Smarty’s Moto Wrap for Sept 23, 2014 | Moto News
The MX Nationals have only just finished and we already have news through that anyone wanting to ride a 250cc 2-Stroke in the MXD or MX2 class is going to have to do it with a standard barrel and head.
That’s right, even though a four stroke won both classes there has been enough pissing and moaning to force WEM and MA to put restrictions in place which will see all of the 250 2-Strokes competing in the MXD and MX2 classes remain in stock trim from the intake manifold to the exhaust port with all engine parts between those two points being OEM for that year model. The Serco Yamaha team must be sniggering behind their hands at this…..though it will make little difference to the riders on the TM 250 2-stroker as they ran the standard head and barrel anyway.
Ok, here is the latest regarding the up-coming Australian Supercross Season:
- – The KTM Motocross Racing Team has announced that teenager Jesse Dobson will line up alongside Kirk Gibbs.
- – Teenage sensation Sam Martin and the DPH Yamaha team have parted ways so Sam is looking to run a privateer Suzuki and it looks like veteran Daniel McCoy will doing something similar.
- – Cairns rider Jackson Richardson will be on a privateer Honda and after a season in America followed by a good rest he could well be a dark horse for the MX2 title.
- – After a massive fallout with his former employer Josh Cachia could well turn up on a Husqvarna TC350 for Craig Anderson who had a massive fallout with his former rider. Funny stuff huh?
- – We will have four Yanks in the MX2 ranks with Gavin Faith (Penrite Honda), Kyle Peters (Wilson’s Racing Honda), Chris Plouffe and Jake Lyon (Boardstix Motorsports).
- – Taylor Potter is also part of the Boardstix Motorsports team.
- – Brenden Harrison is fit and ready to win on his KTM250SX.
- – Caleb Ward will sit out Supercross while he gets his 2015 ride sorted.
- – Raceline Suzuki will have Nick Sutherland and Geran Stapleton in the MX2 class.
- – NPS Monster Energy Kawasaki riders Jake Moss and Adam Monea have been riding their arses off and are fit and ready to have a crack at the title and don’t forget, their team manager Troy Carroll won more Supercross Championships than you can poke a stick at so I expect to see some green at the top of the podium.
In other Aussie news, Serco Yamaha has announced that Jed Beaton will join the Yamaha factory supported MX2 team for the 2015 racing season but who will be alongside the young star is still up in the air with the 2014 line-up of Jay Wilson and Luke Clout not yet signed for 2015.
This is going to put the cat among the pigeons. There will be a trio of young American riders on Cobra machinery at the up-coming 2014 Australian Junior Motocross National Championship being held at MacArthur Motocross complex in Appin. Wisconsin’s Johnny Weber, Missouri’s Brock Lassiter, and Pennsylvania’s Mason Tucker will be vying for 65cc and 50cc Australian titles.
The final round of the WA Motocross Championships was held at Noble Falls on the weekend and as predicted it was Jayden Rykers who continued his domination to win the MX2 class round and championship while Kyle Webster finished the day back in 9th place at Noble Falls but still hung on to win the MX1 title.
Ok, here is some news from the USA. He may do some dumb shit on the track but Justin Barcia is no dummy when it comes to training. The newly signed JGR Yamaha rider recently announced that he will be training with living legend and AMA Motocross and Supercross Champion Johnny O’Mara. “I’m really looking forward to getting back to training for the upcoming Monster Energy Supercross series. I feel that Johnny can help get me to the level I need to be at for 2015.”
O’Mara has worked with the likes Ricky Carmichael, James Stewart and Ryan Dungey in the past.
After years of riding as a privateer followed by a solid season as fill-in rider for the RCH Suzuki team, Weston Peick has signed to join Barcia on the JGR Yamaha team.
The benefits of having a team mate are already paying dividends for the Discount Tires/Two Two Motorsports team. While Chad Reed is on holidays over in Europe his new team mate Josh Grant is in California busting out laps on the new 2015 KX450F.
Justin Hill has left the Pro-Circuit Kawasaki team and jumped across to the Red Bull KTM team to compete alongside Marvin Musquin in the 250 class. Hill scored two Supercross wins in 2014 but was injured early in the AMA Motocross Championship.
In what could be the biggest hint so far that Ryan Villopoto is in fact racing in MXGP in 2015, Team Kawasaki has signed Davi Milsaps and Wil Hahn for the 2015 AMA Supercross and Motocross season. How they see the injury prone Wil Hahn as a better buy than Brett Metcalfe has me beat.
Pro Circuit Kawasaki has kept Adam Cianciarulo from their 2014 line-up and brought in Joey Savatgy, Chris Alldredge, Tyler Bowers and Arnaud Tonus for 2015 while BTO KTM have hired Justin Brayton as Andrew Short’s teammate leaving Matt Goerke looking for a ride in 2015.
Husqvarna’s return to the AMA will see Jason Anderson ride the 450 class with Martin Davalos, Zach Bell and Zach Osborne contest the 250 class for the Rockstar Husqvarna team.
Last week we got to see who the top eight open class riders who are contesting the Red Bull Straight Rhythm on October the 4th in Pomona, California and now we have the top eight 250 riders. Marvin Musquin, Justin Hill, Zach Bell, Jessy Nelson, Nico Izzi, Darryn Durham, Jordon Smith, and Ryan Surratt will do battle for a major share of the $100,000.00 prize money. There are still another 16 riders (8 x 450cc and 8 x 250cc) to be confirmed.
Bugga, Josh Strang was battling for the lead with Jordan Ashburn and Kailub Russell at round 11 of the Amsoil GNCC on the weekend and was looking like he had the pace to end Russell’s win streak until fuel spilled into his lap during a pit stop thus forcing the Aussie to retire from the race. With two rounds remaining Russell has wrapped up the title while only one point separates Ashburn and Strang for the first podium position.
This is from Strang’s Facebook page. “Well gas/fuel on the twig and berries is no fun at all! Can’t believe how bad it hurt. Felt really good yesterday just spilt a little much to keep going. Was having a lot of fun on the track!”
Over in Europe, Honda has signed Filip Bengtsson and Christophe Charlier to ride for the 24MX Honda Racing Team in the MXGP class while their MX2 team, JTech Honda will have Vsevolod Brylyakov at the helm of their CRF250R with a second rider soon to be announced.
The Marchetti KTM Racing team has reached an agreement with Spanish champion Jose Antonio Butron to race the KTM 350 SX F in the 2015 MXGP World Championship season. In fact, the relationship kicks off at the 2014 Motocross of Nations in Kegums (Latvia) where Butron will race for the Spanish Team in the MXGP category.
Todd Waters returned to racing at the final round of the ADAC German Championship in Teutschenthal and was able to finish with a more than credible 5th and 15th moto results (the second moto was slop). “I have to say that it is a great feeling to be back racing. It was quite a big injury being off the bike for 18 weeks. We used this race as practice and in order to get back the race feeling. Being back riding for only 4 weeks we couldn’t expect too much, so coming away with a 5th was good and the weekend overall was great practice.”
“Next I will head back to Red Bull DTC to do a week of testing and I will be also working with Husqvarna to improve our bike. Two weeks from here I fly back to Australia to start a 9 week preseason training block, which I’m really looking forward to.”
Moto GP3 championship leader Jack Miller has recently spent a day at Valentino Rossi’s ranch doing laps around Vale’s specially prepared flat track alongside Chad Reed and Marc Marquez. The Townsville kid who grew up flat tracking has just signed to race a LCR Honda in the MotoGP class in 2015.
Don’t forget that the inaugural KTM Conondale Cup is on over the weekend of the 4th and 5th of August with a heap of our top riders lining up to try and earn a lion’s share of the $10,000.00 prize money. Entries are still open so go to http://www.scmcc.info/.
The final round from, the 2014 Monster Energy MX Nationals from Coolum is set to be televised this weekend on Foxtel’s SPEED channel on Saturday, 27 September a 1645. The first screening on Saturday 27 September will be televised immediately before the LIVE coverage of the Aragon MotoGP in Spain.
Moto Wrap for the weekend of Sept 20/21 includes:
- – Round 11 of the GNCC at Mountain Ridge Trails Resort – Central City, PA
- – Round 9 of the AMA Hare & Hound National Championship at Yerington, Nevada
- – Round 8 of the British Motocross Championship at Foxhill
- – The Start of the Australian Safari
Amsoil GNCC – Round 11 – Mountain Ridge Trails Resort – Central City, PA
Factory FMF/KTM’s Kailub Russell clinched the 2014 National Championship with two rounds remaining after clinching his 5th straight XC1 victory of the season while Grant Baylor capturing his fourth consecutive XC2 win and taking home second overall for the day.
As per usual, N-Fab AmPro Yamaha’s Paul Whibley led the way through the first turn, grabbing the $250 All Balls Racing XC1 Holeshot Award and took the early lead, followed closely by Rocky Mountain ATV*MC/N-Fab AmPro Yamaha’s Josh Strang on the opening lap. However, despite tipping over on the first corner of the start, N-Fab AmPro Yamaha’s Jordan Ashburn made his way to the front by the opening lap, where he led his teammates and former GNCC Champions Whibley and Strang early on.
Meanwhile, Russell got off to a not-so-favorable start, where the reigning champion checked in around fifth place on the opening lap. But it didn’t take long for Russell to push his way toward the front as he joined Ashburn for the lead battle on lap two.
The top three running order tightened up immensely on the third lap where less than 15 seconds separated Ashburn, Russell and Strang as they all three headed into the pits for fuel at the same time. Ashburn made it out first, followed by Russell and then Strang. However, things quickly took a turn for the worst for Strang when he acquired some extra fuel in his lap near the end of his pit. Only seven seconds behind the lead battle, Strang attempted to continue racing but the pain became intolerant so the Australian native was forced to return to his pit and take care of himself, thus removing himself from the race.
Strang’s misfortune opened up the doors for Factory Husqvarna’s Andrew Delong to gain a position in the overall running, where he made it from eighth to third by lap four. Rockstar Energy Racing/WMR KTM’s Ryan Sipes then slipped into the fourth place position, followed by Whibley in fifth.
But just as Delong and the other XC1 riders began their quest for an overall podium finish, XC2 Pro Lites leader Grant Baylor swooped in on the adjusted time clock. Baylor eventually made his way into the top three with time adjustment, and from there, the 17-year-old pushed his way into the second place spot.
The intense battle for the physical lead continued on between Ashburn and Russell and as the two-lap card fell, Russell finally made his move to the front. But Ashburn didn’t let up as he pushed to stay about 10 seconds behind on the final lap. In the end, Ashburn finished one minute behind Russell to capture second place in the XC1 Pro class but Baylor’s fast pace from the second row was enough to bump Ashburn back one position to finish third overall for the day, while Baylor added a third podium finish to his overall arsenal.
Kailub Russell added another career victory to his collection, now sitting with 21 career overall wins, which is good enough to tie Scott Plessinger for fifth place on the All-Time Bike Wins list. But for Russell, a big weight has been lifted as he captured his second straight title with two rounds left to go.
“It feels great to get the championship wrapped up early,” stated Russell. “My team worked so hard to help me accomplish this goal and I am so grateful for their hard work. I hope to continue my win streak at the next two rounds to finish the season off with a couple more victories.”
After leading four of the six laps, Ashburn’s stellar performance vaulted the Tennessee native into the second place position in the championship standings where he surpassed Strang, who wasn’t able to finish on Sunday. Strang now sits one point back in third.
DeLong finished out strongly, capturing third place in the XC1 Pro class and fourth overall for the day. Sipes finished put forth an impressive ride to capture a career-best fourth place in XC1 and fifth overall for the day after coming back from outside the top 10 on the opening lap.
Whibley rounded out the top five in XC1 and sixth overall for the day, followed by Maxxis/KLIM/DirtWise KTM Race Team’s Jason Thomas in sixth, Chris Douglas in seventh and Takeshi Koikeda in eighth.
RideMPS.com/AMSOIL Honda’s Thad DuVall finished ninth in XC1 after he reportedly blew his rear shock on the third lap of racing, where he rode the remainder of the race at a disadvantage. JCR Honda/Rockstar Energy’s Chris Bach battled for a top five position all afternoon and the Indiana native was well on his way until he tipped over in a rock section and punctured his water pump cover. Bach came into the pits to fix his bike and returned to the race but his valiant effort wasn’t enough to score championship points at round 11.
KTM Support rider Grant Baylor extended his lead in XC2 Pro Lites with a fourth straight victory in the class. At the beginning of the three-hour race, XC2 rookie Trevor Bollinger held on to the pace of Baylor and the duo battled it out for the lead position. However, as the race wore on, Baylor picked up his pace dramatically, where he rode on uncontested for yet another win in the class, as well as an impressive second place overall finish.
Bollinger was able to hold on for another second place finish for the season, while KR4 Arrive-N-Ride KTM’s Nick Davis rounded out the top three with his fourth podium finish of the season. Davis also earned an extra $100 courtesy of the DigitalOffroad.com XC2 Holeshot Award.
The 2014 AMSOIL Grand National Cross Country Series will head to St. Clairsville, Ohio on Oct. 4 and 5 for the ITP Powerline Park GNCC.
XC1 Event Results: 1. Kailub Russell (KTM). 2. Jordan Ashburn (YAM). 3. Andrew Delong (HSQ). 4. Ryan Sipes (KTM). 5. Paul Whibley (YAM). 6. Jason Thomas (KTM). 7. Chris Douglas (KTM). 8. Takeshi Koikeda (HON). 9. Thad DuVall (HON). 10. Chris Bach (HON).
Overall National Championship Standings after 11 of 13 Rounds: 1. Kailub Russell (293). 2. Jordan Ashburn (187). 3. Josh Strang (186). 4. Charlie Mullins (180). 5. Grant Baylor (177). 6. Paul Whibley (152). 7. Andrew Delong (152). 8. Ricky Russell (117). 9. Chris Bach (108). 10. Trevor Bollinger (106).
XC2 Event Results: 1. Grant Baylor (KTM). 2. Trevor Bollinger (HON). 3. Nick Davis (KTM). 4. Michael McGinnis (KTM). 5. Sam Evans (KTM). 6. Mark Heresco (KTM). 7. Zach Love (KTM). 8. Callan May (YAM). 9. Derrik Allen (YAM). 10. Mat Herrington (KTM).
XC2 Series Standings after 11 of 13 Rounds: 1. Grant Baylor (292). 2. Trevor Bollinger (235). 3. Ricky Russell (233). 4. Callan May (128). 5. Layne Michael (127). 6. Sam Evans (120). 7. Jesse Groemm (119). 8. Shane Hufford Jr (114). 9. Nick Davis (111). 10. Chris Douglas (99).
AMA Hare & Hound National Championship – Round 9 – Yerington, Nevada
Kawasaki rider Ricky Brabec took another step closer toward his first AMA Hare & Hound National Championship after securing his third win of the year at the penultimate round of the AMA SRT National H&H Series in Yerington, Nevada.
Brabec got off to a fast start and was the first rider out onto the course and with clear air ahead of him the Kawasaki rider led it the whole way with his closest rival Nick Burson on his Beta finishing 25 seconds back by race end.
Third overall went to Burson’s Purvines/Beta teammate Axel Pearson while Justin Morgan (Husqvarna), Justin Morrow (Beta) and Dennis Belingheri rounded out the top six.
Ivan Ramirez mistakenly strayed off the course early in the race and lost valuable time but the KTM rider spent the rest of the race coming up through the pack in the dust to end up seventh overall ahead of Open A winner Ryan Kudla, 250 A rider Ryan Smith and Morgan Crawford who topped the Vet A class.
Heading to the final round at Johnson Valley, California on the 26th of October, Brabec leads Nick Burson by 10 points and Ivan Ramirez by 22 points.
AMA SRT National Hare & Hound Series Results (Round 9 of 10): 1. Ricky Brabec (Kaw). 2. Nick Burson (Beta). 3. Axel Pearson (Beta). 4. Justin Morgan (Hus). 5. Justin Morrow (Beta). 6. Dennis Belingheri (Kaw). 7. Ivan Ramirez (KTM). 8. Ryan Kudla (KTM). 9. Ryan Smith (Yam). 10. Morgan Crawford (KTM).
British Motocross Championships – Round 8 – Foxhill
Elliot Banks Browne and Steven Clarke have won the MX1 and MX2 classes respectively at the final round of the Maxxis British Motocross championships, held at the Foxhills circuit last weekend.
Banks Browne went 2-1-3 for victory leading home Irelands Graeme Irwin and former British champion Brad Anderson while championship winner Shaun Simpson scored 7th outright and in the MX2 class Steven Clarke won ahead of Mel Pocock and Mattis Karro while it is Karro who clinched the British MX2 title with one round remaining.
MX1 Results: 1. Elliott Banks Browne. 2. Graeme Irwin. 3. Brad Anderson. 4. Kristian Whatley. 5. Martin Barr. 6. Nathan Parker. 7. Shaun Simpson. 8. Gert Krestinov. 9. Nathan Watson. 10. Jamie Law.
MX1 Championship Standings (After 7 of 8 races): 1. Shaun Simpson – 424. 2. Kristian Whatley – 303. 3. Brad Anderson – 260. 4. Graeme Irwin – 256. 5. Gert Krestinov – 243. 6. Nathan Watson – 239. 7. Jake Nicholls – 216. 8. Alex Snow – 198. 9. Prit Ratsep – 174. 10. Elliott Banks-Browne – 141.
MX2 Results: 1. Steven Clarke. 2. Mel Pocock. 3. Matiss Karro. 4. Steven Lenoir. 5. Bryan MacKenzie. 6. Ben Watson. 7. Neville Bradshaw. 8. Adam Sterry. 9. Jordan Booker. 10. Lewis Trickett.
MX2 Championship Standings (After 7 of 8 races): 1. Matiss Karro – 402. 2. Mel Pocock – 363. 3. Adam Sterry – 273. 4. Neville Bradshaw – 273. 5. Bryan Mackenzie – 262. 6. Ben Watson – 247. 7. Steven Lenoir – 243. 8. Steven Clarke – 212. 9. Michael Eccles – 198. 10. Lewis Tombs – 155.
2014 Australian Safari – 20th to 27th of Sept – WA
35 competitors competing over seven days will traverse over 2315km of tracks and trails throughout some of Western Australia’s most rugged conditions. Here is what has happened so far and what is ahead of them.
Quinn Cody (USA) was the fastest rider in the Moto 1086km prologue and was pleased with his first Safari outing. “Prologue was fun. I didn’t take any chances, and I didn’t make any mistakes,” Quinn said. “Bike was good. Didn’t have much time on it before the event, but I’m happy as far as that goes, I’m a bit nervous for tomorrow, I hear it is going to rain and I didn’t come prepared – so we’ll see.”
Last year’s Dakar Challenge winner, Shane Diener (AUS) was only one second behind the Baja champ, but at the moment is more worried about fellow Yamaha Desert Racing team mate Rodney Faggotter (AUS).
“My strategy for tomorrow is to keep Rod behind me, even if I have to drag my feet to make as much dust as I can,” said Shane. “It feels different being on a bigger bike again, because I haven’t ridden this one since Condo. I’m also getting used to reading maps again.”
Defending champion Rodney Faggotter came through with the third fastest time. “I feel like I’m settling in. At least I have someone to chase tomorrow.”
Prologue Top Ten: 1. Quinn Cody. 2. Shane Diener. 3. Rodney Faggotter. 4. Russell Scoble. 5. Cesare Zacchetti. 6. Adam Clay. 7. Ian Blythe. 8. Paul Nappy. 9. Matthew Hart. 10. Paul Kenny.
Day 1 – Utakarra – Murchison
Australasian Safari competitors had the true outback experience on Leg One, with the stages taking them into some spectacular station land, where they experienced river crossings, ruts, red dirt, and dust storms. It was a tough, tiring day for most competitors, with flat tyres and electrical issues the reoccurring theme throughout the bivouac.
Rodney Faggotter made it clear to everyone that he was intending on not giving up his Safari Champion title easily. With the Yamaha Factory Team rider posting the fastest time on each stage. “The first couple of days have gone really well and both myself and Shane are off to a great start,” Faggotter explains. “This event requires patience and concentration for the entire week so my thoughts are always about the next corner; or the next hill and not about what happens in a few days’ time. The bikes are working really well and we have had no dramas, so fingers crossed we can keep it all rolling for the rest of the week,” Faggotter ends.
Team mate Shane Diener (AUS) said he was getting more comfortable the more he rode the bike. “Rod has done a lot of desert riding already this year and I have only done Condo, so it felt great to have such a close result. I had no hassles and managed to stay out of trouble,” said Shane.
At the time of writing and at the start of competition on Tuesday morning Faggotter holds a 9 minute lead over Diener.
And this came in late – 2015 MX Nationals Calendar
The provisional calendar for the 2015 MX Nationals has been released, with a 10-round series to be run over four states next year.
The schedule features three rounds in each of New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria, with one round to be held in South Australia.
Speaking about the draft calendar, Williams Event Management Director Kevin Williams said the schedule is taking place nicely, with some notable changes from the 2014 calendar.
“We have been working hard to make sure we can get to the best venues in this country to showcase the best Motocross riders that we have to offer,” he said.
“From a state-to-state point of view, there are some slight changes as we will be heading to a round in Queensland in the first half of the year which didn’t happen in 2014.
“We have some incredible venues locked in with some new destinations that are really exciting, and as soon as they are locked in we will announce the specific locations.”
The following is the schedule released for next year:
- March 29th VIC
- April 12th NSW
- April 26th VIC
- May 17th SA
- May 31st QLD
- July 5th NSW
- July 19th VIC
- August 2nd NSW
- August 23rd QLD
- August 30th QLD
The venues for each round will be announced in conjunction with the release of all Motorcycling Australia Championship calendars on 31 October.
Moto Wrap for the weekend of Sept 27/28
- – Round 11 of the FIM Speedway Grand Prix in Stockholm, Sweden
- – Motocross of Nations in Kegums, Latvia
- – Conclusion of the Australian Safari
