Smarty’s Moto News Wrap for Sept 9, 2014
After a year in the World MX2 Motocross Championship we will see Luke Styke join Kirk Gibbs on the KTM Motocross Racing Team for the 2015 Australian MX Nationals and Supercross Championships. For my mind this is as good an out-come possible for KTM with Styke and Gibbs being former team mates and having a similar work ethic as far as training and testing.
It seems that 19-year -ld Jacob Wright has signed with the CDR Yamaha team for 2015 while former CDR rider Jay Marmont has signed with the Penrite Honda team for the 2014 Australian Supercross Championship with the opportunity to do selected rounds of the 2015 MX Nationals, and even possibly a return to the 2015 ASX.
Lawson Bopping may have secured a spot next to Matt Moss on the factory Suzuki team for the upcoming supercross season.
There aren’t enough superlatives to describe the season that Toby Price and his KTM team have put together, he has continued his winning streak by taking out his fourth AORC. See the report and results below.
BUGGA!!!! Dean Ferris has broken his femur in a crash during the Grand Prix of Brazil last weekend and will obviously miss the Motocross of Nations and the opportunity to increase his bid for a factory ride on 2015. Looking at the lap charts from both MX1 motos it looks like Dean was riding really well with a solid sixth in moto one, and a holeshot in moto two saw the Aussie right among the top GP riders so all we can hope is that he recovers 100 per cent and scores a decent ride.
So, who will ride MX2 for team Australia at the Motocross of Nations? Luke Clout is our national champion but isn’t really the fastest rider in the class so if I was picking the MX2 rider I would send Caleb Ward. You need Fast and Fearless at the MXoN and the North Queenslander is both!!!
With Antonio Cairoli wrapping up an incredible 8th World Motocross Championship in Brazil last weekend all eyes fall on the MX2 class at the last round in Mexico this weekend where we have the injured Jeffrey Herlings still leading the championship by 23 points over his teammate Jordi Tixier.
My bet is that Herlings turns up, rides around to score 18 to 20 points and wins his third MX2 title. See the report and results from Brazil below.
We should know one way or another shortly but it seems that Ryan Villopoto is very close to signing a contract with Kawasaki Japan to race the 2015 World Motocross Championships.
This is interesting, Troy Lee Designs (TLD) announces a multi-year deal with KTM Motorsports which will see the Troy Lee Designs / Lucas Oil / Red Bull / KTM team riders compete in both the 2015 AMA Supercross Series as well as the 2015 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship aboard Red Bull / KTM supported motorcycles. The AMA is turning orange my friends.
WOW!! There are reports coming in from the States that Blake Baggett will leave Pro Circuit Kawasaki to take a 450 ride at Yoshimura Suzuki alongside James Stewart.
Moto Wrap for the weekend of Sept 6/7 includes:
- – Round 16 of the World Motocross Championships (MXGP of State of Goias) in Trindade, Brazil
- – Rounds 11 and 12 of the 2014 Australian Off-Road Championships at Heathcote
- – Round 10 of the Amsoil GNCC at Unadilla, New Berlin, NY
World Motocross Championships (MXGP of State of Goias) – Round 16 – Trindade, Brazil
MX1: You have to feel for Max Nagl. The Honda rider blitzed both motos in Brazil but his performance was over shadowed by the crowning of the now eight-time World Motocross Champion Antonio Cairoli.
Here is what Max had to say anyway. “I just had a perfect day, I didn’t make any mistakes, had perfect starts and could control the races. Even with the heat I could make it through.”
“After Lommel, we did a great job because we went testing and improved the bike a lot and that was shown by the good starts and the overall performance. I also benefitted from the long break from racing. Physically I am much better again and from the beginning of the weekend here we had a great set-up and feeling and everything was going in a good direction right from Saturday morning. I think the track was better than in Europe where we have so many classes and there are strange lines and bumps.”
Let’s leave the last word to Cairoli. “When you are a kid you wish for such a thing but you never think you can do it, its hard work but it gives you back many good things.”
“I managed to finish on the podium in all but three races and that was good to achieve points for the season. This was a track that was nice for training but when you race here there’s a lot of big jumps and not many places where you can really ride your bike and make a difference but now I will go to Mexico and it’s always my goal to win. Then the next big goal is the Motocross of Nations and I will try to be on the podium for the Italian team.”
MX2: When Husqvarna stepped back into the MX World Championships they would have dreamed of getting at least one or two moto wins but to win a GP is a big deal and it came thanks to their French star Romain Febvre “This is an incredible moment for me, I won my first race and took my first overall result – it’s fantastic. I’ve been really sick and I honestly didn’t expect to show this form. During the races I could hardly breathe, I was even sick – it was really hard. Race one was perfect – a start to finish victory.”
“Maybe nerves got the better of me at the beginning of race two or maybe it was the sickness because I was slow to get going. I had to dig deep at the end of the race but when I crossed the finish line in third it felt amazing to know I was the overall winner so a massive thanks to the Husqvarna, the Wilvo Nestaan team and my family for helping me achieve this important result.”
But here is the real story, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jordi Tixier could only manage fourth place with 34 points which still leaves him 23 points behind championship leader Jeffrey Herlings who is currently sidelined with a broken femur BUT is expected to ride in Mexico to score enough points to win the title.
“In the first moto I had a really bad start, I think I was last going around the first corner but in the end I came back to fifth.” Tixier explained. “My feeling was not so good on the track but I took a better start in the second moto. Then when I tried to push I made a mistake.
“Fourth place was not the result I was hoping for and I was not on the box, but I still got some points for the championship and there’s still one more round to go.”
With less than 20 actual GP riders on the grid in Mexico it would mean that Herlings could turn up and score two tenth places for 20 points leaving Tixier with the job of having to score 44 points (2 x 2nd place at least) to win the title.
MXGP Brazil Overall Top Ten: 1. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HON), 50. 2. Gautier Paulin (FRA, KAW), 40. 3. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 36. 4. Steven Frossard (FRA, KAW), 36. 5. Tommy Searle (GBR, KAW), 32. 6. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, SUZ), 32. 7. Davide Guarneri (ITA, TM), 25. 8. Milko Potisek (FRA, YAM), 24. 9. David Philippaerts (ITA, YAM), 24. 10. Matiss Karro (LAT, KTM), 20.
MXGP World Championship After Round 16 of 17: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 705. 2. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 596. 3. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, SUZ), 530. 4. Clement Desalle (BEL, SUZ), 484. 5. Steven Frossard (FRA, KAW), 392. 6. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 382. 7. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HON), 357. 8. Gautier Paulin (FRA, KAW), 315. 9. Davide Guarneri (ITA, TM), 270. 10. David Philippaerts (ITA, YAM), 258.
MX2 Brazil Overall Top Ten: 1. Romain Febvre (FRA, HUS), 45. 2. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, KAW), 44. 3. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 39. 4. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 34. 5. Valentin Guillod (SUI, KTM), 33. 6. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, KAW), 33. 7. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 27. 8. Christophe Charlier (FRA, YAM), 27. 9. Julien Lieber (BEL, KTM), 25. 10. Max Anstie (GBR, YAM), 21.
MX2 World Championship After Round 16 of 17: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 594. 2. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 571. 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, HUS), 534. 4. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, KAW), 511. 5. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 487. 6. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, KAW), 422. 7. Valentin Guillod (SUI, KTM), 412. 8. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, HUS), 384. 9. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), 345. 10. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 328.
Australian Off-Road Championships – Rounds 11 and 12 – Heathcote, Vic
KTM Enduro Racing Team rider Toby Price continues his record breaking season as he became the first rider to win a fourth AORC title after taking a win and second place over the final two rounds held at Heathcote in Central Victoria last weekend.
It is hard to fathom the amount of racing hours that Price has under his wheels this year with his results nothing short of out-standing. The former junior motocross champion has won Hattah, Finke, the WA Desert Tri-Series and the AORC while scoring second place in the KTM Enduro-X and the A4DE.
“It’s awesome! This year has just flown by that quick, and before we know it, we’ve done everything.” Price commented. “I’m over the moon, the whole KTM team has worked really well, and helped me achieve my goals that I had, which was to get back on the bike after the injury last year and try to win races again.
“I didn’t think winning a championship would come again so soon, but that’s what we strive for. I definitely wanted to win that one yesterday and get everything done and dusted. And it worked a treat.”
“The 6-day is next, but I’ll have a little bit of a break and let a few things heal up first. And then we’ll be good to go.”
2014 Final Outright Standings: 1. Toby Price – 260. 2. Daniel Milner – 218. 3. Glenn Kearney – 211. 4. Josh Green – 208. 5. Chris Hollis – 191. 6. Daniel Sanders – 165. 7. Lachlan Stanford – 162. 8. Beau Ralston – 156. 9. Tom McCormack – 150. 10. Geoff Braico – 131.
2014 Final E1 Standings: 1. Tom McCormack – 291. 2. Scott Keegan – 249. 3. Peter Boyle – 242. 4. Tom Kite – 207. 5. Nic Tomlinson – 185. 6. Michael McCormack – 144. 7. Thomas Jenner – 124. 8. Kristen Sprenger – 95. 9. Andrew Janke – 86. 10. John Prutti – 85.
2014 Final E2 Standings: 1. Toby Price – 260. 2. Josh Green – 227. 3. Daniel Milner – 225. 4. Chris Hollis – 219. 5. Lachlan Stanford – 198. 6. Beau Ralston – 195. 7. Geoff Braico – 173. 8. Kye Anderson – 128. 9. Alex Bolton – 124. 10. Nathan Purton – 64.
2014 Final E3 Standings: 1. Glenn Kearney – 297. 2. Stefan Granqvist – 218. 3. Jarrod Bewley – 199. 4. Daniel Chrzanowski – 60. 5. Craig Hepburn – 46. 6. Adam Miller – 44. 7. Jake Deagan – 40. 8. Mitch Bowen – 38. 9. Adam Giles – 36. 10. Joel James – 36.
Amsoil GNCC – Round 10 – Unadilla, New Berlin, NY
Factory FMF/KTM’s Kailub Russell led every lap of the Unadilla round of the GNCC thus extending his points lead over Aussie Josh Strang in the XC1 Pro class while KTM Support rider Grant Baylor put in an impressive ride to capture the XC2 Pro Lites victory and fourth overall for the day, finishing only three seconds shy of securing an overall podium.
“I’m glad I was able to get the win today and increase my points lead heading into the final three rounds,” Russell said. “I’m already looking forward to a rock race in a couple weeks in Pennsylvania, it’s going to be fun!”
Thad DuVall put in an impressive come-from-behind performance to capture second overall for the day on the Honda CRF450R. “I usually don’t feel as comfortable on the 450 as I did on the 250F but we spent all summer testing the 450 and raced it at a local race and now I love it,” DuVall said. “Especially on this Unadilla track, I was able to ride in a higher gear and I think it helped out a lot.”
Strang maintained the third place position on the final lap, where he rounded out the overall podium for the day. Strang’s third place finish allowed him to move into second place in the championship standings, where he now sits 50 points back from Russell’s lead. “Third place isn’t where I’d like to be obviously but I’m glad to finish on the podium and keep working to get that win this season,” Strang said.
XC1 Event Results: 1. Kailub Russell (KTM). 2. Thad DuVall (HON). 3. Josh Strang (YAM). 4. Chris Bach (HON). 5. Andrew Delong (HSQ). 6. Paul Whibley (YAM). 7. Takeshi Koikeda (HON). 8. Jordan Ashburn (YAM). 9. Ryan Sipes (KTM). 10. Adam Bonneur (KAW).
Overall National Championship Standings: 1. Kailub Russell (263). 2. Josh Strang (186). 3. Charlie Mullins (180). 4. Jordan Ashburn (166). 5. Grant Baylor (152). 6. Paul Whibley (137). 7. Andrew Delong (134). 8. Ricky Russell (117). 9. Chris Bach (108). 10. Steward Baylor (102).
XC2 Event Results: 1. Grant Baylor (KTM). 2. Trevor Bollinger (HON). 3. Nick Davis (KTM). 4. Ricky Russell (YAM). 5. Ian Blythe (KTM). 6. Michael McGinnis (KTM). 7. Callan May (YAM). 8. Drew Torrance (KTM). 9. Phillipe Chaine (KTM). 10. Jesse Groemm (KTM).
XC2 Series Standings: 1. Grant Baylor (262). 2. Ricky Russell (233). 3. Trevor Bollinger (210). 4. Layne Michael (127). 5. Jesse Groemm (119). 6. Callan May (115). 7. Shane Hufford Jr (114). 8. Sam Evans (104). 9. Chris Douglas (99). 10. Nick Davis (90).
Red Bull 111 Megawatt – Poland
Taddy Blazusiak has pipped Jonny Walker at the inaugural Red Bull 111 Megwatt Super Enduro held in Poland last weekend.
Walker has won every major Super Enduro event in 2014 but in the end it was the multiple SuperEnduro World Champion and five-time winner of the Erzberg who crossed the finish line just a few bike lengths ahead of Walker. “I was trying hard not to make any mistakes and follow my strategy,” said Blazusiak. “I did my best, and even though I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, I really wanted to triumph in front of my home crowd.”
Results – Red Bull 111 Megawatt: 1. Taddy Blazusiak (KTM); 2. Jonny Walker (KTM); 3. Andreas Lettenbichler (KTM).
Moto Wrap for the weekend of Sept 13/14 will include:
- – Round 17 of the World Motocross Championships (MXGP of State of Mexico) in Leon
- – Round 10 of the FIM Speedway Grand Prix in Vojens, Denmark
- – Round 8 of the FIM World Enduro Championships in Brioude, France
- – Round 7 of the All Japan Motocross Championships in Meihan
- – Round 7 of the World Off-Road Championships (WORCS) Series at Glen Helen, California
