Smarty’s Moto News Wrap for August 11, 2015
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Australasian News
What A Weekend!!: Under clear blue Queensland skies, the annual Maxima Racing Oils Conondale Classic saw a record number of competitors turn up and do battle on a sensationally laid-out and prepared natural terrain motocross track and I can tell you first hand that it was a dead-set cracker of a weekend.
The star-studded field featured Kim Ashkenazi, Steven Andrew, Kurt Percy, Ben Schodel, Craig Anderson, Glenn Poole, Glen Bell, Brad Van Barello, Shaun Jennison, Darryll King, Shayne King, Campbell King, Luke Wilson, Andrew Bailey and Mick MacDermid as well as a gaggle of hard charging motocrossers of all ages and abilities from all over Australia and NZ.
In front of a more than healthy crowd, Jacob and Matt Dank came away with a bucket load of class wins and the name ‘King’ came up more times than you can poke a stick at during the trophy presentation with Darryll winning three classes, Shayne winning one and Campbell (no relation to DK and SK) sensationally clocking the fastest time for the weekend on a CR125.
Callum Wastell, John Kittle, Daryn Moore, Adain Murphy, Brian Fox, Abbey Row, Liam Beverly, Steve Freiberg, Wayne Holloway and Mick MacDermid all rode their arses off over the two days to claim class wins which is no easy feat at the Conondale Classic.
At the end of the two days of racing there were plenty of smiles and back slapping with a vow from each and every rider (bar one) to return in 2016.
Aussie MXoN Team Announced: With Gary Benn as the team manager, Todd Waters, Dean Ferris and Jay Wilson will represent Australia at the 2015 Motocross of Nations which will be held at Ernèe, France on September 27. I can’t argue with any of the choices and if they all ride to their potential this is a top five team.
Mastin In for Moss: 17 year old Egan Mastin will fill in for Team Motul Suzuki’s Matt Moss for the final two rounds of the 2015 MX Nationals (Toowoomba and Coolum). The 2014 MXD champ recently competed at the American Amateur Motocross Championships at Loretta Lynns and finished a more than credible 8th place overall in the highly competitive 450A class despite a disastrous final moto where he finished 19th place – this kid has serious speed!!
Victorian Junior Motocross Championship: The fourth and final round of Victorian Junior Motocross Championship was hosted by the Blue Rock Motorcycle Club is diabolically wet and cold conditions last weekend and it was YJR Yamaha rider Cody Dyce who took out the 125 and 250F championships ahead of Wade Kirkland and Callum Norton in both classes while Bailey Malkewicz took out the 85cc title ahead of Tom Bell and Liam Andrews.
King Of The Cross: The Southern Cross Motorcycle Club hosted the annual King of the Cross at the Richie Kings Memorial Park last weekend and it was local Dean Porter who took the overall win over arch rival Conner Tierney and former winner Jay Marmont.
Chad Reed to Yamaha: If you believe the hints on social media (and I do) it is looking more and more likely that Chad Reed will be on a factory Yamaha YZF450 in 2016 and riding for the CDR Yamaha team in the upcoming Australian Supercross Championships.
American News
USA MXoN Team Announced: Justin Barcia, Jeremy Martin and Cooper Webb will represent the USA at the 2015 Motocross of Nations which will be held at Ernèe, France on September 27. After several years of so-so results at the event Ryan Dungey opted out of being selected and by all accounts it will be Webb who will ride the MX3 class, Martin the MX2 and Barcia and MX1.
Russell Back in the Winner’s Circle: After having his perfect season in the Kenda Full Gas Sprint Enduro Series spoiled by Aussie Daniel Milner at the third round of the series, Kailub Russell made it known to anyone who would listen that he was coming into round four at Rockcrusher Farm to get back on top of the podium.
Saturday saw Russell and Milner battle all day with Russell holding a narrow lead at days end but with Milner hospitalised on Sunday morning with a severe stomach pain, Russell went on to take an easy round win ahead of Russell Bobbitt and Layne Michael.
Euro News
Ferris WINS!!: Fresh off being picked for the Australian Motocross of Nations team, Dean Ferris has won round four of the Dutch Open Motocross Championship in Markelo with two moto wins on the back of being the fastest qualifier in the MX1 class while Petar Petrov took out the MX2 class ahead of Thomas Covington and Harri Kullas.
Guillod to the YZF450 in 2016: Standing Construct Yamaha has stepped up to the plate and will supply Valentin Guillod with a YZF450 for the 2016 MXGP season. “It is great to continue with Standing Construct Yamaha and also with Yves Demaria because at the end of 2012 he took the risk to train someone who wasn’t good and it turned out well. At the end of 2013 nobody wanted to sign me and only Standing Constructs Tim Mathys proposed a deal,” said Guillod. “We started this season from zero with the bike and now we are fighting for the title so it is really cool to be part of this team.”
Aussie SGP Riders in the Points: Aussie Jason Doyle managed to score two wins from six rides for 12 points at the Danish SGP last Saturday night and now sits sixth in the championship while Chris Holder started the night with a race win but a crash later in the night put pay to a semi-final berth so the former World Champ sits fifth in the points while Troy Batchelor could only manage six points from five rides despite winning early in the night. There is only five points between Doyle and Greg Hancock who sits third in the championship. See the FULL report and results below.
Pedersen Red Carded: On the Sunday after the Danish GP, three times World Speedway Champion Nicki Pedersen was red carded at Leszno’s Polish Ekstraliga meeting at Torun after taking out Aussie Jason Doyle and Pawel Przedpelski in one fowl swoop during a heat race. What ensued is typical of a night of Speedway in the Pedersen pits with Nicki kicking and swinging his helmet at Torun team manager Jacek Gajewski who had confronted Pedersen about his dangerous riding. Pedersen is a dead-set dick!
Smarty’s Race Reports and Official Results from last Weekend
AMA Motocross Championships – Round 10 – Unadilla
450 Moto 1
Ryan Dungey squared off holeshot winner Justin Brayton early in the first lap and was never challenged en route to the moto win, his fifth over the last seven motos.
Justin Barcia didn’t get the holeshot (a shock I know) but quickly swept several riders aside to get up to second place while 450 class first timer Justin Bogle sat back in third behind Dungey and Barcia for the early part of the moto and held off fellow Oklahoman Trey Canard for third until the three-minute mark before eventually falling back to tenth late in the moto.
For the final half of the moto it was pretty much a done deal that Dungey, Barcia and Canard would fill the podium but it was no surprise to me that Shaun Simpson made a splash in his first career Lucas Oil Pro Motocross race to finish a solid fourth place after a mediocre start.
Justin Barcia gained valuable points on Ken Roczen for second in the championship after Roczen went down in the first turn when Christophe Pourcel lost the front end right in front of the defending champion sending him over the bars. Roczen rode the race without a front brake for 16th while Pourcel got some running repairs and finished 23rd.
In his first race back since tearing his ACL and MCL in January, Red Bull KTM’s Dean Wilson finished just outside the top ten in eleventh.
450 Moto 2
Bogle captured the holeshot in the second moto and was quickly passed by Dungey but Bogle’s second place was short lived after crashing out of the moto shortly after.
With Dungey out front, Roczen climbed to second and pressure Dungey for much of the latter half of the moto and even made a last ditch effort to catch Dungey on the final lap, but he lost momentum at the bottom of the hill and had to settle for second.
Christophe Pourcel also bounced back to finish a lonely third ahead of Justin Barcia. Weston Peick, Trey Canard, Blake Baggett, Shaun Simpson, Broc Tickle and Dean Wilson would round out the top ten.
Dungey stretched his lead to 79 today which means that he could clinch the title following the first moto in Utah next week, as a possible 75 points will remain at that time.
Here are some interviews from RacerX
Ryan Dungey: “First moto got off to a good start. [Justin] Brayton edged me out there, and he came from the outside and took the holeshot away from me. But about three, four corners in, I was able to make the pass happen and from there just tried to really just take off. Found some good lines, kind of searched a little bit. Opened up a gap, and then was able to maintain that and came away with the win.”
“Second moto also got a good start. [Justin] Bogle edged me out on that start. Made the pass right before the finish line on the first lap then, from there, I opened up a little bit of a gap, and I saw at the bottom of Screw U one lap I had a good size little gap and I was trying to open that up. The next lap, I saw [Ken] Roczen right there closing in. I’m like, all right, he’s putting on a really big push. He rode strong. We were pushing a good pace the whole moto and really fighting for it. I know he really wanted it, as did I. Even though it didn’t affect the overall for me I still would like to take home maximum points and an overall. I think a little bit of High Point, that one time he edged me out there, so I really wanted to fight for this one. It was good to hang on strong and come away with a 1-1 win today. It was exciting.”
Justin Barcia: “Practice is never very great for me, so that’s nothing new. I’m a racer. I make everyone nervous when I qualify twelfth, but we get it done when the gate drops. I wanted to run with Ryan in the first moto. I don’t remember the last time I didn’t get a holeshot. I started fifth, had to pass up to second, and then charged hard, but just couldn’t close the gap. Our times were pretty close, just couldn’t close it. During the break before the second moto, I told myself obviously I want to go for the overall and get the win. I struggled a little with setup the first moto, so I wanted to make a change, and unfortunately I went the wrong way. I just struggled the second moto. I don’t remember the last time I struggled so bad. It was cool. Coy [Gibbs] came up after the race to the podium, and he’s like, ‘Dude, just think about it. Two months ago you probably would have not even finished that moto. You probably would have put it on the ground.’ In a way I’m like, ‘Yeah, that’s probably true.’ But luckily I salvaged a fourth, and it was good for second overall. So for me it’s definitely a frustrating day, but the team’s happy. Obviously a bad day with second overall is good. The second moto was brutal. The track was definitely challenging. It was tough.”
Trey Canard: “Moto number one was good. I had a pretty decent start. I was able to be right behind Barcia. Lost it down at the bottom of Screw U and lost one position. I just couldn’t get around Bogle. Justin [Barcia] was kind of gone by then. I’m happy to be back racing. It’s tough. It’s really hard to come back and race with these guys that have been doing it all year. In general, it’s just tough to come back from injury. I’m just happy to be here and trying to make the most of it. Obviously disappointed with my second-moto finish but I gave it my best, and that’s all I can really ask for.”
Ken Roczen: “My day today was all right. I had a little bit of bad luck in the first moto. I didn’t grab the best start. Pourcel crashed in front of me and I endoed right there. My front brake was bent up, so I think there were a lot of errors coming in there. After the first lap I just pulled in real quick and they bent it back down. I had no front brake the whole race. It’s kind of tough because you go down to that Screw U turn; I just ploughed down there and went into the soft dust so I could actually stop and turn. It’s kind of tough on that track to ride without a front brake. But it was what it was. Put it all on the line the second one. Got a lot better start and battled with Dungey the whole way. It was a really fun race. I think I should have switched up my line in a couple of spots, like right before the finish line. That’s where he always gained on me. But it was a fun race. I gave it my all, and we were quite far ahead of the third. So it was a good race. He got it today. He rode really well. He rode well all year. But for me, we made some little changes on the bike that helped me turning a lot. Overall it was a better weekend for me. It feels good to be back up front and battle it out.”
450 Overall: 1. Ryan Dungey 1-1. 2. Justin Barcia 2-4. 3. Trey Canard 3-6. 4. Shaun Simpson 4-8. 5. Ken Roczen 16-2. 6. Broc Tickle 6-9. 7. Weston Peick 12-5. 8. Blake Baggett 13-7. 9. Josh Grant 9-11. 10. Dean Wilson 11-10.
450 points after 10 of 12 Rounds: 1. Ryan Dungey – 450pts. 2. Justin Barcia – 371pts. 3. Ken Roczen – 358pts. 4. Blake Baggett – 297pts. 5. Christophe Pourcel – 267pts. 6. Jason Anderson – 263pts. 7. Broc Tickle – 253pts. 8. Weston Peick – 223pts. 9. Phil Nicoletti – 209pts. 10. Fredrik Noren – 206pts.
250 Moto 1
Joey Savatgy pulled the holeshot over Christian Craig while Jeremy Martin and Marvin Musquin were both inside the top five in the early running. Musquin’s race turned sour early after he dropped a few positions when he hit Craig’s back wheel in a deep rut.
With Martin in second place, Savatgy held the lead well past the halfway mark but Martin had a go at numerous lines and with six minutes remaining took the lead and the eventual victory over Savatgy, Chris Alldredge, Musquin and Craig.
So, following a first moto win, Jeremy Martin had extended his championship lead to eleven over Marvin Musquin.
250 Moto 2
Savatgy found himself leading Cooper Webb and Musquin in moto two while Martin was buried outside the top ten but the battle out front saw Musquin and Webb work their way around Savatgy and for several laps they went toe-to-toe for the win but just as Webb was looking ominous he crashed heavily leaving Musquin unchallenged for the win. Webb would get back up and finish twenty-third.
Musquin took the win from Savatgy, Aaron Plessinger, Jessy Nelson and Martin who now leads the series by just two points over Musquin with two rounds remaining. This championship is going to go down to the final moto folks!
Here are some interviews from RacerX
Joey Savatgy: “To get the overall, the first one ever, is kind of an unreal feeling. It felt good. Like I said, we learned a lot in the first moto. I was able to lead almost until the end. Jeremy [Martin] got me with, I think, four laps to go. And then that [second] moto led again for a while, and Marvin and Cooper were going faster than what I could go. Can’t take anything away from them. They were ripping. I knew that was my only hope [for the overall] was once Cooper passed me was [that he had] to catch Marvin and get in front of Marvin. I knew that was my only chance at the overall. And then I came over the hill and I saw Webb down. I had to do a quick math stop in the air to figure out where everyone was. At that point I was like, Oh man, I think I’m going to win! And then I came around two laps to go, and then the last lap Justin, my mechanic, wrote first overall. It’s a crazy feeling. I’m pumped for the team, for Mitch, for Bones, for Adam, just everyone behind the scenes that puts in the hours with me. It’s all worth it on weekends like this.”
Marvin Musquin: “In the first moto, I made a really small crash right away. That was not good. I was not happy but then I made some good passes and I got to fourth place. Something happened with my goggles. I think I maybe got a rock or something and my lens popped out. That’s really bad luck. I was struggling with the vision—a lot of dirt inside the goggles just flying every time I would jump. I slowed down a couple times trying to shake my goggles and get rid of that dirt and it would help, but every time I would catch the guy in front of me I would get more and more dirt inside. So it was a big struggle. Watching Jeremy Martin winning that first moto and me right there, I couldn’t make the pass and got fourth. It’s hard. It was tough, but these things happen, no one’s fault. I have a great team behind me. The Red Bull KTM team, those people, they are amazing people and Franky [mechanic] and Mathilde [wife]. We regrouped and came back strong in that second moto. Not the good start again, but still right there. I couldn’t find a great rhythm, and I was kind of fighting with the track. Couldn’t make the passes, but obviously the guys in front of me kept crashing and made it easy on me. As soon as I got second I knew I could pass Joey [Savatgy]. I felt great and I went for the pass. Obviously, Cooper [Webb] was behind me and really pushing and putting pressure on me. We came really close a couple times, but it was like Washougal. I’m fighting for the championship. So I closed the door a couple times and we ran into each other a couple times.”
250 Overall: 1. Joey Savatgy 2-2. 2. Marvin Musquin 4-1. 3. Jeremy Martin 1-5. 4. Jessy Nelson 6-4. 5. Alex Martin 8-6. 6. Shane McElrath 7-8. 7. Christian Craig 5-10. 8. Aaron Plessinger 16-3. 9. Matt Bisceglia 12-9. 10. RJ Hampshire 15-7. 22. Hayden Mellross 33-19.
250 points after 10 of 12 Rounds: 1. Jeremy Martin – 416pts. 2. Marvin Musquin – 414pts. 3. Joey Savatgy – 284pts. 4. Zach Osborne – 277pts. 5. Jessy Nelson – 266pts. 6. Alex Martin – 261pts. 7. Aaron Plessinger – 228pts. 8. Shane McElrath – 208pts. 9. Matt Bisceglia – 195pts. 10. RJ Hampshire – 189pts. 22. Jackson Richardson – 31pts. 24. Hayden Mellross – 28pts.
Canadian Motocross Nationals – Round 9 – Ulverton. Quebec
Colton Facciotti and Jeremy Medaglia have won the MX1 and MX2 classes respectively at round 9 of the Canadian Motocross Championships held at Ulverton last weekend.
Defending champion Facciotti finally found the form he has been after all year to score two solid wins over Aussie Brett Metcalfe and championship leader Matt Goerke and in doing so has closed within 13 points of Goerke in the title chase with one round remaining while Metty needs a small miracle to get back the 40 plus point deficit that has come as a result of crashes and mechanical failures.
It has been a rare sight to see Kaven Benoit not take the overall but Medaglia’s win came off the back of 2-1 results over Benoits 1-2 finishes so Benoit has been crowned the 2015 Canadian MX2 Champion with one round remaining.
MX1 Overall: 1. Colton Facciotti 1-1. 2. Brett Metcalfe 2-2. 3. Matt Goerke 3-3. 4. Cole Thompson 4-4. 5. Tyler Medaglia 6-5. 6. Bobby Kiniry 5-7. 7. Cade Clason 7-6. 8. John Dowd 8-9. 9. Kyle Keast 10-8. 10. Dylan Schmoke 12-13.
MX1 Series Standings: 1. Matt Goerke – 479pts. 2. Colton Facciotti – 466pts. 3. Brett Metcalfe – 431pts. 4. Cole Thompson – 410pts. 5. Tyler Medaglia – 392pts. 6. Bobby Kiniry – 320pts. 7. Cade Clason – 309pts. 8. Kyle Keast – 284pts. 9. Dylan Schmoke – 228pts. 10. Teddy Maier – 209pts
MX2 Overall: 1. Jeremy Medaglia 2-1. 2. Kaven Benoit 1-2. 3. Dylan Wright 4-3. 4. Jimmy Decotis 3-4. 5. Blake Savage 6-5. 6. Cole Martinez 8-6. 7. Brad Nauditt 7-9. 8. Morgan Burger 10-8. 9. Jesse Pettis 9-10. 10. Liam O’farrell 13-7.
MX2 Series Standings: 1. Kaven Benoit – 514pts. 2. Jeremy Medaglia – 427pts. 3. Jimmy Decotis – 423pts. 4. Shawn Maffenbeier – 353pts. 5. Blake Savage – 348pts. 6. Dylan Wright – 319pts. 7. Brad Nauditt – 302pts. 8. Morgan Burger – 299pts. 9. Jesse Pettis – 266pts. 10. Dustin Creson – 222pts.
World Speedway Championships – Round 7 – Danish GP
In a night of pile-ups, take outs and disqualifications, Danish substitute racer Peter Kildemand survived three crashes to win the Kjærgaard Danish FIM Speedway Grand Prix ahead of Slovenian Matej Zagar and fellow Danish international Michael Jepsen Jensen.
There was no fourth place in the final after World Championship leader Tai Woffinden was excluded from the race after being judged to have caused Kildemand’s third crash of the night on bend three in the first staging of the race.
That aside, the Brit left the Danish GP having extended his lead over Denmark’s Nicki Pedersen from nine points to 13, but the night belonged to the 26-year-old Kildemand. “This is absolutely perfect.” The Odense-born rider said. “It was a tough night. I had to pick myself up off the deck a few times and fair play to the boys in the pits. They got the bikes going again and it was tough work for them. The bikes were pretty damaged every time I went down. So it was an absolutely great job by them.”
Reflecting on a very mixed meeting, Zagar said: “It was an unfortunate night, to be honest. I had a big crash and the final was re-run when I was leading. But overall, I’m happy I didn’t get any serious breaks. It’s just badly bruised. And second place is good. The leg is quite swollen. I have a tough week in front of me, but that’s speedway. What can you do?”
Michael Jepsen Jensen believes his appearance on the Horsens podium could herald a real upturn in fortunes. “I’m just super happy I’m racing the bike and seeing the options. My problem has been I’ve been looking too much towards the future. I had in my mind that I couldn’t crash because I needed to be ready for the next GP or my league racing. I’ve had that in my mind for a few seasons.” He said. “It’s not like I’ve been super bad for the last few years. But I haven’t been good either. I haven’t been racing like I know I can. I have to believe in myself and this meeting proved me right – I can do better. I think a lot of people believe in me, but I haven’t done it for a few seasons and I haven’t believed in myself.”
Jason Doyle managed to score two wins from six rides for 12 points and now sits sixth in the championship while Chris Holder started the night with a race win but a crash later in the night put pay to a semi-final berth so the former World Champ sits fifth in the points while Troy Batchelor could only manage six points from five rides despite winning early in the night. There is only five points between Doyle and Greg Hancock who sits third in the championship.
Next up on the FIM Speedway Grand Prix calendar is the Gorzow FIM Speedway Grand Prix of Poland on August 29.
Danish GP Overall: 1. Peter Kildemand – 14 Pts. 2. Matej Zagar – 12 Pts. 3. Michael Jepsen Jensen – 13 Pts. 4. Tai Woffinden – 11 Pts. 5. Maciej Janowski – 12 Pts. 6. Jason Doyle – 12 Pts. 7. Chris Holder – 10 Pts. 8. Nicki Pedersen – 7 Pts. 9. Andreas Jonsson – 7 Pts. 10. Greg Hancock – 7 Pts. 14 Troy Batchelor – 6 Pts.
SGP Points: 1. Tai Woffinden – 91 Pts. 2. Nicki Pedersen – 78 Pts. 3. Greg Hancock – 65 Pts. 4. Matej Zagar – 65 Pts. 5. Chris Holder – 61 Pts. 6. Niels-Kristian Iversen – 60 Pts. 7. Jason Doyle – 60 Pts. 8. Maciej Janowski – 58 Pts. 9. Michael Jepsen Jensen – 54 Pts. 10. Andreas Jonsson – 45 Pts. 13. Troy Batchelor – 36 Pts.
