Moto News Wrap for September 22 by Darren Smart
Proudly brought to you by Dunlop Geomax
Australasian News
Jay Wilson out of MXoN squad from injury – in his own words…
“I’m absolutely gutted. After long discussions with the doctors here in Europe, I have been forced to withdraw from the 2015 MX of Nations.
“On Monday afternoon while testing, I had a very small crash and fell on a rock, which ripped open the side of my stomach, and tore my stomach muscles. Given that I now have an open wound, and with high risk of infection, I am no longer able to represent Australia in the MX2 class at the MXoN in France this weekend.
“With there still being a number of days until the event kicks off, I wanted to make the decision to withdraw early, to ensure Australia has the opportunity to fill my position, and to give both Todd Waters and Dean Ferris the best chance possible to have a successful weekend. The MXoN is a team event, and it would be selfish of me to turn up behind the eight ball.
“This is without a doubt one of the hardest decisions I have had to make in my career, and although I am hugely disappointed, Australia deserves to have a 100% healthy team representing our country on the weekend.
“Thank you to Josh Coppins and Mike Ward for being there for me, and for helping me in making what has been a tough, but right decision for everyone.”
Entries for 2015 Mountain Man Open: Entries for the 40th edition of the Mountain Man Motocross being held on November 7-8 at Queensland’s Echo Valley are now open. The event is being run by the Toowoomba Motorcycle Club, Toowoomba Motocross Club and QVMX so there will be classic motocross for Pre-1990 machinery on the Saturday followed by modern motocross racing on Sunday.
$15,000 in prize money is on offer with $5000 going to the winner of the Mountain Man class that consist of three back-to-back 10-minute motos plus a 35-minute-plus-two-laps moto and $2000 going to the winner of the Golden Tyre 125 Cup. Visit www.nominate.com.au to enter now.
Ferris Returning to Australia: Dean Ferris is rumoured to be making a return Down Under. Rumours suggest a CDR Yamaha ride but with Craig Dack overseas currently we could not get any official confirmation of the move.
Carmichael Heading to Australia: Appin (Dec 2nd) and Coolum (Dec 5th) will host the popular Ricky Carmichael’s RCU motocross schools with Jeff Emig along as assistant coach over the two days. Go to http://rcu.hookit.com/news/rcu-australia/ to enrol.
Cachia Back for SX?: There is a rumour around that former factory star Josh Cachia will race the 2015 Australian Supercross Championship for the DPH Yamaha team. Will be interesting to see if Cachia can pay attention long enough to get to every round.
WAMX – Final Round: The Coastal Motorcycle Club has hosted the final round of the WAMX championships and it was Dean Porter who cemented his place at the top of podium to take out the MX1 championship ahead of Robert Lovett and Mitch Taylor while Dylan Heard won the MX2 championship in the absence of former championship leader Jayden Rykers who missed the final round due to injury.
WA SuperMoto: Dean Taylor has won round three of the WA Supermoto Championships held at the Waneroo Kart Track last weekend.
Tasmanian Grass Track: The Tasmanian Endurance Club hosted the annual West Pine Grass Track last weekend and it was Baylee Davis who won the ‘King of the Paddock’ final while Dalton Johnson won the Pro-Lites over Davis and in the Pro-Open class James Barham got the nod over Lincoln Bird and Davis.
Qld Sprint Series: Round three of the Queensland Husqvarna Sprint Series was held near Toowoomba last weekend and Lachlan Stanford was on fire over the eight special tests to take the overall win ahead of Peter-Daniel Allan and Kye Crosswell.
Junior MX Nationals kicks off this weekend – The 2015 Australian Junior Motocross Championship gets underway at the Bunbury circuit on September 27 and runs the entire week finishing on October 3. A series of heats and qualifying events to start the week before things get serious in the later stages with the finals taking place.
A leading light in the 15 years division will be Hunter Lawrence who has had an outstanding season in 2015, winning all before him and also taking third in the World Junior 125cc championships held in Spain recently.
Glenn Kearney wins NSW Enduro Championship – Husqvarna Enduro Racing Team rider and Manager Glenn Kearney added another NSW Championship to his distinguished career tally when he secured the New South Wales Enduro Championship yesterday at Portland, near Lithgow in the Blue Mountains.
American News
GNCC Enduro – The 2015 AMSOIL Grand National Cross Country Series (GNCC) descended upon New York’s legendary Unadilla MX on Sunday for the tenth round of the 13-race GNCC series. The Parts Unlimited Unadilla GNCC hosted a record number of over 2,000 ATV and motorcycle racers over the weekend, culminating with three-hours of excitement in the XC1 Pro class. In an all-out battle to the finish, Josh Strang secured his first win of the season, but it was Kailub Russell who has won the overall 2015 war, Russell crowned GNCC Champion at the Unadilla event, his third consecutive GNCC Championship. Russell finished fourth at Unadilla, hampered by a torn ACL sustained recently at the ISDE.
Photo: Ken Hill
Chad’s New SX Track: At the time of writing Chad Reed has Mark ‘The Bomber’ Barnett constructing a new supercross track in his back yard in preparation for his 2016 AMA Supercross Championship assault. In the mean time Reed has been pumping out motos at the infamous Gatorback Cycle Park on his personal YZF450 – Reed is still recovering from an operation that removed a floating bone fragment in his right shoulder but is chomping at the bit to get into full testing mode leading up to the 2016 season – the big question now is whether he will be on Yamaha or Honda…..
Pourcel’s Cracked Rib: Christophe Pourcel was forced to sit out the final round of the World Motocross Championships at Glen Helen last weekend after a cracked rib suffered at the Unadilla round of the AMA Motocross Championships caused discomfort while riding at speed.
Former World Champ at MXGP: 1996 World 500cc Motocross Champion and owner of Crown Kiwi Shayne King was in California last weekend connecting with many of the companies he distributes for throughout New Zealand AND checking out the action at the final round of the MXGP championship at Glen Helen. Crown Kiwi are the national distributors for Alpine Star, Bell, Dragon, Hinson, Ogio, Pro-Circuit, Worx Connection and 100% to name a few.
Paulin IN for Monster Energy Cup: HRC MXGP rider Gautier Paulin is reportedly competing in the up-coming Monster Energy Cup in Las Vegas on an American HRC spec CRF450R.
AMA Pro Flat Track: Kenny Coolbeth had a stellar outing at the Delaware International Speedway Half-Mile on Saturday night, winning the AMA Pro Flat Track event dubbed the ‘Roar on the Shore’. Coolbeth raced his Zanotti Racing Harley-Davidson XR750 to a convincing 1.661-second margin of victory over Don’s Kawasaki’s Jeffrey Carver, Jr. and Jake Johnson on the factory Harley.
Series leader Jared Mees jumped the start and had to move back to the penalty line alongside him in the back was his nearest rival Bryan Smith, who had to switch bikes before the main event when the bike he was slated to ride began to misfire. Mees eventually worked his way up to eighth on the hard-to-pass track while the shift linkage broke on Smith’s Kawasaki forcing him to ride around in second gear for several laps before finally getting it into third to finish back in 14th. The end result is that Mees has added to his lead to seven points over Smith so the championship now stands at 188-181.
Trey Canard to Race Japanese Sugo National – Team Honda HRC’s Trey Canard is slated to compete in the final round of the All Japan MX National Championship series, to be held at Sportsland Sugo in Sendai, Japan, on October 25. Canard will race in the IA1 Class (450cc), where his competition will include series regular Akira Narita, a factory HRC rider and 10-time Japanese National Champion, as well as newly crowned MXGP MX2 World Champion Tim Gajser, of the Gariboldi Honda team. While in Japan, Canard will join Honda Racing Corporation engineers for a testing session in Tochigi prior to the race.
“I’m extremely excited for this opportunity to race in Japan,” Canard said. “I’ve raced in Europe before but never there, so it will definitely be a different experience. I’m looking forward to the actual race but more than anything I’m really excited to meet the people that make my job possible. They have supported me throughout my entire professional racing career, so to be able to visit and show my gratitude will be very special.”
2016 AMA Numbers Announced – The American Motorcyclist Association has announced the professional competition numbers for pro-licensed riders competing in Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship, and the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship for the 2016 season.
All riders use the assigned professional number for competition. In addition, the current champion runs the No. 1 plate instead of their assigned professional number when competing in the class or region in which the No. 1 plate was earned. When competing in a class other than the class where the championship was earned, the rider must use the assigned professional number.
2016 Top 100 and Career Pro Numbers for AMA Supercross and Motocross – *Career Numbers – **New Career Numbers for 2016
- 1 – 450SX: Ryan Dungey
- 1 – 450MX: Ryan Dungey
- 1 – 250MX: Jeremy Martin
- 1 – 250SX West: Cooper Webb
- 1 – 250SX East: Marvin Musquin
- 3*: Eli Tomac
- 4*: Blake Baggett
- 5*: Ryan Dungey
- 6*: Jeremy Martin
- 7*: James Stewart
- 10*: Justin Brayton
- 11*: Kyle Chisholm
- 12*: Jake Weimer
- 13: Jessy Nelson
- 14*: Cole Seely
- 15*: Dean Wilson
- 16*: Zach Osborne
- 17*: Cooper Webb
- 18*: David Millsaps
- 19*: Justin Bogle
- 20*: Broc Tickle
- 21**: Jason Anderson
- 22*: Chad Reed
- 23: Aaron Plessinger
- 24*: Brett Metcalfe
- 25*: Marvin Musquin
- 26: Alex Martin
- 27*: Nicholas Wey
- 28: Weston Peick
- 29*: Andrew Short
- 30: Shane McElrath
- 31: RJ Hampshire
- 32: Matthew Bisceglia
- 33*: Joshua Grant
- 34: Phillip Nicoletti
- 35: Chris Alldredge
- 36: Justin Hill
- 37**: Joey Savatgy
- 38: Christian Craig
- 39: Jordon Smith
- 40: Kyle Peters
- 41*: Trey Canard
- 42: Mitchell Oldenburg
- 43: Fredrik Noren
- 44: Adam Cianciarulo
- 45: Kyle Cunningham
- 46: Luke Renzland
- 47: Thomas Hahn
- 48: Anthony Rodriquez
- 49: Martin Davalos
- 50: Malcolm Stewart
- 51*: Justin Barcia
- 52: Ben Lamay
- 53: Tyler Bowers
- 54: Wil Hahn
- 55: Vince Friese
- 56: Jackson Richardson
- 57: Josh Hansen
- 58: James Decotis
- 59: Jace Owen
- 60: Matthew Lemoine
- 61: Gannon Audette
- 62: Justin Starling
- 63: Jesse Wentland
- 64: Dakota Alix
- 65: Zachary Bell
- 66: Arnaud Tonus
- 67: Killian Rusk
- 68: Cole Martinez
- 69: Colt Nichols
- 70: Tony Archer
- 71: Kyle Partridge
- 72: Hayden Mellross
- 73: Nick Gaines
- 74: Ryan Sipes
- 75*: Josh Hill
- 76: Scott Champion
- 77: Zackery Freeberg
- 78: Daniel Baker
- 79: Nicholas Schmidt
- 80: Zachary Williams
- 81: Jason Brooks
- 82: Trevor Reis
- 83: Daniel Herrlein
- 84: Jimmy Albertson
- 85: Michael Leib
- 86: AJ Catanzaro
- 87: Austin Politelli
- 88: Ronnie Stewart
- 89: Marshal Weltin
- 90: John Short
- 91: Brandon Scharer
- 92: Ryan Breece
- 93: Colton Facciotti
- 94*: Ken Roczen
- 95: Dustin Pipes
- 96: Noah McConahy
- 97: Tevin Tapia
- 98: Darian Sanayei
- 99: Heath Harrison
- 377*: Christophe Pourcel
- 800*: Mike Alessi
Euro News
UK MX Nationals: Round six of the UK MX Nationals was held at Canada Heights last weekend and it was Kristian Whatley who took out the MX1/MX2 Pro Class ahead of James Dunn and Neville Bradshaw.
Race Reports and Results from Last Weekend
World Motocross Championships – Round 18 – Glen Helen, California
MX1 Qualifying Report: Josh Grant loves Glen Helen and it showed during Saturday’s qualifying race where the Kawasaki fill-in rider blew by Antonio Cairoli and early race leader Cooper Webb to take the lead then etch out a 10 second lead to eventually take an easy victory over Webb and the 2015 MXGP World VChampion Romain Febvre.
Ben Townley battled all moto to finish a more than credible 11th place while Todd Waters ended up in 16th place and Dean Ferris and Cody Cooper were almost dead last out of the first corner to finish outside the top 20 by moto end.
As for the movers in the pack, fastest timed practice racer Dean Wilson tangled with a downed rider on the start straight and went from dead last to 14th, Jason Anderson went from 10th or 4th, Tommy Searle went from 7th to 21st, Davi Millsaps went from 20th to 13th, Evgeny Bobryshev went o 23rd to 15th.
MXGP Qualifying Results: 1. Josh Grant. 2. Cooper Webb. 3. Romain Febvre. 4. Jason Anderson. 5. Antonio Cairoli. 6. Gautier Paulin. 7. Shaun Simpson. 8. Jeremy Van Horebeek. 9. Max Nagl. 10. Marvin Musquin. 11. Ben Townley. 16. Todd Waters. 18. Kirk Gibbs. 23. Dean Ferris. 26. Cody Cooper
MXGP Race Wraps
The signature hills of Glen Helen made for an exciting and successful end to the most epic season of motocross ever, the 2015 FIM Motocross World Championship. Stifling hot temperatures saw Yamaha Factory Racing Yamalube’s Romain Febvre rise to yet another challenge for his eighth MXGP round overall while California’s own Jessy Nelson took his Troy Lee Designs Lucas Oil Red Bull KTM to a double race victory for the MX2 Grand Prix win on his debut appearance.
It was also a memorable weekend for Honda Gariboldi’s Tim Gajser here at the eighteenth and final round of the FIM Motocross World Championship with the Slovenian winning the season long battle in MX2 to be crowned world champion.
Yamaha Factory Racing Yamalube’s Romain Febvre proved why he is the 2015 FIM Motocross World Champion once again this weekend when he won on a completely unfamiliar track in the fierce heat of California. Febvre rebounded from mediocre starts in both races and charged to the front for a hard fought victory in race one and second place in race two after a small crash spoiled his shot at another perfect weekend. With those scores Febvre, who was already crowned world champion at round 16 in Assen, The Netherlands, added another Grand Prix victory to his statistics and extended his points margin to 143 over fellow Frenchman Team HRC’s Gautier Paulin, who is officially the 2015 vice FIM Motocross World Champion. Paulin’s Team HRC teammate Evgeny Bobryshev is the 2015 MXGP bronze medalist.
Romain Febvre – 1st and 2nd for 1st overall – “It has been an amazing year and this is my thirteenth podium in a row. When we started riding yesterday I thought it was difficult because the track is so wide and fast so we had to adapt the bike a little bit because we are not used to this type of track. It was also really hot! In the first moto my start was not too good but I caught everybody and passed Cooper with two laps to go; it was really good and I was so happy to win. I had to do it again from the start in the second moto and with three laps to go I made a mistake at the top of the hill and crashed. Josh Grant was really fast. I could only manage second place but it meant the overall. To win was my goal and especially at this mythical track.”
Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Josh Grant has cut so many laps around Glen Helen he could almost ride with his eyes closed. Even though the track was prepared differently to what it usually is and it chopped up slightly different due to the European style of riding, the Californian native had his lines down and rode crazy fast this weekend to lock up second overall with a race win in the final moto.
Josh Grant: “I’ve ridden here every Thursday as I live locally in Riverside and Ryan Villopoto gave me plenty of good advice on how to take on the weekend. I felt good to win two races out of three. I was leading the first GP moto too until I ran over my own right foot and twisted it about six or seven laps in. The guys at Asterisk did a great job to tape it up for race two; I got in front and put my head down for the win. It was great to be part of this experience, and I really enjoyed it; I would definitely consider MXGP in the future if there was an offer on the table.”
Yamalube Star Racing Yamaha’s Cooper Webb put in a very impressive performance this weekend. The young American, fresh off of the 250cc, wasn’t afraid to mix it with the big boys as he went bar-to-bar with both Febvre and Grant on his way to third overall on his MXGP debut, “overall I’m really happy, for me it was an awesome experience and I am looking forward to race MXoN next week.”
Team HRC’s Gautier Paulin and Evgeny Bobryshev finished the 2015 MXGP season in the USA today placed second and third respectively in the World Championship but their results at Glen Helen were a little disappointing. At the finale,a pair of 8th place finishes for Paulin put him 7th overall in the MXGP of the USA, just behind Bobby who was sixth overall with a ninth and a fifth, having been running as high as second in race two. Here Gautier Paulin and Evgeny Bobryshev are pictured alongside MX2 World Champion Tim Gajser, who brought home the World Championship bacon for Honda in the 250cc category.
Roger Harvey – HRC General Manager – MXGP – “We certainly can’t complain with second and third in the world, and with Tim winning the MX2 World Championship, it’s been a great year for Team HRC and for Honda. I’d like to congratulate Tim and the Honda Gariboldi team for a fantastic season on the works 250, flying the HRC flag in MX2. This weekend was reasonable, but the important thing was second and third in the championship and I’m very pleased with that. Now we have a clear goal for next year – to improve by one place!”
Gautier Paulin – 8th, 8th. 7th overall 2nd in World Championship – “It’s great to end the season with second overall, and top Honda. It’s been a hard season with many up and downs, with winning in Valkenswaard and then also having some really bad moments like with my knee. Towards the end of the season I was pushing but trying to control the knee, and in motocross it’s difficult to do that. Now we concentrate on the Motocross of Nations, and then I have a full check on my condition to come back 100 per cent next season. I want to thank Honda and HRC, and all my partners, for this season and for all the hard work.”
Evgeny Bobryshev – 9th, 5th. 6th overall 3rd in World Championship – “I feel great after this season. I put my goal in front of me before this season and I followed this goal and now we have achieved it. It was really important for me to stay healthy; this was the main goal. Now we have third place so it’s really great. If you take Russian legends like Kavinov, 36 years ago he was in third place, so now after such a long time I have ended this gap and done the same. There are many people in Russia who know the history and really follow this sport, and they’re really happy that a Russian has done this again. It’s a strange feeling to be third to be honest. Until I get my medal, for me it’s difficult to believe it as it’s been such a long time to do this in the championship. I knew always that I could do this and my speed was top three. In Mexico when I secured the place it was a strange feeling, and I was thinking ‘why don’t I feel it yet?’, but since then I start thinking more ‘wow, I’m third!’. I feel just a great satisfaction inside.”
It was awesome to have Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Antonio Cairoli back on the gate, although he didn’t finish the second race after his hand came off the bars when he over cooked a jump, which may have flared up his recent injury. So, it was up to fellow Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider Dean Wilson to fly the flag for the orange army, which he did with a fourth overall finish despite coming from miles back in both races.
Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe’s Glenn Coldenhoff rounded out his season with his eighth top five overall finish.
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Jason Anderson was running a sweet pace all weekend but found himself in trouble a couple of times which left him finishing in tenth overall.
Dean Ferris and Todd Waters finished 18th and 19th respectively on the opening moto but improved to much more respectable 13th and 14th place finished in the final moto.
In the championship wash-up Todd Waters finished the MXGP season placed ninth while Dean Ferris claimed 12th overall for the 2015 MXGP season.
Todd Waters – “Like everyone I was looking for a positive end to the 2015 MXGP series. The second half of the championship hasn’t gone as well as I’d hoped, so I really wanted a strong finish. Unfortunately, I had an issue in the first race, which meant that I wasn’t able to charge like I wanted to. I stalled the bike in one corner and things just didn’t come together. In the second moto I just didn’t have what I needed for a better result. Like I said, it’s a frustrating end of the championship for me. This year I achieved pretty much all of the goals I set myself – top five results, a podium, ending the year healthily – and I owe the team so much for that.”
Under the scorching Californian heat Wilvo Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Dean Ferris didn’t have a good start in his opening MXGP moto, fighting his way from outside the top 20 to claim an 18th place finish. A small crash on lap one didn’t stop Ferris’ moto two efforts with the Australian again fighting from way back to end up 14th. Points collected from the GP of USA helped Ferris wrap up the season 11th in the MXGP series standings.
Countryman Kirk Gibbs withdrew from the first race after a fall aggravated a recent shoulder injury, while he was running outside the top ten. Gibbs then steeled himself and returned to action in the second and despite the injury and the stifling heat, salvaged 16th place while many GP regulars were wilting and pulling out from heat.
In doing so he made an entirely respectable fist of a less than ideal preparation for his first Grand Prix race, having taken a heavy fall on the Wednesday before the event, and not just beating himself up physically but also copping a solid blow to the head.
After a couple of days recovery with the help of renowned American motocross physician ‘Dr G’, Gibbs rode to 18th in Saturday’s qualifying race despite a poor start and some initial setup problems.
With KTM Motocross Racing Team Manager Rob Twyerould, Crew Chief Danny Apro and Technician Kyle Blunden having optimised both gearing and mapping for the particular challenges of the circuit, Gibbs was able to race with a number of GP top-10 riders, including Australian Dean Ferris and Tommy Searle.
Gibbs was given the ride at the US GP at Glen Helen as a reward for giving the national distributor its first Aussie Premier class title win since 2002, as the MX Nationals drew to a close at Coolum in Queensland a little over a fortnight ago.
Kirk Gibbs – “I definitely wasn’t 100% today, the crash on Wednesday put a dampener on things, it rattled my head pretty good and my body was a bit banged up coming in. We struggled a bit for bike setup on Saturday as well so we were behind the eight ball a little bit, but we didn’t do too bad, all things considered. I felt like I was riding really well in the first moto, and I was mixing it up with some good guys, but then I had a crash and hurt the shoulder that I injured late in the MX Nationals so the second was a big struggle. This event was a massive eye-opener for me and I can’t thank KTM enough in making it happen. I felt like if we could have put two solid motos together we could have been around the top 10. It’d be great to come over and compete against the best riders more often, and this really gives me a little bit more motivation to go home and take it to another level and be another step ahead of the competitors back home.”
Rob Twyerould, KTM Motocross Racing Team Manager – “All things considered it was an okay result and a great experience. On Wednesday Kirk had a really big crash. He went over the bars – it was really nasty. He rang his bell pretty hard and spent a couple of days at Dr G’s – he is the guy that works on all the top guys over here, and he did an amazing job and got him prepared for the weekend. In Saturday’s qualifying race we struggled a little bit yesterday with bike setup because the bike is a little bit different here, so for today, we changed the gearing initially for the warmup and then the mapping because of the heat and we got big improvements for him.
“The first race was fantastic, he was right in there amongst it with Bobryshev and a lot of the top ten guys and he looked really comfortable. He got a little bit excited though, when he caught Searle and was going for the pass on him, and he crashed and winded himself. He lost so much time that he felt it was smarter to come in and rest up for the second moto.
“In the second he didn’t get out the gate as well, but he was challenging the other Aussies in the field and having a good dice with Ferris in around 15th. He got past him and was looking ahead but had a silly little fall when he just got cross-rutted, and made a couple of other mistakes, and then it just became a matter of surviving the heat, because a lot of guys DNFed from it.
“From our perspective it was good to get a look at how the teams operate over here. We got to see through KTM USA factory team, met the Troy Lee guys, the BTO guys have been fantastic, it’s been really good to see the technology they are using. We learned a lot and probably realised that we are on par with anywhere in the world, our bike at home is very, very good.”
The event was an emotional occasion Tyla Rattray, who had already announced several weeks ago that this would be the final race of his long, successful professional career. Unfortunately the bad luck, which has dogged him for so much of the season, continued in race one as he was the innocent victim of a first turn collision. Rejoining the race in a lowly twenty-sixth position, he persevered to snatch four more championship points, and ended his career with a twelfth place in race two after advancing from an initial sixteenth. At the end of a turbulent season he was ranked thirteenth despite missing several races through injury.
Tyla Rattray – “It was a little emotional when I stopped after the race, but I was happy to be over. I had a great career, I’ve had a great time racing, fourteen years as a professional but my body is now tired! I used to be a diesel in my years when I was a young guy, but after so many years of racing it has been tough and I’m happy to retire. I had a great team behind me this season; Kawasaki and Monster Energy have been great and really supportive, it was great to complete my career with such good people. There was a big crash in the first turn of race one and I was in; I hit my head but managed to finish the race. I focused for the second race and got a decent start, then I pushed as hard as I could, but it was really warm, the track was rough, the conditions were tough and I was happy to finish the second race and see all these friends who were waiting for me.”
MXGP Race 1 Top Ten: 1. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), 35:54.457; 2. Cooper Webb (USA, Yamaha), +0:00.724; 3. Josh Grant (USA, Kawasaki), +0:23.369; 4. Jason Anderson (USA, Husqvarna), +0:34.642; 5. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:38.012; 6. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Suzuki), +0:39.495; 7. Dean Wilson (GBR, KTM), +0:41.977; 8. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Honda), +0:48.001; 9. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:55.692; 10. Marvin Musquin (FRA, KTM), +0:58.982
MXGP Race 2 Top Ten: 1. Josh Grant (USA, Kawasaki), 36:17.374; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), +0:12.621; 3. Cooper Webb (USA, Yamaha), +0:17.132; 4. Dean Wilson (GBR, KTM), +0:18.260; 5. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:45.661; 6. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Suzuki), +0:51.367; 7. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:57.887; 8. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Honda), +1:03.920; 9. Tommy Searle (GBR, KTM), +1:07.744; 10. Davi Millsaps (USA, KTM), +1:11.790
MXGP Overall Top Ten: 1. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 47 points; 2. Josh Grant (USA, KAW), 45 p.; 3. Cooper Webb (USA, YAM), 42 p.; 4. Dean Wilson (GBR, KTM), 32 p.; 5. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, SUZ), 30 p.; 6. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 28 p.; 7. Gautier Paulin (FRA, HON), 26 p.; 8. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 23 p.; 9. Tommy Searle (GBR, KTM), 20 p.; 10. Jason Anderson (USA, HUS), 18 p.
MXGP Championship Top Ten: 1. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 735 points; 2. Gautier Paulin (FRA, HON), 592 p.; 3. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 567 p.; 4. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 481 p.; 5. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 449 p.; 6. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 442 p.; 7. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 432 p.; 8. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, SUZ), 423 p.; 9. Todd Waters (AUS, HUS), 354 p.; 10. Clement Desalle (BEL, SUZ), 331 p.
MXGP Manufacturer: 1. Yamaha, 743 points; 2. KTM, 706 p.; 3. Suzuki, 678 p.; 4. Honda, 678 p.; 5. Husqvarna, 630 p.; 6. Kawasaki, 439 p.; 7. TM, 139 p.
MX2 Qualifying Report: Yank Shane McElrath led from go to woe in the MX2 qualifier while Valentin Guillod rode hard all moto to finish in second ahead of champion leader Tim Gajser who rode conservatively all moto.
Gajser’s championship rival Paul Jonass went from 5th to 2nd early in the moto but his bike expired on lap eight and the same fate was dealt to Max Anstie who had a mechanical failure on lap six but local hero Thomas Covington recovered from a first lap crash to claw through a very talented pack to go from 16th to 7th while Jessy Nelson stormed from 15th to 6th.
MX2 Qualifying Results: 1. Shane McElrath. 2. Valentin Guillod. 3. Tim Gajser. 4. Harri Kullas. 5. Jeremy Seewer. 6. Jessy Nelson. 7. Thomas Covington. 8. Petar Petrov. 9. Brian Hsu. 10. Chris Alldredge.
Americans dominate the MX2 podium on home turf but Guillod, Gajser, Anstie and Seewer card good results
The Californian sun shone on Troy Lee Designs Lucas Oil Red Bull KTM’s Jessy Nelson today as he dealt to everyone racing the Monster Energy MX2 grand prix of the USA with an impressive double moto win to claim his first ever Grand Prix victory. As an award for the dominance of his home Grand Prix, the American was gifted the Marty Moates Cup which is a symbolic prize that officially dubs him a top American rider.
The day couldn’t get much better for the team at Troy Lee Designs Lucas Oil Red Bull KTM as Shane McElrath, yesterday’s top qualifier, put in two more blistering fast rides for a second and a third place finish for second overall.
Third place this weekend went to Standing Construct Yamaha Yamalube’s Valentin Guillod who used that same aggression and speed we started to expect from after his Grand Prix wins in Spain and Great Britain earlier in the year to bounce back from a mediocre start in race one for fifth, and an impressive third in race two. A teary eyed Guillod expressed how proud he is of what he has achieved this year even though he has faced a fair bit of adversity over the few rounds leading up to the grand finale which took place today. Nevertheless, the Swiss rider achieved what he wanted to this weekend with his podium finish and will make the leap to MXGP next year with a fourth place finish in the FIM Motocross MX2 World Championship on his resume.
It was one of the hardest fought MX2 world titles ever, but there was no one more deserving of the 2015 FIM Motocross MX2 World Championship gold plate than Honda Gariboldi’s Tim Gajser. Although it wasn’t the easiest of seasons with the new world champion saying “this season was tough, there were many ups and downs, it started so bad” the Slovenian took home fourth at Glen Helen, which was enough for him to wrap up the ultimate prize.
Tim Gajser – 2015 MX2 World Champion – “I can’t believe it, it’s just amazing this feeling. I think I will feel it even more tomorrow when I wake up, but right now it’s just a dream. We have been working so hard for this for all my life. This is what we do all the work and the training for. I can’t thank everyone enough – my family, the team and my mechanics, Honda and HRC, and everyone who has supported me along the way. I’m so happy! The year started a little rough and I made some mistakes, but I’m only human and in the second half, it just got better and better. It’s been an incredible year with my first MX2 GP victory, and now the first MX2 World Championship. At the start of the year we couldn’t have imagined this, even though it’s what we aim for, so to now have the medal around my neck and the no.1 plate on the bike is just incredible. I love the Honda, and now I can’t wait to get back on the 450 next weekend for the Nations!”
Giacomo Gariboldi, Team Principal – “This is just a dream! Like a fairytale. We did it. I’m just so happy for Tim, the whole Gajser family who are so close, and everyone in the team. It’s like a family. All year we have worked more like a family than a team. It’s been our best year in motocross and to achieve this historic win just two years after HRC came with factory support is incredible. I’m so thankful to HRC and Honda, and the Japanese engineers for all their support as we wouldn’t be here without them, and they are just so easy to work with and very quickly became part of the family. I can’t put into words how much this means, especially as we have put Honda right back at the front; at the top of the world again. I said earlier this season that the championship would go down to the last race, but Tim was just so strong and rode so well, he earned this championship and he deserves it.”
Monster Energy DRT Kawasaki’s Max Anstie also had a bit of a rough day but did enough to round out the top five and go home as the world number three.
Meanwhile Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Pauls Jonass had his wings clipped after literally trying to reach for the stars last weekend in Mexico. The Latvian was only ninth overall today but nonetheless he has had an outstanding season, one that exceeded all expectation and although being the world champion would have been the cherry on the pie, going home as the vice FIM Motocross MX2 World Champion is an achievement he can be proud of.
As for the duo also representing the Stars and Stripes Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Chris Allredge and Thomas Covington had their ups and downs. For Covington, the most recent MX2 round winner, he was dirt sampling in both races while Allredge put in an impressive ride in race one for second but ended up in a heap with Covington in race two which saw them both finish outside of the top ten. Despite Alldrege’s bad luck in race two, he still managed to go away from his home grand prix with sixth overall.
MX2 Race 1 Top Ten: 1. Jessy Nelson (USA, KTM), 36:33.129; 2. Chris Alldredge (USA, Kawasaki), +0:12.857; 3. Shane McElrath (USA, KTM), +0:18.589; 4. Max Anstie (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:21.210; 5. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Yamaha), +0:21.307; 6. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:34.359; 7. Harri Kullas (FIN, Husqvarna), +0:38.327; 8. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki), +0:39.762; 9. Julien Lieber (BEL, Yamaha), +0:50.881; 10. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), +0:54.438
MX2 Race 2 Top Ten: 1. Jessy Nelson (USA, KTM), 36:37.196; 2. Shane McElrath (USA, KTM), +0:05.211; 3. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Yamaha), +0:32.327; 4. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:36.227; 5. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki), +0:40.646; 6. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), +0:50.515; 7. Harri Kullas (FIN, Husqvarna), +0:52.303; 8. Max Anstie (GBR, Kawasaki), +1:06.400; 9. Benoit Paturel (FRA, Yamaha), +1:09.669; 10. Ivo Monticelli (ITA, KTM), +1:51.141
MX2 Overall Top Ten: 1. Jessy Nelson (USA, KTM), 50 points; 2. Shane McElrath (USA, KTM), 42 p.; 3. Valentin Guillod (SUI, YAM), 36 p.; 4. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 33 p.; 5. Max Anstie (GBR, KAW), 31 p.; 6. Chris Alldredge (USA, KAW), 30 p.; 7. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 29 p.; 8. Harri Kullas (FIN, HUS), 28 p.; 9. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 26 p.; 10. Benoit Paturel (FRA, YAM), 20 p.
MX2 Championship Top Ten: 1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 589 points; 2. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 564 p.; 3. Max Anstie (GBR, KAW), 537 p.; 4. Valentin Guillod (SUI, YAM), 511 p.; 5. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 496 p.; 6. Julien Lieber (BEL, YAM), 430 p.; 7. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 423 p.; 8. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KAW), 393 p.; 9. Benoit Paturel (FRA, YAM), 376 p.; 10. Petar Petrov (BUL, KAW), 324 p.
MX2 Manufacturers: 1. KTM, 779 points; 2. Kawasaki, 755 p.; 3. Yamaha, 645 p.; 4. Honda, 630 p.; 5. Suzuki, 497 p.; 6. Husqvarna, 444 p.; 7. TM, 113 p.
Amsoil GNCC – Round 10 – Unadilla
Husqvarna Sweeps XC1 Podium at Parts Unlimited with Strang, DuVall and Sipes
Kailub Russell Clinches 2015 National Championship
The 2015 AMSOIL Grand National Cross Country Series (GNCC) descended upon New York’s legendary Unadilla MX on Sunday for the tenth round of the 13-race GNCC series. The Parts Unlimited Unadilla GNCC hosted a record number of over 2,000 ATV and motorcycle racers over the weekend, culminating with three-hours of excitement in the XC1 Pro class. In an all-out battle to the finish, Josh Strang secured his first win of the season, while Jason Thomas put forth a dominant performance in the XC2 Pro Lites class.
As the green flag dropped for the XC1 Pro bike start, it was Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Josh Strang who captured the $250 All Balls Racing XC1 Holeshot Award. This quick lead ultimately worked to Strang’s advantage, allowing him to have an open playing field.
AirGroup/Rockstar Energy/Husqvarna’s Ryan Sipes stayed close to Strang, but had his hands full when Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KR4/FAR’s Thad Duvall entered himself into the mix by the second lap. Throughout the entirety of the race, the duo would swap the second and third place positions. It would ultimately be DuVall taking the second overall, with Sipes following closely in third.
“Anytime I get to race I have fun, but especially today,” said DuVall. “Ryan and I have become pretty good friends the last few weeks during our time in Slovakia, and racing against someone that I knew I could trust was just awesome.”
After missing the last four rounds due to a shoulder injury, Strang was able to fully recover and come back fresh for the last half of the season and gain his first overall win. Strang would lead the whole race with the exception of pit stops.
“I’ve never won at this track, and it was good to get my first win here,” said Strang. “The track is rough and fast, but it can get frustrating with the lapped riders. Of course that’s all part of GNCC Racing, and having the high rider turnout is good for our sport.”
After many questions, Factory FMF/KTM’s Kailub Russell officially announced that his injury at last week’s ISDE was, in fact, a torn ACL. However, his presence was still made in the 1 p.m. Pro Race. Russell would need to finish fifth or better to claim the 2015 championship. In the end, Russell would finish in fourth, allowing him to clinch his third consecutive GNCC National title.
“I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel on the bike, because anything can happen to make my injury worse,” said Russell. “It took me about an hour and half to feel like I had warmed up and get my momentum going.”
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing backed rider Andrew Delong rode a consistent race finishing fifth overall. Despite running fourth for a majority of the race, JCR Honda’s Chris Bach finished in the sixth place position. N-Fab AmPro Yamaha’s Grant Baylor rode a comfortable pace in the final laps, finishing ninth overall for the day, followed by Canada’s Tyler Medaglia.
In the XC2 Pro Lites division, it would be Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KR4/FAR’s Nick Davis grabbing the $100 Hot Cams Holeshot award. Davis took full advantage of the early lead, until DirtWise/Maxxis/KLIM’s Jason Thomas made his way to the familiar first place spot. Davis’ bobble during the second lap put him back to fourth. Fortunately, he was able to recover quickly and find himself back in the front. Thomas made a last lap push and eventually took the top spot away from Davis. E & H Honda’s Trevor Bollinger had an impressive race, working his way from 20th on the first lap to third when the checkered flag flew. Bollinger suffered earlier on in the race after barbwire wrapped around his rear tire.
“I didn’t really take a summer break, because I’ve been busy racing local races and training,” reported Thomas. “The lappers didn’t affect me today because the local series I’ve been racing has a lot of riders and a short loop, which is very similar to here at Unadilla.”
Photo: Ken Hill
The 2015 AMSOIL GNCC series heads to Central City, Pennsylvania October 3 and 4 for the Car-Mate Mountain Ridge GNCC.
Parts Unlimited Unadilla GNCC – Location: New Berlin, NY – Round 10 of 13 – Date: Sunday, September, 20
XC1 Event Results
- Josh Strang (HSQ)
- Thad DuVall (HSQ)
- Ryan Sipes (HSQ)
- Kailub Russell (KTM)
- Andrew Delong (HSQ)
- Chris Bach (HON)
- Grant Baylor (YAM)
- Tyler Medaglia (HSQ)
- Jordan Ashburn (YAM)
- Cory Buttrick (BET)
XC1 GNCC Overall National Championship Standings
- Kailub Russell (283)
- Grant Baylor (173)
- Thad DuVall (170)
- Chris Bach (159)
- Josh Strang (148)
- Ryan Sipes (143)
- Jordan Ashburn (120)
- Jason Thomas (117)
- Ricky Russell (87)
- Trevor Bollinger (82)
XC2 Event Results
- Jason Thomas (KTM)
- Nick Davis (HSQ)
- Trevor Bollinger (HON)
- Ricky Russell (YAM)
- Jesse Groemm (BET)
- Craig Delong (HSQ)
- Scott Grills (YAM)
- Benjamin Kelley (KTM)
- Dylan Macritchie (KTM)
- Ryder Lafferty (HSQ)
XC2 Series Standings
- Jason Thomas (252)
- Ricky Russell (176)
- Craig Delong (170)
- Trevor Bollinger (164)
- Nick Davis (150)
- Layne Michael (142)
- Tegan Temple (122)
- Cory Buttrick (122)
- Austin Lee (105)
- Callan May (94)
Glenn Kearney wins NSW Enduro Championship
Husqvarna Enduro Racing Team rider and Manager Glenn Kearney added another NSW Championship to his distinguished career tally when he secured the New South Wales Enduro Championship yesterday at Portland, near Lithgow in the Blue Mountains.
Just four weeks shy of the Australian Four-Day Enduro in Tasmania, the event dragged many of New South Wales’ fastest enduro pilots out for some training and Kearney, still shaking off the fatigue of helping the Australian World Trophy team to second in this year’s International Six-Day Enduro in Slovakia, acquitted himself well in the conditions.
After becoming accustomed to the snappy horsepower of the FC 450 he raced at the six-day, Kearney instantly fell back in love with the smooth, broad torque of his Husqvarna FE 501, and applied it deftly to the rocky off cambered conditions he found at Portland.
Kearney finished third on the opening day of the event behind Chris Hollis and Beau Ralston, however he was able to turn the tables on Ralston yesterday, taking the runner-up position, again behind Hollis.
Kearney’s pair of podium finishes comfortably secured the title win and a pigeon pair of state enduro titles for the Husqvarna Enduro Racing Team, with team mate Lachy Stanford, who successfully defended his Queensland enduro championship back in June aboard his Husqvarna FE 350.
Husqvarna Enduro Racing Team Manager Glenn Kearney (FE501): “I’m pretty happy to wrap up the championship, and it was good to get back on the 500. I loved it. The 450 I rode at the ISDE was a bit barky, so getting back on my 500 it was like ‘oh, this is so easy.’ And with plenty of hills to climb, the 500 came in real handy. Portland was cold and rainy on the first day on Saturday, but it ended up being a good weekend.
“We had a heap of boys turn out, probably getting prepped for the four-day, there was Hollis, Beau Ralston, Scotty Keegan, Braico, Granquist, Broc Grabham, even Benny Grabham came out the woodwork and Bewley was there too. So there was a list of us, it was a good weekend. I managed to get third the first day behind Hollis and Beau Ralston, and then turned it around and got second to Hollis in front of Beau yesterday.
“I’m still kind of feeling that six-day a bit. I think Beau and Broc were in the same boat. Oyster Bay run a really good event, and we got a heap of test time in – I think we had an hour and a half of special test each day. Probably the last thing we were hoping for was a big weekend of riding, but it turned out pretty good and was a lot of fun on a pretty technical track.”
