Smarty’s Moto Wrap for February 11. 2014
Smarty’s Thoughts…
There was an audible groan throughout the moto world on Saturday night when Chad Reed clipped the rear wheel of Ken Roczen and crashed hard on the final lap of the main event at San Diego last weekend. Chad was looking to steal the final podium position from Roczen when the German was forced to slow and move to the left in the whoops thanks to a lapped rider, unfortunately Reed was blitzing the whoops down the left side and the rest is history.
Chad was credited with 12th place and now sits third in the championships; just 15 points back from championship leader Ryan Villopoto and despite spending a night in the local hospital as a result of crash, the gutsy Aussie will be back for round seven this weekend at Arlington, Texas.
Here is Chad’s tweet: So not the news I wanted 3 broken bones 1) scapula 2) collarbone 3) T1 Explains the pain I guess.. Sometimes things don’t make sense it’s that love hate relationship you have with racing But every Saturday night they drop the gate. In 6 days I plan to be there! Thanks for all the prayers hope to make y’all proud TwoTwo supporters.
There were quite a few sub-plots regarding the Aussie contingent at San Diego and here they are:
Leading up to San Diego, Greg Moss thought he was catching a plane to New Zealand to do some coaching when his wonderful wife surprised him with a plane ticket to America to watch his son Matt ride his final AMA Supercross for 2014. It was Greg’s birthday present and Matt did his dad proud by qualifying 11th out of 51 hopefuls, winning his semi and by all accounts was riding up to the rear of Eli Tomac in the main when his clutch let go. Happy Birthday for last week Greg….
Lawson Bopping was also riding his final AMA Supercross before heading home and after qualifying in 26th, Lawson scored a 14th in his heat, then an 8th in his semi it looked like Bopping was going to earn his first main event ride for 2014 as he held down third place in the LCQ with a lap to go but as it often happens in the LCQ, Bopping was punched out of a berm by one of the experienced Yank supercross racers to end up back in 13th by race end. From the footage we saw on TV, I was impressed with Bopping’s speed.
Just as I was starting to think that Jackson Richardson had dropped off the planet he turns up to San Diego and rides his CRF250R in the 450 class. Jatz qualified in 33rd place, scored 13th in his heat, 9th in his semi before getting cleaned out in the first corner in the LCQ. Fortunately the Queenslander came away uninjured and is now ready to do battle when the Wast Coast 250SX riders hit the track at Arlington this weekend.
Dean Ferris looked to be struggling on the tricky San Diego layout and a crash in the final practice session saw Ferris walk away with a thumb injury. But as he has done at all of the rounds so far the former GP winner managed the situation and got through the night with solid points. Ferris qualified well for 13th place, went straight to the main from his heat and stayed out of trouble to earn a solid 11th place in the 15 lap main event to go into the seven week break in 10th place in the championships. See the full race report and results from San Diego below.
In Europe…. Todd Waters’ second hit out on the factory Husqvarna was nothing short of sensational. The Queenslander entered the second round of the Italian Motocross Championships with another two weeks of testing since the opening round and on an undulating, hard packed circuit Waters’ scored third in the MX1 moto and logged the fastest time in the race which was won by none other than Antonio Cairoli.
Todd backed that up with another third in the Elite race and now sits third in the two championship classes he is contesting. See report and results below.
Ford Dale earned second place overall behind defending champion Cody Cooper after round one of the 2014 New Zealand Motocross Championship held at Timaru last weekend. Dale and the KTM are looking very solid as the preparation for the MX Nationals continue. See report and results below.
Daniel McCoy and Luke Arbon competed in the penultimate round of the Garmin Arenacross series held in Newcastle (UK) last Saturday night. Unfortunately McCoy took a tumble early in the night and rode the main event injured while Arbon is getting stronger and stronger as the series progresses. See the full report and results below.
The World Motocross Championship calendar is still a work in progress with Sevlievo in Bulgaria and Talavera in Spain back on the MXGP/MX2 schedule but the venue for the Belgian GP is yet to be decided.
2014 FIM World Championship Calendar as of the 11th of Feb 2014.
Rd1 – 01 March QMMF Losail Qatar
Rd2 – 09 March FMSCT Si Racha Thailand
Rd3 – 30 March CBM Beto Carrero Brazil
Rd4 – 13 April FMI Arco di Trento Italy
Rd5 – 20 April BMF Sevlievo Bulgaria
Rd6 – 04 May KNMV Valkenswaard Netherlands
Rd7 – 11 May RFME Talavera Spain
Rd8 – 25 May ACU Matterley Basin Great Britain
Rd9 – 01 June FFM St Jean d’Angely France
Rd10 – 15 June FMI Maggiora Italy
Rd11 – 22 June DMSB Teutschenthal Germany
Rd12 – 06 July SVEMO Uddevalla Sweden
Rd13 – 13 July SML Hyvinkää Finland
Rd14 – 27 July ACCR Loket Czech Rep.
Rd15 – 03 August FMB Tba Belgium
Rd16 – 17 August FMU Dimitrov, Donetsk Ukraine
Rd17 – 07 September CBM Goiânia Brazil
Rd18 – 14 September FMM Leon Mexico
This week we have the race reports and results from:
– Round 6 of the AMA Supercross being held at San Diego
– Round 6 of the Amsoil Arenacross Series held at Sacremento
– Round 5 of the Garmin Arenacross Series held at Newcastle
– Round 5 of the FIM World SuperEnduro Championships held in Spain
– Round 2 of the Italian Motocross Championship being held at Sicily
– Round 1 of the New Zealand Motocross Championships held in Timaru
– 2014 Le Touquet Beach Race
Back Flips New Zealand Motocross Championships – Round 1 – Timaru, Patetonga
Honda’s Cody Cooper, KTM’s Ford and Yamaha’s Billy Mackenzie slugged it out at the opening round of the 2014 New Zealand Motocross Championships held at Timaru on the weekend.
Dale set the fastest qualifying time and went 2-1-3 over the three motos only to be nudged out of the overall by Cooper’s 1-3-1 while Mackenzie surprised me in particular by logging solid 3-2-2 finishes to be just six points off the outright lead.
Ford Dale is looking really good on the KTM. “I’m really happy with how things are going with the bike, The team is bonding really well and these races are awesome, I’m so happy to be doing them though I’m not fit enough yet in terms of my intensity but will be on top of our game in time for the Aussie rounds. I led about five laps in that first moto but I wore myself out pretty quick. Then in the second I got the holeshot and lead start to finish. I felt really good and made no mistakes. In the third I was in stuck in third behind Cooper and Billy and we held the same gap for most of the race. It was really hard to see when you were behind but I managed to pass Billy toward the end, however on that last lap we came together and I got third.”
Billy Mackenzie had this to say after the final moto. “It took me a while to get into the track as it was tricky, and hard to see lines with the dust. I took a lot of confidence out of today,” said Mackenzie. “I feel like I’ve made some improvements from last year on my speed and fitness, and getting used to the brand new YZ450F, everything is working well so far.”
Dale’s team mate Kirk Gibbs scored three fourth places on the day. “I definitely rode a lot better today, but a few little mistakes let me down and I struggled with the rocks nature of the track at the start.
The front three were a little quicker today but it was one of those tracks where if you could get the starts it was much easier. Every time I got stuck back it was a battle to get up to the back of the front three, and you really can’t afford to let them get away. I’m pretty happy with how I’m riding for five weeks in, and with three more rounds to go I can definitely step it up and come into the MX Nats in good form. I’ll go home and do some testing and practice my starts and I can definitely improve a lot from here.”
In the MX2 class it was Kayne Lamont who narrowly scored the overall and the championship lead after a day long battle with the defending national champion Scott Columb and former World Junior Motocross Champion Jay Wilson.
“It was a tough day. The course was good, but it was difficult,” said Columb. “You always want to win, but I’m reasonably happy. Its early days, and you can definitely lose it here. It’s a long series and I’m looking forward to it.”
“The day went pretty good, I really enjoyed the track. I struggled a bit on the faster sections as I’ve been racing heaps of Supercross back home and this is my first Motocross race back,” explained Wilson. “JC (Josh Coppins) runs a fantastic team set up and the YZ250F is a weapon. We will only keep building from here.”
MX1 Round and Championship Points: 1. Cody Cooper – 70. 2. Ford Dale – 67. 3. Billy McKenzie – 64. 4. Kirk Gibbs – 54. 5. Brad Groombridge – 46. 6. Yu Hirata – 44. 7. Justin McDonald – 43. 8. Jesse Donnelly – 34. 9. Dion Picard – 33. 10. Jesse Wiki – 32. 11. Michael Phillips – 28. 12. Matt Howarth – 28. 13. Ethan Martens – 27. 14. Campbell Bailey – 19. 15. Matt Hunt – 15. 16. Roydon White – 13. 17. Bjarne Frederiksen – 13. 18. Luke Temple – 12. 19. Hamish Clausen – 9. 20. Tom Hughes – 6.
MX2 Round and Championship Points: 1. Kayne Lamont – 72. 2. Scott Columb – 69. 3. Jay Wilson – 55. 4. Hamish Dobbyn – 51. 5. John Phillips – 47. 6. Hamish Harwood – 45. 7. Rhys Carter – 34. 8. Peter Broxholme – 33. 9. Dakota Court – 32. 10. Nick Saunders – 32. 11. Cohen Chase – 30. 12. Kieran Scheele – 27. 13. Nathan Clare – 26. 14. Laurent Fath – 25. 15. Hayden Kanters – 21. 16. Broc Martens – 13.17. Nick Sutherland – 12. 18. Ryan Thompson – 11. 19. Hayden Wilkinson – 10. 20. Dylan Miles – 9.
Back Flips New Zealand Motocross Championships
Round 1 – Feb 9 – Timaru
Round 2 – Feb 24 – Patetonga
Round 3 – March 10 – Pukekoe
Round 4 – March 31 – Taupo
2014 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship – Round 6 – San Diego
Poor ol’ Jake Weimer went down in practice at San Diego and ended up with a broken bone in his hand and a sore shoulder. The full extent of the damage isn’t known yet so when the Kawasaki mounted ‘also ran’ returns to racing are a mystery.
450 Race Report: Andrew Short pulled his first holeshot of 2014 but was quickly passed on the opening lap by Ryan Villopoto with James Stewart in tow and just like Chad Reed did the week earlier Stewart moved around Villopoto to take the lead before the end of the opening lap.
Reed pulled into third place ahead of Ken Roczen, Justin Barcia and Ryan Dungey but Reed was passed on lap seven by Roczen while Barcia continues to fight his Honda and dropped back after almost high-siding over a berm on lap ten.
Out front Stewart looked to have Villopoto’s measure while Roczen was getting some serious attention from Reed who in turn had Ryan Dungey moving up to his rear wheel.
By the time the riders entered the final lap Stewart had a reasonably comfortable gap over Villopoto while Roczen, Reed and Dungey were nose-to-tail for the first part of the lap and as they all swept out of the right hand berm into the whoop section Reed was looking to blitz the whoops and move into third place BUT Nick Wey was a lap down and in the same whoop section which caused Roczen to change his line and slow a little which in turn saw Chad Reed clip his rear wheel and crash hard into the face of the next jump.
Stewart went on to be the fourth main event winner for 2014 while Villopoto, Roczen, Dungey and Weston Peick rounded out the top five.
It was the 46th career victory for Stewart and his first win since Atlanta last season. “It is always special to win, but especially this season,” said Stewart. “Tonight was our military-themed race and everyone here was one big family. This was an amazing race and I look forward to heading to Cowboys Stadium next weekend.”
Villopoto now holds a nine-point lead over Roczen, 15 points over Reed and 21 points over Stewart.
Heat 1 (Top Four to Main): 1. K. Roczen. 2. J. Barcia. 3. R. Villopoto. 4. A. Short. 5. E. Tomac. 6. J. Hill. 7. I. Tedesco. 8. C. Blose. 9. N. Schmidt. 10. T. Weeck. 11. A. Enticknap. 12. D. Buller. 13. T. Tapia. 14. L. Bopping.
Heat 2 (Top Four to Main): 1. R. Dungey. 2. J. Stewart. 3. J. Brayton. 4. C. Reed. 5. M. Alessi. 6. M. Goerke. 7. N. Wey. 8. M. Moss. 9. J. Decotis. 10. B. Tickle. 11. K. Peters. 12. K. Rusk. 13. J. Richardson.
Semi 1 (Top Five to Main): 1. M. Moss. 2. M. Goerke. 3. J. Hill. 4. B. Tickle. 5. V. Friese. 6. P. Nicoletti. 7. N. Schmidt. 8. A. Enticknap. 9. K. Rusk. 10. T. Parks.
Semi 2 (Top Five to Main): 1. E. Tomac. 2. M. Alessi. 3. N. Wey. 4. I. Tedesco. 5. J. Decotis. 6. K. Chisholm. 7. W. Peick. 8. L. Bopping. 9. J. Richardson. 10. B. Hall.
LCQ: 1 (Top Four to Main): 1. W. Peick. 2. P. Nicoletti. 3. C. Blose. 4. K. Chisholm. 5. N. Schmidt. 6. T. Weeck. 7. K. Peters. 8. B. Hall. 9. K. Rusk. 10. T. Tapia. 13. L. Bopping. 17. J. Richardson.
Main Event: 1. James Stewart – Suzuki RM-Z450. 2. Ryan Villopoto – Kawasaki KX 450F. 3. Ken Roczen – KTM 450 SX-F Factory. 4. Ryan Dungey – KTM 450 SX-F Factory. 5. Weston Peick – Suzuki RM-Z450. 6. Justin Barcia – Honda CRF 450. 7. Eli Tomac – Honda CRF 450. 8. Broc Tickle – Suzuki RM-Z450. 9. Justin Brayton – Yamaha YZ450F. 10. Andrew Short – KTM 450 SX-F Factory. 11. Joshua Hill – Suzuki RM-Z450. 12. Chad Reed – Kawasaki KX 450F. 13. Ivan Tedesco – KTM 350 SX-F. 14. Mike Alessi – Suzuki RM-Z450. 15. Matthew Goerke – KTM 450 SX-F Factory. 16. Vince Friese – Honda CRF 450. 17. Nicholas Wey – Kawasaki KX 450F. 18. Kyle Chisholm – Yamaha YZ450F. 19. James Decotis – Honda CRF 450. 20. Phillip Nicoletti – Yamaha YZ450F. 21. Chris Blose – Honda CRF 450. 22. Matt Moss – Suzuki RM-Z450.
450SX Championship Standings After Round 6 of 17: 1. Ryan Villopoto – 126. 2. Ken Roczen – 117. 3. Chad Reed – 111. 4. James Stewart – 105. 5. Justin Brayton – 98. 6. Ryan Dungey – 94. 7. Justin Barcia – 89. 8. Andrew Short – 72. 9. Weston Peick – 53. 10. William Hahn – 52. 11. Jacob Weimer – 50. 12. Broc Tickle – 49. 13. Ivan Tedesco – 46. 14. Joshua Grant – 35. 15. Mike Alessi – 32. 16. Nicholas Wey – 32. 17. Matt Moss – 28. 18. Vince Friese – 28. 19. Joshua Hill – 26. 20. Matthew Goerke – 26.
250 Race Report: Dakota Tedder scored his first holeshot for the season but as you would expect was quickly passed by Dean Wilson, Malcolm Stewart and Justin Hill while championship contenders Cole Seely and Jason Anderson sat just inside the top ten.
Much to everyone’s surprise Wilson flew over the bars on the second lap and in the ensuing tangle Hill blew by Stewart for the lead and what you would consider by today’s standards an uneventful win.
Stewart held on to second place for the first half of the race but Anderson blew by for second place and a championship lead of four points over Seely who managed to get up to fourth place by race end. Wilson was credited with 21st.
“What an amazing feeling to get a win,” said Hill. “I had a lot more confidence after getting on the podium in Oakland and I was able to stay focused. I was so focused I missed the white flag, so when I got the checkered I kept charging thinking there was one more lap. This is just so awesome.”
The East Coas riders now have a seven week break while the West Coast riders finally get to have a crack.
Heat 1 (Top 9 to Main): 1. D. Wilson. 2. C. Webb. 3. M. Stewart. 4. S. McElrath. 5. D. Tedder. 6. D. Ferris. 7. M. Leib. 8. B. Scharer. 9. M. Horban. 10. R. Alanis.
Heat 2 (Top 9 to Main): 1. C. Seely. 2. J. Hill. 3. J. Nelson. 4. S. Champion. 5. J. Canada. 6. J. Anderson. 7. T. Ingalls. 8. Z. Freeberg. 9. V. Teillet. 10. C. Howell.
LCQ (Top 4 to Main): 1. C. Howell. 2. P. Mull. 3. R. Alanis. 4. J. Marrone. 5. B. Rangel. 6. C. Proscelle. 7. C. Keeling. 8. K. Weisbruch. 9. S. Agostini. 10. A. Winkler.
Main Event: 1. Justin Hill – Kawasaki KX 250F. 2. Jason Anderson – KTM 250 SX-F. 3. Malcolm Stewart – Honda CRF 250. 4. Cole Seely – Honda CRF 250. 5. Shane Mcelrath – Honda CRF 250. 6. Jessy Nelson – Honda CRF 250. 7. Michael Leib – Honda CRF 250. 8. Scott Champion – Yamaha YZ250F. 9. Jake Canada – Honda CRF 250. 10. Dean Ferris – KTM 250 SX-F. 11. Dakota Tedder – Kawasaki KX 250F. 12. Preston Mull – Yamaha YZ250F. 13. Zackery Freeberg – Honda. 14. Cooper Webb – Yamaha YZ250F. 15. Ruben Alanis – KTM 250 SX-F. 16. Valentin Teillet – Kawasaki KX 250F. 17. Topher Ingalls – Honda CRF 250. 18. Jean Marrone – Suzuki RM-Z250. 19. Chris Howell – Yamaha YZ250F. 20. Brandon Scharer – Suzuki RM-Z250. 21. Dean Wilson – Kawasaki KX 250F.22. Michael Horban – KTM 450 SX-F.
250SX West Regional Championship Standings After Round 6 of 9: 1. Jason Anderson Rio – 131. 2. Cole Seely – 127. 3. Justin Hill – 107. 4. Dean Wilson – 98. 5. Cooper Webb – 92. 6. Malcolm Stewart – 89. 7. Jessy Nelson – 76. 8. Shane Mcelrath – 71. 9. Zach Osborne – 69. 10. Dean Ferris – 63. 11. Michael Leib – 51. 12. Dakota Tedder – 50. 13. Jake Canada – 46. 14. Scott Champion – 46. 15. Valentin Teillet – 28. 16. Cole Martinez – 24. 17. Darryn Durham – 21. 18. Topher Ingalls – 19. 19. Preston Mull – 17. 20. Chris Plouffe – 13.
2014 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series an FIM World Championship
Rd 7: February 15 – Cowboys Stadium – Arlington, Texas
Rd 8: February 22 – Georgia Dome – Atlanta
Rd 9: March 1 – Lucas Oil Stadium – Indianapolis
Rd 10: March 8 – Daytona International Speedway – Daytona Beach, Fla.
Rd 11: March 15 – Ford Field – Detroit
Rd 12: March 22 – Rogers Centre – Toronto
Rd 13: March 29 – Edward Jones Dome – St. Louis
Rd 14: April 5 – Reliant Stadium – Houston
Rd 15: April 12 – Century Link Field – Seattle
Rd 16: April 26 – MetLife Stadium – East Rutherford, N.J.
Rd 17: May 3 – Sam Boyd Stadium – Las Vegas
Amsoil Arenacross – Sleep Train Arena – Sacramento, CA
Words from the official web site: The sixth round of the Amsoil Arenacross Series produced a dominant performance from defending champion Tyler Bowers who swept each of the night’s Main Events to capture his championship-leading fourth overall win of the season aboard his Babbitt’s Monster Energy/AMSOIL Kawasaki presented by Maxxis machine. In the first round of the Western Regional Arenacross Lites Class, Sacramento-area native Gared Steinke, of Woodland, took the victory aboard his Motosport Hillsboro KTM.
Bowers grabbed the holeshot in the first Arenacross Class Main Event with his teammate, and championship points leader, Zach Ames in second and TiLUBE/PBR/TUF Racing Honda’s Jacob Hayes in third. The trio of riders opened a gap on the field and maintained their spots throughout the 15-lap Main Event to finish 1-2-3.
As the gate dropped on the final Main Event, Bowers once again asserted himself in the lead with Ames on his rear fender. This time, local rider Daniel Blair, of Lodi, positioned himself in third aboard his Frontier Lubricants KTM. Hayes got shuffled out of the gate and emerged in eighth place, never factoring into the battle up front. Bowers held a consistent advantage over his teammate throughout the race and the duo widened their margin on the field every lap. Behind them, Farmers Insurance/Reynard Mods Suzuki’s Cory Green took over third on Lap 2 and maintained the spot through to the finish.
Bowers’ wire-to-wire effort in each Main Event resulted in his most dominant effort of the season, but the advantage he gained in the championship standings was minimal as Ames’ pair of runner-up finishes gave up just two points. TiLUBE/PBR/TUF Racing Honda’s Kyle Regal (4-4) grabbed the final spot on the overall podium.
In Head-to-Head Bracket Racing, Bowers defeated Motosport.com/MJM Express/Spinechillers Racing Kawasaki’s Michael McDade to give him one additional championship point on the evening.
The opening round of the Western Regional Arenacross Lites Class Championship kicked off a 10-race battle for the title that will ultimately end at the final round of the season. With the hometown crowd behind him, Blair moved into the early lead of the 18-lap Main Event with KMS KTM’s Dave Ginolfi and TZR Woodstock KTM’s Scott Zont in tow.
Steinke began the race in fourth. Blair led the first six laps of the Main Event but experienced misfortune while fending off Ginolfi and dropped to seventh. Ginolfi, Zont, and Steinke assumed the top three spots and began a captivating battle at the front of the field that carried on through the remainder of the race. Ginolfi began the final lap with the lead in hand, but the battle intensified as Steinke, who moved into second, applied pressure and made an aggressive move to steal the win. Gateway Cycles Kawasaki’s Steven Mages, who fought his way into podium position, slipped past for second, while Ginolfi fell to third.
AMSOIL Arenacross continues next weekend with the seventh round of the season from Nampa, Idaho, and the Idaho Center. Two nights of racing will begin on Friday, February 14, and Saturday, February 15, at 9 p.m. ET each night.
Arenacross Class Results – Overall: 1. Tyler Bowers, Danville, Ky., Kawasaki (1-1). 2. Zach Ames, Prospect, Ohio, Kawasaki (2-2). 3. Kyle Regal, Grand Prairie, Texas, Honda (4-4). 4. Travis Sewell, Westville, Ind., KTM (5-5). 5. Willy Browning, Pleasantville, Ohio, KTM (7-6). 6. Daniel Blair, Lodi, Calif., KTM (6-7). 7. Jacob Hayes, Greensboro, N.C., Kawasaki (3-10). 8. Cory Green, Nowata, Okla., Suzuki (13-3). 9. Colt Nichols, S. Muskogee, Okla., Kawasaki (9-9). 10. Nathan Skaggs, Chillicothe, Ohio, Kawasaki (8-12)
Arenacross Class Points (After Race 9 of 19): 1. Zach Ames, Prospect, Ohio, Kawasaki – 239. 2. Tyler Bowers, Danville, Ky., Kawasaki – 236. 3. Jacob Hayes, Greensboro, N.C., Kawasaki – 198. 4. Michael McDade, McDonald, Ohio, Kawasaki – 177. 5. Willy Browning, Pleasantville, Ohio, KTM – 169. 6. Cory Green, Nowata, Okla., Suzuki – 152. 7. Kyle Regal, Grand Prairie, Texas, Honda – 150. 8. Travis Sewell, Westville, Ind., KTM – 146. 9. Colt Nichols, S. Muskogee, Okla., Kawasaki – 138. 10. Kelly Smith, Ludington, Mich., KTM – 125.
Western Regional Arenacross Lites Class Results: 1. Gared Steinke, Woodland, Calif., KTM. 2. Steven Mages, Sardinia, Ohio, Kawasaki. 3. Dave Ginolfi, Boston, N.J., KTM. 4. Kyle White, Freeport, Ill., Honda. 5. Scott Zont, Algonquin, Ill., KTM. 6. Daniel Blair, Lodi, Calif., KTM. 7. Dylan Rouse, Florence, Ky., Honda. 8. Lane Staley, Chillicothe, Ohio, KTM. 9. Ryan Breece, Athol, Idaho, Kawasaki. 10. Gray Davenport, Lehi, Utah, Kawasaki.
Western Regional Arenacross Lites Class Points (After Race 1 of 10): 1. Steven Mages, Sardinia, Ohio, Kawasaki – 15. 2. Dave Ginolfi, Boston, N.J., KTM – 14. 3. Kyle White, Freeport, Ill., Honda – 13. 4. Daniel Blair, Lodi, Calif., KTM – 11. 5. Lane Staley, Chillicothe, Ohio, KTM – 9. 6. Ryan Breece, Athol, Idaho, Kawasaki – 8. 7. Gray Davenport, Lehi, Utah, Kawasaki – 7. 8. Travis Smith, Lancaster, Calif., Honda – 6. 9. Maxx Malatia, Itasca, Ill., Honda – 4. 10. Kyle Tigert, Vacaville, Calif., Kawasaki – 1
2014 AMSOIL Arenacross Championships
Rd7 – February 14-16 – Nampa, ID
Rd8 – February 21-23 – Reno, NV
Rd9 – March 1-2 – Tulsa, OK
Rd10 – March 7-9 – Albuquerque, NM
Rd11 – March 14-16 – Hidalgo, TX
Rd12 – March 29-30 – Salt Lake City, UT
Garmin Arenacross Series – Round 5 – Newcastle
Press Release from the series official web site: Last week we reckoned the Main Event in Liverpool was a candidate for race of the series. Wrong! If the racing gets any more intense than it did in this evening’s Main Event at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle it’ll blow the top off presenter Christian Stevenson’s radometer!
Soft dirt and a super-technical track layout with plenty of options – not to mention the gnarliest triple ever seen in the UK – combine to stretch the Pro field to breaking point. When a rider of the calibre of Nev Bradshaw (Putoline Apico Honda) cases the triple every lap in his second heat race you know things just got hardcore.
Fair play to Nev, he cases it every lap – and once even torpedoes over the following berm – because he hits it every lap. The South African’s got some nuts – which is a good job because it gives him something to land on!
Daniel McCoy (MBO Sport ASA Yamaha) is another victim of the track with a bruising crash in his second heat race but the rock-hard Aussie still rolls out for the Main Event and is rewarded with 10th and nine points to keep his title aspirations alive.
After the disappointment of Liverpool, series leader Fabien Izoird (Apico LPE Kawasaki) picks up a bonus four points in the Head-to-Head races and then rides smart in the Main to come home third and stretch his lead out to 17 points.
“That was a very difficult track and I stayed very cool behind Cyrille and Steven – I didn’t want to take a risk like last weekend and crash,” says Fabien. “I took four points in the Head-to-Head and was third in the final so it was good for the championship but I’m not really happy because I always want to win.”
There’s another Frenchman on the podium as Cyrille Coulon (SR75-Molson Suzuki) claims second but the night belongs to Steven Clarke (Dyer & Butler KTM).
Winner on the opening night of the tour in Belfast, the 23-year-old’s had a rollercoaster rider ever since and after failing to make the Main Event in Liverpool he comes into Newcastle with a steely determination. Lap after lap he fights off the challenge of Coulon and is the only rider to hit the triple every time – even as he takes the chequered flag when his bike digs in on the take-off and he has to bail.
“That’s got to be one of the hardest races of my career,” says Steve. “Not so much for the track layout but the dirt was real soft and when you’ve got to pick a rut at high-speed it’s not for the faint-hearted. It bit a lot of people today but I managed to stay upright until the last lap and the finish line jump.
“I bottomed out on the face of the jump and it just stuck and sent me into a nose dive. If I’d stayed on I’d have landed in the backside of the landing – from past experience I know it doesn’t do any harm to jump off every now and again. I’m lucky I did and I’m glad I walked away from it.”
So that’s Newcastle nicely wrapped up – the show now rolls south to Sheffield and the Motorpoint Arena for round six next Saturday (February 15).
Newcastle Main Event Results: 1. Steven Clarke – Dyer & Butler KTM. 2. Cyrille Coulon – SR75 Molson Suzuki. 3. Fabien Izoird – Apico LPE Kawasaki. 4. Kristian Whatley – MBO Sport ASA Scaffolding Yamaha. 5. Angelo Pellegrini – Dave Thorpe Off Road Centre Honda. 6. Loic Rombaut – Apico LPE Kawasaki. 7. Nev Bradshaw – Putoline Apico Honda. 8. Luke Arbon – Dave Thorpe Off Road Centre Honda. 9. Romain Biela – Oakleaf Kawasaki Kawasaki. 10. Daniel McCoy – MBO Sport ASA Scaffolding Yamaha. 11. Chris Bayliss – Shocktech Kawasaki. DNF. Tyler Villipoto – Oakleaf Kawasaki.
Championship Standings After Round 5 of 7: 1. Fabien Izoird – 97. 2. Daniel McCoy – 80. 3. Cyrille Coulon – 78. 4. Steven Clarke – 76. 5. Loic Rombaut – 68. 6. Nev Bradshaw – 62. 7. Kristian Whatley – 58. 8. Elliott Banks-Browne – 53. 9. Angelo Pellegrini – 44. 10. Luke Arbon – 37. 11. Brad Anderson – 32. 12. Jamie Law – 29.
Dates and Venues for the 2014 series
Round 6 – Feb 15 – Sheffield
Round 7 – March 1 – London
Italian Motocross Championships – Round 2 – Sicily
MX1 Race Report: Cairoli took a quick lead, followed by Davide Guaneri on the TM, Todd Waters on the IceOne Husqvarna, Jeremy Van Horebeek (Kawasaki) and Tyla Rattray (Husqvarna). Waters got past Guarneri and set out after Cairoli, dropping the lead of the Italian down to four seconds.
Slowly Cairoli extended his lead and after nine laps he was 10 seconds ahead of Waters, with Guarneri a further two seconds back, then came Van Horebeek and Rattray. Former World MX1 Champion David Philippaerts was sixth.
Van Horebeek was on a roll, passing Guaneri on lap 11 and then Waters on lap 12. Cairoli though was long gone by now, some 15 seconds ahead of the Belgian. The two former World champions Rattray and Philippaerts remained in 5th and 6th places.
Rattray would get past Guarneri for fourth and Philippaerts would also pass the TM Factory rider. The final finishing order being Cairoli, Van Horebeek, Waters, Rattray, Philippaerts and Guarneri.
MX1 Moto Results: 1. Cairoli. 2. Van Horebeek. 3. Waters. 4. Rattray. 5. Philippaerts. 6. Guarneri. 7. De Bortoli. 8. Zeni. 9. Bertuzzo. 10. Bernardini.
MX1 Championship Points: 1. CAIROLI Antonio – 240. 2. VAN HOREBEEK Jeremy – 180. 3. WATERS Todd – 135. 4. RATTRAY Tyla – 125. 5. PHILIPPAERTS David – 125. 6. BOBRYSHEV Evgeny – 100. 7. DE BORTOLI Davide – 90. m8. GUARNERI Davide – 80. 9. ZENI Samuel – 79. 10. BERNARDINI Samuele – 72.
MX2 Race Report: Red Bull KTM Factory rider Jordi Tixier grabbed the lead in the MX2 moto ahead of Yamaha Factory rider Christophe Charlier and Italian local Michele Cervellin.
By lap four Tixier led by nearly six seconds over Charlier, who was a further eight seconds ahead of third placed Ivo Monticelli, who had passed Cervellin. Fifth was Alessandro Lupino on the CLS Kawasaki and sixth position Jonass Pauls. Young Belgian rider Kevin Fors was next just ahead of Italian legend Alessio Chiodi.
Not a lot changed in this moto, as Tixier continued to extend his lead on lap 11, Lupino found the top three as he passed Monticelli and Cervellin. Jonass stayed in sixth, Fors 7th and Chiodi 8th. Tixier eventually wins from Charlier and Lupino. There were nine KTMs inside the top 20.
MX2 Moto Results: 1. Tixier. 2. Charlier. 3. Lupino. 4. Cervillin. 5. Monticelli. 6. Jonass. 7. Fors. 8. Chiodi. 9. Furlotti. 10. Tinkler.
MX2 Championship Points: 1. CHARLIER Christophe – 200. 2. TIXIER Jordi – 185. 3. JONASS Pauls – 135. 4. TONUS Arnaud – 120. 5. MONTICELLI Ivo – 120. 6. LUPINO Alessandro – 116. 7. CERVELLIN Michele – 99. 8. FORS Kevin – 95. 9. CHIODI Alessio – 75. 10. TINKLER Kade – 68.
Elite Moto Race Report: Cairoli’s solid form continued in the MX1 and MX2 combined ‘Elite’ moto with the Italian completely dominating the race with the rest of the riders scrapping over the rest of the podium and once again Van Horebeek managed to get by the flying Aussie Todd WATERS for second place while Waters’ form continued to dazzle the locals with another well-earned third place ahead of a gaggle of GP stars.
“It feels fantastic to come away with two podium results in Sicily. I’m happy for myself but also for the team – the hard work we’ve put in is beginning to show. The MX1 race went quite well. I got a good start and that made the difference for me. After a couple of laps I worked my way into second and even set the fastest lap of the race. But towards the end I made a couple of mistakes and slipped back to third. In the Elite race I got into third early on and set about putting a solid race together. To end the day with two third place results is great, I really enjoyed it.”
Elite Moto Results: 1. CAIROLI Antonio. 2. VAN HOREBEEK Jeremy. 3. WATERS Todd. 4. GUARNERI Davide. 5. RATTRAY Tyla. 6. PHILIPPAERTS David. 7. TIXIER Jordi. 8. DE BORTOLI Davide. 9. BERTUZZO Pier Filippo. 10. BERNARDINI Samuele. 11. JONASS Pauls. 12. BERTUCCELLI Giovanni. 13. CHIODI Alessio. 14. CERVELLIN Michele. 15. FORS Kevin.
Elite Championship Points: 1. CAIROLI Antonio – 240. 2. VAN HOREBEEK Jeremy – 200. 3. WATERS Todd – 125. 4. RATTRAY Tyla – 125. 5. PHILIPPAERTS David – 105. 6. GUARNERI Davide – 101. 7. TIXIER Jordi – 84. 8. BOBRYSHEV Evgeny – 80. 9. DE BORTOLI Davide – 70. 10. JONASS Pauls – 66.
FIM World SuperEnduro Championships – Round 5 – Barcelona, Spain
Red Bull KTM’s Taddy Blazusiak has won all three Elite Finals at the penultimate round of the World SuperEnduro Championships held in Barcelona last Saturday night and now has a 39 point lead going into the final round at Tours in France on February 22
Blazusiak was joined on the podium by KTM factory teammate Jonny Walker of Britain, who took a strong second place with a 5-2-2 result in the three finals. Walker also won the Super Pole and was consistently the fastest man on the track. Both Blazusiak and Walker rode KTM 4-stroke machines for the Barcelona outing.
Taddy was wrapped with his night. “What I can I say! It’s been a fantastic event for me. Winning all three races was exactly what I was hoping to do. Unfortunately I didn’t make it a clean sweep by topping the Super Pole but the second fastest time is still a good effort. The track in Barcelona was incredibly slippery. It was hard to find a good feeling with the dirt – you needed to be so precise in your throttle control because one small mistake could result in a crash. Even with the reversed start for final #2 my starts were on the money and that made a huge difference. I was able to get to the front of the field pretty quickly and once there I could ride a comfortable pace. With just one round left things are getting serious. I feel like I’m in a really good position and even though there’s still 63 points up for grabs in France I’m confident that I can bring home the title. My riding is as good as it has ever been and right now, I’m ready to end this series on a high.”
Husqvarna’s Alfredo Gomez was fresh out of hospital after getting his appendix out but still managed a third place. “I came here not knowing if I would be able to race so to come away with a podium result is amazing for me. My objective was to take it one race at a time and see how I progressed. Starts were the key and I got a great one in Final #1. I led for a bit but slipped back to third. Somehow I found a better rhythm and got back up to second. That set the tone for the rest of the night. Overall it’s an incredible feeling to finish third – I’m so happy.”
David Knight and his Sherco have been posting solid results throughout this championship and the Brit once again showed genuine pace with 3-3-5 results on the night but with Taddy winning all three races it makes it tough for Knight to take the title from such a point deficit with just one round remaining.
Elite Final 1: 1, Taddy Blazusiak, POL, KTM. 2, Alfredo Gomez, ESP, Husqvarna. 3, David Knight, GBR, Sherco. 4, Joakim Ljunggren, SWE, Husqvarna. 5, Jonny Walker, GBR, KTM.
Elite Final 2: 1, Blazusiak, KTM. 2, Walker, KTM. 3, Knight. 4, Nemeth. 5, Ljunggren
Elite Final 3: 1, Blazusiak, KTM. 2, Walker, KTM. 3, Gomez. 4, Ljunggren. 5, Knight
Super Pole: 1, Walker, KTM 1:50.559. 2, Blazusiak, KTM 1:542.281. 3, Gomez, 1:53.608. 4, Bellino, 1:54.183. 5, Cervantes, KTM, 1:54.238.
Overall: 1, Blazisuak, KTM, 62. 2, Walker, KTM, 48. 3, Gomez, 42. 4, Knight, 41. 5, Ljunggren, 37
Championship Standings after 5 of 6 rounds: 1, Blazusiak, 279. 2, Knight 240. 3, Walker 204. 4, Gomez 188
The season draws to a close with the final of six rounds in Tours, France on February 22, 2014.
2014 Le Touquet Beach Race
Thunderstorms, wind and rain didn’t stop local hero Adrien Van Beveren from winning the annual Le Touquet Beach Race Ahead of Enduro World Champion Antoine Meo and former World Motocross Champion Steve Ramon.
1000 riders turned up for the event and because of the poor weather the mass start was abandoned in favour of smaller group starts and at by the time the riders pulled in for their first pit stop Meo had the lead over Van Beveren and shortly after Ramon took the lead.
The pace was hot at the front of the huge pack but Ramon dropped back to second behind new leader Van Beveren after his second pit stop before dropping right back to seventh after having difficulties with lap riders on the back section of the circuit but the Belgian managed to work his way to fourth with one lap to go and closed down the 40-second gap on Arnaud Degousse to take the final podium position.
“I had a really good start and first couple of laps, but made just too many small mistakes. Then you lose places so quickly and the connection with the first guys, so you have to be so consistent,” said Ramon after the race. “My biggest problem was my hands freezing-up after a couple of laps, which it made it difficult to steer, but was also pretty painful, but all-in-all I’m happy with the result and the places that I managed to win in the last couple laps.”
Final results after 16 laps: 1. Adrien Van Beveren, (FRA-Yamaha) 3:01:24, 2. Antoine Meo, (FRA-KTM) 3:01:50, 3. Steve Ramon, (BEL-Rockstar Energy Suzuki) 3:05:21, 4. Arnaud Degousse, (FRA-Yamaha) 3:06:55, 5. Jean-Claude Moussé, (FRA-Yamaha) 3:08:34, 6. Marc De Reuver, (NED-Honda) 3:09:13, 7. Milko Potisek, (FRA-Yamaha) 3:09:47, 8. Yves Deudon) (FRA-Kawasaki) – 1 lap, 9. Julien Tournessi (FRA-KTM) – 1 lap, 10. Tom Lahousse (BEL-Yamaha) – 1 lap.
Catchya next week. Smarty #97
