Moto News Wrap for November 1, 2016 by Darren Smart
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This Week’s News Overview:
2017 FIM Speedway Grand Prix Line-Up Finalised
World Speedway Champion Takes On Yamaha Australian Four Day Enduro
2017 Australian Speedway Championship Entries Now Open
Beaton To Europe in 2017
European Enduro Championship Final
Melero Extends World Championship Lead after Dominating China
This Week’s Racing Overview:
Australian Supercross Championships – Round 3 – Wayville, South Australia
AMSOIL Grand National Cross Country Series – Round 11 – Crawfordsville, Indiana
GetzenRodeo – German Extreme Enduro
2017 FIM Speedway Grand Prix Line-Up Finalised
The FIM has announced that Emil Sayfutdinov, Nicki Pedersen, Matej Zagar and Maciej Janowski have been awarded permanent wild cards for the 2017 FIM Speedway Grand Prix season while Danish international Peter Kildemand has been called up as first reserve with Martin Smolinski of Germany offered the second reserve position and newly-crowned World Under-21 champion Max Fricke from Australia is the third stand-in rider.
Max Fricke – 2016 Speedway GP – Melbourne
Max Fricke
“It is a great privilege to be thought of as a Grand Prix rider and is a great honour to be in the same company of the other (GP) riders. If there is a chance of getting a ride in the season, that would be a dream come true. There’s a slim chance I will get a ride throughout the year and possibility I won’t, but even just to be thought of in that company of riders is amazing”.
The wild cards are joined in the series by the top-eight automatic qualifiers in World Champion Greg Hancock (USA), Tai Woffinden (Great Britain), Bartosz Zmarzlik (Poland), Chris Holder (Australia), Jason Doyle (Australia), Piotr Pawlicki (Poland), Antonio Lindback (Sweden) and Niels-Kristian Iversen (Denmark).
The 2017 SGP field is completed by the top three from the GP Challenge in Swedish on September 3 which were Patryk Dudek (Poland), Martin Vaculik (Slovakia) and Fredrik Lindgren (Sweden).
Greg Hancock leading the field at the Melbourne Speedway GP
2017 FIM Speedway GP Line-Up (in ranking order):
Greg Hancock (USA)
Tai Woffinden (Great Britain)
Bartosz Zmarzlik (Poland)
Chris Holder (Australia)
Jason Doyle (Australia)
Piotr Pawlicki (Poland)
Antonio Lindback (Sweden)
Niels-Kristian Iversen (Denmark)
Matej Zagar (Slovenia)
Maciej Janowski (Poland)
Fredrik Lindgren (Sweden)
Nicki Pedersen (Denmark)
Patryk Dudek (Poland)
Martin Vaculik (Slovakia)
Emil Sayfutdinov (Russia)
Reserves:
Peter Kildemand (Denmark)
Martin Smolinski (Germany)
Max Fricke (Australia)
World Speedway Champion Takes On Yamaha Australian Four Day Enduro
2016 Under 21 Speedway World Champion Max Fricke will take part in the 2016 Yamaha Australian Four Day Enduro which will take place in his very own backyard from November 14-19.
Max, who was this week was named as a reserve rider for the 2017 FIM World Speedway GP, is excited to be giving enduro a go next week.
Max Fricke
“The fact that it’s taking place in my hometown it’s pretty exciting. I’m really looking forward to it. Obviously, enduro is not my main discipline, but motocross has been something that I’ve really enjoyed over the years and I have done quite a lot of in my early days so to come out and do enduro will be a bit of fun.”
2015 A4DE – Matt Phillips – current EnduroGP World Champion
Aside from Fricke, big name riders will compete in the A4DE such as the return of Australian stars Josh Green, Daniel Milner, Daniel Sanders and current EnduroGP World Champion Matt Phillips.
2017 Australian Speedway Championship Entries Now Open
Motorcycling Australia have announced that entries for four of our Australian Speedway Championships to be held at Kurri-Kurri Speedway, Loxford Park Speedway Kurri-Kurri in the month of January 2017, are now open.
2016 ASX – Wayville
Entries are now open for the following Championships:
2017 Australian Speedway Under 21’s Solo Championship (Saturday 28/01/17)
2017 Australian Speedway U16 125cc Individual & Teams Solo Speedway Championship (26/27/29 Jan 17)
2017 Australian Speedway U16 250cc Solo Championship (Saturday 28/01/17)
2017 Australian Speedway U16 Sidecar Championship (Sunday 29/01/17)
Anyone wishing to enter can do so by heading the Supp Regs section of the Motorcycling Australia website, filling out the form and emailing it back to the Track Co-ordinator Sam. It’s that simple.
Sam Redfern
Motorcycling Australia events co-ordinator
Email: [email protected] Phone: 03 9684 0501
Entries close at COB on December 22nd, 2016. For more information in the lead up to the 2017 Speedway season head to the Motorcycling Australia website, the MA in Facebook and follow @motorcyclingaustralia on Instagram.
Dunlop Geomax MX3S
Beaton To Europe in 2017
2016 Australian MX2 Motocross Champion Jed Beaton has signed a deal to race a Honda in the 2017 EMX250 Championship and will be based out of the Netherlands alongside German youngster Stefan Ekerold.
Jed Beaton
Jed Beaton
“I am excited to have signed with Carglass-Honda Racing for 2017 and to race in the EMX250 class. This is a great opportunity for myself and I’m looking forward to making the most of it. I’m keen to ride the Honda CRF250R as it’s always been a very strong bike and I’m really overwhelmed to be a part of the Honda Racing family.”
The nine-round EMX 250 series will visit some of the best venues on the MXGP calendar including Maggiora, Valkenswaard, Kegums and Ernee while featuring some of the fastest young riders from America, Asia, Europe and now Australia.
Rd9 – 24 September: PAYS DE MONTBELIARD (France) – Villars sous Ecot
European Enduro Championship Final
The final round of the European Enduro Championship was held at Harfsen, in the Netherlands last weekend and it was Brad Freeman who won both days on his KTM.
Brad Freeman won the final of the European Enduro Championship in the Netherlands
The Brit missed the penultimate round in Latvia due to injury but the win at Harfsen earned the 20 year old second in the Junior E2/E3 class behind the new champion Nicolas Pellegrinelli from Italy while another Italian rider in Guido Conforti earned third place at Harfsen to clinch the Senior E1 class in front of Jonathan Rosse from Switzerland.
German Marco Neubert won the E2 title despite being beaten only by local hero Wesley Pittens while Patrik Markvart won the Junior E1 class and Matteo Pavoni won the 125cc title in front of his fellow countrymen Andrea Verona and Lorenzo Macoritto.
Melero Wraps Up Freestyle MX World Championship after Dominating China
The Shenzhen Sports Centre in China hosted two nights of intense freestyle for the 9th round of the FIM Freestyle MX World Championships and it was Maikel Melero who won both nights ahead of arch rival Rob Adelberg from Australia to wrap up his third world championship.
Melero dominated China to take another Freestyle World Title
After winning the opening night in China, Melero only needed a safe run to make it to the final six and it would have been enough to claim the points to finish the season as the World Champion.
But the Spaniard Maikel proved why he is a World Champion by taking pole position in the qualification round and then finishing the night with a huge run including the Stripper Flip, Surfer Tsunami, Lazy boy Flip, Shaolin Flip and the California Roll body varial to make sure he took his 9th win of the season.
Melero won every round of the season except for Cologne when he had a huge crash in practice.
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FIST go retro with Rat Racing gloves
FIST Handwear present their latest offering in licensed product, combining with iconic Australian Motocross brand Rat Racing. FIST has re-created two styles of vintage gloves that have been released exclusively through FIST Handwear’s Australian moto distributor Ficeda Accessories. More information here.
FIST Handware – Rat Racing – Replica Glove
Smarty’s Race Reports:
Australian Supercross Championships – Round 3 – Wayville, South Australia
Justin Brayton and Hayden Mellross have won the SX1 and the SX2 main events respectively at round three of the Australian Supercross Championships held at the Wayville Showgrounds in South Australia last Saturday night.
Australian Supercross 2016 – Image by Marc Jones – Justin Brayton
Brayton topped the afternoon SX1 qualifying from Wil Hahn and Lawson Bopping while Mellross posted the fastest time in SX2 qualifying ahead of Jackson Richardson and Gavin Faith.
SX1 Report:
Brayton crashed twice in the opening heat to allow Dean Ferris to grab the win ahead of Waters and Husqvarna mounted Jay Marmont in third while Jay Wilson stormed to the front in heat two before Wil Hahn worked his way to the front to take the heat win ahead of Dan Reardon and Adam Enticknap.
2016 ASX – Wayville – Justin Brayton
When the gates dropped for the 20 lap main event it was Brayton who earned the holeshot and was never headed all of the way to the chequered flag while the defending champion Reardon was back to his best with a solid second place ahead of Kyle Peters, Wil Hahn and Jay Marmont who continues to impress on his return to racing.
Reardon maintains his fourth place in the championship but just five points from second place in a very tight championship race with three rounds remaining.
Dan Reardon – 2016 ASX – Wayville
Dan Reardon
“Second place and I’m pretty happy with that. My preparation for this round was a little interrupted after my fall at Toowoomba but the last couple of days things have started to come around and I’m feeling better on the bike. It was a tough track as the whoop section was long and fast and deteriorated during the night. I think every rider had some moments in those and near the end of the final, it was just a matter of getting through them as safely as possible. So, second is good and hopefully I can build from this and finish the last few rounds off strongly.”
2016 ASX – Wayville – Kyle Peters
Kyle Peters
“The night started off pretty good, with a holeshot in their heat, but I made a few mistakes and dropped back a little. I made a few changes to the bike and kind of manned up a little in the main and made it happen, I came out second off the start, Reardon got around me, and then about halfway through I started catching him again and ended up third. But it was a good night, for sure. I got fourth of the previous round and third at this one so I’m happy with the progression and want to just keep getting better and better. Adelaide is a really awesome town, I had a lot of fun just going out to dinner and seeing the sights, so I’m excited to end the trip with a podium.”
2016 ASX – Wayville – Wil Hahn
Wil Hahn
“The whole day went really, really well for me. I felt I rode good in practice and qualifying, then won the heat, but in the main I just didn’t ride how I should have – these guys work too hard for me to go out and ride like that. I thought they did a really good job with the track and the whoops were really tough – that’s where I lost the race. I like back-to-back races though, look forward to the next one and we will learn from what happened tonight and fix it.”
Jay Marmont is also happy with his progress.
2016 ASX – Wayville – Luke Wilson, Jay Marmont, Kyle Newton
Jay Marmont
“It was a really good night, I started off the day a little bit rough, just didn’t get into my groove and didn’t qualify the best, but I kind of knew that my qualifying time would be the race pace. I made a few changes to the bike, and we got it a little bit more race ready, and the Husky performed really well all night. In the heat race we came out and straight away we were on race pace with the guys. I finished top three and you probably could have thrown a blanket over us. That gave me a decent gate pick for the main, but I didn’t get the best of starts; probably rounded the bend in around eighth, but I made some quick passes and got myself up to fifth, and from their battled basically for the podium with Peters and Wil Hahn, and just kind of checked out from the rest of the pack. Unfortunately I didn’t make any headway, but in saying that we were actually battling for third rather than just sitting back in fifth this weekend and getting closer towards that pointy end of the field. I was pretty happy to walk away with a good result, obviously a podium is what we are striving for, but right now it’s stepping stones.”
Dean Ferris and Todd Waters were forced to battle their way from the back of the pack and Ferris eventually finished in 6th while Waters crashed at the end of the whoop section putting him out of the race with just a few laps to run.
Dean Ferris – 2016 ASX – Wayville
Dean Ferris
“My goal is always to get on the podium and tonight I wasn’t able to do that. It took me a few laps to get back into a good pace after my crash and I came up on a bunch of riders at once that took some time to get past. Like everyone tonight, I struggled a bit in the whoops, especially later on as they got hammered during the night. I’m still in second, so that’s the positive but I want to get back on track and back on the podium at the next round in Melbourne.”
2016 ASX – Wayville – Kade Mosig
Kade Mosig
“It’s another sort of average result for me and I don’t really know what’s going on. I’ve been working really hard, I feel like I’m in great shape and I love my bike, but it’s just not been working out for me.”
Australian Supercross 2016 – Image by Marc Jones – Todd Waters
Todd Waters
“It was a bit of a devastating night for me – we had good speed in the heat race, so to go down in the main event in the whoops again is really disappointing. Usually whoops are my strong point, and it’s normally a part of the track that I feel quickest, so I think now we’ll go back and figure some bits and pieces out, maybe try a few different things and hopefully turn it around in Melbourne.”
Brayton now has an 18 point advantage over Ferris with Hahn just one single point back in third while Reardon’s second place finish has moved the Yamaha pilot to fourth position.
2016 ASX – Wayville – SX1 Podium
SX1 Final Results:
Justin BRAYTON
Daniel REARDON
Kyle PETERS
Wil HAHN
Jay MARMONT
Dean FERRIS
Kade MOSIG
Jesse DOBSON
Jay WILSON
Adam ENTICKNAP
Lawson BOPPING
Luke WILSON
Chris CAMILLERI
Boyd HOCKING
James ALEN
Joel NEWTON
DNF Todd WATERS
DNF Jonathon KRUSIC
SX1 Championship Standings After Round 3 of 6
Justin BRAYTON – 75
Dean FERRIS – 57
Wil HAHN – 56
Daniel REARDON – 52
Jay MARMONT – 45
Kade MOSIG – 44
Kyle PETERS – 38
Jay WILSON – 37
Adam ENTICKNAP – 36
Luke WILSON – 35
Dunlop Geomax MX3S
SX2 Report:
The opening SX2 heat was a battle between Mellross and Gavin Faith with Mellross getting the win ahead of Faith and Luke Clout before Kale Makeham and Geran Stapleton took the early lead in the second heat and just as Stapleton crashed out Jackson Richardson made his way past Makeham and raced away to the win ahead of Makeham and Joel Wightman.
2016 ASX – Wayville – Wade Hunter leads Connor Tierney – Image by Marc Jones
Wade Hunter scored the holeshot in the main event ahead of Mellross and Faith and it wasn’t long before Hunter was relegated to third position but the battle between Mellross and Faith failed to gain momentum as Mellross rode away from the field to claim his maiden Australian SX2 main event win and in turn improved his points lead to ten points over Jackson Richardson who was forced to recover from a crash to finish in a disappointing fifth place.
2016 ASX – Wayville – Gavin Faith, Hayden Melross
Faith crossed the line in second place ahead of Hunter, Wilson Todd, Richardson, Dylan Wills and Kyle Webster.
“Tonight was a good main event after a few issues during the afternoon. I had my share of crashes and near misses during qualifying so it was good to be able to turn it around in the main event and finish on the podium. Both Gavin and Hayden were better than me tonight and they rode really well so congratulations to them but my goal is to win one of these things before the year is out.”
2016 ASX – Wayville – Wilson Todd
Wilson Todd
“Last round was an eighth, this week it’s a fourth and a lot closer to the front so it’s important to keep moving forward and try to get some good results before the championship is over. Like most of the riders, I found the whoops tough and had a few crashes in them during the day but in the main event I tried to be a smooth and consistent through them as possible and that was the key to getting a better result.”
2016 ASX – Wayville – Hayden Mellross, Jackson Richardson
Jackson Richardson
“The positive from the night was that fifth was a pretty good result and reasonable damage control in the points considering I crashed in the final. We worked hard all day trying to get the best set up for the whoops as they were the difference out there and I felt I could improve through them. I’m 11 points out of the championship lead so with three rounds to go, it’s time to go after some race wins and put some pressure on.”
2016 ASX – Wayville – Kyle Webster
Kyle Webster
“In my Heat race I went down in the whoops again, so I pulled in to the pits. That meant I had to go to the LCQ, for the first time ever, but in that race I managed to begin to turn things around and finished the LCQ in second place behind Geran Stapleton. But of course that meant I had 18th gate pick however I got a big start from the outside and managed to power drift all the way around the outside and came out of the first turn in third! From there I rode a bit tight considering how bad my day had been, but I eventually finished the final in seventh place and overall was pleased with that result, all things considered for the day.”
The fourth round of the 2016 Australian Supercross Championship heads to Avalon Speedway in Victoria next Saturday the 5th of November before the double header grand finale in Sydney on the 12th and 13th of November.
2016 ASX – Wayville – 250 Podium – Image by Marc Jones
SX2 Final Results:
Hayden MELLROSS
Gavin FAITH
Wade HUNTER
Wilson TODD
Jackson RICHARDSON
Dylan WILLS
Kyle WEBSTER
Tomas RAVENHORST
Joshua CACHIA
Joel WIGHTMAN
Jordan HILL
Aaron TANTI
Nathan CRAWFORD
Connor TIERNEY
Mitchell NORRIS
James BROWN
Luke CLOUT
DNF Kale MAKEHAM
DNF Jesse MADDEN
DNF Geran STAPLETON
SX2 Championship Standings after round 3 of 6
Hayden MELLROSS – 69
Jackson RICHARDSON – 59
Wade HUNTER – 58
Gavin FAITH – 47
Joel WIGHTMAN – 38
Geran STAPLETON – 36
Dylan WILLS – 35
Jordan HILL – 34
Wilson TODD – 31
Tomas RAVENHORST – 28
AMSOIL Grand National Cross Country Series – Round 13 – Crawfordsville, Indiana
The final round of the 2016 AMSOIL Grand National Cross Country (GNCC) Series was held at Ironman Raceway near Crawfordsville, Indiana where over 2,400 riders contested the two-day Ironman GNCC event but as one would expect these days it was KTM’s Kailub Russell who won the event and earned his 40th career overall win.
As the green flag dropped for the XC1 Pros, it would be Ricky Russell who jumped out ahead of the rest of the field by grabbing the holeshot and while it didn’t take long for Kailub Russell to secure the lead but it was Thad Duvall who was showing season best form to catch and pass Russell for the lead on lap three.
It was a battle of speed and stamina until the two-lap card came out that Duvall faced some issues.
Thad Duvall
“There was a hill climb that had two different lines around it. Kailub went up one side, so I went to the other. I thought it was clear, but when I got to the top there were about five lappers who were stuck. I tried everything I could do to get around them, but I fell when I went up on the bank and thanks to another race I was able to get going a lot quicker than I thought I was going to be able to.”
Ricky Russell also faced a setback late in the race.
Russell – GNCC
Ricky Russel
“I had a lot of trouble in the beginning with my setup and thought about calling it a day. But I just couldn’t do that because it was the last race and I refused to go out that way. I was determined to give it my all, and then I came back up and was fighting for a podium position. I was running third on the last lap, and I got pointed the wrong line in a mud hole. I ended up going down pretty bad, and Grant [Baylor] was able get around me, which he was definitely hard charging, but I still wanted and feel like I deserved the podium.”
While Duvall was able to recover quickly, Kailub Russell was well on his way to adding valuable time to his lead and by the time the chequered flag waved Kailub Russell had a thirty-eight second lead on Duvall who finished in the runner-up position. Grant Baylor’s consistency paid off as he crossed the line in third, marking his third podium finish of the year.
Image by Jake Miller – Kailub Russell
Kailub Russell
“The fans just make this race an awesome experience. I had a great day riding with Thad. I haven’t ridden for a week and a half so it made it a tough day, but it’s unbelievable that I was able to capture my 40th career overall win today.”
Mike Witkowski earned the XC2 holeshot before Layne Michael powered through the field and quickly took the lead. Michael continued leading until the chequered flag while Vance Francis worked his way from outside of the top ten to land his first ever podium finish ahead of Joshua Toth who filled the podium in third.
Layne Michael
“I just tried to get to the front and ride like I know I can. I had a small crash on the first lap but regrouped and kept going. As the race went on I started feeling sick, but I maintained on the last lap and came out with the win. The year didn’t start out that great, but it feels great to come back after summer break and get these results.”
XC1 Pro Event Results:
Kailub Russell (KTM)
Thad Duvall (HSQ)
Grant Baylor (YAM)
Ricky Russell (SUZ)
Russell Bobbitt (KTM)
Jordan Ashburn (KTM)
Benjamin Kelley (YAM)
Cory Buttrick (KTM)
Andrew Delong (HSQ)
Steward Baylor Jr. (KTM)
Overall National Championship Standings
Kailub Russell (316)
Josh Strang (236)
Trevor Bollinger (166)
Jordan Ashburn (161)
Thad Duvall (155)
Steward Baylor Jr. (148)
Ricky Russell (141)
Craig Delong (137)
Grant Baylor (132)
Layne Michael (122)
XC2 Pro Lites Event Results:
Layne Michael (HSQ)
Vance Francis (HON)
Josh Toth (YAM)
Craig Delong (HSQ)
Michael Witkowski (KTM)
Jesse Groemm (KTM)
Zack Hayes (KTM)
Samuel Evans (YAM)
Evan Smith (KTM)
Tegan Temple (KTM)
XC2 Pro Lites Series Standings:
Trevor Bollinger (301)
Craig Delong (254)
Layne Michael (235)
Benjamin Kelley (182)
Josh Toth (171)
Jesse Groemm (158)
Vance Francis (135)
Michael Witkowski (125)
Samuel Evans (121)
Zack Hayes (113)
Dunlop Geomax MX3S
GetzenRodeo – German Extreme Enduro
Germany’s premier extreme enduro event is the bi-annual GetzenRodeo and for the third time in a row it was living legend Graham Jarvis who took the victory while Alfredo Gomez and Mario Roman managed to land on the podium ahead of the more fancied Jonny Walker.
Mario Roman – GetzenRodeo Extreme Enduro 2016
Jarvis finished third in the two-hour qualifier behind Gomez and Walker but when the gate dropped for the five-lap main event Jarvis set off determined to close down their 10-second advantage. Rapidly eating up their lead, he caught the duo on the opening lap’s final rocky climb. Scaling it quicker, he hit the front and never looked back.
Continuing to build on his lead during the final four laps of the race, he entered the winner’s enclosure almost three minutes in front.
Graham Jarvis – GetzenRodeo Extreme Enduro 2016
Graham Jarvis
“I’m delighted with how things have turned out. To get my third straight GetzenRodeo win is just incredible. With this race only held every second year it’s difficult to win. But I really enjoy the conditions here, it’s snotty and technical and suits my style. I was third in the qualifier but was trying to save some energy for the main race. I started third in the main race and charged hard straight away. I got into the lead before the end of lap one on a long tricky rocky climb and pulled a gap over the other guys. From then on I sort of rode my own race and it came my way.”
Mario Roman – GetzenRodeo Extreme Enduro 2016
Mario Roman
“I’m so happy to be on the podium, it’s a fantastic feeling. Everything went really well for me today. I felt strong and comfortable on my bike and knew in the difficult sections I had some good line choices I could use if needed. The pace was fast almost immediately, Graham was in the lead but Alfredo, Jonny and myself were battling hard. On lap two I got around Jonny on a rocky climb and from there on held third position. It’s been a great day.”
Jonny Walker – GetzenRodeo 2016
Jonny Walker
“Today wasn’t my best of days, but it also wasn’t the worst. Ending GetzenRodeo fourth was far from where I wanted to be but considering this is my first proper traditional and technical styled extreme enduro since February, I can’t be overly disappointed. I rode well in the morning qualifier and was happy and comfortable with my speed and pace. I felt second was more than enough to secure a front row start for the main event. In the final I had a good start and got into the lead. I made a costly mistake at the end of lap one and then again on lap two, in the same place. From then on I just couldn’t regroup properly. The harder I pushed, the more mistakes came my way. In the end fourth was my best.”
Jarvis tops the podium again in Germany at the GetzenRodeo – German Extreme Enduro
Riding and reviewing motorcycles for some time now, Kris writes for MCNews from time to time while also being an awesome all-rounder helping to keep the site content flowing.
