Moto News Weekly Wrap for March 31, 2015 by Darren Smart
Moto news Weekly Wrap Proudly brought to you by Dunlop Geomax
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Australasian News
The opening round of the MX Nationals at Horsham on the weekend was a cracker. For us couch potatoes the live coverage that was hosted on-line by NRGTV was great.
Unfortunately Williams Event Management (WEM) and Motorcycling Australia (MA) have confirmed that Dylan Wilson was involved in a critical on-track incident during round one of the 2015 MX Nationals Championship, at Horsham on Sunday 29 March 2015. At the time of writing Wilson was still in a critical condition in a Melbourne hospital.
Horsham threw up more surprises than you can poke a stick at so go to the full report and results below.
American News
Chad Reed had an uneventful night in St. Louis that end with an 8th place finish in the main event and Reed now sits fifth in points and could well finish the series in third place if he can beat Cole Seeley regularly over the next four rounds.
Taylor Potter grabbed the final transfer spot to the main event with a fourth place in the LCQ before going on to finish a credible 18th place in the main event.
Martin Davalos will miss the remainder of Monster Energy Supercross to try and recover from Epstein-Barr. Nearly two weeks ago in a team press release it was revealed that Davalos had been dealing with the illness yet he raced the next weekend in Detroit, but collided with RJ Hampshire in the main and was unable to finish.
Josh Strang and Daniel Milner were both in the leading pack during the early stages of round three of the GNCC series held in North Carolina last weekend. Strang moved through the pack to finish a strong second place while Milner had his best finish so far with a 7th. See the full report and results below.
Euro News
Casey Stoner was on hand at the GP of Argentina to watch his good mate Ryan Villopoto race then head off with RV for some fishing.
The GP of Argentina hosted some of the most intense racing I have seen for ages. The track was fast and flowing with plenty of options but the volcanic ash that covered the track offered a challenge as far as tyre choice and line selection.
Todd Waters put in another solid weekend with two top ten finishes and sits 8th in the points after three rounds. “I’m happy to come away with ninth overall. We made some changes for race two and I got a better start. That allowed me to run with the faster guys in a battle for about seventh and eighth. But I lacked some intensity towards the end of the race and dropped off the back of the group for ninth. I know that’s something I’ve got to work on with the team to improve. Hopefully in Italy it will be better.”
Dean Ferris is struggling with bad starts and end the GP back in 19th overall after carding 20-17 finishes. “So far it’s been three tough rounds of the championship. They haven’t really gone how I wanted. Today I struggled with a bad gate pick and had to fight my way forward all the time. In race one I hit a fallen rider and came from last to 21st then in race two I was 17th.”
Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MXGP rider Kevin Strijobs is out of the World Motocross Championships for the foreseeable future after undergoing surgery on a troublesome right wrist in Belgium last week. According to a team statement, Strijbos has been experiencing pain in the joint after suffering tendonitis and having a similar procedure before the start of the 2015 season. Strijbos has been competing with pain-killing injections and went for an MRI on Monday where he was advised to have further surgery.
Frenchman David Herbreteau replaced the suspended Jordi Tixier on the Factory KX250F at the GP of Argentina.
Race Reports and Results from last Weekend
- – Monster Energy Supercross Championships – Round 13 – St. Louis
- – Amsoil Arenacross Series – Round 11 – Austin, Texas
- – World Off-Road Championships (WORCS) – Round 4 – Lake Havasu, AZ
- – World Motocross Championships – Round 3 – Neuwuen, Argentina
- – AMSOIL Grand National Cross Country Series – Round 3 – Morganton, North Carolina
- – Australian MX Nationals – Round 1 – Horsham, Vic
Monster Energy Supercross Championships – Round 13 – St Louis
450SX Report: For the sixth time this season, Red Bull KTM’s Ryan Dungey was victorious en route to winning the Monster Energy AMA Supercros race at the Edward Jones Dome in front of 58,552 fans.
Andrew Short opened the 450SX Class Main Event with the SupercrossLive.com Holeshot Award but was quickly passed by Dungey before being ejected from his bike. The crash forced Short to exit the race.
On the first lap, Yamaha’s Weston Peick trailed Dungey in second with Rockstar Energy/Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Jason Anderson in third place. GEICO Honda’s Eli Tomac, who won last week’s Main Event in Detroit, moved into third place but Anderson answered back and re-passed him to hold down the number-three position.
Near the halfway point of the race, Peick was passed by Anderson, then Tomac and finally Team Honda HRC’s Cole Seely. Peick finished the race in fifth place, bouncing back from his 22nd-place finish last weekend.
On Lap 14, Tomac passed Anderson for second place, where he would finish. Anderson finished in third, marking his second podium finish of the season.
Dungey, who captured the second win in St. Louis of his career, has an 80-point lead over Tomac in season standings. “Tonight was good,” said Dungey in a RacerX interview. “We had the fastest qualifier coming into the night show. Got ourselves a good start in the heat and rode some good laps and was able to get a heat race win. Set ourselves up good for the main. Going into the main event, I say it every time, but I knew the holeshot was going to be important. This track especially because it was really hard to get up on the inside of somebody with how fast the turns were. Fortunately we got a good start and from there I just really tried to focus on my opening laps. I saw [Weston] Peick and [Jason] Anderson behind me, so I could kind of gauge that and I tried to open the gap as much as I could. From there about halfway on I just tried to ride good, solid, consistent laps.”
Tomac now has seven podium finishes on the season and is second in season standings. He has this to say to RacerX. “Yeah, second place. I didn’t start the night well in the heat race. Got in a little ball up in this little kink and then just had to wait for a guy that was laying on the ground. Missed the qualifying out of the heat races. Won the semi and then just wasn’t there on the start again in the main. Was way inside, didn’t have a good position, didn’t do a good start in itself. That was about it. Had a good battle with Jason [Anderson] there for a couple laps. Should have made a pass on him and made it stick earlier. Just wasn’t aggressive enough and that was the last chance I ever had of even seeing the Dunge.”
450SX Class Results: St. Louis
1. Ryan Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., KTM
2. Eli Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Honda
3. Jason Anderson, Edgewood, N.M., Husqvarna
4. Cole Seely, Laguna Beach, Calif., Honda
5. Weston Peick, Menifee, Calif., Yamaha
6. Josh Grant, Wildomar, Calif., Kawasaki
7. Davi Millsaps, Murrieta, Calif., Kawasaki
8. Chad Reed, Dade City, Fla., Kawasaki
9. Broc Tickle, Holly, Mich., Suzuki
10. Blake Baggett, Grand Terrace, Calif., Suzuki
450SX Class Season Standings after 13 of 17 Rounds:
1. Ryan Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., KTM, 296 Pts
2. Eli Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Honda, 216 Pts
3. Trey Canard, Edmond, Okla., Honda, 204 Pts
4. Cole Seely, Laguna Beach, Calif., Honda, 198 Pts
5. Chad Reed, Dade City, Fla., Kawasaki, 183 Pts
6. Jason Anderson, Edgewood, N.M., Husqvarna, 165 Pts
7. Blake Baggett, Grand Terrace, Calif., Suzuki, 165 Pts
8. Ken Roczen, Clermont, Fla., Suzuki, 156 Pts
9. Broc Tickle, Holly, Mich., Suzuki, 146 Pts
10. Andrew Short, Smithville, Texas, KTM, 137 Pts
250 West Report: Red Bull KTM’s Marvin Musquin won his fifth Eastern Regional 250SX Class race, leading all 15 laps of the Main Event. Tonight was the fifth time this season that the Red Bull KTM team swept both classes.
Yamaha’s Jeremy Martin picked up the SupercrossLive.com Holeshot Award with Musquin in tow to start the Eastern Regional 250SX Class Main Event. Musquin moved around Martin in Turn 2 and the two traded places a few times on the opening lap before Musquin pulled away.
Musquin established a 2.9 second lead by Lap 5. Earlier, on Lap 3, Kawasaki’s Joey Savatgy established a sizable lead in third place.
Defending class champion Justin Bogle worked his way through the field to fourth place and set chase to Savatgy but was unable to cut into the deficit. Martin finished second and Savatgy finished third.
Musquin, who finished second last weekend in Detroit, now has a 20-point lead in season standings with the final race of the championship set to take place April 25 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
“Obviously we started really well with practice and we carried on all the way to the main event,” said Musquin in his RacerX interview. “It’s a great feeling. It was a perfect day. Bike was working obviously really good. I got great people on the team, so we can make anything we want, adjust everything on the bike to make it better. This weekend we had great dirt in St. Louis and I really liked that track. It suits me really well when it gets rutted and stuff. I worked really hard on my starts and I got a decent start in the heat race but messed it up a little bit on the main event. I moved before the gate dropped and I had to settle down and then start again. But lucky, I was able to get second and into the lead pretty quick. Great battle with Jeremy Martin. Then when I got into the lead I knew no one could catch me and I knew I could do fifteen perfect laps as best as I can. That win was really important going to the last round.”
Eastern Regional 250SX Class Results: St. Louis
1. Marvin Musquin, Corona, Calif., KTM
2. Jeremy Martin, Millville, Minn., Yamaha
3. Joey Savatgy, Thomasville, Ga., Kawasaki
4. Justin Bogle, Cushing, Okla., Honda
5. Anthony Rodriquez, Cairo, Ga., Yamaha
6. Jimmy Decotis, Peabody, Mass., Honda
7. Luke Rezland, Hewitt, N.J., Yamaha
8. Kyle Cunningham, Aledo, Texas, Honda
9. Jace Owen, Mattoon, Ill., Honda
10. Kyle Peters, Greensboro, N.C., Honda
Eastern Regional 250SX Class Season Standings After Round 7 of 8:
1. Marvin Musquin, Corona, Calif., KTM, 169 Pts
2. Justin Bogle, Cushing, Okla., Honda, 149 Pts
3. Jeremy Martin, Millville, Minn., Yamaha, 125 Pts
4. Joey Savatgy, Thomasville, Ga., Kawasaki, 113 Pts
5. RJ Hampshire, Hudson, Fla., Honda, 84 Pts
6. Anthony Rodriguez, Cairo, Ga., Yamaha, 84 Pts
7. Jimmy Decotis, Peabody, Mass., Honda, 84 Pts
8. Kyle Peters, Greensboro, N.C., Honda, 76 Pts
9. Martin Davalos, Cairo, Ga., Husqvarna, 63 Pts
10. Kyle Cunningham, Aledo, Texas, Kawasaki, 60 Pts
Amsoil Arenacross Series – Round 11 – Austin, Texas – Moto News Brought to you by Dunlop Geomax
At the second round of the playoff-inspired Race to the Championship in Austin, Texas resident Kyle Regal made a splash, winning the first main event. He backed up his first main win with a third in the second to take the overall. Jacob Hayes went 3-2 to finish second over Bobby Kiniry (2-4). Chris Blose won the second main event, but a fourteenth in the first relegated him to sixth overall. With his win, Regal now holds a four point lead over Blose in the championship.
In West Region Lites, Daniel Blair added to his points lead with a win over Dave Ginolfi and Scott Zont. Blair now holds a thirty-five point lead over Cody VanBuskrik.
Arenacross Class Results – Overall (Main Event Finishes)
1. Kyle Regal, Grand Prairie, Texas, Husqvarna (1-3)
2. Jacob Hayes, Liberty, N.C., Kawasaki (3-2)
3. Bobby Kiniry, Holland Patent, N.Y., Yamaha (2-4)
4. Cory Green, Nowata, Okla., Suzuki (7-5)
5. Travis Sewell, Westville, Ind., KTM (5-7)
6. Chris Blose, Phoenix, Ariz., Kawasaki (14-1)
7. Gavin Faith, Fort Dodge, Iowa, Husqvarna (8-6)
8. Gared Steinke, Temecula, Calif., KTM (4-10)
9. Matt Goerke, Temecula, Calif., Kawasaki (6-11)
10. Steven Mages, Sardinia, Ohio, KTM (10-8)
RMATV/MC Head 2 Head Challenge Results
1. Chris Blose, Phoenix, Ariz., Kawasaki (2 points)
2. Kyle Regal, Grand Prairie, Texas, Husqvarna (1 point)
3. Jacob Hayes, Liberty, N.C., Kawasaki (1 point)
4. Bobby Kiniry, Holland Patent, N.Y., Yamaha (1 point)
5. Cory Green, Nowata, Okla., Suzuki (1 point)
6. Travis Sewell, Westville, Ind., KTM (1 point)
7. Matt Goerke, Temecula, Calif., Kawasaki (1 point)
8. Gavin Faith, Fort Dodge, Iowa, Husqvarna (1 point)
Western Regional Arenacross Lites Class Results
1. Daniel Blair, Lodi, Calif., KTM
2. Dave Ginolfi, Boston, N.J., KTM
3. Scott Zont, Algonquin, Ill., KTM
4. Jake Locks, Dixon, Calif., KTM
5. Clay Elliott, Buford, Ga., KTM
6. Brian Alquist, LaGrange, Calif., KTM
7. Josh Struebig, Crown Point, Ind., KTM
8. Bradley Lionnet, Menifee, Calif., Kawasaki
9. Jonah Locks, Dixon, Calif., Kawasaki
10. Steven Lopez, Los Banos, Calif., Yamaha
Race to the Championship Standings (Race 2 of 6 – R2C Main Even Wins)
1. Kyle Regal, Grand Prairie, Texas, Husqvarna – 61 (1)
2. Chris Blose, Phoenix, Ariz., Kawasaki – 57 (3)
3. Jacob Hayes, Liberty, N.C., Kawasaki – 55
4. Bobby Kiniry, Holland Patent, N.Y., Yamaha – 54
5. Matt Goerke, Temecula, Calif., Kawasaki – 51
6. Gavin Faith, Fort Dodge, Iowa, Husqvarna – 50
7. Cory Green, Nowata, Okla., Suzuki – 48
8. Travis Sewell, Westville, Ind., KTM – 46
9. Gared Steinke, Temecula, Calif., KTM – 40
10. Steven Mages, Sardinia, Ohio, KTM – 34
Western Regional Arenacross Lites Class Points (After Race 6 of 10) (Main Event wins)
1. Daniel Blair, Lodi, Calif., KTM – 85 (3)
2. Cody VanBuskirk, Harvard, Ill., KTM – 50
3. Brandon Glenn, Mesquite, Texas, KTM – 48
4. Jake Locks, Dixon, Calif., KTM – 39
5. Clay Elliott, Buford, Ga., KTM – 34
6. Josh Struebig, Crown Point, Ind., KTM – 26
7. Mason Wharton, Brush Prairie, Wash., Kawasaki – 24
8. Jason McConnell, Canonsburg, Pa., KTM – 23
9. Jonah Locks, Dixon, Calif., KTM – 19
10. Dalton Oxborrow, Lehi, Utah, Kawasaki – 18
11. Benjamin Nelko, Aliquippa, Pa., KTM – 18
The 12th round of the 2015 AMSOIL Arenacross, and the third round of the Race to the Championship, begins Saturday, April 11, with the inaugural visit to Spokane, Washington.
World Off-Road Championships (WORCS) – Round 4 – Lake Havasu, AZ
Robby Bell was on top of his game again when the WORCS series visited the Crazy Horse Campground on the shores of Lake Havasu in Arizona, March 28-29. Of the four WORCS races so far this season, Bell has won them all.
This time, Bell, on the Precision Concepts Kawasaki, got around early leader Ivan Ramirez and ran off with the win on what was again a rough track in hot weather conditions.
Honda rider Justin Jones worked his way up through the field to finish second, a little over a minute behind Bell. His runner-up matched a career-best WORCS finish for Jones. Third went to Husqvarna rider Blayne Thompson, followed by Justin Seeds and Dylan Schmoke.
Husqvarna rider Dalton Shirey put in a strong performance, finishing fourth overall and first in the Pro 2 division over Michael Del Fante and Benny Breck.
KTM rider Logan Chambers topped the Pro 2 Lites class, while Justin Wallis won the 450 A class. Chambers also won Saturday’s 250 A class.
PRO: 1. Robby Bell (Kaw). 2. Justin Jones (Hon). 3. Blyne Thompson (Hus). 4. Justin Seeds (Kaw). 5. Dylan Schmoke (KTM).
PRO 2: 1. Dalton Shirey (Hus). 2. Michael Del Fante (Yam). 3. Benny Breck (Yam). 4. Alex Morgan (Hon). 5. Starr Savage (KTM).
PRO 2 LITES: 1 Logan Chambers (KTM). 2. Dante Oliveira (KTM). 3. Mitch Anderson (KTM). 4. Jeremy Newton (KTM). 5. Clayton Hengeveld (Kaw).
World Motocross Championships – Round 3 – Neuwuen, Argentina
Saturday’s MXGP Qualifying Results: 1. Antonio Cairoli. 2. Ryan Villopoto. 3. Max Nagl. 4. Clement Desalle. 5. Jeremy Van Horebeek. 6. Romain Febvre. 7. Gautier Paulin. 8. Evgeny Bobryshev. 9. Todd Waters. 10. Shaun Simpson. 21. Dean Ferris.
Saturdays’s MX2 Qualifying Results: 1. Jeffery Herlings. 2. Pauls Jonass. 3. Valentin Guillod. 4. Thomas Covington. 5. Dylan Ferrandis. 6. Jeremy Seewer. 7. Max Anstie. 8. Brent Van Doninck. 9. Aleksandr Tonkov. 10. Julien Lieber.
MXGP Moto One
The opening MXGP moto and it was Clement Desalle who took the lead early from Shaun Simpson, Evgeny Bobryshev and Ryan Villopoto. A few riders passed Villopoto as it seemed he was struggling a little with the early pace. Cairoli was the first past, then Van Horebeek, although Villopoto quickly settled into third place behind Desalle and Cairoli.
Simpson first dropped back from second, but then made his way past Villopoto, and Van Horebeek was giving the American a hard time also. Up front after one lap and its Desalle and Cairoli first and second with Simpson and Villopoto in a big battle, although Villopoto finally made the pass stick and stayed in third.
Desalle held a two second lead over Cairoli, with Villopoto another two seconds back, although Villopoto is now getting pushed by Yamaha rider Romain Febvre.
Desalle has it all his own way as Cairoli holds second and Villopoto and Febvre move closer to the defending MXGP champion. Further back are Nagl, Bobryshev, Van Horbeek, Paulin, Charlier and Guarneri in 10th.
Febvre falls and loses a handful of places. Van Horebeek goes down twice to drop right out of contention.
Desalle continues to dominate with Cairoli a safe second and Nagl passes Villopoto for third place. Cairoli makes ground on Desalle and for a fleeting moment takes the lead, although Desalle fights back to regain the lead.
Desalle the championship leader showing great speed as he continues to lead. Cairoli quickly pulled away from Nagl, while Nagl held a nice third place, but Villopoto is trying to work his way back into third place.
Nagl has dropped Villopoto and continues to impress in 2015 on his factory Husqvarna. Cairoli does some amazing lap times and pulls up to Desalle, but on the last laps as Cairoli was biting on the back wheel of Desalle the Italian went down hard. He remounted to finish second ahead of Nagl, Villopoto, Bobryshev, Paulin,
MXGP Moto Two
Last moto of the day and its Nagl, Cairoli and Desalle, with Villopoto back in 11th place. Desalle takes the lead followed by Cairoli, Nagl, Van Horebeek, Coldenhoff, Coldenhoff, Villopoto, Waters, Charlier, Febvre and Paulin in 10th place.
Nagl passed Cairoli quickly and Villopoto moved up into fourth place. The American isn’t riding the same lines as many riders and looks a little wild at times. Villopoto is onto Cairoli and Nagl is onto Desalle, this race is turning into a dog fight.
The top four spread out a little as nobody seemed to be able to make ground on the guy in front. Nagl and Desalle are just battling for the lead as they ride side by side. Nagl takes the lead and Cairoli loses a little ground on the top two as Villopoto tries to hang with the Italian.
Villopoto lost some ground but quickly found some extra speed and was now onto the back wheel of Cairoli who has turned it up and started chasing after Desalle.
Top ten after 11 laps is Nagl, Desalle, Cairoli, Villopoto, Van Horebeek, Febvre, Paulin, Coldenhoff, Waters and Bobryshev in 10th place.
A great battle between Cairoli, Desalle, Villopoto and Van Horebeek for the minor places (Nagl is long gone for the moto win and GP overall).
In the end Nagl crossed the line for the moto and GP victory, just behind him came Cairoli, Desalle, Villopoto and Van Horebeek.
Nagl: “Of course I didn’t know I was overall winner, everyone was so close together on the track, but podium is great. The bike works how I want and that is why I can go this speed. I was too slow on Saturday, but something changed overnight. I won the GP, wow, that’s awesome. We are surprised because nobody expected this, but the bike is so strong and we are all putting an effort in and I am so proud of how I am riding.”
Clement Desalle: “I’m happy because it is another good and strong result…but a bit disappointed because – for sure – I wanted to win the GP. My weekend was OK. Yesterday I had good speed but I found the track a bit tricky. Sometimes the bike would react differently to what you expected but everybody had to deal with the same. I had some good starts today and I made every lap of the first moto in first place. I was concentrating a lot and was really happy. It was a little bit sandy here but also not so much, but I felt good on a track like this. Max was fast in the second moto and I made a few mistakes. I concentrated again and could start to catch Antonio in the last laps. Villopoto was also not far away. I was also blocked by a backmarker, and this tends to happen a lot at the overseas races, but I could finish the moto well.”
Cairoli: “I felt good, my condition was good, I passed Clement, but he passed me back. I actually hit my head pretty hard in that first moto crash. I was top give in the start and Max was riding well, and he deserves this GP. We need to work better. I am not completely in good shape, but everything is going to plan.”
Ryan Villopoto: “This weekend was OK; it’s not exactly what we wanted but we were able to improve in the second moto and to be right up there with those guys was good, but we still need to find a little more, and definitively to improve our starts. It was tough without a good start, I was able to salvage and get up there and come with them in the front, but Max was riding really well, and so were Toni and Clement. To pass all those guys would have been hard but I think that if I had a little more speed I would have been able to make a little more happen. Once again I’d like to stop saying that but I need to get used to the format of the GP, and we’ll do some more work with the team and hopefully be better in Italy.”
MXGP – Overall: 1. Max Nagl (Hus) – 3-1. 2. Clement Desalle (Suz) – 1-3. 3. Tony Cairoli (KTM) – 2-2. 4. Ryan Villopoto (Kaw) – 4-4. 5. Gautier Paulin (Hon) – 6-7. 6. Jeremy Van Horebeek (Yam) – 9-5. 7. Romain Febvre (Yam) -8-6. 8. Evgeny Bobryshev (Hon) – 5-10. 9. Todd Waters (Hus) – 11-9. 10. Glenn Coldenhoff (Suz) – 14-8. 19. Dean Ferris (Hus) – 20-17.
MXGP – Championship Classification: 1. Desalle – 133. 2. Nagl – 123. 3. Cairoli – 123. 4. Villopoto – 106. 5. Paulin – 96. 6. Febvre – 95. 7. Bobryshev – 72. 8. Waters – 62. 9. Van Horebeek – 60. 10. Strijbos – 55. 20. Ferris – 21.
MX2 Moto One
Drama in moto one of the MX2 class at the Grand Prix of Argentina as Herlings after a poor start crashed out of the race and damaged his bike, unable to continue.
Ferrandis held the lead with Pauls Jonass in second, those two battling hard of the front spot. Soon after the first lap Jonass passed Ferrandis and behind them came Julien Lieber, Max Anstie, Jeremy Seewer, Adam Sterry, Benoit Paturel, Alexandr Tonkov, Valentin Guillod and Thomas Covington in 10th.
Jonass and Ferrandis were in a great battle for first place, with Anstie also looking to catch the two in front in third place. Ferrandis eventually worked his way into the lead and another Kawasaki rider Covington had worked his way into seventh and was working hard to move into sixth place.
American rider Covington moved into sixth spot and was now just a couple of seconds behind Seewer in fifth place. Ferrandis was now two seconds ahead of Jonass after six laps.
Ferrandis eventually won ahead of Jonass, Anstie, Lieber, Seewer, Guillod, Covington, Paturel, Van Doninck and Tonkov in 10th.
MX2 Moto Two
With Max Anstie stuck in the start gate, Herlings took a quick lead in the second moto ahead of Jonass, Tonkov, with Seewer fourth followed by Ferrandis and Covington. Ferrandis passed Seewer, but still needed to catch and pass Tonkov and maybe Jonass to get the GP victory.
Not a lot happened as Herlings is in a race of his own, but still the GP overall was on the edge as Ferrandis five seconds down on the Latvian and his overall chances.
Tonkov made a mistake and Ferrandis was on him and pushing the Russian rider. Tonkov getting a lot of pressure from the Frenchman went down hard and nearly took Ferrandis with him.
Once into third place Ferrandis set out after Jonass and once on his back wheel Jonass began to make small mistakes. Ferrandis pushed hard and made his way past Jonass to move into second place and Jonass seemed to be happy with third. Herlings of course was long gone.
Herlings takes the moto win and Ferrandis the GP overall with his 1-2 results. Second overall in the GP was Jonass with 2-2 and third Seewer with 5-5.
Dylan Ferrandis: “Before coming here in Argentina we did a lot of testing on the suspension, and on Saturday we continued working on the bike. I was not worried with my fifth position in qualification; I knew that Sunday would be different. I got a great start in the first race and took the lead in the opening lap, then Jonass passed me but I knew that I was faster and passed him back to win pretty easily. My second start was not as good but I was soon third behind Jonass and Herlings until I crashed and lost a couple of positions; I was sixth but felt comfortable on the bike and recovered to second place in the moto to secure my first overall Grand Prix overall victory. The track was pretty nice; I enjoyed racing here and I want to thanks all the team members who worked hard to get these results.”
Pauls Jonass: “I found my rhythm and I am feeling confident on the bike and the track but I was pretty bummed because I touched Jeffrey and then he crashed. It was my fault and I didn’t want to do that.” Jonass added that he didn’t want to take any risks in the second heat and was happy to settle for 2-3 and overall second.
Jeremy Seewer: “This is not such a big surprise to me because I have worked my whole life to be at the top of this sport. I knew at the beginning of the season that my speed is good, but I just had some bad luck in Thailand. I put that event ‘into the past’ and focused on my practice…and now I am on the podium. It is an amazing feeling to be up here for the first time. I did two solid races and two fifth positions are not normally enough for the podium, but on tracks like this it is important to be consistent and not make mistakes because a few guys had some big crashes here today.”
MX2 Overall: 1. Dylan Ferrandis (Kaw) – 1-2. 2. Pauls Jonass (KTM) – 2-3. 3. Jeremy Seewer (Suz) – 5-5. 4. Thomas Covington (Kaw) – 7-7. 5. Tim Gajser (Hon) – 12-4. 6. Aleksandr Tonkov (Hus) – 10-6. 7. Jeffrey Herlings (KTM) – 35-1. 8. Adam Sterry (KTM) – 11-11. 9. Max Anstie (Kaw) – 3-22. 10. Brian Bogers (KTM) – 15-8.
MX2 – World Championship Classification (After 3 of 17 races): 1. Jeffrey Herlings – 125. 2. Dylan Ferrandis – 125. 3. Pauls Jonass – 112. 4. Aleksandr Tonkov – 82. 5. Thomas Covington – 81. 6. Julien Lieber – 80. 7. Tim Gajser – 79. 8. Valentin Guillod – 73. 9. Jeremy Seewer – 70. 10. Petar Petrov – 57.
AMSOIL Grand National Cross Country Series – Round 3 – Morganton, North Carolina
The 16th running of the FMF Steele Creek GNCC took place on Sunday at the beautiful Steele Creek Campground, where Kailub Russell saw his third straight victory of the 2015 AMSOIL Grand National Cross Country Series. Russell extended his points lead in the XC1 Pro class to earn his 25th career win in front of a hometown crowd in Morganton, North Carolina.
Yamaha’s Jordan Ashburn put himself into the early lead after grabbing the $250 All Balls Racing Holeshot Award but Russell quickly made his way to the front on the opening lap. The two-time GNCC National Champion created a gap on the rest of the field early on, leaving an exciting battle to shape up for the second place position.
Husqvarna’s Ryan Sipes jumped into second on the opening lap, with Ashburn and Daniel Milner right in the mix. Thad DuVall also put himself into a favorable position off the start, where he joined the front-runners early on to engage in a battle for the podium position.
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Josh Strang got tangled up with another rider just after the start, knocking the Australian native to the back of the pack early on. From there, the top ten running order continuously changed as riders battled it out for valuable championship points at the third round.
JCR Honda’s Chris Bach was the next to step into contention for second place after Ashburn made his way into that spot, setting his sights on Russell ahead. Bach chased Ashburn down but it was DuVall who surpassed both riders to inherit the second place position as the three-hour race neared its halfway mark. Strang joined DuVall in what turned out to be an exciting battle between the two Husqvarna-backed riders all afternoon.
Russell kicked it into high gear in the final moments of the seven-lap race as the KTM rider finished over two and a half minutes ahead of Strang, who came in second. DuVall finished just twenty seconds behind Strang to round out the top three overall for the day. Russell keeps his winning streak alive with a three-for-three score and a 15-point lead over Strang in the championship standings. DuVall sits another 15 points back in third.
XC1 Pro rookie Grant Baylor made a jump in the championship standings on Sunday with an impressive come-from-behind performance to land fourth overall for the day. Baylor began the day just outside the top ten as he pushed his way through the pack all afternoon, ultimately landing just outside the overall podium in his third full-time race in the premier class. Baylor’s AmPro Yamaha teammate Jordan Ashburn was able to maintain his top five running from the afternoon, securing fifth overall for the day, where he now sits tied with Grant Baylor for fourth in the championship standings.
In his first race back from injury this season, KTM’s Steward Baylor put in an impressive ride to finish sixth overall after being forced to make his way through the pack, alongside his brother Grant. Milner put forth his best GNCC performance of the season with seventh overall, while KTM’s Russell Bobbitt took eighth overall. After experiencing a few crashes along the way, Sipes finished the day with ninth place in XC1 and 14th overall, while Husqvarna’s Tyler Medaglia rounded out the top ten in XC1 with 25th overall.
The XC2 Pro Lites battle heated up at the third round as Jason Thomas emerged victorious after three hours of racing. Thomas began the day with the $100 Hot Cams XC2 Pro Lites Holeshot Award and the early lead in the class. Thomas had early competition from the usual suspects like Nick Davis and KTM’s Trevor Bollinger, but as the race wore on the top three began to spread out.
Thomas and Davis came together about halfway through the race, causing both riders to go down just after the finish line. With Bollinger in the lead, Honda’s Layne Michael made his way past the downed riders for second, and the lead duo got back up and began charging once again.
However, Davis ran into a mechanical issue that would ultimately remove him from the race and any chance at salvaging championship points for the day. Thomas went on to capture his second straight XC2 victory of the season, with Michael holding on for second and Bollinger, a Morganton, North Carolina native, capturing a third place finish in front of his hometown crowd.
XC1 Event Results: 1. Kailub Russell (KTM). 2. Josh Strang (HSQ). 3. Thad DuVall (HSQ). 4. Grant Baylor (YAM). 5. Jordan Ashburn (YAM). 6. Steward Baylor (KTM). 7. Daniel Milner (YAM). 8. Russell Bobbitt (KTM). 9. Ryan Sipes (HSQ). 10. Tyler Medaglia (HSQ).
Overall National Championship Standings: 1. Kailub Russell (90). 2. Josh Strang (75). 3. Thad DuVall (60). 4. Grant Baylor (44). 5. Jordan Ashburn (44). 6. Jason Thomas (38). 7. Chris Bach (37). 8. Nick Davis (28). 9. Tyler Medaglia (26). 10. Craig DeLong (25).
Australian MX Nationals – Round 1 – Horsham, Vic – Moto News Brought to you by Dunlop Geomax
MX1 Race Report: KTM’s Kirk Gibbs arrived at Horsham determined to take race wins and that is exactly what he did. After recording the second fastest lap time in GoPro SuperPole, a win in moto one ahead of teammate Luke Styke, and another win in moto two, Gibbs took the MX1 overall ahead of CDR Yamaha’s Kade Mosig and Styke.
“My preparation this year has been awesome, we all went over to race in New Zealand for the pre-season and it’s really paid off, I really owe it all to KTM,” he said. “I had a lot of confidence coming into this round so I’m really happy to take the win. A few years ago I didn’t really know where I was going with my career and Rob Twyerould took me on – I can’t thank him enough for that.”
MX1 defending champion Matt Moss was a notable absentee from the front of the pack, finishing 14th in both moto one and two, handing him 13th overall for the day and not the start expected for Team Factory Suzuki.
“It was a tough day! I was feeling good going into the opening race but I had a big crash in turn two that really hurt my shoulder and done some damage to my neck.” Moss explained. “I got up and tried to charge but I was in a lot of pain but ended up salvaging some points.”
“I was not sure if I was going to be able to line up for race two. I managed to get to the line and was able to catch the lead guys and was challenging for first until another crash all but ended my day. It is only round one and there is a long way to go. We head home to Appin for round two in a couple of week’s time and we will look to get back out front.”
Lawson Bopping made a welcome return to the MX Nationals with a solid fourth place overall. “Round one I am really happy with. I managed to put some really good points on the board and start the series off on the right foot.”
“Qualifying obviously went really well. I put down the fastest lap time and then managed to get third in SuperPole, which was a good start to the day.”
“In moto one, I was sitting in about third position and Kade Mosig just got me at the end there, but I was really happy with fourth in that race. In the second race I again had some good battles with Kade and came away with another fourth, so it was good to stay consistent and inside that top five.
“My goal heading into round one was just to stay in that top five. I have only rode Horsham a handful of times, but the weekend was definitely the best result that I’ve had there. I’ve made a couple of little changes to the bike, and I’ve had some good results at Appin in the past, so I’m looking forward to getting to round two now, and aiming for a podium there.”
CDR Yamaha’s Daniel Reardon lead the first moto before falling back to third place when he was hit from behind by Adam Monea causing him to stall the engine. Reardon fired the Yamaha back to life but was to the rear of the field and managed to fight back to fifth by the end of the 30 minutes. Unfortunately his day ended with a DNF in moto two due to a mechanical failure.
Ford Dale returned to racing and posted the fastest time in Superpole but speed has never been Ford’s issue, its staying on the bike and Horsham was no different. Fortunately the Queenslander came away unharmed and scored a valuable 50 points, five adrift of his team mate Cody Cooper who looked solid in the opening moto but couldn’t recover from a poor start in moto two.
GoPro SuperPole
1) Ford Dale (1:53.483) – 5 points
2) Kirk Gibbs (1:53.779) – 4 points
3) Lawson Bopping (1:54.004) – 3 points
4) Kade Mosig (1:54.691) – 2 points
5) Daniel Reardon (1:55.477) – 1 point
Monster MX1 Round overall and Championship points
1) Kirk Gibbs – 74 points
2) Kade Mosig – 64 points
3) Luke Styke – 58 points
4) Lawson Bopping – 59 points
5) Cody Cooper – 55 points
6) Ford Dale – 50 points
7) Adam Monea – 49 points
8) Dylan Long – 47 points
9) Cheyne Boyd – 40 points
10) Jesse Dobson – 40 points
MX2 Race Report: Serco Yamaha’s Jed Beaton crossed the line for his first overall in the MX2 Class for 2015 at Horsham after an impressive third place in moto one and a race win in moto two. Thanks to a ten second penalty in moto two, Luke Clout was forced to settle for second overall while 2014 Japanese Motocross Champion Takeshi Katsuya finished the day in third place ahead of the hard charging Jay Wilson. Only five points separates the top four riders.
Beaton was over the moon with his first win for 2015, dedicating his ride to injured brother Ross Beaton and his brand new Serco Yamaha Team. “Today was a good day. I had a bad start in that first one and made a couple of mistakes, but I managed to sort myself out and I’m over the moon to be on the podium,” he said. “I have been working really hard so I’m not completely shocked by my result, but it’s definitely nice to get this one for the team at round one.”
Jay Wilson took his form from the New Zealand Motocross Championships to finish a solid fourth overall while championship favourite Caleb Ward had a tough day and finished in 8th overall. “Up and down day at round one, bad start in the first moto and silly mistakes led to 12th which I was really disappointed with. Second moto I came out of the gate and hit neutral and was dead last into the first corner and spent the next twenty minutes going through the pack and managed to get back to 5th, for 8th overall on the day. Felt like I had the speed but just need to get a start, looking forward to round 2 at Appin in 2 weeks!”
Motul MX2 Round overall and Championship points
1) Jed Beaton – 65 points
2) Luke Clout – 63 points
3) Takeshi Katsuya – 62 points
4) Jay Wilson – 60 points
5) Nathan Crawford – 51 points
6) Wade Hunter – 46 points
7) Dylan Wills – 46 points
8) Caleb Ward – 45 points
9) Luke Arbon – 44 points
10) Riley Graham – 44 point
MXD Race Report: The Pirelli MXD Class had their first outing for the year at a perfectly prepared Horsham track today, and despite only recording one official race, showed MX Nationals fans what the future of motocross looks like.
Being the third class out on an already rough a rutty circuit, the MXD class had their work cut out for them when they hit the track for their first moto of the day.
After claiming top qualifying position, the first MXD holeshot for 2015 also went to young gun Mitchell Evans – however his glory was short lived. After only one lap, Evans was forced to exit the race, pulling into the pits nursing his wrist and recording a DNF.
With Evans forced out of moto one, the opportunity for a new race leader was handed to Jordan Hill, Dylan Wilson, Jayden Rykers and Wilson Todd.
Todd made the most of Evans’ misfortune moving quickly into the lead ahead of surprise second place holder, Yamaha mounted Jordan Hill.
However Todd was also unable to make the lead stick for more than five minutes, making a mistake that saw him drop back to fourth place handing Hill a comfortable lead.
With Hill now in full control of the first MXD moto for 2015, second place was taken on by fellow Yamaha rider Dylan Wilson, ahead of KTM’s Jayden Rykers in third.
Hill celebrated as he crossed the line when the chequered flag flew, taking not only his first race win for 2015, but his very first senior racing victory. Wilson claimed second place deservedly ahead of Rykers who took out third position.
Race two for the MXD class got underway, however a critical incident saw the second moto red flagged, and the class did not return to the track for any further racing. With the MXD class unable to complete moto two, round results have now been calculated based on moto one results only.
Williams Event Management will look to add an additional race to the MX Nationals program at one of the remaining nine rounds of the series, to ensure the MXD Championship is calculated correctly.
Pirelli MXD round overall and Championship points
1) Jordan Hill – 35 points
2) Dylan Wilson – 32 points
3) Jayden Rykers – 30 points
4) Wilson Todd – 28 points
5) Wayde Carter – 26 points
6) Trent Wheatley – 25 points
7) Toby Stevens – 24 points
8) Jonte Reynders – 23 points
9) Bailey Coxon – 22 points
10) Connor Tierney – 21 points
Read Todd Jarratt’s Horsham MX Nationals Report
Highlight Videos for Smarty’s Moto News Weekly Wrap March 31, 2015
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