Moto News for Dec 9, 2014 – by Darren Smart
Australasian News
Queenslander Caleb Ward contested the Auckland Motocross Championships held at Harrisville last weekend and managed a solid third place in the Pro-Lites class while living legend Darryll King had his first MX1 race in several years and managed fourth in the class. Kayne Lamont won the MX2 class and Brad Groombridge took out the MX1 class.
This will be very interesting; the president of Motorcycling Australia Braxton Laine has announced that Ross Oakley (OAM) will chair the ‘Whole of Sport Review’ (WoSR) of motorcycle sport in Australia. Oakley is the former head honcho of the AFL and brings a world of knowledge when it comes to analysing and taking forward a sport for the benefit of the sport itself and the people involved. Stay tuned.
Matt Moss and Wilson Todd are the Pro-Open and Pro-Lites Queensland Supercross Champions respectively after the final round of the series was held in Jimboomba, on the West side of Brisbane last Saturday night. The racing was sensational on a track that gave the riders plenty of options. See report and results below.
Trev tested Yamaha’s new WR250F and to read what he thought click this link.
Euro News
Enduro 2 World Champion Pela Renet will be joined by Mathias Bellino, Jamie McCanney and new addition Daniel McCanney throughout the 2015 Enduro World Championship for Husqvarna while Graham Jarvis and Alfredo Gomez will represent Husqvarna in Extreme Enduro events.
Youthstream has announced that the 2015 FIM Junior Motocross World Championship will take place at El Molar in Madrid, Spain on the weekend of July 19. “The municipality of El Molar celebrates and appreciates this announcement.,” said Emilio de Frutos, El Molar City Mayor. “We will make every effort to make the participants and motocross fans feel comfortable and welcome in our town. Moreover, this international event will unveil El Molar around the world and we are happy and really proud.”
KTM Racing has announced that Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings is currently undergoing follow-up treatment on the leg fracture he sustained during the second half of the 2014 MX2 World Championship. Following his accident, surgeons stabilized Jeffrey’s broken femur with metal plates and screws and his treatment involves the removal if these metal elements.
Jeffrey has already had seven weeks of therapy and physical preparation under the expert guidance of the Red Bull Training Centre in Austria. He will take a short respite from training for a couple of days after the surgery and then return to his preparation for the 2015 season. “Having the metal taken from my leg is another important step in my recovery process and I’m really looking forward to being back on my bike for some solid track time ahead of the start of the season.”
American News
Husqvarna America and Aussie Josh Strang have come to terms on a two-year deal that will see Strang contest the 2015 Grand National Cross Country Series as well as the National Enduro Series on a FC 450. “I have been a Husky guy ever since I could remember,” Strang said in a statement. “My dad used to race them and that is all I ever wanted to ride! Joining Husqvarna really brings back memories, and puts a lot of excitement back into my racing program.”
Strang proved that he is one of the fastest off-roader in the world with a solid fifth outright at this year’s ISDE held in Argentina recently.
Team Tedder/Monster Energy Racing has signed former factory Kawasaki star Jake Weimer to join Dakota Tedder to contest the 2015 Monster Energy AMA Supercross and Lucas Oil Pro Motocross championships. Tedder will race the 250SX East Region and the 450 Class in Lucas Oil Pro Motocross while Weimer will be on the KX450F all season.
Pro-Circuit Kawasaki rider Adam Cianciarulo crashed hard at the Geneva Supercross in Switzerland last Friday and was taken to a hospital to check for a dislocated shoulder. He will wait to get back to the states for a full medical examination.
KTM’s Marvin Musquin blitzed both nights at Geneva. See full report and results below.
Can you believe that the World Anti-Doping Agency still hasn’t made a decision on James Stewart’s status? Stewart failed a drug test during the AMA Supercross Championships way back in April and from what we understand James takes a certain drug for a disorder he has and there is nothing that could be deemed as performance enhancing in this drug YET they still haven’t given James the go ahead to race at the opening round of the 2015 AMA Supercross Championships due to take place in less than a month. This is incompetence at the highest level.
Moto News for the weekend of December 6/7
- – Round 7 and 8 of the 2014 Canadian Arenacross Championships at Chilliwack, BC
- – Round 3 of the Queensland Supercross Championships held at Jimboomba
- – Round 3 of the Motosport.com Arenacross Tour in Batesville, Mississippi
- – Round 2 of the SuperEnduro World Championship in Poland
- – Geneva Supercross in Switzerland
- – Roof of Africa Hard Enduro
2014 Canadian Arenacross Championships – Round 7 and 8 – Chilliwack, BC
Teddy Maier and Ross Johnson have won the Pro-Lites and Pro-Open Canadian Arenacross Championships respectively after the final two rounds were held in Chilliwack last weekend.
Maier completely dominated both nights of racing in the Pro-Lites class to finish the series 14 points clear of Johnson while Johnson went 1-2 over the two nights in the Pro-Open class to end up 22 points clear of Maier.
Pro Lites Overall (Round 7): 1. Teddy Maier. 2. Ross Johnson. 3. Jake Anstett. 4. Shawn Maffenbeier. 5. Collin Jurin. 6. Brock Hoyer. 7. Jess Pettis. 8. Greg Crater. 9. Dylan Schmoke. 10. Todd Minnie.
Pro Lites Overall (Round 8): 1. Teddy Maier. 2. Shawn Maffenbeier. 3. Ross Johnson. 4. Jess Pettis. 5. Brock Hoyer. 6. Collin Jurin. 7. Jake Anstett. 8. Todd Minnie. 9. Greg Crater. 10. Kyle Springman.
Pro Lites Standings: 1. Teddy Maier 172. 2. Ross Johnson 158. 3. Jake Anstett 154. 4. Shawn Maffenbeier 150. 5. Brock Hoyer 123. 6. Jess Pettis 110. 7. Todd Minnie 104. 8. Brad Nauditt 81. 9. Dylan Schmoke 80. 10. Greg Crater 79.
Pro Open Overall (Round 7): 1. Ross Johnson. 2. Shawn Maffenbeier. 3. Collin Jurin. 4. Brock Hoyer. 5. Teddy Maier. 6. Jake Anstett. 7. Ryan Lockhart. 8. Todd Minnie. 9. Greg Crater. 10. Dylan Schmoke.
Pro Open Overall (Round 8): 1. Shawn Maffenbeier. 2. Ross Johnson. 3. Collin Jurin. 4. Brock Hoyer. 5. Greg Crater. 6. Ryan Lockhart. 7. Teddy Maier. 8. Jess Pettis. 9. Austin Wurster. 10. Spencer Casey.
Pro Open Standings: 1. Ross Johnson 175. 2. Teddy Maier 153. 3. Shawn Maffenbeier 151. 4. Brock Hoyer 128. 5. Adam Enticknap 114. 6. Ryan Lockhart 104. 7. Jake Anstett 96. 8. Noah McConahy 76. 9. Ricky Dietrich 75. 10. Todd Minnie 67.
Queensland Supercross Championships – Round 3 – Jimboomba
Matt Moss and Wilson Todd are the Pro-Open and Pro-Lites Queensland Supercross Champions respectively after the final round of the series was held in Jimboomba, on the West side of Brisbane last Saturday night.
Moss put his factory backed Suzuki RMZ450 to good use in the final by grabbing the holeshot and taking off for a comfortable win in the 15 lap main event ahead of teammate Lawson Bopping and twin brother Jake who had his first ride back from injury.
“It has been a long year and I can’t thank the team enough, this has been a great series and thanks to all involved, we will be back in 2015,” said Mass after the main event.
In the Pro-Lites main event Luke Clout took the holeshot with Wilson Todd slotting into second place but as the field exited the first turn and under instruction to only double the opening triple, Clout jumped the huge leap and instantly received a 20 second penalty.
Clout reeled off a series of blistering lap and held a solid five second lead at the halfway point but Todd started to reel Clout back in and by lap 11 the Yamaha riders were side by side going down the back straight and even bumped into each other going through a tight turn leaving Todd almost on the ground and handing the provisional win to Clout but the round win and championship to Todd.
“I saw Luke jump the triple on the first lap and thought about the penalty but as the race went on I forgot all about it and just tried to catch him and go for the win. I was able to get close a couple of times and even got passed him once but when we hit on the second last lap, I remembered about the penalty and just bought it home,” said Todd after the final.
“It’s awesome to win tonight and it’s great to have so many people out here watching us race. Even with the threat of storms and rain, the venue was full and the track turned out unreal, thank you to Scott Bannan and Robbie Marshall for the efforts in running the series and to the GYTR Yamaha team for always having my back.”
In the support classes Mason Rowe won the Mini Lites class, Kyal Pennell the Clubman Lites, Macca Hathaway the Clubman Open and Hunter Lawrence the Junior Lites.
Pro Open Final: 1. Matt Moss. 2. Lawson Bopping. 3. Jake Moss. 4. Daniel McCoy. 5. Kirk Gibbs. 6. Barry Surawski. 7. Joel Newton. 8. Travis Regeling. 9. Nathan Ceawford. 10. Samuel Rider.
Pro Open Final Championship Standings: 1. Matt Moss – 50. 2. Lawson Bopping – 44. 3. Kirk Gibbs – 36. 4. Daniel McCoy – 36. 5. Barry Surawski – 25. 6. Joel Newton – 25. 7. Travis Regeling – 25. 8. Jake Moss – 20. 9. Damien Harrison – 16. 10. Justin Carafu – 15.
Pro Lites Final: 1. Wilson Todd. 2. Dylan Wilson. 3. Brock McLeary. 4. Luke Clout. 5. Jesse Madden. 6. Joshua Kilvington. 7. Zak Small. 8. Shaun Jennison. 9. Jake Williams. DNF. Zaccari Luzzi.
Pro Lites Final Championship Standings: 1. Wilson Todd – 50. 2. Brock McLeary – 38. 3. Jesse Madden – 36. 4. Dylan Wilson – 35. 5. Luke Clout – 34. 6. Zak Small – 29. 7. Jay Wilson – 22. 8. Joshua Kilvinton – 15. 9. Luke Wilson – 14. 10. Shaun Jennison – 13.
Motosport.com Arenacross Tour – Round 3 – Batesville, Mississippi
The Batesville Civic Center housed round three of the ten-round series where Heath Harrison was able to make it three Clash for Cash wins so far this season. The northern Mississippi round drew in new talent to the pro class, such as Mitchell Harrison, Zach Williams, Daniel Herrlein, and Kyle Bitterman. The series will head to Memphis, Tenn. on December 13, for round four where riders will continue to defend current point rankings.
Travis Sewell topped the board in both the AX Pro and AX Pro Lites classes during timed qualifying practice to set the overall fastest lap of both groups with a 26.0-second lap time. Heath Harrison was not far off Sewells pace with a time of 26.22 seconds. The top five riders in the AX Pro Lites timed qualifying practice class were Travis Sewell, Daniel Herrlein, Mitchell Harrison, Josh Cartwright, and Josh Obsy, who all set lap times within the 26-second range. The top five riders to qualify in the AX Pro class were Sewell, Heath Harrison, Daneil Herrlein, Josh Osby, and Steven Mages. There were over twenty entries in each pro class, making for tight competition heading into the heats to secure spots on the twelve-man gate for the main event.
In the first heat of the AX Pro Lites class, Daniel Herrlein took the win to transfer into the main. Jared Lesher finished second behind Herrlein. John Murry Bar, Cody Vanbuskirk, and Josh Cartwright transferred to the main as well. Heat two winner was Orange Brigade rider, Josh Osby, with teammate Travis Sewell in second. Mitchell Harrison, Kyle Bitterman, and Travis Eck also transferred into the main. Zach Williams and Scott Zont secured the transfer spots from the LCQ.
In the AX Lites Pro main event, Mitchell Harrison, who had the third fastest lap in timed qualifying for the class, got an early lead with Sewell, Herrlein, Cartwright and Bitterman following. Sewell was able to pass Harrison to take over the lead. Harrison maintained second behind Sewell. Daniel Herrlein, Josh Cartwright, and Kyle Bitterman rounded out the top five in the main event.
In the first heat race of the AX Pro class, Josh Osby, Heath Harrison, Josh Cartwright, Travis Eck, and Cody Vanbuskirk secured spots in the main. In heat two, Travis Sewell, Steven Mages, Kyle Bitterman, Daniel Herrlein and Mitchell Harrison maintained top five transfer spots. John Murry Bar and Zach Williams fought for the two transfer spots from the AX Pro LCQ.
In the AX Pro main event, Heath Harrison jumped to an early lead. Josh Osby and Travis Sewell kept Harrison in sight with Steven Mages and Daniel Herrlein in the top five pack. Sewell was able to make the pass on Osby to move into second and finish behind Harrison. Top five in the class were Heath Harrison, Travis Sewell, Josh Osby, Daniel Herrlein, and Steven Mages.
In the finale event, the twenty-lap Clash for Cash race, Mitchell Harrison grabbed the holeshot from a stacked gate of top riders from both the AX Pro and AX Pro Lites class. Heath Harrison made the pass on Mitchell Harrison to take over the lead before the midway point of the race. Teammates Travis Sewell and Josh Osby battled in the second and third spots behind the 224 of Harrison. Daniel Herrlein, Steven Mages and Josh Cartwright battled for top five spots. Heath Harrison took the overall win to secure his third Clash for Cash win of the season, extending his winning streak and points lead.
AX Lites Overall: 1. Travis Sewell. 2. Mitchell Harrison. 3. Daniel Herrlein. 4. Josh Cartwright. 5. Kyle Bitterman. 6. Scott Zont. 7. Cody Vanbuskirk. 8. Travis Eck. 9. Jared Lesher. 10. Zach Williams .
AX Pro Overall: 1. Heath Harrison. 2. Travis Sewell. 3. Josh Osby. 4. Daniel Herrlein. 5. Steven Mages. 6. Josh Cartwright. 7. Cody Vanbuskirk. 8. Mitchell Harrison. 9. Kyle Bitterman. 10. Scott Zont.
Clash For Cash Overall: 1. Heath Harrison. 2. Travis Sewell. 3. Josh Osby. 4. Daniel Herrlein. 5. Steven Mages. 6. Josh Cartwright. 7. Jared Leshar. 8. Cody Vanbuskirk. 9. Scott Zont. 10. Kyle Bitterman.
SuperEnduro World Championship – Round 1 – Poland
Red Bull KTM Factory rider Taddy Blazusiak drew first blood by taking a dominating win at the opening round of the FIM SuperEnduro Championship Series held at Ergo Arena, in Gdansk, Poland. American Cody Webb was third overall behind fellow KTM rider David Knight, while FMF KTM Factory Racing Team rider Taylor Robert, finished sixth overall.
The race started with the top eight from qualifying turning a hot lap during the super pole sprints to see who would get top gate pick for the first main event. Red Bull KTM Factory rider Jonny Walker topped the board followed by fellow KTM riders Blazusiak and David Knight. Webb and Robert were fourth and fifth fastest.
In the first main event, Blazusiak and Walker crashed in the first corner and had to start at the back of the pack. In a remarkable charge, Blazusiak was able to move through the crowd and into the lead by the end of the six-minute plus one lap race, taking the win over Knight, Webb and Robert.
In the second main event, Blazusiak, Webb and Robert all had to start in reverse order from the first race, and therefore, had worse starts coming around the first lap in ninth, 10th and 12th respectively. Blazusiak made up the most ground and was in third by the next lap while Webb had climbed to seventh. In another two laps Blazusiak was already challenging for the lead. He passed for the lead through the water section and went on to pull a lead of over 20 seconds before crossing the line to secure the second win of the night. Webb and Robert both suffered crashes as they tried to get through the lappers and finished seventh and eighth in race two.
In the final main event, Blazusiak pulled the holeshot and led the entire race. His three race wins ended a perfect night for him and secured him the points lead heading to the next event. Webb had a decent final race and pressured for third place at the end but settled for fourth while Robert finished seventh.
“The track conditions were very different and I struggled and had some simple crashes which just hurt my overall results,” said Webb. “To come out with a third place result is actually pleasing after the day I had so I am happy to be on the podium.”
Overall Results: 1. Taddy Blazusiak (KTM). 2. David Knight (KTM). 3. Cody Webb (KTM). 4. Jonny Walker (KTM). 5. Alfredo Gomez (Hsq). 6. Taylor Robert (KTM). 7. Mario Roman (KTM). 8. Dani Gibert (GG).
Round 2 will be held on January 3, 2015 in Germany
Geneva Supercross – Switzerland
Red Bull KTM’s Marvin Musquin has dominated both nights of racing at the Geneva Supercross in Switzerland and has been crowned King of Geneva after beating home Cedric Soubeyras and Malcolm Stewart on Friday night and Gregory Aranda and Josh Hill on Saturday night.
Marvin Musquin was wrapped with his weekend in Switzerland. “It was an awesome weekend obviously, because I won both main events. Friday night was a little rough because my rear brake pedal got caught with some mud so I had to stop. I didn’t qualify for the main and had to go to the LCQ, but I made it happen and got the holeshot from the outside gate. I was pumped, you know. I won the main and I actually did the same thing today. I holeshot and raced my own race. That was my goal, because in the back it is so tough and rutted. I focused on myself, my riding style, and the lines. I’m happy—it was great racing.”
Josh Hill had this to say of his weekend. “I holeshot three of the five races, but they just red-flagged one of them that counted. On the second start, #120 on a Kawasaki rolled the start and got a massive jump. There was nothing I could do; he just lucked out on the timing. It kind of ruined my start, but hey, I came from around seventh to second, made a mistake in the whoops, and dropped back to third for third overall on the weekend. I guess I can’t really expect much more out of myself seeing as I haven’t ridden supercross since Bercy. I haven’t had a motorcycle in between trying to figure out what I’m going to ride next year.”
SX1 Final Friday: 1. Marvin Musquin, 2. Cedric Soubeyras, 3. Malcolm Stewart, 4. Fabien Izoird, 5. Josh Hill, 6. Valentin Teillet, 7. Angelo Pellegrini, 8. Christophe Martin, 9. Kyle Chisholm, 10. Matteo Bonini.
SX1 Final Saturday: 1. Marvin Musquin. 2. Gregory Aranda. 3. Josh Hill. 4. Fabien Izoird. 5. Cedric Soubeyras. 6. Valentin Teillet. 7. Jason Clermont. 8. Angelo Pellegrini. 9. Christophe Martin. 10. Loic Rombaut.
Roof of Africa Hard Enduro
KTM rider Wade Young of South Africa continued his determination to shake up the existing order of established Extreme Enduro riders on Saturday when he won his second Roof of Africa title.
Young finished with an impressive time margin ahead of veteran Graham Jarvis of Britain while Brett Swanepoel of South Africa was third. It was Young’s second title in the Roof. He made history in November 2012 when he became the youngest ever winner of the Roof of Africa in its 45-year history but also the first South African to take the title since 2007.
Jarvis stole the victory in 2013 but Young was in blistering form in the 2014 edition to be the clear winner on all three days of the event.
The victory in the Roof tops off a great season for Young, who has challenged the big guns in other events this season. He was third in the Red Bull Romaniacs behind Red Bull KTM factory rider Jonny Walker and Jarvis and was fourth in the Red Bull Sea to Sky in Turkey.
Only 42 of the 116 riders were on the start line on Day Three.
Overall Top Five: 1, Wade Young, RSA, KTM, 8:29.31. 2, Graham Jarvis, GBR, Husqvarna, 8:35.20. 3, Brett Swanepoel, RSA, Yamaha 8:35.37. 4, Altus de Wet RSA, Husqvarna 9:08.23. 5, Kenny Gilbert, Yamaha, 9:38.35.
Moto News for the weekend of December 13/14
- – Round 4 of the Motosport.com Arenacross Tour in Batesville, Mississippi
- – 2014 North Brisbane Cup (Glen Fien Memorial) at Mick Doohan Raceway, Nudgee
