Moto News Wrap for October 13, 2015 by Darren Smart
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Australasian News
Australian Supercross Championship Back-Lash: Social media has opened up some negative conversations regarding the opening round of the 2015 Australian Supercross Championships held in Bathurst last Saturday night. According to quite a few of the 5000 plus paying customers there was insufficient vantage points around the track to get a good view of the action, and in some cases there was criticism regarding the parking. There are always teething problems with new venues and promoters and I am sure that these issues and any more arising will be addressed for the remaining rounds.
Australian Supercross Support Class Results: Mitch Evans has won the SXD class ahead of Jordan Hill and Kaleb Barham while Cooper Pozniak won the Junior Lites class ahead of Callum Norton and Dylan Wood.
Wright Injured at SX Opener: CDR Yamaha’s Jacob Wright suffered a shoulder injury on his return to racing and had to spend the night on the sidelines at the opening round of the Australian Supercross Championships held at Bathurst last Saturday night. “The injury to Jacob is heartbreaking as he has just returned from a knee injury and we were looking forward to seeing him back on the track. We won’t know more about the injury until later in the week,” Craig Dack said.
New Zealand Southern Series Motocross: After not finishing the opening race, Josh Coppins has won the second and third MX1 motos at the Southern Series Motocross event held at Dale’s Property last weekend. Campbell King won the overall ahead of David Hay, Andrew Richardt and Coppins.
American News
Strang Second at AMA National Enduro: Grant Baylor has narrowly beaten Aussie Josh Strang at the final round of the AMA National Enduro Championship held in Indiana last weekend. Strang posted this on his FB page: ‘Losing by 1 second may hurt the worst! Snapped my rear brake pedal off today in test 3 and it cost me the overall! On the bright side – We made huge strides in this series from rd1 to now so I’m over the moon with that! Thanks to everyone who helps out!’ FYI – Kailub Russell had already wrapped this championship up several rounds ago but look for Strang to win at least one round of the GNCC before the series is over……
Hampshire’s Red Bull Straight Rhythm Crash: Geico Honda’s RJ Hampshire had a scary, over-the-bars crash in the whoops in the first round of the Red Bull Straight Rhythm event last weekend at from all reports he was taken to a local hospital after being knocked unconscious for several minutes. Hampshire announced on twitter later that he was ok – ‘I had a scary crash yesterday. Thankful to be in the shape im In. Just some bleeding in the brain and others small. Thanks for the support’
Shane Watts Shuts Down ‘Dirt Wise’ Race Team: Aussie Shane Watts has announce that he is shutting down the race team and hire bike parts of his business to concentrate on his successful riding schools. “Yep, that’s right, at the end of this 2015 Race season we will be shutting down the DirtWise Race team, plus the DirtWise ‘Ready to Race’ bike rental program,” said Watts. “Instead we will just focus all of our future time and efforts back on our core business of conducting DirtWise Riding schools across the USA and the world.”
Musquin Gets Wrist Fixed: Red Bull KTM and Marvin Musquin announced that the multi-time AMA/FIM champion and incoming 450 rookie would be forced to miss a pair of offseason events due to surgery. At round three of the 2015 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship in Colorado, Musquin suffered a crash in a technical section of the course and injured the ligaments in his wrist. Although the issue bothered him through the summer and required parts of his training schedule to altered, Musquin was able to complete the season and was in contention for the 250 class title at the final round, raced the 2015 MXGP of USA on a 450, then helped Team France win the 2015 Motocross of Nations.
Reed to Announce His Future at MEC: There is a strong rumour that Chad Reed will officially announce who he is racing for in 2016 at the Monster Energy Cup being held this weekend in Vegas.
MEC Rider List: According to the web site this is the list of riders confirmed for this weekend’s Monster Energy Cup: Davi Millsaps – James Stewart – Justin Barcia – Ryan Dungey – Ken Roczen – Trey Canard – Chad Reed – Blake Baggett – Jason Anderson – Shane McEelrath – Dean Wilson – Broc Tickle – Justin Brayton – Andrew Short – Weston Peick – Wil Hahn – Christian Craig – Kyle Chisholm – Jake Weimer – Osborne – Justin Hill – Aaron Plessinger – Martin Davalos – Christophe Pourcel – Thomas Hahn – Kyle Cunningham – Jacob Hayes – Chris Blose Gared Steinke – Vince Friese – Mike Alessi – Nick Schmidt – Luke Renzland – Colt Nichols – Dakota Tedder – Kyle Partridge – Bracken Hall – Dustin Pipes – Tevin Tapia – Cody Gilmore.
Monster Energy Canadian National AX Tour: Rounds 3 and 4 of the 2015 Monster Energy Canadian National AX Tour was held at Hiawatha Park – Sarnia last weekend and it was Cole Thompson, Chris Blose and Jacob Hayes who swapped the major placing over the weekend with Thompson dominating the ‘Clash for Cash’ both nights.
Euro News
Sunderland wins Morocco Rally – Walkner Wins Championship: The Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Racing Team celebrated the conclusion to the FIM World Cross-Country Rallies Championship with an overall victory in the Morocco Rally by British rider Sam Sunderland and more importantly the performance of Matthias Walkner who won the 2015 FIM World Cross-Country Rallies Championship.
“Luckily everything went extremely well for me today,” said Walkner. “I was able to take the lead at the 40 km mark and then I really went for those final two points and managed to have a small advantage. I had to wait 15 minutes at the refueling stop and when Pablo did not arrive (he had a small crash and was only slightly injured), I knew I was going well. I tried not to make any mistakes and more or less rode comfortably to the finish.”
Aussie Toby Price was forced out of the event thanks to a debilitating stomach bug contracted mid-way through the rally.
Final Overall Morocco Rally Results: 1, Sunderland, 15 hours 38.00, 2. Walkner + 00.34 (2015 FIM World Cross-country Rallies Champion), 3. Goncalves, + 29.08, 4. Faria, +56.38, 5. Benavides, + 59.15,
FIM World Cross-Country Rallies Championship Final Standings: 1. Walkner KTM 87 points (World Champion), 2. Sunderland KTM 80, 3. Marc Coma KTM 70 (now retired), 4. Goncalves 69, 5. Quintanilla, KTM 65.
Watson Brothers Go 1-2 at the Weston Beach Race: The Stewart brothers aren’t the only siblings going fast on dirt bikes – in front of 500 plus dirt bike racers IceOne Husqvarna factory rider Nathan Watson has won the annual Weston Beach Race ahead of younger brother Ben with third place going to Jamie McCanney.
Dutch Motocross Championship: Harri Kullas has won the last round of the Dutch MX2 championship with 1-1 results but the championship went to Damon Graulus who went 2-3 over the two motos. British rider Conrad Mewse won the Dutch 125cc championship.
Cairoli Wins ‘Rally Legend’ Race: 60,000 fans cheered on eight times FIM Motocross World Champion Antonio Cairoli as he spectacularly won the thirteenth edition of the Rally Legend in San Marino, Italy last weekend! Tony drove the wheels off the Lancia Delta Integrale that was backed by the Magneti Marelli Checkstar team to take the win and add his name to the long list of immortal motosport legends.
“I’m very happy to take part to this incredible event,” Cairoli said. “Having the chance of trying a car like the Lancia Delta Integrale in a rally has always been my dream, and this is the right occasion to make it true, while having fun and offering some show in a prestigious framework such as the Rallylegend of San Marino.”
MXGP Rule Changes: The Motocross Grand Prix Commission, composed of Messrs Giuseppe Luongo – President of Youthstream, Tony Skillington – Director of the CMS/FIM and Takanao Tsubouchi – Motorcycle Sport Manufacturers’ Association (MSMA) Secretary General met in Ernée (France) on 28 September. The Motocross Grand Prix Commission adopted by a majority the following changes to the 2016 Regulations:
Riders will have the possibility to use a second motorcycle after the sighting lap.
In the event that a race is stopped after at least two laps have been completed and before 51% of the racing time has elapsed, there will be a re-start from the pit lane. Riders will start in order of their positions in the lap preceding the stopping of the race. The race will be continued for the time remaining at the moment the leader completed the lap preceding the stopping of the race.
The MXGP and MX2 Qualifying Races will not only decide on the starting positions for the Races but also award points (1st = 5 points; 2nd = 4 pts; 3rd = 3 pts; 4th = 2 pts; 5th = 1 pts). The overall winner of the event will be the rider who gained the highest number of points after the points from the Qualifying Race, Race 1 and Race 2 have been added, irrespective of the number of motos finished.
Jtech Signs Three Riders for Euro EMX250 Title: Honda Motor Europe and Honda Jtech Team have announced that South African Nicholas Adams, Italian Filippo Zonta and the current champion Nick Kouwenberg will compete in the European EMX250 class on the Honda CRF250R in 2016.
Italy Wins Motocross of European Nations: With a full field of motocross racers that we have never heard of Italy has won the 2015 MXoEN ahead of Sweden and France. Yeh, I don’t care either but here are the results by country.
MXoEN Nations Classification: Italy, Sweden, France, Czech Republic, Italy B, Slovenia, Denmark, Poland, Latvia, Finland, Austria, Switzerland, Ukraine.
MXGP-TV Coverage Expands: As of 2016 MXGP-TV will broadcast both days LIVE which means that the MXGP and MX2 Qualifying Races will be available to watch LIVE on www.MXGP-TV.com. In addition to the action of MXGP and MX2 Qualifying Races, the European Championship races that take place on Saturday will also be LIVE.
Smarty’s Race Reports and Official Results from last Weekend
Australian Supercross Championship – Round 1 – Bathurst
SX1 Race Report: Defending SX1 Champion Matt Moss (Motul Pirelli Suzuki) launched his campaign for a third consecutive Supercross title in emphatic style, topping both practice and qualifying as well as winning his heat race and the 15 Lap SX1 final.
Moss grabbed the holeshot and led every lap of the 15 Lap final, despite coming under pressure from American Gavin Faith and Dan Reardon who battled it out for the final two spots on the podium.
The final race order saw Moss take the chequered flag ahead of Reardon and Faith. “I didn’t really know how I was going to stack up against everyone,” Moss explained. “I had quite a bit of time off the bike but I have been training hard and it paid off.”
“It was a fantastic opening night, the rain held off, the crowd was awesome and there was some really great racing. That was the perfect start to the season,” Moss continued. “I would love to win a third championship, especially as it is the last year that Jay (Foreman) will be running the team.”
“I knew what I had to do tonight, and that’s exactly how it went down, so I am rapt to get the win,” said Moss. “I’ve been working so hard coming into this event and all that work is paying off. I felt great at the end of the 20 laps. And it feels great to get another win for the Motul Suzuki team again. Jay and Jess and all the team have put such a huge effort in and it feels great to kick off the Australian Championship in this way for them.”
Reardon started lap two in fifth place but quickly moved into third and then passed Gavin Faith for second place on lap 11 and by the time the chequered flag dropped the CDR Yamaha pilot had closed to within 2.6 of Moss. “Second place is a good way to start any series and even more important in a short six round championship and on a track that was tough to ride at 100%,” Reardon said. “I felt pretty good all day but also felt there were some things I need to improve on as it was my first supercross race in a few seasons. So, all up, a pretty positive night and hoping to make more steps forward again next week in Queensland where the race isn’t too far from my house.”
Supercross legend from yesteryear Danny Ham returned to action after almost 10 years out of action and managed to make it to the final where he struggled in the tough conditions – here is what Danny posted on his FB page: ‘To say I rode bad last night is probably a bit of an understatement. My training on well prepared, very technical hard pack tracks leading to round one did nothing for what I was faced with last night. I have not ridden those greasy very rutted conditions for many years. Much respect to Matt Moss, Daniel Reardon, Lawson Bopping and those top riders as I watched how they attacked the track while being lapped (hate that), very impressive, as I dealt with serious am pump from the blinding darkness of the ruts. Last night in no way was an indication of how I can ride (in more favourable conditions), and am looking forward to the next round to sort myself out.’
The night was a disaster for factory riders Anthony Rodriguez (Penrite Honda) and Dylan Long (NPS Monster Energy Kawasaki) with neither rider finishing the final – in such a short series the chance of either of these riders winning or even making the podium overall is now very remote.
SX2 Race Report: Despite a mediocre start American Jimmy Decotis took the opening round win in the SX2 class ahead of Luke Clout and Luke Arbon.
The American won his heat race over 13 seconds ahead of Geran Stapleton before coming from behind to win the SX2 final. “Yeah, that bad start in the Final really made it tough,” Decotis said. “But I just settled down and rode strong and worked my way through and then when I caught up to Luke, we were both riding really good and we had a good race until I could finally get the edge. The track tonight was tough after the rain this afternoon and the track crew did a great job. I’m really happy to win first time out in Australia, it feels great. I can’t wait to head to Queensland and the next round next weekend!”
Luke Clout leapt from the gates and charged into the lead with the full 20 rider field in pursuit. Riding smoothly out front, Clout took control of the race and led for nine laps before DeCostis made his move and took over the top spot.
“It was good to get the first round out of the way and be up on the podium,” Clout said. “My preparation has been a bit all over the place because of my call up to race at the Motocross Of Nations but I still felt I raced the main event well and can take not only some good points, but also some confidence from it. Jimmy was riding well and I saw a few things that he was doing that was faster, so I will practice that during the week and hopefully I can reverse the result at round two this weekend.”
Luke Arbon was looking for a solid ride at Bathurst and came away with a podium finish despite contracting a chronic fatigue condition known as ‘Leaky Gut Syndrome’ during the MX Nationals. “It feels so good to be finishing back up on the box and leaving the track happy, not wondering what’s wrong with me. It’s great to ride a bike like I know I can and the way I know my body can perform. I went out in qualifying and qualified second when it was pissing down rain, so that gave me a bit of a vibe. Then I got the whole shot and lead every lap in my heat, and just felt comfortable. In the main I just rode a little bit tight but still ended up on the podium, so it’s good to get that one out the way. I got a decent start and came out second behind Clout, he was manning up and hitting the whoops pretty hard so he was pulling away, but then I would sort of catch him a bit in a section. I ended up making a mistake crossing over to the start straight again and Decotis got me there, but I ironed it all out and rode around smooth on a track which was super gnarly, so I came out alright. I’ve only been back onto five weeks so I told myself that I would be happy with top five in Bathurst, so to get third was awesome. Now my other goal is to finish on the podium every round, and I don’t see any reason to not do that.”
Fourth place went to Jackson Richardson who snuck along all night showing speed and maturity that will put him in good stead as the series heads into the final few rounds. Look for Richardson to be on the podium at Jimboomba if the weather stays fine – he rides the big tracks like no other.
It was a tough night for supercross debutante Caleb Ward who started the fnal inside the top five but mishap after mishap saw the NQ rider finish back in 9th place. “That was my first ever supercross race. I was pretty nervous at the start, it was a pretty technical track with a bit of rain and stuff and soft dirt, it was pretty slippery in a few spots but I got through it all. I think I could have been top five – on the first lap I was in fourth, and rider pushed me off and I couldn’t hit the finish jump on the first lap, and had to roll around the outside of it because I was going to get landed on, so I lost heaps of positions, and then someone made a mistake on the triple and I ended up going off the track there as well. So I lost a heap of spots and ended up back in 13th on the first lap. It’s pretty wild out there so you just try and get through it clean! I actually had a lot of fun towards the end of the main event. I found my flow and got into good rhythm. The hardest part is hitting big jumps and corners right behind other people and you’ve kind of got to trust in their ability and take a bit of a risk and hope for the best. The racing is a bit closer for sure, there was a few block passes, and you’ve kind of got to look out for loose cannons going off all over the place, but I think in another few rounds or so I will be a lot more confident and trying to go for race wins.”
SX1 Results: 1. Matt Moss. 2. Dan Reardon. 3. Gavin Faith. 4. Kirk Gibbs. 5. Kade Mosig. 6. Sam Martin. 7. Luke Styke. 8. Lawson Bopping. 9. Daniel McCoy. 10. Adam Monea. 11. Chris Camilleri. 12. Brodie Hartin. 13. Kale Makeham. 14. Joel Newton. 15. Danny Ham. DNF. Anthony Rodriguez. DNF. Daniel McEntee. DNF. Dylan Long
SX2 Results. 1. Jimmy Decotis. 2. Luke Clout. 3. Luke Arbon. 4. Jackson Richardson. 5. Geran Stapleton. 6. Lewis Woods. 7. Wade Hunter. 8. Kyle Webster. 9. Caleb Ward. 10. Dylan Wills. 11. Nathan Crawford. 12. Jessie Madden. 13. Taylor Potter. 14. Joel Wightman. 15. Jed Beaton. 16. Thomas Ravenhorst. 17. Time Vare. 18. Jack Simpson. 19. Jamie Harvey. 20. Boyd Hocking. 21. Jake Williams.
Round two of the 2015 Australian Supercross Championship heads to Jimboomba X Stadium in south-east Queensland next Saturday, October 17.
2015 Red Bull Straight Rhythm – Pomona
The second annual Red Bull Straight Rhythm at Fairplex in Pomona, Southern California has been run and won and it was James and Malcolm Stewart who took out the Open and Lites finals respectively and in doing so have cemented themselves as the fastest siblings on the dirt biking planet right now.
Open Class Report: James Stewart hasn’t raced since this event last year due to a suspension from the FIM so no one really knew what type of condition he would be in when he showed up but when push came to shove the factory Suzuki took down Ryan Dungey in the semi-final then easily accounted for Ken Roczen in the final.
“I’m just getting back into it,” Said Stewart. “Mainly we’ve just been testing, we have a lot of new things on the bike. I didn’t feel like we were that set up for this, we made some changes overnight. I felt like, going into this, it was going to be a lot tougher than what people thought. When you don’t race the one thing you lose is that race craft, learning not to make mistakes when a guy is next to you, that speed, all that. I was kind of worried about that, but at the same time, I knew I was just kind of getting back into this thing, so I felt like whatever happened, happens, and the same thing with next weekend (Monster Energy Cup), but it’s January that counts.”
“People call me a speed demon, I jump things, I scrub things,” continued Stewart. “But yesterday I felt like I didn’t have it. So I told myself when I went home last night, I said, ‘James, it’s a process. It’s a process.’ My main goal is to win a supercross title, so I need to use this as preparation to get here. So to have that race craft, to keep upping the pace and upping the pace, and then the one where Dungey won, to have that rebound and say ‘You know what, I’m going after it again’ – you don’t get that sitting on the couch or just in practice. The best part is, I know I’m going to get a lot better, mentally and physically.”
The final should have been sensational with Stewart going head-to-head with Roczen but as Roczen scrubbed hard early in the second run he accidentally crossed the middle line which resulted in an instant disqualification. “This race is meant for fun, it’s not really a championship race or anything. We had fun, and that’s why we came here. But obviously it sucks to lose. I knew James got me in that first race, but I wanted to put on a good show for the fans. It’s very important and I have a lot of fun doing it. I feel like I’m a little bit of an entertainer. I was slapping the front fender today, bar humping, everything. It was cool and I thought it was a great event. Next week [Monster Energy Cup] is a little bit more important. I need to get a solid week of training in and see where we’re at. I’m not going there to be second again, or worse. Winning three races would be great, but it’s a tough thing to do. I can guarantee we’ll do whatever we can to achieve that.”
This was Dungey’s first time racing Red Bull Straight Rhythm, and although he finished third, he came close to advancing to the final, beating James Stewart in the duo’s first race, but getting edged out in the second two. “We were pretty good, but through the whoops he was exceptionally good. In the first race I got a good drive down the reset jump and got onto the tables really well, and when I landed off the tables I clicked up a gear, before landing, and was really able to manual through the rollers nice. I don’t think I did it all day as well as I did it that time. In the next two races I knew we were going to have to be better in the whoops, and I feel like we were, but he’s just really good in the whoops—it’s his strong suit. That and speed, he’s very fast. It’s a challenge. The guy is tough, and after a year or so, I’m sure he’s ready to get on the gate.”
Lites Class Report: Malcolm Stewart was in a class of his own in the closely contested Lites Class but despite the talent on hand Stewart told the crowd in an interview that he was calling himself for the win and that was exactly what he did by convincing beating KTM’s Shane McElrath in the final.
“It feels great to finally get the win,” said Malcolm. “I ain’t going to lie, this morning I woke up and I was like, I don’t know if I can do it. I didn’t have that much confidence! After I finally got that first run over with, I think it was just all the butterflies in my stomach. I got through first round and got that over with. I was more nervous to race against Jordon Smith, because last year I watched him, and when it came to the semifinals, he pulled something out. So it was a close race with me and him. After I knocked him out it was me and Shane [McElrath]. So I felt good all the way through. As long as I couldn’t see him in my peripheral I was fine. But I kept giving up a little bit right before the finish line those table-tables. All I know is just like what James said—just focus through the rhythm section. I knew I was faster than everybody through the whoops, and I knew if I got the whoops clean, they can’t catch me after that. So that was the main thing I was focused on. I’m glad. Like I said, for James to come back off the couch to go and win. And me as well, I haven’t raced outdoors, so it’s been like six months for me. So it’s a blessing in disguise. Definitely Mom and Dad can’t be any more happy for us—we both won!”
Most of these riders will be heading off to Vegas this week for the Monster Energy Cup and I will have the full report and results from that next weekend.
