Smarty’s Moto Wrap for Sept 16, 2014
Well, he did it!! Matthew Philips is the 2014 E3 Enduro Champion and in doing so created his own piece of history by becoming the first rider to win a junior and senior world championship back to back. Phillips joins Stefan Merriman and Shane Watts on the list of ANZACs who have won a World Enduro Championship.
Well, he did it 2!! Jordi Tixier put in his best ride of the year to secure the 2014 World MX2 Motocross Championships after going 1-3 at the final GP of the year. Jeffrey Herlings bravely turned up to try and keep his championship win streak alive but he came up 4 points short after going 14-10. Amazingly, Tixier isn’t part of the French Motocross of Nations team AND has been released from KTM so he will take his number one plate to the CLS Kawasaki team in 2015.
With the Australian Supercross Championship kicking off in less than a month we are getting more and more news on rider line-ups and you can see that the Penrite Honda team is going to go into the series with all guns blazing. 2012 SX2 champion Gavin Faith is back and will be joined by Lewis Woods in the MX2 class and we already knew that multi ASX champion Jay Marmont will spearhead the MX1 assault.
I notice that Josh Hill hasn’t been invited back…or has he??
Team Motul Suzuki’s current two-time Australian Motocross Champion and defending Australian Supercross Champion Matt Moss has signed with Suzuki Australia’s factory team in 2015. “Suzuki’s team is a family for me and now that we’ve won back-to-back titles I’m looking forward to going for a third together in 2015,” Moss commented. “I’m really happy to remain with the team I’ve won multiple championships with in my career and I’m excited to race the updated 2015 model RM-Z450.
2014 Australian MX2 Champion Luke Clout will join Chad Reed and Matt Moss as part of Team Australia at the 2014 Motocross of Nations being held in Latvia in two weekend’s time. I wouldn’t have picked Clout myself, he is not the fastest sand rider in Australia and the track in Latvia is sandy and loose. If the MXoN was held on a hard packed track Clout would be my pick.
Ok, this is really exciting. The first eight riders have been confirmed to compete in Red Bull Straight Rhythm presented by Dodge Dart. The eight names are just the first of thirty-two riders that will compete in the head-to-head motocross competition on Saturday, Oct. 4 at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, Calif. The prize purse has been set at $100,000.
Ryan Dungey, James Stewart, Josh Hansen, Josh Hill, Brett Metcalfe, Cole Seely and Dean Wilson have all signed to race the event alongside Travis Pastrana who is having a fire breathing 500cc 2-stroke motor bolted into an RMZ chassis for the event.
Round 10 of the World Speedway Championships was held in Denmark on the weekend and Troy Batchelor managed 4th place for the round with fellow Aussie Chris Holder in 6th. More importantly, Holder now sits 7th in the championship standings on 80 points, 1 point ahead of Batchelor in 8th. This is significant as it is only the top eight from the championship that get automatic selection for the entire championship the following year. Darcy Ward is still suspended after failing an alcohol breath test several GPs ago.
Takeshi Katsuya continues to lead the 250 class in the All Japan Motocross Championships after a solid second place at round 7 of the series held at the Meihan Sports Land last weekend. With two rounds remaining the Gold Coast rider has a 20 point lead in the series.
Moto Wrap for the weekend of Sept 13/14 includes:
- – Round 17 of the World Motocross Championships (MXGP of State of Mexico) in Leon
- – Round 10 of the FIM Speedway Grand Prix in Vojens, Denmark
- – Round 10 of the Kenda AMA National Enduro Series held at Upland, Indiana
- – Round 8 of the FIM World Enduro Championships in Brioude, France
- – Round 7 of the All Japan Motocross Championships in Meihan
- – Round 7 of the World Off-Road Championships (WORCS) Series at Glen Helen, California
- – Round 7 of the AMA MAXC Racing Series held in Plymouth, Indiana
World Motocross Championships – Round 17 – Leon, Mexico
MX1: Gautier Paulin has won the final GP of the year with 4-1 moto results while Max Nagl scored second place with 1-4 results which is just one point in front of Antonio Cairoli’s 3-2 results. Interestingly, Cairoli may well have won the championship convincingly but he has been far from unbeatable over the second part of the season.
Gautier Paulin has this to say after his second moto win. “I’m never happy when I finish second like I did in Brazil, and this weekend it’s great to win the final GP of the season. The positions in the championship were fixed so everyone came here to get the best result, and I’m very happy with my performance. We had to learn this new track so I rode safe on Saturday and qualified in fourth. Today was better; in the first race it took me time to find a good rhythm but in the second one I had a better start and battled for the win. I feel ready for the MX of Nations, the last race of the season.”
Antonio Cairoli explains his season. “It’s been a very difficult season, with many ups and downs and I was not always able to get a good physical condition; my preparation, has been affected by all the personal problems that occurred me this year. Today I’m happy with my race and thankfully it did not rain, otherwise it would have been a big problem for everyone, anyway the organizers have done a good job and even if the track was not the most suitable for me and my bike, I liked it. In the first four positions we all had a very similar speed and it was difficult to overtake, I managed to give everything I could, but I was not able to win the second moto. I want to thank my team, KTM, my girlfriend Jill and everyone who works with me, my sponsors and my fans for this difficult season; now I have to focus on the Grand Prix of Nations that will be in Kegums, Latvia in two weeks. We don’t have so much time to train with the 250 and to adapt my riding style, but we will do everything we can to get prepared for this challenge.”
MX2: As we all know, it was all about the MX2 title with Jordi Tixier coming into the round 27 points down on Jeffrey Herlings who actually turned up to race with a very tender leg that was badly broken just six weeks ago.
Tixier won the opening moto by over two minutes from Romain Febvre and Dyland Ferrandis with Herlings back in 14th place then in the second moto Aleksandr Tonkov shot to the lead before spectacularly coming together with Tixier as they battled for the lead.
In fact, Tonkov fell off the side of his bike while in the air and his arm was caught in the rear wheel of Tixier’s KTM causing Tixier to stop long enough for Tonkov to remove his arm thus dropping the factory KTM rider back to 10th place and potentially losing the championship with Herlings just a few places behind.
But, Tixier put his head down and threw everything at the track to come through to third place to win the title by just four points over Herlings who battled on to take 10th place for 11th overall on the day.
The 2010 World Junior 125cc Champion was wrapped with the end result. “In my head I still can’t believe it. After I crashed in the first laps of the second moto I thought the championship was over and I tried to give it everything. Then when I crossed the finish line I thought, ‘I did it’ and it’s really nice to win like this. I was really fast on the track, I caught almost everyone and I rode aggressive.”
Jeffrey Herlings has this to say. “For me it was like I was riding with just one leg. Every time I put my foot down or went over a bump the pain was terrible. In the first moto I was a little calmer and I thought it was already over but in the second moto I was just fighting like a warrior. Obviously I came up short but that’s life and I’ll try to get the title back next year.”
MXGP Race 1 Top Ten: 1. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Honda), 34:33.587; 2. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +0:01.205; 3. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:28.257; 4. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:33.591; 5. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:42.340; 6. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), +0:48.044; 7. Steven Frossard (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:56.187; 8. Davide Guarneri (ITA, TM), +1:05.625; 9. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +1:08.100; 10. Matiss Karro (LAT, KTM), +1:08.721
MXGP Race 2 Top Ten: 1. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 35:02.891; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:01.311; 3. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +0:02.550; 4. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Honda), +0:03.762; 5. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:40.793; 6. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:43.944; 7. Davide Guarneri (ITA, TM), +0:45.281; 8. Steven Frossard (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:59.239; 9. Rui Goncalves (POR, Yamaha), +1:01.253; 10. Matiss Karro (LAT, KTM), +1:03.576
MXGP Overall Top Ten: 1. Gautier Paulin (FRA, KAW), 43 points; 2. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HON), 43 p.; 3. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 42 p.; 4. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, SUZ), 42 p.; 5. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 32 p.; 6. Tommy Searle (GBR, KAW), 27 p.; 7. Davide Guarneri (ITA, TM), 27 p.; 8. Steven Frossard (FRA, KAW), 27 p.; 9. Rui Goncalves (POR, YAM), 22 p.; 10. Matiss Karro (LAT, KTM), 22 p.
MXGP World Championship Classification Top Ten: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 747 points; 2. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 628 p.; 3. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, SUZ), 572 p.; 4. Clement Desalle (BEL, SUZ), 484 p.; 5. Steven Frossard (FRA, KAW), 419 p.; 6. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HON), 400 p.; 7. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 397 p.; 8. Gautier Paulin (FRA, KAW), 358 p.; 9. Davide Guarneri (ITA, TM), 297 p.; 10. David Philippaerts (ITA, YAM), 275 p.
MX2 Race 1 Top Ten: 1. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 34:58.342; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, Husqvarna), +0:02.607; 3. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:04.721; 4. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Kawasaki), +0:14.118; 5. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:14.653; 6. Valentin Guillod (SUI, KTM), +0:15.999; 7. Julien Lieber (BEL, KTM), +0:25.354; 8. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, Husqvarna), +0:40.218; 9. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki), +0:51.118; 10. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), +0:57.231
MX2 Race 2 Top Ten: 1. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), 35:32.350; 2. Valentin Guillod (SUI, KTM), +0:06.292; 3. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), +0:07.614; 4. Julien Lieber (BEL, KTM), +0:08.616; 5. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Suzuki), +0:09.615; 6. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Kawasaki), +0:10.445; 7. Romain Febvre (FRA, Husqvarna), +0:27.735; 8. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), +0:29.789; 9. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki), +0:33.058; 10. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +1:05.672;
MX2 Overall Top Ten: 1. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 45 points; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 41 p.; 3. Valentin Guillod (SUI, KTM), 37 p.; 4. Romain Febvre (FRA, HUS), 36 p.; 5. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, KAW), 33 p.; 6. Julien Lieber (BEL, KTM), 32 p.; 7. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, SUZ), 25 p.; 8. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 24 p.; 9. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, KAW), 22 p.; 10. Kei Yamamoto (JPN, HON), 20 p.
MX2 World Championship Classification Top Ten: 1. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 616 points; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 612 p.; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, HUS), 570 p.; 4. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, KAW), 533 p.; 5. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 528 p.; 6. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, KAW), 455 p.; 7. Valentin Guillod (SUI, KTM), 449 p.; 8. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, HUS), 397 p.; 9. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), 359 p.; 10. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 352 p.
FIM Speedway Grand Prix – Round 10 – Vojens, Denmark
With championship leader Greg Hancock out of the GP with an injured hand and defending champion Tai Woffinden also battling injury we saw Swedish racer Andreas Jonsson end three years of frustration in the FIM Speedway Grand Prix series by winning the Nordic SGP at Vojens.
“This means a lot because it makes me angry when I know I’ve got the ability to ride well.” Jonsson said. “When I’m not going well, it just feels terrible. I still feel I haven’t showed the best of myself yet. It has been a disaster. It has been a really, really tough couple of years. It has been really hard for me and I’ve struggled with pretty much everything.”
Australia’s Troy Batchelor raced to an impressive 4th place for the round, two positions in front of fellow Aussie Chris Holder in 6th with 10 points. Holder now sits 7th in the championsihp standings on 80 points, 1 point ahead of Batchelor in 8th.
Defending World Champion Woffinden raced through the pain of a broken left hand to score a handy seven points, halving Hancock’s pre-event 14-point advantage at the top.
With just two rounds to race in Stockholm on September 27 and Torun on October 11, the points difference between championship leader Hancock, Woffinden, Krzysztof Kasprzak, Nicki Pedersen and Matej Zagar is just 15 points.
Vojens Results: 1 Andreas Jonsson 15 Pts. 2 Peter Kildemand 18 Pts. 3 Krzysztof Kasprzak 12 Pts. 4 Troy Batchelor 13 Pts. 5 Kenneth Bjerre 10 Pts. 6 Chris Holder 10 Pts. 7 Fredrik Lindgren 9 Pts. 8 Nicki Pedersen 8 Pts. 9 Michael Jepsen Jensen 7 Pts. 10 Tai Woffinden 7 Pts. 11 Mikkel Bech Jensen 7 Pts. 12 Matej Zagar 6 Pts. 13 Martin Smolinski 6 Pts. 14 Chris Harris 5 Pts. 15 Jaroslaw Hampel 3 Pts. 16 Lasse Bjerre 1 Pts. 17 Nicolaj Busk Jakobsen 0 Pts.
World Championship Points: 1 Greg Hancock 112 Pts. 2 Tai Woffinden 105 Pts. 3 Krzysztof Kasprzak 104 Pts. 4 Nicki Pedersen 101 Pts. 5 Matej Zagar 97 Pts. 6 Niels-Kristian Iversen 87 Pts. 7 Chris Holder 80 Pts. 8 Troy Batchelor 79 Pts. 9 Fredrik Lindgren 78 Pts. 10 Darcy Ward 75 Pts.
FIM World Enduro Championships – Round 8 – Brioude, France
The final day of racing in the 2014 Maxxis FIM Enduro World Championship concluded with the crowing of Enduro 3 World Champion Australian Matthew Phillips.
Holding a 14-point advantage over Ivan Cervantes going into the final day of racing , Phillips rode conservatively for third place and that was more than enough to secure the championship. “I’m lost for words – it’s an incredible feeling to be world champion,” Phillips enthused. “To win a championship for my first time in the senior ranks is more than I ever expected. All season Ivan and myself have fought hard, it’s been a great battle and I’m delighted to have won.”
Bel-Ray Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Pela Renet capped off an incredible 2014 season with a double E2 class win in France. “Ending the championship with a double victory is just perfect for me. With the E2 title already secured in Italy it sort of lifted the pressure from my shoulders and I could concentrate on enjoying the race. I really wanted to win and almost immediately I was able to set some very fast times in the tests. I found a rhythm I was comfortable with and steadily tried to increase my advantage each day. It’s been great to win in France.”
E1: 1. Christophe Nambotin – 271 Pts. 2. Eero Remes – 201 Pts. 3. Cristobal Guerrero – 181 Pts. 4. Jeremy Tarroux – 176 Pts. 5. Anthony Boissiere – 160 Pts. 6. Jaume Betriu – 136 Pts. 7. Thomas Oldrati – 107 Pts. 8. Rudi Moroni – 106 Pts. 9. Maurizio Micheluz – 74 Pts. 10. Kévin Rohmer – 53 Pts.
E2: 1. Pierre Alexandre Renet – 258 Pts. 2. Alex Salvini – 202 Pts. 3. Johnny Aubert – 177 Pts. 4. Lorenzo Santonlino – 163 Pts. 5. Oriol Mena – 122 Pts. 6. Antoine Meo – 114 Pts. 7. Romain Dumontier – 104 Pts. 8. Mirko Gritti – 89 Pts. 9. Jonathan Barragan – 86 Pts. 10. Jamie Lewis – 75 Pts.
E3: 1. Matthew Phillips – 229 Pts. 2. Ivan Cervantes – 220 Pts. 3. Matti Seistola – 155 Pts. 4. Mathias Bellino – 148 Pts. 5. Aigar Leok – 138 Pts. 6. Luis Correia – 135 Pts. 7. Jérémy Joly – 125 Pts. 8. Fabien Planet – 108 Pts. 9. Antoine Basset – 107 Pts. 10. Simone Albergoni – 96 Pts.
EJ: 1. Daniel McCanney – 260 Pts. 2. Giacomo Redondi – 234 Pts. 3. Loïc Larrieu – 222 Pts. 4. Nicolo Mori – 109 Pts. 5. Diogo Ventura – 99 Pts.
EW: 1. Laia Sanz – 157 Pts. 2. Jane Daniels – 139 Pts. 3. Jessica Gardiner – 114 Pts. 4. Samantha Tichet – 75 Pts. 5. Jemma Wilson – 67 Pts.
2014 Kenda AMA National Enduro Series – Round 10 – Upland, Indiana
Andrew DeLong has won the 2014 Kenda AMA National Enduro Series after taking a solid third place finish at the final round of the 10-round series in Upland, Indiana.
The Factory Racing Husqvarna rider came into the final race of the series with a relatively safe 22-point advantage in the standings and needed only to post a top-10 finish to secure the title. However, despite getting off to a slow start in the first three tests, DeLong picked up the pace at the halfway mark and ultimately landed on the podium, giving him more than enough points to take home the 2014 title.
“This is something I’ve dreamed about for a long time and I still can’t believe it’s happened,” said DeLong. “We had kind of an up-and-down year, but thanks to my team we were able to pull it all together and come away with the championship.”
Mike Lafferty got off to a quick start in the 65-mile race on his FMF/KTM, and took the early lead ahead of Factory Racing Husqvarna’s Russell Bobbitt after winning the first three tests.
Lafferty announced his retirement at the start of the season so this event would be his final race at his professional level, and it appeared the eight-time National Enduro Champ was making the most of his final appearance on the circuit. The final three tests were all Bobbitt, however, as the Georgia rider picked up the race to pull away to take an impressive win, beating Lafferty by a minute-and-a-half at the end of the race.
“I am so happy to end my career this way,” said Lafferty. “Of course, I would have liked to have won the race but I’m happy that if I had to lose it, that it was to Russ.”
Bobbitt looked impressive despite riding in just his second race since spending six months recovering from a broken kneecap. “I came in here feeling like I was on top of my game, but I’m not sure I really expected to win this thing,” said Bobbitt.
Round 10 Results: 1. Russell Bobbitt (Hsq). 2. Mike Lafferty (KTM). 3. Andrew DeLong (Hsq). 4. Grant Baylor (KTM). 5. Brad Bakken (Yam). 6. Nick Fahringer (Hsq). 7. Cory Buttrick (Bet). 8. Paddy Holloway (KTM). 9. Jesse Groemm (KTM). 10. Ryder Lafferty (Hsq).
AMA National Enduro Series Final Points Standings: 1, Andrew DeLong (212/2 wins). 2, Gesse Groemm (181/1 win). 3, Grant Baylor (180/1 win). 4, Brad Bakken (172/1 win). 5, Nick Fahringer (167) 6, Mike Lafferty (147). 7, Steward Baylor (127). 8, Charles Mullins (120/4 wins). 9, Ryder Lafferty (103). 10, Cory Buttrick (92).
World Off-Road Championships (WORCS) Series – Round 8 – Glen Helen, California
Taylor Robert claimed his fourth straight WORCS win at Glen Helen Raceway in as many years at round eight of the 2014 Rocky Mountain MC World Off-Road Championship Series, presented by Motoworks and Dirt Bike Magazine.
It was a scorcher at Glen Helen with a high of 111 degrees, which took its toll on many of the racers and motorcycles, and with the heat came the dust that kept the water truck running none stop throughout the race battling the dust, which was kept to a minimum considering the conditions.
KTM’s Taylor Robert got off to a great start in the second spot behind RPM/KTM’s Justin Jones, but Robert made the pass on Jones in lap two as he recorded the fastest time of the race and began building on his lead over second place.
Unfortunately for Jones, he snapped a chain, which took him out of the running for a podium finish.
“I didn’t get the holeshot, which I usually get here at Glen Helen, but I got around Justin on the second lap, and just rode my own race,” said Robert. “I had some pretty good lines, and just tried to stay as smooth as possible.”
Robert held the lead to the finish to secure the win. This was his last WORCS race for the season, as he said that he won’t be attending the season finale in Primm. This was just his second WORCS event of the year.
“It feels awesome to be back in the WORCS series because this is where my roots are, and I wish that I could do more of them, but the schedule conflicts with my other races, and I won’t be back for Primm. But it feels great to get my fourth win at Glen Helen.”
Gary Sutherlin managed third place at Glen Helen and will go into the final round with a narrow points lead over Robby Bell.
The 2014 World Off-Road Championship Series heads to Buffalo Bill’s Casino and Resort for the season finale October 17-19 in Primm, Nevada.
PRO Class Results: 1. Taylor Robert (KTM). 2. Robby Bell (Kaw). 3. Gary Sutherlin (KTM). 4. Colton Udall (Hon). 5. Justin Seeds (Kaw).
All Japan Motocross Championships – Round 7 – Meihan Sports Land
With just two rounds remaining the status quo as far as championship standings go remained the same after round 7 of the All Japan Motocross Championships held at the Meihan Sports Land last weekend.
Living legend Akira Narita scored a solid second place in the 450 class and now has a 55 point lead in the series while our own Takeshi Katsuya rode well for second place and now has just a 20 point lead over arch rival and factory Honda rider Toshiki Tomita.
450 Class: 1. Hirata (Y). 2. Narita (H). 3. Arai (K). 4. Mihara (K). 5. Fukaya (H)
450 Points after 7 of 9 Rounds: 1. NARITA Akira – 320. 2. OGATA Makoto – 265. 3. ATSUTA Yoshitaka – 234. 4. ARAI Hiroaki – 233. 5. HIRATA Yu – 187.
250 Class: 1. Tomita (H). 2. Katsuya (K). 3. Nohtsuka (K). 4. Tanaka (H). 5. Yasuhara (Y).
250 Points after 7 of 9 Rounds: 1. KATSUYA Takeshi – 308. 2. TOMITA Toshiki – 288. 3. TAKENAKA Jun’ya – 231. 4. NOHTSUKA Chihiro – 210. 5. YASUHARA Nozomu – 198.
AMA MAXC Racing Series – Round 7 of 10 – Plymouth, Indiana
The AMA MAXC Racing Series headed to Plymouth, Indiana, September 14, for round seven of the 10-round series. The Blackhawk Cycle Club played host and Chris Bach earned the big win followed by Mike Witkowski and Chris Douglas.
Chris Bach is no stranger to the facility. He grew up racing at this very same location and it is where he won his first ever race. Bach got off to a less-than-desirable start when he was a little late kicking his bike over and was the last one off the line. This, however, did not deter the Honda rider, as he quickly worked his way through the field to take over second place by lap two. Bach then moved into the top spot for remaining four laps of the six-lap race to earn his fourth MAXC win of the 2014 season.
“I was just a bit anxious off the line and I wanted to get a good jump off the start and I just rushed it,” Bach said. “We got going and Mike [Witkowski] was out front and he was stressing me out a little bit because I couldn’t see him, and I had to ride a little faster than what I thought to catch him. We had a pretty good pace and I started riding behind him and then I was able to get around him.”
Round 7 of 10 Results: 1. Chris Bach (Hon). 2. Mike Witkowski (KTM). 3. Chris Douglas (KTM). 4. Austin Lee (Hbg). 5. Teddy Mullins (KTM).
Moto Wrap for the weekend of Sept 20/21 includes:
– Round 11 of the GNCC at Mountain Ridge Trails Resort – Central City, PA
– Round 8 of the British Motocross Championship at Foxhill
– Round 6 of the WAMX at Noble Falls
– The start of the Australian Safari
