Latvian world champion continues recovery from ACL surgery.
Image: Supplied.
Words: Adam Wheeler
Former MX2 world champion Pauls Jonass will have to wait in anticipation of his MXGP debut this year as he negotiates the rehabilitation process of an ACL surgery to his right knee, performed last September.
The 22-year-old Latvian forms part of an all-new and young line-up for the factory Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing team alongside Arminas Jasikonis, but has yet to ride his new FC450.
“Things have actually been quite complicated since the surgery and I didn’t expect that it would take so long and would be so difficult, but we are on the right way and I feel much better,” Jonass explained.
“ACL surgery means you need time to get strength and stability back in the knee and it’s a hard process. At the last check-up with the doctor and physio they were really satisfied with how it’s going. In terms of strength I’m doing well – I just need to work on co-ordination and stability and a have a little bit more time for the ligament.”
Jonass is hoping to steer the number 41 Husqvarna some time in February, which leaves little time for serious preparation ahead of the opening grand prix at Neuquen in Argentina on 3 March. It is unknown whether Latvia’s sole motocross world champion will make the South American date or might have to consider round two in Great Britain or the next event in The Netherlands.
“It was a serious injury so if I start riding too soon and twist it then I’ll damage it again,” he explained of the ailment that caused him to relinquish his MX2 crown ahead of the final date at Imola last September. “I don’t want to rush it. Since the start of the year I have been going flat-out with my physical training.
“I can cycle and I have been focussing on my physical condition. I really hope in February I can start riding and then we go step-by-step. Hopefully I can be at the races as soon as possible. I don’t want to have any expectations at the moment because if it [a slated return] doesn’t happen for some reason then I’ll be really disappointed. I’m going week-by-week and hopefully in a month I’ll be back on the bike.”
Relph and O’Brien to pilot new Kawasaki Ninja 400 this season.
Image: Foremost Media.
Kawasaki BCperformance has introduced its junior squad for the 2019 Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK), revealing Tayla Relph and Callum O’Brien will contest the Supersport 300 category aboard the new Ninja 400.
Relph, 21, has solidified herself as a regular front-runner in the highly-competitive division, winding up eighth in the 2018 championship standings.
“I am ecstatic to be given this opportunity to race with Kawasaki BCperformance racing team for the 2019 championship onboard the Kawasaki Ninja 400,” Relph explained.
“Throughout the 2018 season I was consistently within the top five – ending the championship with a second place finish at Phillip Island and now working with Kawasaki BCperformance, I am very confident we can achieve our goal of fighting for the championship.
Western Australian O’Brien is relishing the opportunity with the New South Wales-based outfit, expressing his excitement to commence his maiden campaign aboard the Kawasaki contender.
“I am really thankful and super excited to be given the opportunity to join a team with the pedigree of Kawasaki BCperformance Racing, especially in the ASBK debut year for the new Kawasaki Ninja 400,” O’Brien commented.
“The team are going to be a formidable presence in the Supersport 300 category in 2019. Huge thank you to Kawasaki Motors Australia and BCperformance. I can’t wait for round one at Phillip Island.”
Kawasaki BCperformance team owner Kelvin Reilly commented: “We are pleased to see the continuation of our junior program for 2019. The new Kawasaki Ninja 400 has shown great promise around the world with many titles already under its belt and we are 100 percented committed to bringing the Australian Supersport 300 title home for Kawasaki in 2019.
“The bike is new to us and we have two superb riders in Tayla Relph and Callum O’Brien. They will make a real dynamic pairing pushing each other for race wins. A big thanks must go out to Kawasaki Motors Australia and all our sponsors for their help in keeping our junior program going.”
Phillip Island will hold an official ASBK test this weekend before hosting the opening round on 21-24 February, which will run conjunction with the FIM Motul Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK) opener.
FIM strengthens ties with promoter ABC Communications.
Image: Supplied.
The FIM has reached an agreement with ABC Communication, the promoter of the SuperEnduro World Championship, cementing the future of the indoor enduro discipline for an additional five years.
ABC Communication, who operates the FIM Maxxis EnduroGP World Championship, has hosted SuperEnduro for the last seven years, showcasing the sport to over 300,000 live viewers through its streaming and highlights packages.
“We would like to thank the FIM for renewing its confidence in us for the next five years,” said ABC Communication CEO Bastien Blanchard.
“We strongly believe in this discipline which although still young has great potential thanks to its riders and the spectacular action it provides to the fans. We will continue our efforts to promote and extend media coverage in order to grow the FIM SuperEnduro World Championship outside of Europe.”
FIM president Jorge Viegas added: “The FIM is very proud to be able to have this opportunity to extend the contract with ABC Communication for a championship that has become more and more successful over the time it has been in their control.
“We are confident this path will continue. Moreover, the renewal and extension of this agreement reinforces the trust that the FIM has in ABC Communication to maintain the development of this spectacular indoor championship, especially outside of Europe.”
The current SuperEnduro series returns to action 9 February at Budapest in Hungary for the penultimate round of the five-stop championship.
The father of a young rider who was rammed from behind by a driver who had previously tried to block him from legally lane filtering says road rage against riders is on the rise.
Daniel Lee of Brisbane says his 23-year-old son, Lucas, was “rammed up the butt” by the driver who had “earlier and deliberately tried to block my son from filtering”.
“My son told him that it was legal but was met with a tirade of expletives,” Daniel says.
“This driver drove up my son’s back twice.
“My son walked away with just a scratch. His bike (BMW S 1000 RR) was totalled.
“The driver was charged for malicious driving and got three months’ suspended licence.”
Daniel says road rage against motorcyclists is on the rise.
“Me and my two sons commute almost daily on our bikes through city traffic where you will tend to encounter frustrated drivers,” he says.
Daniel claims he was recently chased by a “clown in a ute because I lane filtered to the front”.
“I got off the line but he tried to keep abreast of me to intimidate,” he says.
“I moved off to allow him to overtake. At the next set of lights he kept watching and waiting for me to start filtering up to his side but my spidey sense told me he was up to something and I deliberately slowed down and about to filter when he suddenly closed the gap real tight by turning into the median.
“I flicked off to the left side and entered a bicycle green box. When the light turned he tried chasing me but failed.
“Instead he tailgated me as I deliberately kept abreast with a car to my left.
“Eventually I had to move ahead so as not to hold up traffic. He sped up to the lights and as I took the right lane and he on the left, he wound down his window and spat at me.”
Daniel and riding friends
Good Samaritan
Not all drivers are intimidating toward riders, Daniel says.
“Another ute came and wedged himself between me and him to protect me from the wanker trying to run me off the road when the lights turned green,” he says.
“The Good Samaritan told the wanker to stop his cursing and grow up.
“Wanker took a left and I went straight. Samaritan gave me a wave and a thumbs up for which I am really grateful.”
Daniel says some drivers become road ragers because they have a negative attitude towards bikers.
“No amount of reasoning and explanation would ever convince them to be patient and be more accommodating,” he says.
“Half a second after the lights turn green and a bike can easily get ahead and not hold drivers up, but ragers will push their cars to intimidate. Nothing will stop them from getting even.”
If the Australian Greens had their way, we would all be riding electric motorcycles like the one above by 2030 and would foot the bill via government incentives.
Their plan includes:
Australian Greens transport spokesperson Senator Janet Rice announced the plan after the final report of her Select Committee on Electric Vehicles was released.
Greens rewards
“The Greens are the only party with a real plan to get Australia in the fast lane so that we can reap the rewards that will come from electric vehicles,” she says.
She doesn’t say what the rewards are, but with the current electric supply problems, labouring our system wth more electrical products could put us all in the dark.
The Greens also don’t mention anything about the environmental concerns of electricity from our coal-fired power plants and the disposal of batteries.
Their reference to “strong vehicle emissions standards” probably means faster acceptance of Euro standards.
The Greens would have us follow countries such as Sweden which is among the world leaders in EV adoption with more than 50,000 plug-in vehicles registered and a plan to have a 100% fossil-fuel-free vehicle fleet by 2030.
That’s not a reference to just new vehicles coming into or made in the country. That’s ALL vehicles.
That would mean a total ban on riding all motorcycles, except electric bikes like this!
Bolt electrics
Johammer J1
BMW electric C-Evolution scooter
Honda Riding Assist-e
Meanwhile, the Greens want the government to incentivise motorcyclists and drivers to buy EVs.
“The government has a choice to get Australia in the fast lane, but that means hitting the accelerator with ambitious targets and incentives to drive the uptake of electric vehicles,” Senator Rice says.
In the end, the motorist pays for those incentives through taxes, so where’s the incentive?
This cyclist video from a Tasmanian rider shows how cyclists use numbers to defy the road rules, prompting more calls for an identification system for bicycles.
Suzuki rider Estelle Rose posted the video on her Facebook page.
Cyclist video
“I’m riding to work this morning, obeying the road rules and such, but then I get to the roundabout to go into the industrial estate near Legana,” she says.
“I have the right of way so I can exit the roundabout, correct? No, not according to the mass group of cyclists that force me to stop in the middle of the roundabout to give way to them.
Angry react only, please and thank you.”
She then adds this later as an edit:
“Been advised that the lead rider yells “stopping” and they all start to slow down. Me, in my situation, saw ahead that not everyone was slowing down so I made the call to come to a complete stop. Saved myself from crashing into the ones that didn’t slow to stop and from causing unnecessary injuries.”
He says bicycles are legal transport and as such should be bound by the same features of ID as other vehicles using the roads.
The issue has been around for a while and divided motorcyclists and cyclists and those who ride both.
We would suggest readers take another look at the TMC’s suggestion which does not include children under 18 and is not a paid registration system.
No stopping cyclists
We have no beef with cyclists. Today’s young cyclists could be tomorrow’s motorcyclists!
In fact, we believe young people should be encouraged to ride bicycles. But “helicopter parents” would need to stop driving their kids to school!
We also believe we can learn a lot from cyclist lobby groups. They seem to be more unified and therefore stronger than motorcycle representative groups.
But we also believe cyclists should be accountable as road users.
On a personal observation, it seems cyclists are reticent to stop for stop signs, roundabouts (as above) and traffic lights because their shoes are clipped into the pedals.
Perhaps a ban on those clips would be more likely to make cyclists obey signs and lights!
Charges against a driver who is shown in a video and photograph to swerve toward legally lane-filtering riders have stalled because the riders have not come forward with evidence.
ACT police have confirmed they are still investigating the October incident and hope to charge the driver.
However, a spokesperson told us that the driver could easily cast doubt about his actions without critical evidence from the riders involved.
Surely it demonstrates the first incident was not accidental and that the driver is intent on causing alarm and/or injury.
The rider in the second incident
Charges stalled
On November 15, we published a plea from ACT Policing for the rider to come forward.
There was no response and the charges have stalled.
The police spokesperson has now asked for us to make another call for help to identify the two riders.
Here is the Police version of the events:
About 4:30pm, the riders were separately travelling northbound on Majura Parkway, Majura, when a green Ford Falcon swerved, almost colliding with the riders. At the time, the riders were lawfully lane filtering.
If you are one of the motorbike riders affected please contact ACT Policing on 131444. Please quote reference 6327970.
Police are also urging anyone who knows the motorbike riders or who witnessed or has dash-cam footage of this incident to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000, or via the Crime Stoppers ACT website.
Please quote reference 6327970. Information can be provided anonymously.
ACT Police have confirmed Motorbike Writer “will be the first we call” if/when the driver is charged.
Lane filtering is now legal in all states and territories (except NT and WA which is expected to follow shortly) and has been legal in NSW more than four years.
So there is no excuse for this driver’s ignorance of the laws as the ACT is inside the state of NSW.
Not only is lane filtering legal but it also benefits all motorists as it helps move heavy traffic more quickly.
What does it take for drivers to understand this?
You can do your bit to educate drivers by sharing this article you are reading now as well as this “Open letter to drivers“.
Filtering rage
Drivers trying to obstruct riders has been happening ever since lane filtering was introduced.
Check out this video from last year sent to us by Newcastle rider Harry Criticos.
“I was filtering legally when a driver stuck his whole body out in an attempt to block me,” the 2016 Triple Black R 1200 GS rider told us.
“I did not stop and he did make contact with the bike. I hope it hurt.”
It might be worth telling your driver mates that this particular motorist not only got hit, but also copped a $325 fine and three demerit points.
Lane filtering is legal
Surely it is time for some major advertising campaigns in each state to advise motorists that riders are allowed to filter and what benefits there are for ALL motorists.
So far, lane filtering education campaigns have been minimal and mainly aimed at riders, not the general motoring public.
We not only need major ad campaigns, but also roadside signage such as this photoshopped sign.
Here’s a sign we’d like to see!
We are not aware of any polls about lane filtering in Australia.
However, in California where lane splitting (filtering at higher speeds than 30km/h) is legal, polls have found it is vastly unpopular among other road users. The main objection is that it’s unfair!
That breeds hostility which results in stupid behaviour such as in the above video.
Lane splitting is unpopular in the USA
So long as lane filtering remains unpopular and/or erroneously believed to be illegal, motorists will do stupid and dangerous things to stop riders filtering.
Police ‘not interested’
Not only are authorities not interested in educating the motoring public about lane filtering, but police don’t seem to help, either.
Harry says police were initially not interested in following up on his complaint about this driver.
After we published the video, Harry went back to the police to find out why charges had stalled.
