Moto News Wrap for June 23, 2015 by Darren Smart
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Australasian News
Round eight of the Yamaha Australian Off-Road Championship was held at Aratula (Qld) last Sunday and as you would expect we saw KTM’s Toby Price take the outright win to increase his championship lead over Yamaha’s Josh Green to 42 points with four rounds remaining. There is no stopping the big fella….
Want something to do over the weekend on September 26/27? Well, ‘MotoFest’ is a brand new concept that will combine the Boonah Street Festival with a series of motorcycle events and activities to be held at Queensland Moto Park which is just 7km from Boonah. The annual event in Boonah is well known for its arts, culture and rural pursuits and a perfect opportunity to come and sample all of what the Scenic Rim has to offer as part of this free Street Festival. There will be a smorgasbord of local produce and local artists all intertwined with fun interactive activities including a Moto-Trials demonstrations, tyre changing competitions, celebrity visits and much more. On the Sunday Queensland Moto Park will explode into life as it hosts a number of spectator friendly, extreme off road motorcycle events including EnduroX, Dash 4 Cash, Kick Start Arena Trials and Freestyle MX demonstrations.
In case you were wondering, round three of the Make Smoking History WAMX Senior State Championships that was meant to be held at the Lightweight Motorcycle Club’s Hendley Park track last weekend was cancelled due to rain.
American News
Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing and James Stewart have reached a mulit-year deal that will keep Stewart with the brand throughout the remainder of his career.
Chad Reed has announced on twitter that he will undergo shoulder surgery and miss the remainder of the AMA Motocross Championships and despite many rumours stating otherwise the Aussie legend has denied that Discount Tire/TwoTwo Motorsports will no longer be part of the AMA racing scene.
Daniel Milner was back in action last weekend at the Snowshoe GNCC and he managed a solid top ten and I am thinking we will see a different Milner from here on, here is what he posted on FB: ‘Crazy weekend at snowshoe gncc! Was fun and hard, come away with an 8th which isn’t the best but happy I’m feeling better and will be ready for the 2nd half of the year’
Euro News
The MXGP of Germany threw up more surprises, injuries and inspirational rides and you can read all about it below but what I can tell you up front though is that Dean Ferris and Todd Waters are cementing themselves as top ten competitors and we need to celebrate not only their on-track results but the way they are representing Australia with very personable track-side and studio interviews. Onya lads.
Aussie Madison Brown continues to impress on the world stage with two solid 5th places at the German round of the WMX World Championships and has moved to 8th outright in the series.
This is no surprise – Romain Febvre has signed to stay with the Yamaha Factory Racing Yamalube team for the 2016 and 2017 campaigns.
Red Bull KTM’s Ken de Dycker has undergone surgery to repair two broken bones in his right shoulder thanks to a crash in the first moto at the MXGP of Germany and an MRI today revealed the damage. The ambulance was busy in Germany.
Enduro News: Matthew Phillips made it back to back wins in the E3 class at the Italian rounds of the Maxxis FIM Enduro World Championship and is now just 16 points back from championship leader Mathias Bellino. “For sure this is the best event of the year,” he said. “It was a great atmosphere and many Enduro fans came out to support us. We’re right in the centre of enduro sport here in Bergamo. Today we had a tight checkpoint and that made the difference. Today the race was won in the Extreme test and yesterday in the Enduro test.”
TM rider Eero Remes holds a one point lead over KTM’s Christophe Nambotin in the E1 class after Italy while KTM’s Antoine Meo has a 13 point lead in the E2 class.
Speedway News: Last Saturday night saw the running of the inaugural round of Speedway European Championships series at the MotoArena in Torun. Over 9000 spectators saw the unlikeable knucklehead Nicki Pedersen win the first round ahead of Pawel Przedpelski and Emil Sajfutdinov.
Smarty’s Race Reports and Official Results from last Weekend
2015 FIM World Motocross Championship – Round 10 – Teutschentha, Germany
What The??? The MXGP of Germany was a dead-set disaster for championship leaders Max Nagl and Jeffrey Herlings. Nagl fractured his fibula when he crashed on the opening lap of Saturday’s MXGP qualifying race and was unable to front up on Sunday while Herlings spewed over the handlebars on the first lap of the opening MX2 moto and broke his collarbone.
Nagl and Herlings have both had their broken bones pinned are in recovery mode to try and get back on track ASAP.
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MXGP Race Report
With Ryan Villopoto and Clement Desalle out of the MXGP championship and Antonio Cairoli racing with a broken hand we now have young Romain Febvre leading the series but here is the kicker, last weekend at the MXGP of Italy, Febvre had a crash not too dissimilar, yet more spectacular to Herlings crash in Germany, and was able to remount to still win the overall…..sometimes you have to have a little bit of luck on your side.
Anyway, Febvre continued his impressive form in both motos in Germany. In moto one he passed early leader Aussie Dean Ferris (who is apparently using Cairoli’s factory 350cc engine) for the lead on lap two and took off to win by ten seconds over Evgeny Bobryshev and Gautier Paulin.
In the second moto Febvre came from 10th place out of the first turn to charge through to second place by lap 14 but Paulin was long gone so he settled for second which was enough for the overall win and the championship lead.
“Having the red plate is really nice but this is the tenth GP and there are still sixteen motos to go,” said Febvre. “There is something like four hundred points still up for distribution so we need to keep consistent. Dean was difficult to pass today and in the second moto we had a nice battle with Gautier but I knew I needed second to win the GP so I made sure of that until the end. We had a lot of crashes this weekend and this is not only because of the riders but the track preparation. They put too much water on the track before our race. We need to take risks for nothing. We have the red plate…but there are eight GPs to go and anything can happen…like we saw this weekend.”
Todd Waters started the opening moto just inside the top ten, but a locking of handlebars with Antonio Cairoli put both riders to the ground and well outside the top 20 and by moto end, Cairoli managed to get up to 14th place, two ahead of Waters.
In moto two Dean Ferris passed Cairoli for the lead on lap two and led the race for 12 laps before dropping to fifth behind Paulin, Febvre, Kevin Strijbos and Jeremy Van Horebeek. Waters spent the first half of the moto in fourth place but succumbed to Febvre, Strijbos, Van Horebook and Bobryshev to finish in 8th place by moto end.
“Considering that I wasn’t able to race last weekend I’m happy with the way things went this weekend,” said Ferris. “Of course I wanted to finish on the podium, and gave my all in both motos. I got two great starts and lead a lot of laps in the second moto, which was great. I just wasn’t able to hold onto the lead during the last few laps.”
“It’s been a tough weekend for the team,” said Waters. “But I have to thank everyone for supporting me. It was a mixed one for me. Saturday’s qualifying race went pretty good but I had a huge crash in warm-up. I guess I’m just pleased to be heading away from the GP of Germany uninjured. The first moto was a disaster. I got an ok start, inside the top 10, and got past Cairoli and then in the next corner he put us both on the floor. I was last and just couldn’t get through the pack. Moto two was much better – I felt like my speed was good and I rode more like I did on qualifying. I got a good start and fought for it.”
Paulin was red-hot in moto two. “It’s great to be back on the podium again, and when I can ride like this I really enjoy the feeling on the bike. It’s very positive to have made a good job today. In the second moto the track was much better, and we did a really good job with Team HRC and Honda and I feel really good now on the bike. In the first moto I made a few mistakes and couldn’t do better than third, but then in the second moto I had a really good battle with Romain to keep the lead, so today has just been fun.”
Antonio Cairoli’s bravery has put him well and truly back in the title hunt. “All I have to say is that I’m happy about how the weekend went. Honestly yesterday I was thinking about not being able to race today, so I’m glad, because I could not do more and I’ve given all. I’ve done two good races, even if in the first, without the crash with Waters (Husqvarna) I could have done better, at least in the top ten, but that’s okay. Now we have two weeks to get back in shape as much as possible, before we go to Sweden, although for sure I will not be 100% fit yet. The championship is long and as soon as I can, I want to be back on the top of the box. Now I go to Belgium to continue therapy and then we will decide when I will come back riding. I want to thank everyone for the great support they are giving me, both the team and the fans, thank you guys!”
As a side-note, Jeremy Van Horebeek, Kevin Strijbos, Tyla Rattray, Christophe Charlier and Stephen Frossard have all missed GPs through injury this year while Ken de Dycker, Davide Guarneri, Tommy Searle, Nathan Watson and Rui Goncalves are all missing from action for the foreseeable future thanks to injury and there is some talk that the injuries are a result of the way the tracks are being prepared and the extra classes being raced on the same day as the GP.
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MX2 Race Report
Tim Gajser pushed his way to the lead in moto one to take the win by a country mile ahead of Valentin Guillod, Jordi Tixier and Petar Petrov but in moto two we saw Guillod and Tixier hit the start gate while Max Anstie of all people pulled the holeshot and took off for a convincing win ahead of Gasjer and Jeremy Seewer.
“It’s amazing the difference a start can make,” said Anstie. “Everyone in MX2 is so fast and it makes life difficult if you get a bad start like I did in race one. Race two was just so nice with a clear track all the way, Tim stayed close but I was determined not to lose this one in the last two laps like I did in England. I’m so pleased for the team that we finally got our first moto win and podium of the year, we’ve been so close a couple of times.”
Gajser managed a decent start in moto two but by the time he moved by Julien Lieber for second place Anstie was long gone but second place was all the Honda rider needed for another overall win and reduce his deficit to Herlings to 100 points. “When I got to second place in moto two I knew that Max (Anstie) was in front so I just cruised around to win the overall, I am really happy about my third GP win, I just want to thank all of sponsors, my team and my family, everybody, thank you very much,” said Gajser.
In the MX2 class we also saw GP winner Aleksandr Tonkov taken to hospital after a huge crash while battling for the lead in moto one and despite scoring no points on the day Herlings’ points lead is 100 points over GP winner Tim Gajser and even if he misses the next two rounds in Sweden and Latvia he will still have the Red plate going into the final six rounds of the series. Riders like Gajser, Valentin Guillod, Pauls Jonass and Jordi Tixier chomping at the bit to take advantage of Herlings’ latest injury.
Jordi Tixier has this to say after the GP. “Yesterday I didn’t have a good feeling with the track, but today was much better and I’m pretty happy with the result. The first race was good, I was fighting for the win during most of the race but finally Guillod passed me and I finished third. In the second moto I hit the gate together with Guillod and Petar, but I recovered to sixth despite a small crash, I just missed the podium by a few points, but the most important is that the speed is there. The track was difficult here and again some riders got injured. I think that the organisers have to work on the track preparation.”
MXGP Race 1 Top Ten: 1. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), 34:29.682; 2. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:02.281; 3. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Honda), +0:03.695; 4. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:06.644; 5. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +0:27.931; 6. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), +0:41.944; 7. Dean Ferris (AUS, Husqvarna), +0:44.673; 8. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Honda), +0:49.991; 9. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Suzuki), +1:01.136; 10. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +1:07.095.
MXGP Race 2 Top Ten: 1. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Honda), 34:30.088; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), +0:03.370; 3. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +0:04.946; 4. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:06.570; 5. Dean Ferris (AUS, Husqvarna), +0:07.448; 6. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:10.122; 7. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:11.056; 8. Todd Waters (AUS, Husqvarna), +0:11.282; 9. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), +0:22.463; 10. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Honda), +0:25.321.
MXGP Overall Top Ten: 1. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 47 points; 2. Gautier Paulin (FRA, HON), 45 p.; 3. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, SUZ), 36 p.; 4. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 36 p.; 5. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 36 p.; 6. Dean Ferris (AUS, HUS), 30 p.; 7. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 27 p.; 8. Christophe Charlier (FRA, HON), 24 p.; 9. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 22 p.; 10. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, SUZ), 21 p. 12. Todd Waters (AUS, Husqvarna), 18 p.
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MXGP Championship Top Ten: 1. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 369 points; 2. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 360 p.; 3. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 352 p.; 4. Gautier Paulin (FRA, HON), 324 p.; 5. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 306 p.; 6. Clement Desalle (BEL, SUZ), 291 p.; 7. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 227 p.; 8. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 194 p.; 9. Todd Waters (AUS, HUS), 192 p.; 10. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, SUZ), 169 p. 15. Dean Ferris (AUS, HUS), 131 p.
MX2 Race 1 Top Ten: 1. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), 34:33.547; 2. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Yamaha), +0:02.424; 3. Jordi Tixier (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:10.352; 4. Petar Petrov (BUL, Kawasaki), +0:24.474; 5. Julien Lieber (BEL, Yamaha), +0:26.924; 6. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), +0:48.349; 7. Benoit Paturel (FRA, Yamaha), +0:54.163; 8. Max Anstie (GBR, Kawasaki), +1:04.767; 9. Pascal Rauchenecker (AUT, KTM), +1:07.731; 10. Henry Jacobi (GER, KTM), +1:10.470
MX2 Race 2 Top Ten: 1. Max Anstie (GBR, Kawasaki), 34:28.675; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:10.092; 3. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki), +0:14.706; 4. Julien Lieber (BEL, Yamaha), +0:17.559; 5. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Yamaha), +0:18.381; 6. Jordi Tixier (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:33.325; 7. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), +0:39.126; 8. Benoit Paturel (FRA, Yamaha), +0:44.118; 9. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), +0:54.652; 10. Henry Jacobi (GER, KTM), +1:02.981.
MX2 Overall Top Ten: 1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 47 points; 2. Max Anstie (GBR, KAW), 38 p.; 3. Valentin Guillod (SUI, YAM), 38 p.; 4. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KAW), 35 p.; 5. Julien Lieber (BEL, YAM), 34 p.; 6. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 29 p.; 7. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 29 p.; 8. Benoit Paturel (FRA, YAM), 27 p.; 9. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), 22 p.; 10. Henry Jacobi (GER, KTM), 22 p.
MX2 Championship Top Ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 398 points; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 298 p.; 3. Valentin Guillod (SUI, YAM), 297 p.; 4. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 288 p.; 5. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KAW), 286 p.; 6. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 275 p.; 7. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, HUS), 256 p.; 8. Max Anstie (GBR, KAW), 248 p.; 9. Julien Lieber (BEL, YAM), 243 p.; 10. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, KAW), 205 p.
AMSOIL Grand National Cross Country Series – Round 9 – Snowshoe Mountain Resort, Virginia
Kailub Russell continued to prove himself, earning the top spot on the podium once again. Round nine of The 2015 AMSOIL Grand National Cross Country Series presented by Maxxis, an AMA National Championship, gave Russell his eighth victory of the season.
The current XC1 Pro points leader Russell began on the first row of the unique live engine start, replicating the start of GNCC’s birth race the Blackwater 100. After taking the early lead, Russell would start to feel pressure from Thad DuVall. DuVall made the pass on lap three and continued to lead until Russell made the pass back on lap seven. He would hold onto second place
“I kind of rode around there for about half the race, and once I got everything figured out I went for it and was able to pull the lead at the end,” said Russell.
After struggling in the first half of the season the difficult Snowshoe track conditions didn’t slow down the Jordan Ashburn. He walked away with his first podium of the season, rounding out the top three in the XC1 class. “I’m just happy to be back where I know I should and can be,” reported Ashburn, “I’ve had struggles and I hate it has taken this long, but I’m good now.”
In addition to the full GNCC schedule, Ryan Sipes has been busy with racing the past two rounds of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship. He has been improving all season finishing second at the past two rounds. Unfortunately Sipes injured his knee, ultimately ending his day. “I hit my knee on something, I’m not sure if it was a rock or handlebar,” said Sipes, “but it swelled up and I couldn’t hang on anymore or use my knees to grip.”
Chris Bach maintained a consistent placement throughout the race and finished fourth, followed by Grant Baylor in fifth and Taylor Robert in sixth.
Steward Baylor takes home seventh place ahead of Aussie Daniel Milner, Adam Bonneur and Chris Douglas who rounded out the XC1 Pro top ten.
The XC2 Pro Lites hosted an eventful race with Jason Thomas and Trevor Bollinger swapping first and second place throughout the three-hour race. At the end of the race, it would be Thomas who came out on the top spot of the podium. XC2 class rookie, Mike Witkowski also earned his first-ever XC2 podium finish with a third in the class and 11th overall.
Ricky Russell found himself just one position away from the podium taking home fourth place. Husqvarna Support Rider Craig DeLong followed Russell in fifth and Honda’s Layne Michael in sixth. Tegan Temple improved from his last finish at the John Penton, taking seventh place home. Cory Buttrick, Jesse Groemm and Samuel Evans round out the XC2 Pro Lites top 10.
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XC1 Event Results
- Kailub Russell (KTM)
- Thaddeus Duvall (HSQ)
- Jordan Ashburn (YAM)
- Chris Bach (HON)
- Grant Baylor (YAM)
- Taylor Robert (KTM)
- Steward Baylor Jr. (KTM)
- Daniel Milner (YAM)
- Adam Bonneur (KTM)
- Chris Douglas (KTM)
*Overall National Championship Standings
- Kailub Russell (265)
- Thad DuVall (167)
- Grant Baylor (166)
- Chris Bach (153)
- Ryan Sipes (145)
- Josh Strang (138)
- Jordan Ashburn (132)
- Takeshi Koikeda (101)
- Adam Bonneur (99)
- Chris Douglas (97)
*Indicates that the Overall National Championship Standings will determine the 2015 National Champion
XC2 Event Results
- Jason Thomas (KTM)
- Trevor Bollinger (HON)
- Michael Witkowski (KTM)
- Ricky Russell (YAM)
- Craig Delong (HSQ)
- Layne Michael (HON)
- Tegan Temple (KTM)
- Cory Buttrick (BET)
- Jesse Groemm (BET)
- Samuel Evans (KTM)
XC2 Series Standings
- Jason Thomas (222)
- Ricky Russell (158)
- Craig Delong (155)
- Trevor Bollinger (143)
- Layne Michael (142)
- Nick Davis (125)
- Cory Buttrick (122)
- Tegan Temple (113)
- Austin Lee (95)
- Callan May (87)
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Canadian Motocross Championship – Round 4 – Moto Valley Raceway
Aussie Brett Metcalfe has bounced back for his second MX1 overall win of the season while American Jimmy Decostis broke through for his first MX2 win of the year after the dust settled on round four of the Canadian Motocross Championships held at Moto Valley Raceway, Regina last weekend.
Metcalfe only gained a couple of point on championship leader Matt Goerke who recovered from what he would call a disappointing third place in moto one to win the second moto while local Colton Facciotti managed third overall on the day. Goerke leads the series by 7 points over Facciotti and 12 from Metcalfe.
Decotis actually scored the overall with 2-2 moto results while championship leader Kaven Benoit managed 1-6 results to end up fourth place on the day but still leads the championship by 13 points ahead of Jeremy Medaglia while Decotis is 23 points away from the points lead.
MX1 Overall
1. Brett Metcalfe – 1-2
2. Matt Goerke – 3-1
3. Colton Facciotti – 2-3
4. Cole Thompson – 4-4
5. Tyler Medaglia – 7-5
6. Bobby Kiniry – 6-7
7. Cade Clason – 8-6
8. Dylan Schmoke – 9-10
9. Kyle Keast – 11-9
10. Matthew Davenport – 16-8
MX2 Overall
1. Jimmy Decotis – 2-2
2. Jeremy Medaglia – 6-1
3. Shawn Maffenbeier – 3-3
4. Kaven Benoit – 1-6
5. Morgan Burger – 5-4
6. Blake Savage – 4-5
7. Dustin Creson – 7-8
8. Brad Nauditt – 12-7
9. Jesses Pettis – 9-10
10. Dylan Wright – 10-11
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MX1 Series Standings
1. Matt Goerke – 207pts
2. Colton Facciotti – 200pts
3. Brett Metcalfe – 195pts
4. Cole Thompson – 193pts
5. Tyler Medaglia – 169pts
6. Cade Clason – 155pts
7. Bobby Kiniry – 149pts
8. Kyle Keast – 132pts
9. Teddy Maier – 130pts
10. Dylan Schmoke – 115pts
MX2 Series Standings
1. Kaven Benoit – 217pts
2. Jeremy Medaglia – 204pts
3. Jimmy Decotis – 194pts
4. Shawn Maffenbeier – 162pts
5. Morgan Burger – 156pts
6. Brad Nauditt – 148pts
7. Blake Savage – 144pts
8. Dylan Wright – 137pts
9. Jesse Pettis – 111pts
10. Seth Rarick – 111pts
