Moto News Wrap for Jan 27, 2015 by Darren Smart
Australasian News
Former Pro Motocrosser Tye Simmonds has begun his off-road career with KTM in the best possible way by winning the annual Deep Well Motocross event south of Alice Springs. See full report and results below.
Kiwi Cody Cooper will join Ford Dale at the Penrite Honda team to contest the 2015 MX Nationals. Coops was in great form last weekend at the Woodville GP, dominating all three MX1 races and was pipped by Kirk Gibbs in the feature race. See full report and results below.
Proformance Kawasaki, a new race team formed to contest the 2015 MX Nationals and Australian Supercross Championships will have a three rider line up with Tasmanian Dylan Leary and Victorian’s Matt Ryan and Alex Morris looking to put the KX250F up front.
YAIM has announced the dates for their motocross schools across Australia and coaching line-up. Shane Metcalfe is ‘the man’ in South Australia, Cameron Taylor runs the Victorian schools while Shane Booth and Chris Urquhart look after the New South Wales and Queensland events.
QLD
14-15 February: Rockhampton
28 February /1 March: Roma
14-15 March: Emerald
28-29 March: Emerald (advanced school)
11-12 April : Richmond
2 -3 May : Weipa
6-7 June Middlemount
13-14 June: Ravenshoe
NSW
8 February: Cessnock
21-22 March: Orange
28-29 March: Bathurst
25-26 April: Port Macquarie
16-17 May: Nowra
23-24 May: Moree (TBC)
27-28 June: Appin
11-12 July: Ku Ring Gai (Minibike Course Up to 85cc only)
SA
28 February: Gillman (MX 50/65CC Day)
1 March: Gillman (Endorsement / Open)
8 March : Gillman (VETS)
11 April: Gillman (Women’s)
18April: Ceduna MX Club
20 June : Roxby Downs (juniors)
21 June: Roxby Downs (seniors)
South Australia- www.shanemetcalfe.com
Victoria- www.camerontaylormx.com
NSW and QLD – www.yaim.com
American News
Let’s see how the Aussie riders faired at round 4 the AMA Supercross Championships held in Oakland last Saturday night.
Matt Moss qualified in 30th place, finished back in 17th place in his heat and 8th in his Semi but a poor start in the LCQ saw the Aussie champ finish back in 15th place.
Brett Metcalfe qualified in 18th place, finished 7th in his heat race, battled hard for 3rd in his Semi before finishing a credible 12th in the main event. Metty is still looking for a top ten finish.
Chad Reed qualified in fifth place, knocked Davi Milsaps out of fourth place in his heat then led the main event before finishing a credible 3rd place. Chad is BACK!!!!
Jackson Richardson qualified in 16th place before finishing 9th place in his heat race and in the early part of the main event Jackson was running in 6th place but some aggressive riding from some of the top riders coming through the pack saw the privateer drop back to 14th by race end. Jatz is looking at a top ten finish very shortly.
Adam Monea qualified in 26th place, finished a credible 10th place in his heat ahead of Kyle Prtridge and Nick Wey but a crash in his Semi and a poor start in the LCQ saw the Kawasaki rider watching the main from the grand stand.
See the full Report and Results from below.
KTM’s Justin Brayton will miss the next few rounds of Monster Energy AMA Supercross after sustaining a grade three AC separation, and three fractures to his T-5,6 and 7 vertebra in his back following a crash last weekend in his heat at Anaheim 2.
“Our team had a very rough Anaheim 2,” said team owner Forrest Butler. “Though injuries are always a bummer, they are a part of racing and I am just very thankful that Justin’s injuries are not worse. We are enjoying working with Justin this year, and we can’t wait to get back at it with him once he is healed up.”
Weston Peick underwent a second surgery on his foot this past Monday. According to team manager Jeremy Albrecht, Peick’s surgery went well and his is expected to miss from four to six weeks before returning to action.
Peick first broke the foot at the Phoenix round and doctors inserted a screw in the break the following week. Peick was advised he could ride Anaheim 2 provided he could stand the pain, however, early in practice the Yamaha ride landed hard over a jump and re-broke the bone.
“Weston said he felt it snap when he landed from the finish line jump at A2 and he pulled in and got it x-rayed at Asterisk Mobile Unit and you could see that the same little piece broke off,” said Albrecht. “So he flew back with us and he went to a specialist that Joe (Gibbs) thinks is the best and he ended up having surgery on Monday, and basically removed the piece.”
Michael Leib is out for the season after a vicious crash during qualifying left him with a suspected broken leg, possibly two. Leib was entering a rhythm section when he went over the bars, ejected and landed hard on the dirt, sans bike. Leib went to the hospital where he’ll undergo further evaluation. We’ll post more as details become available.
Suzuki’s Broc Tickle was examined and released from Sutter Eden Medical Center and is “looking forward to A3”, the team announced today. Tickle, coming off a season high fifth at Anaheim 2, cased a triple in the main event in Oakland Saturday night, reportedly sustaining a back injury. He was unable to finish the main event, finishing twenty-second overall. In his second season with the team, he is currently twelfth in 450SX points.
Ricky Carmichael will be inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America on Thursday, June 18 at Detroit’s historic Fillmore Theater.
Euro News
Ryan Villopoto has arrived in Europe for the final preparation for the opening round of the World Motocross Championships scheduled for the 28th of February at Losail, Qatar. Here is what he wrote on his twitter: ‘Here we go. A journey that will never be forgotten!! #usa #America #godbless’
Race Reports and Results for the Weekend of the 24th and 25th of January
- – Monster Energy Supercross Championships – Round 4 – Oakland
- – AMSOIL Arenacross Championships – Rounds 4 and 5 – Colorado Springs, CO
- – 2015 Night of The Jumps – European Championships Rounds 3 and 4 – Graz
- – UK Arenacross Championships – Round 4 – Birmingham
- – AMA WORCS Series – Round 1 – Taft, California
- – New Zealand Motocross Grand Prix – Woodvill, Tararua
- – Alès Trêm Extreme Enduro – France
- – 2015 Deep Well Motocross – Alice Springs, NT
Monster Energy Supercross Championships – Round 4 – Oakland
450SX Report: Honda’s Trey Canard put the events of last week’s controversial main event behind him by cleanly passing early leader Chad Reed on lap seven of the 450 Main event before pulling away for the win ahead of Red Bull KTM’s Ryan Dungey who came through to finish second, while Reed, on the Discount Tire/TwoTwo Motorsports Kawasaki, held on to finish third.
BTO Sports/KTM’s Andrew Short won the SupercrossLive.com Holeshot Award with RCH/Soaring Eagle/Jimmy John’s/Factory Suzuki’s Ken Roczen, who came into tonight’s race as the points leader with two wins, and Discount Tire/TwoTwo Motorsports’ Chad Reed in second and third respectively.
Reed passed Short for the lead on the opening lap, and Roczen passed Reed on Lap 1. However, after the pass, Roczen did not have the momentum needed to clear the triple jump and crashed upon landing, forcing him to drop back to nearly last place. He eventually remounted and finished 16th overall.
Roczen’s crash allowed Reed, who was black flagged last week because of an on-track altercation with Team Honda’s Trey Canard, to take over the lead. Team Honda’s Cole Seely moved into third place on Lap 4 and Canard pulled into third place on the same lap.
Canard took over second place, just behind Reed, on Lap 5, and the stage was set for the highly anticipated duel between the two riders. Canard wasted little time on Reed, passing him on the following lap.
On Lap 16, Red Bull/KTM’s Ryan Dungey passed Reed for second place, marking his second-consecutive runner-up finish of the year. Reed finished third, his best finish of the season.
Canard’s last win came in Arlington, Texas in 2011. “I don’t know what to say,” said Canard. “I didn’t think I would be on the podium after the first few laps; it was busy out there. It has been a long haul to get here on top of the podium, and I am really happy about it.”
“All things considered, tonight’s track was really tough,” said Dungey. “I wanted to make up some ground on Trey [Canard] for the lead, but it didn’t work out. It’s nice to take over the points lead, but the season is still young.”
“I’m excited to run the red plate at the next round,” said Dungey. “I wish I could have taken the win tonight but I am happy that my consistent results have paid off and we are in the top spot heading to the next round. I have to keep building off these results and continue to work toward that win.”
Reed had this to say to RacerX after the race. “The race was all right. Decent start, put myself up front and tried to ride a good race. Got out front and made a few little mistakes and Trey [Canard] got me. He was riding really good, and he was really committed on his lines. He knew where he was going and just committed, where I was kind of searching a little bit at the beginning. I picked up a couple lines from him and a couple of my own, and toward the end, with six laps or so to go, I started taking a little bit out of his lead and we were dropping Dunge. I was getting excited, maybe a little too excited, and just got a little cross-rutted and jumped off the side of the track. It was a bummer, just a mistake on my side and I was disappointed in that.”
Dungey’s consistency in the young series has paid off—at least up to this point. With Roczen having his first bad race of the season, the KTM rider moves into the points lead but by only four points over Roczen. Canard is 14 points back in third.
Tomac, who ended up fourth on the night, finishing just ahead of Seely, is fourth in the standings, two points behind Canard.
250SX Report: GEICO Honda’s Malcolm Stewart finally captured his first 250 Supercross win after taking full advantage of a crash by early leader Justin Hill and bad starts by series point leader Cooper Webb and opening-round winner Jessy Nelson.
Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Zach Bell started the Western regional 250SX Class Main Event by winning the SupercrossLive Holeshot Award. Following closely was Kawasaki’s Chris Alldredge and GEICO Honda’s Malcolm Stewart in second and third respectively.
Yamaha’s Cooper Webb, who came into tonight’s race with a two-race win streak and the points lead, started near the back of the pack.
Stewart worked his way into second place on Lap 1, and on the following lap, he moved into the lead. On the race’s third lap, the lead would change again as Red Bull/KTM’s Justin Hill passed Stewart for the lead. Alldredge had a miscue and jumped off the track, which cost him several positions. Yamaha’s Alex Martin moved into the third position by Lap 5.
While working his way through the pack, Webb collided with four-time AMSOIL Arenacross Champion Tyler Bowers and subsequently crashed.
While in the lead on Lap 7, Hill crashed and turned the lead back over to Stewart. Following the bad start and the crash, Webb came back, and passed Bowers, to put himself in third place. On the last lap, Webb passed Martin for second place and earned his third consecutive podium finish.
Martin finished third, the first podium of his career and he had this to say to RacerX. “It feels amazing. I’ve been working hard for many, many years, grinding away and sometimes kind of questioning why I do this whole thing. To get up on the podium on the West Coast supercross series, it’s an awesome feeling. It felt like a dream. When I crossed the finish line I had to look. Like, what place am I in? I was so focused during the race I didn’t look at what lap I was on, what position I was in… I knew what position I was in, but I just tried to not get lazy at all in the middle of the race, especially because I knew it’d come to bite me with Cooper [Webb] and [Tyler] Bowers trying to chase me down.”
“I didn’t get the start that I wanted, but I worked my way through, but then Bowers [Tyler] sawed my front end off,” said Webb who now holds and eight-point lead in championship stands over Bowers. Stewart moved up one spot in the standings and is sixth.
“This is a big moment for me,” said Stewart. “First of all, I want to thank my brother. I want to thank these fans out here tonight, I am an Oakland Raiders fan, so you guys are great. I knew I could do it, and tonight it finally paid off.”
450SX Class Results – Oakland: 1. Trey Canard (Hon). 2. Ryan Dungey (KTM). 3. Chad Reed (Kaw). 4. Eli Tomac (Hon). 5. Cole Seely (Hon). 6. Justin Barcia (Yam). 7. Davi Millsaps (Kaw). 8. Andrew Short (KTM). 9. Blake Baggett (Suz). 10. Jason Anderson (Hus). 11. Jake Weimer (Kaw). 12. Brett Metcalfe (Suz). 13. Kyle Chisholm (Kaw). 14. Phil Nicoletti (Yam). 15. Ken Roczen (Suz). 16. Vince Friese (Hon). 17. Fredrik Noren (Hon). 18. Kyle Partridge (Hon). 19. Killian Rusk (Yam). 20. Martin Davalos (Hus). 21. Josh Grant (Kaw). 22. Brock Tickle (Suz).
450SX Class Season Standings: 1. Ryan Dungey (82). 2. Ken Roczen (78). 3. Trey Canard (68). 4. Eli Tomac (64). 5. Jason Anderson (62). 6. Justin Barcia (58). 7. Cole Seely (45). 8. Davi Millsaps (44). 9. Andrew Short (44). 10. Chad Reed (42). 15. Brett Metcalfe (27).
Western Regional 250SX Class Results – Oakland: 1. Malcolm Stewart (Hon). 2. Cooper Webb (Yam). 3. Alex Martin (Yam). 4. Tyler Bowers (Kaw). 5. Zach Bell (Hus). 6. Zach Osborne (Hus). 7. Aaron Plessinger (Yam). 8. Josh Hansen (Kaw). 9. Justin Hill (Kaw). 10. Jessy Nelson (KTM). 11. Shane McElrath (Hon). 12. Zachery Freeberg (Yam). 13. Scott Champion (Yam). 14. Jackson Richardson (Hon). 15. Cole Martinez (Yam). 16. Tommy Hahn (Hon). 17. Austin Politelli (Yam). 18. Trevor Reis (Yam). 19. Brandon Scharer (Suz).20. Nico Izzi (Yam). 21. Chris Alldredge (Kaw). 22. Aaron Simince (Kaw).
Western Regional 250SX Class Season Standings: 1. Cooper Webb (86). 2. Tyler Bowers (78). 3. Jessy Nelson (71). 4. Zach Osborne (69). 5. Justin Hill (65). 6. Malcolm Stewart (64). 7. Aaron Plessinger (54). 8. Shane McElrath (49). 9. Alex Martin (47). 10. Josh Hansen (47). 16. Jackson Richardson (20).
AMSOIL Arenacross Championship – Rounds 4 and 5 – Colorado Springs, CO
Friday Night: Team Babbitt’s Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jacob Hayes won the opening night of Amsoil Arenacross at the Broadmoor World Arena in Colorado Springs, CO. Hayes, in his second season in arenacross, edged TiLUBE TUF Racing’s Gavin Faith, and moved closer to teammate Matt Goerke with his third main event win of the season.
In the first round of the Western Regional Lites Class, A&Y Racing Honda’s Daniel Herrlierin won the main event over Dave Ginolfi and Daniel Blair.
Saturday Night: TiLUBE TUF Racing’s Kyle Regal broke through for his first career Amsoil Arenacross overall in Colorado Spring, CO. Regal, who has a Lucas Oil Pro Motocross podium on his resume, took the win ahead of Bobby Kiniry and Jacob Hayes. Matt Goerke, who finished fourth overall Saturday, still holds the points lead (140) over teammate Jacob Hayes (128). Regal (109) is third in points.
In the Western Regional Lites Class, arenacross veteran Daniel Blair captured the win over Daniel Herrlein and Scott Zont. After two rounds, Blair leads the West Region in points over Brandon Glenn and Chase Marquier.
Arenacross Class Results – Round 4 Overall (Main Event Finishes)
1. Jacob Hayes, Liberty, N.C., Kawasaki (2-1)
2. Gavin Faith, Fort Dodge, Iowa, Husqvarna (1-3)
3. Matt Goerke, Temecula, Calif., Kawasaki (3-2)
4. Michael McDade, McDonald, Ohio, Yamaha (10-5)
5. Steven Mages, Sardinia, Ohio, KTM (5-10)
6. Kyle Regal, Grand Prairie, Texas, Husqvarna (12-4)
7. Daniel Herrlein, Bethesda, Ohio, Honda (6-9)
8. Gared Steinke, Temecula, Calif., KTM (4-12)
9. Cory Green, Nowata, Okla., Suzuki (8-8)
10. Willy Browning, Pleasantville, Ohio, KTM (11-6)
Arenacross Class Results – Round 5 Overall (Main Event Finishes)
1. Kyle Regal, Grand Prairie, Texas, Husqvarna (3-1)
2. Bobby Kiniry, Holland Patent, N.Y., Yamaha (2-4)
3. Jacob Hayes, Liberty, N.C., Kawasaki (5-2)
4. Matt Goerke, Temecula, Calif., Kawasaki (6-3)
5. Travis Sewell, Westville, Ind., KTM (7-5)
6. Chris Blose, Phoenix, Ariz., Kawasaki (1-12)
7. Steven Mages, Sardinia, Ohio, KTM (8-6)
8. Willy Browning, Pleasantville, Ohio, KTM (10-7)
9. Michael McDade, McDonald, Ohio, Yamaha (4-14)
10. Daniel Herrlein, Bethesda, Ohio, Honda (11-8)
Arenacross Class Points (Race 5 of 20)
1. Matt Goerke, Temecula, Calif., Kawasaki – 140
2. Jacob Hayes, Liberty, N.C., Kawasaki – 128 (3 Main Event wins)
3. Kyle Regal, Grand Prairie, Texas, Husqvarna – 109 (2 Main Event wins)
4. Steven Mages, Sardinia, Ohio, Kawasaki – 105 (1 Main Event win)
5. Travis Sewell, Westville, Ind., KTM – 99
6. Willy Browning, Pleasantville, Ohio, KTM – 97
7. Chris Blose, Phoenix, Ariz., Kawasaki – 85 (2 Main Event wins)
8. Bobby Kiniry, Holland Patent, N.Y., Yamaha – 85
9. Daniel Herrlein, Bethesda, Ohio, Honda – 85
10. Gared Steinke, Temecula, Calif., Kawasaki – 75
Western Regional Arenacross Lites Class – Round 1 Results
1. Daniel Herrlein, Bethesda, Ohio, Honda
2. Dave Ginolfi, Boston, N.J., KTM
3. Daniel Blair, Lodi, Calif., KTM
4. Chase Marquier, Newcastle, Okla., Honda
5. Cody VanBuskirk, Harvard, Ill., KTM
6. Brandon Glenn, Mesquite, Texas, KTM
7. Dylan Rouse, Florence, Ky., KTM
8. Axell Hodges, Encinitas, Calif., Kawasaki
9. Dylan Merriam, Corona, Calif., KTM
10. Josh Struebig, Crown Point, Ind., KTM
Western Regional Arenacross Lites Class – Round 2 Results
1. Daniel Blair, Lodi, Calif., KTM
2. Daniel Herrlein, Bethesda, Ohio, Honda
3. Scott Zont, Algonquin, Ill., KTM
4. Brandon Glenn, Mesquite, Texas, KTM
5. Dave Ginolfi, Boston, N.J., KTM
6. Dalton Oxborrow, Lehi, Utah, Kawasaki
7. Tanner Sisson, Chillicothe, Ohio, KTM
8. Travis Bannister, Calhan, Colo., Honda
9. Mason Wharton, Brush Prairie, Wash., Kawasaki
10. Alex Frye, Huntington, Md., KTM
Western Regional Arenacross Lites Class Points (After Race 2 of 9)
1. Daniel Blair, Lodi, Calif., KTM – 30
2. Brandon Glenn, Mesquite, Texas, KTM – 24
3. Chase Marquier, Newcastle, Okla., Honda – 13
4. Cody VanBuskirk, Harvard, Ill., KTM – 13
5. Travis Bannister, Calhan, Colo., Honda – 12
6. Mason Wharton, Brush Prairie, Wash., Kawasaki – 12
7. Josh Struebig, Crown Point, Ind., KTM – 12
8. Dalton Oxborrow, Lehi, Utah, Kawasaki – 11
9. Tanner Sisson, Chillicothe, Ohio, KTM – 10
10. Axell Hodges, Encinitas, Calif., Kawasaki – 9
2015 Night of The Jumps – European Championships Rounds 3 and 4 – Graz
The press releases and reports from these events are just dribble but here are the results anyway.
Final Results Night 1:
1. Remi Bizouard, FRA – 386 Points
2. Petr Pilat, CZE – 381 Points
3. Maikel Melero, ESP – 379 Points
4. Luc Ackermann, GER – 356 Points
5. Brice Izzo, FRA – 348 Points
6. James Carter, USA – 321 Points
Final Results Night 2:
1. Maikel Melero, ESP – 396 points
2. Remi Bizouard, FRA – 383 points
3. Petr Pilat, CZE – 380 points
4. Filip Podmol, CZE – 359 points
5. Brice Izzo, FRA – 356 points
6. Luc Ackermann – 61 points
Championship Standings After Round 4:
1. Remi Bizouard, FRA – 74 points
2. Petr Pilat, CZE – 70 points
3. Maikel Melero, ESP – 61 points
4. Luc Ackermann, GER – 50 points
5. Brice Izzo, FRA – 41 points
6. James Carter, USA – 36 points
7. Jose Miralles, ESP – 35 points
8. David Rinaldo, FRA – 34 points
9. Leonardo Fini, ITA – 30 points
10. Filip Podmol, CZE – 22 points
11. Steve Sommerfeld, AUS – 22 points
UK Arenacross Championships – Round 4 – Birmingham
Birmingham is always an awesome night for Arenacross and this time around Adam Chatfield showed us just why he was the Champion in 2013 taking the win in the Main event after an epic night of racing.
After coming off in Belfast last week during practice on Saturday, cracked ribs and a punctured lung meant that round 2 was a write off for Adam and despite doing some hospital time Chatfield led the main just in front of Frenchmen Florent Richier who came second. Championship leader Thomas Ramette, ended third, but his team SR75- MOLSON are still leading the Team Championship.
Elliott Banks-Browne took the points in the head to heads after some exciting riding from the English rider and not so much carnage in the LCQ this weekend led to Apico Husqvarna’s Franklin Nogueras took a spot in the main. However a fumble on the side of the track left him in 12th position, but still picking up some of those all important points! Our resident bad boy Ashley Greedy joined him and the Shocktech rider bagged himself 11th place overall.
Last week’s winner Angelo Pellegrini struggled to get into the top three tonight, ending up in 7th place after a pretty exciting Main Event. The tour now moves to round 5 at Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle on Sunday the 1st of February.
Pro Main Event Result: 1. Adam Chatfield. 2. Florent Richier. 3. Thomas Ramette. 4. Cyrille Coulos. 5. Loic Rombaut. 6. Nev Bradshaw. 7. Angelo Pellegrini. 8. Elliott Banks-Browne. 9. Harri Kullas. 10. Greg Crater. 11. Ashley Greedy. 12. Franklin Nogueras.
2015 Pro Championship Standings: 1 Thomas Ramette. 2 Florent Richier. 3 Adam Chatfield.
AMA WORCS Series – Round 1 – Taft, California
The 2015 Rocky Mountain MC World Off-Road Championship Series got things started over the weekend with the opening round taking place in Taft, California. The usually dusty course at Honolulu Hills had limited visibility once again, but this time due to an unusually heavy layer of fog and many riders faced the unforeseen challenge of goggle issues throughout the 2-hour race, but in the end, it was Robby Bell who finished out front, firing the first shot of the season.
Defending champion Gary Sutherlin was one of the many struggling with vision problems, but he managed to pilot his factory-support KTM to a runner-up finish. It was not the start he’d hoped for in his title defence, but a respectable one nonetheless. He finished ahead of Honda’s Justin Jones, who rounded out the overall podium. Justin Seeds and Eric Yorba completed the top-five.
In the Pro 2 ranks, Michael Del Fante took the win in his class debut, but it didn’t come easy as Steve Gibson chased him all the way to the finish line. Gibson finished a close second followed by Dalton Shirey.
Pro Results: 1. Robby Bell (Kaw). 2. Gary Sutherlin (KTM). 3. Justin Jones (Hon). 4. Justin Seeds (Kaw). 5. Eric Yorba (KTM). 6. Blayne Thompson (Kaw). 7. Ivan Ramirez (KTM). 8. Travis Coy (KTM). 9. Jesse Lundin (Yam). 10. Justin Morgan (Yam).
Pro 2 Results: 1. Michael Del Fante (Yam). 2. Steven Gibson (Kaw). 3. Dalton Shirey (Hus). 4. Starr Savage (KTM). 5. Travis Damon (Hon). 6. Justin Wallis (KTM). 7. David Broderick (KTM). 8. Erik King (Kaw). 9. Chad Broughton (Kaw). 10. Jakob McCoid (KTM).
New Zealand Motocross Grand Prix – Woodville, Tararua
The 25-year-old Queenslander Kirk Gibbs has won the 54th annual Honda New Zealand Motocross Grand Prix at Woodville becoming the first non-Kiwi in 25 years to win the coveted New Zealand crown.
The factory KTM pilot caught and passed last year’s Woodville champion Cody Cooper in the closing stages of the day’s main feature race and took the chequered flag. “Just being able to ride at all is a bit of a shock actually,” said Gibbs, in New Zealand as a guest rider for the Auckland-based CMR Red Bull KTM Team. “Usually, at this time of the year, I’m suffering from one sort of injury or another. This is the first time in five years that I have not been injured in my off-season.”
“Winning the Woodville GP is a massive thing. I think I sort of sneaked up on the rear wheel of Cody. I don’t think he realised how close I was. My bike is very quiet … so perhaps you could say I was in stealth mode,” he laughed.
Cooper completely dominated each of the MX1 races, winning three races from three starts with Gibbs finishing runner-up each time, but, unfortunately for Cooper, they were not races that decided the GP title.
Queenstown’s Scott Columb (Altherm JCR Yamaha Racing Team) finished third overall in the MX1 class with Gibb’s teammate Luke Styke and Rotorua’s John Phillips (The Honda Shop Racing Team) rounding out the top five.
In the MX2 class in was Rotorua’s Mike Phillips (The Honda Shop Racing Team) who took the overall win by 11 points from the KTM pairing of Caleb Ward and Josiah Natzke.
Natzke (CMR Red Bull KTM) was unbeaten in his three seniors 125cc class races to easily win the grade ahead of Taupo’s Wyatt Chase and Benjamin Broad.
Pahiatua’s Paul Whibley (Freedom Moto Yamaha) won the River Race ahead of non-other than Ben Townley.
MX1 GP Overall Results: 1. Cody Cooper – 75 Pts. 2. Kirk Gibbs – 66 Pts. 3. Scott Columb – 56 Pts. 4. Luke Styke – 50 Pts. 5. John Phillips – 49 Pts. 6. Rhys Carter – 44 Pts. 7. Jacob Wright – 40 Pts. 8. Ethan Martens – 40 Pts. 9. Daryl Hurley – 35 Pts. 10. Justin McDonald – 34 Pts.
MX2 GP Overall Results: 1. Michael Phillips – 67 Pts. 2. Caleb Ward – 56 Pts. 3. Josiah Natzke – 54 Pts. 4. Kayne Lamont – 53 Pts. 5. Hadleigh Knight – 45 Pts. 6. Jay Wilson – 45 Pts. 7. Campbell King – 42 Pts. 8. Micah McGoldick – 40 Pts. 9. Scotty Canham – 34 Pts. 10. Hayden Kanters – 34 Pts.
125cc GP Overall Results: 1. Josiah Natzke – 75 Pts. 2. Wyatt Chase – 62 Pts. 3. Benjamin Broad – 52 Pts. 4. Reece Walker – 50 Pts. 5. Aaron Smith – 44 Pts. 6. Aaron Manning – 44 Pts. 7. Nick Hornby – 43 Pts. 8. Kurtis Lilly – 39 Pts. 9. Liam Draper – 34 Pts. 10. Ant Parker – 27pts.
Blue Wing Honda-Invitation Feature Race: 1. Kirk Gibbs – 05:49.844. 2. Cody Cooper +01.416. 3. Scott Columb +10.191. 4. Ethan Martens +13.691. 5. Daryl Hurley +15.232. 6. Jacob Wright +16.086. 7. Michael Phillips +17.091. 8. Luke Styke +22.198. 9. Caleb Ward +22.935. 10. Yu Hirata +27.480.
Tararua County – River Race: 1. Paul Whibley – 50 Pts. 2. Ben Townley – 42 Pts. 3. Josh Hunger – 34 Pts. 4. Jacob Hyslop – 34 Pts. 5. Seth Reardon – 31 Pts. 6. James Galpin – 31 Pts. 7. Charlie Richardson – 24 Pts. 8. Mitch Rowe – 24 Pts. 9. Charles Alabaster – 22 Pts. 10. Allan Gudsell – 21 Pts.
Alès Trêm Extreme Enduro – France
Red Bull KTM’s Jonny Walker opened his Extreme Enduro season with flair and a win in a brand new event, the Alès Trêm in France on Saturday. Walker came home ahead of rival Graham Jarvis with his Red Bull KTM factory teammate Andreas Lettenbichler coming home in third place.
Alès Trêm a venue new to all riders kicked off what promises to be a great Extreme Enduro season and it was a definite confidence booster for Walker to pull off a victory over Jarvis. “For a new race it’s been great.” Walker admitted. “It was hard work, and some parts of the track were really technical on the last lap, but generally it wasn’t overly difficult.”
“Being the first rider to start the first lap meant that I didn’t have any tire tracks to follow. I got lost for a short time on the second lap, and dropped back to third. But I pushed really hard on the final lap and everything went well. Like I said it’s not been overly difficult, but really enjoyable. The prologue on the first day was also great fun.”
Runner up, Husqvarna’s Graham Jarvis enjoyed the event but was disappointed to finish in second position. “It’s been a good event but to be honest I’m a little disappointed I didn’t win.” Jarvis stated. “I made a mistake on the final quarry section and the victory got away from me there. Starting the main event I was a little on the back foot having qualified sixth in Friday’s prologue.”
“I’d been getting the holeshot all day during my heat races but for the Super Final I spun my rear tyre coming out of the starting gate and was pushed to the back of the track. With only five laps to recover, and in darkness, it just wasn’t possible so I had to play it safe.”
“For Saturday’s main event I pushed hard on the opening lap to close the gap to the leaders. It wasn’t overly difficult terrain but with three laps to ride it was quite physical. I got into the lead on lap two and felt good. It wasn’t really possible to breakaway from Jonny and for the final lap it was a case of whoever made a mistake lost the race.”
“Unfortunately it was me. I got on the wrong line descending into the quarry and he got past. After that I just couldn’t fight back and had to settle for second. Overall I’m pleased. I’m riding well, the bike feels great and with Hell’s Gate a little over two weeks away it’s been the perfect event to get a few race miles under my belt.”
Alès Trêm Overall Results:
1. Jonny Walker (GBR), KTM, 4:15.06 h
2. Graham Jarvis (GBR), Husqvarna, 4:17.12
3. Andreas Lettenbichler (GER), KTM, 4:28.45
4. Pierre Pallut (FRA), Husqvarna, 4:48.24
5. Alexandre Queyreyre (FRA), Beta, 4:51.07
2015 Deep Well Motocross – Alice Springs. NT
KTM Off-Road Racing Team new signing Tye Simmonds has begun his tenure with the team in the best possible fashion, leading a KTM 1, 2 in the annual Deep Well Motocross event south of Alice Springs.
Finishing with 3, 1, 1 results from the three points-paying motos, the former factory motocross professional only needed one race to get a feel for the 9-kilometre loop, then proved the motocross-style demands of the race to his liking, winning from his KTM teammate Ivan Long, with Damon Stokie third.
“The team had a good day so is the main thing.” Simmonds commented. “It’s about a 9 km loop but it’s pretty wide the whole way around, so you can definitely have some good battles with guys on the way round. But it’s just a mixture of everything, up and down big sand dunes, across a couple of clay pan flats where we get up to about 130 km an hour, and it was rough all the way around so that was a good thing.
“It was unreal, Grabbo is obviously one of the best in the business; I’m on the best team there is in both the desert racing and enduro scenes – you can’t get any better than these guys, and the bikes are just unreal.
“He went out of his way to do everything for me, we made a few by changes in between the first and second moto, and before I could even ask or talk about anything, he already had in his mind what he wanted to change. I barely had to do or say anything, he was on top of it all.”
Long, the defending Deep Well Motocross Champion, won the day’s first moto and finished second in Moto 2 to take the overall lead into the final, but couldn’t halt the charging Simmonds and was forced to take second for the race and the day.
“It was the coolest Deep Well I’ve ever ridden, they even had 5mm of rain overnight, so it was definitely different. It was good fun.” Long explained.
“I was beating my head against the wall initially because the forks were a little bit too stiff and I got arm pump, but the last two motos were a lot better – even though I won the first one, my last two were a lot better. It’s just that that new recruit is a little bit quicker than me!
“In that last one, we had a dingdong battle right at the start, and then he got away, but then I caught back up to him, only to have a couple of lappers get in the way and I lost him. But the main thing was that we went 1, 2 for the team.”
Possibly the hottest and hardest motocross race in the world, Deep Well subjects riders to three 35-40 minute motos in heavy sand in temperatures which, while they only reached 40 this year, regularly approach 50 degrees.
Simmonds now goes straight back into national-level action, taking on the first round of the Australian Enduro-X series at Brisbane’s Archerfield Speedway on February 7.
