Moto News Wrap for September 29 by Darren Smart
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Australasian News
Ferris Back to Australia: One of the worst kept secrets has been announced. Dean Ferris will race for JCR Yamaha in New Zealand and CDR Yamaha in Australia for the 2016 New Zealand and Australian Motocross Championships.
Team Motul Suzuki Folds: The Jay Foreman managed team Motul Suzuki team will fold at the end of the 2015 Australian Supercross Championships but Suzuki demands that the brand will actually increase its on-track presence in off-road racing – time will tell.
Wilson Out – Clout In: Jay Wilson crashed while practicing for last weekend’s MXoN and had to be replaced by his arch rival Luke Clout. “On Monday afternoon while testing, I had a very small crash and fell on a rock, which ripped open the side of my stomach, and tore my stomach muscles. Given that I now have an open wound, and with high risk of infection, I am unable to represent Australia in the MX2 class at the MXoN this weekend.”
Australian SX Web Site is LIVE: To stay totally on the pace with the 2015 Australian Supercross Championship, check out the official www.australiansupercross.com.au website which has just gone live – the site basically has all of the info needed for fan and rider alike.
CQ Bikes Bulls Buggys & Bands: The annual CQ Bikes, Bulls, Buggys & Bands weekend has just wrapped up in Central Queensland and Townsville ace Damian Koppe came away with the $1500.00 first prize in the dirt bike class.
Masters IN for Aussie SGP: Sam Masters has been given a wild card ride for the DON Smallgoods Australian FIM Speedway Grand Prix at Melbourne’s Etihad Stadium on October 24.
Australian Junior Motocross Championships: Bunbury is alive with activity as the 2015 Australian Junior Motocross Championship fires into life and with hundreds of young hopefuls pulling out all stops to make a name for themselves we can be assured of plenty of action – I will have the full report and results next week. For now check out Jeremy Hammer’s Monday Report from the event, and the first gallery of images.
WAMX Final Cancelled: The final round of the WAMX series was scheduled to be hosted by the Lightweight Motorcycle Club last weekend but a lack of volunteers forced the club to cancel the event leaving the MX2 championship win to Dylan Heard while Dean Porter won yet another MX1 title.
American News
Sipes Wins National Enduro: ISDE winner Ryan Sipes has continued his sensational form to win round 9 of the AMA National Enduro Championships held at Lynville last weekend. Sipes took the win ahead of Chris Bach, Kailub Russell, Grant Baylor and Josh Strang.
Kiniry On Fire: American Bobby Kiniry has walked away from the opening two rounds of Monster Energy Canadian National AX Tour held at the Western Agriplex in London, Ontario with the lead in the AX Pro and AX Pro-Lites classes. Kiniry won both classes on Friday night and backed that up with two second place finishes on Saturday night.
Smith to Hall of Fame: On Saturday, October 17, in Orlando, Florida, the AMA will welcome Loretta Lynn National competitor and five-time Grand National Cross Country (GNCC) champion Rodney Smith into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame.
Red Bull Straight Rhythm News: Red Bull has released the full list of riders that will compete at the second annual Red Bull Straight Rhythm race scheduled for Saturday, October 10, at the Fairplex in Pomona, California.
Open Class: James Stewart, Ryan Dungey, Andrew Short, Ken Roczen, Marvin Musquin, Justin Brayton, Vince Friese, Kyle Chisholm, Dean Wilson, Thomas Ramette, Kyle Partridge, Josh Hansen, Mike Alessi, Ivan Tedesco, Brett Metcalfe, and Nick Wey.
Lites Class: Malcolm Stewart, Jessy Nelson, Shane McElrath, Justin Hill, Matt Biscelgia, RJ Hampshire, Kyle Regal, Jordon Smith, and two additional riders to be determined from Pala Raceway pre-qualifier on October the 4th.
Kailub Russell Crowned 2015 GNCC and National Enduro Champion: Kailub Russell made history this past weekend by claiming the 2015 Kenda AMA National Enduro Championship, just one week after securing the AMSOIL Grand National Cross Country (GNCC) National Championship. Russell is the first racer in the history of off-road racing to clinch both the GNCC and National Enduro Championships in the same season.
Both championships come after the official announcement that Russell had, in fact, torn his ACL during the International Six Days Enduro (ISDE) in Slovakia just two weeks ago. Pushing through his injury, Russell was able to finish on the podium this past weekend at round nine of the National Enduro Championship with a third place overall.
“A few weeks ago when I hurt my knee, I wasn’t sure what I would be able to do with the two championships I had on the line,” said Russell. “I am so thankful I was able to ride through this injury and win these championships. I had a great season and I am very grateful to my team for their support.”
In addition to becoming the first rider to ever claim the GNCC and National Enduro championships in the same season, the National Enduro championship is also historically significant as he and his father, Jeff Russell, became the first ever father and son duo to claim AMA National Enduro championships.
Euro News
Australasian Riders at the MXoN: Ben Townley was the star of the 2015 Motocross of Nations held in France last weekend. After finishing second in Saturday’s qualifying race the semi retired Kiwi led the opening MXGP & MX2 moto before dropping back to 6th place but in the final moto of the day Townley passed MXGP champion Romain Febvre early in the race before leading for several laps and after finally being passed by Febvre the flying Kiwi kept pushing right to the very end to finish just 3 seconds back from Febvre when the chequered flag dropped. Truly inspirational!
Todd Waters went 13-12 over his two motos for 7th overall in the MXGP class while Dean Ferris showed the speed of a front runner but four crashes over the two motos ended in 19-20 results for 8th overall in the Open class and Luke Clout ended up with 33-13 moto finishes for 10th overall in the MX2 class.
Cody Cooper showed glimpses of his speed but ended the day with 20-30 finishes but Kayne Lamont had a shocker and didn’t crack the top 30 all weekend.
Australia finished in a disappointing 7th overall (just 11 points shy of a podium finish), while New Zealand finished one spot back. See the full report and results below.
Anstie OUT!! Brit Max Anstie was spectacularly landed on during Saturday’s MX2 qualifying race at the MXoN and has suffered a back injury. “Just been to see Max,” team manager Steve Dixon said. “He is in good spirits and tomorrow hopefully they will put him in an upper body cast to immobilise the back, his T3 is broke but no spinal damage, a couple of months proper rest will see Max healed up, a huge relief considering the hit he took, he is absolutely gutted not to have been riding for his country. 2 or 3 day then he should be airlifted to the UK, main thing is not to put any pressure on the back at this stage and allow the bone to heal strong.”
Jonass OUT: Latvian Paul Jonass crashed so many times during Saturday’s MX2 qualifying race he was forced to sit out Sunday’s racing – at the time of writing the extent of his injuries haven’t been confirmed.
Enduro World Championship Finale this weekend: Being held in the small, rural town of Requista, the GP of France marks the seventh and final round of this year’s EWC series. Matt Phillips had done the double in Italy, closing within 16-points of Bellino, but the Frenchman stretched that gap back out to 24-points at St. Hubert. The series finale is this weekend, on Bellino’s home soil..
Enduro 3 – Championship Standings – 1. Mathias Bellino (Husqvarna) 217pts; 2. Matthew Phillips (KTM) 193pts; 3. Matti Seistola (Sherco) 163pts
Enduro 2 – Championship Standings – 1. Antoine Meo (KTM) 228pts; 2. Alex Salvini (Honda) 191pts; 3. Pela Renet (Husqvarna) 175pts
Enduro 1 – Championship Standings – 1. Eero Remes (TM) 221pts; 2. Christophe Nambotin (KTM) 214pts; 3. Daniel McCanney (Husqvarna) 157pts
Enduro Junior – Championship Standings – 1. Jamie McCanney (Husqvarna) 220pts; 2. Giacomo Redondi (Beta) 183pts; 3. Steve Holcombe (Beta) 166pts
Enduro Women – Championship Standings – 1. Laia Sanz (KTM) 120pts; 2. Jane Daniels (Husqvarna) 96pts; 3. Jemma Wilson (Yamaha) 69pts
Annual MXGP Awards Ceremony
In the crisp night air of Ernée, France, following on from the Qualifying races at the incredible Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations, the annual MXGP Awards ceremony took place. The event was held on the VIP Skybox, which is the infrastructure built behind the start gate, and was hosted by Paul Malin and Lisa Leyland.
Youthstream President Mr. Giuseppe Luongo and FIM President Mr. Vito Ippolito personally handed out the awards to the 2015 FIM Motocross World Champions Romain Febvre and Tim Gajser, and to the industry award winners.
Dr. Wolfgang Srb joined Mr. Luongo on stage to acknowledge the 2015 European Champions Nick Kouwenberg, Jorge Prado, Marco Maddii, Emil Weckman, Raivo Dankers and Scott Smulders, as well as the FIM Junior, WMX and VMX World Champions Maxime Renaux, Raivo Dankers, Kay Karssemakers, Kiara Fontanesi and Mats Nilsson.
Former MXGP rider Joel Roelants, who suffered a spine injury in 2013, collected a cheque for 10,000 euro as a donation to the Wings For Life charity while the vice MX2 world champion Pauls Jonass received 5,000 euros as the winner of the Jan de Groot award which honors the most promising young talent.
Tag Heuer’s Mr. Alexandre de Lamberterie was welcomed on stage to announce Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s former world champions Antonio Cairoli and Jeffrey Herlings as the winners of the Tag Heuer Fastest Lap competition. Unfortunately both riders couldn’t make it this evening; therefore the exquisite watches they won were awarded to their team managers.
Fox Head Europe’s General Manager Mr. Matthieu Bazil also joined Mr. Luongo on stage to award Max Nagl and Max Anstie with their cheques for 10,000 and 5,000 euros as the winners of the Fox Holeshot competition.
- MXGP Manufacturer World Champion: Yamaha
- MX2 Manufacturer World Champion: KTM
- WMX Manufacturer World Champion: Yamaha
- MXGP Winning Team: Yamaha Factory Racing Yamalube
- MX2 Winning Team: Honda Gariboldi
- WMX Winning Team: Yamaha MXFontaRacing
- Mechanic of the Year: Manuel Volpato
- Steve Bruhn Award Journalist of the year: Stefano Taglioni
- Photographer of the year: Bavo Swijgers
- “Jan De Groot” Award: Pauls Jonass
- Motocross MXGP Best Cooperation: USA, Glen Helen
- Motocross MXGP Best Race Track: Argentina, Neuquen
- Motocross MXGP Best Media Centre: Gret Britain, Matterley Basin
- Motocross MXGP Best Paddock: The Netherlands, Assen
- Motocross MXGP Best Promotion: The Netherlands, Assen
- Motocross MXGP Best Infrastructure: Qatar, Losail
- Wings For Life: Joel Roelants
- EMX 65 European Champion: Scott Smulders
- EMX 85 European Champion: Raivo Dankers
- EMX 125 European Champion: Jorge Prado
- EMX 150 Honda European Champion: Emil Weckman
- EMX 250 European Champion: Nick Kouwenberg
- EMX 300 European Champion: Marco Maddii
- 65cc European Open Winner: Kay Karssemakers
- 85 Junior World Champion: Raivo Dankers
- 125 Junior World Champion: Maxime Renaux
- Veterans’ World Cup Winner: Mats Nilsson
- Women’s World Champion: Kiara Fontanesi
- TAG HEUER Best Lap Challenge: Antonio Cairoli and Jeffrey Herlings
- FOX HOLESHOT Award: Max Nagl and Max Anstie
- Motocross MXGP Best Organizer: The Netherlands, Assen
- MX2 World Champion: Tim Gajser
- MXGP World Champion: Romain Febvre
Smarty’s Race Report and Results from Last Weekend
2015 Motocross of Nations – Ernee – France
The undulating Ernee circuit was full of enthusiastic motocross fans for both days of action but when it was all said and done team France defended their title with a narrow two point win over the all Yamaha mounted USA team – there was agro, fearless racing and crashes galore – here is how it went down……
Top 15 teams from Saturday Qualification
1. France – 2pts: 1. FEBVRE, Romain – Open. 1. MUSQUIN, Marvin – MX2. 1. PAULIN, Gautier – MXGP.
2. USA – 4pts: 2. WEBB, Cooper – Open. 2. MARTIN, Jeremy – MX2. 7. BARCIA, Justin. MXGP.
3. Belgium – 8pts: 3. VAN HOREBEEK, Jeremy – Open. 5. LIEBER, Julien – MX2. 5. DE DYCKER, Ken – MXGP.
4. Germany – 10pts: 4. NAGL, Maximilian – MXGP. 6. ULLRICH, Dennis – Open. 10. JACOBI, Henry – MX2.
5. New Zealand – 10pts: 2. TOWNLEY, Ben – MXGP. 8. COOPER, Cody – Open. 36. LAMONT, Kayne – MX2.
6. The Netherlands – 12pts: 4. COLDENHOFF, Glenn – Open. 8. KOUWENBERG, Nick – MX2. 22. BOGERS, Brian – MXGP.
7. Spain – 13pts: 6. ZARAGOZA, Jorge – MX2. 7. BUTRON, Jose – MXGP. 27. VALENTIN, Ander – Open.
8. Austria – 14pts: 4. RAUCHENECKER, Pascal – MX2. 10. SCHMIDINGER, Günter – Open. 16. NEURAUTER, Luka – MXGP.
9. Switzerland – 15pts: 3. SEEWER, Jeremy – MX2. 12. GUILLOD, Valentin – MXGP. 24. BAUMGARTNER, Andy – Open.
10. Estonia – 16pts: 7. KULLAS, Harri – MX2. 9. LEOK, Tanel – Open. 10. RATSEP, Priit – MXGP.
11. Australia – 16pts: 7. FERRIS, Dean – Open. 9. WATERS, Todd – MXGP. 24. CLOUT, Luke – MX2.
12. Great Britain – 16pts: 5. WILSON, Dean – Open. 11. SIMPSON, Shaun – MXGP. 35. ANSTIE, Max – MX2.
13. Sweden – 21pts: 8. BENGTSSON, Filip – MXGP. 13. JÖNSSON, Jesper – Open. 14. ÖSTLUND, Alvin – MX2.
14. Italy – 26pts: 11. CERVELLIN, Michele – MX2. 15. BERNARDINI, Samuele – Open. 19. MONTICELLI, Ivo – MXGP.
15. Ireland – 27pts: 12. IRWIN, Graeme – MX2. 15. BARR, Martin – MXGP. 17. EDMONDS, Stuart – Open.
Race One – MXGP & MX2
Race one demonstrated just what the motocross of nations is all about. Team USA’s Justin Barcia and Team France’s Marvin Musquin had an epic duel in the first half of the race as they held nothing back in their battle for the lead. While the intense French fans were backing the US based Frenchman, he threw it away in spectacular style on a jump at the bottom of the track, “I got too excited, the crowd was going crazy and I made too many mistakes and finally I went down” he said. Nevertheless, he was quick to regroup and only lost two positions.
In the time it took Musquin to regroup, Team Russia’s Evgeny Bobryshev and Team Germany’s Max Nagl took over the second and third positions and rode it home unchallenged.
At one point Team USA’s MX2 rider Jeremy Martin started closing in on Musquin for fourth, but as the Frenchman, who set a lap time 2 seconds faster than anyone else on track, returned to full force Martin couldn’t respond to the challenge and let him go.
Meanwhile Team New Zealand’s super spoiler Ben Townley was riding on rails as one of the veterans of the event and came home in sixth ahead of the defending champion and top qualifier Gautier Paulin who binned it when he got a little too trigger happy on the front brake. “It was scary moment,” he explained. “I landed, got on the brakes and hit a stone. I didn’t expect that and lost the front. Max Nagl hit my bike and the levers and bars were a bit bent.”
Todd Waters started the moto well outside the top 20 but managed to claw his way up to 13th by moto end while Luke Clout was taken out in the first corner and took ages to get his bike going so ended the moto back in 33rd place.
Race One Results: 1. Justin Barcia (USA, Yamaha), 35:41.061; 2. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:13.103; 3. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Husqvarna), +0:16.316; 4. Marvin Musquin (FRA, KTM), +0:19.053; 5. Jeremy Martin (USA, Yamaha), +0:25.080; 6. Ben Townley (NZL, Honda), +0:36.939; 7. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Honda), +0:39.665; 8. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), +1:00.544; 9. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Yamaha), +1:03.697; 10. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki), +1:15.508. 13. Todd Waters (AUS, Hus). 33. Luke Clout (AUS, Yam).
RACE 2 – MX2 & Open
With Team USA taking the early lead after Justin Barcia cleaned up in race one which was paired with the fifth of Jeremy Martin, their Open rider Cooper Webb was proper fired up and ready to maintain the solid attack of the stars and stripes. Webb banked the €1000 Fox Holeshot cheque after leading Great Britain’s Dean Wilson and Team France’s Romain Febvre around turn one. Febvre didn’t waste much time in getting around Wilson, who was riding a pretty wide line, and went after Webb who had pulled a slight gap.
After ditching Wilson, the hillside erupted with excitement as the home rider went up the inside of Webb for the lead. Webb didn’t let it go and kept hot on the heels of the reigning MXGP world champion before tipping over while trying to change his line in an attempt to avoid a slower rider.
Webb’s fall took the heat off of Febvre but he didn’t lose a position and still came home for a solid second. Meanwhile the battle for third was raging as Team Belgium’s Jeremy Van Horebeek and the MX2 hotshots Marvin Musquin and Jeremy Martin crept up on Wilson and nudged him back to sixth.
Van Horebeek was setting a fierce pace but couldn’t hold off the wrath of the Frenchman who was egged on by the patriotic crowd. Musquin, with his creative line choice, put a super sweet inside to outside pass on Van Horebeek and pulled a five second gap for a comfortable third. Van Horebeek and Martin rounded out the top five.
Dean Ferris was caught up in the first lap crash and worked his way from 35th to 20th by lap six but the Aussie crashed again to drop back to 27th but he bounce back to 19th by moto end while Luke Clout started the race in 20th place before working his way up to 13th place.
Clout posted this on his FB page: ‘What a day, struggled first moto with my injuries and bike set up was way off, but got everything sorted for 2nd moto and got a 13th! Solid solid ride considering I’m racing 450s! Now the trip home’
Race 2 Results: 1. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), 35:38.570; 2. Cooper Webb (USA, Yamaha), +0:03.133; 3. Marvin Musquin (FRA, KTM), +0:10.889; 4. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:15.384; 5. Jeremy Martin (USA, Yamaha), +0:19.463; 6. Dean Wilson (GBR, KTM), +0:40.540; 7. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Suzuki), +1:05.159; 8. Tanel Leok (EST, Kawasaki), +1:14.771; 9. Pascal Rauchenecker (AUT, KTM), +1:23.712; 10. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki), +1:25.074. 13. Luke Clout (AUS, Yam). 19. Dean Ferris (AUS, Hus).
RACE 3 – MXGP & OPEN
With the crowd louder than the sound of the forty revved out 450’s, the gates dropped with Team Sweden’s Fillip Bengtsson and Team New Zealand’s Ben Townley going neck and neck around turn one. Chasing them was France’s young phenomenon Romain Febvre followed by Team Russia’s Evgeny Bobryshev and Team Belgium’s Ken De Dycker.
Throwing a spanner in the works, both of the race 1 and race 2 holeshotters, Team USA’s Justin Barcia and Cooper Webb, were buried while a hungry Febvre was taking no prisoners on his mission to the lead. He managed to out-drag Townley in a bar to bar sprint towards turn one and although he made the pass stick he couldn’t shake the Kiwi who chased him home for a mind-blowing second.
As the race ticked over half way Webb hit the turbo button and caught his teammate Barcia who was running sixth at the time. With team tactics coming into play, Barcia pulled over for his hauling teammate Webb but the youngster came undone three turns later when he stalled the bike. Knowing what was at stake; Barcia decided to give his turbo a tap and impressively passed Paulin and Bobryshev to come home in third. Bobryshev put in another great ride for fourth ahead of Paulin while Webb managed to get his bike fired up third kick and came home in sixth.
Dean Ferris was in good form sitting in fourth place until lap 10 when he was passed by Paulin and Barcia but it wasn’t long before the Aussie hit the deck not once but twice to finish back in 20th place while Waters started the race just inside the top 20 and managed to work his way up to a credible 12th place by moto end.
Here is what Waters posted on his FB page: ‘Like everyone I was looking for a positive end to the 2015 MXGP series. The second half of the championship hasn’t gone as well as I’d hoped, so I really wanted a strong finish. Unfortunately I had an issue in the first race, which meant I wasn’t able to charge like I wanted to. I stalled the bike in one corner and things just didn’t come together. In the second moto I just didn’t have what I needed for a better result’
It was complete and utter pandemonium at the checkers as Febvre bought home for France with a perfect score in the open class. Paulin finished fourth overall in the MXGP class which combined with Musquin’s overall victory in MX2 saw Team France defend the Chamberlain Cup on home soil for the first time in their history.
“To come here with a lot of pressure from the crowd was something special and I have never had it before. I’m really pumped that we won again,” Febvre said. “To cross the line first at any time is always special but to win the Nations in France for sure it was the best experience.”
Gautier Paulin has this to say. “Just everything today was about fighting, just to try and take this title. We know that we are here and all the best riders of each country are racing, so to defend the title here in France in front of the crowd of Ernée, it’s amazing. They were reaching for us. It’s unbelievable the feeling we have when we ride, and even in the paddock. I definitely want to thank my teammates, Romain and Marvin, they did a great job.”
“Yeah, it’s huge,” said Musquin. “It was a bummer not to be picked on the French team (last year), but that’s the way it is. They pick the riders that race the GPs over here. But this year, Pascal, the team manager, he came over to America twice. And he could see that my program with Aldon Baker; we were doing good. So he picked me for the 250 class. I really wanted to do good. To be back on the French team for des Nations riding at Ernée in France, I didn’t want to disappoint anybody and I gave my best. I’m so happy for all those guys.”
Team USA came so close yet so far with Barcia winning the MXGP class while his teammates Martin and Webb finished second in their classes for the team to lose by only two points while Team Belgium made the best of a bad day to round off the podium in third.
“The Motocross of Nations is a one of a kind,” said Martin, second overall in MX2. “It is something you want to be a part of as a racer. I have never heard fans so crazy. When you were on a French rider then you knew it! I’ve never heard so many chainsaws in my life.”
“The fans are unbelievable,” commented Barcia. “When I was behind Marvin I could hear all the cheering and then when I came around in front of him I couldn’t hear anything. They kill it. It will be nice to have one of these races in the U.S. The fans will be pumped up.”
“We don’t have anything like that,” said Webb of the crowd and atmosphere. “I thought in Glen Helen the fans were good there but this was a whole new level. I knew when Romain was on me, for sure! It was extreme and you had to stay calm and push it aside but it was hard when everybody was so loud and behind their team.”
Race 3 Results: 1. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), 35:29.211; 2. Ben Townley (NZL, Honda), +0:03.179; 3. Justin Barcia (USA, Yamaha), +0:04.708; 4. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:13.119; 5. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Honda), +0:14.435; 6. Cooper Webb (USA, Yamaha), +0:15.539; 7. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:39.713; 8. Dean Wilson (GBR, KTM), +0:45.383; 9. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), +0:54.619; 10. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Suzuki), +0:57.639. 12. Todd Waters (AUS, Hus). 20. Dean Ferris (AUS, Hus).
Motocross of Nations Top Ten: 1. France. 2. USA. 3. Belgium. 4. Estonia. 5. Switzerland. 6. The Netherlands. 7. Australia 8. New Zealand. 9. Germany. 10. Austria.
FIM Speedway World Championship – Stockholm
Great Britain’s Tai Woffinden admits missing out on a medal in 2014 has proved a blessing in disguise after he closed in on FIM Speedway World Championship No.2 with victory in the TEGERA® Stockholm SGP.
The Scunthorpe-born star picked up his second win of the season at the Friends Arena after seeing off defending world champ Greg Hancock, Niels-Kristian Iversen and Maciej Janowski in the final.
Woffinden left the Swedish capital with 16 World Championship points – the same tally as second-placed Hancock, meaning the 25-year-old retained his 25-point advantage at the top of the standings.
As a result, Woffy needs just 18 points over the final two rounds in Torun next Saturday and Melbourne on October 24 to secure the sport’s biggest prize.
But despite taking another stride closer, Woffinden remains grounded and admits finishing fourth last year and losing his crown to Hancock helped him keep his feet on the ground and remain level-headed. “I’m excited. This year has gone really well for me. I can probably say that after 2013, I got a little bit arrogant. Not to the public or to anyone; just within myself. I had a tough year last year and I’ve bounced back. I needed that year to level me again.
“This year I’m just in cruise mode. When it happens, it happens. It’s a strange feeling to get on the bike and know you can put it anywhere you want, whenever you want, and it’s going to go well. I’d like to say thanks to all my sponsors, especially Monster Energy. I’d like to thank all the riders for another great meeting. Everyone was pretty fair and got stuck in, so that’s great to see. That was a great crowd in Sweden and thanks to everyone back in the UK.”
Woffinden has scored seven points on his two previous appearances at the Friends Arena, breaking his collarbone there in 2013 and racing with an injured hand last year. So he’s delighted to leave with a useful points tally and a clean bill of health.
He said: “I guess I was thinking a little bit about my previous years here. The first season I broke my collarbone, so that was a tough one. The following year was after I had an injury. I scored seven points in both those years. I’m glad I got this out of the way and got the points I needed.”
This was Hancock’s 35th SGP appearance in Sweden – the nation he calls home during the European season. He’s still chasing his first victory in the country, but was delighted to reach a third straight Friends Arena final.
He said: “It looks pretty good. I’ve still got this bad omen that I can’t win a round in Sweden. I’ve had some good success here at the Friends Arena, though. It’s a great place, and you know I’m a big fan of Sweden.”
Hancock admits Woffinden will take some stopping with just two rounds to race. But he said: “As long as there’s a chance, I’ll never give up. When you have a guy like Tai, who is riding on top of the world, it’s tough. You can only cling on to a little hope, but the reality is this guy is fast.”
Danish champion Niels-Kristian Iversen was more than happy with third spot as he continues his strong end to 2015, moving up to fourth place and within 10 points of Nicki Pedersen in third. “It was good. I started off pretty well,” said Iversen. “I had two races where I had to work pretty hard for it. I’m pretty happy with third. To get a podium is a good achievement. Things haven’t come so easily this year. I’ve had to work pretty hard to get anything. So I have really enjoyed this result. I came back from injury after last year and the beginning of the season was quite tough. When you start off the season badly, it’s quite difficult. But the last couple of GPs have been good. This is another step in the right direction.”
Aussie Jason Doyle finished a credible 8th place and now sits 6th in the championship while Troy Batchelor Chris Holder couldn’t get going all night and finished well outside the top ten on the night.
TEGERA® STOCKHOLM SGP SCORES: 1 Tai Woffinden 16, 2 Greg Hancock 16, 3 Niels-Kristian Iversen 14, 4 Maciej Janowski 12, 5 Andreas Jonsson 10, 6 Peter Kildemand 9, 7 Chris Harris 9, 8 Jason Doyle 8, 9 Nicki Pedersen 7, 10 Tomas H Jonasson 6, 11 Michael Jepsen Jensen 6, 12 Antonio Lindback 6, 13 Krzysztof Kasprzak 6, 14 Troy Batchelor 5, 15 Chris Holder 4, 16 Matej Zagar 4, 17 Fredrik Lindgren DNR, 18 Kim Nilsson DNR.
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS: 1 Tai Woffinden 143, 2 Greg Hancock 118, 3 Nicki Pedersen 105, 4 Niels-Kristian Iversen 95, 5 Matej Zagar 93, 6 Jason Doyle 85, 7 Maciej Janowski 84, 8 Chris Holder 82, 9 Michael Jepsen Jensen 72, 10 Peter Kildemand 68, 11 Andreas Jonsson 65, 12 Troy Batchelor 54, 13 Chris Harris 52, 14 Tomas H Jonasson 46, 15 Krzysztof Kasprzak 35, 16 Jaroslaw Hampel 31, 17 Antonio Lindback 20, 18 Bartosz Zmarzlik 17, 19 Craig Cook 7, 20 Mikkel Michelsen 6, 21 Tomasz Gollob 4, 22 Timo Lahti 3, 23 Kasts Puodzuks 3, 24 Vaclav Milik 2, 25 Piotr Pawlicki 1, 26 Robert Lambert 1, 27 Adrian Cyfer 1, 28 Aleksander Conda 1, 29 Denis Stojs 1.
GEICO AMA EnduroCross Series – Sleep Train Arena – Sacramento, California
It was a bit of a homecoming for FMF/RPM Team Maxxis KTM rider Cody Webb and he took full advantage of it by taking the GEICO AMA EnduroCross Series win at the Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento, California, September 26. Webb, who hails from nearby Santa Cruz, came from behind to take the win and pull a small lead in the championship.
Webb was third after the first lap, but he quickly worked his way to the front, passing Utah’s Nick Thompson for the lead on lap three. Webb took command from there on out, though Mike Brown was making a move later in the race before getting stuck in the Matrix section.
Husqvarna’s Colton Haaker looked to have second place in the bag until getting passed by FMF KTM’s Taylor Robert on the final lap. Haaker had to settle for third. SRT Racing’s Cory Graffunder took fourth, while Brown rounded out the top five overall so Webb now leads Haaker by just seven points in the championship while Brown is another 20 points back in third.
The EnduroCross Series heads to Denver, Colorado, next week.
Main Event Result: 1. Cody Webb. 2. Taylor Robert. 3. Colton Haaker. 4. Cory Graffunder. 5. Mike Brown. 6. Kyle Redmond. 7. Nick Thompson. 8. Destry Abbott. 9. Ty Tremaine. 10. Kevin Rookstool.
2015 WAMX Make Smoking History State Championships
The 2015 WAMX Make Smoking History State Championships have been decided. It has to be one of the most disappointing ends to a season for WA motocross, with the news this week that the rescheduled Byford State round will not go ahead.
The host club the Lightweight Motorcycle Club wishes to apologise to all concerned, but with a lack of volunteers available to re run the washed out third round, the round was subsequently cancelled and the series standings from all rounds completed will stand.
WAMX, the series promoter exhausted all available avenues to try and run the event but advised “that with great disappointment the rescheduled Round 3 of the Byford Senior State Round will not be proceeding. We thank you for all your support over the past season and look forward to working with you all again in 2016”.
Veterans
Brendon Parnham is WA’s new Vets champ from Trevor Unstead in second and Scott Petricevich in third. Parnham lead for much of the series, podiuming on three rounds and unable to quite secure a race win. His consistency was the key, and a veterans Championship belongs to the 977.
Season Standings After 6 Rounds
1 977 BRENDON PARNHAM 422
2 142 TREVOR UNSTEAD 398
3 71 SCOTT PETRICEVICH 385
4 472 TIM DUNSTAN 371
5 512 NICHOLAS STONE 362
Womens Championships
In the Womens Championship Chelsea Blakers is the 2015 champion from Hannah Bagnall in second and Leeha Worthington third for the season. The womens championship decided over only two rounds with Blakers picking up the opening round win and second place for the final round in Beverley. This is the second Womens Championship for Chelsea Blakers secured by 16 points from the hard charging Hannah Bagnall and the much improved Leeha Worthington picking up third, her highest positon finish in a WAMX Championship.
Season Standings After 2 Rounds
1 539 CHELSEA BLAKERS 196
2 623 HANNAH BAGNALL 180
3 358 LEEHA WORTHINGTON 161
4 401 STORME GREEN 157
5 685 HANNAH LOVETT 156
Quad Championships
Quad star Chris Bosnakis battled with Luke Gaisford in the first two rounds, at Esperance and Wanneroo. When injury had Gaisford was unable to take part in the final round, Bosnakis was the firm favourite, and took out all three races to take the podium and the elusive back to back championship. Shaun Woodhead picked up second with Tyron Robertson picking up third place for the season.
Season Standings After 3 Rounds
1 46 CHRISTOPHER BOSNAKIS 302
2 2 SHAUN WOODHEAD 254
3 15 TYRON ROBERTSON 231
4 24 DANIEL SOLTOGGIO 221
5 53 ASHLEY MILLS 216
Intermediate Lites
The Intermediate Lites played out perfectly for series leader Mario Dercole who took the series from Jacob Schaafsma and Kurt Baxter securing the third step of the podium in the championship battle. The Intermediate Lites turning on great racing across the season between all the top five finishers.
Season Standings After 6 Rounds
1 178 MARIO DERCOLE 456
2 265 JACOB SCHAAFSMA 412
3 351 KURT BAXTER 399
4 227 KENLEN YOUL 396
5 517 GRANT BUCHAN 377
Clubman Lites
Alex Christie secured the title by 56 points from Jake McKay in second and Brayden Hahn third for the year. There were close dices, and top racing in the Clubman Lites all year with the top three, and also from within the top ten for the year. It was Alex Christie who takes the season victory.
Season Standings After 6 Rounds
1 313 ALEX CHRISTIE 495
2 353 JAKE MCKAY 439
3 283 BRAYDEN HAHN 371
MX2
MX2 defending champion Jayden Rykers was absent from the final round of racing due to commitments in Europe. This opened the door for Dylan Heard who took over the series lead and is your new MX2 champion, with Rykers in second and Jack Taylor picking up third for the year.
Season Standings After 6 Rounds
1 50 DYLAN HEARD 441
2 1 JAYDEN RYKERS 411
3 350 JACK TAYLOR 402
4 269 JOHN DARROCH 368
5 98 JAKE FEWSTER 355
Clubman Open
Clubman Open top step of the podium belonged to Callum Evans who secured the series win from Nathan Cox who picked up second with Caleb Mills in third. Evans found himself on every podium of the year with both Cox and Mills on the box for the last three rounds.
Season Standings After 6 Rounds
1 548 CALLUM EVANS 485
2 479 NATHAN COX 430
3 550 CALEB MILLS 405
Intermediate Open
Only 2 points for the win for new champion Anthony Rubotham with Brock Nelson in second and Stuart Eardley-Wilmot in third for the year, with this class looking to upgrade a couple of hard chargers for the new season based on this season’s results.
Season Standings After 6 Rounds
1 929 ANTHONY RUBOTHAM 435
2 303 BROCK NELSON 433
3 333 STUART EARDLEY-WILMOT 403
MX1
In the MX1 class Dean Porter secures another number 1 plate with Robbo Lovett in second for the year and Mitch Taylor third for the season. Porter’s consistent results on the podium saw him 55 points ahead at season’s finish from Lovett who podiumed at each of the rounds this season.
Season Standings After 6 Rounds
1 30 DEAN PORTER 487
2 29 ROBERT LOVETT 432
3 88 MITCH TAYLOR 371
4 57 CHARLIE CREECH 355
5 21 PAUL HUMBERSTON 352
The winners will be celebrated and crowned at the 2015 WAMX Senior Presentations which will take place on Saturday evening November 14th at Peel Thunder Football Club, with tickets available on-line at www.wamx.com.au
