MotoAmerica will stage round two of the 2020 MotoAmerica Series at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, June 26-28, one of the first sporting events in front of a live spectator audience since the COVID-19 shutdown.
MotoAmerica President Wayne Rainey
“We’re extremely happy with how the opening round of the 2020 MotoAmerica Series went at Road America. We had huge television numbers with FOX Sports, Eurosport, MAVTV, NBC Sports, YouTube and MotoAmerica Live+. The event went off without a hitch, thanks to the efforts of our in-house staff, the staff at Road America, our volunteers, the riders and the teams. Now we get to go back to Road America and race in front of our fans, which will make this second race in Wisconsin even better. The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted everyone’s lives in some way and we’re happy to give our fans the opportunity to get out and see some racing at a world-class facility like Road America. We will be doing so, of course, using COVID guidelines.”
MotoAmerica Superbike Championship Standings
Beaubier 50
Gagne 36
Herrin 26
Wyman 24
Scholz 20
Jacobsen 20
Anthony 18
Fong 13
Alexander 12
Flinders 12
The second round of the 2020 MotoAmerica Series will not only feature its five classes – HONOS Superbike, Supersport, Liqui Moly Junior Cup, Stock 1000 and Twins Cup – it will also mark the debut of the MotoAmerica Mini Cup by Motul and the exhibition Heritage Cup event. The round will also include Road America’s Vintage MotoFest and all the extra-curricular fan activities that go along with a MotoAmerica event.
Fans will be welcome for round two of the 2020 MotoAmerica Series at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, June 26-28. Photo by Brian J. Nelson
Harley-Davidson will host The No Show on its Instagram.
Begin Press Release:
HARLEY-DAVIDSON HOSTS ‘THE NO SHOW’ TO SPOTLIGHT CUSTOM MOTORCYCLE SHOWS AND BUILDERS
Hosted on Harley-Davidson’s Instagram The No Show Celebrates and Raises Funds for Custom Builders
MILWAUKEE (June 15, 2020) – Harley-Davidson Motor Company presents The No Show, a week-long online motorcycle show that brings together Harley-Davidson’s global community.
Hosted on Harley-Davidson’s Instagram account now through June 21st, The No Show features 60 builders from 10 countries, with half of those builders coming from the postponed Mama Tried, Congregation Vintage Bike & Car, and Born-Free motorcycle shows. The remaining craftsmen and women were invited by Harley-Davidson and span a range of style, era, and geography. The bikes will be rolled out in batches every day for five days with awards being given out at the end of the week.
Those who visit The No Show can scroll through the array of bikes and tap into their favorites where they’ll see a personal video of each builder walking them through his or her masterpiece. Dotted throughout the bikes will be all the nuts and bolts of every motorcycle show—music, merch, and awards. After checking out custom builds, attendees can scroll to the virtual “stage” to listen to acoustic sets by The White Buffalo, Hollis Brown, and The Kenneth Brian Band. There is also a “merch booth” featuring ultra-limited-edition The No Show t-shirts.
“The No Show is a platform that provides everyone from enthusiasts to new riders a place to converge and celebrate the diverse artistry that comes with custom builds,” said Patrick Holly, brand director at Harley-Davidson Motor Company. “As a way to show our gratitude to the builders that helped make The No Show possible, 100 percent of show t-shirt sales will go directly to each invited builder.”
On the last day of the show, Sunday, June 21st, three builders are to be recognized for their achievements in ingenuity, artistry, self-expression, and ability to pave a new road in customization. One winner will be selected from each of the following categories to receive a one-of-a-kind award created by Harley-Davidson designers:
· Media Choice Award: chosen and presented by journalists from industry-leading motorcycle publications.
· H-D Styling & Design Award: chosen and presented by Brad Richards, vice president of styling & design at Harley-Davidson and long-time garage builder.
· Harley-Davidson Museum Award: chosen by the museum staff and presented by Bill Davidson, vice president of the Harley-Davidson Museum and great-grandson of Harley-Davidson’s Co-Founder William A. Davidson.
Catch The No Show through June 21st on Harley-Davidson’s Instagram and follow along on Twitter and Facebook to catch exclusive show content.
About Harley-Davidson Motor Company
Since 1903, Harley-Davidson has stood for the timeless pursuit of adventure and delivered freedom for the soul with an expanding range of leading-edge, distinctive and customizable motorcycles in addition to riding experiences and exceptional motorcycle accessories, riding gear and apparel. Learn more at h-d.com.
“I’ve been watching since 2015, so I’m new to the sport.” says Burr, a comedian with his own Netflix specials and known for his role in Breaking Bad and, more recently, Disney’s The Mandalorian. But this isn’t the first time Burr’s gone public about his love for two-wheeled racing. After the 2019 Austrian Grand Prix, Burr couldn’t wait to tell fans of his own podcast, the Monday Morning Podcast, just how “f*cking exciting” it was, telling them “if you need excitement, motorcycle racing is where it’s at, MotoGP is the best racing out there.” Talking about that epic duel in Spielberg, “They had a race that you’d put in a Hollywood film”.
We don’t usually recommend riders have tunnel vision, unless it’s an unused historic tunnel of which there are many throughout the nation.
If you’re a bit of a history buff, or you just enjoy something unusual on your bike trip, check them out.
You may be surprised to find that there are some close to you and some that you can even ride through like the Boolboonda Tunnel, about 35km west of Gin Gin, Queensland.
There is a short 2km of smooth gravel leading up to the tunnel on the eastern side that is easy to ride no matter what bike you have.
If you are coming through the farm gate on the western side, make sure you close it behind you.
The track is rough and should really only be tackled on an adventure or dirt bike. Try not to scare the cattle.
Once you get to the tunnel, it’s probably best to walk it first to check the condition of the surface.
Use a torch or your phone’s torch. It can be wet and potholed.
Look up and you will see it is also home to a colony of bats, although you will smell them long before you see them.
Put your lights on high beam, take off your sunnies and ride through slowly as it’s one way and there can be vehicles coming from the other end.
There can also be pedestrians in the tunnel.
They also ask you to not disturb the bats.
Search now for unused historic railway tunnels near and get out there and ride them. They’re “cool fun”.
Short history
The tunnel is 192m long which makes it the longest unsupported man-made tunnel in Queensland.
This engineering marvel was built from 1881 to 1884 to service the Mt Perry copper mines.
The line was deviated in 1960 and tracks removed the following year.
Just as Dorna’s junior racing programmes (the Red Bull Rookies Cup, the FIM Junior World Championship, Asia Talent Cup, the British Talent Cup, the Northern Talent Cup) aim to promote young talent to the pinnacle of the sport, the Rising Stars Series aims to do the same in the rapidly growing eSports world.
“Now I have two theories, 1. He started it because if someone’s going to try and overtake him up the inside, then it’ll buy him an extra 30cms. And he’s thinking no-one will risk snapping his leg. But I’ve sort of got this theory that he might have started doing it because he thought everyone was copying him. So when he retires, I think he’ll come out and say, “oh, you know that whole leg thing? Yeah, that wasn’t required. I literally did it to see if everyone else would copy!”
Supercross reconvened at Salt Lake City overnight for the fifth round of the seven that will be held without spectators inside Utah’s Rice-Eccles Stadium to close out the 17-round 2020 AMA Supercross season.
Eli Tomac entered this round with a 27-point advantage over defending champion Cooper Webb. Ken Roczen has been experiencing some health problems of late that has seen him lose pace in the second half of the main events. Would this be the round that the German bounces back..?
450 Heat One
Veteran and dead-set supercross legend Chad Reed scored the hole-shot in the opening 450 Heat ahead of Martin Davalos and Benny Bloss but that pair pushed the Aussie back to third place later on that opening lap.
Chad Reed scored the holeshot in the opening 450 Heat race
Once through to the lead Davalos had clear air and used that to his advantage to pull away from Bloss. Dean Wilson worked his way up to third while things were very busy in a tussle over fourth that involved Adam Enticknap, Chad Reed, Justin Barcia, Zach Osborne and Jason Anderson.
With just over a lap remaining and while holding down a 2.5-second lead, Martin Davalos threw away an almost certain victory, losing the front in a left-hander. Davalos was relegated to eighth position by the time he was up and running again while Bloss had inherited the lead.
At the last lap board Dean Wilson jumped past Bloss and the two battled all the way to the finish line but it was Bloss that took the chequered flag and his first ever heat victory.
Justin Barcia took third ahead of Chad Reed while Zach Osborne rounded out the top five ahead of Justin Brayton and Justin Hill. Davalos salvaged eighth place after leading the first seven laps of what was a ten lap race.
450 Heat One Results
Benny Bloss – KTM
Dean Wilson – Husqvarna +1.151s
Justin Barcia – Yamaha +1.928s
Chad Reed – KTM +3.795s
Zach Osborne – Husqvarna +4.699s
Justin Brayton – Honda +7.013s
Justin Hill – Honda +8.915s
Martin Davalos – KTM +13.893s
Adam Enticknap – Suzuki +15.878s
Alex Ray – Kawasaki +17.771s
450 Heat Two
Lining up directly alongside each other on the starting gates for the second 450 Heat race were the top four in the championship, Eli Tomac, Ken Roczen, Cooper Webb and Jason Anderson all side-by-side as the gates dropped but it was Roczen that scored the hole-shot and the early race lead from Malcolm Stewart. The #27 Honda rider showing a ‘Back Lives Matter’ patch on the seat of his ‘Seven’ branded nylons to Tomac, Anderson and Webb, the defending champion rounding out the early top five.
The quintuple largely remained in that order for the first six laps until Tomac put a move past Stewart with a minute remaining on the shot clock to take second place and then laid down the fastest lap of the race to try and claw back ground on race leader Ken Roczen. Tomac took almost a full-second out of Roczen on the penultimate lap but the German had enough in reserve to take the chequered flag 1.3-seconds in front of Tomac.
Roczen leading Tomac
Malcolm Stewart was five-seconds further back in third place ahead of Jason Anderson and Cooper Webb while Aaron Plessinger took sixth.
450 Heat Two Results
Ken Roczen – Honda
Eli Tomac – Kawasaki +1.345s
Malcolm Stewart – Honda +6.300s
Jason Anderson – Husqvarna +7.234s
Cooper Webb – KTM +7.601s
Aaron Plessinger – Yamaha +16.549s
Vince Friese – Honda +19.762s
Tyler Bowers – Kawasaki +22.154s
Kyle Chisholm – Yamaha +24.103s
Broc Tickle – Suzuki +28.023s
450 LCQ
Blake Baggett had to race the LCQ after having problems in his heat race but the KTM rider sailed through the LCQ with a nine-second victory over Broc Tickle. Ryan Breece scored the final transfer position.
450 LCQ Results
Blake Baggett – KTM
Broc Tickle – Suzuki +9.046s
Ryan Breece – Suzuki +15.573s
450 Main
Cooper Webb and Eli Tomac went into turn one side-by-side but as Webb spun the bike through the exit of the corner he then ran a little wide and his rear clipped the front wheel of Tomac which saw the Kawasaki man have to get out of the throttle, by the time he recovered he had been shuffled back to around tenth place.
Supercross 450 Main
Ken Roczen and Jason Anderson were the men left to chase Webb on that opening lap but Anderson then made a mistake and went off the track. The #21 rejoined the race at the back of the field, 20-seconds behind the leaders.
It only took two-minutes for Eli Tomac to work his way up to fifth place while at the front of the pack Ken Roczen had done the Kawasaki rider a big favour by slipping past Cooper Webb for the race lead.
Ken Roczen passes Cooper Webb
Five-minutes in and the battle for third place was hotting up as Tomac caught Malcolm Stewart and Zach Osborne. It didn’t take long for Tomac to take that third place and with 13-minutes remaining he was now five-seconds behind Webb and seven-seconds behind Roczen.
Ken Roczen leading Cooper Webb
A mid-pack melee then unfolded that involved Anderson, Friese, Hill and Bloss, all four of those riders left on the ground after getting caught up while battling for tenth place. Friese and Anderson faring the worst as their bikes were hooked up on each other and it took help from officials for the two machines to finally be separated. Anderson could only watch on as he saw his fourth place in the championship chase evaporating in front of his eyes. The initial accident that caused the melee was initiated when Bloss and Friese went down together, an accident that Chad Reed narrowly managed to avoid and take that tenth position.
Cooper Webb
Up front Ken Roczen was looking smooth and in control. The German had extended his lead over Webb to three-seconds but now Eli Tomac was the fastest man on track and starting to close in on Webb.
This time around Roczen showed no signs of fading. After finally being diagnosed with shingles a few days ago, an extremely painful ailment related to chicken pox but much more painful, Roczen now at least knows one of the things that has been holding him back of late and can hopefully find a way forward though his medical dramas.
Ken Roczen
After looking as though he would easily close in on and pass Webb, Tomac’s charge started to falter. After getting to within two-seconds of Webb the Kawasaki man then started losing ground to the tune of almost a second a lap. With two-minutes left on the clock Tomac was now seven-seconds behind Webb, but had a clear 12-seconds over fourth placed Zach Osborne. Perhaps the championship leader was just playing the safe game and did not want to give Webb the chance to take him out and make a huge leap towards him in the points…
With two laps to run Roczen had backed things off a little and Cooper Webb now had the #94 Honda in his sights and had the hammer down to try and get on terms with Roczen. The German though had his measure and took a clear victory in what was a huge boost to the pysche of the 26-year-old. That victory also saw him move back past Cooper Webb in the championship standings with only two rounds remaining.
Ken Roczen moved back up to second place in the championship standings.
Tomac’s third place good enough for him to only lose two-points on Webb and the Kawasaki man has a very handy 24-point lead with 52-points left up for grabs across the final two rounds in this COVID-19 induced quick-fire end to the season. Racers will be back on track this Wednesday June 17 ahead of the finale on June 21.
450 SX Main Results
Ken Roczen – Honda
Cooper Webb – KTM +3.140s
Eli Tomac – Kawasaki +17.844s
Zach Osborne – Husqvarna +29.584s
Malcolm Stewart – Honda +32.389s
Dean Wilson – Husqvarna +40.472s
Blake Baggett – KTM +40.865s
Justin Brayton – Honda +42.677s
Justin Barcia – Yamaha +44.729s
Aaron Plessinger – Yamaha +1 lap
Chad Reed – KTM +1 lap
Broc Tickle – Suzuki +1 lap
Benny Bloss – KTM +1 lap
Justin Hill – Honda +1 lap
Tyler Bowers – Kawasaki +1 lap
Kyle Chisholm – Yamaha +2 laps
Vince Friese – Honda +2 laps
Adam Enticknap – Suzuki +2 laps
Martin Davalos – KTM +3 laps
Ryan Breece – Suzuki +4 laps
450 Main Video Highlights
450 SX Championship Points
Eli Tomac 342
Ken Roczen 319
Cooper Webb 318
Justin Barcia 255
Jason Anderson 246
Malcolm Stewart 217
Dean Wilson 208
Zach Osborne 205
Justin Brayton 199
Justin Hill 188
Aaron Plessinger 186
Blake Baggett 180
Martin Davalos 157
Vince Friese 141
Adam Cianciarulo 129
Chad Reed 92
Benny Bloss 87
Tyler Bowers 85
Kyle Chisholm 76
Kyle Cunningham 48
250 SX West
The final 250 SX West round until the East-West showdown finale played out once again in front of no spectators this morning in Salt Lake City.
250 Heat One
Jett Lawrence got an absolutely amazing run out of the gates and it looked as though he would score the hole-shot by a country mile but the 16-year-old carried so much speed into turn one that he ran a little wide, quickly filling that hole up the inside was Austin Forkner, who perhaps held Jett out a little wider than he had to, as the Kawasaki rider finally turned his bike on the gas to exit that opening turn his rear tyre clipped the front wheel of Jett’s Geico Honda and pitched the youngster on to the deck. From a perfect start off the gates to the back of the field in one split second. It looked as though Forkner would have a clean run from there but only metres later he himself got hooked up a little with Hunter Lawrence, this time around it was Forkner that came off second best.
Far away from all that melee out front was Justin Cooper and after the opening few laps the Monster Energy Star Yamaha rider was more than four-seconds ahead of Alex Martin while Aussies Hunter Lawrence and Luke Clout were running third and fourth. Jett Lawrence had worked his way up from dead last to seventh while Forkner was ninth.
Moments later Forkner was all over the back of Jett Lawrence and then forced his way up the inside to take sixth. Jett looked to have been taking it a little easy, knowing he was in a safe transport spot, but being passed by Forkner seemed to light a fire underneath his Shift ensconced arse.
Jett followed Forkner for a while before choosing his moment to run up the inside into a very tight left-hander that Forkner had entered a little wide, Jett executed a great turn which sent Forkner further wide and the 16-year-old was back up to fifth. A lap later thoughtForkner capitalised on a mistake by the youngster to re-take that fifth position once again.
Meanwhile up front Justin Cooper had no idea of all the excitement that was being played out behind him and cruised home to an easy victory over Alex Martin. Hunter Lawrence held on to his third position all the way to the flag.
On the final lap Austin Forkner relegated Penrite Honda’s Luke Clout to fifth while Jett Lawrence claimed sixth.
250 Heat One Results
Justin Cooper – Yamaha
Alex Martin – Suzuki +31.05s
Hunter Lawrence – Honda +5.049s
Austin Forkner – Kawasaki +9.733s
Luke Clout – Honda +10.707s
Jett Lawrence – Honda +11.045s
Robbie Wageman – Yamaha +20.942s
250 Heat Two
Shortly after witnessing one of the most action packed heat races in recent memory the other half of the 250 West field lined up for their heat race. Dylan Ferrandis scored the holeshot but at the end of the first rhythm section Cameron McAdoo put an aggressive pass on the Yamaha rider after he had made a small mistake, leaving the series leader in the dirt and at the back of the field. It only took Ferrandis a couple of laps to get back inside the top ten and into a secure transfer spot.
At the front of the field Christian Craig had worked his way to the front but was being chased hard by McAdoo but the Honda man held on for the win. Derek Drake rounded out the podium ahead of Brandon Hartranft.
250 Heat Two Results
Christian Craig – Honda
Cameron McAdoo – Kawasaki +1.026s
Derek Drake – KTM +4.873s
Brandon Hartranft – KTM +9.315s
Mitch Oldenburg – Honda +10.525s
Michael Mosiman – Husqvarna +11.201s
Dylan Ferrandis – Yamaha +16.574s
250 LCQ
Aussie privateer Geran Stapleton scored the hole-shot in the LCQ and the Victorian had a few bobbles on the opening lap before settling to take a clear victory over Lorenzo Camporese while Chris Howell scored the final transfer spot.
250 LCQ Results
Geran Stapleton – Honda
Lorenzo Camporese – Kawasaki +1.536s
Chris Howell – Husqvarna +2.245s
250 Main
Dylan Ferrandis got the best run down the start straight and came out the other side of turn one leading Christian Craig and Hunter Lawrence. Right behind Hunter Lawrence was the Kawasaki pairing of Austin Forkner and Cameron McAdoo. After winning the LCQ 27-year-old Aussie privateer Geran Stapleton had lined up for his first 250 Main of the season and was tenth on the opening lap just ahead of countrymen Jett Lawrence in 11th and Luke Clout in 13th.
Two-minutes in and it was still Ferrandis from Craig while both Forkner and McAdoo had worked their way past Hunter Lawrence before Michael Mosiman then pushed Hunter further back to sixth while Jett was now up to eighth.
Forkner then relegated Craig back to third place and set about chasing down the championship leader. Forkner had gone into this round ten-points behind Ferrandis and needed victory here to strengthen his championship challenge. It only took the Kawasaki rider a couple of laps to pull back more than two-seconds on the defending champ and he then settled into a position only a few bike lengths behind the Frenchman.
Christian Craig fell as the race neared its halfway-point and was shuffled back to ninth place. At this stage of the race the Lawrence brothers were running on track together and after Craig’s mishap were in fifth and sixth positions. The younger Jett squeezing past Hunter with a little over seven-minutes remaining, 20-year-old Hunter in only his second Supercross event while 16-year-old Jett has a few more under his belt. The brothers had Justin Cooper chasing them hard.
Dylan Ferrandis
Ferrandis had responded to the challenge of Forkner and was maintaining a lead of just over a second. Forkner was gaining a lot of time on the flat stop-go turns while Ferrandis seemed to have the upper hand through the jump sections. Lapped traffic started to really become a factor and with five-minutes remaining that had allowed Forkner to get on direct terms with Ferrandis. Forkner then put a very aggressive pass on Ferrandis for the race lead, effectively running into the Frenchman and forcing him off the circuit. By the time Ferrandis was back on track and up to speed he was 4.5-seconds behind Forkner.
Jett Lawrence pulled away from his brother later in the race and closed in on Cameron McAdoo before then taking fourth place with two-minutes remaining. Jett then caught and passed Mosiman for third but the Husqvarna rider then came back at him and held Jett wide in a corner to re-take that third position. The young Aussie though was much faster through the whoops section and moved back up to third with 45-seconds left on the clock. Mosiman then made a small mistake which saw him passed by McAdoo and that allowed Jett to get away and race to a well-earned podium result. The 16-year-old absolutely pumped with that result and deservedly so.
Despite missing three rounds after that crushing shoulder injury after leading the Main at A2 Jett is now within striking distance of a top ten finish in the championship chase.
Hunter Lawrence scored 16-points in his second ever Supercross event
Hunter Lawrence was caught and passed by Cooper a few minutes before the chequered flag but still took a great 16-point haul from that seventh place finish in what is only his second AMA Supercross event and now has 26-points to his name.
Penrite Honda’s Luke Clout continued his run of scoring points in every single event this season with 11th position here today. That consistency sees Clout a hugely impressive seventh place in the 250 West Championship with only the East-West showdown remaining.
Luke Clout is now seventh in the 250 West Championship standings
In his first ever Main event Victorian privateer Geran Stapleton finished in 20th position and scored his first points of the series. A great achievement in itself for the self-funded 27-year-old.
Austin Forkner though the winner here though, his fourth victory of the season thus far, and in the process the 21-year-old pulled back three-points on second placed Ferrandis to head to the East-West showdown only seven-points behind the defending champion.
Austin Forkner pumped with victory
That round is the last conventional round for the 250 West competitors as the next 250 round will see 250 East competitors race on June 17, ahead of the combined 250 East-West showdown on Sunday, June 21.
Race day. Race day in Salt Lake City, Utah for the fifth consecutive date. And Hamilton, Ohio’s Aaron Plessinger is present front and centre as part of the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing Team that will try and make a run at victory later this morning inside the NCAA college football venue. Aaron Plessinger’s 2020 race season has not been bad, but it has also not exactly lit up the klieg lights of America’s sports stadiums either. Hovering in and out of the top 10 and top 15 during the season’s first 14 races – pre and post COVID-19 – Plessinger is looking to this Salt Lake round to make a run at a top five, if not a podium finish. Determined and quite aware of the immediate reality of his 450cc competitive surroundings in Utah, Plessinger has been toiling away, hoping the Salt Lake City dirt can provide him with high performance traction and trajectory tonight as he looks to continue to move on up.
Thanks for taking the time to do this. How’s Salt Lake City treating you?
“All good. I have fun doing these interviews. I’m just hanging out in good old Salt Lake City. I booked an Airbnb right in the middle of the city, and dude, it was hectic for the first few days. It was riots and protests gong on. It was pretty crazy.”
Aaron Plessinger
Really? Even in Salt Lake City?
“Yeah, yeah. It was pretty wild. It was all going on right outside of the apartment, so I got the firsthand view of it all. It was pretty crazy. I have a balcony that looks onto the street and, man, I’ve never witnessed anything like it. But it’s going pretty good. Shoot, the city here is unreal. I’ve been mountain biking a few times and rode around the city and went up into the mountains a little bit and the scenery is unreal, dude. The scenery is unbeatable. Race results I haven’t been too, too happy with. I’ve struggled off the starts and trying to come back through, you know? Trying to come back through the 450 pack is not an easy task. I’m looking forward to getting some better starts.”
Aaron Plessinger at A1
Yes, going back to the very first Salt Lake City race run on May 31, you’ve raced to 12-12-11-9 main event finishes. What do you make of racing inside the same stadium? As of tonight, this will mark five straight races here at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
“Yeah, it’s definitely weird not switching stadiums and just being in the same venue for so long, but it’s kind of cool, actually. I don’t know. I guess I’ve gotten acquainted with the stadium. I will say it’s really weird without fans, man. It’s definitely odd. You can hear everyone talking down on the floor, especially when we’re getting ready to start our bikes up – you can hear a pin drop out there. It’s pretty wild. It was awkward at first and we’ve finally gotten used to it. But it’s definitely weird. You can yell inside the stadium and hear yourself echo. It’s odd and definitely a new experience, for sure.”
So with a race set for this evening, what have you done in, say, the past 24 hours to prepare and be ready?
“I got up in the morning and did a little 30-minute spin and a little bit of stretching. Other than that, I’ve just been trying to hang out and enjoy the city a little bit and explore a little bit. I went grocery shopping today. I brought my Xbox with me, so I’ve been playing a little bit of that to kill time, but I’m not too good at it. It’s not so fun sometimes.”
Aaron Plessinger in Atlanta
So you’re in Salt Lake City by yourself?
“Yeah, I left the family at home. I’m here by myself. Yeah, it’s definitely unusual to be here alone and not have the family here supporting me. I know they’re back home supporting me, but it’s a little different, for sure.”
Broad stroke question here, but when taking a quick look back to the 2020 season-opening Angel Stadium round up to this evening’s round in Salt Lake City, what do you make of your racing season thus far?
“My season. With my season, I was starting to get going, I guess. Things were starting to come around for me a little bit. I was pretty bummed when Indianapolis got cancelled because that was my home race and I think I was about to get a podium there, man. I was really excited. I had just got off a good week and I was super-bummed when the cancelled it. So far, I man I would like to do better, as we all do, but I have to take the positives out of every race and just go with it and just build off what I’ve been doing. I just have to remind myself every time that I can be up front and really put that into my head. These 450 riders are unreal riders out here. It’s no joke in the 450 class. It’s a struggle, at times. I’m not going to lie. I’ve been keeping it fun and keeping it light and I think that’s what’s been helping me come back happy at every race and keeps a smile on my face. You know, I definitely know I can do better than what I have been doing, it’s just a matter of getting off the line and pushing myself to get up to the front.”
Aaron Plessinger in Salt Lake City
You’re a champion. You’ve won very big races. You know you can do it, huh? Maybe the stars just need to line up or something…
“Yeah, for sure. It’s just a matter of putting everything together and keeping it there for 20 minutes plus a lap. Yeah, it’s pretty stressful at times when you don’t do as good as you think you’re going to do, but that’s what keeps us coming back. It’s kind of like golf, when you don’t do as good as you think you’re going to do, but you know you can do better. All that keeps you always coming back.”
2018 AMA Supercross 250 West Champion – Aaron Plessinger – Image by Hoppenworld
You guys live and die on your results. It’s a tough business, huh?
“Yeah, for sure. And as they say, you’re only as good as your last finish. It’s tough when you don’t perform like you want to.”
The rest of the summer. What can you do? What can you achieve?
“I mean, finishing off supercross, I know I can top five. That’s a no-brainer. I’ve been there before and I’ve done it before. It’s just a matter of getting that start and getting it up top. And for outdoors, I’m shooting for the stars. I want to get podiums and I want to get a win. I really love outdoors and I think it’s going to bring me and the team some good. And I think the fans will be there. That pumps me up because as you know, I am definitely a fan person. I love my fans. I’m really, really, really excited for that.”
Aaron Plessinger – Salt Lake City Source: MCNews.com.au
The 29th worldwide, annual Ride To Work Day on Monday (15 June 2020) will be a great demonstration to the world of what post-lockdown commuting could look like.
Unfortunately, in Australia, it’s winter and we don’t join in the worldwide event, so we lose that global impact.
Instead, we will have our fourth Ride to Work Week in September 2020.
Spread out over a week instead of a single day, it doesn’t have the media impact of the worldwide single-day event.
Our event is organised by motorcycle companies and the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries.
They target riders (and inactive riders), rather showing the rest of the population that riding is a great alternative to being stuck in traffic.
There is no media event and virtually no broad-based advertising.
Worldwide event
In contrast, the worldwide Ride to Work Day targets non-riders and seeks employer recognition and support for this form of transportation.
The focus is on increasing public and government awareness of the societally positive benefits of utility riding.
Adding motorcycles and scooters helps traffic flow better, according to Ride to Work, a non-profit advocacy organisation.
Studies have also shown that across the same distances, riders reach their destinations up to 20% faster than those using automobiles. Most motorcycles and scooters also consume less resources per kilometre than automobiles.
Fans will be welcome for round two of the 2020 MotoAmerica Series at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, June 26-28. Photo by Brian J. Nelson
