Smarty’s Weekly Moto News Wrap proudly brought to you by Dunlop Geomax
Proudly brought to you by Dunlop Geomax
Latest News
January 2018 – What a Cracker!
Medson Wins Gillman Speedway Spectacular
Hansen and Bisceglia on Suzuki for AMA 450SX
Arminas Jasikonis has signed with Assomoto Honda for 2018
Kevin Strijbos Signs with Standing Construct KTM
Race Report
Honda Summercross – Bay of Plenty, NZ
Ryan Villopoto Amateur Cup – Pala Raceway, California
January 2018 – What a Cracker!
Here we go folks! The 2018 season is here and the opening rounds of the AMA Supercross, UK and AMA Arenacross Series, the Australian Senior Solo Championships and the Sidecar Super Prix are on this weekend so now is as good a time as any to see what is going down in January and beyond… And what will be reported on right here on MCNews.com.au.
AMA Supercross
The most anticipated race is without doubt round one of the 17-round AMA Supercross Championships, which will kick off on January the 6th at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California and we Aussies will have Chad Reed lining up in the 450 class and Hayden Mellross in the 250 class.
AMA Supercross kicks off in 2018 at Anaheim
2018 AMA Supercross Championships Calendar
Rd1: Jan. 6 – Anaheim, CA
Rd2: Jan. 13 – Houston, TX
Rd3: Jan. 20 – Anaheim, CA
Rd4: Jan. 27 – Glendale, AZ
Rd5: Feb. 3 – Oakland, CA
Rd6: Feb. 10 – San Diego, CA
Rd7: Feb. 17 – Arlington, TX
Rd8: Feb. 24 – Tampa, FL
Rd9: Mar. 3 – Atlanta, GA
Rd10: Mar. 10 – Daytona, FL
Rd11: Mar. 17 – St. Louis, MO
Rd12: Mar. 24 – Indianapolis, IN
Rd13: Apr. 7 – Seattle, WA
Rd14: Apr. 14 – Minneapolis, MN
Rd15: Apr. 21 – Foxborough, MA
Rd16: Apr. 28 – Salt Lake City, UT
Rd17: May 5 – Las Vegas, NV
Chad Reed
450SX Provisional Rider List – Anaheim
2 Cooper Webb Newport, NC Yamaha YZ450F
3 Eli Tomac Cortez, CO Kawasaki KX 450F
4 Blake Baggett Grand Terrace, CA KTM 450 SX-F Factory Edition
6 Jeremy Martin Carlsbad, CA Honda CRF 250
10 Justin Brayton Mint Hill, NC Honda CRF 450
14 Cole Seely Sherman Oaks, CA Honda CRF 450
15 Dean Wilson Clermont, FL Husqvarna FC450
19 Justin Bogle Cushing, OK Suzuki RM-Z450
21 Jason Anderson Rio Rancho, NM Husqvarna FC450
22 Chad Reed Dade City, FL Husqvarna FC450
33 Joshua Grant Wildomar, CA Kawasaki KX 450F
34 Weston Peick Menifee, CA Suzuki RM-Z450
39 Kyle Cunningham Willow Park, TX Suzuki RM-Z450
48 Henry Miller Rochester, MN Suzuki RM-Z450
51 Justin Barcia Greenville, FL Yamaha YZ450F
55 Vince Friese Cape Girardeau, MO Honda CRF 450
58 Matthew Bisceglia Weatherford, TX Suzuki RM-Z450
60 Benny Bloss Oak Grove, MO KTM 450 SX-F Factory Edition
69 Tyler Bowers Lake Elsinore, ca Kawasaki KX 450F
72 Joshua Hansen Lake Elsinore, CA Suzuki RM-Z450
73 Brandon Scharer Gardena, CA Yamaha YZ450F
80 AJ Catanzaro Reston, VA Kawasaki KX 450F
84 Scott Champion Orange, CA Yamaha YZ450F
90 Dakota Tedder Surfside, CA KTM 450 SX-F Factory Edition
91 Alex Ray Milan, TN Yamaha YZ450F
94 Ken Roczen Clermont, FL Honda CRF 450
120 Todd Bannister Colorado Springs, CO Kawasaki KX 450F
145 Travis Smith Lancaster, CA KTM 450 SX-F
178 Ronnie Ford Paducah, KY Husqvarna TC250
181 Dustin Pipes Fresno, CA Suzuki RM-Z450
214 Vann Martin Houston, TX Honda CRF 450
256 James Milson Granbury, TX Kawasaki KX 450F
262 Connor Pearson Rocklin, CA KTM 450 SX-F
282 Theodore Pauli Edwardsville, IL Kawasaki KX 450F
767 Mason Wharton Brush Prairie, Wa Kawasaki KX 250F
792 Bracken Hall Rock Springs, WY Kawasaki KX 250F
805 Carlen Gardner Paso Robles, CA Honda CRF 250
820 Dalton Oxborrow Lehi, UT KTM 250 SX-F
992 Jean Ramos Corona, CA Yamaha YZ250F
2018 Australian Speedway Senior Solo Championship
The four round Australian Speedway Senior Solo Championship kicks off at Loxford Park Speedway – Dickson Road, Kurri-Kurri on the 6th of January and the field includes returning champion Sam Masters who will have to beat the likes of Justin Sedgmen, Max Fricke and Rohan Tungate to defend his title.
Sam Masters – Image By Colin Rosewarne
2018 Australian Speedway Senior Solo Championship Calendar
Round 1 – January 6th – Loxford Park Speedway – Dickson Road, Kurri-Kurri
January 6 will see round one of the 10-round UK Arenacross Tour at the Manchester Arena and we will have Dan Reardon having a crack on a Yamaha but he will have to deal with a quality field including Evgeny Bobryshev, Cedric Soubeyras, Adam Chatfield, Jack Brunel, Fabien Izoird and Thomas Ramette.
UK Arenacross Tour returns in 2018 at the Manchester Arena – Jack Brunnell pictured
2018 UK Arenacross Tour Calendar
Rd1: Saturday 6th January, Manchester Arena, Manchester
Rd2: Saturday 13th January, The Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle
Rd3: Saturday 20th January, The Genting Arena, Birmingham
Rd4: Friday 26th January, The SSE Arena, Belfast
Rd5: Saturday 27th January, The SSE Arena, Belfast
Rd10: Saturday 10th March, The Esprit Arena, Dusseldorf, Germany – AX World Tour Finals
AMA Arenacross Championship
The 24 round of the AMA Arenacross Championship kicks off in Dayton, Ohio over the weekend of the 6th and 7th of January and sure there are no Aussies racing in the series, but the defending champion is Gavin Faith who is a multi-Australian Supercross Championship.
Gavin Faith and the AMA Arenacross Championship head to Ohio this weekend
2018 AMA Arenacross Championship Calendar
Jan. 6-7 – Dayton, OH
Jan. 13-14 – Worcester, MA
Jan. 20-21 – Wilkes Barre, PA
Jan. 27-28 – Greensboro, NC
Feb. 10-11 – Madison, WI
Feb. 17-18 – Florence, SC
Mar. 17-18 – Denver, CO
Mar. 24-25 – Nampa, ID
Apr. 7-8 – Wichita, KS
Apr. 21-22 – Portland, OR
Apr. 28-29 – Reno, NV
May 4-6 – Las Vegas, NV
Nankang Tyres/Mitch Chassis Sidecar Super Prix
Gillman Speedway’s ‘sizzling summer’ of Sidecar action starts this Saturday with the first of the four round Nankang Tyres/Mitch Chassis Sidecar Super Prix which offers over $35,000 in prize money making it the World’s richest Sidecar event.
The Nankang Tyres/Mitch Chassis Sidecar Super Prix kicks off this January
A massive cash injection from major sponsor Nankang Tyres has enabled the promoters to attract the top eight riders from last season’s Australian Championship, and they will be seeded into each of the four rounds while 21 riders and passengers will be fighting over 8 positions in the qualifying races.
Super Prix seeded riders, Australia 1-8
Aust 1-Trent Headland/Darryl Whetstone (SA)
Aust 2 -Andrew Buchanan/Denny Cox (NZ)
Aust 3 -Warren Monson/Andrew Summerhayes (Vic)
Aust 4 -Darrin Treloar/Jesse Headland (NSW)
Aust 5-Mark Mitchell/Dale Knights (SA)
Aust 6 -Dave Bottrell/Chris Bottrell (Qld)
Aust 7-Damien Niesche/Mitchell Spear (SA)
Aust 8 -Mark Plaisted/Ben Pitt (SA)
Qualifying Riders/Passengers (starts a 3pm)
Peter Adams/Belinda Silvy
Ricky Adams/Alice Cox
Thomas Adams/Katelyn Silvy
Tim Bichard/Derick Thomas
Chris Bichard/Brett Lewis
Steve Browne/Colby Higgins
Nathan Cock/Jack Wilson (NSW)
Chris Dess/Cameron Diwell (Vic)
Nathan Fleet/Glen Zaworski
Stephen Fowler/Benny Goodridge
Byren Gates/Michael O’Loughlin (NSW)
Neale Hancock/Brock Gates (Vic)
Mick Headland/Brenton Kerr
Dean Hobbs/Ayrton Canning
Kym Menadue/Eric Melton
Jamie Moohan/Bayley Ogilvie (NZ)
Adam Pascoe/Tim Wegner
Shane Rudloff/Scott Morris
Aaron Silvy/Jaron Speyer-Silvy
Brian Silvy/Cameron White
Darryll Woods/Will Walker
The format for each round will be the favoured format at Gillman of 20 heats, a last chance semi-final and a final, with series points allocated as the standard 3, 2, 1 for the 20 heats plus 4, 3, 2, 1 for the final.
With 29 nominations, Saturday’s meeting will start at 3pm with several elimination races and a qualifying meeting to give every rider a chance to qualify. The formats will be four cut throat elimination heats with just one rider going forward to the qualifying group which will be the traditional 16 riders over 20 heats.
The highest eight point scorers in the qualifying races will join the eight seeded riders in the Super Prix heats which will start at 7.30pm.
2018 Nankang Tyres/Mitch Chassis Sidecar Super Prix Calendar
Rd1: Nankang Tyres/Mitch Chassis Sidecar Super Prix – Jan 6
Rd2: Nankang Tyres/Mitch Chassis Sidecar Super Prix – Jan 21
Rd3: Nankang Tyres/Mitch Chassis Sidecar Super Prix – Feb 24
Rd4: Nankang Tyres/Mitch Chassis Sidecar Super Prix – Mar 24
Australian Under-21 Speedway Championship
The 2018 Australian Under-21 Speedway Championship heads to Olympic Park in Mildura over the weekend of the 20th and 21st January with 16 riders vying for six spots during qualifying on the Friday night.
There are 10 riders already in the final on Saturday night, with two-time world Champion Matthew ‘Happy’ Gilmore leading the new wave of riders looking to claim the Under-21 500cc Australian Speedway Championship.
Gilmore will have a tough time holding off a pack which includes Joshua McDonald, Dale Borlace, Brayden Mcguiness, Mitchell Cluff, Jedd List, Tom Dixon, Declan Kennedy and Issac Howes.
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Medson Wins Gillman Speedway Spectacular
South Australia’s Gillman Speedway hosted the final event on their calendar on the 28th of December and it was Robert Medson who won the 500cc Solo Final ahead of young-gun Brayden McGuinness who in turn slid over the finish line ahead of Arlo Bugeja and Oliver Hamilton.
Rooert Medson won the Gillman Speedway Spectacular
The racing in the Sidecar class was breathtaking with the Kym Menadue/Eric Melton team narrowly winning the final ahead of Damian Niesche/Mitchell Spear and Nathan Cock/Jack Wilson while Queenslander Keynan Rew won the South Australian Under 16 250cc Solo Championship and in the Solos 125cc Under 16 class it was Hugh Evans who took a well-earned win.
Hansen and Bisceglia on Suzuki for AMA 450SX
Josh Hansen and Matt Bisceglia will be on Suzuki machinery in the 450 class throughout the 2018 Monster Energy Supercross season for a new team called Nut Up LVN100 Suzuki.
Josh Hansen
Hansen raced 250SX West Region last year and had three top ten finishes with a season-best of seventh, while Bisceglia missed all of the 2017 supercross season through injury. He put in several top ten rides on a 450 in guest appearances in Lucas Oil Pro Motocross the last two seasons, including a run with the now defunct RCH/Yoshimura Suzuki team in 2016.
Arminas Jasikonis has signed with Assomoto Honda for 2018
With a collapse of the factory Suzuki team Arminas Jasikonis was left without a ride for 2018 and after a lot of negotiations the tall Lithuanian has come to an agreement with the Assomoto Honda team alongside Petar Petrov.
Arminas Jasikonis signs with Assomoto Honda for 2018
Arminas Jasikonis – on social media
“Happy new year everyone!!! I hope everyone been waiting for official announcement from me on which colour I gonna ride on 2018 season… And it’s a RED one, I’m pleased to announce that 18season I gonna ride for Assomotor Honda, I’m very excited to work with these people and I’m very thankful for believing in me and giving this chance! Let the 18 goes smooth! Videos coming in the upcoming days, from now on gonna keep you guys updated more!”
Petrov was as equally excited to announce his signing.
Petar Petrov back in 2015
Petar Petrov
“I am very happy that I have signed with Assomotor Honda after the year we had it has been hard and with so many riders but I am glad that we got the deal done. I have been on the bike now for about two months, and I really like it and I am looking forward to get racing going. I would like to thank my agent Jamie Dobb and Alfredo Bevilacqua for this chance to show what I can do on the big bike. I had a very hard year with injuries so I am just looking forward getting back to the level I know I can ride and staying healthy.”
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