Weekly Moto News wrap with Smarty

Smarty’s Moto News Wrap for Sept 2, 2014

Interesting news during the week with Brett Metcalfe opting out of representing Australia at the Motocross of Nations for ‘personal reasons’ so team manager Gary Benn immediately drafted in Matt Moss to ride the open class alongside Chad Reed (MX1) and Dean Ferris (MX2).

I have been saying for the last month or so that I would love to see Matt Moss in his current form take on the world’s best and I am wrapped that it has come to fruition. I will put it out there now that if Moss, Reed and Ferris all ride to their full capability without mechanical issues or crashes we are as good a chance as any team for a podium. Team USA will win it but we are good enough to be the next in line.

So, here is where we stand as far as team line-ups for the Motocross of Nations to be held in Latvia over the weekend of the 27^th and 28^th of September.

• Australia: Chad Reed – 450. Dean Ferris – 250. Matt Moss – Open
• Belgium: Jeremy Van Horebeek – 450. Julien Lieber – 250. Kevin Strijbos – Open
• Brazil: Roosevlet Assuncao – 450, Rodrigo Selhorst – 250 and Thales Vilardi – Open
• Canada: Colton Facciotti – 450, Kaven Benoit – 250 and Tyler Medaglia – Open
• Czech Republic: Martin Michek– 450, Vaclav Kovar– 250 Frantisek Smola– Open
• Denmark: Thomas Kjer Olsen — 450, Stefan Kjer Olsen — 250 and Nikolaj Larsen  — Open
• Estonia: Tanel Leok – 450, Harri Kullas – 250 and Gert Krestinov – Open
• Finland: Ludde Soderberg– 450, Henric Stigell– 250 and Santtu Tiainen – Open
• France: Gautier Paulin – 450. Dylan Ferrandis – 250. Steven Frossard – Open
• Germany: Dennis Ullrich – 450. Marcus Schiffer – 250.  Max Nagl – Open.
• Great Britain: Shaun Simpson – 450. Tommy Searle – 250. Dean Wilson – Open
• Holland: Marc De Reuver – 450. Glenn Coldenhoff – 250. Ceriel Klein Kromhof – Open.
• Hungary: Kornél Nemeth – 450, Balázs Deczi – 250 and Bence Szvoboda – Open
• Ireland: Graeme Irwin – 450. Martin Barr – 250. Stuart Edmonds – Open.
• Israel: Ido Karmon – 450, Oren Hasson – 250 and Shar-Moshe Balulu – Open
• Hungary: Kornel Nemeth – 450, Deczi Balazs – 250 and Szvoboda Bence– Open
• Italy: David Philippaerts – 450. Antonio Cairoli – 250. Davide Guarneri – Open
• Japan: Akira Narita – 450, Takashi Katsuya – 250 and Yoshitaka Atsuta – Open
• Latvia: Pauls Jonass – 250, Matiss Karro – 450 and Roberts Justs – Open
• Luxemborg: Stefan Frank – 450, Yves Frank – 250 and Bjorn Frank – Open
• New Zealand: Hamish Dobbyn – 450, Hamish Harwood – 250 and Scott Columb – Open
• Norway: Dennis Todler – 450, Magne Klingsheim – 250 and Lasse Christoffersson – Open
• Poland: Lukasz Lonka – 450, Adam Tomiczek — 250 and Karol Kedzierski— Open
• Portugal: Rui Goncalves – 450, Paulo Alberto – 250 and Hugo Basaula – Open
• Puerto Rica: Ben Lamay – 450, Alex Martin – 250 and Ulises Rolando Velasco – Open
• Russia: Evgeny Bobryshev  – 450, Alexander Tonkov –  250 and Evgeny Mikhaylov – Open
• Slovakia: Martin Kohut – 450, Tomas Simko – 250 and Stefan Svitko – Open
• Slovenia: Klemen Gercar – 450, Jernej Irt – 250 and Tim Gajser – Open
• Spain: Jose Butron – 450, Jorge Zaragonza – 250 and Ander Valentin – Open
• Sweden: Filip Bengtsson – 450, Eddie Hjortmarker – 250 and Fredrik Noren – Open
• Switzerland: Valentin Guillod – 450. Jermey Seewer – 250. Arnaud Tonus – Open
• USA: Ryan Dungey – 450. Jeremy Martin – 250. Eli Tomac – Open

What a championship!!! The MX Nationals are done and dusted for another year but once again Coolum put on a sensational days racing and fittingly put the 2014 season to bed under clear blue skies.

Matt Moss stayed out of trouble to successfully defend his 2013 MX1 title while Luke Clout gave the Serco Yamaha team another MX2 Championship and you have to take your hat off to Egan Mastin for popping out of the MXD field at the season’s end to take the title. See full report and results below.

There were plenty of track side rumblings at Coolum as far as riders and team changes and here is a summary from what I heard:

• – Luke Styke is back for MX1 in 2015 with CDR Yamaha and KTM bidding hard for his services
• – Billy Mackenzie will not be at CDR Yamaha in 2014
• – Lawson Bopping will have a factory ride in 2015 and it could be with Penrite Honda
• – Jacob Wright will be on CDR Yamaha
• – Nathan Crawford will be on a KTM
• – Caleb Ward can ride for whoever he wants to

Our Aussie Speedway stars were back in action last weekend at the Grand Prix of Poland in Gorzow and this time we saw Chris Holder and Troy Batchelor both score nine points for 7^th and 8^th overall on the night while Darcy Ward’s tough season continues with the FIM suspending the Aussie after failing a breath test leading up to the GP of Latvia. When Ward can re-join the SGP scene has yet to be announced. See full report and results below.

Dean Ferris is the lone factory Husqvarna rider in the World Motocross Championships for the final two rounds in Brazil and Mexico.

Speaking of the World Motocross Championships, Tyla Rattray has signed with the Monster Energy Kawasaki team to contest the MXGP class in 2015. Now that Kawasaki has one 450 rider in America in Davi Milsaps and one 450 rider in Europe in Rattray, we are waiting with baited breath to see which rider Ryan Villopoto decides to team up with.

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Todd Waters has secured a second year on the Factory Husqvarna team in the MXGP championship and it will be the highly respected and at time blindingly fast Max Nagl teaming up with the Aussie.

Moto Wrap for the weekend of Aug 30/31 includes:

• – Round 10 of the Australian MX Nationals at Coolum
• – Round 9 of the FIM Speedway World Championships (Grand Prix of Poland) in Gorzow
• – Edge of Summer MX at the Soaring Eagle Resort & Casino, Mt. Pleasant, Mich.
• – 2014 Rally dos Sertoes in Brazil

Australian MX Nationals – Round 10 – Coolum

MX1: Matt Moss earned the Red Plate after winning the opening round at Broadford and over the next nine rounds landed on the podium all but three times keeping all comers at bay points wise so when it came to final two rounds the defending champion was able to cme home in 5^th and 6^th outright to take his second consecutive title.

“It’s sweet, Jay Marmont said at the start of the year that it’s hard to defend your championship and it was a tough fight,” he said. “Before I put my hands out to take the championship, I have to give a shout out to Gibbsy, he rode awesome this year, I am very proud of him, and I am sure that he will be a lot stronger next year.”

“We definitely pushed it when we needed to push this year and got a points lead, I am really good at maintaining what I need to do, and we did what we needed to do and at the end of the day number one is what you want.”

“Winning races is great but we wanted this championship, all the guys at Motul Pirelli Suzuki, all the guys at Alpinestars, you guys are legends. Jay Foreman, Jess my mechanic, my beautiful fiancé, I had a lot of support.”

MX2: After a fourth overall at the opening round at Broadford, Luke Clout came out swing to take the overall win at round 2 at Appin and despite some bad luck and mechanical problems the Serco Yamaha riders has held the Red Plate right through to Coolum where another solid third place gave Clout his first national championship.

“It feels good, it was a long season, but the team was awesome,” said Clout. “We knew we had a good chance coming in and Luke (Arbon) made it tough for us all year, but I am definitely happy to get it over and done with.”

“It was getting a little bit nail-biting and I was getting a little bit nervous but to get it over and done with is pretty good, I have a lot of emotions running through me right now, everyone from Serco, they’re amazing, they do the bikes, Michael my mechanic Rab, Adam, the truck driver Gavin – everyone.

“My mum and dad, my girlfriend for coming, all my mates for flying up from Sydney, it’s just a dream come true and hopefully this is the first of many more.”

Caleb Ward smoked the entire field in all three motos at Coolum making it three round wins over the ten rounds and with just about any team keen to sign the Queenslander we look forward to what he brings to the table in 2015.

MXD: Over the eight round MXD championship we saw Egan Mastin win the Raymond Terrace round, finish 2^nd at Broadford, Appin, Gladstone and Coolum, 3^rd at Marray Bridge and Wonthaggi with his worst round being Conondale with a 6^th overall.

It was a year where consistency won over raw speed and Mastin was wrapped to come out winner. “I can’t believe that I was going to stay a junior this year before Ando (Craig Anderson) took me under his wing and we ended up getting this championship, so I am stoked.”

“The track was definitely gnarly, it was good to get the championship and I am stoked, in the last moto I was a little disappointed, but I thought I battled down a little bit, to stay healthy for the off-season and start training.”

“I’m not too sure about next year yet – we’ve got a couple of plans, I’d just like to thank all the Berry Sweet Husqvarna team and especially my dad who does everything for me, I definitely wouldn’t be here with this number one plate if it wasn’t for him.”

Nathan Crawford’s demolition of the class at Coolum gave everyone the opportunity to see what the young Queenslander is capable of and with a ride with KTM sewn up for 2015 you can pencil Crawford in for the MXD championship favourite if he decides to stay in the class.

MX1 Round 10 Results: 1. Billy Mackenzie 97. 2. Kirk Gibbs 97. 3. Jacob Wright 82. 4. Ben Townley 82. 5. Adam Monea 77. 6. Matt Moss 74. 7. Jake Moss 70. 8. Jay Marmont 68. 9. Lawson Bopping 64. 10. Brock Winston 63. 11. Jesse Dobson 61. 12. Hayden Mellross 56. 13. Dean Porter 49. 14. Sam Martin 45. 15. Brad Groombridge 41. 16. Mitch Taylor 40. 17. Lewis Woods 38. 18. Charlie Creech 35. 19. Tim Vare 31. 20. Jesse O’Farrell 29.

MX1 Final Championship Standings: 1. Matt Moss 789. 2. Kirk Gibbs 776. 3. Billy Mackenzie 734. 4. Adam Monea 692. 5. Jacob Wright 611. 6. Jake Moss 599. 7. Hayden Mellross 528. 8. Kade Mosig 528. 9. Sam Martin 481. 10. Brock Winston 478. 11. Jesse Dobson 473. 12. Jay Marmont 430. 13. Lewis Woods 429. 14. Rhys Carter 351. 15. James Booth Elliott 234. 16. Ben Townley 221. 17. Jesse O’Farrell 188. 18. Brad Groombridge 172. 19. Lawson Bopping 156. 20. Joel Milesevic 153.

MX2 Round 10 Results: 1. Caleb Ward 105. 2. Takeshi Katsuya 85. 3. Luke Clout 82. 4. Jay Wilson 76. 5. Hamish Harwood 74. 6. Joel Evans 70. 7. Dylan Long 69. 8. Riley Graham 67. 9. Luke Arbon 64. 10. Nick Sutherland 54. 11. Hamish Dobbyn 52. 12. Joel Green 51. 13. Tomas Ravenhorst 51. 14. Dylan Peterson 44. 15. Caleb Gasbarri 44. 16. Lachlan Stanford 43. 17. Luke Wilson 41. 18. Boyd Hocking 35. 19. Josh Adams 32. 20. Zane Keleher 31.

MX2 Final Championship Standings: 1. Luke Clout 688. 2. Hamish Harwood 641. 3. Luke Arbon 638. 4. Jay Wilson 613. 5. Caleb Ward 597. 6. Kale Makeham 543. 7. Brenden Harrison 464. 8. Errol Willis 414. 9. Kayne Lamont 395. 10. Joel Evans 355. 11. Riley Graham 348. 12. Josh Cachia 338. 13. Dylan Long 278. 14. Hamish Dobbyn 262. 15. Luke Wilson 240. 16. Joel Green 235. 17. Ryan Marmont 234. 18. Nick Sutherland 231. 19. Geran Stapleton 224. 20. Wade Hunter 215.

MXD Round 10 Results: 1. Nathan Crawford 105. 2. Egan Mastin 90. 3. Kyle Webster 88. 4. Jayden Rykers 84. 5. Wilson Todd 82. 6. Jack Simpson 71. 7. Zak Small 70. 8. Brock McLeary 65. 9. Dylan Wills 61. 10. Jesse Madden 61. 11. Bailey Coxon 60. 12. Luke Abela 57. 13. Hamish McGrath 51. 14. Aaron Tanti 51. 15. Brad Polsoni 43. 16. James Alen 42. 17. Trent Wheatley 39. 18. Jett Anderson 38. 19. Tyler Bullen 36. 20. Lachlan Archibald 34.

MXD Final Championship Standings: 1. Egan Mastin 603. 2. Nathan Crawford 573. 3. Jack Simpson 554. 4. Wilson Todd 526. 5. Jayden Rykers 479. 6. Jed Beaton 459. 7. Aaron Tanti 437. 8. Kyle Webster 431. 9. Brock McLeary 419. 10. Zak Small 323. 11. Bailey Coxon 317. 12. Jett Anderson 301. 13. Ty Pearce 275. 14. James Alen 223. 15. Jesse Madden 194. 16. Daniel Price 179. 17. Trent Wheatley 179. 18. Dylan Wilson 176. 19. Izak Maule 156. 20. Brad Polsoni 153.

FIM Speedway World Championships (Grand Prix of Poland) – Round 9 – Gorzow

Official Race Report: Gorzow sensation Bartosz Zmarzlik admits he is in “dreamland” after becoming the youngest ever FIM Speedway Grand Prix winner with victory in round nine’s Gorzow SGP of Poland.

The talented 19-year-old produced the performance of his life to top the rostrum along with Stal Gorzow team mates Matej Zagar and Krzysztof Kasprzak, who were second and third respectively. Danish racer Michael Jepsen Jensen was fourth.

Zmarzlik’s victory at the age of 19 years and 140 days saw him overhaul Russian racer Emil Sayfutdinov as the youngest ever SGP winner. The former world No.3 won the 2009 Czech SGP in Prague aged 19 years and 181 days.

Having won on only his third SGP appearance, Zmarzlik was elated to send his hometown fans at the Edward Jancarz Stadium into a frenzy with a famous victory.

The talented teenager, who was third in the 2012 Gorzow SGP on his World Championship debut, said: “I’m very happy. This is fantastic. I can’t believe this.

“I’ve always dreamed that I could win a Grand Prix. This was my third time here and it’s my second time in the top three. I’m very happy. The people of Gorzow were here together with me and helped me. This is just a dream – that’s all I can say.”

Zmarzlik may have been riding in the event for the third time, but he admits the increasing weight of expectation on his shoulders makes him more and more tense every year.

“I was a little bit nervous before the meeting. But when I won the first heat, I felt a little better.” Zmarzlik said. “Today I was the most nervous because when I first rode in the Gorzow SGP in 2012, I knew I could do well but I knew I could also score zero points. I was very young.

“When I rode last year after finishing third the season before, I felt the nerves because everyone wanted me in the top three again. And this was the most nervous day for me.”

Zmarzlik’s golden night is already making him dream of full-time qualification for the SGP series.

“I’ve always wanted to ride in the Grand Prix and next year I want to ride in the qualifiers,” he added. “It’s a dream to get into the series.”

Runner-up Zagar was elated to end his day with a silver medal after starting it with an early visit from the doctor. He said: “For me it was very good after a tough night. I was ill at 4am and the doctor gave me some tablets because I was in big pain before the meeting. But I got through and this is a great result.”

Polish ace Kasprzak advanced up to fourth place in the World Championship and is just one point behind Nicki Pedersen in third after racking up 16 points tonight – a figure bettered only by Zmarzlik’s 17.

Despite storming through his first six rides with three wins and three second places, he admits it was a tough night on home shale.

“I had a problem with the setup all evening.” Zagar admitted. “Even when I won the races, it was very hard for me. I normally win the races here more easily in the league. I used the same engine, but I don’t know. Maybe I was racing different riders and the GP is stronger.

“It was hard in the final because gate one was really slick and Bartek and Matej were very fast. But I’m on the rostrum and I scored another point in that heat. I hope I can stay in the top eight and get back next season.”

World Championship leader Greg Hancock and world No.3 Niels-Kristian Iversen were forced out of the Gorzow SGP following a horrifying on the back straight in heat 14. NKI lifted as he exited bend two and the pair tangled.

Hancock suffered one broken finger on his left hand with another dislocated. Iversen confirmed via his personal Twitter account that he has suffered a suspected ligament injury and is awaiting an MRI scan to confirm the full extent of the damage.

Prior to his crash, Hancock had piled up nine points from a possible nine and now leads the standings by 14 after nearest rival, defending champion Tai Woffinden of Great Britain, was forced to withdraw on Friday due to a broken hand. Iversen drops two places to sixth.

Gorzow SGP: 1 Bartosz Zmarzlik 17 Pts. 2 Matej Zagar 16 Pts. 3 Krzysztof Kasprzak 16 Pts. 4 Michael Jepsen Jensen 14 Pts. 5 Kenneth Bjerre 10 Pts. 6 Greg Hancock 9 Pts. 7 Chris Holder 9 Pts. 8 Troy Batchelor 9 Pts. 9 Nicki Pedersen 7 Pts. 10 Niels-Kristian Iversen 6 Pts. 11 Chris Harris 6 Pts. 12 Fredrik Lindgren 6 Pts. 13 Martin Smolinski 5 Pts. 14 Andreas Jonsson 4 Pts. 15 Adrian Cyfer 2 Pts. 16 Lukasz Kaczmarek 2 Pts. 17 Jaroslaw Hampel 0 Pts. 18 Tai Woffinden DNR.

World Championship Standings: 1 Greg Hancock 112 Pts. 2 Tai Woffinden 98 Pts. 3 Nicki Pedersen 93 Pts. 4 Krzysztof Kasprzak 92 Pts. 5 Matej Zagar 91 Pts. 6 Niels-Kristian Iversen 87 Pts. 7 Darcy Ward 75 Pts. 8 Chris Holder 70 Pts. 9 Fredrik Lindgren 69 Pts. 10 Troy Batchelor 66 Pts. 11 Martin Smolinski 64 Pts. 12 Jaroslaw Hampel 63 Pts. 13 Kenneth Bjerre 60 Pts. 14 Andreas Jonsson 59 Pts. 15 Chris Harris 35 Pts. 16 Michael Jepsen Jensen 31 Pts.

Edge of Summer MX – Soaring Eagle Resort & Casino – Mt. Pleasant, Mich.

They came from all over America to grab a hunk of the $50,000.00 in prize money but in the end it was Ricky Renner who took the Pro Class win over Nick Wey on a specially constructed course on the grounds of the Soaring Eagle Resort and Casino.

Renner pulled the holeshot in the final ahead of Levi Kilbarger before gapping the field. Kyle Chisholm eventually caught and passed Renner on lap 12 but would go down hard moments after taking the lead. From there Wey would take over the pursuit of Renner, but a mid-pack start for Wey would put him too far back of Renner to close the gap by the end of the 20-lap main event.

“I knew the holeshot would be important,” said Renner. “Built a good lead, but Kyle (Chisholm) was able to reel me in and make the pass for the lead. I tucked in right behind him, but we ran into a lapper and Kyle took the high line, got some wheel spin and went down pretty hard.”

Edge of Summer MX Pro Class Results: 1. Ricky Renner. 2. Nick Wey. 3. Mitchell Oldenburg. 4. Jimmy Albertson. 5. James Decotis. 6. Levi Kilbarger. 7.  Jeff Gibson. 8. Travis Sewell. 9. Heath Harrison. 10. Josh Osby

Super Mini: 1. Chase Sexton. 2. Joey Crown. 3. Tanner Ward. 4. Anthony Wallace. 5. Jacob Wagner. 6. Alex Adent. 7. Brett Henderson. 8. Aren Jarles.

2014 Rally dos Sertoes – Brazil

After seven gruelling stages through some of the toughest terrain Brazil has to offer Red Bull KTM’s Marc Coma has won the Rally dos Sertoes in Brazil by a margin of 3:23 minutes over the hard charging Paulo Goncalves

“Today was a long hard day, especially with the pressure of being in the lead.” Coma admitted. “This is a very hard rally to win and the level of the riders is very high with Paolo (Goncalves) pushing all the time so I’m very happy with the final results. I came into the rally with a lead of ten points in the World Championship and it will be good to go to the final round in Morocco with a bigger cushion.”

“Morocco is a very hard rally and we know that anything can happen there. It will be good to be going with confidence after this win.”

Final Results: 1. Marc Coma 18:21’51. 2. Paulo Goncalves +3’23. 3. Jean Azevedo +14’05. 4. Helder Rodrigues +21’46. 5. Jordi Viladoms +26’37. 6. Sam Sunderland +33’37. 7. Ike Klaumann +43’41. 8. Ruben Faria +46’36. 9. David Casteu +47’35. 10. Ramon Oliveira Sacilotti +1:05’57.

Moto Wrap for the weekend of Sept 6/7 will include:

• – Round 16 of the World Motocross Championships (MXGP of State of Goias) in Trindade, Brazil
• – Rounds 11 and 12 of the 2014 Australian Off-Road Championships at Heathcote
• – Round 10 of the Amsoil GNCC at Unadilla, New Berlin, NY