Moto News Wrap for March 17, 2015 by Darren Smart
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Australasian News
CDR Yamaha’s Jacob Wright will miss the entire 2015 MX Nationals Championship after suffering a serious knee injury during practice in the lead up to the opening round. The Queenslander jammed his knee in a corner and damaged his ACL which will require reconstructive surgery and leave Wright on the sidelines for up to six months as he recovers.
Fortunately Craig Dack still has a two rider team with Kade Mosig and the rejuvenated Daniel Reardon fit and ready for the opening round of the MX Nationals which is kicking off in Horsham, Victoria on March 29.
Speaking of Reardon, the former Aussie champ was out at Roma for the opening round of the Sunshine State Motocross Championships last weekend and after three very competitive races Dylan Long pipped Reardon for the MX1 class overall while Caleb Ward carded the fastest lap time on the day to take out the MX2 class ahead of Nathan Crawford and Bailey Coxon.
Ford Dale had his first race on the factory Honda CRF450R at Roma and managed two solid opening motos but sat out the final moto. By all accounts, Ford is looking very fast.
GYR Yamaha rider Hunter Lawrence won the 15 years 250cc and the 13-15 years 125cc classes at Roma and is looking like THE rider to beat in the premier junior classes in 2015.
Dylan Long has taken out the opening round of the Victorian MX1 Motocross Championships held at Broadford last weekend. Long got the win ahead of Lawson Bopping and Kale Makeham while young Jack Simpson took out the MX2 round win ahead of Jed Beaton and Alex Morris.
The East Coast MX Series moved to the ACT for round three last weekend and in the Pro Unlimited class Aaron Tanti (Craig Anderson Racing) easily won all three motos while Joel Wightman won the Pro Lites class over Dylan Wills.
American News
Taylor Potter finally qualified for his first main event for the season but it didn’t come easy with the Aussie embroiled in a final lap battle with championship contender Jeremy Martin in their heat race. Martin was coming from the rear of the field after an early race crash and as he attempted a pass on the final lap Potter pushed the Yamaha rider wide and scored the all-important ninth place finish. Potter managed 18th place in the main event and will take great confidence from this ride as the circus heads to Detroit.
Chad Reed qualified directly to the main event from his heat race but when the main event got underway the Aussie Kawasaki rider hit the back wheel of his team mate Josh Grant in the second corner and crashed leaving him in last place. Reed stormed through the field to finish in a more than credible 9th place.
Here is what Chad had to say to RacerX. “It is what it is. For me I didn’t anticipate Josh [Grant] stopping. Josh was on the inside, and from where I saw he was in perfect position to control Peick and [Eli] Tomac and unfortunately chose to stop and I just didn’t anticipate that. I had nowhere to go and ran right into him. That was a bummer. Had to come from last and got back to ninth. But my riding felt good. Felt like I kind of did a few different things on the track. It’s too tough out here to go down and not give yourself a chance like that.” See the full Report and Results from Indianapolis below.
After consulting with RCH team owners Carey Hart and Ricky Carmichael, Ken Roczen has decided to sit out the next three weeks of supercross racing after aggravating an ankle injury sustained in Atlanta.
“It’s a tough decision but we can’t afford not to take this seriously,” explained Roczen. “I had it looked at again this week and we all decided that the only way my ankle is going to heal properly is if I take some time off. There’s a weekend off in between St. Louis and Houston so this will actually give me a month to recover. I’m really bummed because Daytona was the first race I missed in a long time. It’ll be tough to be on the sidelines but, if I continue to ride and keep aggravating my ankle, it’s not going to get any better. Unfortunately, it is what it is. For the next three races, I’ll be resting and cheering for Broc.”
Former Troy Bayliss Classic winner Michael Kirkness was over in Daytona last weekend having a crack at the AMA Grand National Championship in the Expert Singles class. At the opening round on Thursday Kirkness qualified 22nd out of 46 hopefuls, finished 5th in his first heat, 3rd in his Semi before finishing 17th in the 25 lap main event after a shocking start. To give you an idea of how competitive this class is, EVERY rider’s fastest lap in the main event were in the 17 second bracket.
At round 2 on Friday night Kirkness struggled in the first qualifying session to card the 38th fastest time but the CRF450R mounted Aussie bounced back to another 22nd fastest time in the second qualifying session before carding 10th in his opening heat race and after being sent to the back of the field for jumping the start in his semi, Kirkness sliced through the field to finish in 5th. Unfortunately only the top three go to the main event.
Michael returns to Australia this week but will return for the iconic Springfield and Sacramento rounds of the series in May and I will make sure you know how he goes.
Round two of the 2015 AMA Motocross Championships will have blue smoke in the air. At the Glen Helen round on May 23 there will be a single Pro Two-Stroke race with a field of 40 riders, ten of which will be automatically seeded into the race by qualifying at the World Two-Stroke Championships at Glen Helen on Saturday, April, 4, 2015.
The remaining 30 riders will be selected from the riders who apply. There are no displacement limits — 125cc, 150cc, 250cc, 300cc and 500cc are allowed. Well, the Yanks are finally starting to catch on, we have been doing this at selected MX Nationals rounds for years.
Josh Strang bounced back from an unscheduled wheel change during round two of the GNCC series last weekend to finish in 2nd place behind Kailub Russell while Daniel Milner only got two laps into the event before retiring. See the full Report and Results below.
Euro News
Repsol Honda’s Toni Bou captured his ninth consecutive FIM X-Trial World Championship with one round still remaining. The Spaniard rode to a convincing win in Wiener Neustadt, Austria ahead of Beta’s Jeroni Gajardo and Gas Gas rider Adam Raga.
KTM’s Shaun Simpson and Ben Watson have dominated the MX1 and MX2 classes respectively at the opening round of the British Motocross Championships held at Hilton Park last weekend.
Jeremy Vanhorebeek and Aleksandr Tonkov have won the MX1 and MX2 classes respectively at the opening round of the Dutch Motocross Championships held in Gemert, Holland last weekend. After qualifying a credible 6th out of 47 hopefuls, Dean Ferris managed to salvage a 3rd in the second MX1 moto after not finishing the opening moto.
SR75-Molson Suzuki rider Thomas Ramette was crowned 2015 UK Arenacross Champion last weekend after finishing second in the main event at the final round at SSE Arena in London.
Ramette has had a cracker of a series. He took the win at the series opener in Manchester, has qualified fastest at every round of the series and has been on the podium in the main event six times out of eight on his way to two wins, three seconds and a third. He has also finished in the top-three in the head-to-head shootouts at every round apart from one, finishing first on three occasions. “The SR75-Molson team is just fantastic. They gave me all the tools to win this championship. The bike is unbelievable and it is the best Suzuki I have ridden. Geoff [Walker – Team Manager] works so hard to make this team what it is and I’m really proud to be part of it. I thank everyone in the team and every sponsor and supporter of the team and this series. I feel amazing.”
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Tommy Searle suffered a bad fall in the third lap of the first moto of the MXGP GP of Thailand and was immediately brought to the medical centre and later was admitted to the local hospital. He underwent the necessary scans and doctors established that there was a partial fracture to the L7 lumbar vertebra, probably caused by the strong compression during the impact of the crash.
The injury had no neurological consequences and the lesion does not need to be stabilized. Searle was able to return to the UK the following day on a scheduled flight and will undergo further medical examinations in the coming days to assess the time required for him to completely recover. “I’m fine, I’m very sorry but I’m also positive: I will be back soon!”
Race Reports and Results from last Weekend
- – Monster Energy Supercross Championships – Round 11 – Indianapolis
- – Amsoil Arenacross Championships – Round 9 – Mississippi
- – Maxxis FIM SuperEnduro World Champion – Round 5 – Cahors, France
- – New Zealand Motocross Championships – Round 4 – Pukekohe
- – InsureMyRide Australian Enduro-X Nationals – Round 3 – Calder Park, Victoria
- – GNCC – Round 2 – Washington, Georgia
Monster Energy Supercross Championships – Round 11 – Indianapolis
450SX Report: Red Bull KTM’sRyan Dungey picked up his third consecutive Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship win of the season at Lucas Oil Stadium in front of 60,491 fans.
As usual Andrew Short put his BTO Sports.com/KTM across the SupercrossLive.com Holeshot Award line before Dungey and Team Honda HRC’s Cole Seely to start the 450SX Class Main Event. Discount Tire/TwoTwo Motorsports’ Chad Reed, who captured his first win of the season at the first race in Atlanta, crashed in Turn 2 and remounted in last place.
Dungey moved into the lead on Lap 1 as Seely took over second place. Tomac, who came into tonight in third place, crashed on Lap 1 and lost several valuable positions. On Lap 2, Autotrader.com/Toyota/Yamaha’s Weston Peick passed Short for third place.
Team HRC’s Trey Canard was involved in a first turn crash but charged through the field and eventually passing Peick for third place on Lap 10. Canard held on for third place, his seventh podium finish of the season.
Seely earned a season-best second place finish and moved into fourth place in the season standings, up from seventh place. “I really wanted to get Dungey there,” Seely sold RacerX. “He’s riding so good. Just tried to stick on his back wheel and wait for a mistake, and he never made one. I just kind of played it smart. I knew I was going to get second and rode it home.”
With a 45-point lead in the season standings, Dungey has five wins on the year and is the fifth rider in history to win back-to-back races in Indianapolis. In the 23 races held in Indianapolis, the winner of the race has gone on to win the 450SX Class Championship 17 times.
Ryan Dungey takes a 45 point lead in Detroit and had this to say to RacerX. “I need to pick a spot that’s going to be the best, the smoothest that I can drive off the gate, and it will be up to me to execute that. Shorty beat us there. He’s been good at starts all year. But for us we were right behind him. I got the triple-double in the first rhythm lane and then the next rhythm lane I was able to triple-triple-quad and make the pass. Shorty was cool. He could have fought hard for it but he was clean and we were able to slide right by.”
450SX Class Results: 1. Ryan Dungey. 2. Cole Seely. 3. Trey Canard. 4. Weston Peick. 5. David Millsaps. 6. Andrew Short. 7. Joshua Grant. 8. Broc Tickle. 9. Chad Reed. 10. Jacob Weimer. 11. Eli Tomac. 12. Kyle Chisholm. 13. Phillip Nicoletti. 14. Nicholas Wey. 15. Blake Baggett. 16. Kyle Partridge. 17. Jason Anderson. 18. Tony Archer. 19. Ben Lamay. 20. Killian Rusk.
450SX Class Season Standings – After Round 11 of 17: 1. Ryan Dungey – 249 Pts. 2. Trey Canard – 204 Pts. 3. Eli Tomac – 169 Pts. 4. Cole Seely – 160 Pts. 5. Ken Roczen – 156 Pts. 6. Chad Reed – 152 Pts. 7. Jason Anderson – 144 Pts. 8. Blake Baggett – 141 Pts. 9. Andrew Short – 124 Pts. 10. Broc Tickle – 120 Pts.
250 West Report: GEICO Honda’s Justin Bogle, the defending class champion, started the Eastern Regional 250SX Class Main Event with the SupercrossLive.com Holeshot Award. Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Martin Davalos quickly moved around Bogle to take over the lead.
Musquin followed closely in second place on the opening lap and passed Davalos as he crashed and dropped several positions in the deep whoop section. On Lap 2, Davalos would crash again, and at the halfway point of the race, he was running in 19th place.
On Lap 9, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Joey Savatgy, who was running in third place, suffered mechanical failure and was forced to withdraw from the race. Savatgy came into tonight in fourth place in season standings.
Bogle held on for second place and is second overall in season standings. This year he has been on the podium at every race with two second place finishes and three third place finishes and he had this to say to RacerX. “It was good. I felt really good all day. Practice went really well. Heat race was pretty much spot on—holeshot, check out. Main event I got a really good start again and then kind of got shuffled back a little bit first lap. Trying a little too hard trying to make some things happen when maybe I shouldn’t have. Ended up jumping off the track on the finish and then went down pretty hard in the rhythm section. It’s all good. With a night like that I’m happy to come out of here with a second. I’m healthy—I’m all good. So we’ll keep working. Back to the drawing board. Come back next week in Detroit and try to get a win.”
Rookie RJ Hampshire earned the first podium of his career with a third-place finish. Hampshire advanced into fourth place from sixth place in the season standings.
“I’m having a lot of fun and training and racing,” Musquin told RacerX. “I’ve got a great wife, a great team, great sponsors, and everything’s working really good. We got a new bike for this season and it’s working awesome. And the team, they put so much effort and adapt the bike when I need it. We’ve been working really good and obviously winning on the weekend. And then [Ryan] Dungey winning right after me in the 450 main event, that’s awesome. To see the smiles on the faces of the crew, the Red Bull KTM team, it’s awesome.”
Eastern Regional 250SX Class Results: 1. Marvin Musquin. 2. Justin Bogle. 3. RJ Hampshire. 4. Jordon Smith. 5. Kyle Cunningham. 6. James Decotis. 7. Kyle Peters. 8. Colt Nichols. 9. Vince Friese. 10. Jace Owen. 11. Luke Renzland. 12. Gannon Audette. 13. Mitchell Oldenburg. 14. Justin Starling. 15. Martin Davalos. 16. Anthony Rodriguez. 17. Daniel Herrlein. 18. Taylor Potter. 19. Logan Karnow. 20. Joey Savatgy.
Eastern Regional 250SX Class Season Standings – After Round 5 of 9: 1. Marvin Musquin – 122 Pts. 2. Justin Bogle – 106 Pts. 3. Jeremy Martin – 85 Pts. 4. RJ Hampshire – 74 Pts. 5. Joey Savatgy – 73 Pts. 6. Martin Davalos – 62 Pts. 7. Vince Friese – 58 Pts. 8. James Decotis – 57 Pts. 9. Kyle Peters – 57 Pts. 10. Anthony Rodriguez – 52 Pts.
Amsoil Arenacross Championships – Round 9 – Southaven, Mississippi
Husqvarna mounted Kyle Regal has won both nights of racing at round 9 of the Amsoil Arenacross Championships but instead of adding to his points tally for the season, his and all of the other riders results now go to what they call the ‘Race for the Championship’ points system. I have no idea what happened to all of the points earned during the opening eight rounds but it is dumb-arse ideas like this that takes the interest away from this series. Anyway, here are the results.
Arenacross Class Results – Friday Overall (Main Event Finishes)
Kyle Regal, Grand Prairie, Texas, Husqvarna (2-2)
Gavin Faith, Fort Dodge, Iowa, Husqvarna (3-1)
Bobby Kiniry, Holland Patent, N.Y., Yamaha (1-3)
Chris Blose, Phoenix, Ariz., Kawasaki (4-4)
Matt Goerke, Temecula, Calif., Kawasaki (6-7)
Travis Sewell, Westville, Ind., KTM (5-9)
Jacob Hayes, Liberty, N.C., Kawasaki (9-5)
Gared Steinke, Temecula, Calif., KTM (8-6)
Cory Green, Nowata, Okla., Suzuki (7-10)
Dave Ginolfi, Boston, N.J., KTM (11-8)
Arenacross Class Results – Saturday Overall (Main Event Finishes):
1. Kyle Regal, Grand Prairie, Texas, Husqvarna (1-2)
2. Matt Goerke, Temecula, Calif., Kawasaki (4-1)
3. Jacob Hayes, Liberty, N.C., Kawasaki (3-4)
4. Gavin Faith, Fort Dodge, Iowa, Husqvarna (5-3)
5. Chris Blose, Phoenix, Ariz., Kawasaki (2-6)
6. Travis Sewell, Westville, Ind., KTM (6-8)
7. Cory Green, Nowata, Okla., Suzuki (7-7)
8. Bobby Kiniry, Holland Patent, N.Y., Yamaha (10-5)
9. Gared Steinke, Temecula, Calif., KTM (9-9)
10. Dave Ginolfi, Boston, N.J., KTM (8-10)
Arenacross Class Points (Race For The Championship):
1. Kyle Regal, Grand Prairie, Texas, Husqvarna – 6 Pts
2. Matt Goerke, Temecula, Calif., Kawasaki – 5 Pts
3. Jacob Hayes, Liberty, N.C., Kawasaki – 4 Pts
4. Bobby Kiniry, Holland Patent, N.Y., Yamaha – 4 Pts
5. Travis Sewell, Westville, Ind., KTM – 3 Pts
6. Chris Blose, Phoenix, Ariz., Kawasaki – 3 Pts
7. Gavin Faith, Fort Dodge, Iowa, Husqvarna – 2 Pts
8. Gared Steinke, Temecula, Calif., KTM – 2 Pts
9. Steven Mages, Sardinia, Ohio, KTM – 1 Pts
10 .Cory Green, Nowata, Okla., Suzuki – 1 Pts
Eastern Regional Arenacross Lites Class – Friday Results
Tristan Charboneau, Tenino, Wash., Honda
Josh Cartwright, Tallahassee, Fla., Yamaha
Dave Ginolfi, Boston, N.J., KTM
Daniel Blair, Lodi, Calif., KTM
Brandon Glenn, Mesquite, Yamaha, KTM
Tanner Moore, Auburn, Kan., KTM
Drayke Sizemore, Tamaroa, Ill., Honda
Jacob Williamson, Swartz Creek, Mich., Kawasaki
Clay Elliott, Buford, Ga., KTM
Josh Struebig, Crown Point, Ind., KTM
Eastern Regional Arenacross Lites Class Results Night 1:
1. Tristan Charboneau, Tenino, Wash., Honda
2. Josh Cartwright, Tallahassee, Fla., Yamaha
3. Dave Ginolfi, Boston, N.J., KTM
4. Daniel Blair, Lodi, Calif., KTM
5. Brandon Glenn, Mesquite, Yamaha, KTM
6. Tanner Moore, Auburn, Kan., KTM
7. Drayke Sizemore, Tamaroa, Ill., Honda
8. Jacob Williamson, Swartz Creek, Mich., Kawasaki
9. Clay Elliott, Buford, Ga., KTM
10. Josh Struebig, Crown Point, Ind., KTM
Eastern Regional Arenacross Lites Class Results Night 2:
1. Daniel Blair, Lodi, Calif., KTM
2. Dave Ginolfi, Boston, N.J., KTM
3. Jacob Williamson, Swartz Creek, Mich., Kawasaki
4. Drayke Sizemore, Tamaroa, Ill., Honda
5. Scott Zont, Algonquin, Ill., KTM
6. Jake Locks, Dixon, Calif., KTM
7. Clay Elliott, Buford, Ga., KTM
8. Zachary Bishop-Burnett, Holly Springs, Miss., Kawasaki
9. Ben Nelko, Aliquippa, Pa., KTM
10. Josh Struebig, Crown Point, Ind., KTM
Eastern Regional Arenacross Lites Class Points (After Race 8 of 11):
1. Dave Ginolfi, Boston, N.J., KTM – 132 Pts
2. Scott Zont, Algonquin, Ill., KTM – 75 Pts
3. Steve Roman, Apollo, Pa., Suzuki – 65 Pts
4. Jacob Williamson, Swartz Creek, Mich., Kawasaki – 65 Pts
5. Daniel Herrlein, Bethesda, Ohio, Honda – 56 Pts
6. Steven Mages, Sardinia, Ohio, Kawasaki – 47 Pts
7. Dylan Rouse, Florence, Ky., KTM – 45 Pts
8. Dave Blanchet, Quebec, Canada, Kawasaki – 41 Pts
9. Darian Sanayei, Orting, Wash., Kawasaki – 35 Pts
10. Mitchell Harrison, Cairo, Georgia, Kawasaki – 33 Pts
Maxxis FIM SuperEnduro World Champion – Round 5 – Cahors, France
KTM’s Taddy Blazusiak has been crowned the 2015 Maxxis FIM SuperEnduro World Champion at the final round of the series in Cahors, France.
Signing off on a fantastic season of SuperEnduro action, the French fans and RedBull.TV audience were treated to a night of non-stop competitive racing that was capped off with Blazusiak securing a sixth consecutive world crown.
Entering the final round of the series with a healthy 42-point lead in the championship, Blazusiak knew exactly what he had to do to ensure the title was his. Third in race one, the Polish rider improved to take second in race two before ending his night third in race three for third overall.
“I’m one happy man,” told the newly crowned champion Blazusiak. “For me tonight was all about securing the title. I knew I had a good advantage over the other guys so I rode safe and avoided as many mistakes as possible. It’s been a fantastic season and to end it as world champion for the sixth time is just incredible.”
With Blazusiak riding for the title, the battle for the overall win and also the remainder of the final championship podium positions was played out between USA’s Cody Webb (KTM) and Jonny Walker (KTM-GB) when David Knight (KTM_GB) – second in the points – was ruled out with illness.
Setting the pace in SuperPole, Webb posted the fastest lap time to secure the first pick of the starting gate. Fast off the line, the KTM rider quickly ended the opening lap as the race leader. Pulling away from the pack he claimed a solid win from Walker in second with Blazusiak third.
With the start order reversed for race two, it was Walker who led from lap one to take the win. Webb – struggling through traffic – battled forward to eventually place third. Knowing that it was all on the line for the overall in the final race, Walker edged out Webb off the start and took control of the race lead. Gapping his KTM rival, he held strong to win the race and with it his very first overall SuperEnduro victory.
Placing second in race three, Webb had to settle for the runner-up result in France but was able to secure second overall in the championship. With Blazusiak completing the top three in France, Husqvarna’s Alfredo Gomez soldiered through the pain barrier of an injured finger to end his night fourth overall with three fourth place results.
Ending his season on a high with a top five overall result for fifth, Paul Bolton also signed off on the SuperEnduro series as the best performing rookie of 2015.
Overall Round Results: 1. Jonny Walker – 59 Pts. 2. Cody Webb – 55 Pts. 3. Taddy Blazusiak – 48 Pts. 4. Alfredo Gomez – 39 Pts. 5. Paul Bolton – 30 Pts. 6. Dani Gibert – 27 Pts. 7. Mario Roman – 26 Pts. 8. Daniel McCanney – 26 Pts. 9. Mathias Bellino – 20 Pts. 10. Colton Haaker – 16 Pts.
Final Championship Standings: 1. Taddy Blazusiak – 320 Pts. 2. Cody Webb – 282 Pts. 3. Jonny Walker – 277 Pts. 4. David Knight – 231 Pts. 5. Alfredo Gomez – 212 Pts. 6. Paul Bolton – 156 Pts. 7. Mario Roman – 147 Pts. 8. Daniel Gibert-Gatell – 137 Pts. 9. Daniel McCanney – 128 Pts. 10. Kyle Redmond – 94 Pts.
New Zealand Motocross Championships – Round 4 – Pukekohe
MX1 Race Report: Cody Cooper wrapped up another New Zealand MX1 title after winning the overall at the final round of the series held at Pukekohe last weekend. Cooper won the opening moto then backed that up with two solid second place finishes behind Aussie Kirk Gibbs.
“I was quite relaxed today. I knew I didn’t have to do much to win the title. I’d really set myself up with the results from the earlier rounds,” said Cooper after carding 1-2-2 moto results on the day.
MX1 Round Results: 1. Cody Cooper – 69 Pts. 2. Kirk Gibbs – 64 Pts. 3. Kade Mosig – 58 Pts. 4. John Phillips – 48 Pts. 5. Rhys Carter – 47 Pts. 6. Scott Columb – 44 Pts. 7. Brad Groombridge – 44 Pts. 8. Ethan Martens – 40 Pts. 9. Luke Styke – 38 Pts. 10. Shaun Fogarty – 35 Pts.
MX1 Championship Standings After Round 4 of 4: 1. Cody Cooper – 263 Pts. 2. Kirk Gibbs – 239 Pts. 3. John Phillips – 216 Pts. 4. Kade Mosig – 211 Pts. 5. Brad Groombridge – 182 Pts. 6. Scott Columb – 165 Pts. 7. Ethan Martens – 163 Pts. 8. Rhys Carter – 161 Pts. 9. Luke Styke – 155 Pts. 10. Jesse Donnelly – 106 Pts.
MX2 Race Report: Jay Wilson absolutely blitzed the MX2 class.
“I am so pumped to win this,” said Wilson. “I’ve won two New Zealand supercross titles but this is my first motocross title win here. To learn that it’s only the second time an Australian has won and that the previous winner was Craig (Dack) is pretty awesome too.
“I love coming to New Zealand and it is a great confidence-booster for me as I was using this campaign to build up for the Australian Motocross Championships (which kick off at Horsham, in Victoria, on March 29).
“A lot of my rivals have been training and testing back home, but there’s nothing quite like actual racing to get sharpened up.
“I hoped to be back next year to defend the title but I’ll really just have to see what happens. I may come back and race the MX1 class. Who knows?
“Having Josh Coppins there to guide me has been great. He’ll be behind me when I race in Australia this year too. You couldn’t ask for a better manager.”
MX2 Round Results: 1. Jay Wilson – 75 Pts. 2. Hamish Harwood – 62 Pts. 3. Geran Stapleton – 54 Pts. 4. Micah McGoldrick – 49 Pts. 5. Logan Blackburn – 47 Pts. 6. Scotty Canham – 44 Pts. 7. Kieran Scheele – 42 Pts. 8. Hadleigh Knight – 40 Pts. 9. Aaron Wiltshier – 38 Pts. 10. Joel Meikle – 31 Pts.
MX2 Championship Standings After Round 4 of 4: 1. Jay Wilson – 290 Pts. 2. Hamish Harwood – 240 Pts. 3. Micah McGoldrick – 206 Pts. 4. Scotty Canham – 172 Pts. 5. Hadleigh Knight – 164 Pts. 6. Logan Blackburn – 150 Pts. 7. Kieran Scheele – 143 Pts. 8. Joel Meikle – 125 Pts. 9. Cam Dillon – 125 Pts. 10. Nick Saunders – 116 Pts.
InsureMyRide Australian Enduro-X Nationals – Round 3 – Calder Park, Victoria
Living Legend Mike Brown completely dominated the third and final round of the InsureMyRide Australian Enduro-X Nationals held at Calder Park last weekend and in doing so won the title ahead of Josh Green and Toby Price.
“It is always good to win a championship, especially at my age!” Brown said. “I have enjoyed being over here in Australia and getting the experience to carry over to the American series and it has been a great time. The track tonight was the most technical we have had over here this year, it was easy to make mistakes and it could catch you out really easily.”
Click Here for a more comprehensive report from the Enduro-X Nationals Finale at Calder.
Pro Round Results: 1. Mike Brown – 75 Pts. 2. Toby Price – 64 Pts. 3. Josh Green – 62 Pts. 4. Tom McCormack – 46 Pts. 5. Mitch Harper – 45 Pts. 6. Tye Simmonds – 43 Pts. 7. Dylan Rees – 40 Pts. 8. Peter Boyle – 37 Pts. 9. Daniel Sanders – 36 Pts. 10. Lachlan Stanford – 34 Pts.
Pro Class Final Championship Standings: 1. Mike Brown – 222 Pts. 2. Josh Green – 180 Pts. 3. Toby Price – 173 Pts. 4. Tye Simmonds – 141 Pts. 5. Daniel Sanders – 133 Pts. 6. Mitch Harper – 132 Pts. 7. Tom McCormack – 131 Pts. 8. Stefan Granquist – 119 Pts. 9. Dylan Rees – 112 Pts. 10. Peter Boyle – 110 Pts.
GNCC – Round 2 – Washington, Georgia
The 2015 AMSOIL Grand National Cross Country Series presented by Maxxis, an AMA National Championship, made its way to Washington, Georgia for the annual Maxxis General GNCC.
With rain accumulation through the week leading up to Sunday’s race, Aonia Pass Motocross Park presented muddy conditions all weekend long. However, Factory FMF/KTM’s Kailub Russell emerged victorious despite the conditions to secure his second straight victory in as many rounds.
Russell grabbed the early lead with the $250 All Balls Racing Holeshot Award but AirGroup/Rockstar Energy/Husqvarna’s Ryan Sipes tucked in close behind and applied pressure to the two-time champion early on. Russell ran into a few issues on the opening lap, evening dropping back to the fourth place position, but it wasn’t long before he made up the time and gained the lead once again.
Sipes pushed hard on the opening lap but the Kentucky rider ran into issues after getting stuck in a mud hole on the second lap. Sipes lost a substantial amount of time working his way out of the mudhole, where he spent the rest of the race catching up.
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Josh Strang put himself into a favorable position early on. However, as he worked his way into the second place position, Strang got together with a lapped rider, resulting in a damaged brake rotor on the front side. The 2010 GNCC National Champion came into the pits for a quick front wheel swap and returned to the course a couple positions back. Strang quickly made up that time and returned to the second place position, as a hard charging Thad DuVall began his charge through the pack.
Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KR4/FAR’s DuVall came from outside the top five off the start and moved into the third place position. The West Virginia native experienced a couple issues throughout the three-hour race that caused him to lose substantial time in the overall running, but a late-in-the-race charge allowed him to maintain a podium position heading into the final lap of racing.
N-Fab AmPro Yamaha’s Jordan Ashburn interjected himself into the podium battle early on where he went back and forth with DuVall for a majority of the afternoon. Near the end of the six-lap race, Ashburn went head-to-head with JCR Honda’s Chris Bach to capture the fourth place position. Bach, who also began the race outside the top five, charged his way through the pack to battle for a podium position.
N-Fab AmPro Yamaha’s Grant Baylor finished sixth, with Factory FMF/KTM’s Russell Bobbitt in seventh. Visiting Canadian Motocross Lites Champion Tyler Medaglia finished eighth in XC1 on a Husqvarna Canada/Parts Unlimited Canada machine, with Funmart Cycle/FLY/Maxxis/Powersport Graphx-backed Adam Bonneur and Sipes rounding out the top ten in XC1.
The XC2 Pro Lites class saw one of the most exciting battles of the day between DirtWise/Maxxis/KLIM’s Jason Thomas and Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KR4/FAR’s Nick Davis. Thomas and Davis went back and forth all afternoon, exchanging the lead several times throughout the three-hour race. On the final lap, it was Davis who had the advantage coming into the final segment of the racetrack but Thomas was able to make his move in time to take the checkered flag and his first win of the season just 11 seconds ahead of Nick Davis. Thomas finished an impressive seventh overall for the day with Davis coming in eighth.
Following a rough start to the season at round one, Moto-Tech/KTM’s Trevor Bollinger landed atop the podium with a third place XC2 finish and ninth overall at round two. Bollinger maintained a steady pace, keeping himself inside the top five all afternoon.
Davis holds a four-point lead over Thomas in the XC2 Pro Lites Championship standings as the series heads to North Carolina in two weeks for the FMF Steele Creek GNCC.
XC1 Event Results: 1. Kailub Russell (KTM). 2. Josh Strang (HSQ). 3. Thad DuVall (HSQ). 4. Jordan Ashburn (YAM). 5. Chris Bach (HON). 6. Grant Baylor (YAM). 7. Russell Bobbitt (KTM). 8. Tyler Medaglia (HSQ). 9. Adam Bonneur (KTM). 10. Ryan Sipes (HSQ).
Overall National Championship Standings: 1. Kailub Russell (60). 2. Josh Strang (50). 3. Thad DuVall (39). 4. Chris Bach (37). 5. Nick Davis (28). 6. Jordan Ashburn (28). 7. Grant Baylor (26). 8. Jason Thomas (26). 9. Tyler Medaglia (26). 10. Craig DeLong (16).
XC2 Event Results: 1. Jason Thomas (KTM). 2. Nick Davis (HSQ). 3. Trevor Bollinger (KTM). 4. Craig Delong (HSQ). 5. Layne Michael (HON). 6. Cory Buttrick (BET). 7. Justin Sode (BET). 8. Sam Evans (KTM). 9. Callan May (YAM). 10. Brad Bakken (YAM).
XC2 Series Standings: 1. Nick Davis (55). 2. Jason Thomas (51). 3. Craig Delong (34). 4. Layne Michael (31). 5. Cory Buttrick (29). 6. Ricky Russell (25). 7. Brad Bakken (23). 8. Trevor Bollinger (23). 9. Tegan Temple (19). 10. Phillipe Chaine (17).
