Moto News Wrap for Feb 24, 2015 by Darren Smart
Australasian News
Jay Wilson, Luke Styke, Kirk Gibbs and Kade Mosig represented Australia at round 2 of the New Zealand Motocross Championships held at Timaru last weekend and it was Jay Wilson who was the star of the show with three convincing moto wins to extend his championship lead in the MX2 class while Styke, Mosig and Gibbs finished 3rd, 4th and 5th respectively behind Cody Cooper (3 wins) and John Phillips in the MX1 class. See the full report and results below.
Penrite Oils has announced that they will back Wilson Racing’s Honda team to compete in the MX Nationals and the Australian Supercross Championship throughout 2015. Queenslander Luke Wilson will be joined by Victorian Geran Stapleton on a pair of very well prepared CRF250Rs.
Catch up with the Penrite Honda Jetpilot Racing Team at round one of MX Nationals on March 29th in Horsham.
Organisers of the 2015 InsureMyRide EnduroX Nationals have confirmed that CDR Yamaha’s Chris Hollis will be sidelined from action at round two in Sydney after the reigning champion sustained and injury at the opening round.
The East Coast MX Series kicked off last weekend at the Lake Macquarie Motorcycle Club and it was Aaron Tanti and Joel Wightman who won the Pro-Open and Pro-Lites classes respectively while Meghan Rutledge cleaned up in the Senior Womans and also managed a 12th overall in the Pro Lites class.
American News
Chad Reed and Taylor Potter were our lone Aussie representatives at Atlanta so let’s see how they went.
Injury or sickness saw Potter only completed a few laps during practice and qualifying so our lone 250SX representative didn’t make it to the night program while Reed started his day by qualifying in 9th place before finishing a solid 2nd to Trey Canard in his heat.
Reed pulled an awesome holeshot in the main, hugged the inside of the first turn then jumped the triple/triple into the second corner giving himself a good buffer which he opened up to almost a 4 second lead by the halfway mark and from there Reed kept an eye on championship leader Ryan Dungey who had worked hard to try and catch the Aussie in the dying laps.
Reed took an emphatic win to become the fifth winner in eight rounds and received this message from none other than Valentino Rossi via Twitter: @ValeYellow46 – ‘Finally my guy from Australia is back in the right position! Great job Chad!’
Chad had this to say on Twitter: @CRtwotwo – ‘“@Sports_Greats: (DO)n’t qu(IT).” Never quit people!! It’s over when you say it’s over’
Chad also posted this on his FB page: ‘Pressure was on! Boss lady showed up @mrstwotwo Massive thanks to ALL of my @discount_tire @twotwomotorsports guys – It’s been a rough year to say the least and week in week out they’re on grind with me and JG’
See the full Report and Results from Atlanta below
This is really interesting….Aldon Baker is the personal trainer to the stars of the American motocross and supercross scene. He was the man behind Ricky Carmichael and Ryan Villopoto’s success and this year he has added a supercross and motocross riding facility to his arsenal to help his riders get the most out of their practice and test session.
For 2015 KTM paid Aldon to take Marvin Musquin and Jason Anderson under his wing full time while helping Ryan Dungey (who has hired Ricky Carmichael’s facility for years) remotely. So Musquin and Anderson joined Aldon’s star pupil Ken Roczen each week to ride and train together but just last week Roczen has decided to go back to being trained by his dad and low and behold, Ryan Dungey flew straight into the spot vacated by K-Roc.
So now we have the KTM and Husky factory riders pumping out laps together but here’s the kicker, Roczen still rides there every Tuesday and Thursday, WITH Dungey, Musquin and Anderson. They should sell tickets to those practice sessions; it would make the Red Bull Straight Rhythm pale into insignificance……
Davi Milsaps had a shocker at Atlanta on the factory Kawasaki. Davi started the main event well inside the top ten and dropped back to 12th place…..hmmm. Kawasaki can’t be happy to be going from a championship winning machine to an ‘also-ran’.
Oops….I did it again…..female racer Vicky Golden had another crack at making the night program of the 250SX class at Atlanta and the result was worse than last week’s effort in Dallas. Golden qualified 57th out of 57 hopefuls with the best time of 1:04:769, almost four second slower than 56th place and 15 seconds per lap slower than the fastest qualifier, Marvin Musquin (49:813).
FMF KTM’s Taylor Robert has injured his wrist and will be forced to miss the last three rounds of the FIM SuperEnduro Series as well as the first two rounds of the AMA EnduroCross Series which gets underway on March 6.
Daniel Milner and Josh Strang finished 2nd and 3rd respectively at the opening round of the Full Gas Sprint Enduro held at the HRD Motorsports Complex in Gaston, SC last weekend. See report and results below.
Euro News
By the time you read next week’s Moto News Wrap, round 1 of the World Motocross Championships being held in Qatar this weekend will have been run and won. Will Ryan Villopoto take off like a cut cat or will Antonio Cairoli stick it to the Yank? Or will Searle, Rattray, Strijbos, Coldenhoff, Febvre, Bobryshev, Gonçalves, Paulin, Nagl, Philippaerts, Van Horebeek and Desalle mix it with TC and RV?
Will Jeffrey Herlings slap everyone to the ground and take maximum points in the MX2 class or will the defending champion (who was dumped from KTM) Jordi Tixier give Herlings something to think about with a round 1 win? Look at Ferrandis, Jonass, Tonkov, Getteman, Seewer, Anstie, Pocock, Petrov and Gajser to have a crack at a podium as well.
And for us Aussies, how will Dean Ferris and Todd Waters fair in the MX1 class? A top ten from both riders at this stage would be sensational – top 15 more than acceptable – top 20…we will take it.
KTM’s Jake Nicholls will miss the first three Grand Prix’s after crashing on the weekend in France. The British rider fractured his right forearm in two places.
Race Reports and Results for last Weekend
- – Monster Energy Supercross Championships – Round 8 – Atlanta
- – AMSOIL Arenacross – Round 6 – Tampa
- – MAXXIS SuperEnduro World Championship – Round 4 – Mexico
- – New Zealand Motocross Championships – Round 2 – Pleasant Point, Timaru
- – Full Gas Sprint Enduro – Round 1 – HRD Motorsports Complex – Gaston, SC
- – Mantova Starcross – Italy
- – Baylisstic Scramble – Philip Island
Monster Energy Supercross Championships – Round 8 – Atlanta
450SX Report: Reed earned the first SupercrossLive.com Holeshot Award of his 2015 season to begin the 450SX Class Main Event, and ultimately controlled all 20 laps of the race. Autotrader.com/Toyota/Yamaha teammates Phil Nicoletti and Weston Peick held down the second and third positions, respectively, on the opening lap. Dungey moved into third place on Lap 1.
Peick, who is competing in his second race since returning from an injury, moved into second place on Lap 1 but was passed by Dungey on Lap 5 and subsequently Team Honda HRC’s Trey Canard. RCH/Soaring Eagle/Jimmy John’s/Factory Suzuki’s Ken Roczen, who came into tonight’s race in second place in season standings, crashed on Lap 4, remounting near last place.
It has been 11 years since Reed won his last Main Event at the Georgia Dome, and he has gone a record 11 seasons with a win.
“It has been a long year for me,” said Reed. “I always say you have to give yourself a good start to give yourself a shot at the win, and that is what I did tonight. I am excited to come back here next weekend and race for a win.”
Chad Reed had this to say to RacerX: “It’s nice to get a good start like that and get out front and actually ride to your potential. For whatever reason I’ve been really struggling at the beginning of the races—even when I do get a good start, just haven’t been able to do anything with it. Tonight it was nice. Would have been kind of sucky to ruin a good holeshot like that. That first turn was tough to control. It was way tighter than you could ever imagine. I rolled out of it way before you even think you should, trying to get to the inside and pulled it off. It felt good. Wire to wire.”
“I looked at the pit board a few laps in, I think it was like only lap five. I’m like, okay, don’t look at that for a while! We’ve got fifteen to go. But they started clicking off. I actually found a bit of a groove there in the middle. I was just watching lap times. That’s the first time I’ve actually seen my lap time on the pit board all year. I was kind of trading off with [Ryan] Dungey. I would drop into the low forty-nines. I had a fifty. He had a mid-forty-nine and then the next lap he had a fifty and I had a low forty-nine. So we were kind of trading back and forth. I think it all depended on a good run through the whoops and the dragon back. Five laps to go, you know, you get the realization that this is real—I could pull this thing off. I kind of tightened up a little bit and started holding my breath and started to run into lappers. He kind of made up a bit of time, but I just tried to play that time as best I could and the last two laps just made a big push and held him at bay.”
Dungey extended his points lead to 25, and Canard moved into second place in season standings past Roczen, who finished 18th tonight. “Reed rode a solid race tonight getting a great start and holding on out front,” said Dungey. “I had some work to do to catch up to him after an okay start. Apart from the start, I’m happy with the way I rode. The way the cards fell tonight, and several guys having big crashes, I’m happy to have been able to extend my points lead in the championship. I’m looking forward to coming back here again next weekend to hopefully get on the top step of the podium.”
Trey Canard had this to say to RacerX: “Not a bad night, happy to be on the podium, but bummer to get another bad start. Just moved forward and did the best we could; that’s all we can really ask for. I think the bike started working even better in the main event; it’s good to carry that feeling forward. I just tried to make moves. I was riding really aggressive, and I think you just have to do that when you’re that far back. When I got into third I started to catch [Dungey] a little bit, but we just basically cat and moused it all the way to the last couple of laps. That’s all I could do.”
With the win tonight, Reed has control of the Duel in the Dome, the inaugural race that awards the rider with the most points at the two Atlanta events with a commemorative trophy.
450SX Class Results: 1. Chad Reed. 2. Ryan Dungey. 3. Trey Canard. 4. Cole Seely. 5. Weston Peick. 6. Broc Tickle. 7. Jason Anderson. 8. Blake Baggett. 9. Andrew Short. 10. Josh Grant.
450SX Class Season Standings – After Round 8 of 17: 1. Ryan Dungey 174. 2. Trey Canard 149. 3. Ken Roczen 143. 4. Eli Tomac 115. 5. Jason Anderson 114. 6. Cole Seely 111. 7. Chad Reed 110. 8. Blake Baggett 99. 9. Andrew Short 94. 10. Broc Tickle 78.
250 West Report: Rockstar Energy/Husqvarna/Factory Racing’s Martin Davalos, who finished ninth last weekend, jumped out to an early lead in the Eastern Regional 250SX Class Main Event with the SupercrossLive.com Holeshot Award.
Defending champion Justin Bogle put his GEICO Honda bike in second place on the opening lap. Last weekend’s winner Marvin Musquin started in fifth place and by Lap 3, he was in third place.
Martin assumed the fourth position on Lap 2, and set his sights on the lead. Near the halfway point of the race, a three-way battle ensued between Bogle, Musquin and Martin, who ran second, third and fourth, respectively. On Lap 8, Musquin was unable to jump the triple, which allowed Martin to pass him for third place.
Bogle moved into the lead on Lap 9, and on the same lap, Martin and Musquin passed Davalos for second and third, respectively. Martin made his move on Bogle for the lead on Lap 13 and rode to victory. Musquin also advanced past Bogle on Lap 13 for second place.
“What a great night for me and my team,” said Martin. “That was an amazing, crazy race, and I am looking forward to coming back here next weekend.”
In a RacerX interview Martin said this. “Just got off to a good start there, was sixth or seventh, and worked my way forward. All the top guys were there and we had one heck of a battle. I think the crowd was into it because I could just hear them cheering us on over triples and stuff. I knew when someone made a pass because the crowd just erupted.”
Musquin has a four point lead over Martin in season standings. “I’m not overly happy with the way I rode tonight”, explained Musquin. “I let my frustrations from earlier in the day take over in the main event and I just didn’t ride as smooth and relaxed as I should have. I had a rough heat race and I should have been more focused in the main. But I started to relax more toward the end of the race and still finished in second place. It takes consistency to win a championship, so I’m happy to be on the podium two weeks in a row and will make sure I’m back to being 100% focused next week when we return to Atlanta.”
Justin Bogle had this to say to RacerX. “It was good. I got a really good start. My GEICO Honda is a rocket ship. It’s getting me off to great starts here lately. Followed Martin [Davalos] around for about ten laps, finally made the pass, and then I just got super tight. No excuses, I just kind of gave that one up. A lot of positives out of the weekend though—learning, and I think I’m better off this weekend than I was last weekend.”
Eastern Regional 250SX Class Results: 1. Jeremy Martin. 2. Marvin Musquin. 3. Justin Bogle. 4. Martin Davalos. 5. Joey Savatgy. 6. Vince Friese. 7. Matt Lemoine. 8. Anthony Rodriguez. 9. RJ Hampshire. 10. Arnaud Tonus.
Eastern Regional 250SX Class Season Standings – After Round 2 of 9: 1. Marvin Musquin 47. 2. Jeremy Martin 43. 3. Justin Bogle 42. 4. Joey Savatgy 36. 5. Martin Davalos 30. 6. Matt Lemoine 30. 7. Vince Friese 30. 8. RJ Hampshire 26. 9. Arnaud Tonus 24. 10. Anthony Rodriguez 21.
AMSOIL Arenacross – Round 6 – Tampa
Arenacross Class Report: Prior to the start of the opening Arenacross Class Main Event, Husqvarna TiLUBE TUF Racing’s Gavin Faith, a winner this season, was unable to start his bike, ultimately retiring from competition before the gate event dropped.
When the race did get underway, the Team Babbitt’s Monster Energy/AMSOIL Kawasaki duo of Matt Goerke and Chris Blose came out of the first turn off the start side-by-side. Blose seized control of the lead as the field crossed the line but in the next rhythm section he came up short on a jump and crashed, handing the lead over to Goerke. That same lap, misfortune also hit the third Team Babbitt’s rider, Jacob Hayes, who crashed out of fifth after making contact with another rider and dropped to the tail end of the field.
Goerke was able to sprint away early and open a small lead on Regal, who also started inside the top three, while Slaka Wear KTM’s Steven Mages locked down possession of third. On Lap 4 Regal began to put pressure on Goerke and appeared to be setting up the Kawasaki rider for a pass, but a bobble in the whoops caused him to lose ground. In his effort to try and make up for that lost time, Regal lost his front end at the start of Lap 10 and went down, dropping to fifth.
That same lap Mages fell just after the whoops after moving into second, allowing Motosport.com/Haeseker Racing KTM’s Gared Steinke and ThermoTec/FMC Racing Yamaha’s Bobby Kiniry to take over the remaining podium spots. Goerke dominated out front and cruised to the win while a hard-charging Regal managed to claw his way back into second on the final lap to steal the runner-up spot. Kiniry finished third while Hayes recovered from his early troubles to salvage sixth.
Excited about the chance to win in front of his home crowd, Florida native Goerke relied on the fans to select the inversion for the second Main Event, with the chosen case ultimately revealing an eight meaning half the field would be inverted.
As the second Main Event got underway, with Blose absent following his get off in the first race, Kiniry took advantage of a good start to grab the holeshot ahead of Babbitt’s Online Suzuki’s Cory Green and Mages. All three of the main title contenders – Hayes, Goerke and Regal – came away with solid starts, but Goerke soon encountered misfortune on Lap 2, falling to the ground while trying a make a charge to the front and falling to 11th. Green found himself on the ground as well just a few feet ahead of Goerke. Hayes took advantage off their trouble to take over second from Mages on Lap 3, with Regal following into third just a couple laps later.
Once in second Hayes methodically closed in on leader Kiniry, making up considerable ground in the whoops. On Lap 6 he moved to within a couple bike lengths of the lead and on the following lap was able to set up a pass coming out of the whoops. Once out front, Hayes pulled away and Kiniry soon came under fire from Regal, who made the pass for second on Lap 12 and assured himself of victory. Hayes recovered from his tough opening Main Event to claim the win, with Regal and Kiniry following in second and third. Goerke recovered to finish fifth.
Regal’s consistency on the night (2-2) landed him on top of the overall classification, while Hayes’ win in the second Main Event combined with his victory in the RMATV/MC Head 2 Head Challenge allowed him to earn second overall (6-1) in what ended up as a three-way tie for the spot. Kiniry ended up third overall (3-3), with his better finish in the second Main Event giving him the tiebreaker over Goerke in fourth (1-5). College Hunks Hauling Junk/Spinechillers Racing KTM’s Willy Browning rounded out the top five (7-4).
“I think I was one of the most consistent guys in the whoops and I think it paid off tonight. I’m pumped,” exclaimed Regal. “We’ll do some more work this week and be ready to get back at it next weekend.”
By virtue of his tie with Goerke, Hayes’ lead in the championship remains at 14 points. Regal gained ground on his rivals in third and now sits 20 points out of the lead and just six points behind Goerke.
“I’m not sure what happened in the first Main Event. I made contact while battling for position there early and I got the worse end of it. It was just one of those things that happens in arenacross,” said Hayes. “But we came back strong and were able to get a win the close out the night. It feels good to keep points lead.”
Lites Report: The start of the MetroPCS Blazing Fast Eastern Regional Arenacross Lites Class Main Event saw points leader Dave Ginolfi grab the early lead aboard his College Hunks Moving Junk/Spinecillers Racing KTM ahead of ThermoTec/FMC Racing Yamaha’s Kyle Bitterman and Blair. On Lap 2 Ginolfi bobbled in the whoops, allowing Bitterman to take over the lead. Just two laps later, Bitterman crashed hard out of the lead and the race. On the ensuing lap, Blair was able to make the pass on Ginolfi for the lead before the red flag came out for Bitterman’s incident. When the race resumed, Blair maintained his lead over Ginolfi while TZR Woodstock KTM’s Cody VanBuskirk slipped past Link MX Graphics KTM’s Dylan Rouse for third on Lap 12. Just two laps later, VanBuskirk crashed out of third, handing it back over to Rouse. Blair got heavy pressure from Ginolfi on the final lap, but he was able to fend off the late challenge and win by about a bike length. Rouse maintained control of third for the first podium result of his career.
Ginolfi, who carried a comfortable 23-point lead in the Eastern Regional Arenacross Lites Class Championship coming into the evening, added to his points lead and is now 38 markers ahead of Hillview Motorsports Suzuki’s Steve Roman. TZR Woodstock KTM’s Scott Zont sits third.
“I’m not thinking about the championship. It will happen when it happens, and if it does that’s great,” said Ginolfi. “Right now I’m going to take it race by race. I was a little behind rhythm and Daniel [Blair] got by me, then I just got caught up in pacing him. I put on a charge at the end but came up a little bit short.”
Arenacross Class Results – Main Event 1
- Matt Goerke, Temecula, Calif., Kawasaki
- Kyle Regal, Grand Prairie, Texas, Husqvarna
- Bobby Kiniry, Holland Patent, N.Y., Yamaha
- Gared Steinke, Temecula, Calif., KTM
- Travis Sewell, Westville, Ind., KTM
- Jacob Hayes, Liberty, N.C., Kawasaki
- Willy Browning, Pleasantville, Ohio, KTM
- Cory Green, Nowata, Okla., Suzuki
- Steven Mages, Sardinia, Ohio, KTM
- Dylan Rouse, Florence, Ky., KTM
Arenacross Class Results – Main Event 2
- Jacob Hayes, Liberty, N.C., Kawasaki
- Kyle Regal, Grand Prairie, Texas, Husqvarna
- Bobby Kiniry, Holland Patent, N.Y., Yamaha
- Willy Browning, Pleasantville, Ohio, KTM
- Matt Goerke, Temecula, Calif., Kawasaki
- Travis Sewell, Westville, Ind., KTM
- Gared Steinke, Temecula, Calif., KTM
- Cody VanBuskirk, Harvard, Ill., KTM
- Dave Ginolfi, Boston, N.J., KTM
- Steven Mages, Sardinia, Ohio, KTM
Arenacross Class Results – Overall (Main Event Finishes)
- Kyle Regal, Grand Prairie, Texas, Husqvarna (2-2)
- Jacob Hayes, Liberty, N.C., Kawasaki (6-1)
- Bobby Kiniry, Holland Patent, N.Y., Yamaha (3-3)
- Matt Goerke, Temecula, Calif., Kawasaki (1-5)
- Willy Browning, Pleasantville, Ohio, KTM (7-4)
- Travis Sewell, Westville, Ind., KTM (5-6)
- Gared Steinke, Temecula, Calif., KTM (4-7)
- Steven Mages, Sardinia, Ohio, KTM (9-10)
- Dylan Rouse, Florence, Ky., KTM (10-11)
- Cory Green, Nowata, Okla., Suzuki (8-13)
RMATV/MC Head 2 Head Challenge Results
- Jacob Hayes, Liberty, N.C., Kawasaki (2 points)
- Kyle Regal, Grand Prairie, Texas, Husqvarna (1 point)
- Chris Blose, Phoenix, Ariz., Kawasaki (1 point)
- Gavin Faith, Fort Dodge, Iowa, Husqvarna (1 point)
- Matt Goerke, Temecula, Calif., Kawasaki (1 point)
- Bobby Kiniry, Holland Patent, N.Y., Yamaha (1 point)
- Travis Sewell, Westville, Ind., KTM (1 point)
- Willy Browning, Pleasantville, Ohio, KTM (1 point)
Eastern Regional Arenacross Lites Class Results
- Daniel Blair, Lodi, Calif., KTM
- Dave Ginolfi, Boston, N.J., KTM
- Dylan Rouse, Florence, Ky., KTM
- Scott Zont, Algonquin, Ill., KTM
- Jacob Williamson, Swartz Creek, Mich., Kawasaki
- Lorenzo Locurcio, Cairo, Ga., Yamaha
- Jake Locks, Dixon, Calif., KTM
- Dave Blanchet, Quebec, Canada, Kawasaki
- Logan Pfleiderer, Galion, Ohio, Yamaha
- Cody VanBuskirk, Harvard, Ill., KTM
Arenacross Class Points (Race 9 of 20)
- Jacob Hayes, Liberty, N.C., Kawasaki – 240 (5 Main Event wins)
- Matt Goerke, Temecula, Calif., Kawasaki – 226 (2 Main Event wins)
- Kyle Regal, Grand Prairie, Texas, Husqvarna – 220 (3 Main Event wins)
- Bobby Kiniry, Holland Patent, N.Y., Yamaha – 188 (1 Main Event win)
- Steven Mages, Sardinia, Ohio, KTM – 178 (1 Main Event win)
- Travis Sewell, Westville, Ind., KTM – 177
- Chris Blose, Phoenix, Ariz., Kawasaki – 175 (4 Main Event wins)
- Willy Browning, Pleasantville, Ohio, KTM – 156
- Gared Steinke, Temecula, Calif., KTM – 138
- Gavin Faith, Fort Dodge, Iowa, Husqvarna – 131 (2 Main Event wins)
Eastern Regional Arenacross Lites Class Points (After Race 7 of 10)
- Dave Ginolfi, Boston, N.J., KTM – 103 (2 Main Event win)
- Steve Roman, Apollo, Pa., Suzuki – 65
- Scott Zont, Algonquin, Ill., KTM – 61
- Daniel Herrlein, Bethesda, Ohio, Honda – 56
- Steven Mages, Sardinia, Ohio, Kawasak – 47 (1 Main Event win)
- Dylan Rouse, Florence, Ky., KTM – 44
- Jacob Williamson, Swartz Creek, Mich., Kawasaki – 42
- Dave Blanchet, Quebec, Canada, Kawasaki – 41
- Darian Sanayei, Orting, Wash., Kawasaki – 35 (2 Main Event wins)
- Mitchell Harrison, Cairo, Georgia, Kawasaki – 33 (1 Main Event win)
MAXXIS SuperEnduro World Championship – Round 4 – Mexico
KTM’s Taddy Blazusiak made it four wins on the bounce with victory at the Maxxis FIM SuperEnduro World Championship GP of Mexico in Guadalajara over the weekend.
Continuing on from where he left off at round three of the series in Finland, KTM’s Taddy Blazusiak delivered a solid performance in front of the Mexican crowd to secure the overall win.
Getting his night off to a strong start, Blazusiak laid down the fastest time in the SuperPole to finally bag his first one of the season. Hot out of the traps for race one, Blazusiak set about making a charge for the front of the pack. Keeping everything in check, the Pole claimed the first win of the night. Chasing him hard, KTM’s Jonny Walker took second with USA’s Cody Webb (KTM) completing the top three.
In the reversed starting grid for race two it was Husqvarna’s Danny McCanney who grabbed the holeshot. But in the rock section David Knight powered his way to the front. Despite holding the lead for two laps, Knight lost out to Blazusiak and slipped back.
Under pressure, Blazusiak faced an attack from Webb. Moving into the lead on lap four, Webb broke clear from the pack and hung on to take the win. Walker also found away past Blazusiak in the closing stages of the race and took second with the Pole crossing the finish line in third.
With the overall win still up for grabs, both Blazusiak and Webb came out swinging in the third and final race. Pushing the pace out front, the duo swapped and changed position continuously throughout the race.
On the final lap, Webb fought his way into the lead only to lose out to Blazusiak in the final corner. Taking the win, Blazusiak claimed the overall win. Second in race three saw Webb place as runner-up while Walker – despite finishing fourth in race three behind Alfredo Gomes secured the bottom step of the podium with third.
Taddy Blazusiak. “It’s awesome to have made it four wins in a row, after such a close battle last time out in Finland I knew it would be tough again here but somehow things just rolled in my favour. I felt good on the track and my starts where great. I had some fun battles – especially in the final race with Cody – so it’s been a great result to win here.”
Jonny Walker: “I finished on the podium again, which is great, but I’m not really that pleased with the way I rode in the last final. I made some mistakes that could have been avoided, and without them I could have got a better result. I felt a little bit stiff on my bike in the first race but got third, which was an ok start to the night. I felt good in the second race and came through to get second but just ran out of laps. I didn’t get a great start in the third final and spent too long behind a few riders. A little bit more aggression probably would have got me to the front sooner, but it’s easy to say that after the race. My speed was good and it’s been fun racing here in Mexico, I hope things will go well in Brazil next weekend.”
Alfredo Gomez: “It’s been an ok night. I had a bit of bad luck in the first race when I crashed just after the start in the second corner. It was tough to recover from that mistake but I managed to improve my position with each lap to get sixth. I was fourth in race two but in race three my start was much better and I was third on lap one. I battled with Cody Webb and Taddy Blazusiak but they gapped me a little towards the end and I finished third. It was good to end the night on a high and hopefully I can continue like that in Brazil next weekend.”
Danny McCanney: “Things just never really got going for me here in Mexico. After a strong ride in Finland I wanted a top five result but for some reason I just couldn’t get to grips with the track. The harder I tried to make it work the more I crashed. The conditions were hard to judge. It was incredibly slippery in places and that made it so easy to get things wrong. All I can do is put it down to a valuable learning experience and move on to Brazil next weekend.”
Overall Round 4 Results: 1. Taddy Blazusiak – 58 Pts. 2. Cody Webb – 53 Pts. 3. Jonny Walker – 49 Pts. 4. Alfredo Gomez – 38 Pts. 5. David Knight – 33 Pts. 6. Paul Bolton – 30 Pts. 7. Kyle Redmond – 29 Pts. 8. Dani Gibert – 24 Pts. 9. Daniel McCanney – 20 Pts. 10. Mario Roman – 20 Pts.
Championship Standings After Round 4 of 6: 1. Taddy Blazusiak – 227 Pts. 2. David Knight – 181 Pts. 3. Jonny Walker – 178 Pts. 4. Cody Webb – 174 Pts. 5. Alfredo Gomez – 140 Pts. 6. Paul Bolton – 98 Pts. 7. Taylor Robert – 92 Pts. 8. Mario Roman – 92 Pts. 9. Kyle Redmond – 88 Pts. 10. Daniel Gibert-Gatell – 81 Pts.
New Zealand Motocross Championships – Round 2 – Pleasant Point, Timaru
Defending MX1 champion Cody Cooper dominated the MX1 class at round 2 of the NZ Motocross Championships held at Timaru last weekend with three straight wins and moving himself to the top of the championship standings at the half way point of the four round series.
“I came here to win all 3, to make a statement really.” Cooper told MX Link. “I’m proud of myself, I got back into it and got the job done. There is awesome dirt out there, the Backflips crew have done an awesome job with the track. There are some one lines but that’s where you have to focus on your starts and use the one lines to your advantage.”
Luke Styke managed third on his KTM. “It was great to get pole this morning, I think I can count on one hand the times I’ve had pole position in my career, so that was a good feeling, considering the conditions. I ended up third overall, I feel like my speed was pretty good, I also feel like I had something for the front two guys in the first one, but it was a bit of a mission to get by. In the last moto we got a pretty good start, I pumped up a little bit at the start but I got my rhythm and I was charging until I had a little bit of a brake issue with two or three laps to go, but overall the weekend was really good and I’m looking forward to the next one.”
Kirk Gibbs suffered poor start but is still in the title hunt. “It wasn’t the best day on paper, but there were definitely positives for me. The track was really well prepared, but they got some rain overnight that they didn’t expect and it made the track very one-lined. It was incredibly hard to pass on pretty much all day, although the track did get better as it dried out. Every race over here is very valuable for us. We both made improvements here and I feel that we are going to be in the race for the championship back in Australia.”
The MX2 class Australia’s Jay Wilson took his JCR Yamaha YZ250F to three straight wins to extend his championship lead to 20 points over Hamish Harwood who finished second on the day with 3-2-3 moto results.
“It has been a good day, I was worried when we got here and it was so wet and thought the New Zealand riders might have an advantage, I haven’t been on a track this gnarly in a while, every straight has a rut in it, as soon as you land off a jump it’s got a rut so you have to be patient and on your toes the whole time, the team has done a great job and I can’t thank them enough.”
Hadleigh Knight rounded out the podium for the round ahead of Cam Dillon while Micah McGoldrick had to settle for 5th thanks to a DNF in moto 2.
MX1 Round 2 Results: 1. Cody Cooper – 75. 2. John Phillips – 66. 3. Luke Styke – 54. 4. Kade Mosig – 53. 5. Kirk Gibbs – 52. 6. Brad Groombridge – 47. 7. Ethan Martens – 40. 8. Yu Hirata – 37. 9. Makoto Ogata – 36. 10. Rhys Carter – 35. 11. Justin McDonald – 31. 12. Scott Columb – 29.
MX1 Championship After Rd 2: 1. Cody Cooper – 124. 2. John Phillips – 121. 3. Kirk Gibbs – 114. 4. Kade Mosig – 101. 5. Scott Columb – 99. 6. Brad Groombridge – 93. 7. Ethan Martens – 88. 8. Luke Styke – 70. 9. Makoto Ogata – 68. 10. Rhys Carter – 66.
MX2 Round 2 Results: 1. Jay Wilson – 75. 2. Hamish Harwood – 62. 3. Hadleiigh Knight – 51. 4. Cam Dillon – 45. 5. Micah McGoldrick – 44. 6. Kieran Scheele – 42. 7. Scotty Canham – 42. 8. Campbell King – 38. 9. Nick Saunders – 37. 10. Logan Blackburn – 34.
MX2 Championship After Rd 2: 1. Jay Wilson – 140. 2. Hamish Harwood – 120. 3. Micah McGoldrick – 105. 4. Scotty Canham – 85 . 5. Campbell King – 83. 6. Hayden Kanters – 82. 7. Hadleigh Knight – 73. 8. Logan Blackburn – 73. 9. Sam Greenslade – 67. 10. Cam Dillon – 65.
125cc Round 2 Results: 1. Josiah Natzke – 75. 2. Cohen Chase – 60. 3. Courtney Duncan – 56. 4. Benjamin Broad – 56. 5. Kurtis Lilly – 52. 6. Liam Draper – 45. 7. Nick Hornby – 40. 8. Sean Kelly – 37. 9. Luke Mobberley – 35. 10. Aaron Manning – 31.
125c Championship After Rd 2: 1. Josiah Natzke – 138. 2. Cohen Chase – 127. 3. Benjamin Broad – 118. 4. Kurtis Lilly – 104. 5. Courtney Duncan – 101. 6. Nick Hornby – 82. 7. Liam Draper – 81. 8. Aaron Smith – 66. 9. Sean Kelly – 59. 10. Luke Mobberley – 53.
Full Gas Sprint Enduro – Round 1 – HRD Motorsports Complex – Gaston, SC
The Kenda Full Gas Sprint Enduro Series got started over the weekend in Gaston, South Carolina, where icy temps and gusty conditions greeted riders. The unique format of the Full Gas Sprint Enduro featured two different tests – a 3.5-mile enduro special test and a 3-mile “cross” test similar to what you’d find at an ISDE or World Enduro Championship. The racing – spread out over two days – put the riders on each test three different times on each day, spread out by 20-second intervals, making for a total of 12 special tests throughout the course of the weekend.
When all the scores were tallied, FMF/KTM’s Kailub Russell emerged the winner, barely edging out FMF/N-Fab AmPro Yamaha’s Daniel Milner for the first victory of the season aboard his KTM 350 XC-F. If the opening round is any indication, the stage is set for a season-long battle between Milner and Russell, who battled neck and neck throughout the weekend in South Carolina.
Milner found the race format very much to his liking, and got the weekend started with some quick times on Day 1. AmPro Yamaha’s Aussie import put his ISDE sprinting skills to work in the fast and sandy terrain, and topped five of the six tests on Saturday. Milner finished the day with a 14-second lead ahead of Russell, who wrestled away one test win for himself.
“Day 1 went really well,” Milner said. “My N-Fab AmPro Yamaha YZ450F worked great and everything just clicked. I pretty much started every section first on Saturday and cut fresh track through most of the course. The sand was perfect and reminded me of back home! ”
The rougher conditions and worn-in courses effectively tipped the scales in Russell’s favor on Sunday. The GNCC Champion came out swinging on the Day 2 and turned the tables on Milner. This time it was Russell carding five out of six wins, only yielding one test to Milner by a tenth of a second after a tip-over slowed him down.
“I had a really good day today,” Russell said. “The track was rougher and a light rain this morning made the conditions good. I felt good from the start of the race all the way through the end. Daniel [Milner] put up a good fight but I was pumped to come away with the win. I’m looking forward to a good battle in this series.”
“I think myself and Kailub were fractions of a second apart of most tests, which was awesome,” Milner said. “Kailub ended up winning by six seconds on Sunday, but I’m stoked with how things went. The track layout was unreal. [Jason] Hooper did a great job!”
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Josh Strang rounded out the podium with a third-place finish – nearly a minute and a half behind Milner. In only his second race aboard his new FMF Husky, Strang rode consistently throughout the weekend to join his Aussie countryman on the podium.
Milner’s N-Fab/AmPro Yamaha teammate Jordan Ashburn finished fourth ahead of Honda-mounted Layne Michael. Both riders were advanced a position when Ryan Sipes – who had been running fourth after Day 1, was forced to leave the event and head home to assist his family who were left without heat or electricity in a severe ice storm.
Tegan Temple ended up sixth on the day – the young privateer may have missed out on the top-five by only a mere second, but he can still boast that he finished ahead of factory riders Grant Baylor, Russell Bobbitt, Andrew DeLong and Ricky Russell, who rounded out the top-ten, respectively.
Overall: 1. Kailub Russell. 2. Daniel Milner. 3. Josh Strang. 4. Jordan Ashburn. 5. Layne Michael. 6. Tegan Temple. 7. Grant Baylor. 8. Russell Bobbitt. 9. Andrew Delong. 10. Ricky Russell.
Mantova Starcross – Italy
Clement Desalle (Suzuki) has dominated the week end in Mantova. The Belgian has won the MX1 qualifying heat held on Saturday afternoon, and then he has won all three MX1-MX2 heats on Sunday, leading from start to finish line. Unfortunately Desalle’s teammate Kevin Strijbos (Suzuki) could not race due to a minor injury occurred in training in the previous days. Fourth and fifth place overall went to Team Buildbase-Honda’s riders Kristian Whatley and Gert Krestinov.
The MX2 World Champion, Jordi Tixier (Kawasaki) was without rivals in the MX2 class. He was first in qualifying on Saturday and then during the Sunday’s races he was two times first and one time second. Jeremy Seewer (Suzuki), second overall, has proven again to be one of the most promising rider in the MX2 class. Jens Getteman (Honda) has finished in fourth position overall.
MX1 Overall: 1. Clement Desalle. 2. Evgeny Bobryshev. 3. Kein Ceriel Kronitoff. 4. Kristian Whatley. 5. Gert Krestinov.
MX2 Overall: 1. Jordi Tixier. 2. Jeremy Seewer. 3. Brian Bogers. 4. Jens Getteman. 5. Robert Just.
Baylisstic Scramble – Philip Island
Team Crump outfit has won the Baylisstic Scramble flat track event at the 2015 Superbike World Championship round at Phillip Island.
Captained by three-time world speedway champion Jason Crump, the team also featured the talents of Luke Richards and Josh Waters, with Max Stauffer the junior representative.
The results came down to the wire, with Team Crump finishing on 158pts from Team Caslick (Paul Caslick, Matt Davies, Rowan Tegart, Jarred Brooke and Billy Van Eerde) on 152pts and Team Vermeulen (Chris Vermeulen, Karl Muggeridge, Luke Gough, Brodie Waters and Callum Davies) on 129pts.
Team Bayliss held up the results page in last position, ravaged by the loss of Troy Bayliss, who could only compete in one race (which he won easily) because of his world superbike commitments with Ducati, and Troy’s son Oli also crashed early on ruling him out for the rest of the proceedings.
Bayliss was replaced by a number of riders, including his fellow world superbike legend Troy Corser who jumped into Bayliss’ leathers on Saturday afternoon to hit the track.
Bayliss is delighted with how the Baylisstic Scramble has come together. “The flat track that Phillip Island has produced for the Baylisstic Scramble has been perfect and I would like to thank the entire circuit crew for a great track,” said the three-time world superbike champion, who’s made a one-off comeback to world superbikes this weekend.
“It’s been a great week at the Island I’ve managed to spend good time on the flat track — a few times on Thursday and Friday before and after my WSBK requirements, and I raced the Saturday morning session and come away with a win!
Bayliss defeated his fellow team captains in that race – Jason Crump, Chris Vermeulen, Stephen Gall and Paul Caslick – while in the afternoon session his surprise replacement was Troy Corser, who has flown over from his UK base for Phillip Island’s 25th year world superbike celebrations. Corser even donned Bayliss’ riding gear for the occasion…
“This has been a great opportunity to promote flat track racing in Australia and you can see by the long list of talent on the track that it’s very competitive,” said Troy.
“All in all it’s been a great event and all the riders had a great time,” said Bayliss. “We would specially like to thank the riders, Racesafe medical team and our sponsors Motul, Pirelli, Yamaha Motor Finance and Shark Helmets.”
Baylisstic Scramble Teams
Team Caslick: Paul Caslick. Matt Davies. Rowan Teggart. Jarred Brook
Jnr – Billy Van Eerde
Team Gally: Stephen Gall. Robbie Menzies. Ben Cook. Ian Hamilton
Jnr – Joel Kelzo
Team Bayliss: Troy Bayliss (substituted by Troy Corser). Wayne Maxwell. Matt McNamara. Glenn Allerton
Jnr – Oli Bayliss
Team Crumpy: Jason Crump. Luke Richards. Nick Waters. Josh Waters
Jnr – Max Stauffer
Team Vermeulen: Chris Vermeulen. Karl Muggeridge. Luke Gough. Damon Buckmaster
Jnr – Callum Davies
Saturday Morning Heats Points: 1. MATT McNAMARA – 16. 2. LUKE RICHARDS – 12. 3. JOSH WATERS – 10. 4. BILLY VAN EERDE – 10. 5. LUKE GOUGH – 8. 6. IAN HAMILTON – 8. 7. JOEL KELZO – 8. 8. MATT DAVIES – 8. 9. CHRIS VERMEULEN – 7. 10. NICK WATERS – 6. 11. ROBBIE MENZIES – 6. 12. TROY BAYLISS – 6. 13. PAUL CASLICK – 5. 14. DAMON BUCKMASTER – 5. 15. CALLUM DAVIES – 5. 16. MAX STAUFFER – 5. 17. STEPHEN GALL – 4. 18. BEN COOK – 4. 19. JASON CRUMP – 3. 20. ROWAN TEGGART – 3. 21. JARRED BROOK – 3. 22. BEAU BEATON – 3. 23. KARL MUGGERIDGE – 2.
Saturday Afternoon Heats Points: 1. MARTY McNAMARA – 13. 2. JOSH WATERS – 10. 3. PAUL CASLICK – 9. 4. MATT DAVIES – 9. 5. LUKE GOUGH – 8. 6. CHRIS VERMEULEN – 8. 7. ROWAN TEGGART – 8. 8. LUKE RICHARDS – 7. 9. JASON CRUMP – 7. 10. JARRED BROOK – 6. 11. DAMON BUCKMASTER – 6. 12. STEPHEN GALL – 6. 13. JOEL KELZO – 5. 14. NICK WATERS – 5. 15. MAX STAUFFER – 4. 16. IAN HAMILTON – 4. 17. ROBBIE MENZIES. 4. 18. CALLUM DAVIES – 3. 19. BEN COOK – 3. 20. BILLY VAN EERDE – 2. 21. KARL MUGGERIDGE – 2. 22. BEAU BEATON – 2. 23. TROY BAYLISS – 2. 24. OLI BAYLISS – 1.
