Smarty’s Thoughts for January 21, 2014
Holy crap, he did it!! Chad Reed defied his critics and has won Anaheim 2!! You just can’t count Reed out and after a disastrous 2013 the Aussie had plenty to prove in 2014 and this will be perhaps the most satisfying win of his career. Read my full report below.
This week we got the news that the 2014 MX Nationals will have two race formats shared evenly over the ten championship rounds. At five rounds there will be the traditional two moto format the same as in 2013 with the MX1 and MX2 classes doing 2 x 30 minutes plus 1 lap motos and the MXD will do their 2 x 20 minute plus 1 lap motos while at the other five rounds the MX1, MX2 and MXD classes will all do 3 x 20 minute plus 1 lap motos.
This is an interesting compromise by Kevin Williams who is in a tough position trying to keep the teams, the privateers and the pro riders happy. The first thing that comes to mind is that on the weekends where there are 3 x 20 minute motos for each class it means that there are more points on offer for the championship so those weekends could well see a shake up in the points if one of the contenders has an off day. Check out the round schedules and race day formats below, it should be an interesting championship.
Despite the usual slow flow of official press releases it looks like the race teams are starting to take shape here in Australia. Jacob Wright will be riding Suzukis for Tattoo Racing, Cody Cooper will be riding for what is now called the Penrite Honda Team alongside Josh Cachia, Jay Marmont is back with CDR Yamaha and Jake Moss will being riding alongside Adam Monea on the Kawasaki team. Check out the team list below, we are slowly getting there.
The first two rounds of the UK based Garmin Arenacross Series was held in Belfast last weekend and we had Daniel McCoy and Luke Arbon over there having a crack. McCoy scored a solid fourth place in the main event on Friday night then backed that up with a come from behind sixth place in Saturday night’s main while Arbon missed the main on Friday night then notched up seventh on Saturday night. See the full report and results below.
The Troy Bayliss Classic was an absolute cracker AND Troy himself won the bloody thing!! There were a few omplaints from paying customers about having trouble finding a seat but from the racing side of things it looked like a great event. See full report and results below.
This week we have a heap of news as well as the race reports and results from the Troy Bayliss Classic, round 3 of the AMA Supercross in Anaheim, rounds 5 and 6 of the Amsoil Arenacross Series in Louisville, Kentucky, the final round of the 2013/2014 ADAC SX Cup held in Westfalenhalle, Dortmund, the opening two rounds of the UK Arenacross Championship in Belfast, round 3 of the FIM Super Enduro World Championships in Brazil and of course the final results from the Dakar Rally.
Catchya next week. Smarty #97
– – Jake Moss on the Kawasaki
I spent part of the last week of my holidays at QMP with my daughter Rebecca and while watching her doing laps around the junior track I noticed a Kawasaki rider turning out some very fast laps on one of the senior motocross tracks so I turned my camera and took this shot. Yep, you guessed it, Jake Moss on a KX450 and what impressed me the most was that it was a stinking hot day and Moss stayed out there all day and pushed out seriously fast motos over and over again. Look for Jake Moss to join his brother Matt at pointy end of the field when the MX Nationals kick off at Broadford on March the 30th.
– – 2014 Australian Silly Season Continues – Here’s the Latest!!
Kale Makeham (Tunetech Racing KTM), Brenden Harrison (Twe12e Clothing KTM), Dean Porter (Berry Sweet/Mandurah City KTM), Jack Simpson (Bolton’s KTM) and Louis Calvin (Berry Sweet/Mandurah City KTM), Broc Winston (Ando Husqvarna), Jay Wilson (Serco) and Daniel McCoy (65 TM Racing) have all found homes for 2014 we now turn our attention to the rest of the riders.
Cody Cooper will be definitely be riding the CRF450R for the Penrite Honda Team (formerly Carlton Dry Honda) while Jay Marmont will return to CDR Yamaha, Ryan Marmont will stay with Raceline Suzuki, Jacob Wright will be on Suzuki’s for Tattoo Racing and Jake Moss will take his Campbell Mining money to the Kawasaki team to join Adam Monea.
So, the top riders from the 2013 season that have yet to be signed are as follows: Takeshi Katsuya, Nick Sutherland, Dylan Long, Rhys Carter, Kane Lamont, Robbie Marshall, Kade Mosig, Dylan Petersen, Lawson Bopping, Codie Mackie, Jackson Richardson, Sam Martin, Wade Hunter, Beau Ralston, Keiren Hall and Geran Stapleton.
– – New Race Formats for MX Nationals – This press release came through during the week.
With much hype building in the lead-up to the 2014 Monster Energy MX Nationals, WEM is pleased to announce the new face formats for the 2014 season.
Following a review at the end of the 2013 season the new formats are ready to go.
At five rounds there will be the traditional 2 moto format the same as in 2013 with 4 classes on the card, the MX1 and MX2 classes will do 2 x 30 minutes plus 1 lap moto’s at these rounds and the MXD will do 2 x 20 minute plus 1 lap motos.
New for 2014 at 5 rounds the MX1, MX2 and MXD will all do 3 x 20 minute plus 1 lap moto’s.
The 3 x 20 Minute Moto Format will run at:
Round 1 Broadford Vic March 30th.
Round 5 Wanneroo WA May 25th,
Round 7 Conondale QLD July 13th
Round 8 Raymond Terrace NSW August 3rd
Round 10 Coolum QLD August 30/31
Race Day Schedule
8:30am 8:55am Motul MX2 P/Q 25 Min
9.00am 9:25am Monster MX1 P/Q 25 Min
9.30am 9.35am Go Pro Super pole 5 Min
9:35am 9:55am Pirelli MXD P/Q 20 Min
10.00am 10.05am Official Opening 5 Min
10.15am 10:45am Motul MX2 Moto 1 20 Min + 1 lap
10:45am 11:15am Monster MX1 Moto 1 20 Min + 1 lap
11:15pm 11:45pm Pirelli MXD Moto 1 20 + 1 lap
11:45pm 1:00pm Lunch 50 min
1:00pm 1:30pm Motul MX2 Moto 2 20 Min + 1 lap
1:30pm 2:00pm Monster MX1 Moto 2 20 Min + 1 lap
2.00pm 2:30pm Pirelli MXD Moto 2 20 Min + 1 lap
2.30pm 3:00pm Motul MX2 Moto 3 20 Min + 1 lap
3:00pm 3:30pm Monster MX1 Moto 3 20 Min + 1 lap
3:30pm 4:00pm Monster MXD Moto 3 20 Min + 1 lap
The 2 x 30 Minute Moto Format will run at :
Round 2 Appin NSW April 13th.
Round 3 Wonthaggi Vic April 29th
Round 4 Murray Bridge SA May 18th
Round 6 Swan Hill June Vic June 29th
Round 9 Gladstone QLD August 26th
Race Day Schedule
8:30am 8:55am Motul MX2 P/Q 25 Min
9.00am 9:25am Monster MX1 P/Q 25 Min
9.30am 9.35am Go Pro Super pole 5 Min
9:35am 9:55am Pirelli MXD P/Q 20 Min
10.00am 10.20am Support class P/Q 20 Min
10.20am 10.25am Official Opening 5 Min
10.30am 11:05am Motul MX2 Moto 1 30 Min + 1 lap
11:15am 11:50am Monster MX1 Moto 1 30 Min + 1 lap
12.00pm 12.25pm Pirelli MXD Moto 1 20 Min + 1 lap
12:25pm 1:15pm Lunch 50 min
1:15pm 1:35pm Support class Moto 1 15 Min
1:45pm 2:25pm Motul MX2 Moto 2 30 Min + 1 lap
2:35pm 3:10pm Monster MX1 Moto 2 30 Min + 1 lap
3.20pm 3:45pm Pirelli MXD Moto 2 20 Min + 1 lap
3.55pm 4:10pm Support class Moto 2 15 Min
Team Red Bull Ice One Racing in for the Hawkestone International 23rd February
After the signing of the World MX2 World Champion Jeffrey Herlings to race at the Hawkstone International on the 23rd of February, the HIMX team are really pleased to announce that the Red Bull Ice One Husqvarna Racing team consisting of Tyla Rattray and Todd Waters will also be competing at the Hawkstone International.
Former MX2 World Champion Rattray has been competing in the AMA Championship the last few years and he will return to the GP scene for 2014. Rattray won the World Championship in 2008 before moving to America and competing there ever since.
Tyla Rattray – “I’m really excited to come back to race at Hawkstone again. I had a great time racing there in 2008 and I really hope we have great weather and therefore have some great racing for the fans to see.”
His team-mate will be Australian Todd Waters, Waters will make his debut in the World GP season next year and one of his first stops of the year will be the famous Hawkstone Park track on the 23rd February in preparation for his 2014 GP season.
Also making an appearance at the Hawkstone International will be Marc de Reuver, he will be riding for the BT Motorsport Honda squad. He has won the super final once on a 125 and has also secured five podiums at the event which he loves.
Marc de Reuver – “I’m really happy to be back riding at Hawkstone. I have only a few races a year that I really look forward to and the Hawkstone International is always one of them. The atmosphere, the track and I absolutely love the British crowd. The BT Motorsport Honda is a bike I really love so I am looking forward to the battle with the other guys.”
Motul Pirelli Troy Bayliss Classic – January 18, 2013
The Taree Motorcycle Club hosted a crowd of just over 6000 people for the second annual Motul Pirelli Troy Bayliss Classic and when the checker flag dropped at the end of the feature race it was Troy Bayliss himself who took the victory on a very well prepared KTM.
The three time World Superbike Champion battled YZ450 mounted American Sammy Halbert early in the 21-lap race with Halbert actually passing Bayliss on lap seven but Bayliss quickly squirted down the inside of the next corner to re-take the lead.
With the pace getting seriously hot at the front the multiple American flat track champ slid out coming out of the hiar-pin turn thus handing the lead and eventual win the Bayliss who beat home the hard charging duo of Troy Herfoss and defending champion Michael Kirkness.
“I am absolutely over the moon with the whole event,” Bayliss said. “When you have a win it is always the icing on the cake. The Americana was great, I stuffed that up a little but the crowd love it.”
“This was a really cool event, it was so great to come here and meet a bunch of famous road, speedway and motocross racers,” Halbert said. “I was happy to be competitive and to be able to battle with Troy for the lead in the Troy Bayliss Cup was special, I took the lead briefly but Troy passed me right back then I was trying to make something happen and slide out in the tight left hand corner.”
Kirkness was able to take the overall win in the All-Stars class ahead of Bayliss and Herfoss while three-time World Speedway Champion Jason Crump took out the Legends class which included Jeff Leisk, Shayne King, Phil Lovett and Stephen Gall to name a few.
21 Lap Troy Bayliss Cup Results: 1. Troy Bayliss. 2. Troy Herfoss. 3. Michael Kirkness. 4. Henry Wiles. 5. Luke Richards. 6. Josh Hook. 7. Sammy Halbert. 8. Chris Vermeulen. 9. Paul Caslick. 10. Matt Davies. 11. Jamie Stauffer. 12. Wayne Maxwell.
All Stars Overall Results: 1. Michael Kirkness. 2. Troy Bayliss. 3. Troy Herfoss. 4. Jack Miller. 5. Henry Wiles. 6. Jamie Stauffer. 7. Toby Price. 8. Sammy Halbert. 9. Paul Caslick. 10. Josh Hook.
Legends Overall Results: 1. Jason Crump. 2. Chris Watson. 3. Shawn Giles. 4. David Armstrong. 5. Jeff Leisk. 6. Stephen Gall. 7. Stuart Bennett. 8. Barry Cockle. 9. Phil Lovett. 10. Shayne King.
2014 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship – Round 3 – Anaheim
OK, before we get into round three, here is the injury list to date:
Blake Baggett Broken foot
Zach Bell Broken collarbone
Justin Bogle Broken vertebra
Trey Canard Broken arm
Casey Hinson Broken hand, facial fractures
Brett Hottel Broken femur
Austin Howell Broken thumb, collapsed lung
Dillon Huddleston Broken thumb
Ben Lamay Dislocated wrist, broken jaw
Davi Millsaps Knee injury
Marvin Musquin Knee injury (ACL)
Austin Politelli Broken femur
Joey Savatgy Broken wrist, collapsed lung
Broc Schmelyun Broken legs
Shane Sewell Broken foot
Eli Tomac Rotator cuff
Anaheim 2 for 2014 honored 40 Years of the Sport’s History by inviting all 22 of the main championship winners to attend the race and be part of a Legends and Heroes display in the pit area, where iconic bikes and retro memorabilia was be on display.
Jeremy McGrath (7 Titles – ‘93; ’94; ’95; ’96; ’98; ’99; ’00), Ricky Carmichael (5 Titles – ’01; ’02; ’03; ’05; ’06), Bob Hannah (3 Titles – ’77; ’78; ’79), Jeff Stanton (3 Titles – ’89; ’90; ’92), Ryan Villopoto (3 – ’11; ’12); ’13, Jeff Ward (2 Titles – ‘85; ’87), Chad Reed (2 Titles -’04; ’08), Rick Johnson (2 Titles – ’86; ’88), James Stewart (2 Titles -’07; ’09), Pierre Karsmakers (1 Title – ’74), Jim Ellis (1 Title – ’75), Jim Weinert (1 Title – ’76), Mike Bell (1 Title – ’80), Mark Barnett (1 Title – ’81), Donnie Hansen (1 Title – ’82), David Bailey (1 Title – ’83), Johnny O’Mara (1 Title – ’84), J.M. Bayle (1 Title – ’91), Jeff Emig (1 Title – ’97) and Ryan Dungey (1 Title – ’10) were all presented with a commemorative helmet before they were introduced to the crowd during opening ceremonies and to top that off the race track was a replica of the 2001 Anaheim season opener while many of the current teams and riders turned up with retro looking bikes and riding gear.
450 Race Report: All three Aussie riders qualified well with Chad Reed scoring the fifth fastest time, Matt Moss the 16th fastest while Lawson Bopping did a great job to end up in 24th place. Reed and Moss easily qualified to the main event but Bopping was taken out while in a qualifying position in the LCQ.
In the 20 lap main event Ryan Dungey who took the holeshot in front of Nick Wey, James Stewart, Ryan Villopoto, Ken Roczen and Chad Reed and to everone’s surprise Roczen passed Villopoto during the opening lap.
As Wey made his way backwards, Dungey had built up a lead but on lap four his back end slipped out in the whoop section ending in weird, laydown crash in the next right hander which handed the lead to Stewart and it looked like the former champ was going to march on to another win until RV took second from Roczen and started making serious ground on Stewart. All the while Chadd Reed was sitting there waiting for his chance.
After several side-by-side riding exhibitions Stewart and RV tangled in the corner following the finish line and Villopoto went down handing the lead once again to Stewart with just a handful of laps to go. Chad Reed then found the old spark and reeled of a series of laps unmatched by anyone else on the track to pass both Roczen and Stewart to take the win from Stewart, Roczen and Justin Braytton.
“I just went for it and finally got a good start. First few laps were tough. Everyone was kind of going everywhere, the track was really slick. It got beat down and kind of got myself a little bit of a gap and just sat on Roczen really. Actually I sat on RV and then RV got Roczen. I tried to go to the front. I felt that Villo was going to go to the front and I just tried to stay on the back of him,” said Reed.
“I looked at the board and we were lap 16. Right around then I was kind of like, it feels like I got this thing. I could see that I was getting faster and the lines were coming to me a little easier and more frequently. So I just put my head down and tried to grind away. When I got to Stew I tried to put a good, clean pass on him and then get away so that he couldn’t come back at me. He’s obviously awesome at doing that, ducking right back up the inside of you and fighting for it. It was kind of a retro weekend in the fact that it was me and Stew going at it. This time we just didn’t bash bars,” continued Reed after main event win number 42.
James Stewart had this to say. “I knew whoever was riding behind was riding really good. And Chad does good, I mean, he’s not a bad rider! He’s fast. When he smells victory like that I think he goes for it. When he’s on, he’s on. And tonight obviously he was. We just took off and we ended up second place. But it was crazy. I saw both Ryans go down, a lot of mistakes out there. So 17th (his finish at round one) is hurting right now. So keep chipping away. We closed it down. Just keep on building off that.”
Unbelievably, Dungey bomb-dived Villopoto on the very last corner and took both of them down but RV remounted quicker to take fifth place ahead of Dungey, Weston Peick and Justin Hill.
Points wise Roczen has the red plate back and is just one point in front of Villopoto who in turn has a two point lead over Reed and Dungey. Justin Brayton is only five points back from Roczen while Stewart is just 14 points back from the points lead so there are plenty of riders still in the championship hunt.
Matt Moss had his worst final of the season with a poor start followed by a solid run up the leader board to 13th place before making a few mistakes while battling with Ivan Tedesco and Wil Hahn dropping the Aussie back to 19th place at the finish line.
450SX Main Event: 1. Chad Reed Kaw. 2. James Stewart Suz. 3. Ken Roczen KTM. 4. Justin Brayton Yam. 5. Ryan Villopoto Kaw. 6. Ryan Dungey KTM. 7. Weston Peick Suz. 8. Josh Hill Suz. 9. Andrew Short KTM. 10. Jake Weimer Kaw. 11. Justin Barcia Hon. 12. Wil Hahn Hon. 13. Ivan Tedesco KTM. 14. Josh Grant Yam. 15. Nick Wey Kaw. 16. Matt Goerke KTM. 17. Vince Friese Hon. 18. Mike Alessi Suz. 19. Matt Moss Suz. 20. Chris Blose Hon. 21. Kyle Partridge Hon. 22. Jimmy Albertson Hon.
450SX Point Standings after 3 of 17 Rounds: 1. Ken Roczen 60pts KTM. 2. Ryan Villopoto 59pts Kaw. 3. Chad Reed 57pts Kaw. 4. Ryan Dungey 57pts KTM. 5. Justin Brayton 55pts Yam. 6. James Stewart 44pts Suz. 7. Justin Barcia 42pts Hon. 8. Andrew Short 38pts KTM. 9. Wil Hahn 30pts Hon. 10. Brock Tickle 26pts Suz. 11. Jake Weimer 25pts Kaw. 12. Josh Grant 21pts Yam. 13. Weston Peick 20pts Suz. 14. Matt Moss 20pts Suz. 15. Ivan Tedesco 18pts KTM. 16. Josh Hill 16pts Suz. 17. Mike Alessi 16pts Suz. 18. Nick Wey 14pts Kaw. 19. Matt Goerke 12pts KTM. 20. Vince Friese 11pts Hon.
250 Race Report: Cole Seely nailed the holeshot ahead of Cooper Webb and worked hard at building a lead that would last the entire race to earn the TLD Honda rider’s first win of the season.
Championship leader Jason Anderson came out of the first corner just inside the top ten and sliced his through the field but by the time he got into second place Seely’s lead was too big. Dean Wilson was running third early in the race but clipped a Tuff Block and went down while Malcolm Stewart and Zach Osborne got tangled up in the same crash.
By race end Seeley took the win well ahead of Anderson while Cooper Webb rode a strong race to take his first podium of his supercross career. Stewart managed to get back to fourth place ahead of Justin Hill who had a great race despite going down in the first turn and remounting in dead last.
Cole Seely was wrapped to get the win. “Yeah, I got off to a great start. I have to thank Jeremy McGrath for that. He’s been helping me with my starts. I’ve had great starts in the last three rounds, and I think the nerves have actually helped me too. I charged really hard in the beginning to try to establish a gap between myself and Cooper Webb—I think that’s was who was in second. In the first two rounds I got into trouble on the final two laps with lappers and little mistakes here and there, so I wanted to have extra breathing room just in case. Once I knew I had a pretty big gap, I backed it down a little bit on the last two laps just concentrated on hitting my marks and not making any mistakes. I put my bike on top of the box, which is exactly where my team and I deserve to be. I’ve led probably forty of the forty five laps we’ve raced so far, and it’s tough not to have all three wins. But I’ll take this and keep the momentum moving forward.”
Cooper Webb wraps up his day. “It was cool, I got another good start and just kind of rode behind Seely for about eight laps. Anderson got around me, and I got kind of nervous. I just wanted to finish on the podium. Kind of had a rough day, wasn’t feeling too good this morning. My first practice I rode like an idiot, my second practice, I was fourth, but I got a little sketchy and they said I came back on the track a little too fast, and they docked my fastest lap. So that pushed me back to seventh. It would have been my first time on the board. I guess it all worked out.”
There was some drama after the race when Jason Anderson was docked two positions and four points for jumping while the ‘no jumping’ flag was being waved. Seely will now carry the red plate into the Oakland round.
As for Dean Ferris, the Aussie qualified 11th, easily made it straight into thye main from his heat and was riding well in fifth place early in the main event until he and Malcolm Stewart tangled leaving the Aussie on the ground. Ferris remounted and finished in 1th place and now sits a more than credible ninth in the series.
“It’s unfortunate that I crashed tonight,” commented Ferris at nights end. “I was hoping to improve upon last week’s performance but my crash set me back, having a poor result just motivates you to try harder each week. I will work even harder this week to be inside the top ten at the next round in Oakland,” he concluded.
250SX Main Event Results: 1. Cole Seely Hon. 2. Cooper Webb Yam. 3. Malcolm Stewart Hon. 4. Jason Anderson KTM (after penalty). 5. Justin Hill Kaw. 6. Shane McElrath Hon. 7. Dean Wilson Kaw. 8. Zach Osborne Hon. 9. Michael Leib Hon. 10. Jessy Nelson Hon. 11. Dean Ferris KTM. 12. Dakota Tedder Kaw. 13. Cole Martinez Kaw. 14. Chris Plouffe Hon. 15. Valentin Teillet Kaw. 16. Chris Howell Yam. 17. Chris Proscelle Hon. 18. Conner Elliott Hon. 19. Scott Champion Yam. 20. Austin Burns Hon. 21. Aaron Siminoe Kaw. 22. Joseph Dalzell Kaw.
250SX Point Standings: 1. Cole Seely 69pts Hon. 2. Jason Anderson 68pts KTM. 3. Zach Osborne 53pts Hon. 4. Cooper Webb 51pts Yam. 5. Dean Wilson 50pts Kaw. 6. Malcolm Stewart 47pts Hon. 7. Justin Hill 44pts Kaw. 8. Jessy Nelson 35pts Hon. 9. Dean Ferris 31pts KTM. 10. Shane McElrath 29pts Hon. 11. Michael Leib 22pts Hon. 12. Darryn Durham 21pts Kaw. 13. Dakota Tedder 21pts Kaw. 14. Cole Martinez 20pts Kaw. 15. Scott Champion 14pts Yam. 16. Chris Plouffe 13pts Hon. 17. Austin Politelli 11pts Yam. 18. Jake Canada 10pts Hon. 19. Valentin Teillet 10pts Kaw. 20. Austin Burns 9pts Hon.
2014 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series an FIM World Championship
Rd 1: January 4 – Angel Stadium – Anaheim, Calif.
Rd 2: January 11 – Chase Field – Phoenix
Rd 3: January 18 – Angel Stadium – Anaheim, Calif.
Rd 4: January 25 – O.Co Coliseum – Oakland, Calif.
Rd 5: February 1 – Angel Stadium – Anaheim, Calif.
Rd 6: February 8 – Qualcomm Stadium – San Diego
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 – Round 3 – Louisville, Kentucky
The 2014 AMSOIL Arenacross Series continued last Saturday night with the third round of action from Louisville, Ky., inside Freedom Hall. The championship’s first visit to Louisville since 2011 featured a dominant performance from its hometown rider as Kentucky native Tyler Bowers swept both Arenacross Class Main Events aboard his Babbitt’s Monster Energy/AMSOIL Kawasaki to capture his second win of the season while in the Eastern Regional Arenacross Lites Class, Frontier Lubricants KTM’s Daniel Blair broke through for his first win of the year.
Bowers established his position at the front of the field as soon as the gate dropped on the first Arenacross Class Main Event, grabbing the holeshot and pulling away from the field. Triangle Cycles Yamaha’s Keith Tucker and Motosport.com/MJM Express/Spinechillers Racing KTM’s Nathan Skaggs followed in second and third, while points leader Zach Ames, who rides for Babbitt’s Monster Energy/AMSOIL Kawasaki, and Motosport.com/MJM Express/Spinechillers Racing Kawasaki’s Michael McDade both started outside the top 10. Last week’s Saturday night winner and Road to Supercross competitor, Aaron Plessinger, also started outside the top 10 aboard his Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha.
Bowers was never challenged throughout the 15-lap Main Event, but there was great action behind him. Tucker, a Road to Supercross competitor, maintained his hold on second place until the final lap when he suffered misfortune, allowing TUF Performance Honda’s Jeff Gibson to finish second and Motosport.com/MJM Express/Spinechillers Racing KTM’s Willy Browning to claim third. Ames fought his way from 14th off the start to finish fifth, Plessinger worked his way from 11th to finish eighth, and McDade moved up just three spots from 15th to finish 12th.
Bowers selected the inversion for the second and final Main Event of the night, selecting 16 for the first time this season and it was Honda rider Kyle Regal raced to the holeshot in the second Main Event, with TZR Woodstock KTM’s Travis Sewell and KMS KTM’s Dave Ginolfi in tow. Bowers started on the second row and came out of the first turn in eighth, but quickly began making moves forward. Ames asserted himself just outside the top five in sixth, while McDade rebounded from a difficult first Main Event to start inside the top five.
McDade moved into podium position by the second lap, but Bowers was on the move with Ames. The defending champion picked off riders one-by-one and took over third by Lap 6, eventually passing McDade for second on Lap 7. Bowers set his sights on Regal and took over the lead on Lap 10 to secure the sweep. Regal held on for second, while Sewell made a late pass on McDade for third. Ames experienced heartbreak in his battle towards the front, when an apparent problem with his motorcycle dropped him to 13th.
Bowers’ perfect score combined with the adversity faced by his championship rivals resulted in a big night in the points. He was joined on the overall podium by Browning (3-6) and Gibson (2-7).
In Head-to-Head Bracket Racing, Bowers capped off his perfect homecoming with a win and extra championship bonus point som in the Arenacross Class standings Bowers moved to within three points of Ames for the lead with McDade sitting another three points behind in third.
Hillview Motorsports Suzuki’s Steve Roman secured the holeshot to take the early lead in the 18-lap Arenacross Lites Class Main Event, with Kawasaki rider Aaron Gulley and BWREngines.com Honda’s Maxx Malatia in tow. Malatia wasted little time taking over second and immediately began to pressure Roman. On Lap 5, Malatia made a pass of the lead, but he and Roman made contact, forcing both riders to lose considerable track position.
Blair assumed the lead, followed by Gateway Cycles Kawasaki’s Steven Mages and Gulley. Mages experience misfortune as well, allowing Gulley to take over second and Traders Racing Kawasaki’s Tony Archer to move into third. Blair opened up a lead of over five seconds at one point, but Archer passed Gulley for second and was able to close the gap in the late stages of the race. Blair fended off the late challenge to secure the win.
Blair and Archer were joined by Gulley on the podium. Archer, the points leader entering Saturday, extended his lead Eastern Regional Arenacross Lites Class championship and now holds a 13-point lead over second place.
Arenacross Class Overall: 1. Tyler Bowers (1-1) Kaw. 2. Willy Browning (3-6) KTM. 3. Jeff Gibson (2-7) Hon. 4. Jacob Hayes (7-5) Kaw. 5 Kyle Regal (11-2) Hon. 6. Cory Green (4-9) Suz. 7. Mike McDade (12-4) Kaw. 8. Nathan Skaggs (6-10) KTM. 9. Zach Ames (5-13) Kaw. 10. Travis Sewell (16-3) KTM.
Arenacross Class Point Standings: 1. Zach Ames 129pts Kaw. 2. Tyler Bowers 126pts Kaw. 3. Mike McDade 123pts Kaw. 4. Willy Browning 121pts KTM. 5. Jacob Hayes 105pts Kaw. 6. Kelly Smith 77pts KTM. 7. Cory Green 72pts Suz. 8. Aaron Plessinger 70pts Yam. 9. Robby Marshall 67pts KTM. 10. Gared Steinke 66pts Kaw
Arenacross Lites Overall: 1. Daniel Blair KTM. 2. Tony Archer Kaw. 3. Aaron Gulley Kaw. 4. Brandon Glenn KTM. 5. Michael Lang Hon. 6. Maxx Malatia Hon. 7. Scott Zont KTM. 8. Jeremy Pronovost KTM. 9. Darian Sanayei Kaw. 10. Jacob Williamson Yam.
.Eastern Regional Lites Point Standings: 1. Tony Archer 67pts Kaw. 2. Jacob Williamson 54pts Yam. 3. Brandon Glenn 43pts KTM. 4. Michael Lang 41pts Hon. 5. Steve Roman 34pts Suz. 6. Keith Tucker 33pts Yam. 7. Scott Zont 32pts KTM. 8. Fredrik Noren 28pts KTM. 9. Travis Delnicki 20pts Suz. 10. Dylan Rouse 20pts Hon.
2014 AMSOIL Arenacross Championships
Rd1 – January 3-5 – Worcester, MA
Rd2 – January 10-12 – Baltimore, MD
Rd3 – January 18-19 – Louisville, KY
Rd4 – January 25-26 – Greensboro, NC
Rd5 – January 31-Feb. 2 – Milwaukee, WI
Rd6 – February 7-9 – Sacramento, CA
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 – Rounds 1 and 2 – Belfast
The 2014 Garmin Arenacross series has kicked off with a two night program in Belfast and Aussie’s Daniel McCoy and Luke Arbon joined the international contingent of riders which included Fabien Izoird, Loic Rombaut, Tyler Villopoto, Angelo Pellegrini and Cyrille Coulon as well as the cream of the British moto scene of Kristian Whatley, Carl Nunn, Nev Bradshaw, James Harrison, Ashley Greedy, Alfie Smith, Jamie Law, Bryan Mackenzie, Jason Dougan, Graeme Irwin, Steven Clarke, Brad Anderson and Elliott Banks-Brown.
Former Australian Supercross Championship contender Steven Clarke took the opening night quite easily over Whatley, Izoird and McCoy but on night two Izoird got the better of Clarke who in turn beat home Elliott Banks-Brown, Loic Rombaut, Cyrille Coulon, McCoy and Arbon.
McCoy sits third in the series while Arbon is back in 12th place looking to improve.
Round 1 Main Event Result: 1. Steven Clarke. 2. Kristian Whatley. 3. Fabien Izoird. 4. Daniel McCoy. 5. Loic Rombaut. 6. Bryan Mackenzie. 7. Cyrille Coulon. 8. Nev Bradshaw. 9. James Harrison. 10. Brad Anderson. 11. Ashley Greedy. 12. Jamie Law. DNF. Elliott Banks-Browne.
Round 2 Main Event Result: 1. Fabien Izoird. 2. Steven Clarke. 3. Elliott Banks-Browne. 4. Loic Rombaut. 5. Cyrille Coulon. 6. Daniel McCoy. 7. Luke Arbon. 8. Jamie Law. 9. Brad Anderson. 10. Nev Bradshaw. 11. Gordon Crockard. 12. Kristian Whatley.
Points After Round 2 of 7: 1. Fabien Izoird – LPE Kawasaki Kawasaki 42. 2. Steven Clarke – Dyer & Butler KTM KTM 41. 3. Daniel McCoy – MBO Sport ASA Scaffolding Yamaha – 33. 4. Loic Rombaut – LPE Kawasaki – 30. 5. Cyrille Coulon – SR75 Molson Suzuki – 27. 6. Kristian Whatley MBO Sport ASA Scaffolding Yamaha – 25. 7. Nev Bradshaw – Putoline Apico Honda – 24. 8. Elliott Banks-Browne – Buildbase Honda – 22. 9. Brad Anderson Buildbase Honda – 19. 10. Jamie Law – Dyer & Butler KTM – 18. 11. Bryan Mackenzie – Pendrich Kawasaki – 13. 12. Luke Arbon – Dave Thorpe Off Road Centre Honda – 12.
Dates and Venues for the 2014 series
Rounds 1 and 2 – Jan 17/18 – Belfast
Round 3 – Jan 25 – Birmingham
Round 4 – Feb 2 – Liverpool
Round 5 – Feb 9 – Newcastle
Round 6 – Feb 15 – Sheffield
Round 7 – March 1 – London
2014 Dakar Ralye – Coma Wins
Red Bull KTM factory rider Marc Coma cruised into Valparaiso, Chile, on Saturday afternoon to pick up his fourth individual Dakar title and to secure KTM’s thirteenth Dakar win while his factory teammate Jordi Viladoms made ii a memorable day for the Austrian manufacturer by finishing second overall.
It was a dominating performance by Coma who led the overall standings from Stage Five, scored three stage wins, four second and three third place finishes and completed the 13-stage race in 54 hours 50.53, almost two hours ahead of second placed Viladoms.
Coma described his Dakar experience as “an extreme and grueling Dakar” and dedicated the win to “my friend Kurt Caselli”. Caselli, part of the Red Bull KTM Factory team was killed in a race accident in November.
“Without the right people behind me it would have been impossible to win,” Coma said. “We have worked very well throughout the race and also before. Last year I went through a very difficult situation not being able to compete because of injury and I came back to win the race. I think this says a lot about the people I have around me. I am very proud of this victory, what was key to winning the Dakar was not to make any mistakes.”
Coma, who has been a KTM factory rider since 2003, first won in Africa in 2006. He then repeated his success in 2009 and 2011 after the Dakar was relocated to South America. He did not compete in 2013 because of injury.
Understandably, going into the final stage with a massive lead, Coma took it easy in the final stage, finishing in eighteenth place. However the main focus for the factory team was whether Viladoms was going to be able to finish second.
Going into Stage 13 Viladoms was challenged for the podium spot by the Yamaha pairing of Olivier Pain and Cyril Despres but his sixth place proved more than enough to give him second place on the podium with Pain rounding out the podium in overall third.
Viladoms, who said after the race that he was “overwhelmed and over the moon” with his result was drafted back into the team after several years away and his second place finish was a personal best for the Dakar veteran.
In a bizarre coincidence, the Aussie trio of Troy O’Connor (KTM), Shane Diener (Yamaha) and Allan Roberts (KTM) finished 37th, 38th and 39th respectively after 13 gruelling stages. Onya boys.
2014 Dakar Rally Final Overall Standings:
1. Marc Coma (ESP, KTM) 54:50:53 hrs
2. Jordi Viladoms (ESP, KTM) +01:52:27
3. Olivier Pain (FRA, Yamaha) +02:00:03
4. Cyril Despres (FRA, Yamaha) +02:00:38
5. Helder Rodrigues (PRT, Honda) +02:11:09
6. Jakub Przygonski (POL, KTM) +02:31:46
7. Joan Barreda (ESP, Honda) +02:54:01
8. Daniel Gouet (CHL, Honda) +03:10:34
9. Stefan Svitko (SVK, KTM) +03:50:10
10. David Casteu (FRA, KTM) +03:58:09
37. Troy O’Connor (Aus, KTM) +14:47:58
38. Shane Diener (Aus, Yamaha) +15:33:18
39. Allan Roberts (Aus, KTM) +15:40:49
2013/2014 ADAC SX Cup – Results from Round 4 – Westfalenhalle, Dortmund
The final round of the ADAC Supercrpss Cup was held in Westfalenhalle, Dortmund last weekend and it was French ace Greg Aranda who came away with the round win and the overall SX1 championship after hot favourite and the fastest rider on the night Gavin Faith tangled with another rider in the final and crashed out of the race.
In the SX2 class it was another Frenchman in Jaulin Sulivan who took the round win and the SX2 championship after dominating the class all weekend.
SX1 Final: 1 Florent Richier (FRA, IIP), 2 Greg Aranda (FRA, KAW), +3036. 3 Fabien Izoird (FRA, IIP), +3735. 4 Dennis Ullrich (GER, KTM) +4503. 5 Steven Clarke (GBR, KTM) +5189. 6 Jace Owen (USA, IIP), +12,787. 7 Nick Kouwenberg (NED, IIP), +14,017. 8 Harri kullas (FIN, KTM), +15,063. 9 Rombout Loic (FRA, HON), +16,030. 10 Charles Lefrancois (FRA, IIP), 11 Justin Starling (USA, HON), 12 Gavin Faith (USA, HON), DNF
King of Dortmund: 1. Aranda, Greg (FRA, KAW), 40 points. 2. Richier, Florent (FRA, IIP), 36. 3. Ullrich, Dennis (GER, KTM), 29. 4. Faith, Gavin (USA, HON), 25. 5. Izoird, Fabien (FRA, IIP), 21. 6. Kulla, Harri (FIN, KTM), 18. 7. Lefrancois, Charles (FRA, IIP), 14. 8. Bonini, Matteo (ITA, KAW), 13. 9. Starling, Justin (USA, HON), 12. 10. Clarke, Steven (GBR, KTM), 11. 11. Owen, Jace (USA, IIP), 10. 12. Kouwenberg, Nick (NED, IIP), 9. 13. Maillard, Boris (FRA, KAW), 9. 14. Rombout, Loic (FRA, HON), 7. 15. Rodriques, Joaquim (POR, HON), 6.
Final SX1 Points after 4 Rounds: 1. Gregory Aranda (FRA, KAW), 121 points. 2. Richier Florent (FRA, IIP), 107. 3. Gavin Faith (USA, HON), 95. 4. Izoird Fabien (FRA, IIP), 89. 5. Boris Maillard, (FRA, KAW), 80. 6. Kyle Chisholm (USA, YAM), 69. 7. Teddy Maier (USA, IIP), 63. 8. Dennis Ullrich (GER, KTM), 56. 9. Harri Kullas (FIN, KTM), 47. 10. Jake Canada (USA, KAW), 34.
Prince of Dortmund: 1 Jaulin, Sulivan (FRA, KAW), 90 points. 2 Thury, Dominique (GER, KAW), 74. 3 Escoffier, Adrien (FRA, IIP), 55. 4 Olsen, Stefan Kjer (DEN, KAW), 48. 5 Versluis, Dave (NED, KAW), 38. 6 Collin, Arnaud (FRA, KAW), 38. 7 Olsson, Kalle (SWE, HON), 34. 8 Bayliss, Christophe (GBR, HON), 31. 9 Jorgensen, Mathias (DEN, KTM), 29. 10 Soper, Marcus Lee (GBR, IIP), 23.
Final SX2 Points after 4 Rounds: 1 Jaulin Sulivan (FRA, KAW), 345 points. 2 Dominique Thury (GER, KAW), 292. 3 Adrien Escoffier (FRA, IIP), 209. 4 Irsuti Yannis (FRA, YAM), 153. 5 Mathias Jorgensen (DEN, KTM), 102. 6 Roptin Theo (FRA, KTM), 93. 7 Stefan Olsen (DEN, KAW), 91. 8 Dave Versluis (NED, KAW), 84. 9 Le Hir Gaetan (FRA, HON), 82. 10 Mallet Simon (FRA, HON), 76.
Round 1 – 8th – 9th November 2013 – Hanns-Martin-Schleyer Halle, Stuttgart
Round 2 – 29th – 30th November 2013 – Chemnitz Arena
Round 3 – 20th – 21st December 2013 – Olympiahalle Munich
Round 4 – 10th – 12th January 2014 – Westfalenhalle Dortmund
FIM SuperEnduro Championship – Results from Round three – Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Red Bull KTM factory rider Taddy Blazusiak has won round three of the FIM SuperEnduro Championship, held in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, on Saturday by picking up the Superpole win and a 1-3-1 result in the three finals while Sherco’s David Knight finished second overall with Alfredo Gomez sneaking third place aheadof Jonny Walker who went 3-4-3 over the three races.
Knight is obviously taking a liking to the Sherco with a trio of seconds while Gomez won the second final of the evening aboard his Husqvarna and backed that up with a pair of fourths.
SE Prestige Final 1: 1. Taddy Blazusiak – POL. 2. David Knight – GBR. 3. Jonny Walker- GBR. 4. Alfredo Gomez – ESP. 5. Joakim Ljunggren – SWE. 6. Daniel Gibert-Gatell – ESP. 7. Kyle Redmond – USA. 8. Mathias Bellino – FRA. 9. Kevin Rookestool – USA. 10. Ricky Dietrich – USA.
SE Prestige Final 2: 1. Alfredo Gomez – ESP. 2. David Knight – GBR. 3. Taddy Blazusiak – POL. 4. Jonny Walker – GBR. 5. Joakim Ljunggren – SWE. 6. Daniel Gibert-Gatell – ESP. 8. Kevin Rookstool – USA. 9. Benoit Fortunato – FRA. 10. Kyle Redmond – USA.
SE Prestige Final 3: 1. Taddy Blazusiak – POL. 2. David Knight – GBR. 3. Jonny Walker – GBR. 4. Alfredo Gomez – ESP. 5. Joakim Ljuggren – SWE. 6. Kyle Redmond – USA. 7. Daniel Gibert-Gatell – ESP. 8. Mathias Bellino – FRA. 9. Kevin Rookstool – USA. 10. Benoit Fortunato – FRA.
Championship Standings After Round 3 of 6: 1. Taddy Blazusiak – 165 Pts. 2. David Knight – 146 Pts. 3. Alfredo Gomez – 120 Pts. 4. Jonny Walker – 112 Pts. 5. Daniel Gibert-Gatell – 109 Pts. 6. Joakim Ljunggren – 94 Pts. 7. Kyle Redmond – 63 Pts. 8. Mathias Bellino – 56 Pts. 9. Daniel McCanney – 53 Pts. 10. Kevin Rookstool – 50 Pts.
Rd1: 17/11/13 FIM SUPERENDURO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP – GREAT BRITAIN Liverpool, Echo Arena
Rd2: 15/12/13 FIM SUPERENDURO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP – POLAND Lodz, Atlas Arena
Rd3: 18/01/14 FIM SUPERENDURO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP – BRAZIL Belo Horizonte
Rd4: 25/01/14 FIM SUPERENDURO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP – MEXICO Guadalajara, Jalisco
Rd5: 09/02/14 FIM SUPERENDURO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP – SPAIN Barcelona, Palau Sant Jordi
Rd6: 22/02/14 FIM SUPERENDURO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP – FRANCE Parc des Expositions
