Moto News Wrap for August 29, 2017 by Darren Smart
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Latest News
- 2017 ISDE – Day 1 – Up and Down Day for the Aussies
- Hurricane Herlings Hits USA
- Jason Doyle Back On Top of SGP
- 2017 A4DE ‘Officially’ Cancelled
- Martin Davalos Sits Out Ironman
- Ferrandis Injured
- US MXGP Entry List Announced
- Kyle ‘Peter-Out’ Peters Heads Home
- AMA Musical Chairs Gets Started
- SGP Substitutes List Expanded
- Honda takes the leadership in the Desafío Ruta 40 Stage 2
- Kawasaki Dominate British MX Final
- Dennis Ullrich Clinches his Fourth ADAC MX Masters
- Team Germany Announced for MXoN
- Kukas and Rogers Claim Qld Titles
- Barham Cleans Up Two Qld MX Titles
This Week’s Race Reports
- Rd 12 – AMA Motocross Championships – Crawfordsville, Indiana
- Rd 8 – Gorzow FIM Speedway Grand Prix of Poland (Gorzow)
2017 ISDE – Day 1 – Up and Down Day for the Aussies
Day one of the ninety-second running of the FIM International Six Days Enduro (ISDE) in Brive, France saw France’s FIM World Trophy squad claim the win despite Loic Larrieu picking up a one-minute time penalty at the end of the day.
Finland and Australia are in second and third behind France while defending champion Sweden topped the FIM Junior World Trophy class ahead of Italy, France and the USA with less than one-minute covering the top four teams.
Spain has taken a 42 second lead in the FIM Women’s World Trophy category ahead of defending champions Australia who are just ahead of USA, France and Sweden.
Tayla Jones is 2nd in the Woman’s class while Jess Gardner and Jemma Wilson are 3rd and 8th respectively.
Josh Green is the best of the Aussies in the E1 class coming home in 9th place with Ruprecht and Driscoll 49th and 50th after penalties while our lone E2 competitor Daniel Milner is sitting in a spectacular second in class.
In the E3 class we have Mathew Phillips in 4th, Daniel Sander in 6th and Lyndon Snodgrass, who amazingly won the opening special test, sits in a more than credible 12th.
Defending FIM World Trophy team champions the USA ran into troubles almost as soon as the event started with Thad Duvall crashing on the opening special test which badly injured his left wrist, forcing him to retire soon afterwards.
Meanwhile the Australia Junior World Trophy team are dead last in their category after Michael Driscoll and Wil Ruprecht were given a 1 hour and 15 minute penalty – for what, there is no explanation at this stage.
Day two of the ninety-second ISDE will see riders complete the same two hundred and fifty kilometre course. I can hear it now – “Aussie-Aussie-Aussie – Oi-Oi-Oi!” Full results and report next week.
Hurricane Herlings Hits USA
As Hurricane Harvey was ripping through Texas there was another major storm brewing over in Indiana where Jeffrey Herlings completely blew the opposition away by dominating the 450 class at the final round of the 2017 AMA National held at the Ironman circuit.
Herlings passed the AMA Championship front runners Eli Tomac, Marvin Musquin and Blake Baggett to get to the front in the opening moto, then went on to take an easy win over KTM teammates Musquin and Baggett.
However, the second moto didn’t go to plan for Herlings after the Dutch star crashed on the opening lap and had to work his way from almost dead last.
With some of America’s top riders, including Tomac, looking at best pedestrian, Herlings ripped his way through the field and by lap 12 he was sitting in second place some nine second back from Musquin.
That is the way it was looking to stay until Musquin crashed hard through a whoop section handing Herlings the 1-1 overall victory, while giving KTM their first 1-2-3 overall finish on American soil with Musquin and Baggett also on the podium.
Showing that he didn’t leave his lack of modesty back in Europe Herlings had this to say. “I was the fastest all day. I was so pissed with myself after my crash. I was a bit lucky when Marvin crashed, but I showed I am the fastest rider on the track.”
The USGP will be held in Florida this weekend and after this performance you can bet that Herlings will be the odds on favourite for another victory. See Full Report from Indiana below:
Jason Doyle Back On Top of SGP
After a tough round two weeks ago in Sweden where he lost the points lead, Jason Doyle has redeemed himself at the Polish round last weekend with a solid third place.
The Aussie has now reached seven out of a possible eight finals to recoup the points lead in the Speedway World Championship, albeit a slim three points over Maciej Janowski while Patryk Dudek, Tai Woffinden and Fredrik Lindgren are all within 10 points of Doyle’s tally.
Jason Doyle
“I’m sure it couldn’t get any worse than when I went to Sweden two weeks ago. We needed to push quite hard in this one to get back up there. It has been a great couple of days for myself. I’d just like to thank my boys for all the hard work they have done.”
Next up for the SGP stars is the German FIM Speedway Grand Prix at Teterow’s Bergring Arena on September 9. See the full report below.
SGP World Championship Standings
- Jason Doyle 97
- Maciej Janowski 94
- Patryk Dudek 93
- Tai Woffinden 89
- Fredrik Lindgren 87
2017 A4DE ‘Officially’ Cancelled
What a Mess! The Toowoomba Motor Cycle Club has advised that one of the most prestigious events on the enduro calendar, the Australian Four Day Enduro (A4DE) allocated for September 25th – 30th, is now officially cancelled. The club sighting poor entries and forecasting figures, in advance of entries closing, for the cancellation.
Despite the concerted effort made by Motorcycling Australia (MA) and Motorcycling Queensland (MQ), in an eleventh-hour attempt to reinstate the event, an impasse has been realised, resulting in the decision by the TMCC to formally cancel the 2017 A4DE.
The TMCC has made the following official statement:
“The Toowoomba Motor Cycle Club deeply regrets that due to the lack entries to date and the lack of an expected increase prior to the event, we have no choice but to CANCEL the 2017 A4DE. There have been 37 entries prior to Early Bird finishing and only 57 to date.
“Please be assured that this decision has not be made lightly, but we also have to give people time to adjust their calendars and cancel accommodation etc. with adequate time. We ask that you please understand that our club cannot run an event that will produce a substantial loss.
“Riders who have paid their nominations will be reimbursed in full (including PayPal fees) over the next 2-3 weeks as we collate the details. We will email you in this time to let you know the process for refunds. We would also like to thank all the T.M.C.C Members who to date have put in a powerful amount of time and effort to have the Special Test Areas ready for the event.”
This can’t be the last we hear from MA or MQ and answers need to be found as to how an event of this stature could be cancelled. Is it too expensive? Was the venue less than desirable for the riders? Is the fact that is just after the ISDE a factor?
Is it in fact the timing that is causing the issue? Should they cancel the 2018 event in Cessnock before that club puts to many resources into place?
And the big question, are riders being driven away from competitive events and leaning more to the recreational parks and rides? We will look at finding the answer to these questions in the coming weeks.
Martin Davalos Sits Out Ironman
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna announced last week that Martin Davalos was forced to sit out the final round of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship at Ironman Raceway after sustaining a knee injury in the second 450 moto at Budds Creek.
Over the last three rounds, Davalos earned two overall podium and three moto podium finishes but he is still without a ride for 2018.
Ferrandis Injured
Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha’s Dylan Ferrandis injured his wrist in a first moto crash at Budds Creek two weekends ago and late last week on his personal Instagram page, Ferrandis announced he suffered a broken scaphoid which forced him to miss the final round of the AMA Motocross Championships at Ironman.
The injury could also impact France’s 2017 Motocross of Nations team, as Ferrandis was selected to race MX2 for the three-time defending champions.
He was also selected in 2016, but missed the event due to injury. If Ferrandis were to miss the event, he would be replaced with Benoit Paturel, who rode for the winning squad last year.
US MXGP Entry List Announced
The entry lists for the Grand Prix of the USA scheduled for September 2-3 at WW Motocross Park in Jacksonville, Florida, have been released by Youthstream and there are some interesting inclusions.
American riders Cooper Webb, Eli Tomac, Justin Barcia and Benny Bloss will be competing in the MXGP class.
Justin Hill, RJ Hampshire, Dakota Alix, Adam Cianciarulo, Justin Cooper, Mitchell Harrison, Chase Sexton, Lorenzo Locurcio and Hayden Mellross are slated to compete in the MX2 class.
Kyle Peters Heads Home
American Kyle ‘Peter-Out’ Peters is heading home and will not contest the Australian Supercross Championship with the Wilson Coolair Motul Suzuki team as was planned.
The relationship between the poor performing Yank and the team broke down during the Australian MX Nationals where the pre-season favourite struggled to a distant sixth overall.
‘Peter-Out’ Peters joins a string of international imports who have struggled when hired to take on Australia’s best in either motocross or supercross.
These include Yanks, Timmy Weigand, Greg Schnell, Josh Demuth, Wil Hahn and Adam Enticknap, Russian Aleksandr Tonkov and the Brits Brad Anderson and Billy Mackenzie. A replacement rider is being sourced as we speak.
AMA Musical Chairs Gets Started
Seats for the factory rides for the 2018 AMA Motocross and Supercross Championships are going to be scarce for some of America’s top pro riders but Mitch Payton has confirmed that Pro Circuit has signed Adam Cianciarulo to a new contract and that Joey Savatgy and Austin Forkner were returning to the team for 2018.
However, Justin Hill, who just came back to the Pro Circuit team for 2017, will be leaving again for the newly configured Joe Gibbs Suzuki team. Hill did win the 2017 AMA 250 West Supercross Championship but missed most of the Motocross Nationals with a wrist injury.
JGRMX plans to field four 250 riders and two 450 riders with Phil Nicoletti slated as one of the 250 riders in the 250 East Supercross series and then become a 450 rider for the AMA Nationals while Weston Peick reported still has a year to go on his JGR contract so he is one of the JGR’s 450 riders for 2018.
That leaves one 450 opening with Justin Bogle and Justin Barcia a coin toss away from getting the gig while it looks like Broc Tickle will end up at Marvin Musquin’s KTM teammate.
SGP Substitutes List Expanded
The SGP Commission has named three additional substitute riders for the remainder of the 2017 FIM Speedway Grand Prix season.
In addition to Peter Kildemand, Martin Smolinski and Max Fricke, Mitas Czech SGP bronze medallist Vaclav Milik will now serve as fourth reserve, wearing No.225.
He is joined by fifth reserve, former SGP regular Michael Jepsen Jensen, who lines up in his No.52. And Latvian sensation Andzejs Lebedevs, one of the stars of the Monster Energy FIM Speedway World Cup, is the new sixth stand-in rider, donning No.29.
Following a number of injury withdrawals ahead of the MIB Nordic Gorzow FIM Speedway Grand Prix of Poland on Saturday, second stand-in Smolinski steps in for world champion Greg Hancock, who has been forced to end his 2017 season to seek surgery on a shoulder injury.
With third reserve Max Fricke still sidelined after fracturing the winglets of his C6 and C7 neck vertebrae, Milik has been drafted into the Gorzow line-up to replace Danish champion Niels-Kristian Iversen, who misses the event on his Polish Ekstraliga home track with a broken shoulder.
And Jepsen Jensen is called up to replace fellow countryman Nicki Pedersen, who is still absent with a broken neck suffered in May, with first reserve Peter Kildemand unable to take the triple world champion’s place due to a broken finger.
Honda takes the leadership in the Desafío Ruta 40 Stage 2
A very complicated Desafío Ruta 40 second stage turned out positively for the Monster Energy Honda Team. Kevin Benavides and Paulo Gonçalves finished in the top two positions both on the day and in the overall standings.
It was a gruelling, tough day between Villa Unión in La Rioja and Tinogasta in Catamarca. If the harshness of the track – with some very trial-like zones – was not bad enough, riders also had to deal with some extremely difficult navigation which required a very sharp eye to find some of the hidden waypoints along the route.
Kevin Benavides went off like a bat out of hell this morning and had soon caught up with team-mate Paulo Gonçalves. At kilometre 15 the pair had a tough job finding a waypoint but once back on course the two rode together for practically the rest of the stage.
After opening the track for the greater part of the day, Kevin made a scorching finish with a 3’19” advantage over his Portuguese team-mate from the Monster Energy Honda Team.
The two made it back with the Honda CRF450 RALLYs, problem-free, to the thermal complex in La Aguadita and are now ready to restart tomorrow, bound for Belén, in what looks to be another taxing stage with a lot of navigation in the dunes.
Ricky Brabec got another taste of just how tough the navigation can be in these stages. He made it back to the finish-line in eighth place. Michael Metge had an even more complicated day falling victim to a electrical issue which saw him delayed in his arrival back at Tinogasta.
Kevin Benavides – P1
“The hand is a bit swollen, but it held up and it helped to accelerate in this difficult stage. At kilometre 15 we were all lost until we were able to find the waypoint. I continued with Paulo until the end, but also kilometres 25, 90, 280, 340 were all difficult to navigate and were very technical too. You had to be very focused because the roadbook was good, but was complicated. I am very happy because I didn’t make any mistakes and I kept a good pace. It went well while some riders had trouble with the roadbook. In Fiambalá you had to be very cautious not to fall over the front as the dunes were very soft.”
Paulo Goncalves – P2
“It was a very difficult stage, with the most complicated navigation. We were riding around trying to find a waypoint on kilometre 15, when many other riders began to arrive. Kevin and I managed to find it before the others and opened up the track together until the end. It was very difficult all the way until the end, I think we did quite well and I am very happy to get here in a good position. The race was really hard and we have only had two days. I think this high pace will continue until the final day and you have to be very well-prepared to endure it without making mistakes. The dunes of Fiambalá, as expected, were a little soft, but it was not the most difficult area today, but we did 170 kilometres of off-piste with areas that were like a trial competition.”
Provisional Standings – Desafio Ruta 40 after 2 of 5 stages
- BENAVIDES Kevin ARG Monster Energy Honda Team Honda 3:56’14
- GONCALVES Paulo POR Monster Energy Honda Team Honda +3’19
- DE SOULTRAIT Xavier FRA Yamaha Motor Europe Yamaha +8’59
- BARRAGÁN Jonathan SPA XRaids KTM +25’24
- DUPLESSIS Martín ARG Asistencia Med KTM +27’28
Kawasaki Dominate British MX Final
Monster Energy DRT Kawasaki team-mates Darian Sanayei and Tommy Searle have won the MX2 and MX1 classes respectively at the eighth and final round of the 2017 Maxxis ACU British Motocross Championship held at Foxhill last weekend.
Sanayei went 1-1 on the day and was joined on the podium by Kiwi Josiah Natzke (Hitachi KTM UK) who took second on a tie-break after carding 4-2 from Mel Pocock (REVO Husqvarna UK) who ran 2-4.
Darian Sanayei
“It was kind of a last-minute decision to do this, I had some pretty good racing with Martin Barr in the first one – I hope he’s all right – and in the second battled with Natzke for a little while and ended up going 1-1. I’ve never been to Foxhill and I missed a little bit of the free practice this morning so I went out there and I didn’t know really where I was going. On the first lap of the first race I went over a hill and the corner was a little bit sooner than I was expecting.”
Searle, the 2016 MX1 champ, made his 2017 debut after spending most of the season inured was in dominant form but was chased hard all day by Elliott Banks-Browne (Geartec Husqvarna) who signed off with two second-placed finishes and Gert Krestinov (Phoenix Tools Honda Racing) in third with a 4-3 card.
Tommy Searle
“I just came here to race. It’s important for me to race and I’m enjoying racing at the moment probably more than I have done in the past just because I haven’t really got much pressure on myself.”
Dennis Ullrich Clinches his Fourth ADAC MX Masters
Despite Max Nagl dominating the weekend ahead of young star Stefan Ekerold, Dennis Ullrich has clinched his fourth title in the ADAC MX Masters with a solid third place on the day.
Dennis Ullrich
“It’s just fantastic. I put some pressure on myself ahead of the race weekend and now just feel relieved through and through. It simply confirms my great performance and shows that I did everything right.”
Team Germany Announced for MXoN
Max Nagl (MXGP), Henry Jacobi (MX2), Dennis Ullrich (Open) will represent Germany in the Motocross of Nations at Matterley Basin and they are looking for a better result than in 2016.
A team of Nagl, Jacobi, and Ullrich failed to qualify for the A Final last year after Nagl crashed in qualifying. Ullrich would go on to win the B Final while Germany last won the event in 2012, when a team of Nagl, Roczen, and Marcus Schiffer defeated Belgium by four points.
Kukas and Rogers Claim Qld Titles
The Queensland Yamaha Junior Racing riders of Jack Kukas and Levi Rogers added another three more Queensland championship trophies to the teams’ mantle-piece after a successful final round of the series was held at Tivoli Raceway over the weekend.
Kukas stamped his authority in the 15 years’ group taking the round win on both the 125 and 250 cc divisions by winning all six motos at the final round and finished up with 11 out of 12 race wins for the championship.
Jack Kukas
“The last few weeks have been really good for me and I feel my riding has taken a step forward recently so I’m really happy with how things are going. My starts were awesome all weekend and I was up the front on every start which makes my life much easier on the track. It was my goal at the start of the year to win both Queensland MX championship as well as both Sunshine State Series MX classes and I have done that so that’s pretty cool.”
Levi Rogers produced one of his best performances’ to date on his way to claiming the 13-14 years 125cc round and championship after winning all three races contested on his YZ125 at Tivoli and each was a charge forward from outside the top three.
He also claimed a fourth place in the 13-14 years 250cc after crashes in race one and two at the final round cost him any chance of a better result.
Levi Rogers
“I have been working really hard this year on my riding and fitness so it’s awesome to see it turning into results. To win on the 125 is a bit of a surprise as I don’t spend a lot of time riding it but I was able to get to the front and stay there so that was cool. Going into the last race, I knew I didn’t have to win it but when I got to the front, I just wanted to win all three races so I had a great race with Noah and I managed to hang on. It’s been a great year so far and I can’t thank my family for all the time and effort they put in to my racing. We live eight hours from Brisbane and it’s a huge effort every time we come down. Also thanks to the GYTR Yamaha Junior racing team, our sponsors and everyone who helped me out.”
The focus for the Queensland duo now shifts to the Australian Junior Motocross Championship to be held at Horsham, starting September 30.
15 years 125cc
- Jack Kukas – 210 (Yamaha YZ125)
- Jayce Cosford – 184 (Yamaha YZ125)
- Riley Ward – 176
13-14 years 125cc
- Levi Rogers – 205 (Yamaha YZ125)
- Tye Jones – 182
- Noah Ferguson – 181
15 years 250cc
- Jack Kukas – 207 (Yamaha YZ250F)
- Josh Zorbas – 184
- Navrin Grothues – 178
13-14 years 250cc
- Tye Jones – 193
- Jai Walker – 190 (Yamaha YZ250F)
- Jake Cuka – 182 (Yamaha YZ250F)
- Levi Rogers – 173 (Yamaha YZ250F)
Barham Cleans Up Two Qld MX Titles
SD3 Husqvarna rider Kaleb Barham has clinched the Queensland MX1 and MX2 Motocross Championships after the final round at the famous Tivoli circuit last weekend.
Barham narrowly won the MX1 title from Luke Weaver and Robbie Marshall and it was a similar story in the MX2 class with Weaver once again losing by just four points this time with Ryan Eden rounding out the podium.
2017 Yamaha QLD MX – QMX1 Championship
- Kaleb Barham – 196
- Luke Weaver – 192
- Robbie Marshall – 190
2017 Yamaha QLD MX – QMX2 Championship
- Kaleb Barham – 202
- Luke Weaver – 198
- Ryan Eden – 174
Smart’s Race Reports
Rd 12 – AMA Motocross Championships – Crawfordsville, Indiana
The 2017 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship came to a dramatic conclusion last weekend with KTM’s Jeffrey Herlings dominating the 450 class while Husqvarna’s Zach Osborne did the same in the 250 class at the Ironman National.
Very much in the shadow of Herlings stunning victory, Eli Tomac overcame adversity in both motos to come away with the 450 championship and hoist the Edison Dye Cup.
AMA Motocross – Indiana – 450 Report
Tomac put his Kawasaki at the front of the field in the opening moto by grabbing his first holeshot the season just ahead of his main championship rivals in Blake Baggett and Marvin Musquin.
But it only took a handful of corners before Herlings, reminiscent of what Dean Ferris did earlier in the year, spectacularly stormed into the lead.
Tomac attempted to challenge Herlings for the lead but over-jumped an up-hill triple and crashed, dropping to sixth place, while Musquin moved into second and Baggett into third.
Herlings took advantage of Tomac’s misfortune to establish an early lead, but Musquin refused to quit and posted the fastest lap times of the moto to pull alongside his European counterpart, but a couple of small bobbles hindered his ability to attempt a pass on Herlings, who soon pulled away for good.
Herlings went unchallenged in the closing stages of the race to earn a moto win in his first attempt, crossing the line eight seconds ahead of Musquin, while Baggett followed in a distant third well ahead of Cole Seely who finished one spot ahead of Tomac.
Baggett emerge with the holeshot just ahead of Musquin and Seely in moto two while Herlings went down when he tangled with another rider in turn two and was forced to start at the tail end of the field.
With Tomac starting outside the top 10, Musquin set his sights on Baggett and it didn’t take long for Musquin to seize control of the moto, moving past Baggett and immediately pulling away.
Behind the lead group, both Tomac and Herlings were fighting their way through the field, each breaking into the top 10 on lap two with Herlings the more impressive of the two, passing Tomac for ninth on lap three and then breaking into the top five on lap five.
Herlings was the fastest rider on track to pass Seely for third on lap seven and Baggett on lap 12 for second place but he still faced a deficit of nearly 10 seconds to Musquin while Tomac patiently worked his way forward, taking advantage of opportunities as they came to settle into sixth place.
On lap 14 Musquin made an uncharacteristic mistake and crashed out of the lead and as he picked up his bike to re-enter the track, Herlings blasted into the lead. Musquin desperately gave chase, but with just two laps remaining the late mistake was too costly.
Herlings capped off a 1-1 sweep in his debut race by crossing the finish line 2.6 seconds ahead of Musquin. Baggett finished third.
Herlings became the 68th different overall winner in 450 Class history and is just the second Dutch rider to earn a Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship victory, joining the legendary Pierre Karsmakers. He’s the fourth different rider to break through with his first 450 class career win this season, along with Musquin, Baggett, and Justin Bogle.
Jeffrey Herlings
“I was fastest all day, from practice to the first moto and the second moto. I was so mad at myself for crashing in the second moto, so I just kept charging the entire time. I kind of got lucky that Marvin [Musquin] crashed there at the end, but it doesn’t matter, I got a 1-1 and proved I was the best today.”
Musquin settled for second overall (2-2), while Baggett completed KTM’s first 1-2-3 sweep of the season in third (3-3).
Tomac’s sixth-place finish in the second moto, and sixth overall (5-6), was enough to clinch his first career premier class title, making him the 24th different 450 Class Champion in history. He also becomes the just the 11th rider in history to win a national title in both the 250 Class and 450 Class.
Eli Tomac
“That was not easy at all. I went back after the first moto and thought ‘is it really going like this?’ I think I let my ego get the best of me in the first moto and needed to take it all in before the second moto. We went out there and did what we needed to do. This [championship] has been a long time coming and it feels amazing to finally accomplish it. I’m kind of at a loss for words right now.”
Tomac finished the season with a 17-point lead over Musquin, who moved from third to second, in the final championship standings. Baggett was just an additional two points back in third.
450 Class Overall Results (Moto Finish)
- Jeffrey Herlings, Elsendorp, Netherlands, KTM (1-1)
- Marvin Musquin, La Reole, France, KTM (2-2)
- Blake Baggett, Grand Terrace, Calif., KTM (3-3)
- Cole Seely, Newbury Park, Calif., Honda (4-4)
- Cooper Webb, Morehead City, N.C., Yamaha (6-5)
- Eli Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Kawasaki (5-6)
- Weston Peick, Wildomar, Calif., Suzuki (7-8)
- Christian Craig, Corona, Calif., Honda (9-7)
- Justin Bogle, Cushing, Okla., Suzuki (11-9)
- Dean Wilson, Glasgow, Scotland, Husqvarna (12-10)
Final 450 Class Championship Standings
- Eli Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Kawasaki – 470
- Marvin Musquin, La Reole, France, KTM – 453
- Blake Baggett, Grand Terrace, Calif., KTM – 451
- Dean Wilson, Glasgow, Scotland, Husqvarna – 340
- Cole Seely, Newbury Park, Calif., Honda – 330
- Justin Bogle, Cushing, Okla., Suzuki – 308
- Cooper Webb, Morehead City, N.C., Yamaha – 268
- Weston Peick, Wildomar, Calif., Suzuki – 268
- Martin Davalos, Quito, Ecuador, Husqvarna – 263
- Jason Anderson, Edgewood, N.M., Husqvarna – 216
- Christian Craig, Corona, Calif., Honda – 216
AMA Motocross – Indiana – 250 Report
The first 250 Class moto saw Jeremy Martin take the holeshot ahead of Zach Osborne and Adam Cianciarulo. While Martin pushed the pace out front on the opening lap, Cianciarulo was able to make his way around Osborne for second and set his sights on the lead.
Cianciarulo’s early surge put him alongside Martin and as they entered the final corner side-by-side where they made contact which sent Martin to the ground. Cianciarulo continued with the lead, while Martin was forced to pick up his bike and remount in 12th place. Osborne slotted into second, while Sean Cantrell moved into third.
Cianciarulo and Osborne were able to open up a comfortable gap over the field and at the start of lap nine Osborne dove to the inside of the Kawasaki and seized control of the moto. Cianciarulo attempted to mount a counter-attack, but Osborne withstood the pressure and started to pull away.
The battle for third started to unfold in the closing stages of the moto between Chase Sexton and Colt Nichols. Sexton successfully fended off the initial challenge, chasing his first podium result, but saw his hopes of a career-best outing evaporate when he collided with a lapped rider, giving third to Nichols.
Osborne continued to extend his lead and moved out to a double-digit advantage before taking his ninth moto win of the season, 9.1 seconds ahead of Cianciarulo while Nichols posted his first career podium finish in third with Aaron Plessinger and Mitchell Harrison rounding out the top five.
The start of the second 250 Class moto saw Cianciarulo put his Kawasaki out front while Osborne, Martin and Plessinger all squabbled over second place but Osborne’s class saw the Husqvarna pilot successfully take the lead before the opening lap was finished.
Cianciarulo then came under fire from Plessinger and lost his hold second, only to have Plessinger give the position back on the next lap after a crash took him out of the race. Plessinger’s misfortune moved Martin into third, while Nichols continued his career-best effort to challenge from fourth.
With a clear track Osborne opened a gap of nearly seven seconds after just three laps, which he continued to build on past the 10-second mark. Cianciarulo was able to assert himself into second, leaving the battle for third to continue between Martin and Nichols.
While the lead duo stabilized their positions on the track, Nichols picked up his pace in the late stages of the moto and made the pass on Martin for third on Lap 11, but Martin waited until the final lap to mount one final challenge, re-passing Nichols to get back onto the podium.
Osborne capped off his championship-winning breakout season the same way he started it, sweeping the motos after crossing the line 8.3 seconds ahead of Cianciarulo. Martin edged out Nichols for third.
Osborne’s second 1-1 outing of the summer highlights an exceptionally consistent season in which he earned five wins and finished on the overall podium at 11 of 12 rounds.
Zach Osborne
“It was a really good day. I just wanted to make it easy on myself. I’ve fought enough this summer so I didn’t want to do that to myself again today. Everything worked out about as well as it could and it was amazing to end the year like that.”
Osborne finished the 2017 season with an 81-point advantage over Martin, who secured the runner-up spot, while Cianciarulo’s strong finish to the summer carried him to a career-best third in the final standings, 127 points behind Osborne.
The 2018 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship will begin the third weekend in May, with the landmark 50th running of the Hangtown Motocross Classic in Rancho Cordova, California.
250 Class Overall Results (Moto Finish)
- Zach Osborne, Abingdon, Va., Husqvarna (1-1)
- Adam Cianciarulo, Port Orange, Fla., Kawasaki (2-2)
- Colt Nichols, Muskogee, Okla., Yamaha (3-4)
- Jeremy Martin, Millville, Minn., Honda (8-3)
- Mitchell Harrison, Brighton, Mich., Yamaha (5-8)
- Chase Sexton, La Moille, Ill., Honda (10-6)
- RJ Hampshire, Hudson, Fla., Honda (12-5)
- Sean Cantrell, Newbury Park, Calif., KTM (6-12)
- Justin Hill, Yoncalla, Ore., Kawasaki (11-9)
- Bradley Taft, Nixa, Mo., Yamaha (7-13)
Final 250 Class Championship Standings
- Zach Osborne, Abingdon, Va., Husqvarna – 501
- Jeremy Martin, Millville, Minn., Honda – 420
- Adam Cianciarulo, Port Orange, Fla., Kawasaki – 374
- Aaron Plessinger, Hamilton, Ohio, Yamaha – 337
- Joey Savatgy, Thomasville, Ga., Kawasaki – 324
- Dylan Ferrandis, Avignon, France, Yamaha – 305
- Colt Nichols, Muskogee, Okla., Yamaha – 303
- Alex Martin, Millville, Minn., KTM – 296
- Mitchell Harrison, Brighton, Mich., Yamaha – 279
- Shane McElrath, Canton, N.C., KTM – 248
Rd 8 – FIM Speedway Grand Prix of Poland – Gorzow
Great Britain ace Tai Woffinden has spectacularly won the FIM Speedway Grand Prix of Poland after powering around the outside of title rival Patryk Dudek to win the final.
Meanwhile new World Championship leader Jason Doyle was third with Gorzow hero Bartosz Zmarzlik a distant fourth thanks to a mechanical issue.
Woffinden has now scored 32 points in the last two rounds to move up to fourth in the world championship standings.
Tai Woffinden
“The last round in Sweden was a step forward in the right direction and what we’ve been looking for a few months now. To get that win was really good. I’m just getting warmed up. It’s a good situation to be in. The boys above me, it’s their championship to lose. I’m just coming through like a steam train. This reminds me of 2013 and the confidence reminds me of 2015. I’m ready.”
Runner-up Dudek was gutted to see his wait for a maiden SGP win continue, but he was delighted to leave Gorzow with a very handy 13 points.
Patryk Dudek
“I am happy because I was back in the final again. I scored a lot of points and was near to winning, but Tai was faster. Maybe next time I will be first, but the most important thing for me was a good score today. Second place for me is very good.”
Doyle has now reached seven out of a possible eight finals to earn the top spot in the World Championship after Maciej Janowski struggled to a disappointing six points in Poland.
Jason Doyle
“I’m sure it couldn’t get any worse than when I went to Sweden two weeks ago,” Doyle said. “We needed to push quite hard in this one to get back up there. We didn’t want Magic to just run away into the distance. Hats off to Tai and Patryk; they did a great job. I know Patryk is spewing because he wanted to win, but there are plenty of years for him to come. It has been a great couple of days for myself. I’d just like to thank my boys for all the hard work they have done.”
Chris Holder’s season is going from bad to worse with the former world champ only scoring 2 points in Poland.
Next up for the SGP stars is the IPONE German FIM Speedway Grand Prix at Teterow’s Bergring Arena on September 9.
MIB NORDIC GORZOW SGP OF POLAND SCORES
- Tai Woffinden 18
- Patryk Dudek 13
- Jason Doyle 14
- Bartosz Zmarzlik 10
- Emil Sayfutdinov 11
- Fredrik Lindgren 11
- Piotr Pawlicki 9
- Michael Jepsen Jensen 8
- Matej Zagar 7
- Vaclav Milik 7
- Martin Vaculik 7
- Krzysztof Kasprzak 6
- Maciej Janowski 6
- Antonio Lindback 5
- Martin Smolinski 4
- Chris Holder 2
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
- Jason Doyle 97
- Maciej Janowski 94
- Patryk Dudek 93
- Tai Woffinden 89
- Fredrik Lindgren 87
- Bartosz Zmarzlik 80
- Emil Sayfutdinov 79
- Martin Vaculik 66
- Antonio Lindback 60
- Piotr Pawlicki 59
- Matej Zagar 58
- Chris Holder 52
- Greg Hancock 45
