the GP of Finland after crashing hard the weekend before in Sweden. Though nothing was actually broken the Belgian’s body copped a flogging during the high speed crash, in his absence Cairoli won both motos and now has a 62-point lead in the championship over Jeremy Van Horebeek.
Team USA for the Motocross of Nations will definitely be without Ryan Dungey, the factory KTM star intends on getting married during that period. My guess is that Eli Tomac will be the rider to replace Dungey in the 450 class, while Trey Canard will be the other 450 rider and Blake Baggett will be the 250 rider.
Moto Wrap for the weekend of July 12/13 includes:
- – Round 13 of the World Motocross Championships in Hyvinkää, Finland
- – Round 7 of the Australian MX Nationals being held at Conondale, Qld
- – Round 7 of the AMA Motocross Championships (Budds Creek National), Mechanicsville, Md.
- – Round 7 of the Speedway World Championships (British FIM Speedway Grand Prix) at Cardiff
- – Round 5 of the CMCR Canadian Motocross Championships at Gopher Dunes
World Motocross Championships – Round 13 – Hyvinkää, Finland
Ho-hum, Antonio Cairoli and Jeffrey Herlings are steam rolling their way to another World Motocross Championship but on a more interesting note if you had any doubt that Dean Ferris lacked the ability or intestinal fortitude to be a world class racer well last weekend’s performance at the GP of Finland can put that to rest.
The plucky Aussie threw himself well and truly into the fray in the opening moto holding down second place for several laps before ending the moto in a credible seventh place and in the second moto Ferris managed to finish fifth place for sixth overall.
Ferris had this to say at the end of the second moto. “It’s been a great GP for me and the team. Sweden was disappointing – I was battling with the flu there. I wasn’t able to spend any time on a bike testing coming into the race in Finland, and it took me a while to find a good set-up on Saturday. But both of the races went really well. I was second off the start in the first moto and stayed with the leaders for a while. I stalled my bike once when a small rock got stuck in the front sprocket, but a seventh place result was pretty good. The second moto was great, but tough for me. I’m still coming back from my injuries and fighting off the tail end of the flu – I gave everything I had. My start wasn’t as good but I pushed hard and got into a good rhythm. The battle for third to sixth was really close, so to know that I was fighting for a podium despite feeling really tired was great. I know I’ll be in better shape for the next GP, so I’m looking forward to it.”
Luke Styke didn’t bother the scorers in either of the MX2 motos after coming down hard at turn one in the first moto. He hill undergo scans on his shoulder this week to discover the extent of any lasting injuries.
MXGP Race 1: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 35:02.155; 2. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:07.878; 3. Steven Frossard (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:11.988; 4. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Honda), +0:19.692; 5. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +0:24.144; 6. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:38.039; 7. Dean Ferris (AUS, Husqvarna), +0:40.980; 8. Filip Bengtsson (SWE, KTM), +1:00.359; 9. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +1:09.083; 10. Matiss Karro (LAT, KTM), +1:10.032.
MXGP Race 2: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 35:36.408; 2. Steven Frossard (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:22.277; 3. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), +0:28.140; 4. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +0:28.733; 5. Dean Ferris (AUS, Husqvarna), +0:31.066; 6. Rui Goncalves (POR, Yamaha), +0:31.718; 7. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Honda), +0:34.772; 8. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), +0:50.435; 9. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +0:52.472; 10. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:54.411.
MXGP Overall: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 50 points; 2. Steven Frossard (FRA, KAW), 42 p.; 3. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, SUZ), 34 p.; 4. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 33 p.; 5. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HON), 32 p.; 6. Dean Ferris (AUS, HUS), 30 p.; 7. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 29 p.; 8. David Philippaerts (ITA, YAM), 24 p.; 9. Rui Goncalves (POR, YAM), 23 p.; 10. Matiss Karro (LAT, KTM), 21 p.
MXGP World Championship Classification: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 577 points; 2. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 515 p.; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, SUZ), 470 p.; 4. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, SUZ), 424 p.; 5. Steven Frossard (FRA, KAW), 307 p.; 6. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 296 p.; 7. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HON), 269 p.; 8. David Philippaerts (ITA, YAM), 234 p.; 9. Davide Guarneri (ITA, TM), 218 p.; 10. Gautier Paulin (FRA, KAW), 205 p.
MX2 Race 1: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 34:23.599; 2. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), +1:03.805; 3. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +1:07.586; 4. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), +1:16.455; 5. Romain Febvre (FRA, Husqvarna), +1:23.575; 6. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, Husqvarna), +1:25.424; 7. Julien Lieber (BEL, Suzuki), +1:27.328; 8. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki), +1:28.451; 9. Valentin Guillod (SUI, KTM), +1:30.580; 10. Vsevolod Brylyakov (RUS, Honda), +1:35.460.
MX2 Race 2: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 33:57.672; 2. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:17.102; 3. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +1:17.431; 4. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), +1:28.590; 5. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), +1:34.931; 6. Petar Petrov (BUL, Yamaha), +1:41.869; 7. Valentin Guillod (SUI, KTM), +1:46.747; 8. Julien Lieber (BEL, Suzuki), -1 lap(s); 9. Romain Febvre (FRA, Husqvarna), -1 lap(s); 10. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), -1 lap(s).
MX2 Overall: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 50 points; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 40 p.; 3. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 40 p.; 4. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, KAW), 31 p.; 5. Christophe Charlier (FRA, YAM), 29 p.; 6. Romain Febvre (FRA, HUS), 28 p.; 7. Julien Lieber (BEL, SUZ), 27 p.; 8. Valentin Guillod (SUI, KTM), 26 p.; 9. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), 24 p.; 10. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, HUS), 24 p.
MX2 World Championship Classification: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 594 points; 2. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 449 p.; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, HUS), 416 p.; 4. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, KAW), 403 p.; 5. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 390 p.; 6. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, KAW), 389 p.; 7. Valentin Guillod (SUI, KTM), 314 p.; 8. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, HUS), 308 p.; 9. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), 289 p.; 10. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 257 p.
Australian MX Nationals – Round 7 – Conondale, Qld
You have to hand it to Matt Moss, after seven rounds of the MX Nationals the Suzuki pilot continues to put himself at the pointy end of the field at each round and his second place at Conondale was as good a result as you could expect with Kirk Gibbs and Billy Mackenzie in red hot form and desperate to etch into Moss’s points lead.
The racing on the wide open Conondale circuit was sensational but when the dust settled Moss heads into the final three rounds with an 18-point lead over Gibbs while Mackenzie is a further 50-points behind. It’s now a two-horse race folks!!
The big loser at Conondale was Jake Moss who crashed in the opening moto after coming together with his brother Matt and ending up in hospital. It’s a real pity, I had Jake down as the favourite to win this round after spending so many hours of practice around the hard packed tracks at Queensland Moto Park West of Brisbane. Thankfully Jake will be right for Raymond Terrace in a few weeks and there are no hard feelings between the twins after the incident.
KTM privateer Caleb Ward won the MX2 overall with a pair of wins in the opening two motos followed by a 7th place in the final moto after a very poor start but as per usual Luke Clout just kept plugging away all day and despite a penalty for accidentally missing part of the track in one moto the Serco Yamaha pilot finished third overall on the day and extended his championship lead to 16 points over Hamish Harwood who had two difficult rides to finish the day in a disappointing fifth overall.
Yamaha’s Jed Beaton won the MXD class and has taken over the championship lead but when you look through the points you can see that there is only 25 points between Beaton, Jack Simpson, Egan Mastin and Nathan Crawford so this series is far from over.
MX1 Overall: 1. Kirk Gibbs 99. 2. Matt Moss 97. 3. Billy Mackenzie 89. 4. Adam Monea 77. 5. Brock Winston 72. 6. Ben Townley 71. 7. Rhys Carter 69. 8. Jesse Dobson 64. 9. Hayden Mellross 63. 10. Jacob Wright 60.
MX1 Points Standings: 1. Matt Moss 550. 2. Kirk Gibbs 532. 3. Billy Mackenzie 482. 4. Adam Monea 475. 5. Jake Moss 420. 6. Kade Mosig 386. 7. Jacob Wright 364. 8. Hayden Mellross 357. 9. Rhys Carter 351. 10. Brock Winston 345.
MX2 Overall: 1. Caleb Ward 91. 2. Errol Willis 85. 3. Luke Clout 79. 4. Josh Cachia 78. 5. Hamish Harwood 77. 6. Jay Wilson 72. 7. Brenden Harrison 65. 8. Dylan Long 64. 9. Kale Makeham 63. 10. Kayne Lamont 62.
MX2 Points Standings: 1. Luke Clout 463. 2. Hamish Harwood 447. 3. Luke Arbon 420. 4. Caleb Ward 404. 5. Brenden Harrison 399. 6. Kale Makeham 397. 7. Kayne Lamont 395. 8. Jay Wilson 392. 9. Errol Willis 325. 10. Josh Cachia 235.
MXD Overall: 1. Jed Beaton 99. 2. Jack Simpson 87. 3. Wilson Todd 83. 4. Aaron Tanti 81. 5. Nathan Crawford 79. 6. Egan Mastin 73. 7. Kyle Webster 72. 8. Jayden Rykers 72. 9. Brock McLeary 66. 10. Joel Wightman 60.
MXD Points Standings: 1. Jed Beaton 369. 2. Jack Simpson 359. 3. Egan Mastin 346. 4. Nathan Crawford 344. 5. Wilson Todd 291. 6. Kyle Webster 278. 7. Jayden Rykers 271. 8. Aaron Tanti 258. 9. Brock McLeary 242. 10. Daniel Price 179.
AMA Motocross Championships (Budds Creek National) – Round 7 – Mechanicsville, Md.
What is there to say about the Ryan Dungey and Ken Roczen freight train? The KTM team mates went 1-2 at Budds Creek well ahead of the Honda pairing of Eli Tomac and Trey Canard who finished the day in 3rd and 4th ahead of Weston Peick who has his best national for 2014.
Roczen is maintaining a 26 point lead over Dungey in the series but this weekend we have Millville where Dungey has a solid history of wins. Will that worry Roczen? Nuh!!! They will be battling all of the way to the last moto of the series.
Brett Metcalfe didn’t get the starts needed for this kind of track to finish back in 8th overall while Chad Reed and Malcolm Stewart both crashed and had numerous problems that kept them well and truly out of the major points.
Likewise, James Stewart finished a close fifth in the opening moto and was looking good for a podium in the second moto before crashing in the braking bumps on one of the long downhills and pulled out with a damaged radiator.
In the 250 class there are just so many fast riders it is hard to keep a track of all of the action but by the end of the two motos Blake Baggett managed the overall ahead of championship leader Jeremy Martin, opening moto winner Jason Anderson, the fast starting Christophe Pourcel and the hard charging Cooper Webb.
Martin has a 27 point lead over Baggett going into the Millville round and in case you don’t know, Martin’s mum and dad own the Millville circuit and Jeremy cut his teeth on that very circuit so look for his championship points lead to be extended this weekend.
450 Class Overall: 1. Ryan Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., KTM (2-1). 2. Ken Roczen, Germany, KTM (1-2). 3. Eli Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Honda (4-3). 4. Trey Canard, Shawnee, Okla., Honda (3-4). 5. Weston Peick, Wildomar, Calif., Suzuki (6-5). 6. Josh Grant, Riverside, Calif., Yamaha (9-6). 7. Andrew Short, Colorado Springs, Colo., KTM (8-7). 8. Brett Metcalfe, Australia, Kawasaki (7-11). 9. Phil Nicoletti, Bethel, N.Y., Yamaha (12-8). 10. Matt Goerke, Sun City, Calif., KTM (11-10)
450 Class Championship Standings: 1. Ken Roczen, Germany, KTM, 327. 2. Ryan Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., KTM, 301. 3. Trey Canard, Shawnee, Okla., Honda, 264. 4. James Stewart, Haines City, Fla., Suzuki, 212. 5. Brett Metcalfe, Australia, Kawasaki, 192. 6. Josh Grant, Riverside, Calif., Yamaha, 186. 7. Weston Peick, Wildomar, Calif., Suzuki, 162. 8. Andrew Short, Colorado Springs, Colo., KTM, 161. 9. Chad Reed, Australia, Kawasaki, 132. 10. Malcolm Stewart, Haines City, Fla., Suzuki, 128.
250 Class Overall: 1. Blake Baggett, Grand Terrace, Calif., Kawasaki (3-1). 2. Jeremy Martin, Millville, Minn., Yamaha (2-2). 3. Jason Anderson, Edgewood, N.M., KTM (1-7). 4. Christophe Pourcel, France, Yamaha (6-3). 5. Cooper Webb, Morehead City, N.C., Yamaha (5-4). 6. Justin Bogle, Cushing, Okla., Honda (4-5). 7. Justin Hill, Yoncalla, Ore., Kawasaki (13-6). 8. Cole Seely, Newbury Park, Calif., Honda (10-9). 9. Anthony Rodriguez, Venezuela, Yamaha (9-10). 10. Marvin Musquin, France, KTM (8-14).
250 Class Championship Standings: 1. Jeremy Martin, Millville, Minn., Yamaha, 294. 2. Blake Baggett, Grand Terrace, Calif., Kawasaki, 267. 3. Cooper Webb, Morehead City, N.C., Yamaha, 261. 4. Justin Bogle, Cushing, Okla., Honda, 225. 5. Christophe Pourcel, France, Yamaha, 211. 6. Jason Anderson, Edgewood, N.M., KTM, 206. 7. Marvin Musquin, France, KTM, 201. 8. Cole Seely, Newbury Park, Calif., Honda, 166. 9. Justin Hill, Yoncalla, Ore., Kawasaki, 150. 10. Jessy Nelson, Paso Robles, Calif., Honda, 144.
Speedway World Championships (British FIM Speedway Grand Prix) – Round 7 – Cardiff
Can you believe that at 43 years ofage Greg Hancock can still put it all together and win yet another Speedway GP to put himself well and truly in contention for his third World Championship while Aussie Darcy Ward bagged 15 points to edge Niels-Kristian Iversen out of third place in the World Championship.
“It was really good. I’ve been here many times to watch and I was very thankful to be a part of it. I’ll take third any day – that’s very good,” said Ward. “From my point of view, it was good to get some points, but it was hard to see Greg and Tai up taking so many at the front. They’re making my life hard trying to catch them, I need to peg back some points gradually, but they keep doing what I’m doing, so it’s hard.”
Hancock is just three points back from championship leader and defending champion Tai Woffinden while Ward is just 12 points further adrift and as he said above, the Queenslander needs to start winning a few rounds if he wants to win this years title.
Troy Batchelor had a shocker with just three points by nights end.
MITAS BRITISH SGP SCORES: 1 Greg Hancock 14, 2 Tai Woffinden 18, 3 Darcy Ward 15, 4 Krzysztof Kasprzak 10, 5 Niels-Kristian Iversen 12, 6 Fredrik Lindgren 10, 7 Michael Jepsen Jensen 9, 8 Martin Smolinski 8, 9 Andreas Jonsson 8, 10 Nicki Pedersen 8, 15 Troy Batchelor 3.
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS: 1 Tai Woffinden 90, 2 Greg Hancock 87, 3 Darcy Ward 75, 4 Niels-Kristian Iversen 74, 5 Nicki Pedersen 68, 6 Matej Zagar 66, 7 Jaroslaw Hampel 59, 8 Krzysztof Kasprzak 59, 9 Fredrik Lindgren 57, 10 Chris Holder 55, 11 Martin Smolinski 53, 12 Andreas Jonsson 49, 13 Troy Batchelor 49.
CMCR Canadian Motocross Championships – Round 5 – Gopher Dunes
Local Colton Facciotti has extended his points lead to 28 points in the MX1 class after winning round five of the Canadian Motocross Championships held at Gopher Dunes last weekend. Mike Alessi ran out of petrol while battling for the lead in the opening moto but the controversial Yank won the second moto ahead of Facciotti and Kyle Chisholm.
In the 250 class Vince Friese continues to claw back the points he lost to mechanical failures in the early rounds with 3-1 finishes ahead of locals Kaven Benoit and Jesse Wentland. Benout has an 8 point lead over Friese and a 15 point lead over Shawn Maffenbeier going into round 6 of the series at Sand Del Lee next weekend.
450 Class: 1. Colton Facciotti (Hon) 1-2. 2. Kyle Chisholm (Yam) 2-3. 3. Bobby Kiniry (Yam) 3-7. 4. Tyler Medaglia (KTM) 5-5. 5. Teddy Maier (Kaw) 4-8. 6. Josh Hill (Kaw) 9-4. 7. Tim Tremblay (Yam) 7-6. 8. Mike Alessi (Suz) 18-1. 9. Nathan Bless (KTM) 8-9. 10. Mike Brown (Hus) 6-11.
MX1 Series Standings: 1. Colton Facciotti 206pts. 2. Mike Alessi 178pts. 3. Tyler Medaglia 157pts. 4. Teddy Maier 150pts. 5. Kyle Chisholm 147pts. 6. Josh Hill 146pts. 7. Bobby Kiniry 140pts. 8. Morgan Burger 96pts. 9. Dylan Kaelin 94pts. 10. David Gassin 68pts.
250 Class: 1. Vince Friese (Hon) 3-1. 2. Kaven Benoit (KTM) 2-2. 3. Jesse Wentland (KTM) 1-4. 4. Shawn Maffenbeier (Yam) 4-3. 5. Seth Rarick (KTM) 5-6. 6. Jesse Pierce (Hon) 7-7. 7. Jeremy Pronovost (KTM) 9-8. 8. Hayden Halstead (Yam) 10-10. 9. Topher Ingalls (Hon) 12-9. 10. Jeremy Medaglia (Kaw) 23-5.
MX2 Series Standings: 1. Kaven Benoit 174pts. 2. Vince Friese 166pts. 3. Shawn Maffenbeier 159pts. 4. Jesse Wentland 153pts. 5. Topher Ingalls 130pts. 6. Austin Politelli 125pts. 7. Jeremy Medaglia 118pts. 8. Seth Rarick 97pts. 9. Dylan Schmoke 86pts. 10. Dylan Wright 78pts.
FIM Trial World Championship – Round 5 – Belgian GP
Toni Bou and Adam Raga continue to battle for World Trials supremacy and with three rounds remaining of the 2014 championship just four points separates the living legends after Bou took out the Belgian round of the championship last weekend.
The Great Britain and French Trials GPs are being held over the next two weekends so the championship is in the balance for Bou and Raga.
Results: 1: Toni Bou (Repsol Honda-ESP) 59; 2: Adam Raga (Gas Gas-ESP) 65; 3: Albert Cabestany (Sherco-ESP) 66; 4: Takahisa Fujinami (Repsol Honda-JPN) 84; 5: Jeroni Fajardo (Beta-ESP) 87; 6: James Dabill (Beta-GBR) 88; 7: Alexandre Ferrer (Sherco-FRA) 91; 8: Matteo Grattarola (Gas Gas-ITA 99; 9: Jorge Casales (Gas Gas-ESP) 105; 10: Michael Brown (Gas Gas-GBR) 116.
World Championship Standings after Rounds 5 of 8: 1: Toni Bou (Repsol Honda-ESP) 128; 2: Adam Raga (Gas Gas-ESP) 124; 3: Albert Cabestany (Sherco-ESP) 96; 4: Takahisa Fujinami (Repsol Honda-JPN) 91; 5: Jeroni Fajardo (Beta-ESP) 83; 6: James Dabill (Beta-GBR) 68; 7: Jorge Casales (Gas Gas-ESP) 61; 8: Alexandre Ferrer (Sherco-FRA) 51; 9: Pol Tarres (Sherco-ESP) 45; 10: Matteo Grattarola (Gas Gas-ITA) 27.
Moto Wrap for the weekend of July 19/20 includes:
– Rounds 9 and 10 of the Australian Off-Road Championship at Kyogle, NSW
– Round 8 of the AMA Motocross Championships (Spring Creek National) at Millville, Minn.
– Round 6 of the CMCR Canadian Motocross Championships at Sand Del Lee
– Round 6 of the British Motocross Championships at FatCat, Doncaster
– Round 5 of the All-Japan National Championship at Fujisawa, Japan
