Moto News Weekly Wrap | August 2

Moto News Wrap for August 2, 2016 by Darren Smart

Proudly brought to you by Dunlop Geomax

This Weeks Racing Overview

• FIM World Motocross Championships – Round 14 – Lommel, Belgium
• Australian MX Nationals – Round 8 – Shepparton, Vic
• Canadian Motocross Championships – Round 8
• Poland take seventh Monster Energy FIM Speedway World Cup Win in Britain
• European EMX250 Motocross Championship
• Graham Jarvis Wins the Battle of Vikings in Sweden
• Alfredo Gomez Wins the wall in Italy
• WA Junior MX Titles – Round 4 – Chidlow

This Week’s News Overview

• Australian SX Series Supp Regs released
• Ryan Villopoto talks AUS-X
• Motodevelopment join forces with Husqvarna
• Conondale Classic is going to be HUGE!
• Jeremy Martin Breaks Ribs
• Gajser goes Green
• EMX300 to stay in MXGP Calendar
• Hunter Lawrence turns 17
• Herlings Misses Lommel
• Suzuki MXGP Team steps back in Time

Australian SX Series Supp Regs released

Motorcycling Australia (MA) in conjunction with the rights promoters have announced that the Supplementary Regulations for the 2016 Australian Supercross Championship are now available via the ‘Enter’ links below. 

1. Round 1 – Jimboomba – Enter
2. Round 2 – Toowoomba – Enter
3. Round 3 – Wayville – Enter
4. Round 4 – Avalon – Enter
5. Round 5 – AUS-X OPEN Sydney – Enter
6. Round 6 – AUS-X OPEN Sydney – Enter

2016 Australian Supercross calendar

• Round 1 – Jimboomba, Queensland – Saturday September 17
• Round 2 – Toowoomba, Queensland – Friday October 14
• Round 3 – Wayville, South Australia – Saturday October 29
• Round 4 – Avalon, Victoria – Saturday – November 5
• Rounds 5 & 6 – Homebush, New South Wales – Saturday & Sunday November 12-13

Ryan Villopoto Racing AUS-X

With a baby on the way you would think that a return to racing would be the last thing on Ryan Villopoto’s mind but the multi AMA motocross and supercross champion is on his way to Australia to go head-to-head with Chad Reed, Cooper Webb and our local stars – here is what RV had to say about his return to racing.

“I heard it was really good! I’ve always seen the races down there and stuff, and there are always guys coming up from Australia and racing supercross, and majority of them are pretty good. You know Chad’s obviously been here for many years now and I know Dan Reardon was here racing at some stage too. So I’m excited to get down there, check Australia out, race those guys and have a hell of a time.”

Motodevelopment Join forces with Husqvarna

Former professional motocross racers and coaching gurus Chris Urquhart and Shane Booth have ended their long association with Yamaha and joined forces with Husqvarna Australia to expand their commitment to motocross and off-road rider development through ‘Motodevelopment Husqvarna Motocross Training’.

Conondale Classic is going to be HUGE!

This weekend the annual Maxima Racing Oils Conondale Classic will see the best part of 200 riders go toe-to-toe over the undulating hills of the Green Park circuit and with full grids in all of the main classes it will be a spectacle for competitors and spectators alike.

The Pre 1995 Pro Class has 30 riders signed up to ride with most of the interest centred around Craig Anderson’s return in his bid to win his first Conondale Classic Championship but he will have to beat some of the greatest riders to ever throw a leg over a motocross machine in Darryl Hurley, Daryl King, James Deakin, Glen Poole, Kim Ashkenazi and Steven Andrew while the young guns of the sport like Connor Rice, Mick McDermaid, Kirk Hutton, Callum Wastell and Zac Luzzi know how to get around a motocross track at speed as well so the older heads will have their work cut out for them.

All of the support classes have a more than healthy amount of loose cannons and former champions in their own right like Andrew Bailey, Steve Freiberg, Steve Wastell, Brad Van Barello, Kevin Bradley, Noel Harker, Derrick Redding, Mick Birt, John Kittle, John Kemp, Bill Nolan, Matthew Roeder and Tamara Gray to name a few.

And to top that off Freestyle guru Joel Balchin and renowned stuntman Dave Russell have signed up for the event so that alone will be worth the drive to the Sunshine Coast’s hinterland.

Jeremy Martin Breaks Ribs

Jeremy Martin has broken two ribs when he crashed early in the second 250 moto at Washougal and despite struggling back to 17^th place the two-time defending 250 champion is currently second in points, fifty-one back of teammate Cooper Webb with three rounds remaining in the championship. Fortunately for Martin his injury happened on the eve of a three week break so Jeremy is expected to be on the gate when moto one starts at Unadilla on August 13.

Gajser goes Green

Monster Energy announced a deal with current MXGP points leader Tim Gajser. The 19-year-old sensation will ride the remaining rounds of the FIM World Motocross Championship with the green Monster claw branded on his helmet with further branding on his Honda Gariboldi bikes.

Hunter Lawrence turns 17

Young Aussie motocross star Hunter Lawrence turned 17 yesterday and celebrated the milestone content with the fact that he will be racing the World MX2 Motocross Championship in 2017 for the factory Kawasaki team.

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EMX300 to stay in MXGP Calendar

Following the press release that the European Championship EMX300 was being dropped as one of the MXGP support classes a large number of manufacturers and teams put pressure on Youthstream to reinstate the class into the 2017 calendar forcing a backflip by the promoters

FIM Europe President Dr. Wolfgang Srb said, “I am very happy about this solution. The EMX300 class has developed very well and it is good for all of the parties involved that this European class remains within the FIM Motocross World Championship.”

Herlings Misses Lommel

World MX2 Motocross Championship leader Jeffrey Herlings missed his third round in a row after announcing that he will miss round 14 of the series in Lommel.

“I could have ridden, but my collarbone is still tender. Another blow to it could worsen the injury and put me out for the rest of the season. I do not want to take that risk. It is a painful decision. Lommel is one of my favourite tracks and almost a home GP for me. But this is the wisest decision at the moment.  I will have another examination and then decide whether to start again at the Swiss GP next weekend or at Assen on 28 August.”

Suzuki MXGP Team steps back in Time

This was a cool thing to do – Stefan Everts’ Suzuki MXGP team stepped back to the year of 1992 for the 14th round of the 2016 FIM Motocross World Championship at the team’s home event, Lommel. Everts unveiled the ‘jazzy’ new/old look along with riders Kevin Strijbos, Arminas Jasikonis, Jeremy Seewer, Brian Hsu and Bas Vaessen to a gathering of team partners, sponsors, friends and the international press.

Smarty’s Race Reports and Official Results from last Weekend

FIM World Motocross Championships – Round 14 – Lommel, Belgium

The deep sand of Lommel is famous for creating one of the most brutal tracks on the World Motocross Championship calendar where it takes a high degree of skill, fitness and dare I say it some luck to get through a full moto at speed.

Suzuki got their first MX1 GP win with Stefan Everts at the helm thanks to Kevin Strijbos going 3-3 over the two motos while MX2 Husqvarna star Max Anstie earned his first win of the season with two moto wins.

Strijbos hasn’t won a GP for nine years and to be honest I was surprised that he retained his factory Suzuki ride in 2016 and despite this season being riddled with injuries the Belgian showed that he is one of the best sand riders on the circuit.

“This is good, so nice. I really don’t have the words for my feelings at the moment,” Strijbos said. “In the first moto I ran with Max but then had to drop my speed a bit, which I wasn’t happy with, but found a rhythm again by the end. In the second moto I had to catch-up but I had some good lines and when I got to third I thought about the podium…and then tried not to think about it! All the crew were out of the pitbox on the last lap [saying] that I had won the GP. This is a special moment and it has been a long time since I was last on top; nine years and many of the young guys here were not even in GPs then! I’m so stoked for the team because we have worked so hard and not had any results until now; it was tough for them too.”

Husqvarna’s Max Nagl won the opening moto with a flawless ride and it was looking like the German was going to wrap up another GP win while sitting second in the second moto until his front wheel tucked in a fast right hand berm sending Max into the soft sand to eventually finish seventh for second overall.

“I’m really pleased and really disappointed at the same time, if I’m honest,” Nagl said. “Pleased because I had a really great opening moto and disappointed because I know this could have been another overall MXGP win for me and the team. I felt great in the first moto – I made a good start and was able to win by around 10 seconds. I struggled a little in my qualifying race so to be able to turn that around I was very confident going into the second moto. I got the holeshot, but then I was too cautious for the first three laps. Some riders passed me and then I found my speed. Falling in the sand always loses a lot of time, and I dropped to seventh. Second overall, just one-point from the win, is a great result and I am still 100 per cent focused on my goal of trying to end the year second in the championship.”

Just a few years ago Antonio Cairoli was the dominant force at any sand track but that crown is now tarnished with the Italian struggling to stay with the younger riders when in the heat of battle so the KTM pilot had to ride his arse of for 6-2 moto finished to earn the final spot on the podium.

“I’m not so happy because normally on this type of track I can ride better,” he said. “In the first race the feeling was not there and I made some little mistakes and fell back to sixth.”

There wasn’t a lot to celebrate for defending champion Romain Febvre who couldn’t keep his Yamaha on two wheel to finish back in 15^th overall but his teammate Jeremy Van Horebeek put in two solid rides for fourth outright.

“It’s been a good day overall,” Van Horebeek said, “We worked hard for this weekend, because I don’t like this track, and I came here a lot to get ready before the race. It’s a tough circuit here and you need all your energy for both motos. I started off the back in the first moto and guys were blowing past me. So to come from dead last to seventh takes a lot of energy, and in the second moto I paid cash for what I spent. Still, fourth is great, and the team did an awesome job. We are getting there.”

Championship leader Tim Gajser followed Febvre’s example in the opening moto with multiple crashes seeing the Honda rider finish back in 15^th but in the second moto Gasjer took the lead early and won by over 13 seconds from Cairoli and Strijbos and now leads the championship by 103 points.

“On one side I’m really happy with today and on the other side I’m really disappointed with the two races today. The first race and the second race were completely opposite for me, but on a track like this is can happen so fast. You make just a little mistake and you’re on the ground, and then you’re not focused and it’s very easy to make another mistake again. Race one was tough, but I’m glad that we made the second moto like we did, leading from the beginning to the end. Overall I think the win in the second race saved the GP for us, and again I learned something new, so overall I am happy enough with the weekend.”

MXGP Race 1 Top Ten

1. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Husqvarna), 34:19.494
2. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), +0:09.152
3. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +0:13.700
4. Clement Desalle (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:16.852
5. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), +0:18.247
6. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:18.848
7. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:38.021
8. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), +0:40.038
9. Tanel Leok (EST, KTM), +0:43.251
10. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:55.033.

MXGP Race 2 Top Ten

1. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), 34:41.636
2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:13.289
3. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +0:36.471
4. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:40.503
5. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), +0:47.864
6. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:53.330
7. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Husqvarna), +1:00.924
8. Arminas Jasikonis (LTU, Suzuki), +1:04.634
9. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +1:08.197
10. Clement Desalle (BEL, Kawasaki), +1:16.375

[youtube id=”tLUhK8qAC00″ width=”560″ height=”315″]

MXGP Overall Top Ten

1. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, SUZ), 40 points
2. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 39 p.
3. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 37 p.
4. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 32 p.
5. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 31 p.
6. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 31 p.
7. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 29 p.
8. Clement Desalle (BEL, KAW), 29 p.
9. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 26 p.
10. Tanel Leok (EST, KTM), 22 p.

MXGP Championship Top Ten

1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 607 points
2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 504 p.
3. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 490 p.
4. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 464 p.
5. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 445 p.
6. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 417 p.
7. Valentin Guillod (SUI, YAM), 292 p.
8. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 277 p.
9. Clement Desalle (BEL, KAW), 273 p.
10. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, SUZ), 264 p.

MX2

Despite flapping his jaws about a return to racing at Lommel Jeffrey Herlings was still absent thanks to his broken collarbone but the Dutch riders was on hand to watch the action.

“But that’s Motocross and this can happen and hopefully I’ll be back to racing soon. We’re looking very good, I’m very busy with training and normally we should be back on the bike very soon. I’m still in very good shape and I hope to keep that up until the end of the season.”

Max Anstie has won the grand prix at Lomel for the last two years but I was surprised that the Brit did it again with so many fast starting youngsters on the gate right now but with pissing rain in the opening moto and as tough a track as one could imagine in the second it was the factory Husqvarna riders experience that got him the two wins.

“I wasn’t sure I could make it happen this weekend. Everyone was telling me I should win, I crashed in the qualifying race, and I didn’t sleep last night but I do love it here,” he said, “I was pushing hard and I’m glad to get this result for my team.”

Stefan Everts was the master of the sand tracks and his mentoring is paying off with Suzuki MX2 rider Jeremy Seewer hitting a career milestone with his first ever qualifying race win before going 4-2 over the two GP motos.

“I tried not to push too fast at the beginning of the first moto because I knew it would be a tough day,” Seewer said. “My plan was to make the passes nearer the end because I was feeling really fit and was not using a lot of energy but then the rain started to come and I had to throw my goggles away and I couldn’t make my move or the plan happen. I could still finish fourth and planned to attack in the second moto. I knew Max was behind me in that race and I just tried as hard as I could while in the lead for as long as I could. He made the pass with a couple of laps to go and then I didn’t want to take any more risks, so I just tried to finish. It feels amazing to be on the podium again, especially here in the sand, and it has been a fantastic weekend for the team. A special day.”

Kawasaki’s Petar Petrov managed to lead a few laps  in the opening moto before going 2-6 over the two moto for third outright ahead of Dutch sand specialist Brian Bogers who was one of the fastest all weekend but he did too much soil testing to get on the podium.

“We finally got this podium, but it was a tough day,” Petrov said. “I felt good all weekend. In the first race I had a good start, pushed really hard and got the lead for two laps; it was great to lead the race but that was also a new experience for me. In the second moto my start was not quite as good, and then I hurt my shoulder; the track was really brutal. In the last few laps I pushed again as Paturel was not far behind me; I knew that if he passed me the podium was gone so I had to push and we manage to get it ! Now I’m focused on the Swiss GP next weekend.”

MX2 Race 1 Top Ten

1. Max Anstie (GBR, Husqvarna), 36:12.881
2. Petar Petrov (BUL, Kawasaki), +0:11.777
3. Benoit Paturel (FRA, Yamaha), +0:15.189
4. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki), +0:20.081
5. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), +0:20.819
6. Davy Pootjes (NED, KTM), +0:42.291
7. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, KTM), +0:46.331
8. Samuele Bernardini (ITA, TM), +0:52.785
9. Michele Cervellin (ITA, Honda), +0:54.990
10. Alvin Östlund (SWE, Yamaha), +1:04.456.

MX2 Race 2 Top Ten

1. Max Anstie (GBR, Husqvarna), 35:16.537
2. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki), +0:09.198
3. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:16.432
4. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), +0:17.172
5. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, KTM), +0:49.525
6. Petar Petrov (BUL, Kawasaki), +1:04.026
7. Benoit Paturel (FRA, Yamaha), +1:06.321
8. Lars van Berkel (NED, Husqvarna), +1:33.680
9. Ivo Monticelli (ITA, KTM), +1:36.713
10. Michele Cervellin (ITA, Honda), +1:40.398.

[youtube id=”D5Q3ywVAPEQ” width=”560″ height=”315″]

MX2 Overall Top Ten

1. Max Anstie (GBR, HUS), 50 points
2. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 40 p.
3. Petar Petrov (BUL, KAW), 37 p.
4. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), 34 p.
5. Benoit Paturel (FRA, YAM), 34 p.
6. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, KTM), 30 p.
7. Michele Cervellin (ITA, HON), 23 p.
8. Lars van Berkel (NED, HUS), 21 p.
9. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, KAW), 20 p.
10. Alvin Östlund (SWE, YAM), 19 p.

MX2 Championship Top Ten

1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 597 points
2. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 510 p.
3. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 403 p.
4. Benoit Paturel (FRA, YAM), 393 p.
5. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, KAW), 378 p.
6. Max Anstie (GBR, HUS), 366 p.
7. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, YAM), 320 p.
8. Petar Petrov (BUL, KAW), 319 p.
9. Samuele Bernardini (ITA, TM), 294 p.
10. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), 280 p.

Australian MX Nationals – Round 8 – Shepparton, Vic

Shepparton welcomed the MX Nationals circus into town with open arms when round eight of the series hit country Victoria and it was MX1 championship leader Kirk Gibbs who extended his championship lead with a well-earned overall while Jed Beaton managed his second MX2 class overall in a row to become the joint championship leader with Nathan Crawford.

MX1 Report

After scoring five championship points by winning superpole ahead of Dean Ferris, Jesse Dobson, Todd Waters and Kade Mosig, Gibbs rode with determination all day to earn a solid third in the opening moto before being gifted the second moto win when Dean Ferris crashed out of the lead with just a handful of corners to go.

“It’s good to be up here. As everyone has said, the three of us are all riding very well, and it’s coming down to who can put it all together. Two solid motos, with no crashes and no mistakes,” Gibbs said. “In the final moto things worked out well for me. I got the holeshot and I could feel Dean (Ferris) right behind me the whole time, when he made the pass on me, he ended up making a mistake so I’m happy to take the win. I’m just super happy to keep chipping away at this championship, and I’ll never give up, so I’m going to keep fighting until the end.”

Todd Waters and Dean Ferris were going toe-to-toe in the muddy condition during the opening moto with Gibbs not far behind but Ferris dropped his Yamaha handing Waters the win but in the second moto Waters had to battle back to third after a dead-last start for second overall.

“Today was a bit hard to swallow, especially finishing in second tied on points for the round overall,” Waters shared. “I managed to get a win in the first race which was awesome, but in the second one I got a bad start and just missed my rut and came together with another rider. So I’m a bit battered up and sore. I want to be up the front every race battling with the top two guys, so it was just a bit disappointing that I wasn’t able to do that in the second moto. I’m happy that we’re closing in on the points a little bit every weekend, and that’s what we need to do, but as a racer I want to win, so over the next two rounds hopefully we can make that happen.”

Dean Ferris expects to win and the Yamaha star led both motos but threw away the lead with small crashes on both occasions.

“I’m so angry with myself,” Ferris fumed. “I don’t know what else to say! I’m angry, disappointed and a whole heap of other emotions but I’m going to use that to drive me for the final two rounds. I’m better than what happened today and I’m going to prove it at the last two rounds,” Ferris said with venom.

Kade Mosig is what you would call ‘the best of the rest’ and the despite his best efforts Mosig is a distant fourth to the Gibbs, Waters and Ferris freight train while Jesse Dobson’s return from injury was as good as one could expect with a fifth overall ahead of Jacob Wright, Daniel Banks, Joel Green, James Alen and Kurt Gow.

With two rounds remaining Gibbs has a nine point lead over Ferris who in turn has a seven pont buffer back to Waters – this championship is far from over.

Thor MX1 round eight results

1. Kirk Gibbs – 65 points
2. Todd Waters – 65 points
3. Dean Ferris – 64 points
4. Kade Mosig – 56 points
5. Jesse Dobson – 51 points
6. Jacob Wright – 49 points
7. Daniel Banks – 46 points
8. Joel Green – 46 points
9. James Alen – 43 points
10. Kurt Gow – 42 points

Thor MX1 Championship Standings

1. Kirk Gibbs – 538 points
2. Dean Ferris – 529 points
3. Todd Waters – 522 points
4. Kade Mosig – 437 points
5. Matt Moss – 381 points
6. Dylan Long – 359 points
7. Jacob Wright – 340 points
8. Jay Wilson – 320 points
9. Michael Menchi– 301 points
10. Daniel Banks – 299 points

MX2 Report

WOW, DPH Yamaha’s Jed Beaton has gone toe-to-toe with Wilson Todd, Nathan Crawford and Caleb Ward over two hard fought moto to secure his second consecutive round win and in doing so been rewarded with the Motul MX2 championship red plate with two rounds remaining in the series.

Todd, Crawford and Beaton crossed line in that order just seconds apart after a spectacular opening moto but Todd and Crawford were penalised 15 seconds for jumping under a yellow flag handing Beaton the win and in the second moto the inconsistent Ward took the win from Beaton and Crawford who now share the championship points lead with Ward just 15 points in arrears.

“I’m really happy to finish with another round win here at Shepparton. The championship is coming down to the wire and we all want to win just as bad as each other now,” Beaton said. “When you’re that close to each other on the track, and there’s three of us going for a championship, then it’s going to get a bit heated now and then, but we’re all in it to win. I had a slow start to the season but I feel as if everything is coming together now. I feel confident and I believe in myself more than ever before so I’m really looking forward to these last two rounds.”

Crawford was philosophical about his day.

“The day was looking really good, but a few little things went wrong. I could’ve won the first Moto but I got a 15-second penalty, then in the last moto I was right there with the top boys and had a crash. So, 3-3’s not terrible, but it’s not great either. Obviously I’m still on the podium, and I’d rather be sharing the lead than 20 points down. I lost the red plate but we’ve got two Queensland rounds to go, so I’ll be there firing, for sure. The track was a challenge, but it was the same for everyone. I’m not real happy with the end result but I’ve got three weeks to work on improving myself on the bike and hopefully these two Queensland rounds work in my favour.” 

Caleb Ward had this to say of his weekend.

“The first Moto was not very good at all, I got a horrible start and I spun on the concrete then got pinched out of the gate, I made my way through the pack – it was just chaos out there with people getting loose and crashing – I managed to come through to fifth, but it was really disappointing after my starts at Conondale. Second Moto I spun again but I got a bit lucky in the first corner around sixth. From there I pretty-much had the mindset that I was going to win the race. I wanted it bad. I got onto the back of Nathan and Jed and managed to make the passes. The track was really technical and it was a case of just trying to maintain the lead. I’m 15 points off the championship lead and anything can happen from here. I’ve got four motos left so I will just give it my all. I’ve got nothing to lose.”

Serco Yamaha rider Wilson Todd finally showed some ticker to end the day in fourth overall ahead of Jayden Rykers, Kale Makeham, Dylan Wills, Keiron Hall, Hamish Harwood and Joel Wightman.

Motul MX2 round eight results

1. Jed Beaton – 67 points
2. Caleb Ward –  61 points
3. Nathan Crawford – 60 points
4. Wilson Todd – 58 points
5. Jayden Rykers – 56 points
6. Kale Makeham – 50 points
7. Dylan Wills – 47 points
8. Keiron Hall – 45 points
9. Hamish Harwood – 44 points
10. Joel Wightman – 42 points

Motul MX2 Championship Standings

1. Jed Beaton – 507 points
2. Nathan Crawford– 507 points
3. Caleb Ward – 492 points
4. Jayden Rykers – 449 points
5. Wilson Todd – 412 points
6. Dylan Wills – 381 points
7. Hamish Harwood – 353 points
8. Joel Wightman – 341 points
9. Wade Hunter– 324 points
10. Kyle Webster – 296 points

MXD Report

Mitchell Evans won both MXD motos at Shepparton to take the overall over Wade Kirkland, Cooper Pozniak and Connor Tierney and for the first time this season hits the points lead in the championship by three points over Tierney and 12 points over Kirkland with two rounds remaining.

“I’ve definitely got a lot more confidence after this round, going 1-1 gives you a lot of confidence and it’s good for the points chase so I couldn’t be happier,” Evans said. “It was a bit of a slow start to the series for me, but now we’ve got the red plate and we’re back on track. Mike Ward, my mechanic has been helping me out heaps and getting me back training, so I’m feeling 100 per cent. Now that I’ve got the red plate, and I’m heading back to my home state I couldn’t be more confident for the next two rounds.”

“In the first Moto lead for a lap and then made a small mistake and Mitch got around me,” said Tierney. “ I started chasing him but got a little bit frustrated and tucked the front and went down hard. It was one of those hits where you can’t get an ounce of breath in your lungs and you think you are going to die. I ended up getting going. Everything was pretty twisted up and I ended up getting back to ninth, but I was hurting pretty bad after that. I went out for the second one, and was fifth when Cooper crashed in front of me. I went to wheelie over his bike and crashed on him, so we both went down together. I went down to 20th but came back to second so I was pretty happy with that moto. This is the first time I haven’t had the red plate all year, so now I can start chasing it and instead of trying to protect it. Hopefully I can get it back, we’ll see how we go.”

Kirkland had this to say of his day. “Second overall is another pretty consistent result which keeps me going in the championship. I don’t really get to ride the ruts very much in Tassie so I struggled with them. They were difficult, deep, and just hard to balance because they were so long, and bumpy. It was definitely tacky, but it had those woodchips in it which was a little bit slippery in some spots, because it is so hard packed. But it’s good fun and it’s all good practice. We’re only 12 points off the lead in the championship now so anything can happen!”

Pirelli MXD round eight results

1. Mitchell Evans – 70 points
2. Wade Kirkland – 62 points
3. Cooper Pozniak – 56 points
4. Connor Tierney – 54 points
5. Kaleb Barham – 50 points
6. Luke Abela – 50 points
7. Justin Hart – 48 points
8. Levi McManus – 47 points
9. Hugh McKay – 40 points
10. Jackson Coulson – 38 points

Pirelli MXD Championship Standings

1. Mitchell Evans – 416 points
2. Connor Tierney – 413 points
3. Wade Kirkland – 404 points
4. Cooper Pozniak – 394 points
5. Kaleb Barham – 350 points
6. Zak Small – 324 points
7. Jordan Hill – 322 points
8. Lochie Latimer – 303 points
9. Hugh McKay – 268 points
10. Levi McManus – 245 points

MXR Report

Yamaha YZ125 mounted Cody Dyce dominated both MXR motos to take the overall ahead of Morgan Fogarty, Jy Roberts and former championship leader Caleb Grothues who now sits nine points back from Dyce going into the final round at Coolum, the venue where Grothues won two Australian Junior Motocross Championships in the past.

“That was a tough track to ride and I haven’t been on something as rutted as that before,” Dyce explains. “It was crazy how rutty and rough it was so I’m just glad to get through without any injury and ride well. My form the last few weeks has been good and I have worked hard as I prepare to go over to Russia next week. I have received a lot of help from a heap of people and I want to get them the best result I can as a reward for what everyone has done for me lately. Thank you to Yamaha Junior Racing and all our team sponsors as well as WEM and Yamaha for sponsoring and supporting this race,” Dyce ends.

Yamaha Rising Star Rookies – Shepparton

1. Cody Dyce – 70 points
2. Morgan Fogarty – 60 points
3. Jy Roberts – 60 points
4. Caleb Grothues – 53 points
5. Callum Norton – 51 points
6. Rhys Budd – 49 points
7. Jake Williams – 47 points
8. Michael Driscoll – 45 points
9. Brodie Ellis – 44 points
10. Mason Semmens – 44 points

Yamaha Rising Star Rookies Championship Standings

1. Cody Dyce – 132 points
2. Caleb Grothues – 123 points
3. Callum Norton – 113 points
4. Jy Roberts – 102 points
5. Morgan Fogarty – 102 points
6. Brodie Ellis – 93 points
7. Mason Semmens – 88 points
8. Riley Dukes – 84 points
9. Jake Williams – 72 points
10. Jake Cobbin – 72 points

Canadian Motocross Championships – Round 8 – Moncton

American KTM rider Davi Millsaps continues to hand out riding lessons to the rest of the MX1 field after going 1-1 at the eighth round of the Canadian Motocross Championship held at Moncton last weekend while Dakota Alix took out the MX2 overall with 1-4 results.

Millsaps won the opening moto from local Kaven Benoit and fellow-Yank Mike Alessi and the second moto from another American Matt Goerke and Benoit to extend his championship lead to 51 points while Aussie Brett Metcalfe had his worst round of the series with 4-6 moto results for sixth outright and now sits third in the series.

Alix won the opening MX2 moto from Shawn Maffenbeier and Dylan Wright after championship dominator Cole Thompson had to recover from a crash to finish in sixth but Thompson bounced back to win the second moto from Wright and Mark Worth and now has a 79 point lead in the championship.

MX1 Overall

1. Davi Millsaps 1-1 
2. Kaven Benoit 2-3
3. Matt Goerke 7-2
4. Mike Alessi 3-5
5. Tyler Medaglia 5-4
6. Brett Metcalfe 4-6
7. Cade Clason 6-8
8. Keylan Meston 8-7
9. Morgan Burger 9-10
10. Shawn Robinson 10-11

MX1 Points

1. Davi Millsaps – 439pts
2. Matt Goerke – 388pts
3. Brett Metcalfe – 387pts
4. Mike Alessi – 364pts
5. Kaven Benoit – 319pts
6. Tyler Medaglia – 303pts
7. Cade Clason – 300pts
8. Colton Facciotti – 297pts
9. Keylan Meston – 251pts
10. Morgan Burger – 246pts

MX2 Overall

1. Dakota Alix 1-4 
2. Dylan Wright 3-2
3. Cole Thompson 6-1
4. Mark Worth 4-3
5. Shawn Maffenbeier 2-8
6. Brad Nauditt 5-5
7. Jesse Pettis 7-6
8. Ryeley Gallup 10-7
9. Hayden Halstead 8-9
10. Westen Wrozyna 11-10

MX2 Standings

1. Cole Thompson – 453pts
2. Shawn Maffenbeier – 374pts
3. Dylan Wright – 342pts
4. Brad Nauditt – 304pts
5. Mark Worth – 287pts
6. Jesse Pettis – 279pts
7. Ryeley Gallup – 224pts
8. Hayden Halstead – 213pts
9. Dakota Alix – 201pts
10. Davey Fraser – 182pts

Poland take seventh Monster Energy FIM Speedway World Cup Win

After a night of close, side-by-side action, the Polish Speedway World Cup team led by skipper Piotr Pawlicki has won the coveted trophy for the seventh time ahead of hosts Great Britain, last year’s winners Sweden and a lack-lustre Australia.

“This is a big day for me because this is the first time I’ve raced in the Polish senior team and I was captain today,” Pawlicki said. “I have to say thank you to the guys. All the riders, Patryk Dudek, Bartosz Zmarzlik and Krzysztof Kasprzak, scored good points and we won. This a big night for Poland. This is our seventh gold medal and I am very happy. I say thank you to the coach because for many years, he has coached the Polish team. After Vojens, he said to me ‘you are the captain.’ So thank you to him for that.”

Great Britain skipper Tai Woffinden inspired the Lions to their first SWC rostrum finish in a decade with an incredible 19-point haul. “It was a good meeting. I said before the start, ‘let’s focus on getting a bronze medal, and when we’re in that position, we can focus on the silver, and then we can focus on the gold.’ There was a point when we were only two points behind, and I said ‘right boys, let’s give it to them as hard as we can and see where we’re at.’ It wasn’t meant to be, but silver is still great.”

Dejected Swedish skipper Andreas Jonsson was baffled with his team’s mid-meeting slump as they came up short in the race for gold. “We just lost it,” Jonsson lamented. “I thought we fought all the way through the meeting from the beginning until the end. But somewhere in the middle of the meeting, we just lost the setup. “I can’t speak for the others but I know they worked as hard as they could. Everybody fought as much as they could. Personally, I didn’t feel fast enough. I still think it’s good we got a medal from this year’s SWC. I’m happy about that, even if we were looking for another gold medal.”

Aussie boss Mark Lemon was ‘gutted’ they weren’t rewarded with a medal. “It has been a hard World Cup,” Lemon said. “We were always up against it. I feel for the guys. They have put a lot of effort in, but for no reward. We’re gutted. It’s never nice to come last.”

2016 MONSTER ENERGY SWC FINAL SCORES

POLAND 39

1 Piotr Pawlicki 10,

2 Bartosz Zmarzlik 11,

3 Patryk Dudek 10,

4 Krzysztof Kasprzak 8,

5 Krystian Pieszczek DNR.

GREAT BRITAIN 32

1 Craig Cook 5,

2 Tai Woffinden 19,

3 Danny King 5,

4 Robert Lambert 3,

5 Adam Ellis DNR.

SWEDEN 30

1 Andreas Jonsson 8,

2 Antonio Lindback 6,

3 Peter Ljung 6,

4 Fredrik Lindgren 10,

5 Joel Andersson DNR.

AUSTRALIA 22

1 Jason Doyle 7,

2 Josh Grajczonek 0,

3 Chris Holder 10,

4 Sam Masters 5,

5 Brady Kurtz DNR.

European EMX250 Motocross Championship

Round nine of the European 250cc Motocross Championship was the support event for the MXGP at Lommel and it was Bas Vaessen who won both motos over championship leader Thomas Kjer Olsen while Miro Sihvonen, Darian Sanayei and Kevin Wouts rounded out the top five and for us Australasians Josiah Natzke managed 8^th outright on the day – a rare top ten for the flying Kiwi.

“I was second at the start of the first moto and I got the holeshot in the second,” said Natzke. “But in the first moto I got some arm pump half way through and dropped my lap times. I picked it up again at the end of the moto. I was really pumped to get the holeshot in the second moto but I just got really tired. I know this is something I have to work on. Overall I’m happy that I’m moving forward and I want to do even better next weekend in Switzerland.” 

EMX 250 – Round 9 – Lommel – Belgium – Overall

1. Bas Vaessen 25-25 
2. Thomas Kjer Olsen 22-22
3. Miro Sihvonen 18-20
4. Darian Sanayei 20-18
5. Kevin Wouts 16-16
6. Anton Gole 14-14
7. Ken Bengtson 13-13
8. Josiah Natzke 15-11
9. 9. Erki Kahro 11-12 
10. 10. Maxime Renaux 12-6 

EMX250 Series Standings

1. Thomas Kjer Olsen – 404pts 
2. Darian Sanayei – 323pts
3. Bas Vaessen – 286pts
4. Anton Gole – 236pts
5. Kevin Wouts – 217pts
6. Jorge Prado Garcia – 210pts
7. Miro Sihvonen – 201pts
8. Nicolas Dercourt – 197pts
9. Hunter Lawrence – 167pts
10. Mike Stender – 130pts

Graham Jarvis claims victory at 2016 Battle of Vikings

One would have to say that Graham Jarvis is on a roll after the veteran Husqvarna rider secured victory at the seventh running of the Battle of Vikings extreme enduro in Storstenshöjden, Sweden ahead of Wade Young and Lars Enockl.

Putting in a dominant race-long performance, Jarvis was the only rider to complete a full eight laps around the technical Swedish track.

“It feels really good to get the win here in Sweden,” Jarvis said. “The race has a different format compared to what we’re used to, but it’s definitely worth the title ‘extreme’. It’s actually four hours of non-stop racing, nothing really difficult but really exhausting. The first lap was the hardest as I was struggling with arm pump. It took me some time to find the good lines and get a good pace going. I passed Joakim just before the fuel stop and caught up with Wade Young right after that. I followed Wade for half a lap but then he got stuck behind a slower rider and I managed to make the pass. I kept plugging away from there and even made a second fuel stop before my final lap.”

Results – Battle of Vikings 2016, Sweden

1. Graham Jarvis (Husqvarna) 8 laps, 04:15:25
2. Wade Young (Sherco) 7 laps, 04:00:14
3. Lars Enockl (KTM) 7 laps, 04:09:49
4. Joakim Ljunggren (KTM) 7 laps, 04:15:56
5. Xavier Leon Sole (Husqvarna) 6 laps, 04:00:36

Alfredo Gomez aces ‘The Wall’ in Italy

KTM’s Alfredo Gomez has won the challenging “The Wall” Extreme Enduro in Northern Italy by just 25 seconds ahead of Ivan Cervantes who in turn had a sizeable advantage over third placed local Thomas Oldrati.

The two–part competition in the Metzler Off-Road Park in Pietramurata started in the late morning with a series of tests more akin to regular Enduro competition where Alex Salvini of Italy emerged the winner ahead of Cervantes while Gomez was back at tenth after the initial competition and went into the night event with a deficit of more than two minutes.

But it was over the more extreme terrain in the night race that Gomez took the win with a time of 1:18:04.60 hours. “It’s been a difficult day but I’m happy with the win,” Gomez said. “The cross test in the morning was okay for me, but the long Enduro test didn’t really have any extreme parts, so I was losing 10 to 20 seconds to the EnduroGP regulars every time out. I knew the night’s extreme test would change things and I did my best to get back the time lost. I was doing great until the moment I had a huge crash in the very last lap. It was in a rocky downhill section, where I lost the front and ended up hurting my finger. Luckily I didn’t lose much time and still managed to get the win. It’s an important victory for us. The plan is to get back to work now, in order to battle for victory at the Red Bull Megawatt in September.”

Cervantes was also happy with his second place, particularly as it is some time since he raced an Extreme Enduro event.

“The result came as a surprise to me,” Cervantes commented. “I think the race has a pretty good format. Things were much closer to what I’m used to in the prologue. I pushed a lot and managed to claim second. But the night race was a totally different story. I crashed hard twice in the final lap and lost loads of time, so decided to take it easy. I just wanted to avoid mistakes and make sure I made it to the finish. I’m also happy I chose the 300 EXC for this race. It’s an amazing machine and probably the best bike for events like this. Congrats to Alfredo, he rode a great final and deserved this win.”

Results The Wall Extreme Enduro Race 2016

1. Alfredo Gomez (ESP), KTM, 1:18:04.60 h
2. Ivan Cervantes (ESP), KTM, +25.69 sec
3. Thomas Oldrati (ITA), Husqvarna, +1:40.47 min
4. Mario Roman (ESP), Husqvarna, +1:48.17
5. Oscar Balletti (ITA), Honda, +5:04.25

Jared Mees takes home the gold at the 2016 CHDDA Charlotte Half-Mile

 Jared Mees has struck gold, yet again, in the Harley-Davidson GNC1 presented by Vance & Hines class at the 2016 Carolina Harley-Davidson Dealers Association (CHDDA) Charlotte Half-Mile on Saturday, July 30, at The Dirt Track at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Mees took first place over last round’s winner No. 44 Brandon Robinson who came in second and Harley-Davidson Screamin’ Eagle rider, No. 2 Kenny Coolbeth, Jr. who finished third.

Mees, who powers the Rogers Racing Harley-Davidson XR750, led the pack of GNC1 riders for an impressive 16 laps of the 25-lap Main Event after passing No. 69 rider Sammy Halbert on the 10th lap. Mees held the lead for the remainder of the half-mile sprint with 0.160 of a second margin of victory over Robinson on the final lap.

“This year has been nothing but redemption, with the X Games and now Charlotte,” Mees said. “It’s been really good. We got a decent start and then Halbert kind of rolled around the outside and I was on him for a bit and I couldn’t seem to get by because I didn’t want to run the same line that he was running. So I kind of made an aggressive pass but kind of took his line away, he was burning it in and was low in the middle and was taking a long time to gather the middle up. So I kind of just stuck it in there and took the line away and I didn’t look back until we started running into lappers. All-in-all it paid off.”

Second place finisher Robinson faced an upset after coming off of a win at the last round in Lima, OH; however, the Kennedy Racing rider is sitting in third in the overall GNC1 point standings with 120 points just under No. 42 Bryan Smith.

“I was pushing as hard as I could,” Robinson said. “I was going a little bit and losing a little bit. I made a little mistake here and then I’d gain him. Those lappers really helped me quite a bit there at the end and I was hoping maybe they’d make it a little more interesting but regardless it was an awesome effort. Coming off of second after Lima is great. It was a great race by Jared and it was flawless.”

At the end of the evening, Coolbeth Jr. showed consistency by landing another third place finish in Charlotte on the Zanotti Racing’s Harley-Davidson XR750. The Floridian started in the 11th spot on the grid and climbed his way to third to close out the night.

“I got a pretty good start on the second row,” Coolbeth, Jr. said. “I kind of put my head down there in the beginning just to keep up with these guys and kind of got a wild card there when Sammy broke, but hey, it’s racing. The Zanotti team works hard. They go through those bikes with a fine tooth comb.”

In the GNC2 class, the “Flying Tomato,” No. 36B Kolby Carlile (Honda CRF450R), took home his career-first win Saturday night over GNC2 points leader No. 94B Ryan Wells (Honda CRF450R) and Dalton Gauthier who sports the No. 14A Yamaha YZ450F, who finished third.

“I’ve been dreaming of this for three years now, at least,” Carlile said. “Ever since I’ve turned professional, I knew this day would come. I didn’t quite think it was going to take this long but golly I can’t thank my parents enough because they’ve stuck behind me through it all. It means so much. They’re my biggest supporters and they always will be. I can’t thank them enough. I’m just super glad to get my dad the first win. It’s awesome.”

Up next, AMA Pro Flat Track returns to Rapid City, S.D. to compete in the Sturgis Half-Mile on Tuesday, August 9, at the Black Hills Speedway. 

WA Junior MX Titles – Round 4 – Chidlow

Heavy rain and more heavy rain was the key feature for the 4th Round of the Make Smoking History WAMX Junior State Championships, held in the Perth hills at Chidlow last Sunday yet the young guns of our sport gave it their all in every class.

Sonny Pellicano made the most of the conditions to earn the top step of the podium from series leader Kayden Minear in the 50cc Auto class while Minear maintains a 34 point lead as the series leader but in the 65cc 7-10 Years class Seth Clark topped the podium and narrowed the points chase down to only 20 points from series leader Minear.

Liam Atkinson (2-1-1) took the round win and the title chase in the 65cc 10-12 Years class is now down to two points from Myles Gilmore who secured the second overall on the day while in the 85/150cc 9-12 Years Liam Atkinson got the nod over Gilmore narrowing his deficit in the championship to just 12 points.

85/150cc 12-16 Years Series leader Brady Gilmore took the round win on a countback after finishing on equal points with Conan Forrester who would pick up second and Rhys Burnett securing third overall while Regan Duffy was in sensational form in the 100cc-125cc 13-15 Years class recording the round win with a perfect scorecard (1-1-1).

The 100cc-125cc 15 Years class was won by Billy Middleton from hard charging Mitch Outram and Kurt Oinn third overall for the round before Middleton won all three of the 128cc-150cc/250cc 13-16 Years class motos.

Round five of the Make Smoking History WAMX Junior State Championships heads to the sands of Wanneroo on August 28^th.

50cc Auto Season Standings After 4 of 6 Rounds

1. KAYDEN MINEAR 366 Points
2. PATRICK BUTLER 332 Points
3. SONNY PELLICANO 324 Points
4. JAKE RUMENS 313 Points

65cc 7-10 Years Season Standings After 4 of 6 Rounds

1. KAYDEN MINEAR 397 Points
2. SETH CLARK 377 Points
3. TATE PAGANINI 330 Points
4. DEACON PAICE 307 Points

65cc 10-12 Years Season Standings After 4 of 6 Rounds

1. MYLES GILMORE 396 Points
2. LIAM ATKINSON 394 Points
3. TYLAR SOLOMON 320 Points
4. JAKE TURNER 308 Points

85/150cc 9-12 Years Season Standings After 4 of 6 Rounds

1. MYLES GILMORE 395 Points
2. LIAM ATKINSON 383 Points
3. BROCK FLYNN 343 Points
4. KAJ RADCLIFFE 329 Points

85/150cc 12-16 Years Season Standings After 4 of 6 Rounds

1. BRADY GILMORE 390 Points
2. CORBEN WEINERT 356 Points
3. RHYS BURNETT 355 Points
4. CONAN FORRESTER Points

100cc-125cc 13-15 Years Season Standings After 4 of 6 Rounds

1. REGAN DUFFY 368 Points
2. CORBEN WEINERT 362 Points
3. JACOB DANIELS 325 Points
4. EVAN BROWNE 279 Points

100cc-125cc 15 Years Season Standings After 4 of 6 Rounds

1. MITCHELL OUTRAM 398 Points
2. BILLY MIDDLETON 379 Points
3. KURT OINN 326 Points
4. AUSTIN RIDLEY 311Points