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Moto News Wrap for June 18, 2019 by Darren Smart

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The LATEST News

  • Gajser and Prado Win MXGP of Latvia
  • Van De Moosdijk and Bengtson win EMX rounds in Latvia
  • Tomac and Cianciarulo Win High Point AMA Motocross
  • Bauman Brothers Storm Laconia AFT Grand National
  • Kolodziej Wins Czech SGP
  • Clout and Rutledge Crowned Champions at Nowra
  • Duvall Stays with Husqvarna
  • Desalle, Lupino and Bobryshev Injured
  • Seely Injured
  • Entries Open for 2019 Australian Senior Dirt Track Championships

Gajser and Prado Win MXGP of Latvia

Kegums in Latvia has hosted an action packed ninth round of the FIM Motocross World Championship and it was Team HRC’s Tim Gajser and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jorge Prado who have won the MXGP and MX2 classes respectively and in doing so have extended their championships points leads.

MXGP Latvia Rnd Jorge Prado
MXGP of Latvia 2019

MXGP Report

The most successful team in recent GP history has been the Red Bull KTM team but season 2019 went completely pear shaped in Latvia with their brightest hopes in Antonio Cairoli and Jeffrey Herlings both suffering major set-backs.

MXGP Latvia Rnd Jeffrey Herlings
Jeffrey Herlings leading the MXGP Race 1 start – MXGP of Latvia 2019

Herlings, in his second GP back from injury won the opening moto before it was reported that he has re-broken his previously injured ankle after incredibly crashing during the second moto warm up lap then former 2019 championship dominator in Cairoli crashed hard out of the second moto just an hour after a solid fourth in the opening moto.

All of that aside, there were three riders tied on 40 points at the top of the MXGP points tally for the day but on a count back Gajser scored his 20th GP victory with 6-1 moto finishes but more importantly now holds a 33-points lead in the championship over Cairoli.

Tim Gajser

“I am so happy about today. First race I was struggling, but the second one I found a good rhythm and I had a good battle with Jeremy. I am so happy for the team. Yesterday I had good speed but at the qualification race I had a big crash and I was a little sore today with some pain in my neck, but I got enough for sixth in the first race. Second race I tried to ride my race and I didn’t know I had won the overall. This is everything we work for and I am happy for the team.”

MXGP Latvia Rnd Gajser bybavo
Tim Gajser – MXGP of Latvia 2019

Romain Febvre (4-2) and Arnaud Tonus (2-4) rounded out the podium for the Yamaha fans.

Romain Febvre

“Today was okay, much better than yesterday. I made some mistakes with bike set-up yesterday. We changed it a lot for today and I felt better. My start was not there, and I struggled a bit. I could have finished fourth but I got really bad arm pump. Tony was in front of me and I couldn’t catch him. The second race I had a good first lap and kept my moment. Middle of the race I struggled in the wave but I could catch the guys in front. Maybe I needed two or three extra laps to catch Tim. I thought I won the overall, but I am happy even if a bit disappointed. It isn’t so long after I came back from my injury, so I feel satisfied.”

MXGP Latvia Rnd Febvre action
Romain Febvre – MXGP of Latvia 2019
Arnaud Tonus

“I had a good feeling, at the beginning I got passed by Jeffrey and I followed him, then I found some good lines and it was great to lead. I had a good lead, but Jeffrey passed me, and he got the win. I will take every race to learn and just get better. I have to be happy. Sure, a bit frustrated, coming so close to the win, I will keep working and it is great to be on the podium, I enjoy this a lot. The way I was riding today, it’s maybe the best I have ridden in these types of conditions. It’s been years that I am trying to work on myself to compete at this level and if you look at the last few GPs, I am super happy. My mechanic told me if I could pass Romain, I could win the GP, but the track was sketchy, and I tried to keep it on two wheels.”

MXGP Latvia Rnd Arnaud Tonus
Arnaud Tonus – MXGP of Latvia 2019

Cairoli walked off the track after spectacularly crashing out of the second moto holding his right arms and at the time of writing the extent of his injuries are unknown while Herlings is already in hospital to repair the damage he incurred during his warm up lap crash.

Tony Cairoli

“On Saturday I had the Flu and a fever, and my arm was not as strong as I wanted after the crash in Russia. I could battle with the guys for first position in the first moto but then I got a bit tired and settled for third, which was good for the championship. In the second moto I was fourth and trying to follow [Arnaud] Tonus. I had quite a big crash and when I stood up I felt my shoulder was out. My hope is to be ready to at least start next week in Germany. I don’t want to give up at all and I want to be there as much as possible for the championship.”

MXGP Latvia Rnd Tony Cairoli
Tony Cairoli – MXGP of Latvia 2019

MXGP Overall Classification Top 10

  1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 40 p
  2. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 40 p
  3. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, YAM), 40 p
  4. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 36 p
  5. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, HON), 30 p
  6. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 25 p
  7. Gautier Paulin (FRA, YAM), 23 p
  8. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 22 p
  9. Ivo Monticelli (ITA, KTM), 22 p
  10. Max Anstie (GBR, KTM), 20 p
  11. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 20 p

MXGP – World Championship Classification Top 10

  1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 391 p
  2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 358 p
  3. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 256 p
  4. Gautier Paulin (FRA, YAM), 254 p
  5. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, YAM), 246 p
  6. Arminas Jasikonis (LTU, HUS), 226 p
  7. Clement Desalle (BEL, KAW), 208 p
  8. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, HON), 200 p
  9. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 190 p
  10. Pauls Jonass (LAT, HUS), 186 p
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MX2 Report

The Kegums track offered plenty of lines and passing opportunities but none of that worried Prado who won the opening moto from Jago Geerts, Thomas Kjer Olsen, Ben Watson and Maxime Renaux before dominating the second moto over Geerts, Kjer Olsen, Watson and Adam Sterry.

MXGP Latvia Rnd Jorge Prado
Jorge Prado – MXGP of Latvia 2019
Jorge Prado

“It is my first time to win here, I was fourth two times here. I won the qualification race and two races today, so that makes me happy. Another great weekend going 1-1 and making the gap bigger in the points. I felt comfortable and I want to thank the team, my family and my girlfriend. It is making me stay in the top level like I am doing now.”

MXGP Latvia Rnd Jorge Prado
Jorge Prado – MXGP of Latvia 2019
Jago Geerts

“Pretty good start, but the first three corners I messed up a little, I tried everything I could do to pass Thomas and I am really happy with the weekend.”

Thomas Kjer Olsen

“I am finally getting good starts and being up there I learn a lot. The speed is high from the beginning and it is a bummer I couldn’t stay there, but I gave my all and I want to thank everyone behind me.”

MXGP Latvia Rnd Thomas Kjer Olsen
Thomas Kjer Olsen – MXGP of Latvia 2019

Aussie Jed Beaton went 10-13 for 10th overall on the day while Mitch Evans was forced to sit out the qualifying race after crashing hard during qualifying. This gave him the most outside gate in both GP races but it was looking good after a ninth in Moto 1, before a massive over-the-bars crash in Moto 2 relegated the Honda rider to 22nd for 15th overall.

Evans and Beaton are now 7th and 13th in the MX2 championship points respectively but nothing is surer that these two are cementing themselves as worthy of their factory rides.

Mitchell Evans

“Tough day, finishing ninth and twenty-second. A crash in moto two ruined my chances of achieving my goal of two top-ten finishes today.”

MXGP Latvia Rnd Mitch Evans
Mitch Evans – MXGP of Latvia 2019
Jed Beaton

“It’s been a really tough GP for me, but I’m pleased I came away with points in both motos. I got sick with the flu on Thursday before the race and I really struggled with a fever and low energy. I worked hard during the qualification race and did all that I could during today’s motos.”

MXGP Latvia Rnd Jed Beaton
Jet Beaton – MXGP of Latvia 2019

MX2 Overall Top Ten

  1. Jorge Prado (ESP, KTM), 50 points
  2. Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 44 p
  3. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, HUS), 40 p
  4. Ben Watson (GBR, YAM), 36 p
  5. Bas Vaessen (NED, KTM), 29 p
  6. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 29 p
  7. Tom Vialle (FRA, KTM), 26 p
  8. Michele Cervellin (ITA, YAM), 24 p
  9. Adam Sterry (GBR, KAW), 22 p
  10. Jed Beaton (AUS, HUS), 19 p.;
    …15. Mitch Evans, 12 p

MX2 Championship Top Ten

  1. Jorge Prado (ESP, KTM), 397 p
  2. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, HUS), 367 p
  3. Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 301 p
  4. Henry Jacobi (GER, KAW), 251 p
  5. Ben Watson (GBR, YAM), 246 p
  6. Tom Vialle (FRA, KTM), 242 p
  7. Mitchell Evans (AUS, HON), 226 p
  8. Adam Sterry (GBR, KAW), 191 p
  9. Davy Pootjes (NED, HUS), 157 p
  10. Michele Cervellin (ITA, YAM), 156 p.;
    …13. Jed Beaton – 129 p

Van De Moosdijk and Bengtson win EMX rounds in Latvia

The Latvian round for European Championship classes of EMX250 and EMX2T saw Roan Van De Moosdijk and Ken Bengtson score 1-1 moto finishes in their respective classes.

MXGP Latvia Rnd VAN DE MOOSDIJK GP PH
Roan van de Moosdijk – MXGP of Latvia 2019

EMX250

Van De Moosdijk proved to be very strong in the sand of Kegums and also closed up on new series leader Alberto Forato, who finished second overall with 3-4 results while third overall in the EMX250 class was Jeremy Sydow with 2-5 results obtaining his first podium of his career.

Roan van de Moosdijk

“Unbelievable! 1-1 for my first perfect weekend; I was first in every session in practice and in racing. The start was the key and today I was fourth leaving turn one; I soon had the lead so I could ride my own race and check out to control the race. I’m really happy that I didn’t make any mistakes today; I was riding safe in the sketchy section. I didn’t look at the standings but I know that I’ve closed the gap with the leaders again and I’m just focusing on each race. I’ve got a great family behind me at Kawasaki and F&H Racing and we can look forward confidently to Teutschenthal next weekend after taking the last two overall wins and four motos from the last five.”

MXGP Latvia Rnd VAN DE MOOSDIJK GP PH
Roan van de Moosdijk – MXGP of Latvia 2019

EMX250 – Overall Classification Top 10

  1. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, KAW), 50 points
  2. Alberto Forato (ITA, HUS), 38
  3. Jeremy Sydow (GER, HUS), 38
  4. Stephen Rubini (FRA, HON), 36
  5. Raivo Dankers (NED, YAM), 32
  6. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, HUS), 29
  7. Rene Hofer (AUT, KTM), 28
  8. Bastian Boegh Damm (DEN, KTM), 27
  9. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 24
  10. Giuseppe Tropepe (ITA, YAM), 18

EMX250 – Championship Top 10

  1. Alberto Forato (ITA, HUS), 201 points
  2. Stephen Rubini (FRA, HON), 201
  3. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, KAW), 194
  4. Rene Hofer (AUT, KTM), 138
  5. Giuseppe Tropepe (ITA, YAM), 114
  6. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 112
  7. Jimmy Clochet (FRA, KAW), 88
  8. Josh Gilbert (GBR, HON), 86
  9. Karlis Sabulis (LAT, KTM), 74
  10. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, YAM), 73
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EMX2T

Sweden’s Ken Bengtson might have just made his debut in the EMX2T but he looked solid in the sand of Kegums. With second place overall, Team Ecomaxx Fuels team’s Mike Kras scored 2-2 results leading the series points with a two point over Verde Substance KTM team’s Brad Anderson. Third overall was Andero Lusbo with 4-3 scores.

Bengtson held on for both race wins to take the overall victory ahead of Mike Kras, Andero Lusbo, Todd Kellet and former championship leader Brad Anderson so when the dust settled Kras now has the red-plate by just two points over Anderson.

EMX2T Presented by FMF Racing – Overall Classification Top 10

  1. Ken Bengtson (SWE, HUS), 50 points
  2. Mike Kras (NED, KTM), 44
  3. Andero Lusbo (EST, HUS), 38
  4. Todd Kellett (GBR, YAM), 36
  5. Brad Anderson (GBR, KTM), 34
  6. Mario Tamai (ITA, KTM), 29
  7. Gianluca Deghi (ITA, KTM), 28
  8. Vaclav Kovar (CZE, GAS), 26
  9. Nick Leerkes (NED, KTM), 23
  10. Andrea Vendruscolo (ITA, YAM), 20

EMX2T Championship Classification Top 10

  1. Mike Kras (NED, KTM), 199 points
  2. Brad Anderson (GBR, KTM), 197
  3. Todd Kellett (GBR, YAM), 178
  4. Andero Lusbo (EST, HUS), 162
  5. Vaclav Kovar (CZE, GAS), 153
  6. Youri van t Ende (NED, KTM), 88
  7. Brad Todd (GBR, YAM), 86
  8. Andrea Vendruscolo (ITA, YAM), 79
  9. Andrea Gorini (SMR, YAM), 72
  10. Pier Filippo Bertuzzo (ITA, YAM), 72

Tomac and Cianciarulo win High Point AMA Motocross

The infamous High point Raceway has hosted the latest round of the AMA Motocross Championships and it was the Kawasaki paring of Eli Tomac and Adam Cianciarulo who have won the 450 and 250 classes respectively.

AMA MX Utah Rnd Starts JK MX HighPoint
AMA MX 2019 – High Point

450 Report

In a day of ups and downs on a brutally rut infest layout Tomac’s 3-2 effort gave him his second overall victory of the season and the 19th of his career. Ken Roczen’s second-moto win vaulted him into the runner-up spot (6-1) ahead of Jason Anderson who finished third overall on the back of 2-5 moto finishes.

AMA MX Utah Rnd Start JK MX HighPoint
AMA MX 2019 – High Point
Eli Tomac

 “Today was a unique situation by winning with 3-2 moto scores. I’m not sure if I’ve ever won a race without winning a moto. We did what we could and battled towards the front, so overall the day was good. The track had a lot of good character today, the ruts were plenty deep and the track was rough.”

AMA MX Utah Rnd Tomac JK MX HighPoint
Eli Tomac – AMA MX 2019 – High Point
Ken Roczen

“I’m glad we left today on a high note. I had a new setup in Florida and unfortunately with the weather, I’ve only been able to put a very short amount of time on it, and that’s what I started with here today. I struggled all morning with it. Going into the first moto, we went back to my Colorado setting, except with some clicker changes I’ve been running at home. However, that didn’t work for me at all. I wasn’t riding well and just went backwards in the first moto. For the second moto, I just went back to our full Colorado setup, and it was nice to see that we have a very solid base that I can go back to. I just knew exactly what the bike was going to do, and we had an incredible moto. I came from far behind after a bad start and came away with a moto win and second on the podium. It was pretty huge.”

AMA MX Utah Rnd Roczen JK MX HighPoint
Ken Roczen – AMA MX 2019 – High Point

With the win, Tomac move to a tiebreaker with Roczen in the championship point standings with 176 points apiece while teammates Zach Osborne and Anderson are tied for third, 32 points out of the lead.

Dean Ferris battled hard all day on his factory Yamaha to come home 11-11 for 11th outright to sit ninth in the championship points chase.

AMA MX Utah Rnd Ferris JK MX HighPoint
Dean Ferris – AMA MX 2019 – High Point

450 Results

  1. Eli Tomac Eli 3 – 2
  2. Ken Roczen 6 – 1
  3. Jason Anderson 2 – 5
  4. Cooper Webb 7 – 3
  5. Zach Osborne 5 – 4
  6. Marvin Musquin 4 – 7
  7. lake Baggett 1 – 15
  8. Joey Savatgy 8 – 6
  9. Justin Bogle 9 – 8
  10. Justin Barcia 10 – 10
  11. Dean Ferris 11 – 11

450 Points Standings

  1. Eli Tomac – 176
  2. Ken Roczen – 176
  3. Zach Osborne – 144
  4. Jason Anderson – 144
  5. Marvin Musquin – 139
  6. Cooper Webb – 132
  7. Justin Barcia – 99
  8. lake Baggett – 92
  9. Dean Ferris – 89
  10. Justin Bogle – 88
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250 Class Report

The opening moto was a slug fest between front runners Justin Cooper, Colt Nichols, Hunter Lawrence, Cianciarulo, Dylan Ferrandis and Chase Sexton with the layout offering a multitude of passing opportunities, but in the end it was Lawrence who got his first win on American soil over Cianciarulo, Ferrandis and Sexton.

AMA MX Utah Rnd Starts JK MX HighPoint
250 Start – AMA MX 2019 – High Point

Moto 2 was pedestrian in comparison with Cianciarulo taking the moto win for his fourth consecutive victory (2-1) of the season. Lawrence’s consistent (1-3) moto scores carried him to a career-best second overall ahead of Sexton who also had the best finish of his career with third (4-2).

AMA MX Utah Rnd Starts JK MX HighPoint
250 Start – AMA MX 2019 – High Point

Wilson Todd recovered from a poor start in the opening moto to score a solid 12th but in the second moto the current Australian MX Nationals Championship leader dropped his TLD KTM into fourth place coming out of the second corner. He then held fifth place for a large part of the early part of the moto before slipping back to 10th for 10th overall – Lawrence and Todd Currently hold down seventh and 12th respectively in the championship.

AMA MX Utah Rnd Lawrence JK MX HighPoint
Hunter Lawrence – AMA MX 2019 – High Point
Adam Cianciarulo

“I’m so grateful for these wins, they’re hard to do and I’m just stoked. The first moto was a battle from the beginning, I had a terrible start. By the time I was able to get into second, I just kind of struggled and that was it. The second moto I obviously put myself in a much better position to get the win and that is what I was able to do. I just want to keep the ball rolling heading into Jacksonville.”

AMA MX Utah Rnd Cianciarulo JK MX HighPoint
Adam Cianciarulo – AMA MX 2019 – High Point

The win helped Cianciarulo extend his championship point lead to 26 points over Cooper who could only muster ninth overall (6-9). Ferrandis remains in third, 42 points out of the lead.

AMA MX Utah Rnd Todd JK MX HighPoint
Wilson Todd – AMA MX 2019 – High Point

250 Results

  1. Adam Cianciarulo 2 – 1
  2. Hunter Lawrence 1 – 3
  3. Chase Sexton 4 – 2
  4. Dylan Ferrandis 3 – 4
  5. Colt Nichols 5 – 5
  6. J. Hampshire 9 – 6
  7. Cameron McAdoo 8 – 7
  8. Michael Mosiman 7 – 8
  9. Justin Cooper 6 – 9
  10. Wilson Todd 12 – 10

250 Points Standings

  1. Adam Cianciarulo – 186
  2. Justin Cooper – 160
  3. Dylan Ferrandis – 144
  4. Chase Sexton – 134
  5. Colt Nichols – 126
  6. Michael Mosiman – 112
  7. Hunter Lawrence – 111
  8. J. Hampshire – 104
  9. Alex Martin – 87
  10. Garrett Marchbanks – 63
    …12. Wilson Todd – 56
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Bauman Brothers Storm Laconia AFT Grand National

In a final that featured no less than three re-starts, Bronson and Briar Bauman have gone 1-2 at the inaugural Laconia AFT Twins Grand National while championship rivals in Jared Meeds, Henry Wiles and Sammy Halbert all suffered from either mechanical issues or crashes.

AFT Twins Laconia Short Track Rnd Twins Start AXI
AFT Twins Start – 2019 Laconia Short Track

Bronson Bauman won his first career Grand National win by a narrow margin over his brother and championship leader Briar who actually took over the lead just as the third red flag came out but because Bronson was leading the lap before he was reinstated as the leader for the restart – a lead he would not relinquish.

AFT Twins Laconia Short Track Rnd Twins Bauman AXI
Bronson Bauman – AFT Twins – 2019 Laconia Short Track

Henry Wiles held down third place for most of the race but crashed just before the third restart and was able to gather several places to earn a credible seventh while Sammy Halbert’s bike stopped during the first restart before Jared Mees mount suffered the sme dilemma during the second restart.

AFT Twins Laconia Short Track Rnd Twins Bauman ERV
Bronson Bauman – AFT Twins – 2019 Laconia Short Track

Points wise Briar has extended his championship lead over Brandon Robinson to 34 points while Mees remains in third, now 35 points behind Briar Bronson.

AFT Twins Laconia Short Track Rnd Twins Podium ERV
AFT Twins Podium – 2019 Laconia Short Track

AFT Twins Main Event (30 Laps)

  1. Bronson Bauman – 25p
  2. Briar Bauman – 20p
  3. Jake Johnson – 17p
  4. Jarod Vanderkooi – 15p
  5. Bryan Smith – 14p
  6. Brandon Robinson – 13p
  7. Henry Wiles – 12p
  8. Roger Hayden – 11p
  9. Jeffrey Carver Jr. – 10p
  10. Robert Pearson – 9p
    …15/DNF. Jared Mees – 4p
    …16/DNF. Sammy Halbert – 3p

AFT Twins Championship points

  1. Briar Bauman – 142
  2. Brandon Robinson – 108
  3. Jared Mees – 107
  4. Bronson Bauman – 87
  5. Jarod Vanderkooi – 85
  6. Henry Wiles – 79
  7. Jake Johnson – 70
  8. Jeffrey Carver Jr. – 70
  9. Sammy Halbert – 66
  10. Robert Pearson – 65

AFT Singles

The 20 lap AFT Singles final was also drama filled with two restarts but it was Dalton Gauthier who dominated the early running. After the first restart he lost the lead to the hard charging Mikey Rush who ran away with the win after keeping himself out of harm’s way after the second restart which saw a five lap dash to the finish.

AFT Twins Laconia Short Track Rnd Singles Start AXI
AFT Singles Start – 2019 Laconia Short Track

Rush got the win over Gauthier just ahead of Aussie hard charger Max Whale, who snuck his way towards the front at every restart from his seventh place starting position.

AFT Twins Laconia Short Track Rnd Singles ERV
AFT Singles – 2019 Laconia Short Track

Rush now has a 10 point lead in the series ahead of Gauthier with former championship leader in Jess Janisch dropping to third after a disappointing ninth at Loconia while Whale has moved to eigth in the championship.

AFT Twins Laconia Short Track Rnd Singles Podium ERV
AFT Singles Podium – 2019 Laconia Short Track

AFT Singles Main Event (20 Laps)

  1. Mikey Rush – 25 points
  2. Dalton Gauthier – 20
  3. Max Whale – 17
  4. Andrew Luker – 15
  5. Dan Bromley – 14
  6. Ryan Wells – 13
  7. James Rispoli – 12
  8. Ben Lowe – 11
  9. Jesse Janisch – 10
  10. Kevin Stollings – 9

AFT Singles Points

  1. Mikey Rush – 141
  2. Dalton Gauthier – 131
  3. Jesse Janisch – 129
  4. Dan Bromley – 114
  5. Ryan Wells – 91
  6. Shayna Texter – 69
  7. Chad Cosem – 67
  8. Max Whale – 66
  9. Morgen Mischler – 65
  10. Michael Inderbitzin – 58
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Kolodziej Wins Czech SGP

Polish racer Janusz Kolodziej admitted becoming an FIM Speedway Grand Prix winner has boosted his belief on the world stage after triumphing at the ANLAS.

Czech SGP Action byJarek Pabijan
2019 Speedway GP of Czech – Image by Jarek Pabijan

Kolodziej raced to the first SGP win of his career at the Czech Republic SGP in Prague last Saturday beating Leon Madsen, Patryk Dudek and Jason Doyle in the final.

Dudek now holds top spot in the World Championship – level on 40 points with Madsen – as the pair maintained their record of reaching every final this year. But the night belonged to an elated Kolodziej – a man competing in his first SGP season since 2011.

Janusz Kolodziej

“Now maybe after this win, I can believe more in myself and I will try to win more. But there is not too much pressure on me. The best situation for me is when I just race. I don’t like too much pressure. We will see what happens. But this is so, so amazing. I am older, but I can still win.”

Madsen was pleased to maintain his sublime start to SGP life as he made it three finals in as many rounds in what is his full-time debut season.

Leon Madsen

“It’s great, now I have a first, second and third place. I’ve been in the final and on the podium in my first three GPs. I am very happy. We are a third of the way into the season and I’m tied for first position. I am very pleased with that.”

Third-placed Dudek – the new World Championship leader by virtue of his superior FIM ranking over Madsen – admitted his ANLAS Czech SGP was no easy night after he battled his way into the semi-finals on nine points, before making it into the final after Emil Sayfutdinov dropped a chain while holding second place.

The Aussie duo of Jason Doyle and Max Fricke had their best results for 2019 with Doyle earning two wins to make his first final for the year while Fricke sensationally won three heats on his way to 13 points. Next up is the Norrbil Swedish SGP in Hallstavik on July 6.

Czech SGP Podium
2019 Speedway GP of Czech

Czech SGP Top Ten

  1. Janusz Kolodziej – 7 Rides 4 Wins = 15 points
  2. Leon Madsen – 7 Rides 2 Wins = 14
  3. Patryk Dudek – 7 Rides 1 Win = 12
  4. Jason Doyle – 6 Rides 2 Wins = 12
  5. Max Fricke – 6 Rides 3 Wins = 13
  6. Fredrik Lindgren – 6 Rides 3 Wins = 12
  7. Emil Sayfutdinov – 6 Rides 2 Wins = 11
  8. Artem Laguta – 6 Rides 2 Wins = 9
  9. Bartosz Zmarzlik – 5 Rides 1 Win = 8
  10. Maciej Janowski – 5 Rides 1 Win = 7

SGP Points Standings

  1. Patryk Dudek – 40
  2. Leon Madsen – 40
  3. Bartosz Zmarzlik – 36
  4. Fredrik Lindgren – 32
  5. Emil Sayfutdinov – 30
  6. Martin Vaculik – 28
  7. Janusz Kolodziej – 26
  8. Niels-Kristian Iversen – 24
  9. Jason Doyle – 23
  10. Artem Laguta – 22
    …14. Max Fricke – 16
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Clout and Rutledge Crowned Champions at Nowra

Nowra has hosted the 2019 King of MX Final and it was Luke Clout and Meghan Rutledge who successfully defended their thrones in Nowra in front of over 4000 spectators who enjoyed the two-day event. The Nowra event included 20 classes, and two action-packed, 10-minute, $10,000 winner-takes-all feature races.

King of MX Nowra Podium
2019 King of MX Final winners

It was a strong weekend for Luke Clout, taking all three MX1 A-grade race wins to seal the State Title before drawing the 40th gate pick. Selecting a yet-to-be-used inside gate, Luke raced to the holeshot and, ultimately, to the King of MX feature-race win.

The reigning Queen of MX, Meghan Rutledge, entered the final under an injury cloud after wrapping up the Australian Women’s Championship the previous weekend. However, two from three race wins and a dominant performance in the Queen of MX feature race saw Rutledge take the win and the $10,000 cheque.

For the newly crowned Prince of MX, Blake Fox, it wasn’t an easy run. A first-turn crash in race one put the 15-year-old in last. However, some strong, smart racing saw the KTM-mounted rider move through the field to finish second. Two impressive race wins later, and the youngster was crowned Prince of MX and the 15 years 250cc State Champion. Up-and-coming racer Taylor Thompson has made it back-to-back Princess of MX crowns after a dominant performance in the 13-u16 ladies’ class.

Luke Clout

“I can’t thank everyone enough for their support. I feel like I’m at the top of my game at the moment and to take home the MX1 State Title, as well as the King of MX race, this year is unreal. For me, the King of MX has worked out perfectly for my pre-season and mid-season Nationals campaign and it’s great to see a state championship with this many people here racing and watching. I’m full of confidence right now and I can’t wait to go racing again.”

Meghan Rutledge

“This time last week, I wasn’t even sure I’d be able to race after hurting my thumb in Manjimup, so to come to Nowra and take home both the Queen of MX race and the WMX State Title wins is unbelievable. It’s been a roller coaster of a year for me so far and, with the support of my family and sponsors, I’ve been able to achieve my goals and keep the #66 KX250F at the front of the pack.”

Dave Cooke – MNSW CEO

“What a weekend! First and foremost, I want to congratulate the Nowra club, and, in particular, Tyson, the manager of Nowra Motoplex, for turning the circuit into a world-class race track that not only provided awesome racing for the elite racers, but to those in all classes throughout the three days of racing. I also want to thank all the competitors that raced a qualifier. We had over 1600 entrants in the King of MX this year, not just from NSW but from across Australia, so to even make it to the final was an achievement in itself. To our 20 new State Motocross Champions, congratulations. NSW has some of the best racers in Australia, and the depth of talent is amazing. We’re dedicated to working hard to grow and improve motorcycle racing and we’re already working on 2020 in the Motorcycling NSW office.”


Duvall Stays with Husqvarna

Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing Off-Road have announced that they have agreed to terms with Thad Duvall on a two-year contract extension that will run through the 2021 season.

Thad Duvall

“I am excited to continue my relationship with the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing Team. I love being a part of a pioneering brand and I look forward to a successful future with the team!”

Thad Duvall - Image by Simon Cudby
Thad Duvall – Image by Simon Cudby

Through seven rounds of the 2019 Amsoil Grand National Cross Country (GNCC) Series, Duvall has two wins and sits second in points, 18 behind Kailub Russell. Duvall, who has been with the team since 2017, has finished runner-up in the championship to Russell the last two years.

Tim Weigand – Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing Off-Road Team Manager

“I have had the privilege to work with and get to know Thad over the last three years. He is class act guy whose determination and grit is infectious. Thad is a constant front runner no matter what race series he lines up for and this is evident by his results over the last few years. I know we have yet to see his true potential and I look forward to seeing his confidence grow in the years to come. We are extremely happy and grateful Thad has chosen to continue his journey with us.”

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Desalle, Lupino and Bobryshev injured

Three prominent MXGP class riders in Clement Desalle, Alessandro Lupino and Evgeny Bobryshev are all recovering from injuries sustained at the MXGP of Russia, two weekends ago.

Alessandro Lupino injured
Alessandro Lupino

The Russian round of the FIM Motocross World Championship has been a success for Kawasaki during the past two seasons with overall GP victories for Desalle but 2019 saw the Kawasaki rider crash hard in the first race and was back on Monday in his homeland to have surgery with Doctor Claes. He underwent successful surgery to his broken left tibia-fibula but he’s also suffering from a right ankle sprain and is now entering a long recovery programme.

MXGP Rnd France Desalle GP SL
Clement Desalle – MXGP of France, 2019, Round 7

Lupino and Bobryshev also crashed in the first moto, with Lupino hit by another rider and for several seconds immediately after the incident he didn’t have any feeling in the legs. He was transferred earlier this week to Italy where Doctor Sangiorgi confirmed injury to the D11-D12-L1-L2 vertebrae of transverse processes, and a fracture of the sternum while Bobryshev suffered a broken right tibia.


Seely injured

Team Honda HRC’s Cole Seely will be sidelined for the remainder of the 2019 AMA Pro Motocross series due to a torn labrum and fractured glenoid socket, sustained when he dislocated his right shoulder in a practice crash at the Moto Sandbox in Claremont, Florida, on Tuesday, June 11.

AMA MX Rnd Seely JK MX Hangtown
Cole Seely – Image by Hoppenworld

Seely flew to California on Wednesday for further evaluation, during which it was determined that he would need to undergo surgery. Dr Warren G. Kramer, the same surgeon who operated on Seely’s shoulder in 2015, will conduct the surgery on Tuesday, June 18, at the Newport Surgical Center in Newport Beach. The recovery time is estimated to be three months.

Cole Seely

“I’m extremely sad to have to sit out the remainder of the season. I’ve been working really hard to continue to build myself up after my big injury last year, so to have another setback like this is very disappointing. It seems like I’ve had nothing but challenges. I want to thank all of my fans and my team for their support.”

HRC Contract Extended Cole Seely
Cole Seely
Erik Kehoe – Team Honda HRC Manager

“It’s really unfortunate to see Cole’s season end this way. The beginning of this season has been a challenge for him, but he showed a lot of speed during the first moto at Colorado; it’s a bummer that we won’t be able to see how he progresses. He’s had some tough luck with injuries, but he has kept a good attitude and continued to give his best effort. On behalf of the team and everyone at Honda, I wish him well during his recovery.”

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Entries open for 2019 Australian Senior Dirt Track Championships

Entries have now opened for the 2019 Australian Senior Dirt Track Championships, hosted by the Hunter Motorcycle Club at Barleigh Ranch Raceway in Eagleton, NSW on October 5-6.

Entries are now open for the Aussie Dirt Track Championships
2019 Australian Senior Dirt Track Championships

The event also marks the first time that the new Australian Dirt Track Championship logo will be used, a move that demonstrates Motorcycling Australia’s (MA) commitment to developing a professional image for this renowned event.

Across the two-day event, the 2019 Australian Senior Dirt Track Championships will feature the following classes (subject to entries):

Championship Classes 
•    Under 19’s
•    Pro 250
•    Pro 450
•    250cc Slider
•    Pro Open
•    MX Open
•    500cc Slider
•    Pro Open Women’s
•    Sidecars
•    ATV Pro
•    ATV Open
•    ATV Open (Women)
Support Classes
•    Junior (65cc, 8 to under 12 years)
•    Junior (85/150cc, 9 to under 13 years)
•    Junior (150cc 2 stroke, 250cc 4 stroke, 13 to under 16 years)
•    Senior (Unlimited over 35 years)

Further information can be found in the Supplementary Regulations (download).

**Where there are insufficient entries for the Slider Classes, these machines may be combined with the events marked with asterisks in the table above. All machines must have one effective brake where MX and slider classes are combined.

Entries close 23 September 2019. Late entries will not be accepted. Gates open at 7AM (AEST) each day, with racing commencing immediately after the conclusion of practice and parade lap.

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MXGP of Finland back in 2020

Youthstream and Finnish based Lahti Events have announced that the FIM Motocross World Championship will make its return to Finland at the KymiRing motor circuit in 2020.

Motocross has had a great history in Finland with legendary World Champions and the last time MXGP visited Finland was back in 2014 but the 2020 MXGP of Finland has been built at KymiRing motor circuit, which is situated only 50 km from Lahti and 140 km from Helsinki.

Daniele Rizzi – Chief Operating Officer of Youthstream

“We are very happy to have come to an agreement with Lahti Events for the return of MXGP to this beautiful and innovative country. There is indeed a very innovative, ambitious, fan-oriented project behind the Finnish MXGP and we, like all parties involved, are eager to support it: it will definitely do good to the sport. This event will add a bit of Motocross fashion to the outstanding location of KymiRing which, thanks to Lahti Events’ choice of venue, will broaden its horizons to include the sport of Motocross in its program”

MXGP of Finland and Lahti Events Project Director Jesse Kiuru Youthstream COO Daniele Rizzi and FIMCMS Director Antonio Alia Portela
MXGP of Finland back in 2020
Kurt Ljungqvist – Managing Director of Finnish Motorcycling Federation

“World Championship races have always a very special meaning when it comes to awareness of the sport. When the youth gets to see the stars of the motocross world championship ride, it awakes an interest to try the sport and eventually they become our future stars and champions. The return of the race to our home soil also creates good opportunities to make it to the highest level of the sport and serves as a good motivator to believe in success and reaching the World Championship level. Motorcycling federation is very happy that Lahti Events has chosen to bring the highest level of motocross to the future heart of motorsport, the KymiRing circuit,”

Emilia Mäki – Managing Director of Koko Lahti

“The MXGP of Finland in 2020 will be our first ever motocross race for our Lahti Events company at the KymiRing and with this event we will set the standards of this venue. As the event organizer in Lahti region, we can also guarantee that the events will have their presence regionally,”

Finland is also home race of Ice1racing team; Antti Pyrhönen, former motocross rider himself, is one of the internationally known faces of Finnish motocross and he is currently the Team Manager of Team Ice1Racing, now Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing owned by the F1 driver Kimi Räikkönen.

Antti Pyrhönen

“The return of MXGP to Finland after several years is great news for our team, whose origins are in Finland and whose owner is Finnish, too. I’m sure that all the MX community, including teams and riders, will be also very excited to be back to Finland for an MXGP event.”

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Source: MCNews.com.au

Moto Wrap | AMA MX | MXGP | WESS | GNCC | SGP

Moto News Wrap for May 21, 2019 by Darren Smart

Proudly brought to you by Dunlop Geomax
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The LATEST News

  • Roczen & Cianciarulo win AMA Motocross at Hangtown
  • Villopoto wins at Hangtown
  • Gajser and Prado win MXGP of Portugal
  • Kras wins Portuguese EMX
  • FIM Junior Motocross World Cup heads to Trentino in 2019
  • Duvall wins Ohio GNCC
  • Madsen wins SGP of Poland
  • Garcia wins WESS in France
  • Brayton set for 2019 Aussie SX Championships
  • Chad Reed returns for 2019 AUS-X Open
  • Wollongong SX to feature ‘Speed & Style’ Championship
  • James Stewart finally announces retirement

Roczen & Cianciarulo Win AMA Motocross at Hangtown

The 2019 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship kicked off last weekend with the Bell Helmets Hangtown Motocross Classic and it was Ken Roczen who got the overall in the 450 class while Adam Cianciarulo bounced back from a tough loss in supercross to win the 250 class overall.

AMA MX Rnd Roczen JK MX Hangtown
Ken Roczen – Image by Hoppenworld

450 Report

The opening moto saw riders taking on a track that was breaking down faster than usual thanks to rain in the lead up to the weekend and there were battles right from the get-go but the real head-turner was Roczen blowing by Eli Tomac, Justin Barcia, Jason Anderson and early leader Cooper Webb to take the lead before the completion of the opening lap.

AMA MX Rnd Tomac JK MX Hangtown
Eli Tomac – Image by Hoppenworld

Once he had a clear track Roczen quickly put multiple seconds between he and Webb, while Anderson, Zach Osborne and Tomac rounded out the top five but Tomac made his way by Osborne before actually passing Anderson for third but Anderson quickly got back around the defending champ then started his way to the rear wheel of Webb.

With ten minutes to go the rain began to fall and Anderson’s pace increased, while Tomac’s dropped which carried the two riders into different directions with Anderson moving by Webb for second as Tomac lost a spot to Osborne to be in fifth.

AMA MX Rnd Anderson JK MX Hangtown
Jason Anderson – Image by Hoppenworld

Despite the rain, Roczen continued his flawless ride all the way to the finish where he took the opening moto win by 15 seconds over Anderson, Webb and Tomac who was gifted fourth when Osborne crashed in the slippery conditions.

In muddy conditions Marvin Musquin emerged with the second moto holeshot over Webb, Tomac and Roczen but it wasn’t long before Tomac was in the lead ahead of Roczen and the two soon opened up a gap over Anderson who got by his training partners in Osborne, Webb and Musquin.

AMA MX Rnd Webb JK MX Hangtown
Cooper Webb – Image by Hoppenworld

Roczen’s impressive early pace allowed him to jump by Tomac into the lead but the Honda rider couldn’t shake Tomac and as they approached lapped riders just before the halfway point it worked to the benefit of Tomac who seized the moment to dive to the inside the reclaim the lead.

From that point on, he left Roczen and the rest of the field behind taking the chequered flag by 43 seconds over Roczen while a resilient Musquin never backed down in his pursuit of Anderson for third, and successfully got back around, but in the closing laps a hard charge from Osborne ultimately put the rookie onto the moto podium.

AMA MX Rnd Musquin JK MX Hangtown
Marvin Musquin – Image by Hoppenworld

Roczen’s 1-2 outing provided him with his first win since the final round of his championship-winning 2016 season. Since then he has endured through a pair of career-threatening injuries to each of his arms, in which he was forced to fight his way back from more than 10 total surgeries. It’s been a long and difficult road, but Roczen was able to prevail for the 16th win of his career.

 Ken Roczen

“It’s been a very, very long time [since I won a race]. Overall the whole day was good,” said Roczen. “It’s difficult at the first race to know what to expect [from yourself] and to know where everyone else is. I just did my best every time I was on the track and it got us a win. It was really sloppy out there and [when conditions are like that] it can easily go in either direction [bad or good], so it feels good that we ended up on the positive side of it.”

AMA MX Rnd Roczen JK MX Hangtown
Ken Roczen – Image by Hoppenworld

Tomac’s second-moto win vaulted him to second overall (4-1), while Anderson rounded out the overall podium in third (2-5) so Roczen holds a slim four-point lead over Tomac in the 450 Class standings heading into the second round. Anderson sits nine points back in third.

As for the Aussies and Kiwis, factory Yamaha fill-in rider Dean Ferris came back from two bad starts to end the day with 11-8 moto finishes for ninth overall while Todd Waters took his privateer Husqvarna to 12-13 finishes for a credible 12th outright, but there was a disappointing result for Cody cooper who earned 15th in the opening moto before not finished the second mud moto.

AMA MX Rnd Roczen Tomac Anderson Podium JK MX Hangtown
450 Class Overall Results
Ken Roczen, Germany, Honda (1-2)
Eli Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Kawasaki (4-1)
Jason Anderson, Edgewood, N.M., Husqvarna (2-5)  – Image by Hoppenworld

450 Moto Results and Overall

  1. Ken Roczen 1-2
  2. Eli Tomac 4-1
  3. Jason Anderson 2-5
  4. Zachary Osborne 5-3
  5. Cooper Webb 3-6
  6. Marvin Musquin 7-4
  7. Justin Barcia 8-7
  8. Blake Baggett 6-10
  9. Dean Ferris 11-8
  10. Justin Bogle 10-9
  11. Jake Masterpool 13-11
  12. Todd Waters 12-13
  13. Ben Lamay 14-12
  14. Cole Seely 9-18
  15. Fredrik Noren 17-17
  16. Toshiki Tomita 36-14
  17. Taiki Koga 23-15
  18. Dylan Merriam 20-16
  19. Cody Cooper 15-40

450 Class Championship Standings

  1. Ken Roczen, Germany, Honda – 47
  2. Eli Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Kawasaki – 43
  3. Jason Anderson, Edgewood, N.M., Husqvarna – 38
  4. Zach Osborne, Abingdon, Va., Husqvarna – 36
  5. Cooper Webb, Newport, N.C., KTM – 35
  6. Marvin Musquin, France, KTM – 32
  7. Justin Barcia, Monroe, N.Y., Yamaha – 27
  8. Blake Baggett, Grand Terrace, Calif., KTM – 26
  9. Dean Ferris, Australia, Yamaha – 23
  10. Justin Bogle, Cushing, Okla., KTM – 23
    …12. Todd Waters, Australia, Husqvarna – 17
    …19. Cody Cooper, New Zealand, Honda – 6
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250 Report

Justin Cooper narrowly grab the holeshot over Chase Sexton and Cianciarulo while Hunter Lawrence started well outside the top ten but that wouldn’t last for long with the Aussie flying his way into the top ten.

AMA MX Rnd CooperJ JK MX Hangtown
Justin Cooper – Image by Hoppenworld

Up front Cooper successfully held on to that advantage and established himself as the early leader, with Cianciarulo slotting into second and Sexton into third but with about eight minutes left the Kawasaki rider was all over Cooper’s rear fender, but the Yamaha rider withstood the charge and used lapped riders to his advantage to extend the lead once more.

Hunter Lawrence had forced his way up to sixth place after passing teammate RJ Hampshire and just as they were closing in on fifth placed Colt Nichols, Hunter high sided over an inside rut and was clipped by Hampshire’s footpeg gouging a wound across Lawrence’s arse.

AMA MX Rnd Lawrence JK MX Hangtown
Hunter Lawrence – Image by Hoppenworld

Cooper went wire-to-wire on to take the second moto win of his career by 1.8 seconds over Cianciarulo, who rode to an uneventful second-place finish but the battle for third came down to the final corner, where a moto-long charge by Dylan Ferrandis, who started sixth, culminated with a stellar last lap in which he stole third from Sexton as they came to the line.

Lawrence dropped all of the way back to 18th but managed to climb back to 11th place, four places ahead of fellow Aussie Wilson Todd who was up to 12th at one point in the moto.

With rain falling, the deciding moto got underway with Nichols earning then holeshot from Cianciarulo who quickly moved to the lead while Cooper and Ferrandis were at the tail end of the top ten as Lawrence and Todd sat just outside the top ten.

AMA MX Rnd Ferrandis JK MX Hangtown
Dylan Ferrandis – Image by Hoppenworld

With the track deteriorating to a slippery mess, Cianciarulo easily opened up a considerable margin over the rest of the field but as the moto wore on, Ferrandis and Nichols began to inch closer to second placed Alex Martin but the Suzuki rider was able to hang on to the runner up spot while Nichols and Cooper got around Ferrandis in the dying laps

In the end Cianciarulo took the moto win by 16.3 seconds over Martin, Nichols, Cooper and Ferrandis while Todd finished in a sensational ninth place, three places ahead of a struggling Larence.

AMA MX Rnd Nichols JK MX Hangtown
Colt Nichols – Image by Hoppenworld

Cianciarulo’s 2-1 effort gave him the second overall win of his career in his first start since the 2017 season, following knee surgery last summer. He becomes the 32nd different rider to earn a 250 Class victory at      Hangtown.

 Adam Cianciarulo

“It means a lot [to get this win], for all the kids out there that watch us, we go through such peaks and valleys. [This win] is a testament to understanding that the most important shot is your next one. You’ve got to keep fighting. It feels great to get a win at the opening round of the [Pro Motocross] season and start this summer off on a high note.”

AMA MX Rnd Cianciarulo JK SX Vegas
Adam Cianciarulo – Image by Hoppenworld

Cooper’s resilient second moto landed him in the runner-up spot (1-4) for the second time in his career. Nichols (5-3) and Ferrandis (3-5) ended up in a tie for third, but by virtue of his better result in the final moto Nichols earned the tiebreaker.

Cianciarulo establishes a four-point lead over Cooper in the 250 Class standings entering the second round, while Nichols and Ferrandis sit 11 points back.

AMA MX Rnd Cianciarulo Coopr Nichols Podium JK MX Hangtown
250 Class Overall Results (Moto Finish)
Adam Cianciarulo, Port Orange, Fla., Kawasaki (2-1)
Justin Cooper, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., Yamaha (1-4)
Colt Nichols, Muskogee, Okla., Yamaha (5-3) – Image by Hoppenworld

250 Moto Results and Overall

  1. Adam Cianciarulo 2 -1
  2. Justin Cooper 1-4
  3. Colt Nichols 5-3
  4. Dylan Ferrandis 3-5
  5. Chase Sexton 4-6
  6. RJ Hampshire 6-7
  7. Michael Mosiman 7 -11
  8. Alex Martin 23-2
  9. Shane McElrath 14-8
  10. Christian Craig 13-10
  11. Hunter Lawrence 11-12
  12. Wilson Todd 15-9

250 Class Championship Standings

  1. Adam Cianciarulo, Port Orange, Fla., Kawasaki – 47
  2. Justin Cooper, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., Yamaha – 43
  3. Colt Nichols, Muskogee, Okla., Yamaha – 36
  4. Dylan Ferrandis, France, Yamaha – 36
  5. Chase Sexton, La Moille, Ill., Honda – 33
  6. RJ Hampshire, Hudson, Fla., Honda – 29
  7. Michael Mosiman, Sebastopol, Calif., Husqvarna – 24
  8. Alex Martin, Millville, Minn., Suzuki – 22
  9. Shane McElrath, Canton, N.C., KTM – 20
  10. Christian Craig, El Cajon, Calif., Honda – 19
  11. Hunter Lawrence, Australia, Honda – 19
  12. Wilson Todd, Australia, Husqvarna – 18
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Villopoto wins at Hangtown

The Hangtown Motocross Classic fans at Prairie City OHV Park were treated with seeing multi AMA motocross and supercross champion Ryan Villopoto taking on a field of 32 riders and win the first round of the 125cc All-Stars race.

AMA MX Rnd AS Villopoto JK MX Hangtown
Ryan Villopoto – Image by Hoppenworld

RV piloted his No. 2 Yamaha to victory ahead of fellow YZ rider Robbie Wageman while 16-year-old Brandon Ray rounded out the podium in third aboard a KTM.

125cc All Star Results

  1. Ryan Villopoto, Yamaha
  2. Robbie Wageman, Yamaha
  3. Brandon Ray, KTM
  4. Wyatt Mattson, Husqvarna
  5. Carter Dubach, Yamaha
  6. Tyler DuCray, KTM
  7. Angus Riordan, KTM
  8. Cole Barbieri, Suzuki
  9. Dennis Stapleton, Husqvarna
  10. Ty Freehill, Yamaha
  11. Derik Denzin, Yamaha
  12. John Ayers, Husqvarna
  13. Antonio Calavano, KTM
  14. Bryson Olson, Honda
  15. Conner Degraaf, KTM
  16. Toline Tyler, KTM
  17. Hunter Cross, KTM
  18. Talon Gorman, Honda
  19. Steven Stultz, Yamaha
  20. Jared Lang, Honda
  21. Dylan Simao, Yamaha
  22. Geoff Wills, KTM
  23. Tyler Edmondson, Honda
  24. Aron Martin
  25. Wyatt Bullen, Kawasaki
  26. Brooks, KTM
  27. Blaine Holdsclaw, Yamaha
  28. Derek Cappiello, Yamaha
  29. Chase Forsberg, KTM
  30. Nick Roby, Kawasaki
  31. Jeremy Ryan, KTM
  32. Ryan Eager, Suzuki

Gajser and Prado Win MXGP of Portugal

The Portuguese circuit of Agueda has hosted the sixth round of the 2019 World Motocross Championship and it was Tim Gajser and Jorge Prado who went 1-1 in the MXGP and MX2 classes respectively.

MXGP Portugal Rnd MX GP PH
MXGP of Portugal 2019

MXGP Report

Antonio Cairoli was in a winning position in both of the MXGP motos but the KTM rider stalled briefly in the opening moto while leading and tipped over in the second moto while in the same position and both times Gajser was right there to take advantage of the situation to claim both moto wins, the overall and to reduce Cairoli’s championship points lead to 34 points

MXGP Portugal Rnd Antonio Cairoli
Tony Cairoli – MXGP of Portugal 2019

Cairoli took 2-2 for 2nd overall ahead of Arnaud Tonus who reached the podium with hard fought 3-3 finishes while Clement Desalle, Jeremy Seewer, Pauls Jonass, Julien Lieber, Romain Febvre, Glenn Coldenhoff and Gautier Paulin rounded out the top ten.

Tim Gajser

“Last weekend was tough, so I tried to forget it and just focus on this weekend. I was feeling good yesterday and also today, the riding was good, and I had two good starts. It was great racing and I am really happy to win both races, hopefully we can carry that moment to the next round.”

MXGP Portugal Rnd Gajser bybavo
Tim Gajser
Antonio Cairoli

“On one side I’m happy because this is the goal to be on the podium and always consistent but on the other side I’m disappointed of course. I am happy like I said but focused on the next one where I will try to be consistent and not make these mistakes.”

MXGP Portugal Rnd Tony Cairoli
Tony Cairoli – MXGP of Portugal 2019
Arnaud Tonus

”It feels amazing, it is hard to find the right words at the moment, I have been through a lot so it is good to be up here. I really had to fight today, in the first race I was battling with Jeremy (Seewer) and he passed me in the beginning of the race so I had to come pass him back, it feels even better knowing that I fought to make it happen. I am super happy and I hope that I can keep it going.”

MXGP Portugal Rnd Arnaud Tonus
Arnaud Tonus

MXGP Results

MXGP Race 1 Top Ten

  1. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), 34:00.609
  2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:01.197
  3. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Yamaha), +0:17.885
  4. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Yamaha), +0:27.240
  5. Julien Lieber (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:28.880
  6. Clement Desalle (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:29.847
  7. Pauls Jonass (LAT, Husqvarna), +0:35.562
  8. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), +0:51.205
  9. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), +0:52.970
  10. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Kawasaki), +0:53.969

MXGP Race 2 Top Ten

  1. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), 34:47.988
  2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:10.604
  3. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Yamaha), +0:12.909
  4. Clement Desalle (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:15.819
  5. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Yamaha), +0:18.856
  6. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), +0:20.225
  7. Pauls Jonass (LAT, Husqvarna), +0:22.115
  8. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), +0:24.630
  9. Julien Lieber (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:27.080
  10. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Yamaha), +0:30.999

MXGP Overall Top Ten

  1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 50 points
  2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 44
  3. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, YAM), 40
  4. Clement Desalle (BEL, KAW), 33
  5. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 29
  6. Pauls Jonass (LAT, HUS), 28
  7. Julien Lieber (BEL, KAW), 28
  8. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 27
  9. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 26
  10. Gautier Paulin (FRA, YAM), 22

MXGP ChampionshipTop Ten

  1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 285 points
  2. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 251
  3. Gautier Paulin (FRA, YAM), 197
  4. Clement Desalle (BEL, KAW), 175
  5. Arminas Jasikonis (LTU, HUS), 166
  6. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 153
  7. Pauls Jonass (LAT, HUS), 137
  8. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, HON), 136
  9. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, YAM), 122
  10. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 120

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MX2 Race Report

Prado took the opening moto holeshot and eased away for an easy win over Thomas Kjer Olsen, Jago Geerts and Mitchell Evans but in the second moto Prado was forced to pass the fast starting Roan Van de Moosdijk for the lead and usually that is where the action stops for the lead but this time Mitch Evans decided he wanted to have a run at the front and soon passed Van de Moosdijk and Prado for the lead.

MXGP Portugal Rnd Jorge Prado
Jorge Prado – MXGP of Portugal 2019

Evans held the lead for four laps before Prado found his way through to take the lead and the eventual win ahead of Henry Jacobi, Evans and Kjer Olsen.

This was Prado’s 5th 1-1 result of 2019 and despite Kjer Olsen finishing second overall but it was a bitter sweet moment as he also lost the championship lead to Prado while for the second time in his rookie MX2 season Evans reached the podium in 3rd position.

MXGP Portugal Rnd Jed Beaton
Jed Beaton – MXGP of Portugal 2019

As for Jed Beaton, the Husqvarna pilot was a solid 12th in the opening moto despite a crash and a stall but the second moto went pear shaped with his bike being landed on after an early crash forcing the Aussie to DNF the race. Beaton sits 13th in the championship.

Jorge Prado

“This is the closest race to a home GP for me, we are very close to Spain and there are so many fans that came out and many were cheering for me, I really enjoy it. When I went onto the podium they went crazy so it is great to have a race like this and it was a great weekend. For me it was important to get the red plate because I feel more comfortable with it but it is tough to keep so I try to not make any mistake but in motocross you never know.”

MXGP Portugal Rnd Jorge Prado
Jorge Prado – MXGP of Portugal 2019
Thomas Kjer Olsen

“I felt like my riding all weekend was really good so that was a huge positive. I felt pretty calm all weekend and I had a lot of confidence in my riding along with my technique on the bike. I am kind of bummed out about the mistake I made on the start of race 2 but it could have been much worse and I got up to 4thwhich was pretty good. I am just going keep working and focus on myself to be the best that I can, not worrying about much else.”

MXGP Portugal Rnd Thomas Kjer Olsen
Thomas Kjer Olsen – MXGP of Portugal 2019
Mitch Evans

“It feels great to be back on the podium, we had a few tough weekends with some little injuries and my fitness dropped off because of it. We are finally back to the normal program and I am feeling a lot better which also gives a lot confidence coming into the weekend.”

MXGP Portugal Rnd Mitch Evans
Mitch Evans – MXGP of Portugal 2019
Jed Beaton

“It’s been a tough GP for me. I’m pretty beaten up and, yeah, things just didn’t go well despite two good starts. I went down in the second turn in the first moto so I just pushed as hard as I could. I stalled my bike at the end of the wave sections after passing about 10 riders, so I went back to last again. I gave everything to get to 12th, which I think was a good result considering what happened. I was about sixth off the start in the second heat but clashed with another rider over one of the jumps. I got landed on, my bike got landed on and it was pretty messed up and bent. There was no point in continuing so unfortunately I had to retire.”

MXGP Portugal Rnd Jed Beaton
Jed Beaton – MXGP of Portugal 2019

MX2 Results – Portugal MXGP

MX2 Race 1 Top Ten

  1. Jorge Prado (ESP, KTM), 35:07.339
  2. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, Husqvarna), +0:03.304
  3. Jago Geerts (BEL, Yamaha), +0:27.504
  4. Mitchell Evans (AUS, Honda), +0:28.329
  5. Mathys Boisrame (FRA, Honda), +0:34.618
  6. Tom Vialle (FRA, KTM), +0:35.418
  7. Henry Jacobi (GER, Kawasaki), +0:44.519
  8. Adam Sterry (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:45.789
  9. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:51.829
  10. Bas Vaessen (NED, KTM), +0:53.710
    …12. Jed Beaton (Husqvarna) 36:03.407

MX2 Race 2 Top Ten

  1. Jorge Prado (ESP, KTM), 35:47.966
  2. Henry Jacobi (GER, Kawasaki), +0:03.912
  3. Mitchell Evans (AUS, Honda), +0:05.411
  4. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, Husqvarna), +0:12.005
  5. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, Kawasaki), +0:23.210
  6. Brent Van doninck (BEL, Honda), +0:36.473
  7. Michele Cervellin (ITA, Yamaha), +0:41.227
  8. Darian Sanayei (USA, Kawasaki), +0:43.706
  9. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:45.287
  10. Davy Pootjes (NED, Husqvarna), +0:46.503

MX2 Overall Top Ten

  1. Jorge Prado (ESP, KTM), 50 points
  2. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, HUS), 40
  3. Mitchell Evans (AUS, HON), 38
  4. Henry Jacobi (GER, KAW), 36
  5. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 24
  6. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, KAW), 23
  7. Tom Vialle (FRA, KTM), 23
  8. Adam Sterry (GBR, KAW), 22
  9. Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 20
  10. Mitchell Harrison (USA, KAW), 18
    …21. Jed Beaton (AUS, Hus) 9

MX2 ChampionshipTop Ten

  1. Jorge Prado (ESP, KTM), 250 points
  2. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, HUS), 247
  3. Henry Jacobi (GER, KAW), 193
  4. Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 170
  5. Tom Vialle (FRA, KTM), 164
  6. Mitchell Evans (AUS, HON), 155
  7. Ben Watson (GBR, YAM), 155
  8. Davy Pootjes (NED, HUS), 128
  9. Adam Sterry (GBR, KAW), 127
  10. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, HON), 122
    …13. Jed Beaton (AUS, Hus) 87

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Duncan Dominates Portugal WMX

Portugal hosted the second round of the FIM Women’s Motocross World Championship and it was Kiwi flyer Courtney Duncan who not only won both motos but also took over the championship lead.

MXGP Portugal Rnd Courtney Duncan GP PH
Courtney Duncan – MXGP of Portugal 2019

Duncan won the opening moto by 12 seconds ahead of Larissa Papenmeier and Nancy Van De Ven before dishing out a similar performance in moto two to take the win over Van De Ven and Papenmeier so the championship leaders red plate now belongs to Duncan with 89 points while former championship leader Van de Ven is four points back in second.

Aussie Tahlia TJ O’Hare struggled in the tough conditions to score just 7 points over the two motos for 19th outright to now sit 13th in the championship.

MXGP Portugal Rnd Courtney Duncan GP PH
Courtney Duncan – MXGP of Portugal 2019

Duncan will now return to New Zealand to continue her training before taking the red plate into round 3 in Loket, Czech Republic, July 27-28.

Courtney Duncan

“I was really happy with the weekend; the goal was to put two solid races together and I did that.  I got blocked in at the first turn in that second race, but I didn’t panic, sorted out a good place to make a clean pass and could race away. I’m just taking it race by race at the moment and not really thinking about the championship, but I’m stoked to get the double win and take the red plate to the next round. We’ve got a nine week break now, so I’ll be going back to New Zealand to keep doing the work and come out swinging at Loket.”

MXGP Portugal Rnd Duncan GP PH
Courtney Duncan – MXGP of Portugal 2019

WMX Race 1 Top Ten

  1. Courtney Duncan (NZL, Kawasaki), 25:37.493
  2. Larissa Papenmeier (GER, Yamaha), +0:12.938
  3. Nancy Van De Ven (NED, Yamaha), +0:20.911
  4. Lynn Valk (NED, Yamaha), +0:49.788
  5. Sara Andersen (DEN, KTM), +0:59.251
  6. Nicky van Wordragen (NED, Yamaha), +1:07.227
  7. Shana van der Vlist (NED, KTM), +1:13.030
  8. Line Dam (DEN, Honda), +1:34.821
  9. Anne Borchers (GER, Suzuki), +1:39.651
  10. Amandine Verstappen (BEL, Yamaha), +1:42.185

WMX Race 2 Top Ten

  1. Courtney Duncan (NZL, Kawasaki), 24:51.296
  2. Nancy Van De Ven (NED, Yamaha), +0:30.514
  3. Larissa Papenmeier (GER, Yamaha), +0:45.003
  4. Sara Andersen (DEN, KTM), +1:08.450
  5. Lynn Valk (NED, Yamaha), +1:13.670
  6. Line Dam (DEN, Honda), +1:14.835
  7. Nicky van Wordragen (NED, Yamaha), +1:24.616
  8. Shana van der Vlist (NED, KTM), +1:25.103
  9. Amandine Verstappen (BEL, Yamaha), +1:28.714
  10. Britt Van Der Werff (NED, Husqvarna), +1:39.760

WMX Overall Top Ten

  1. Courtney Duncan (NZL, KAW), 50 points
  2. Nancy Van De Ven (NED, YAM), 42
  3. Larissa Papenmeier (GER, YAM), 42
  4. Sara Andersen (DEN, KTM), 34
  5. Lynn Valk (NED, YAM), 34
  6. Nicky van Wordragen (NED, YAM), 29
  7. Line Dam (DEN, HON), 28
  8. Shana van der Vlist (NED, KTM), 27
  9. Amandine Verstappen (BEL, YAM), 23
  10. Anne Borchers (GER, SUZ), 20

WMX ChampionshipTop Ten

  1. Courtney Duncan (NZL, KAW), 89 points
  2. Nancy Van De Ven (NED, YAM), 85
  3. Larissa Papenmeier (GER, YAM), 82
  4. Amandine Verstappen (BEL, YAM), 67
  5. Lynn Valk (NED, YAM), 63
  6. Shana van der Vlist (NED, KTM), 61
  7. Line Dam (DEN, HON), 54
  8. Nicky van Wordragen (NED, YAM), 54
  9. Sara Andersen (DEN, KTM), 49
  10. Anne Borchers (GER, SUZ), 37

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Kras Wins Portuguese EMX

Portugal hosted the third round of the EMX2t championship and it was Mike Kras who grabbed his second overall in as many rounds to take over the championship points lead by one over Brad Anderson.

Kras won the opening moto from Todd Kellett and Youri van t Ende while Anderson was back in eighth before the second moto also went to Kras with Anderson in second ahead of Andero Lusbo.

Now leading the championship by 1 point over Anderson, Kras, and the rest of the field will head to Russia’s south in 3 weeks’ time for round four at Orlyonok.

EMX2T Presented by FMF Racing Result

EMX2T Presented by FMF Racing Race 1 Top Ten

  1. Mike Kras (NED, KTM), 29:58.291;
  2. Todd Kellett (GBR, Yamaha), +0:06.600;
  3. Youri van t Ende (NED, KTM), +0:14.879;
  4. Vaclav Kovar (CZE, Gas Gas), +0:16.610;
  5. Andero Lusbo (EST, Husqvarna), +0:17.066;
  6. Brad Todd (GBR, Yamaha), +0:23.102;
  7. Emanuele Alberio (ITA, Husqvarna), +0:25.081;
  8. Brad Anderson (GBR, KTM), +0:27.130;
  9. Andrea Vendruscolo (ITA, Yamaha), +0:27.656;
  10. Pier Filippo Bertuzzo (ITA, Yamaha), +0:28.476.

EMX2T Presented by FMF Racing Race 2 Top Ten

  1. Mike Kras (NED, KTM), 29:52.732;
  2. Brad Anderson (GBR, KTM), +0:05.300;
  3. Andero Lusbo (EST, Husqvarna), +0:07.202;
  4. Youri van t Ende (NED, KTM), +0:09.878;
  5. Vaclav Kovar (CZE, Gas Gas), +0:11.292;
  6. Todd Kellett (GBR, Yamaha), +0:27.263;
  7. Pier Filippo Bertuzzo (ITA, Yamaha), +0:28.560;
  8. Brad Todd (GBR, Yamaha), +0:34.053;
  9. Andrea Vendruscolo (ITA, Yamaha), +0:43.325;
  10. Ben Putnam (GBR, Husqvarna), +0:44.770.

EMX2T Presented by FMF Racing Overall Top Ten

  1. Mike Kras (NED, KTM), 50 points;
  2. Youri van t Ende (NED, KTM), 38
  3. Todd Kellett (GBR, YAM), 37
  4. Andero Lusbo (EST, HUS), 36
  5. Brad Anderson (GBR, KTM), 35
  6. Vaclav Kovar (CZE, GAS), 34
  7. Brad Todd (GBR, YAM), 28
  8. Pier Filippo Bertuzzo (ITA, YAM), 25
  9. Andrea Vendruscolo (ITA, YAM), 24
  10. Ben Putnam (GBR, HUS), 21 p

EMX2T Presented by FMF Racing Championship Top Ten

  1. Mike Kras (NED, KTM), 119 points
  2. Brad Anderson (GBR, KTM), 118
  3. Vaclav Kovar (CZE, GAS), 101
  4. Todd Kellett (GBR, YAM), 95
  5. Youri van t Ende (NED, KTM), 88
  6. Brad Todd (GBR, YAM), 86
  7. Andero Lusbo (EST, HUS), 82
  8. Ben Putnam (GBR, HUS), 60
  9. Andrea Gorini (SMR, YAM), 59
  10. Andrea Vendruscolo (ITA, YAM), 59


FIM Junior Motocross World Cup heads to Trentino in 2019

Youthstream have announced the venue and timing of the 2019 FIM Junior Motocross World Championship and FIM Junior Motocross World Cup! On the 13-14th of July 2019 Junior Motocross riders from around the world will head to the famous circuit of Trentino in Italy’s North.

The event will return to Italy eight years after its last visit in 2011. The 2019 edition will take place at the same venue as the MXGP and MX2 World Championship of Pietramurata. The two-day event will host practice and qualifying sessions Saturday followed by racing of the three classes, 125cc, 85cc, and 65cc, on Sunday. Riding for themselves and also their country with the results of nations makes the event one of a kind and always creates a great atmosphere of both comradery and competition.

FIM Junior Motocross World Cup
FIM Junior Motocross World Cup heads to Trentino in 2019

The world class facility has been a long time favorite of riders and fans with its stunning backdrop and amazing surroundings. The venue, aside from being in one of the most passionate motocross countries in the world, is easily accessible from the nearby cities of Milan, Venice, and Verona.

The FIM Junior Motocross World Championship includes the 125cc and 85cc two stroke categories plus the 65cc FIM Junior Motocross World Cup. Along with returning competitors and even previous champions the junior rising talents of motocross will all be going to Trentino from different countries racing at the unique race for the chance to become an FIM Junior Motocross World Champion!


Duvall Wins Ohio GNCC

Thad Duvall has won the sixth round of the 2019 GNCC which was held in Ohio last weekend and in doing so has reduced his points deficit to championship leader Kailub Russell to just 13 points.

GNCC John Penton Kailub Russell KH
Kailub Russell – Image by Ken Hill

Duvall scored his second win of the year at Ohio ahead of Russell and Trevor Bollinger while Steward Baylor Jr and Josh Strang rounded out the top five.

XC1 Open

  1. Kailub K Russell – 165
  2. Thaddeus Duvall – 152
  3. Steward Baylor Jr – 123
  4. Trevor Bollinger – 111
  5. Josh V Strang – 83

Ben Kelly is undefeated the XC2 class and took the Ohio win over Craig Delong and Evan Smith while Austin Lee and Michael Witkowski rounded out the top five.

XC2 250 Pro Result

  1. Benjamin M Kelley – 180
  2. Michael Witkowski – 119
  3. Evan Smith – 107
  4. Austin Lee – 91
  5. Liam Draper – 78

Becca Sheets got her second win of the season in the WXC class over Aussie Mackenzie Tricker and Rachael Archer while defending champion Tayla Jones had a shocker with a rare ninth place finish.

WCX Result

  1. Becca N Sheets – 160
  2. Tayla Jones – 153
  3. Mackenzie Tricker – 125
  4. Rachael Archer – 107
  5. Shyann Phelps – 85
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Madsen Wins SGP of Poland

The much-awaited opening round of the 2019 FIM Speedway World Championship got underway with the Boll Warsaw FIM Speedway Grand Prix of Poland last weekend and the surprise winner was Danish star Leon Madsen who pounced on a Fredrik Lindgren error to hit the front and win the final.

FIM Speedway World Championship Boll Warsaw Poland
2019 SGP of Poland

Madsen didn’t win any of his regular heats, but made it into the semis on eight points, before finishing second to Niels-Kristian Iversen in semi-final two to reach his maiden SGP final where he got his first win of the night when it mattered most and the European champion celebrated wildly with a 50,000-plus crowd.

Madsen made no secret of his bold SGP ambitions ahead of the meeting as he targets World Championship gold. But he insists he’s not piling the pressure on himself to land the world title at the first attempt.

Leon Madsen

“I don’t need to be No.1 this year. I am here to gain a lot of experience, especially on tracks like Warsaw. I am not here just to take part. I am here to fight for the championship. It was a good round tonight and I clocked a lot of points. If I can be consistent all season, things could be quite good. But I’m not setting the bar higher. I’m just in this game to fight for the championship. I don’t put it as a goal that I must be No.1 or in the top three. You are obviously here to fight for the championship and I feel I have the quality to do that.”

Despite recovering from a crash and coming third in the final it is Patryk Dudek who topped the World Championship standings with his 16-point haul.

FIM Speedway World Championship Boll Warsaw Poland
2019 SGP of Poland
Patryk Dudek

“Before the last heat, I heard my name and I was thinking ‘oh, but let’s see what happens after the heat!’ I was third, so that’s not bad. I would like to say a big, big thank you to the fans. This night was tough for me and the season has been tough for me. Today was great. I want to say a big thanks to my team, my family and my sponsors. I hope to stay in the same position at the next round. But we will see.”

It was his third straight Warsaw final and Fredrik Lindgren was delighted to leave the PGE Narodowy cauldron of noise with another podium finish.

Fredrik Lindgren

“Overall I am very happy, I really enjoy racing here in front of this crowd. It is intense and you have to give 100 percent for all four laps. I am disappointed not to win after the start I made in the final. I made a huge mistake on lap two to lose the winning position. But I am also very happy with the way I was racing, the points I scored and the way our team worked together.”

It was far from the prefect start to the championship for the Aussie duo of Jason Doyle and Max Fricke who scored 6 and 5 points respectively after a full night of racing.

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Doyle kicked off in fine form, marking a strong return from injury not even two weeks prior. As the evening progressed, Doyle’s injuries weighed heavy, but the Australian star remained steadfast as he focussed on racking up as many points as possible. Doyle finished Round 1 of the 2019 SGP with five points, landing in 13th place in the World Championship standings.

Jason Doyle

“The bike is good and the crowd is awesome! We’re just trying to get the right set up at the moment because the conditions are different from practice, as we expected. Tonight we’re just trying to get points and stay consistent.”

Newcomer to the SGP line-up, Fricke tackled what was undeniably an intense environment, finishing Saturday night with three points. Now sitting on 16th place in the World Championship standings, Fricke suffered a blow when he crashed out during one of his heats, however the young Australian remained the image of positivity as he reflected on the turn of events.

Max Fricke

“I’m really grateful for this call up! It’s not something I ever expected to happen this year so I’m really grateful for this experience and to be able and come out in front of a huge stadium. I picked up a few points, learnt a lot, and lead a few laps in the end, but I threw it away, which is on me. Hopefully we can come back sometime during the year and do some more rounds of the SGP.”

FIM Speedway World Championship Boll Warsaw Poland
2019 SGP of Poland Podium

Boll Warsaw SGP Result

  1. Leon Madsen 13
  2. Fredrik Lindgren 15
  3. Patryk Dudek 16
  4. Niels-Kristian Iversen 14
  5. Bartosz Smektala 10
  6. Bartosz Zmarzlik 10
  7. Antonio Lindback 10
  8. Robert Lambert 8
  9. Martin Vaculik 7
  10. Matej Zagar 7
  11. Emil Sayfutdinov 6
  12. Tai Woffinden 6
  13. Jason Doyle 5
  14. Janusz Kolodziej 4
  15. Artem Laguta 4
  16. Max Fricke 3
  17. Dominik Kubera DNR
  18. Rafal Karczmarz DNR

World Championship Standings

  1. Patryk Dudek 16
  2. Fredrik Lindgren 15
  3. Niels-Kristian Iversen 14
  4. Leon Madsen 13
  5. Bartosz Zmarzlik 10
  6. Antonio Lindback 10
  7. Bartosz Smektala 10
  8. Robert Lambert 8
  9. Matej Zagar 7
  10. Martin Vaculik 7
  11. Tai Woffinden 6
  12. Emil Sayfutdinov 6
  13. Jason Doyle 5
  14. Artem Laguta 4
  15. Janusz Kolodziej 4
  16. Max Fricke 3

Garcia Win WESS in France

Spain’s Josep Garcia has won round two of the World Enduro Super Series, storming to victory at France’s Trèfle Lozérien AMV ahead of Jamie McCanney and Nathan Watson.

WESS Rnd Trefle Lozerien AMV Josep Garcia FM
Josep Garcia – 2019 Trefle Lozerien

For 2019, the second round of the WESS championship proved a challenge for the 600-plus riders competing with continuous rain throughout the three days of racing at France’s most-prestigious Enduro – Trèfle Lozérien AMV – ensured the 719 kilometres of riding were both physically and mentally demanding for all.

Josep Garcia

“To get my first WESS victory of 2019, and also to create a little piece of history by being the first non-French winner here at Trèfle Lozérien, is amazing. The conditions really didn’t suit me – I’m not really a big fan of wet, slippery mud. But I pushed hard on all special tests and, well, everything went perfectly. Coming here straight from Extreme Lagares wasn’t easy but I knew this race was going to be important to my WESS championship.”

WESS Rnd Trefle Lozerien AMV Josep Garcia FM
Josep Garcia – 2019 Trefle Lozerien

Behind Garcia the battle for the remainder of the podium places was fierce but McCanney held his ground over his rivals to take the runner-up result.

Jaime McCanney

“Right from when I started walking the special tests here in France I knew Josep Garcia would be the rider to watch. When conditions weren’t too wet, or when they suited the 450 more, I managed to win some tests. And I’m really pleased about that. But Garcia was really strong throughout the event. I’ve been away from enduro racing for some time now, firstly getting over a shoulder injury and surgery and then focusing on rally. To come here and get the result I’ve got is really great. Despite the weather it’s been a great event. I can’t say if I’ll be back for more WESS racing, but I’d love to compete at Hawkstone if my schedule allows it.”

WESS Rnd Trefle Lozerien AMV Jamie McCanney FM
Jamie McCanney – 2019 Trefle Lozerien

Entering the final special test it was all to play for between Watson and Julien Gauthier for third with Gauthier holding just one tenth of a second in hand over the KTM rider and with both riders putting it all on the line, Watson edged out Gauthier by just over one second to snatch the final step of the podium in the last few moments of the race.

Nathan Watson

“I’m really happy with third overall, this is the first Classic Enduro I’ve raced since this event 12 months ago, so I came into it a little unsure what to expect but also confident that it would suit me. I had a consistent three days and kept things upright over the 15 special tests, which was really important. I’ve really enjoyed racing the 450 – being able to keep things smooth in these conditions has really helped me. Things were really close coming into the final test, just half a second between third and fourth overall. Thankfully, I managed to jump up one position to third, which was a great way to end the race.”

WESS Rnd Trefle Lozerien AMV Nathan Watson FM
Nathan Watson – 2019 Trefle Lozerien

For Gauthier it was not to be and with his fourth place result it also marked the first time in the event’s history that a French rider wasn’t present in the top three positions. After a strong ride on day two, Tarroux slipped down to fifth, with teammate Theo Espinasse (FRA) completing the top six.

The eight-round World Enduro Super Series continues with round three at Austria’s Erzbergrodeo Red Bull Hare Scramble on May 30 – June 2.

Results – Round 2: Trèfle Lozérien AMV 2019

  1. Josep Garcia (KTM – ESP) 01:03:07.557
  2. Jaime McCanney (Yamaha – GB) 1:03:49.586 +42.029
  3. Nathan Watson (KTM – GB) 1:03:55.612 +48.055
  4. Julien Gauthier (Yamaha – FR) 1:03:57.013 +49.456
  5. Jeremy Tarroux (Sherco – FR) 1:04:10.136 +1:02.579
  6. Theo Espinasse (Sherco – FR) 1:05:04.311 +1:56.754
  7. Christophe Nambotin (Gas Gas – FR) 1:05:10.817 +2:03.260
  8. Emmanuel Albepart (Yamaha – FR) 1:05:21.908 +2:14.351
  9. Jonny Walker (KTM – GB) 1:05:31.888 +2:24.331
  10. Joe Wootton (Husqvarna – GB) 1:05:52.828 +2:45.271
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Brayton Set for 2019 Aussie SX Championships

Justin Brayton is the first of the international riders to confirm that he will compete in this year’s Monster Energy AUS-X Open Melbourne on November 30 at Marvel Stadium as part of his attempt to win a fourth straight Australian Supercross Championship.

Justin Brayton

“The AUS-X Open is one of the greatest events outside of the US, and having been so close to winning it before, I’m determined to come back faster and ready to win in November. The racing at Sydney was always incredible but I think moving to Melbourne, into such an awesome stadium, is going to take Supercross racing in Australia to the next level and I can’t wait to put on a show for all the fans in Australia. Marvel Stadium will be the closest thing Australia gets to the World Championship. The track will be full-sized and I have no doubt both the racing and the atmosphere will be electric on November 30.”

AMA Supercross FInal Brayton JK SX Vegas
Justin Brayton – Image by Hoppenworld

The AUS-X Open Melbourne is the final round of the Australian Supercross Championship and is sanctioned by Motorcycling Australia (MA).

“I’m so pumped to be returning to Australia in 2019 and fighting for the Australian Supercross title for a fourth straight year with Penrite Honda Racing,” Brayton said. “I have the most amazing team when I head down under to race, and it would be awesome to bring home the trophy again, especially in front of the huge Melbourne crowd.”


Chad Reed returns for 2019 AUS-X Open

Two-time World Champion Chad Reed has announced he’ll be back to race on home soil this November 30 at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium, as tickets go on sale from for the Monster Energy AUS-X Open.

Chad Reed flying high at the Monster Energy AUS X Open Sydney
Chad Reed at the AUS-X Open in Sydney in 2018

The 37-year-old will head to Victoria to race for the first time since 2012 and his first time racing in Melbourne since 2000, where he says he’ll be looking for redemption. The legend sat out the 2017 event due to injury and was unable to complete a fairytale comeback last year, with the 2018 World Champion Jason Anderson (USA), taking the win.

Chad Reed

“I’m definitely looking for redemption, to come out and work hard and just be better prepared on all levels myself, the bike, the team, so I can hopefully take out that AUS-X crown. Getting back to Melbourne to race will be awesome, it’s been a long time since I’ve raced there, I love the city, and I’ve never been to Marvel Stadium before so I’m really looking forward to it.”

AMA SX Rnd Chad Reed Pits JK SX Seattle
Chad Reed – Image by Hoppenworld

Tickets for the event will be available exclusively through Ticketmaster.com.au, starting from $39.95, and are expected to sell out fast.

Australia’s largest Supercross event, the AUS-X Open, has proven successful for the Aussie hero since its inception, including back-to-back wins during the first two years in 2015 and 2016, and Reed says he’s proud to have watched the event grow over the past four years and how it has significantly changed the Australian Supercross industry.

Chad Reed

“My favourite thing about AUS-X Open as a rider and an athlete is it’s such a reflection for me, remembering back to when I was eight years old watching all the Australian greats in a Newcastle motordrome, and now seeing it, [AUS-X Open] being held at Marvel Stadium at the highest level makes me real proud to be apart of the sport. I was around for the first ever AUS-X Open in Sydney and I’m really proud to see how it’s grown into Marvel Stadium in Melbourne. It’s so hard to put into words the energy that you get at a stadium like Marvel, a stadium filled with 35-45,000 people, there’s just nothing like it. And really why I still, at 37-years-old, choose to do this as my day-to-day job. I love it, and I can’t replace that feeling and I’m always excited to come back for more.”

Reed does a shooey after winning the AUS X Open Sydney
Chad Reed after winning the 2016 AUS-X Open

Reed will not have it all his own way in Melbourne, with what will arguably be the most competitive field of international supercross racers, to ever line up on Australian soil. More of the world’s biggest names in Supercross and Freestyle Motocross, including recent World Championship winners, will be announced in the coming days.

Already confirmed to compete on November 30, are current World Number 10 and defending Australian Supercross Champion – Justin Brayton, as well as 2019 World Supercross Championship Rookie of the Year and current World Number 8 – Joey Savatgy.

The 25-year-old American rider had an incredible rookie season in the premier 450SX1 class of the 2019 World Championship and is expected to be hard to beat at the AUS-X Open.

Joey Savatgy

“I can’t wait to head Down Under for the Monster Energy AUS-X Open. The calibre of riders that the event brings each year makes me so pumped to get out there and take it to the world’s best on Aussie soil. Racing Chad Reed at home, is certainly not going to be easy, but a challenge I’m ready for.”

Rookie of the year Joey Savatgy World Supercross Championship
Joey Savatgy competing in the World Supercross Championship

The largest international Supercross and action sports event in the world outside of the USA, the Monster Energy AUS-X Open Melbourne, will feature the world’s best riders going head-to-head on a full-sized World Championship style Supercross track for the first time ever inside Marvel Stadium.

It will also be an engineering feat, arguably unmatched by any Supercross event in the world, as supports imported and constructed in the lower level carpark, prepare to handle the immense pressure of up to 6,000 tonnes of dirt, machinery and infrastructure, all positioned within Australia’s largest indoor stadium.

Featuring live music and entertainment, stunning pyrotechnics and the world’s best freestyle motocross riders battling to win the best-trick and best-whip competitions; the Monster Energy AUS-X Open Melbourne is an incredible entertainment spectacle for all ages.

The AUS-X Open Melbourne is the final round of the Australian Supercross Championship and is sanctioned by Motorcycling Australia (MA). *$39.95 Silver Tickets will incur additional transaction and booking charges.


Wollongong SX to Feature ‘Speed & Style’ Championship

Troy Bayliss Events have announced that the Recover8 Australian Speed & Style Championship will be held on Saturday the 9th of November at Wollongong WIN Stadium – coinciding with Round 3 of the Australian Supercross Championships.

Recover Australian Speed and Style Championship will feature at Wollongong
The Australian Speed & Style Championship will also be featured at Wollongong

The exclusive feature for fans attending the Wollongong Supercross, Recover8 Australian Speed & Style Championship will be run and won on the night, in a thrilling elimination style winner takes all format.

Australian and International riders are invited to compete, with the winner crowned the Official Australian Speed & Style Champion by sanctioning body Motorcycling Australia.

Speed and Style is a unique sport that originated at the American X-Games and combines the technical racing skills of Supercross with the incredible talents of Freestyle Motocross, giving fans an unbeatable mix of speed and wow.

Riders will race head-to-head, across whoops, over jumps and around berms with the added obstacle of a steel up-ramp and 75-foot gap for a finish line, allowing riders to perform backflip variations, huge whips and much more. Riders are judged based on a combination of time and the difficulty of tricks performed within the short action-packed race.

ASBK Test Wakefield TDJimagesDay Wayne Maxwell Troy Bayliss
Troy Bayliss right – TDJ Images
Troy Bayliss

“If you haven’t planned your trip to Wollongong Supercross yet, I suggest you do. Not only will fans be treated to an incredible night of Bar to Bar Supercross Action they will now be on the edge of their seats watching the best in the business compete for the Recover8 Speed & Style title. Troy Bayliss Events welcomes Recover8 as the official partner to the Australian Speed & Style Championship. Recover8 is a brand new supplement product that is being widely promoted as a go-to product by many elite athletes here in Australia and around the world, and makes for a perfect fit for this exciting feature.”

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James Stewart finally announces retirement

James Stewart, the seven-time AMA Motocross and Supercross Champion, who has not raced since July 23, 2016, has finally announced that he is retiring from the sport.

James Stewart

“Where I’m at in my life, I think it’s time to say I’m retiring. I’ve retired, it’s hard for sure, because I love racing and I love the fans, I love the opening ceremonies, I love the autograph lines, but I don’t miss the sweat and tears and training and having to feel like you have to win every race and having to be James Stewart. I don’t love doing that anymore.”

James Stewart has FINALLY announced his retirement
James Stewart retires

Stewart had a controversial career where he at times put other riders at risk with his brash riding style and while he was once known as the “fastest man on the planet,” he was also known as the “fastest soil sampler on the planet” with multiple crashes tainting what was supposed to be a dominating and long career – of which neither materialised.

Stewart retires with 20 career 250/450 Class wins in AMA Pro Motocross (fifth all-time) and 28 career 125/250 Class wins (first all-time) and 50 supercross wins.

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Source: MCNews.com.au

Honda’s Tim Gajser wins in Portugal | Prado tops MX2

MXGP 2019

Round 6 – Agueda, Portugal


MXGP arrived in Agueda, Portugal where it was Team HRC’s Tim Gajser claiming the round win after two dominant performances, that left Tony Cairoli settling for second, helping Gajser close in on the championship lead.

MXGP Portugal Rnd MX GP PH
MXGP of Portugal 2019

In MX2 it was a great weekend for Mitch Evans claiming third overall with a 4-3 result, while Jed Beaton had to settle for nine-points with a 12th place in Race 1. Jorge Prado claimed the round win from Thomas Kjer Olsen and the championship lead in the same swoop, with just three-points separating the two.

MXGP Portugal Rnd Mitch Evans
Mitch Evans – MXGP of Portugal 2019

Agueda’s clay soil is rich with color but the racing was even more vibrant as thousands of fans filled the trackside hills to take in the action. Graced with blue skies and sunshine the track was prepped to perfection but the riders of MXGP and MX2 still had their hands full as it developed into a challenging circuit as racing progressed.


MXGP

MXGP Racing started with a Fox Holeshot from Antonio Cairoli – his eighth this season – while Cairoli’s main competitor so far this year, Tim Gajser, was in second through the first corner and immediately gave chase to the Sicilian.

MXGP Portugal Rnd Tony Cairoli
Tony Cairoli – MXGP of Portugal 2019

The front runners were first followed by Arnaud Tonus, Jeremy Seewer, and Gautier Paulin. Paulin however fell out of the top five on the opening lap which left him to resume the race nearly dead last. His teammate Tonus went from fourth to third with a pass on fellow countryman Jeremy Seewer.

The two Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team riders Clement Desalle and Julien Lieber held down fifth and sixth from the start with Lieber taking the lead role.

MXGP Portugal Rnd Desalle GP PH
Clement Desalle – MXGP of Portugal 2019

About three quarters of the way through the race Gajser’s continual pressure paid off when Cairoli stalled the engine out of corner and although he was able to get back going it was all the #243 needed to take over the lead. Cairoli latched right onto the Slovenian and during the final two laps made a push to pass but the sprinting speed of Gajser got the better of the Italian.

Behind Gajser and Cairoli at the finish was Tonus, Seewer, Lieber, Desalle, and Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Pauls Jonass. Paulin rode at an incredible pace through the field moving in and out of the race line to come from last to 15th.

MXGP Portugal Rnd Tim Gajser
Tim Gajser – MXGP of Portugal 2019

Race 2 started with a Fox Holeshot from Tonus for his first time this year but Desalle took the lead and Cairoli slid into second position by the first downhill. Gajser was in fifth behind Seewer but made it into fourth by the end of the first lap. Paulin was off to a much better start in sixth meanwhile, with Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP’s Romain Febvre adding to the YZ frenzy in seventh.

MXGP Portugal Rnd Romain Febvre
Romain Febvre – MXGP of Portugal 2019

As Desalle led Cairoli it was Gajser making passes first on Tonus for third and then both Cairoli and Gajser got by Desalle in the same section. Cairoli was into the lead but within one lap a mistake saw him fall and drop to fifth. With Gajser in the lead Cairoli immediately retook fourth position then after four laps both Tonus and the #222 passed Desalle.

With four laps to go Cairoli passed Tonus to get into second but Gajser was already long gone taking an emphatic overall victory via double race wins for the second time this season. Cairoli took 2-2 for second overall while Tonus reached the podium in his stunning ride and hard fought 3-3 finishes.

MXGP Portugal Rnd Gajser bybavo
Tim Gajser – MXGP of Portugal 2019
Tim Gajser – P1

“It was really great to come away with two wins and the overall here in Portugal. I put last weekend behind me and I knew that if I focused and rode like I know how to ride, I could do well at this Agueda track. Still, to get both moto victories is a great confidence booster and backs up my win in Trentino very nicely. I now have the fastest laps in the last four motos so my speed is good and I know I am feeling strong too. These back to back races are tough but I head to France really happy with my riding and confident that the bike and I are working well together. A big thanks to the team for working so hard to help make this happen, and let’s keep up the effort!”

MXGP Portugal Rnd Gajser bybavo
Tim Gajser – MXGP of Portugal 2019
Antonio Cairoli – P2

“On one side I’m happy because the goal is to always be on the podium but in another way I’m disappointed. In the first moto I made a silly mistake and I stalled the bike but I could get back to Tim. In the second I was swapping lines. Where I crashed was a lottery, there was a lot of mud and I chose another line at the last moment and there was a rock that twisted my front end. I’m happy I didn’t hurt myself.”

MXGP Portugal Rnd Tony Cairoli
Tony Cairoli – MXGP of Portugal 2019
Arnaud Tonus – P3

“It feels amazing to be back on the podium. It’s hard to put the feeling into words actually. I just feel thankful. Really thankful. Thankful to my team, and to Yamaha, and all of the people who support me for sticking behind me through what was the toughest time in my career. To be back up here after all of that is so cool. I am so happy and especially because I had to fight really hard for this result. I was passed and I had to pass people back and fight really hard, and that just makes a result like this so much sweeter, to know that I fought for it.”

MXGP Portugal Rnd Arnaud Tonus
Arnaud Tonus – MXGP of Portugal 2019
Clément Desalle – P4

“It was a decent day if we consider that I couldn’t ride so much during the past weeks and there some positive points. It was great to lead the second moto with a very good rhythm for so many laps and that’s encouraging for the next rounds. I continue to recover from my knee injury and I feel that it’s coming better each week. The other positive point are my starts, and then to score a sixth and a fourth give me good points for the championship. Physically it’s still tough to maintain such a high intensity for the entire race but I know that I will be able to continue to improve my condition in the coming weeks.”

MXGP Portugal Rnd Desalle GP PH
Clement Desalle – MXGP of Portugal 2019
Jeremy Seewer – P5

“I had a positive weekend. I had two good starts from a bad gate pick, especially on this kind of start. I had good speed this weekend. I finished fourth in the first race which was really good because I struggled yesterday, but I felt good today. Second race was really good again, I settled in fifth, but the entry into the wave section here is really tricky. There are rocks, ruts, kickers, no kickers, lots to consider and every lap you get there, the bike handles differently. I got kicked sideways on the last lap and slid it out. I lost five spots. I still reached my goal, so this is positive for the next races.”

MXGP Portugal Rnd Jeremy Seewer
Jeremy Seewer – MXGP of Portugal 2019
Pauls Jonass – P6

“I’ve really enjoyed the GP of Portugal. It’s a track I’ve always liked and the conditions were pretty much perfect here. I guess I was feeling good after my podium result in Italy last weekend, but it also feels good to get a strong result in more normal conditions. My physical fitness is improving all the time and as it does I’m able to enjoy racing a 450 more and more. I didn’t get the best of starts here, but I made some important passes in the first laps of both races, which really helped me. The track was fast and a lot of riders were really pushing hard, so it wasn’t easy to make passes. I rode consistently during both motos, which was also important. I feel like I’m making some good progress, which gives me extra motivation to keep working hard with the team.”

MXGP Portugal Rnd Pauls Jonass
Pauls Jonass – MXGP of Portugal 2019 – Image by Juan Pablo Acevedo

MXGP Results – Portugal MXGP

MXGP Race 1 Top Ten

  1. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), 34:00.609
  2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:01.197
  3. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Yamaha), +0:17.885
  4. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Yamaha), +0:27.240
  5. Julien Lieber (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:28.880
  6. Clement Desalle (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:29.847
  7. Pauls Jonass (LAT, Husqvarna), +0:35.562
  8. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), +0:51.205
  9. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), +0:52.970
  10. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Kawasaki), +0:53.969

MXGP Race 2 Top Ten

  1. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), 34:47.988
  2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:10.604
  3. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Yamaha), +0:12.909
  4. Clement Desalle (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:15.819
  5. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Yamaha), +0:18.856
  6. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), +0:20.225
  7. Pauls Jonass (LAT, Husqvarna), +0:22.115
  8. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), +0:24.630
  9. Julien Lieber (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:27.080
  10. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Yamaha), +0:30.999

MXGP Overall Top Ten

  1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 50 points
  2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 44
  3. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, YAM), 40
  4. Clement Desalle (BEL, KAW), 33
  5. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 29
  6. Pauls Jonass (LAT, HUS), 28
  7. Julien Lieber (BEL, KAW), 28
  8. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 27
  9. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 26
  10. Gautier Paulin (FRA, YAM), 22

MXGP ChampionshipTop Ten

  1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 285 points
  2. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 251
  3. Gautier Paulin (FRA, YAM), 197
  4. Clement Desalle (BEL, KAW), 175
  5. Arminas Jasikonis (LTU, HUS), 166
  6. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 153
  7. Pauls Jonass (LAT, HUS), 137
  8. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, HON), 136
  9. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, YAM), 122
  10. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 120


MX2

MX2 racing was also full of action starting with Jorge Prado taking again scoring the Fox Holeshot while behind him a second turn pile up held back several riders. Michele Cervellin was in second on the opening lap, but Henry Jacobi surged past along with Thomas Kjer Olsen a short time later.

MXGP Portugal Rnd MX GP PH
Jorge Prado – MXGP of Portugal 2019

The race then ended abruptly for Cervellin when he crashed in spectacular fashion during lap 7. Honda 114 Motorsport’s Mitch Evans took over the fourth position Cervellin crashed out of with the Mathys Boisrame getting into the top five as well. Evans then lost fourth to both Boisrame and Jago Geerts. Boisrame was shifted back seven laps later when Geerts and Evans took fourth then fifth away.

Back at the front Olsen made a pass on Jacobi with two laps to go and as Jacobi pushed to reclaim the spot he instead fell and lost four positions on the last lap. Prado took the race win with Olsen 2nd ahead of Geerts, Evans, and Boisrame.

MXGP Portugal Rnd Thomas Kjer Olsen
Thomas Kjer Olsen – MXGP of Portugal 2019

MX2 Race 2’s Fox Holeshot was taken by the wildcard EMX250 entry of Roan Van de Moosdijk, however Prado got the better of Van de Moosdijk into the second corner and took the lead. Van de Moosdijk dropped back to fourth while his teammate Jacobi moved to third.

Prado lost his lead to the Australian Mitch Evans before the end of the first official lap and held it for another four while Prado looked for an opportunity to pass. Cervellin returned to race after his crash earlier in the day and though banged up was in the top five as the race progressed.

MXGP Portugal Rnd Mitch Evans
Mitch Evans – MXGP of Portugal 2019

Olsen made a mistake and had a back of the pack start but surprisingly didn’t crash after clipping another rider. By the sixth lap Olsen had worked up to fifth from tenth passing Cervellin and a handful of others in the process. With five laps remaining Jacobi made a pass on Evans to take over second and a lap later Olsen made one more pass to get into fourth past Van de Moosdijk.

All the while Prado continued to lead before taking the checkered flag for his 5th 1-1 result of 2019. Olsen finished 2nd overall but it was a bitter sweet moment as he also lost the championship lead to Prado. For the second time in his rookie MX2 season Evans reached the podium in 3rd position.

MXGP Portugal Rnd Jorge Prado
Jorge Prado on the MX2 podium – MXGP of Portugal 2019
Jorge Prado – P1

“This is the closest race to a home GP for me, we are very close to Spain and there are so many fans that came out and many were cheering for me, I really enjoy it. When I went onto the podium they went crazy so it is great to have a race like this and it was a great weekend. For me it was important to get the red plate because I feel more comfortable with it but it is tough to keep so I try to not make any mistake but in motocross you never know.”

MXGP Portugal Rnd Jorge Prado
Jorge Prado – MXGP of Portugal 2019
Thomas Kjer Olsen – P2

“Generally, I’m very pleased with how I’ve ridden here in Portugal. Losing the red plate isn’t great, I never wanted that, but again my speed has been good and to get second overall after a tough second moto is great. I felt good all weekend, and I’d been looking forward to the GP. Things are heading in a good direction so plenty of positives from the both races in Portugal. I got a good start in the opening race and worked my way from fifth to third. The pace was really strong and we were all pushing really hard and using a lot of energy. Second in that first race was really good. I was pretty lucky in the second race that I didn’t go down entering the first corner – I ended up going right when the corner went left. I had a lot of work to do after that and just rode as hard as I could. Working my way back to fourth was good. Carrying the red plate into more GPs would have been nice, but nothing changes now that I don’t have it. I want it back. I want to be winning races. I just need to keep focused and work on consistent starts.”

MXGP Portugal Rnd Thomas Kjer Olsen
Thomas Kjer Olsen – MXGP of Portugal 2019
Mitch Evans – P3

“It feels great to be back on the podium, we had a few tough weekends with some little injuries and my fitness dropped off because of it. We are finally back to the normal program and I am feeling a lot better which also gives a lot confidence coming into the weekend.”

MXGP Portugal Rnd Mitch Evans
Mitch Evans – MXGP of Portugal 2019
Henry Jacobi – P4

“Normally with a fourth overall I would be happy, but it’s a little bit disappointing because I was third or second during the first race until I had a big crash in the waves on the last lap. I tried to pass back Olsen but he changed his line and took mine so I had to use a different one too but there was a stone and I saw it too late. It was a big crash; I was even wondering if I would be able to race the second moto as my hand was painful but I decided to have a go, made a good start and didn’t feel any pain! I eventually passed Evans for second and it remains very good for the championship so we can’t be unhappy tonight.”

MXGP Portugal Rnd Jacobi GP PH
Henry Jacobi – MXGP of Portugal 2019

MX2 Results – Portugal MXGP

MX2 Race 1 Top Ten

  1. Jorge Prado (ESP, KTM), 35:07.339
  2. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, Husqvarna), +0:03.304
  3. Jago Geerts (BEL, Yamaha), +0:27.504
  4. Mitchell Evans (AUS, Honda), +0:28.329
  5. Mathys Boisrame (FRA, Honda), +0:34.618
  6. Tom Vialle (FRA, KTM), +0:35.418
  7. Henry Jacobi (GER, Kawasaki), +0:44.519
  8. Adam Sterry (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:45.789
  9. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:51.829
  10. Bas Vaessen (NED, KTM), +0:53.710
    …12. Jed Beaton (Husqvarna) 36:03.407

MX2 Race 2 Top Ten

  1. Jorge Prado (ESP, KTM), 35:47.966
  2. Henry Jacobi (GER, Kawasaki), +0:03.912
  3. Mitchell Evans (AUS, Honda), +0:05.411
  4. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, Husqvarna), +0:12.005
  5. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, Kawasaki), +0:23.210
  6. Brent Van doninck (BEL, Honda), +0:36.473
  7. Michele Cervellin (ITA, Yamaha), +0:41.227
  8. Darian Sanayei (USA, Kawasaki), +0:43.706
  9. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:45.287
  10. Davy Pootjes (NED, Husqvarna), +0:46.503

MX2 Overall Top Ten

  1. Jorge Prado (ESP, KTM), 50 points
  2. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, HUS), 40
  3. Mitchell Evans (AUS, HON), 38
  4. Henry Jacobi (GER, KAW), 36
  5. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 24
  6. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, KAW), 23
  7. Tom Vialle (FRA, KTM), 23
  8. Adam Sterry (GBR, KAW), 22
  9. Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 20
  10. Mitchell Harrison (USA, KAW), 18
    …21. Jed Beaton (AUS, Hus) 9

MX2 ChampionshipTop Ten

  1. Jorge Prado (ESP, KTM), 250 points
  2. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, HUS), 247
  3. Henry Jacobi (GER, KAW), 193
  4. Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 170
  5. Tom Vialle (FRA, KTM), 164
  6. Mitchell Evans (AUS, HON), 155
  7. Ben Watson (GBR, YAM), 155
  8. Davy Pootjes (NED, HUS), 128
  9. Adam Sterry (GBR, KAW), 127
  10. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, HON), 122
    …13. Jed Beaton (AUS, Hus) 87


WMX

MXGP and MX2 weren’t the only world championship classes racing this weekend in Portugal as the fastest riders of the FIM Women’s Motocross World Championship returned for the WMX round of Portugal.

MXGP Portugal Rnd WMX Start
WMX Start – MXGP of Portugal 2019

Following the opening round in the Netherlands at Valkenswaard it was Belgium’s Amandine Verstappen carrying the red plate into Agueda this weekend. Saturday hosted the first race of the two-day, two race, event and unfortunately for Verstappen her winning ways would not be repeated. Instead it was Bike IT DRT Kawasaki’s Courtney Duncan who dominated the field for his win of the year.

MXGP Portugal Rnd Courtney Duncan GP PH
Courtney Duncan – MXGP of Portugal 2019

At the start of race 1 Verstappen crashed and by the time she was back up she was buried at the back of the field. Larissa Papenmeier led Duncan down the first downhill with Nancy Van De Ven in third. Before the opening lap was complete Duncan took the lead from Papenmeier on the inside of one of the turns.

JK Racing Yamaha’s Lynn Valk pressured Van de Ven for third but was unable to pass her Dutch compatriot. Meanwhile Verstappen fell again dropping from 16th to 20th forcing her to go back to work all over again. Digging deep Verstappen made her way up to 10th but in the lead it was Duncan, all race, taking the win ahead of Papenmeier, Van de Ven, Valk, and Sara Andersen.

MXGP Portugal Rnd Courtney Duncan GP PH
Courtney Duncan – MXGP of Portugal 2019

WMX Race two took place this afternoon and Van de Ven rocketed into the first turn taking the holeshot and lead over Duncan and Papenmeier with Line Dam also in the mix. Verstappen’s weekend went from bad to worse getting caught in a pile up with 2 other riders.

Duncan didn’t take long to get past Van de Ven making a pass stick during the second lap and never looking back. Sara Andersen and Line Dam then had a battle but Andersen came out as the faster of the two Danes. Valk also passed Dam for her best ever WMX result while Verstappen never gave up charging through the field for a second day in a row.

MXGP Portugal Rnd Duncan GP PH
Courtney Duncan – MXGP of Portugal 2019

At the finish Duncan took the race win making it her second year in a row going 1-1 in Portugal but her first overall victory of 2019. 2ndand 3rdin the race, Van de Ven and Papenmeier were also second and third overall. The top five overall was filled out by Andersen and Valk as Verstappen’s resilience salvaged 9thoverall. The championship leaders red plate now belongs to Duncan with 89 points total which is four ahead of Van de Ven now in second.

Courtney Duncan

“I was really happy with the weekend; the goal was to put two solid races together and I did that.  I got blocked in at the first turn in that second race, but I didn’t panic, sorted out a good place to make a clean pass and could race away. I’m just taking it race by race at the moment and not really thinking about the championship, but I’m stoked to get the double win and take the red plate to the next round. We’ve got a nine week break now, so I’ll be going back to New Zealand to keep doing the work and come out swinging at Loket.”

MXGP Portugal Rnd Courtney Duncan GP PH
Courtney Duncan – MXGP of Portugal 2019

Duncan will now return to New Zealand to continue her training before taking the red plate into round 3 in Loket, Czech Republic the 27th and 28th of July.

MXGP Portugal Rnd WMX Podium
WMX Podium – MXGP of Portugal 2019

WMX Results – MXGP of Portugal

WMX Race 1 Top Ten

  1. Courtney Duncan (NZL, Kawasaki), 25:37.493
  2. Larissa Papenmeier (GER, Yamaha), +0:12.938
  3. Nancy Van De Ven (NED, Yamaha), +0:20.911
  4. Lynn Valk (NED, Yamaha), +0:49.788
  5. Sara Andersen (DEN, KTM), +0:59.251
  6. Nicky van Wordragen (NED, Yamaha), +1:07.227
  7. Shana van der Vlist (NED, KTM), +1:13.030
  8. Line Dam (DEN, Honda), +1:34.821
  9. Anne Borchers (GER, Suzuki), +1:39.651
  10. Amandine Verstappen (BEL, Yamaha), +1:42.185

WMX Race 2 Top Ten

  1. Courtney Duncan (NZL, Kawasaki), 24:51.296
  2. Nancy Van De Ven (NED, Yamaha), +0:30.514
  3. Larissa Papenmeier (GER, Yamaha), +0:45.003
  4. Sara Andersen (DEN, KTM), +1:08.450
  5. Lynn Valk (NED, Yamaha), +1:13.670
  6. Line Dam (DEN, Honda), +1:14.835
  7. Nicky van Wordragen (NED, Yamaha), +1:24.616
  8. Shana van der Vlist (NED, KTM), +1:25.103
  9. Amandine Verstappen (BEL, Yamaha), +1:28.714
  10. Britt Van Der Werff (NED, Husqvarna), +1:39.760

WMX Overall Top Ten

  1. Courtney Duncan (NZL, KAW), 50 points
  2. Nancy Van De Ven (NED, YAM), 42
  3. Larissa Papenmeier (GER, YAM), 42
  4. Sara Andersen (DEN, KTM), 34
  5. Lynn Valk (NED, YAM), 34
  6. Nicky van Wordragen (NED, YAM), 29
  7. Line Dam (DEN, HON), 28
  8. Shana van der Vlist (NED, KTM), 27
  9. Amandine Verstappen (BEL, YAM), 23
  10. Anne Borchers (GER, SUZ), 20

WMX ChampionshipTop Ten

  1. Courtney Duncan (NZL, KAW), 89 points
  2. Nancy Van De Ven (NED, YAM), 85
  3. Larissa Papenmeier (GER, YAM), 82
  4. Amandine Verstappen (BEL, YAM), 67
  5. Lynn Valk (NED, YAM), 63
  6. Shana van der Vlist (NED, KTM), 61
  7. Line Dam (DEN, HON), 54
  8. Nicky van Wordragen (NED, YAM), 54
  9. Sara Andersen (DEN, KTM), 49
  10. Anne Borchers (GER, SUZ), 37

Source: MCNews.com.au

Moto Wrap | MX | Two-Strokes | Flat Track | SX | Dakar

Moto News Wrap for April 23, 2019 by Darren Smart

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The LATEST News

  • Kulas and Barr rip Hawkstone MX Nationals
  • Wageman wins World Two-Stroke Championships
  • Mees rebounds to win Texas Half Mile
  • Aussies abroad – weekly update
  • Ferris to Raceline KTM
  • Clement Desalle injury update
  • Dean Wilson joins the injured list
  • Supercross returns to Wollongong
  • Australian Motorcycle Festival also set for Wollongong
  • Smektala Scores Warsaw Wildcard
  • Paulo Goncalves joins Hero Motorsports
  • Dakar Rally moves to Saudi Arabia
  • Treloar crowned 11-time Australian Speedway Sidecar Champion

Kulas and Barr Rip Hawkstone MX Nationals

Hawkstone Park hosted the second round of the British MX Nationals and it was Harri Kulas who earned maximum points in the MX1 class while Martin Barr put in an identical performance in the MX2 class.

MX Nationals Rnd Hawkstone imgFB
Hawkstone MX Nationals Podium – Image from MX Nationals UK FB page

Kulas won the opening MX1 moto from Gert Krestinov and Mel Pocock then Pocock and Lewis Tombs finished behind Kulas in the second moto so Kulas has opened up an 18-point lead over Pocock in the championship points.

MX1 – Hawkstone Round Top 10

  1. Harri Kulas
  2. Mel Pocock
  3. Lewis Tombs
  4. Gert Krestinov
  5. Nathan Watson
  6. Jake Shipton
  7. Robbie Dowson
  8. Ryan Houghton
  9. Nathan Dixon
  10. Stuart Edmonds

MX1 Points after Round 2

  1. Harri Kulas – 100
  2. Mel Pocock – 72
  3. Gert Krestinov – 70
  4. Ryan Houghton – 64
  5. Lewis Tombs – 59

Barr comfortably won the opening MX2 moto from Josh Gilbert and Ashton Dickinson then backed that up with another win over Gilbert and Todd Kellet so after two rounds Barr has a six-point lead over Gilbert while the rest of the field are almost two motos in points behind.

MX12– Hawkestone Round Top 10

  1. Martin Barr
  2. Josh Gilbert
  3. Todd Kellet
  4. Ashton Dickinson
  5. Glenn McCormick
  6. Brad Anderson
  7. Taylor Hammal
  8. Liam Knight
  9. Ben Franklin
  10. Lewis Hall

MX2 Points after Round 2

  1. Martin Barr – 97
  2. Josh Gilbert – 91
  3. Ben Franklin – 55
  4. Glenn McCormick – 52
  5. Carlton Husband – 49

Wageman Wins World Two-Stroke Championships

It is one of the most sought after ‘sub culture’ championships in the American motocross scene and this year is was second generation motocross rider and Glen Helen regular in Robbie Wageman who has taken out the premier Open Class at the annual World Two-Stroke Championships at Glen Helen Raceway.

Wageman overcame pre-race favourites and former champions in Mike Alessi, Zach Bell, Ryan Surrat, Carlen Gardner, Mike Brown and Tyler Bowers to take both moto wins

Open 2-Stroke Championship

  1. Robbie Wageman 1-1
  2. Carlen Gardner 3-1
  3. Coty Schock 4-3
  4. Mike Brown 5-5
  5. Deegan Vonlossberg 7-8
  6. Ryan Surratt 12-4
  7. Josh Mosiman 6-12
  8. Justin Hoeft 9-11
  9. Dominic Desimone 11-10
  10. Blayne Thompsom 16-6
  11. RJ Wageman 10-14
  12. Ricky Dietrich 20-7
  13. Dennis Stapleton 17-13
  14. Kai Aiello 15-15
  15. Carson Carr 14-16
  16. Tallon Lafountaine 22-9
  17. Willy Simons 13-18
  18. Keaton Ward 21-17
  19. Tyler Bowers 2-DNF
  20. Jakob Alvarez 23-DNF

125cc Pro Top 10

  1. Justin Hoeft 1-1
  2. Chis Plouffe 4-3
  3. Colton Aeck 6-2
  4. Alex Ray 7-4
  5. Tyler Nicholson 8-5
  6. Tim Weigand 9-6
  7. Matt Cerami 10-8
  8. Brian Begin 12-7
  9. Ryan Wilson 13-10
  10. Michael Blose 11-12
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Mees Rebounds to Win Texas Half Mile

Defending AFT Twins champion Jared Mees has bounced back from a difficult start to the 2019 season to deliver a vintage performance at the Texas Half-Mile at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, to score his first victory of the season.

American Flat Track Rnd Texas Jared Mees AXI
Jared Mees

AFT Twins Report

Right from the start Mees found himself embroiled in a one-on-one shootout with his fellow Indian rider and championship leader Briar Bauman and the two immediately broke free from the pack and traded the lead back and forth multiple times with a series of slick overtaking moves.

American Flat Track Rnd Texas Bauman Wiles AXI
#14 Briar Bauman leads the standings – #17 Henry Wiles is fourth

On lap 22 of 25 Mees pushed out just enough of a gap to breathe a bit easier over the race’s final circulations, claiming his 27th Half-Mile victory by 1.316-seconds over Bauman and Brandon Robinson to complete an all Indian podium while Sammy Halbert (HD) and Larry Pegram (Indian) rounded out the top five.

When asked if he expects Saturday’s win to reopen the floodgates Mees said:

“That would be the goal — that is the goal — and we’d love to do that, but this year is tougher. The guys are better, and they’ve got their machines figured out better. I’ve got to dig down deeper. Last year, I basically got a good start, went by Briar when he was on the Kawasaki, and took off. This time, I had to wear the boy out. He rode so good. He was better than me in Turns 3 and 4 early in the race. I saw what he was doing and moved down to his line, and that allowed me to maintain a little bit of a gap.”

American Flat Track Rnd Texas AFT Twins Podium ERV
AFT Twins Round 3 Podium

AFT Twins Points after 3 of 18 Rounds

  1. Briar Bauman – 62
  2. Brandon Robinson – 53
  3. Jared Mees – 47
  4. Henry Wiles – 46.
  5. Jarod Vanderkooi – 43
  6. Sammy Halbert – 34
  7. Larry Pegram – 33
  8. Robert Pearson – 32
  9. Jake Johnson – 29
  10. Jeffrey Carver Jr. – 29

AFT Singles Report

KTM’s Shayna Texter has the most wins in the history of the AFT Singles and she added to the tally in Texas with a hard fought ride to victory over Mikey Rush and 16-year-old phenom James Ott who was making his professional debut.

The battle at the front went right to the final lap where Ott made one final lunge to overtake Rush as Rush did the same to Texter on the race’s final corner but in the end, their positions remained unchanged with Texter winning by a scant 0.129 seconds over Rush with Ott another 0.125 seconds back in third.

Shayna Texter

“It’s awesome to get the first win behind us. To give Red Bull KTM its first win in American Flat Track is awesome. Hats off to my partners… To be able to win in Roof Systems’ backyard is incredible.”

Last year’s Texas Half-Mile winner, Morgen Mischler finished fourth, followed by championship leader Dalton Gauthier in fifth while Aussie Max Whale went down hard in the first corner but is fit and ready for next weekend’s Super TT in Arizona.

AFT Singles Points after 3 of 18 Rounds

  1. Dalton Gauthier – 59
  2. Mikey Rush – 48
  3. Jesse Janisch – 47
  4. Dan Bromley – 44
  5. Morgen Mischler – 40
  6. Shayna Texter – 35
  7. Oliver Brindley – 30
  8. Max Whale – 22
  9. Tristan Avery – 22
  10. Michael Inderbitzin – 21
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Weekly Up-Date on Our Aussies Abroad

Jed Beaton – Rockstar Husqvarna

Championship: World MX2 Motocross Championship
Current Standing: 13th after Round 4 of 17
Notes: Thanks to some niggling injuries Jed sat out the opening round but has scored solid points in the next three rounds while still nursing a few aches and pains – the four week break from rounds 4 to 5 will do him no harm. The next round will be the MXGP of Lombardi in Italy on the 12th of May.

Mitch Evans – 114 Honda

Championship: World MX2 Motocross Championship
Current Standing: 8th after Round 4 of 17
Notes: Mitch sensationally started the season with a podium finish but since then it has been a bit of a roller coaster with great speed let down by two mechanical DNFs. The next round will be the MXGP of Lombardi in Italy on the 12th of May.

R Broadford MX Nationals PQ Richie Evans
Mitch Evans

Tayla Jones – Rockstar/Husqvarna/Moose Racing/Shaw Wines

Championship: GNCC
Current Standing: 1st after Round 4 of 13
Notes: Tayla has only lost one round so far this year and is looking as good as ever. Next round will be the ‘X Factor Whitetails’ at Peru near Indianapolis on May 4 and 5

Caleb Grothues – SDM Corse Yamaha

Championship: EMX250
Current Standings: 16th after Round 2 of 8
Notes: The former Australian and World Junior Motocross Champion rode well at the opening round but was forced to sit out the second round due to injury but the West Aussie should be back for the next round in France on the 26th of May.

Hunter Lawrence – Geico Honda

Championship: AMA Motocross Championship
Current Standings: TBA
Notes: Hunter was looking sharp heading into the supercross championship before he crashed right before the opening round so he is now healed and by all accounts 100 per cent ready for the outdoors which kicks off at Hangtown on May 18.

Hunter Lawrence will be racing the SX East Coast Series
Hunter Lawrence

Jett Lawrence – Geico Honda

Championship: TBA
Current Standings: TBA
Notes: Jett joined the Geico Honda amateur program for 2019 and to date he has raced a handful of events like the Mini-Os etc – as soon as he races and there are results it will be right here.

Tahlia ‘TJ’ O’Hare – KTM DIGA Racing Team

Championship: MXW World Motocross Championship
Current Standings: 13th after Round 1 of 5
Notes: Tahlia’s initiation into the world motocross scene was at the toughest track on the circuit in Valkenswaard but she managed to get through with a solid 13th but look for TJ to move up the points standings at the second round in Portugal on May 19.

Chad Reed – JGR Suzuki

Championship: AMA Supercross
Current Standing: 11th after Round 15 of 17
Notes: Chad was part of a multi bike crash at Seattle when he was sitting seventh in the championship and if a few things go his way Chad will be on the line at the final round of the championship at Vegas in two weekend’s time.

AMA SX Rnd Reed JK SX Seattle
Chad Reed – Image by Hoppenworld

Wil Ruprecht – Johansson MPE Yamaha

Championship: EnduroGP – Junior Class
Current Standing: 2nd after Round 1 of 7
Notes: Wil proved his worth at the opening round in Germany with a solid weekend on the only Yamaha in the field. The next round will be at Valpaços in Portugal on May 3-4.

Meghan Rutledge – Bud Racing Kawasaki

Championship: MXW World Motocross Championship
Current Standings: 8th after Round 1 of 5
Notes: Meghan sat out the World Championships for four years and her first round was marred with some minor mistakes but there was no mistaking her speed so look for Meghan to have a much better round in Portugal on the 19th of May.

MXGP Rnd Netherlands Rutledge
Meghan Rutledge

Josh Strang – Babbitt’s Online/Monster Energy/Kawasaki

Championship: GNCC / AMA Enduro
Current Standing: 6th after Round 4 of 13
Notes: New team for Josh and he is gaining confidence at every round – Josh sat in second place for the early part of round 4 before dropping to fifth overall. Next round will be the ‘X Factor Whitetails’ at Peru near Indianapolis on May 4 and 5

Mackenzie Tricker – KTM/MEPMX/Fly Racing

Championship: GNCC
Current Standing: 3rd after Round 4 of 13
Notes: Mackenzie is not far off cracking a win at the GNCC level but the pace is red hot out front between Jones and Becca Sheets. Next round will be the ‘X Factor Whitetails’ at Peru near Indianapolis on May 4 and 5

Max Whale – Weirbach Racing Kawasaki

Championship: AFT Singles
Current Standings: 8th after Round 3 of 18
Notes: Max scored 5th at the opening round before struggling to an 11th at round two but it got worse at the 3rd round with a crash in the first corner that could have ended with a season ending injury but the plucky Queenslander has already stated on Facebook that he made a mistake but will be back next weekend’s Super TT in Arizona.

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Ferris to Raceline KTM

Dean Ferris has signed to ride for Raceline KTM and will potentially line-up for the Murray Bridge double-header in two weekend’s time – this is what Dean wrote on his Facebook page:

‘Stoked to announce my partnership with RaceLine Performance and Recover8. Massive thanks to everyone involved in getting me hooked up, all Raceline partners included. If you are wondering what Recover8 is, it’s a sport supplement about to hit the Market. TOP STUFF! Looking forward to ripping on this KTM 450.’

Dean Ferris has signed with Raceline KTM Dean Ferris Facebook photo
Dean Ferris to Raceline KTM

As far as Dean’s aspirations to race in America go it appears that the Raceline KTM/Recovery8 relationship may play a part in achieving that goal – more news to come.


Clement Desalle Injury Up-Date

Just a few weeks after celebrating his first podium of the season at the Dutch GP, Kawasaki’s Clément Desalle is recovering well at home from a minor surgery on his right knee after barely surviving a tough GP of Trentino.

During his charge to second place in the opening moto at Valkenswaard the Belgian felt pain in his leg and after several examinations between the GPs of Valkenswaard and Pietramurata, Clément knew that the Italian race would be difficult as he was unable to train during the week and had some pain in his knee.

Clément Desalle

“The examinations revealed that the meniscus was affected, and that some little pieces of bones were broken so we scheduled surgery for Monday after the race. This round was really difficult due to the pain and the crash in the second race; immediately after I retired I left with my father for Dr Claes’ clinic where I had surgery early last Monday (April 9). As soon as my knee had deflated after surgery I could start this week to work on a daily basis with my physiotherapist, mainly in the swimming pool at the moment but I have also started some bicycle exercises. We expect to do even more later this week, and for sure I’m pretty lucky that there is a break in the championship at the moment. The plan is to spend a few hours on the bike before Mantova, and so far everything has gone as we could expect.”

MXGP Rnd Netherlands Desalle GP SL
Clement Desalle

One week after surgery, Clément has already started the recuperation process and has a further three weeks to recover before Mantova on May 11th and 12th.

Currently sixth in the MXGP standing after his DNF in the second race in Trentino, Clément will be back racing in Italy, while teammate Julien Lieber will enter a French championship round during this spring break of the FIM Motocross World Championship.

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Dean Wilson joins the injured list

Like many before him, Dean Wilson’s 2019 AMA Supercross Champion has ended prematurely after crashing out of the main event at Denver last weekend – here is what Dean wrote on Instagram:

Dean Wilson

“Such a massive gut punch on Saturday. Just as I was gaining good momentum riding well, feeling good and chasing my first win things turned in the blink of an eye. Started off Denver topping free practice then went on to qualify P1 in qualifier 1. Qualifier 2 didn’t get the cleanest laps but ended with a 4th. On to the main event I was running around 7th on lap 7 moving forward and as I came around for the rhythm section I tripled in and something freak happened causing the bike to nose dive after I tripled in and pile driving me into the ground. The tough part of this is I have been trying so hard this year to be back where I need to be trying to get a job for next year. It’s tough just hoping to have a ride each year. 2nd part is people saying, ‘Wilson’s hurt again, big surprise there’ when it was something that wasn’t my fault. It’s a tough pill to swallow. I injured my shoulder and got a contusion on my kidneys. Got MRI and good news is I dodged a bullet on my shoulder and I am just going to give it a few weeks of rest and therapy and see where we are at. Huge disappointment to end my SX season like this. Thanks to my whole team for everything and everybody checking in on me. I really appreciate it. I will be back.”

Rockstar Husqvarna Dean Wilson
Dean Wilson

In just the 450-class alone Chad Reed, Justin Brayton, Malcolm Stewart, Justin Barcia, Aaron Plessinger, Vince Friese, Benny Bloss, AJ Catanzaro, Tyler Enticknap, Cole Martinez and Ronnie Stewart all missed rounds or were forced out of the series with crashes at the races while Justin Hill and Joey Savatgy are riding injured and hanging in there.


Supercross returns to Wollongong in 2019

Troy Bayliss Events have confirmed that the third round of the 2019 Australian Supercross Championship will be held at Wollongong’s WIN Stadium on Saturday the 9th of November giving fans the opportunity to see Australia’s best racers take on some international riders on a full-size track while racing the exciting Triple Crown Format in both SX1 and SX2 premiere classes.

Three-time Superbike World Champion and Event Organiser Troy Bayliss said the stadium layout will be unique with a section of the track heading up onto the iconic hill.

Troy Bayliss

“In 2018, Troy Bayliss Events took the big step to put Supercross back into a stadium in Australia with Geelong’s GMHBA Stadium round, now Troy Bayliss Events is thrilled to be taking the NSW event back to an outdoor stadium. WIN Stadium is the perfect size with the crowd so close to the action and the location is second to none. I am really excited about the track layout. This event will be like no other with the track winding up onto the iconic hill. We would like to thank Destination Wollongong, Wollongong City Council, WIN Stadium and Yamaha for the support to allow Supercross to take place In Wollongong and within WIN Stadium. The Illawarra is rich with motorcycle champions and fans and we can’t wait until the gates drop on November 9.”

Ducati Panigale VR Troy Bayliss
Troy Bayliss

Yamaha Motor Australia will be a major sponsor to Round 3 of the 2019 Australian Supercross Championship. Wollongong’s WIN Stadium is the perfect venue to showcase our race teams as they battle for supremacy in the VictorYZone.

In addition, this round will host another YZ65 Cup event – the grassroots race series designed to give young guns their first taste of the big time by racing in front of their Supercross heroes and up to 20,000 fans.

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Australian Motorcycle Festival Also set for Wollongong

Troy Bayliss Events have also confirmed that the Australian Motorcycle Festival will take place right next door to WIN Stadium at Lang Park on the same weekend as the Australian Supercross Championship over the weekend of November 9 and 10.

The Australian Motorcycle Festival is set for Woolongong

Formally known as the Sydney Motorcycle Show, Australia’s largest Motorcycle Show is also set to expand with massive trade displays featuring motorcycles, scooters, ATV’s, SxS’s, trikes and jet skis as well as related products and services while visitors to the event will have the opportunity to test a huge range of motorcycles and jet-skis.

Mark Sleigh, General Manager, Destination Wollongong said the city is excited to host the Australian Supercross Championship and Motorcycle Festival in November.

Mark Sleigh – Destination Wollongong

“Wollongong makes for the perfect road trip with stunning coastline taking in Sea Cliff Bridge as well as the winding escarpment which will put all your motorcycle skills to the test. The combination of the Championship and the Motorcycle Festival make for the perfect weekend away so we encourage everyone to stay a little longer and enjoy the attractions, natural assets and cafes and bars on offer in Wollongong.”

Tickets will go on sale Monday 29th April via Ticketmaster with tickets starting from $30.00. A full line up of support classes and live entertainment will be released in the coming weeks.


Smektala Scores Warsaw Wildcard

FIM Speedway Under-21 world champion Bartosz Smektala is set to done the famous #16 race jacket for his full FIM Speedway Grand Prix debut after earning a wildcard for the opening round of the FIM Speedway World Championship at PGE Narodowy on May 18.

The 20-year-old was crowned World Under-21 champion last season after seeing off a huge challenge from 2017 champion Maksym Drabik before winning a second straight PGE Ekstraliga title with Leszno.

Bartosz Smektala
Bartosz Smektala

Smektala rode in his first SGP heat as a track reserve at the 2017 Nice Torun SGP of Poland, before serving as a stand-in rider again in Warsaw last year where he raced in heat 14 that night, finishing second to Chris Holder and beating eventual World Championship bronze medallist Fredrik Lindgren and Craig Cook.

The Srem-born racer represents Leszno once again in this year’s PGE Ekstraliga as well as Swedish Elitserien club Vastervik.

He’s joined in Warsaw by track reserves Dominik Kubera and Rafal Karczmarz, who line up at No.17 and No.18 respectively. Kubera races alongside Smektala with Leszno, while Karczmarz rides for Gorzow.

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Paulo Goncalves Joins Hero Motorsports

The Indian off-road team Hero Motorsports have confirmed that former Dakar runner up and 2015 FIM Cross-Country Champion Paulo Gonçalves will be joining the team as they continue their quest for Dakar glory.

Paulo Goncalves Joins Hero Motorsports
Paulo Goncalves joins Hero Motorsports

Created in 2016, Hero Motorsport Rally Team has been gaining experience competing in some of the most demanding off-road races, especially the Dakar Rally where Hero Motorsports have finished inside the top-10 twice, and the best result came at the Merzouga Rally where they won.

Paulo Gonçalves has been racing for the factory Honda Dakar team but decided it was time to change and try new challenges.

Paulo Gonçalves

“From my side, I promise to give my everything to be ready and fit to be able to fight for the top positions for my team. Hero MotoSports has been doing a really good job in the last couple of seasons and this young team has shown, that it has the potential to win big. I would like to play my part in bringing these wins to the team. With lots of passion and emotions, my thanks again to the team and I am excited to begin.”

Paulo Goncalves
Paulo Goncalves
Wolfgang Fischer  – Head of Hero MotoSports Team Rally

“We are very motivated by the entry of Paulo Gonçalves into our young set-up. To attract one of the most decorated and respected top rally athletes is a big boost for our team and an endorsement that we are being looked upon as one of the top teams in rally sport. His experience of numerous race victories and Dakar participation into our line-up will enable us to achieve the next level of competitiveness. We extend Paulo a very warm welcome and wish him a successful stint with Hero MotoSports Team Rally.”

The new Hero Motorsports Rally Team is now completed with Paulo Gonçalves joins his Portuguese compatriot Joaquim Rodrigues as well as CS Santosh and Oriol Mena.

The Hero Motorsports Rally Team is getting ready for the next race, the Silkway Rally, that will happen in July, covering some spectacular trails in Russia, Mongolia and China.

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Dakar Rally Moves to Saudi Arabia

After 11 years of being based in South America, Dakar Rally organizers ASO have confirmed that the event will take place in Saudi Arabia beginning in 2020 and beyond.

The event was held solely in Peru earlier this year after the ASO was forced to hastily assemble a route in 2019 after the late withdrawal of Bolivia and Chile.

Dakar Rally Director – David Castera

“Looking back at my first memories of the Dakar and my first experiences as a competitor, I’ve always considered that this rally like no other carried a concept of discovery, a voyage into the unknown. By going to Saudi Arabia, it is, of course, that aspect that fascinates me. I’m convinced that such a feeling will be shared by all the riders, drivers and co-pilots. As the director of the event, it’s a massive challenge to be faced with a blank page with limitless possibilities. I’m already inspired and delighted to have to design a course in such a monumental geography, made for the most audacious itineraries. We are spoilt for choice. Sports, navigation, a will to surpass oneself: all these aspects will naturally be glorified on this territory made for rally-raids.”

More details regarding the event will be announced at a press conference on April 25 in Al-Qiddiya, near the Saudi capital of Riyadh.

As a point of interest, the Arabian desert is an area of 2,330,000 square kilometres, the fifth largest desert in the world, and the largest in Asia. At its centre is Ar-Rub’al-Khali (The Empty Quarter), one of the largest continuous bodies of sand in the world – GULP!

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Treloar crowned 11-time Australian Speedway Sidecar Champion

Treloar Pioneer Park Speedway, Queensland played host to a momentous occasion in Australian Speedway Sidecar history, with spectators and riders alike witnessing Darrin Treloar’s 11th claim to the Australian Senior Speedway Sidecar Championship and the retirement of Andrew Buchanan.

Treloar crowned time Australian Speedway Sidecar Champion
Australian Speedway Sidecar

Featuring in the Final was Monson/Summerhayes, Plaisted/Pitt, Harrison/McGrath and Treloar/Cox. With consecutive wins in the FIM Oceania Speedway Sidecar Championship and FIM 1000cc Speedway Sidecar World Cup under their belt, the dynamic duo that is Monson and Summerhayes were locked and loaded to blaze a trail into first place. After four exhilarating laps though, it was Treloar and Cox who stole the win, marking Treloar’s 11th Australian Speedway Sidecar title!

Darrin Treloar

“2019 marks my 11th Australian Speedway Sidecar Championship and honestly it hasn’t sunk in yet. Nothing beats my first Championship win back in 1993 up in Darwin of course, but this win is definitely something else. Coming into this weekend I try and keep fit with 3-4 days spent in the gym, plus heaps of work in the garage developing the bike. As the Championship marks the end of the season, we as competitors were well into the swing of things [keeping fit and staying motivated] with most of us having already competed in 10-15 events prior. Andrew is a great bloke who is a fantastic addition to the sport. This weekend was emotional of course as he announced he was hanging up the boots, but as always Andrew was extremely competitive and didn’t give an inch. So you had to fight hard to push ahead of him.”

Treloar crowned time Australian Speedway Sidecar Champion
2019 Australian Speedway Sidecar Championship Podium

Running in conjunction with the Seniors at Pioneer Park across the Easter long weekend was the 2019 Australian Junior Speedway Sidecar Championship.

Arriving at the Final, fans had the privilege of witnessing the clear emergence of superb Australian Speedway Sidecar talent, as all three squads became demons behind the handlebars. Coming out on top to claim the 2019 Australian Junior Speedway Sidecar Championship was the Fewster team, ahead of Curran/Kerss and Milner/Niesche in second and third place, respectively.

Australian Junior Speedway Sidecar Championship Podium
Australian Junior Speedway Sidecar Championship Podium

Western Australia (WA) locals, Jack and Adam Fewster have taken out their second Australian Junior Speedway Sidecar Championship title. As they land back on WA soil, Jack explained that “The weekend’s racing was really great! The racing was super tough which really pushed us to try as hard as we could to win. The practice day prior to racing really helped us keep cool and collected.”

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Source: MCNews.com.au

Moto Wrap | SX | MXN | MXGP | GNCC | Enduro

Moto News Wrap for April 2, 2019 by Darren Smart

Proudly brought to you by Dunlop Geomax
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The LATEST News

  • Houston AMA SX falls to Webb and Ferrandis
  • Clout and Todd top Wonthaggi MX Nationals
  • Cairoli and Prado blitz Valkenswaard
  • Verstappen takes WMX first blood
  • Guadagnini starts EMX125 championship on top
  • Ferris pulls out of MXGP opportunity
  • Thad Duvall wins Steele Creek GNCC
  • Sunderland leads Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge
  • Holcombe continues Italian Enduro Championship domination
  • FIM E-XBike World Cup announced
  • Price commits to four-wheels at Finke 2019
  • 2019 FIM Speedway Sidecar 1000cc World Cup to Gillman
  • FIM Oceania Speedway Sidecar Championships re-scheduled

Houston AMA SX Falls to Webb and Ferrandis

Houston hosted the 13th round of the AMA Supercross Championships last weekend and it was Cooper Webb and Dylan Ferrandis who took maximum points in the 450SX and 250SX West respectively in the third and final ‘triple crown’ main event format for the year.

AMA SX Rnd Seely Musquin Wilson Multiple JK SX Houston
2019 AMA Supercross Round 13 – Houston – Image by Hoppenworld

450SX Report

The triple crown program features three x 12 minute main events and Ken Roczen not only pulled the holeshot in the first of the three but the German also went on to win by a staggering 10 seconds. The action behind changed the status within team KTM and this championship after Marvin Musquin and Webb ‘drive bombed’ each other at almost every turn for the first few laps until Musquin got pushed off the track by Webb as they entered ‘the wall jump’ that preceded the sand section.

AMA SX Rnd Roczen JK SX Houston
2019 AMA Supercross Round 13 – Houston – Image by Hoppenworld

Oblivious to the drama behind, Roczen took the win ahead of Webb and Wilson and while the second main didn’t see the same ‘bar banging’ action it did see Roczen go down in the first corner before leaving the stadium with what seemed to be a damaged knee or ankle while Webb rallied to score the win over Dean Wilson and Musquin then in the third main Musquin squirted away for the win ahead of Eli Tomac and a cruising Webb who was fully aware that a third would give him the overall ahead of Musquin and Wilson.

Eli Tomac (6-7-2), Cole Seely (4-4-11), Zach Osborne (10-6-4), Justin Bogle (8-5-7), Blake Baggett (9-9-6), Joey Savatgy (7-11-9) and Ken Roczen (1-21-8) rounded out the top ten.

AMA SX Rnd Tomac Webb JK SX Houston
2019 AMA Supercross Round 13 – Houston – Image by Hoppenworld

Webb now has a 17-point lead with four rounds remaining and admitted that he got a little frustrated during the opening moto and will learn from the experience while the good news for Roczen fans is that the Honda rider came back out for the final race and finished 8th – news of his injury status will be confirmed in the coming days.

Cooper Webb

“It is intense racing. I got frustrated and let it show, that is not the way to do it for sure because we let Ken (Roczen) get away, I will learn from it and try to contain the emotions a bit better and like Marv said, we are team mates but we are one and two in the championships so it’s a tough line but I will be better moving forward.”

AMA SX Rnd Webb JK SX Houston
2019 AMA Supercross Round 13 – Houston – Image by Hoppenworld
Marvin Musquin

“Triple crown is always intense with only 12 minute races so everyone is pushing really hard and I made the pass (on Webb) in the first left hander but then got passed in the whoops before making a good pass on Cooper, everyone was pushing hard and Cooper made an aggressive pass on me which pushed me off the track but this is triple crown and you have to be consistent so sometimes it is not the fastest guy who wins the overall.”

AMA SX Rnd Musquin JK SX Houston
2019 AMA Supercross Round 13 – Houston – Image by Hoppenworld
Dean Wilson

“Getting back on the podium feels great, it’s been over a year but it is a tough class, I put myself in good positions in the first two races with top three off the start which helps so much, overall my riding has been good but it is a mental game for me because I have been bucked off the horse quite a few times so sometimes I don’t believe in myself like I should, I want to thank my support group for getting me through this.”

AMA SX Rnd Wilson JK SX Houston
2019 AMA Supercross Round 13 – Houston – Image by Hoppenworld
Cole Seely

“Tonight was pretty good. I finally finished in the top five, which is where I feel like I should’ve been all year. The way things have been going so far have been frustrating, and it’s hard to explain; the toll the injury took on me last year was a lot more intense and in-depth than I thought it was. It’s been a long road to get back to here but I feel like I’ve had speed all year, I just haven’t been able to put it all together. The results haven’t been translating into how well I think I really have ridden most of the year. It feels good to finally break into that top five and run up front with those guys in the first two mains, relatively easy, too. I know it’s not a traditional 20-minute main but it felt like it was coming to me pretty easy, so that’s definitely a confidence booster heading into the final rounds. It’s a bummer it’s taken this long to come around, but I’m happy it did and we’re going to keep working forward.”

AMA SX Rnd Seely JK SX Houston
2019 AMA Supercross – Round 13 – Houston

450SX Main Event Results

  1. Cooper Webb: 2-1-3 = 26pts
  2. Marvin Musquin: 5-3-1 = 23pts
  3. Dean Wilson: 3-2-5= 21pts
  4. Eli Tomac: 6-7-2 = 19pts
  5. Cole Seely: 4-4-11 = 18pts
  6. Zach Osborne: 10-6-4 = 17pts
  7. Justin Bogle: 8-5-7 = 16pts
  8. Blake Baggett: 9-9-6 = 15pts
  9. Joey Savatgy: 7-11-9 = 14pts
  10. Ken Roczen: 1-21-8 = 13pts
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 450SX Points after 13 of 17 Rounds

  1. Cooper Webb – 288
  2. Marvin Musquin – 271
  3. Eli Tomac – 262
  4. Ken Roczen – 252
  5. Blake Baggett – 215
  6. Dean Wilson – 201
  7. Joey Savatgy – 173
  8. Cole Seely – 160
  9. Chad Reed – 151
  10. Justin Barcia – 150

250 West Coast Report

It looked like Adam Cianciarulo was set to extend his 15 point lead over Ferrandis in the championship after the Kawasaki rider won the opening main well ahead of Ferrandis and RJ Hampshire. However the second moto turned sour when Adam spewed through the tuff boxes on the exit of the first corner and then as he was coming back through the field he clipped another rider mid-air and crashed his way to a 10th place finish as Ferrandis cruised to a win ahead of Hampshire, Garrett Marchbanks and Nichols.

AMA SX Rnd McAdoo CianciaruloStarts JK SX Houston
2019 AMA Supercross Round 13 – Houston – Image by Hoppenworld

The final main saw Nichols out front ahead of Ferrandis while Cianciarulo was once again on the ground but Adam quickly made his way through the pack to end the race in third behind Nichols and his teammate Ferrandis who scored his second overall win in two weeks to be just five points behind championship leader Cianciarulo with two rounds remaining.

AMA SX Rnd Nichols JK SX Houston
2019 AMA Supercross Round 13 – Houston – Image by Hoppenworld

Ferrandis, Hampshire and Nichols got to enjoy the podium accolades while Cianciarulo (1-10-3), James Decotis (6-5-6), Cameron Mcadoo (9-6-5), Justin Starling (12-8-8), Sean Cantrell (11-7-13), Garrett Marchbanks (10-3-19) and Chris Blose (8-19-7) rounded out the top ten.

Dylan Ferrandis

“It is good to be back in the championship, it is exciting for the end of the season, I will not change anything (leading up to the final two rounds), I will keep working with my trainer and do everything I can to challenge AC (Cianciarulo) for this championship.”

AMA SX Rnd Ferrandis JK SX Houston
2019 AMA Supercross Round 13 – Houston – Image by Hoppenworld
RJ Hampshire

“I haven’t cracked to top five in the recent races so we made huge improvements this week with the bike so I had good starts all night that lead into good finishes, I didn’t do anything special all day, I just rode so stocked to be up here in second place.”

AMA SX Rnd Hampshire JK SX Houston
2019 AMA Supercross Round 13 – Houston – Image by Hoppenworld
Colt Nichols

“I really wanted to race and didn’t want to miss a weekend after last weekend’s DNF so we just dealt with the soreness to manage decent results in the first two mains then win the last which is exactly what I wanted to do, it’s just good to win something again, it’s been a while.”

AMA SX Rnd Nichols JK SX Houston
2019 AMA Supercross Round 13 – Houston – Image by Hoppenworld

The West Coast riders have a break next weekend as the East Coast riders head to Nashville for their 7th round.

250 West Coast Main Event Results

  1. Dylan Ferrandis: 2-1-2 = 26pts
  2. RJ Hampshire: 3-2-4 = 23pts
  3. Colt Nichols: 5-4-1 = 21pts
  4. Adam Cianciarulo: 1-10-3 = 19pts
  5. James Decotis: 6-5-6 = 18pts
  6. Cameron Mcadoo: 9-6-5 = 17pts
  7. Justin Starling: 12-8-8 = 16pts
  8. Sean Cantrell: 11-7-13 = 15pts
  9. Garrett Marchbanks: 10-3-19 = 14pts
  10. Chris Blose: 8-19-7 = 13pts
AMA SX Rnd Ferrandis Podium JK SX Houston
250 West Coast Overall Results
Dylan Ferrandis: 2-1-2 = 26pts
RJ Hampshire: 3-2-4 = 23pts
Colt Nichols: 5-4-1 = 21pts

250 West Coast Points after 8 of 10 Rounds

  1. Adam Cianciarulo – 182
  2. Dylan Ferrandis – 177
  3. Colt Nichols – 142
  4. RJ Hampshire – 126
  5. Shane Mcelrath – 123
  6. James Decotis – 112
  7. Chris Blose – 111
  8. Cameron Mcadoo – 111
  9. Michael Mosiman – 110
  10. Garrett Marchbanks – 99

250 East Coast Points after 6 of 9 Rounds

  1. Austin Forkner – 151
  2. Chase Sexton – 125
  3. Justin Cooper – 123
  4. Alex Martin – 92
  5. Martin Davalos – 89
  6. Mitchell Oldenburg – 88
  7. Brandon Hartranft – 82
  8. Kyle Cunningham – 81
  9. Kyle Peters – 79
  10. Jordon Smith – 70
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Clout and Todd Top Wonthaggi MX Nationals

Under stormy skies and intermittent rain, the second round of the MX Nationals was held in Wonthaggi last weekend and it was Luke Clout who earned the MX1 overall while defending champion Wilson Todd was in a class of his own on the way to victory in the MX2 class.

MX Nationals Rnd Wonthaggi MX Start Waters Bopping Mellross Cover
2019 MX Nationals Round 2 – Wonthaggi

MX1 Report

With rain soaking the track it was tough going throughout the day but the surprise of the opening moto was Lawson Bopping leading by the field ahead of foreign imports Erki Kahro (Estonia) and Justin Rodbell (USA) while Luke Clout was back in 6th, Hayden Mellross 8th, Brett Metcalfe 12th, Kirk Gibbs 14th and championship leader Todd Waters 28th after opening lap crash that ended up resulting in a DNF.

MX Nationals Rnd Wonthaggi MX Waters Mellross Clout
Luke Clout chases down Waters and Mellross

Bopping was impressive out front but with five laps to go the Kawasaki rider was obviously showing signs of a lack of race fitness so it was Kahro who made his move to take the lead then it wasn’t long before a hard charging Clout also made his way to second place.

With lapped riders causing all sorts of chaos Clout closed in on Kahro and with five corners left Clout sliced his way to the lead and the win but Clout’s celebrations where cut short after he was dropped back to second thanks to a 10 second penalty for exceeding track boundaries.

MX Nationals Rnd Wonthaggi MX Kirk Gibbs
Kirk Gibbs

In much better conditions Rodbell pulled the holeshot in the second moto ahead of Waters and Karo but Richie Evans, Kirk Gibbs and Brett Metcalfe all went down in the first corner.

18-year-old Rodbell couldn’t hold Waters back for long so the early running saw Waters leading Rodbell, Clout, Karo and Mellross until Karo took a heavy fall and dropped out of contention allowing privateer Charlie Creech to move into the top five.

MX Nationals Rnd Wonthaggi MX Todd Waters Luke Clout
Todd Waters & Luke Clout

In the second half of the moto Clout received a 20 second race penalty for exceeding track limits again and Mellross high-sided his KTM but was sharp enough to get back and rejoin the race behind Clout so at the chequered flag it was Waters who took the win ahead of Clout who had etched out enough time to earn second ahead of Mellross despite the 20-second penalty while Rodbell and Rykers finished fourth, and fifth – Kahro clawed his way back to sixth.

MX Nationals Rnd Wonthaggi MX Mellross Prutti
Hayden Mellross

Despite being penalised in both races Clout’s 2-2 earned the CDR Yamaha rider the overall win ahead of Mellross and Karo and more importantly Mellross has earned the red plate as the points leader ahead of Clout, Gibbs and Waters as they head towards round three of the championship at Broadford, Vic, on April 14th.

Luke Clout

“I don’t know what happened, If I end up getting the win, or I end up getting second I don’t really care, it’s a good ride for me. I was really mature in my riding.”

MX Nationals Rnd Wonthaggi MX Luke Clout
Luke Clout
Erki Kahro

“It was just a really tough moto, it was a really good track, a really hard track. A proper motocross track.”

Lawson Bopping

“It was a great weekend, and I had a lot of fun with the team, I struggled a little in practice and got arm pump straight up – that was to be expected – I haven’t done a national in three years. I qualified in 12th, which wasn’t real great, but I ripped an awesome start in the first moto and led for maybe 20 minutes – that was awesome! I put the fade on in the last 10 minutes and a few guys got around me. Leading those few laps at the start made my whole weekend and it was a good time! The second moto was pretty miserable, to be honest. I think I went pretty hard in the first race and I was pretty flat for the second one, but overall we’re happy.”

MX Nationals Rnd Wonthaggi MX Lawson Bopping
Lawson Bopping
Jesse Dobson

“Today was tough, but overall really positive, I didn’t realise I made Superpole at the time and rode back to my pit and started getting undressed! I had to rush to get back on the track and I ended up with arm-pump. I had a good start in race one and pushed forward to fifth, but I only have the one bike, so when it started to get hot, I pulled over and my mechanic Aiden helped me clear the radiators rather than wreck it with a race to go, before pushing hard again to finish 12th, I was confident lining up for race two but ended up caught in the first turn pile up after the FC450 jumped out of gear at the start and put me behind. I charged hard to 6th, 20-minutes into the race, but in the last few laps the rear wheel bearings collapsed and I had to work hard to stay on track and make sure I got to finish line. I finished 7th on track, but I was penalised 10-seconds for overtaking a lapped rider outside the track markers, when I was working hard to just keep the bike on track and moving forward, I’ve put my case to the officials for review, so we’ll see what happens there.”

MX Nationals Rnd Wonthaggi MX Jesse Dobson
Jesse Dobson
Kirk Gibbs

“It wasn’t a great day for me and I leave here pretty frustrated and angry, I was way back in moto one and was moving forward when another rider went down and took me with them and I lost plenty of time there and then in the second one I went down at the start, had to stop into the mechanics area to get the bike straightened out and was a long way behind the field when I re-joined the race. I kept on chipping away and managed to get myself back to seventh and felt I rode alright but seventh isn’t where I belong and makes my determined to bounce back at round three in a couple of weeks’ time.”

MX Nationals Rnd Appin MX Podium Waters Mellross Gibbs
Thor MX1 – Moto 1 – Appin Results – Top 15
Todd Waters
Hayden Mellross +1.449
Kirk Gibbs +23.990

Thor MX1 – Moto 1 Top 10

  1. Erki Kahro
  2. Luke Clout
  3. Hayden Mellross
  4. Jayden Rykers
  5. Brett Metcalfe
  6. Lawson Bopping
  7. Richie Evans
  8. Zak Small
  9. Kirk Gibbs
  10. Charlie Creech

Thor MX1 – Moto 2 Top Ten

  1. Todd Waters
  2. Luke Clout
  3. Hayden Mellross
  4. Justin Rodbell
  5. Jayden Rykers
  6. Erki Kahro
  7. Kirk Gibbs
  8. Jesse Dobson
  9. Charlie Creech
  10. Lawson Bopping

Thor MX1 – Top Ten Overall

  1. Luke Clout – 64
  2. Hayden Mellross – 60
  3. Erki Kahro – 60
  4. Kirk Gibbs – 47
  5. Lawson Bopping – 47
  6. Charlie Creech – 44
  7. Zak Small – 44
  8. Jayden Rykers – 43
  9. Jesse Dobson – 43
  10. Justin Rodbell – 38
    …12. Todd Waters – 35
    …17. Brett Metcalfe – 28
    …18. Caleb Ward – 25

MX1 Points after 3 of 10 Rounds

  1. Hayden Mellross – 92
  2. Luke Clout – 89
  3. Kirk Gibbs – 77
  4. Todd Waters – 73
  5. Jesse Dobson – 69
  6. Charlie Creech – 64
  7. Justin Rodbell – 63
  8. Zak Small – 62
  9. Tomas Ravenhorst – 61
  10. Erki Kahro – 60
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MX2 Report

The Pirelli MX2 class ran three motos on the day starting with two back to back 8-lap motos followed by a traditional 15-minute moto and Wilson Todd was completely dominant in all three to earn the overall ahead of Aaron Tanti and former red plate holder Jye Roberts.

MX Nationals Rnd Wonthaggi MX Wilson Todd
Wilson Todd

Wilson now has a 9-point lead over Roberts who in turn has a 5-point lead over former champion Jay Wilson – thankfully there were no course cutting penalties to report on in the MX2 class.

Wilson Todd

“I felt good coming into this weekend, the FC250 is working unreal for me, and I’m really comfortable being back with DPH, I wanted to really race this weekend after Appin, and I’m super stoked to have first gate pick and then take all three race wins. As the track dried, it got faster, and I was able to put in some really strong, consistent laps and the hard work I’ve been putting in is really starting to show.”

MX Nationals Rnd Wonthaggi MX Wilson Todd
Wilson Todd
Aaron Tanti

“I had race one under control and didn’t really feel much pressure from behind me but as I came down the pit board straight, I felt the front wheel aquaplane in the mud and by the time it grabbed traction again, I was already heading off track. But second was still a good finish, race two was pretty average but I was able to rebound well in the final one and get on the podium. Thanks to everyone in the Serco Yamaha team. The first two rounds have been a nightmare for the mechanics and they have done a good job of keeping the bikes in great shape. Next up is Broadford and I’m looking forward to that and hopefully keep this momentum going.”

MX Nationals Rnd Wonthaggi MX Aaron Tanti
Aaron Tanti
Kyle Webster

“The first race in the morning was pretty wet and the mud was tough, but nevertheless I was running top four for most of the moto and was feeling good, until the last lap when my bike stopped due to overheating. With the back-to-back format I had to get back to the start and get straight on my practice bike for the second moto, which meant I didn’t get a chance to prep my gate which in turn meant I got a bad start and it was all I could do to work my way up to fifth by the finish of the moto. That final moto was a much better way to end a day that definitely didn’t start the way I was hoping,”

Kyle Webster
Kyle Webster

Pirelli MX2 – Moto 1 Top 10

  1. Wilson Todd
  2. Aaron Tanti
  3. Cooper Pozniak
  4. Jay Wilson
  5. Jye Dickson
  6. Nathan Crawford
  7. Jy Roberts
  8. Sam Pelz
  9. Issac Ferguson
  10. Dylan Wills

Pirelli MX2 – Moto 2 Top 10

  1. Wilson Todd
  2. Jy Roberts
  3. Joel Evans
  4. Cooper Pozniak
  5. Kyle Webster
  6. Bailey Malkiewicz
  7. Sam Pelz
  8. Riley Dukes
  9. Aaron Tanti
  10. Jye Dickson
  11. Jay Wilson
  12. Nathan Crawford

Pirelli MX2 – Moto 3 Top 10

  1. Wilson Todd
  2. Kyle Webster
  3. Jay Wilson
  4. Aaron Tanti
  5. Jy Roberts
  6. Dylan Wills
  7. Jye Dickson
  8. Nathan Crawford
  9. Sam Pelz
  10. Issac Ferguson
MX Nationals Rnd Wonthaggi MX Podium Wilson Todd Aaron Tanti Jy Roberts
MX2 Overall Round Podium – 1) Wilson Todd, 2) Aaron Tanti, 3) Jy Roberts

Pirelli MX2 – Top Ten Overall

  1. Wilson Todd – 70
  2. Aaron Tanti – 56
  3. Jy Roberts – 56
  4. Jay Wilson – 54
  5. Cooper Pozniak – 52
  6. Jye Dickson – 49
  7. Sam Pelz – 48
  8. Kyle Webster – 46
  9. Nathan Crawford – 43
  10. Issac Ferguson – 42

MX2 Points after 3 of 10 Rounds

  1. Wilson Todd – 100
  2. Jy Roberts – 91
  3. Jay Wilson – 86
  4. Aaron Tanti – 77
  5. Cooper Pozniak – 76
  6. Issac Ferguson – 70
  7. Nathan Crawford – 68
  8. Jye Dickson – 64
  9. Dylan Wills – 63
  10. Kyle Webster – 62
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MXD Report

Of the young guns of the sport Regan Duffy dominated the MXD class with a pair of wins to take the round overall and more importantly the championship points lead by 4 points ahead of Rhys Buss while former championship leader Max Purvis went 18-2 for 7th on the day and now sits 3rd in the points.

MX Nationals Rnd Wonthaggi MXD Rhys Budd
Rhys Budd
Rhys Budd

“Wonthaggi is known as a really tough sand track, and truth be told I am not much of a sand rider but I actually felt really strong at Wonthaggi. Third overall for the round is good and it means I am a solid second in the championship standings after two rounds, which I’m really pleased about, I can’t wait to get back home to Sydney and just keep working hard toward the next round. The MX Nationals is a long series, for sure, but my plan is to keep hitting my targets and to be right there at the end of the championship.”

MX Nationals Rnd Wonthaggi MXD Rhys Budd
Rhys Budd

Motul MXD – Moto 1 Top 10

  1. Regan Duffy
  2. Mason Rowe
  3. Rhys Budd
  4. Noah Ferguson
  5. Mason Semmens
  6. Brodie Ellis
  7. Jai Walker
  8. Tye Jones
  9. Jack Kukas
  10. Mackenzie O’Bree

Motul MXD – Moto 2 Top 10

  1. Regan Duffy
  2. Maximus Purvis
  3. Mason Rowe
  4. Rhys Budd
  5. Noah Ferguson
  6. Mason Semmens
  7. Brodie Ellis
  8. Liam Andrews
  9. Jack Kukas
  10. Micheal Murphy
MX Nationals Rnd Wonthaggi MXD Podium Regan Duffy Mason Rowe Rhys Budd
Regan Duffy claimed the overall win and red plate, with Mason Row and Rhys Budd closing out the podium

Motul MXD – Top Ten Overall

  1. Regan Duffy – 70
  2. Mason Rowe – 62
  3. Rhys Budd – 58
  4. Noah Ferguson – 54
  5. Mason Semmens – 51
  6. Brodie Ellis – 49
  7. Maximus Purvis – 45
  8. Jack Kukas – 44
  9. Jai Walker – 39
  10. Mackenzie O’Bree – 37

MXD Championship Points

  1. Regan Duffy – 94
  2. Rhys Budd – 90
  3. Maximus Purvis – 80
  4. Mason Rowe – 78
  5. Noah Ferguson – 69

125cc Gold Cup Report

MX Nationals Rnd Wonthaggi Podium Yamaha Cup Cam Taylor Winner
Cameron Taylor tops the 125 podium at Wonthaggi from Joshua Kilvington and Nicholas Murray

Multi Australian Champion Cameron Taylor put his experience to good use to win both of the 125cc Gold Cup motos in tough conditions at Wonthaggi while Queenslander Josh Kilvington earned second with 2-2 moto results ahead of Nicholas Murray (4-3) and the hard charging Clay Kilvington (3-4), Josh’s younger brother.

Yamaha 125cc Gold Cup – Rd 2 Overall

  1. Cameron Taylor – 70
  2. Joshua Kilvington – 64
  3. Nicholas Murray – 58
  4. Clay Kilvington – 58
  5. Jedidiah Cornthwaite – 51
  6. Lachlan Wilson – 48
  7. Nick Davis – 48
  8. Darcy Cavanagh – 45
  9. Ryan Butler – 44
  10. Baylee Davies – 42
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Cairoli and Prado Blitz Valkenswaard

Round three of the 2019 FIM Motocross World Championship was held at Valkenswaard in the Netherlands last weekend and it was Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team’s Antonio Cairoli and Jorge Prado who won the MXGP and MX2 classes respectively.

MXGP Rnd Netherlands Tony Cairoli RA
Tony Cairoli takes the holeshot – Image by Ray Archer

MXGP Report

Valkenswaard is one of the toughest tracks on MXGP calendar with the undulating, sand infested layout chopping out into a rut infested torture test but that didn’t stop Cairoli earning two holeshots, two wins and the maximum 50 points.

MXGP Rnd Netherlands Desalle GP SL
Clement Desalle

Clement Desalle’s 2-5 scores earned 38 points for second overall and Tim Gajser’s crash in the opening moto saw the Honda pilot end the weekend with 7-2 moto finishes for 36 points and third overall.

Cairoli already has more than a moto up his sleeve in the championship points with the 9-time World Champion storming to his 88th GP win and heads to his home GP in Trentino with a 27-point lead over Gajser.

Antonio Cairoli

“Overall I’m happy going into Trentino next week. Having the first three GP wins this year it’s nice. Of course, it’s not easy, Tim is very fast at the moment and it’s nice to have such a high rhythm in the race for us, for the fans, and for everybody.”

MXGP Rnd Netherlands Tony Cairoli RA
Tony Cairoli – Image by Ray Archer
Clement Desalle

“I’m happy going into Trentino next week. Having the first three GP wins this year it’s nice. Of course, it’s not easy, Tim is very fast at the moment and it’s nice to have such a high rhythm in the race for us, for the fans, and for everybody.”

MXGP Rnd Netherlands Desalle GP SL
Clement Desalle
Tim Gajser

“I’m happy to finish on the podium again. But yeah I’m a little bit disappointed. In the first race I had a good start and I was in third place behind Tony and Max, then I make a mistake and I fell so I had to came through the pack. Anyway we’re looking forward to next weekend in Arco, definitely many fans from Slovenia are going to be there and I’m excited.”

MXGP Rnd Netherlands Gajser bavo
Tim Gajser – Image by Bavo

MXGP Valkenswaard Overall Top Ten

  1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 50 points
  2. Clement Desalle (BEL, KAW), 38
  3. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 36
  4. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, HON), 36
  5. Arminas Jasikonis (LTU, HUS), 36
  6. Julien Lieber (BEL, KAW), 29
  7. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 28
  8. Gautier Paulin (FRA, YAM), 28
  9. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 25
  10. Max Anstie (GBR, KTM), 17
MXGP Rnd Netherlands Desalle Podium
MXGP Overall Podium – 1) Cairoli, 2) Desalle, 3) Gajser

MXGP Standings following Valkenswaard MXGP

  1. CAIROLI Antonio 147
  2. GAJSER Tim 125
  3. DESALLE Clement 103
  4. VAN HOREBEEK Jeremy 102
  5. PAULIN Gautier 102
  6. JASIKONIS Arminas 92
  7. SEEWER Jeremy 78
  8. SIMPSON Shaun 64
  9. LIEBER Julien 62
  10. ANSTIE Max 62
    …24 FERRIS Dean 6
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MX2 Report

Prado won the opening moto by seven seconds over Thomas Kjer Olsen, Henry Jacobi, Calvin Vlaanderen and Ben Watson while Jed Beaton finished  a solid 10th but fellow Aussie Mitch Evans was storming his way forward from a poor start only to have to retire with a mechanical issue.

MXGP Rnd Netherlands Jorge Prado RA
Jorge Prado – Image by Ray Archer

Prado won the second moto by five seconds ahead of Jago Geerts, Kjer Olsen, Vlaanderen and Watson with Evan bouncing back to finish in 10th while Beaton finished in a credible 15th despite still recovering from injury.

MXGP Rnd Netherlands Jed Beaton
MXGP 2019 – Round 3 – The Netherlands – Jed Beaton leads

Prado earned the overall while Olsen took second to maintain the red plate and a 36 point lead over Prado ahead of next weekend’s MXGP of Trentino.

Jorge Prado

“I had a good feeling both days, It’s still not where I want because we still need to work but I’m going in the right direction. Trentino should be a great weekend hopefully. I have good memories from there and I have good races there every year. Hopefully we can make another good one next week.”

MXGP Rnd Netherlands Jorge Prado RA
Jorge Prado – Image by Ray Archer
Thomas Kjer Olsen

“I feel pretty good with my performance. I got two good starts in the races, which I was pretty happy about. It made it a little bit easier for me to not have to battle all the way through the field. Prado was riding really good, I didn’t feel like I was riding bad or anything myself, I had a pretty good flow it just wasn’t quite enough.”

MXGP Rnd Netherlands Thomas Kjer Olsen
Thomas Kjer Olsen
Jago Geerts

“It was a really good week for me, the first race didn’t go as planned but in the second race I was pretty fired up, in the last lap I got second place and took third on the podium so I was pretty happy with that.”

MXGP Rnd Netherlands Jago Geerts
Jago Geerts
Jed Beaton

“I had an OK GP and felt good on my bike, in the opening moto my pace was good so I managed to secure a top-10 result. Then in the second moto, I pushed a bit more than I needed to early on and ended up getting a little fatigued. Then injury I picked up during the pre-season hasn’t allowed me to spend as much time as I would have liked on a bike. Around a tough track like Valkenswaard it is always important to be on top of your game. At the moment I’m taking one step at a time and I’m trying to get better every time I race.”

MXGP Rnd Netherlands Jed Beaton
Jed Beaton
Mitch Evans

“Tough day in the office riding with a lot of pain from yesterday’s crash. Moto 1 I made my way up to 13th before having to make a pit stop due to a mechanical but happy with my 10th place in moto 2! Thanks to my Honda114 Motorsports Team! Keeping a smile on my face and enjoying every day, good or bad!”

MX2 Valkenswaard Overall Top Ten

  1. Jorge Prado (ESP, KTM), 50 points
  2. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, HUS), 42
  3. Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 36
  4. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, HON), 36
  5. Henry Jacobi (GER, KAW), 35
  6. Ben Watson (GBR, YAM), 32
  7. Alberto Forato (ITA, HUS), 23
  8. Adam Sterry (GBR, KAW), 22
  9. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 21
  10. Tom Vialle (FRA, KTM), 21
    …12. Jed Beaton
MXGP Rnd Netherlands MX Podium
MX2 Overall Podium – 1) Prado, 2) Kjer-Olsen, 3) Geerts

MX2 Championship Top Ten after Valkenswaard

  1. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, HUS), 136 points
  2. Henry Jacobi (GER, KAW), 113
  3. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, HON), 107
  4. Jorge Prado (ESP, KTM), 100
  5. Ben Watson (GBR, YAM), 95
  6. Tom Vialle (FRA, KTM), 86
  7. Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 81
  8. Davy Pootjes (NED, HUS), 65
  9. Adam Sterry (GBR, KAW), 63
  10. Mitchell Evans (AUS, HON), 60
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Verstappen Takes WMX First Blood

Valkenswaard hosted the first round of the 2019 FIM Women’s Motocross World Championship and despite Kiwi Courtney Duncan being the fastest on the track it was Amandine Verstappen who took the overall win and red plate for the very first time in her career.

MXGP Rnd Netherlands Amandine Verstappen
Amandine Verstappen

39 women stormed into the first corner of the opening moto and it was all Duncan with the Kawasaki pilot taking the win by 6.6 seconds ahead of Verstappen, Larissa Papenmeier, Nancy Van De Ven and Shana van der Vlist while Aussie Meghan Rutledge managed to get back to 9th after a poor start.

The second moto was looking to be the same outcome but on lap seven Duncan crashed heavily over the rut infested finish line jump but in a crash that would have left mere mortals laying around in pain, Duncan ran back to her bike, remounted and despite it taking ages to get her bike going managed to get back to a credible 7th,

MXGP Rnd Netherlands Duncan
Courtney Duncan

At the finish it was a race win for Van de Ven who had an eight second gap back to Verstappen while Papenmeier, Shana van der Vlist and Line Dam rounded out the top five with Duncan and Rutledge coming home 7th and 8th.

Verstappen’s 2-2 moto results earned her the overall ahead of Van De Ven, Papenmeier, Duncan, van der Vlist, Lynn Valk, Dam and Rutledge as the Women head to the MXGP of Portugal on the 18th and 19th of May in Agueda.

MXGP Rnd Netherlands Rutledge
Meghan Rutledge

WMX Overall Top Ten

  1. Amandine Verstappen (BEL, YAM), 44 points
  2. Nancy Van De Ven (NED, YAM), 43
  3. Larissa Papenmeier (GER, YAM), 40
  4. Courtney Duncan (NZL, KAW), 39
  5. Shana van der Vlist (NED, KTM), 34
  6. Lynn Valk (NED, YAM), 29
  7. Line Dam (DEN, HON), 26
  8. Meghan Rutledge (AUS, KAW), 25
  9. Nicky van Wordragen (NED, YAM), 25
  10. Virginie Germond (SUI, KTM), 18
MXGP Rnd Netherlands WMX Top
WMX Overall Podium – 1) Verstappen, 2) Van De Ven, 3) Papenmeier

WMX Championship Top Ten

  1. Amandine Verstappen (BEL, YAM), 44 points
  2. Nancy Van De Ven (NED, YAM), 43
  3. Larissa Papenmeier (GER, YAM), 40
  4. Courtney Duncan (NZL, KAW), 39
  5. Shana van der Vlist (NED, KTM), 34
  6. Lynn Valk (NED, YAM), 29
  7. Line Dam (DEN, HON), 26
  8. Meghan Rutledge (AUS, KAW), 25
  9. Nicky van Wordragen (NED, YAM), 25
  10. Virginie Germond (SUI, KTM), 18

Guadagnini starts EMX125 championship on top

Maddii Racing Husqvarna’s Mattia Guadagnini has won the opening round of the EMX125 Championship which was held at the Dutch circuit of Valkenswaard last weekend.

100 riders tried to qualify for the 40 championship gate positions and after a very tough weekend of racing it was Guadagnini’s 1-4 moto results that earned the overall win while Jorgen-Matthias Talviku and second moto winner Tom Guyon rounded out the podium.

EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing Race 1 Top Ten

  1. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, Husqvarna), 29:33.564
  2. Jorgen-Matthias Talviku (EST, Husqvarna), +0:18.504
  3. Joel Rizzi (GBR, KTM), +0:20.491
  4. Oriol Oliver (ESP, KTM), +0:22.052
  5. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:23.129
  6. Kjell Verbruggen (NED, Husqvarna), +0:24.242
  7. Tom Guyon (FRA, KTM), +0:29.100
  8. Max Palsson (SWE, KTM), +0:46.761
  9. Mike Gwerder (SUI, KTM), +1:04.343
  10. Florian Miot (FRA, Yamaha), +1:04.942

EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing Race 2 Top Ten

  1. Tom Guyon (FRA, KTM), 30:08.811
  2. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:01.038
  3. Jorgen-Matthias Talviku (EST, Husqvarna), +0:03.653
  4. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, Husqvarna), +0:05.709
  5. Oriol Oliver (ESP, KTM), +0:08.459
  6. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, KTM), +0:19.924
  7. Mike Gwerder (SUI, KTM), +0:38.339
  8. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, KTM), +0:39.467
  9. Rasmus Pedersen (DEN, KTM), +0:47.521
  10. Eddie Jay Wade (GBR, KTM), +0:53.018.

EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing Overall Top Ten

  1. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, HUS), 43 points
  2. Jorgen-Matthias Talviku (EST, HUS), 42
  3. Tom Guyon (FRA, KTM), 39
  4. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 38
  5. Oriol Oliver (ESP, KTM), 34
  6. Mike Gwerder (SUI, KTM), 26
  7. Max Palsson (SWE, KTM), 21
  8. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, KTM), 20
  9. Joel Rizzi (GBR, KTM), 20
  10. Alessandro Facca (ITA, KTM), 17

EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing ChampionshipTop Ten

  1. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, HUS), 43 points
  2. Jorgen-Matthias Talviku (EST, HUS), 42
  3. Tom Guyon (FRA, KTM), 39
  4. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 38
  5. Oriol Oliver (ESP, KTM), 34
  6. Mike Gwerder (SUI, KTM), 26
  7. Max Palsson (SWE, KTM), 21
  8. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, KTM), 20
  9. Joel Rizzi (GBR, KTM), 20
  10. Alessandro Facca (ITA, KTM), 17
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Ferris pulls out of MXGP opportunity

Dean Ferris has pulled out of filling in for Romain Febvre at the Monster Energy Yamaha team and is back in Australia to recuperate from of a minor knee injury he sustained at the MXGP of Great Britain two weekends ago.

MXGP UK ferris action
Dean Ferris sustained a knee injury in Britain

Ferris was expected to compete in three GPs in Great Britain, The Netherlands and Trentino, but has been forced to withdraw due to complications with his knee and to keep his options open for a ride in America for the AMA Motocross Nationals that kick off in May.

Massimo Raspanti – Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team Manager

“It’s a shame that Dean’s opportunity has been cut short. He was improving every time he rode the bike and was a pleasure to have around the team. Luck is a factor in top-level motocross and both Dean and Romain have been unlucky this season. I hope he makes a quick recovery, and I wish him the best for the rest of the year.”


Sunderland leads Abu Dhabi Desert challenge

After just two stages KTM rider Sam Sunderland leads the six stage Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge in the back of winning the opening stage then backing that up with a solid fifth on a tough stage two.

Thanks to winning the first stage, Sunderland was the first to enter stage two navigating through the looped timed special that took riders around the Liwa oasis area, Sunderland led the majority of the route, only to be passed late in the day by Jose Ignacio Cornejo, Joan Barreda, Andrew Short and Luciano Benavides.

Sam Sunderland

“Starting first on the route is always going to be a disadvantage obviously, but I’m pleased with how I rode and believe I did a good job of opening the stage. I set a good pace all day and only got caught by Andrew at around kilometre 200, which is really good for leading out here in Abu Dhabi as it’s always quite tricky to navigate and easy to lose time when riding at the front. I am very pleased with how everything is going at the moment – the bike is perfect and the team are doing great. Hopefully the wind eases off a little as it makes everyone’s job a little harder, but it’s the desert and it can be expected. Looking forward to getting going again tomorrow.”

Sam Sunderland KTM RALLY Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge
Sam Sunderland – 2019 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge

The 434km third stage marks the rally’s halfway point and will feature a 300km special stage.

Provisional Results Stage Two – 2019 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge

  1. Jose Ignacio Cornejo (CHL), Honda, 3:13:21
  2. Joan Barreda (SPA), Honda, 3:15:04 +1:43
  3. Andrew Short (USA), Husqvarna, 3:16:19 +2:58
  4. Luciano Benavides (ARG), KTM, 3:16:51 +3:30
  5. Sam Sunderland (GBR), KTM, 3:19:16 +5:55

Provisional Overall Standings (after Stage Two)

  1. Sam Sunderland (GBR), KTM, 6:59:57
  2. Jose Ignacio Cornejo (CHL), Honda, 7:00:48 +0:51
  3. Andrew Short (USA), Husqvarna, 7:04:09 +4:12
  4. Luciano Benavides (ARG), KTM, 7:06:39 +6:42
  5. Kevin Benavides (ARG), Honda, 7:20:17 +20:20
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Thad Duvall wins Steele Creek GNCC

Steele City, Morganton hosted round three of the 2019 AMSOIL Grand National Cross Country (GNCC) last weekend it was Thad Duvall who became the third winner of the season at the 20th Annual FMF Steele Creek GNCC.

Steele Creek GNCC Kailub Russell KH
Kailub Russell grabbed the holeshot – Image by Ken Hill

Defending champion Kailub Russell grabbed the holeshot and led Duvall and Trevor Bollinger into the woods of North Carolina and over the next two plus hours Duvall battled with Russell and Bollinger, going from first to third multiple times but Duvall made his way to the front of the pack on the last lap after Russell became stuck in a rut behind lapped riders.

With the finish line in sight Duvall and Russell engaged in a heated battle, but as the chequered flag flew it was Duvall coming through first, just two seconds ahead of Russell while Bollinger fell of the pace thanks to getting stuck on one of the famous uphills twice but still managed third.

Steele Creek GNCC Thad Duvall KH
Thad Duvall – Image by Ken Hill

Steward Baylor Jr, Josh Toth, Jordan Ashburn, Josh Strang, Cory Buttrick, Andrew Delong and Layne Michael rounded out the top ten.

After suffering a rare defeat at the second round, Aussie Tayla Jones took out the WXC class ahead of Becca Sheets and fellow Aussie Mackenzie Tricker – Jones now leads the championship by just three points over Sheets.

The 2019 GNCC Series returns in two weeks, April 13-14, with the CST Tires Camp Coker Bullet in Society Hill, South Carolina.

XC1 Pro Event Results

  1. Thad Duvall (HQV)
  2. Kailub Russell (KTM)
  3. Trevor Bollinger (HQV)
  4. Steward Baylor Jr. (KTM)
  5. Josh Toth (KTM)
  6. Jordan Ashburn (KAW)
  7. Josh Strang (KAW)
  8. Cory Buttrick (YAM)
  9. Andrew Delong (HON)
  10. Layne Michael (HQV)

Overall National Championship Standings

  1. Kailub Russell (80)
  2. Thad Duvall (72)
  3. Steward Baylor Jr. (66)
  4. Trevor Bollinger (62)
  5. Ben Kelley (47)
  6. Josh Toth (46)
  7. Josh Strang (43)
  8. Jordan Ashburm (36)
  9. Jonathan Girroir (35)
  10. Michael Witkowski (32)
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Holcombe continues Italian Enduro Championship domination

Beta Factory Racing’s Steve Holcombe has secured his second victory in the Italian Enduro Championship with an overall win at round three. Fresh from his winning ride at last weekend’s Enduro World Championship, the defending Italian Enduro Champion continued his impressive form into the Arma di Taggia event to secure his second win in as many races and extend his lead at the top of the Italian championship series.

Faced with a varied set of special tests – ranging from a cross test on the beach to a rocky and technical extreme test in the mountains – the third stop of the series proved a challenging one from the off. Steve secured the overall victory and with it he extends his lead in the championship standings to 17 points. The Italian Enduro Championship continues with round four in Pontremoli on April 14.

Steve Holcombe

“I’m chuffed to have come away with the win today after making it hard on myself this morning. I’m not really sure what was up, but I just didn’t have a great opening lap and struggled to find my rhythm. I got it together on lap two and three and when I won the second extreme test that motivated me to push hard and close the gap. I think the extreme test is where the race came back to me because I managed to win that test on the final two laps as well, which put me back in contention. All told, I’m delighted to have got another victory – that’s two wins from three starts in the Italian championship, which is cool. We’ve got about two weeks off now until round four, which I’m looking forward too – it’ll give me a chance to recover from what’s been a busy couple of weeks racing and allow me time to work on a few areas I need to improve on, too.”

Steve Holcombe Italian Championship Rnd
Steve Holcombe – 2019 Italian Enduro Championship

Championship Standings after Round 3

  1. Steve Holcombe (Beta) 57pts
  2. Alex Salvini (Honda) 40
  3. Danny McCanney (TM) 39
  4. Loic Larrieu (TM) 37
  5. Matteo Cavallo (Sherco) 33pts…

FIM E-XBike World Cup

Youthstream have announced that the first ever FIM E-XBike World Cup will be a feature event at the 2019 MXGP of Italy in Imola this August.

Youthstream President Mr. Giuseppe Luongo stated, “We are very excited to start this new project with the FIM, we thank FIM and in particular their President, Mr. Jorge Viegas, for the trust and for this opportunity to develop this new sport, it will be both challenging and very interesting.  Our goal is to develop the FIM E-X Bike World Cup for all customers and riders who want to enjoy racing on an extreme circuit in front of a massive crowd and with a great media coverage.”

FIM E XBike World Cup announced
FIM E-XBike World Cup

The one race format will include a mass start with combined categories of both male and female riders racing for 30 minutes plus 1 lap but scored separately. The racing will be opened to anyone with an electric bicycle.

The event is being developed with the full support of Youthstream as CEO Mr. David Luongo explains, “Youthstream will put all its TV and Media resources to promote as much as possible this new competition. The first FIM E-XBike World Cup will be broadcasted live on our OTT Platforms, MXGP-TV.com, and our Facebook MXGP Page that has more than 2.5 Million followers.”

Jorge Viegas, the new elected President of the FIM took part in the conference as well during his first MXGP visit and enthusiastically said, “I am very happy that the FIM is starting to provide competitions for electric bikes. The first ever FIM E-XBike World Cup will allow a new generation of riders to take part in these exciting races. Thanks to the support of our promoters Youthstream and Infront, the Italian Federation and the Imola circuit, the FIM will be able to offer the public who come to the MXGP in Italy the opportunity to discover a new type of competition. For the FIM it is a reoccurring story because the first motorcycles were based on a bike frame, with the addition of a motor. In recent years the electric technology has evolved considerably, and we are convinced that the FIM E-X Bike World Cup will offer the manufacturers a great platform for further development. An E-bike round table meeting will also be organized in Belgium at Metet MX circuit the 9thof June in conjunction with another E-Bike / Pedelec race organized under the authority of the FMB.”


Price commits to four-wheels at Finke 2019

Toby Price has made the decision to sit out the bike category at the 2019 Finke Desert Race to concentrate on winning the truck class.

Dakar Stage Toby Price
Toby Price
Toby Price

“I’ll be sitting out the bike category at Finke this year, racing only the truck is the safer option to know that I’ll be ready for Dakar 2020! After the injury I’d like to focus on one category, and it’s the one I haven’t won yet.”

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2019 FIM Speedway Sidecar 1000cc World Cup to Gillman

An action-packed night is promised at Gillman Speedway, South Australia (SA) this Saturday night (6 April) for the 2019 running of the FIM Speedway Sidecar 1000cc World Cup. The world’s most prestigious Speedway Sidecar event sees 16 crews battle it out for the most prestigious Speedway Sidecar trophy in the world.

Sixteen heats of quick-fire racing action will be sure to keep the crowds entertained all night, and a field full of world-class riders and passengers will ensure the standard of racing is second to none.

For those wanting to get a try-before-you-buy experience of Speedway Sidecar racing, entry to the practice day will be free for spectators. Gates open at 3:00pm with practice to commence at 6:00pm.

For those who can’t get enough Speedway Sidecar action, the weekend continues with the re-running of the 2019 FIM Oceania Speedway Sidecar Championship taking place the very next night (Sunday 7 April). After being called off due to rain last weekend, the crews will have unfinished business as the slates are wiped clean and the event re-starts from Heat 1.


FIM Oceania Speedway Sidecar Championships scheduled

Rain forced the cancellation of the 2019 FIM Oceania Speedway Sidecar Championship last Saturday night (30 March) but Motorcycling Australia is pleased to announce that the event has been re-scheduled for next Sunday, 7th of April, to run alongside the FIM Speedway Sidecar World Cup at Gillman Speedway, South Australia.

FIM Oceania Speedway Sidecar Championship to Gillman
Gillman to host 2019

The entry list will remain the same as the one planned for the original event, which means that Damien Niesche will not be running due to having withdrawn from the original event, instead Rick Stephens will once again take his place as reserve.

Tickets for the re-run of the 2019 FIM Oceania Speedway Sidecar Championship (Sunday, 7 April) are available at the gate, with entry available from $15 for adults, $10 for concession, and children under 10 free.

Entry to Practice will be free on the Friday night (5 April), gates to open at 3:00pm and practice will commence at 6:00pm.

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Source: MCNews.com.au

Cairoli & Prado sweep MXGP Valkenswaard for KTM

MXGP 2019

Round 3 – The Netherlands


Three rounds are now complete in the 2019 FIM Motocross World Championship after the MXGP of the Netherlands in Valkenswaard, with Tony Cairoli and Jorge Prado claiming the overall wins in dominant fashion across both the MXGP and MX2 classes – the first KTM sweep of 2019!

MXGP Rnd Netherlands Arminas Jasikonis
MXGP Start

The Netherlands was the perfect setting for the action with challenging race conditions and better than expected weather added to by an enthusiastic crowd.

Australian Jed Beaton took a 10-15 result, with Mitch Evans going 37-10, leaving Evans 10th in the overall standings, with Beaton 13th. The opening round of the WMX also saw New Zealands Courtney Duncan go 1-7 to narrowly miss the overall podium after going down in Race 2, with Meghan Rutledge 9-8 to claim 25 championship points, with eighth position in the standings.


MXGP

As Race 1 kicked off it was Antonio Cairoli who scored the Fox Holeshot, however by the end of the first lap it was Max Anstie in the lead! Running the pace early Anstie’s pass on Cairoli was textbook.

MXGP Rnd Netherlands Tony Cairoli RA
Tony Cairoli takes the holeshot – Image by Ray Archer

Tim Gajser was third with Gautier Paulin and Italian rider Ivo Monticelli not far behind. Clement Desalle was back in eighth after the first official lap but passed his teammate Julien Lieber one lap later. Continuing his way forward the Belgian made it by Jeremy Seewer before catching Monticelli.

MXGP Rnd Netherlands Gajser bavo
Tim Gajser – Image by Bavo

On the fifth lap a mistake sent Gajser flying out of third promoting Paulin to the spot. Three laps after the mistake from Gajser, who rejoined the race in 12th behind Brian Bogers, Anstie fell while leading and was slow to get back going after snagging his gear on the bike.

The fall of Anstie not only gave Paulin another spot but handed the lead back to the always strong Sicilian Antonio Cairoli. Next to fall victim to a mistake was Anstie’s teammate and Cairoli’s compatriot Monticelli. Taking over the Monticelli’s position was Arminas Jasikonis. Jasikonis started his charge from tenth on lap 1 and progressed all the way up to fourth by lap 12.

MXGP Rnd Netherlands Clement Desalle
Clement Desalle

At the conclusion of the first race Cairoli took the win by over Desalle by 4.2 seconds with Paulin and Jasikonis less than three seconds further back while Jeremy Van Horebeektook was fifth. Gajser recovered to seventh by the finish while Anstie finished 16th ahead of his two teammates in Glenn Coldenhoff and Ivo Monticelli in 17th and 18th.

MXGP Race 2 gave Cairoli his second Fox Holeshot of the weekend and fourth of the season but this time he held the lead for all of the 17 laps. Gajser had his Works Honda in second with the privateer effort of Van Horebeek just behind.

MXGP Rnd Netherlands Tony Cairoli RA
Tony Cairoli – Image by Ray Archer

Jasikonis was off to another midfield start and came across the finish lap in ninth after the first complete lap. Shaun Simpson had a remarkable start inside the top five battling with Desalle for fourth during the first 10 laps. Paulin was on a move up the leaderboard along with Jasikonis for several laps before losing control of his Yamaha and sampling the sand.

Similar to Race 1 Jasikonis continued to progress forward taking fourth from Desalle with only two laps remaining. At the finish it was a second race win for Cairoli with Gajser second, Van Horebeek third, Jasikonis fourth, and Desalle fifth.

MXGP Rnd Netherlands Gajser bavo
Tim Gajser – Image by Bavo

In the overall classification Cairoli’s double win earned him 50 points while Desalle’s 2-5 scores earned 38 points for second overall. Gajser’s 7-2 tallied 36 points for third overall and his third podium so far this season.

Tony Cairoli – P1

“A very nice weekend. I didn’t really feel great all week. On hard-pack I was OK but this small shoulder problem in the sand made things difficult. Anyway, looking at the bigger picture we took two wins and you cannot get more than fifty points so it was a great weekend. Also no crashes, which was important on this track where we saw a lot of people going down. It will be a busy week now with my home GP but I hope to see a lot of public at Arco and KTM again on top of the podium.”

MXGP Rnd Netherlands Tony Cairoli RA
Tony Cairoli – Image by Ray Archer
Clement Desalle – P2

“I’m really happy as it’s not my favourite track and I was not expecting such a good result as I couldn’t train as I like during the week after my crash in Great Britain; I had pain in my hand and in my neck. Yesterday I just took it step-by-step and did what I needed to do. Today was different; I got good starts, was feeling good and could come back to second position during the first race. But I hurt my knee during this race; between the motos we had to work with the physio and doctor so I was able to get another top five finish which gave me a first podium this season. We are now third in the championship and I’m really confident for the rest of the season after this podium.”

MXGP Rnd Netherlands Desalle GP SL
Clement Desalle
Tim Gajser – P3

“I’m quite happy to finish on the podium again. I’m just a little bit disappointed with the first race. I made a mistake and finished seventh, but I’m trying to learn as much as possible from these mistakes so I don’t make them in the future. The second race was good though. My speed was good, my start was good. We were really close to the front and the pace was high so overall I’m quite happy and I’m really looking forward to next weekend in Arco di Trento. A huge thanks to everyone in the team, they did an amazing job with the bike and I felt comfortable on it in both the motos.”

MXGP Rnd Netherlands Gajser bavo
Tim Gajser – Image by Bavo
Arminas Jasikonis – P5

“For me it was a really good weekend here in The Netherlands. I felt on top form and kept improving my pace every time I was on track. If my starts were a little bit better in the final motos, my overall result would have been even better. Not getting the best of starts in either race, I had to fight my way through the pack. Despite not getting great starts I ended up sharing the exact same points as third placed Tim Gajser and that gives me the extra motivation to continue pushing hard. I am really happy with where I’m at right now and I am looking forward to the next GP in Italy.”

MXGP Rnd Netherlands Arminas Jasikonis
Arminas Jasikonis

MXGP Race 1 Top 10 – Valkenswaard 2019

  1. CAIROLI Antonio – ITA – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 34:34.806
  2. DESALLE Clement – BEL – Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing +4.242
  3. PAULIN Gautier – FRA – Wilvo Yamaha MXGP +5.137
  4. JASIKONIS Arminas – LTU – Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing +6.759
  5. VAN HOREBEEK Jeremy – BEL – Honda SR Motoblouz +12.427
  6. LIEBER Julien – BEL – Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing +13.786
  7. GAJSER Tim – SLO – Team HRC – MXGP +14.058
  8. SEEWER Jeremy – SWI – Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team +20.989
  9. SIMPSON Shaun – GBR – RFX KTM Racing +35.999
  10. TIXIER Jordi – FRA – Team VHR KTM Racing +39.272

MXGP Race 2 Top 10 – Valkenswaard 2019

  1. CAIROLI Antonio – ITA – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 34:13.363
  2. GAJSER Tim – SLO – Team HRC – MXGP +1.461
  3. VAN HOREBEEK Jeremy – BEL – Honda SR Motoblouz +32.822
  4. JASIKONIS Arminas – LTU – Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing +42.905
  5. DESALLE Clement – BEL – Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing +48.123
  6. SEEWER Jeremy – SWI – Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team +51.333
  7. LIEBER Julien – BEL – Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing +52.345
  8. SIMPSON Shaun – GBR – RFX KTM Racing +54.021
  9. ANSTIE Max – GBR – Standing Construct KTM +1:00.795
  10. COLDENHOFF Glenn – NDL – Standing Construct KTM +1:01.515
MXGP Rnd Netherlands Desalle Podium
MXGP Overall Podium – 1) Antonio Cairoli, 2) Clement Desalle, 3) Tim Gajser

MXGP Valkenswaard Overall Top Ten

  1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 50 points
  2. Clement Desalle (BEL, KAW), 38
  3. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 36
  4. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, HON), 36
  5. Arminas Jasikonis (LTU, HUS), 36
  6. Julien Lieber (BEL, KAW), 29
  7. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 28
  8. Gautier Paulin (FRA, YAM), 28
  9. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 25
  10. Max Anstie (GBR, KTM), 17

MXGP Standings following Valkenswaard MXGP

  1. CAIROLI Antonio 147
  2. GAJSER Tim 125
  3. DESALLE Clement 103
  4. VAN HOREBEEK Jeremy 102
  5. PAULIN Gautier 102
  6. JASIKONIS Arminas 92
  7. SEEWER Jeremy 78
  8. SIMPSON Shaun 64
  9. LIEBER Julien 62
  10. ANSTIE Max 62
    …24 FERRIS Dean 6

MX2

The dominance of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing continued in MX2 this weekend as defending MX2 World Champion Jorge Prado returned from his one-week hiatus. Adding to his impressive collection of Fox Holeshot black plates Prado took the Race 1 lead immediately.

MXGP Rnd Netherlands Thomas Kjer Olsen
Thomas Kjer Olsen leading the MX2 start

Thomas Kjer Olsen’s red plated Rockstar Energy Husqvarna got him into second early while his newfound antagonist Henry Jacobi ran third. Davy Pootjes was fifth for the first seven laps of the race before Ben Watson flew past at the end of the roller section.

MXGP Rnd Netherlands Jorge Prado RA
Jorge Prado – Image by Ray Archer

Watson also passed Tom Vialle but a lap later the Brit crashed making his hard work all for nothing as he lost three spots as a result. Calvin Vlaanderen came from ninth on lap 1 to fourth by the end of lap 12 where he settled in behind Jacobi. Watson meanwhile regrouped from his fall and took fifth away from Pootjes for the second time with two laps to go.

MXGP Rnd Netherlands Tom Vialle RA
Tom Vialle – Image by Ray Archer

At the finish Prado scored the win seven and a half seconds ahead of Olsen who had a further six seconds on Jacobi and another 16 seconds on Vlaanderen in fourth.

MXGP Rnd Netherlands Thomas Kjer Olsen
Thomas Kjer Olsen

In Race 2 Prado’s perfection continued with another Fox Holeshot over Olsen, Jacobi, Vialle, and Jago Geerts. Prado’s new KTM teammate, Tom Vialle, crashed out of fourth position during lap three and remounted in 11th.

MXGP Rnd Netherlands Jorge Prado RA
Jorge Prado – Image by Ray Archer

Vlaanderen moved into the top five due to Vialle’s crash but more noticeably Geerts took the Frenchman’s prior position and ran with it. A native of the neighboring Belgium, Geerts applied pressure to Jacobi for a consistent seven laps and finally made the move to take over third and two laps later Vlaanderen did the same displacing Jacobi another position backwards.

With just two laps to go Jacobi would lose another position to Watson with Alberto Forato, applying pressure from an impressive ride in seventh. The most important pass of the race for Geerts was also the final one. On the last lap, the last section, and last jump Geerts launched his YZ250F past Olsen to take second and also earn the final spot on the podium.

MXGP Rnd Netherlands Jorge Prado RA
Jorge Prado – Image by Ray Archer

With Prado taking the win it was a perfect KTM sweep of the weekend in both MXGP and MX2 while Olsen took second overall and maintained the red plate ahead of next weekend’s MXGP of Trentino.

Jorge Prado – P1

“It was a great weekend. Four days ago I could not think about riding. I had too much pain and I didn’t really know how my body was reacting. I had to rest these weeks and take it easy. I wasn’t happy at all to miss Matterley Basin. I don’t think we really expected these results here this weekend: the goal had been just to ride and get some points! On Saturday I had some issues and didn’t feel comfortable but today I woke up and I felt better. So to win both motos was great and to get some points back. I took some painkillers today just to be safe but everything that we did for this weekend turned out well. It is a long championship and my rivals are riding well. We just need to keep going, keep focussed, limit the mistakes and keep trying to improve.”

MXGP Rnd Netherlands Jorge Prado RA
Jorge Prado – Image by Ray Archer
Thomas Kjer-Olsen – P2

“We picked up some good points here in The Netherlands and that’s what matters the most for me. Knowing the track would be rough, my goal coming into the weekend was to remain safe and do my best to maintain the lead in the championship. In the first moto I had a decent pace and crossed the line in second. Then in the final moto I got passed by Geerts while running second again, just before the chequered flag, so I ended up third for second overall. This season will be very long and my goal is to remain consistent until the end of it.”

MXGP Rnd Netherlands Thomas Kjer Olsen
Thomas Kjer Olsen
Jago Geerts – P3

“It was a really good week for me, the first race didn’t go as planned but in the second race I was pretty fired up, in the last lap I got second place and took third on the podium so I was pretty happy with that.”

MXGP Rnd Netherlands Jago Geerts
Jago Geerts

Continuing to build on his speed and stamina following injury, Australia’s Jed Beaton wrapped up the GP of The Netherlands with 10/15 results for 12th overall in the MX2 category.

Jed Beaton

“I had an OK GP and felt good on my bike. In the opening moto my pace was good so I managed to secure a top-10 result. Then in the second moto, I pushed a bit more than I needed to early on and ended up getting a little fatigued. The injury I picked up during the pre-season hasn’t allowed me to spend as much time as I would have liked on a bike. Around a tough track like Valkenswaard it is always important to be on top of your game. At the moment I’m taking one step at a time and I’m trying to get better every time I race.”

MXGP Rnd Netherlands Jed Beaton
Jed Beaton

MX2 Valkenswaard Race 1 Top Ten

  1. Jorge Prado (ESP, KTM), 34:30.560
  2. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, Husqvarna), +0:07.459
  3. Henry Jacobi (GER, Kawasaki), +0:16.197
  4. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Honda), +0:32.080
  5. Ben Watson (GBR, Yamaha), +0:41.347
  6. Davy Pootjes (NED, Husqvarna), +0:46.249
  7. Jago Geerts (BEL, Yamaha), +0:46.877
  8. Tom Vialle (FRA, KTM), +0:54.324
  9. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:58.521
  10. Jed Beaton (AUS, Husqvarna), +1:09.100

MX2 Valkenswaard Race 2 Top Ten

  1. Jorge Prado (ESP, KTM), 34:35.326
  2. Jago Geerts (BEL, Yamaha), +0:05.031
  3. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, Husqvarna), +0:05.188
  4. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Honda), +0:13.061
  5. Ben Watson (GBR, Yamaha), +0:16.499
  6. Henry Jacobi (GER, Kawasaki), +0:27.070
  7. Alberto Forato (ITA, Husqvarna), +0:37.591
  8. Bas Vaessen (NED, KTM), +0:48.631
  9. Adam Sterry (GBR, Kawasaki), +1:06.469
  10. Mitchell Evans (AUS, Honda), +1:09.989
    …15. Jed Beaton
MXGP Rnd Netherlands MX Podium
MX2 Overall Podium – 1) Jorge Prado, 2) Thomas Kjer Olsen, 3) Jago Geerts

MX2 Valkenswaard Overall Top Ten

  1. Jorge Prado (ESP, KTM), 50 points
  2. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, HUS), 42
  3. Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 36
  4. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, HON), 36
  5. Henry Jacobi (GER, KAW), 35
  6. Ben Watson (GBR, YAM), 32
  7. Alberto Forato (ITA, HUS), 23
  8. Adam Sterry (GBR, KAW), 22
  9. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 21
  10. Tom Vialle (FRA, KTM), 21
    …12. Jed Beaton

MX2 Championship Top Ten after Valkenswaard

  1. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, HUS), 136 points
  2. Henry Jacobi (GER, KAW), 113
  3. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, HON), 107
  4. Jorge Prado (ESP, KTM), 100
  5. Ben Watson (GBR, YAM), 95
  6. Tom Vialle (FRA, KTM), 86
  7. Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 81
  8. Davy Pootjes (NED, HUS), 65
  9. Adam Sterry (GBR, KAW), 63
  10. Mitchell Evans (AUS, HON), 60

WMX

The first round of the 2019 FIM Women’s Motocross World Championship concluded after two days of racing at the Valkenswaard circuit of the Netherlands. It was Amandine Verstappen who took the Valkenswaard victory along with the first overall win and red plate of the new season for the very first time in her career.

MXGP Rnd Netherlands WMX Start
WMX Start

A full entry list left 39 of the world’s best Women Motocross racers to line up on the sandy Dutch circuit. Though early in the year the weekend had nearly perfect weather and track conditions which developed to challenge all by the final checkered flag.

MXGP Rnd Netherlands Rutledge
Meghan Rutledge

Alongside the qualifying races of MXGP and MX2, plus the first race of EMX125 presented by FMF Racing, the women started their season. The first race and day of the two day, two race format was a showing of speed by newly signed BIKE IT DRT Kawasaki rider Courtney Duncan.

When WMX Race 1 started off Amandine Verstappen took the holeshot ahead of Larissa Papenmeier and the rest of the field. Duncan was third but made quick moves to get by Papenmeier in lap two to then take the lead from Verstappen one lap later.

MXGP Rnd Netherlands Rutledge
Meghan Rutledge

Moving forward throughout the 11 laps were Nancy Van de Ven and Shana Van der Vlist. Moving from eighth to fourth was a strong ride for Van de Ven after a bad start but even more impressive was Van der Vlist’s comeback from 12th up to fifth.

Race 1 was won by Duncan 6.6 seconds ahead of Verstappen who had Papenmeier only a tenth of second further behind in third. Van de Ven and Van der Vlist took the final spots among the top five.

MXGP Rnd Netherlands Duncan
Courtney Duncan claimed victory in Race 1

Race 2 was in slightly cooler temperatures and a rougher track but Courtney Duncan was quick to take the Saturday momentum onward and lead from the beginning. A better start from Van de Ven put her in a position to apply pressure to Duncan while Verstappen and Papenmeier gave chase to both.

After 7 laps of the 11 total Duncan made a costly mistake on the lip of the finish jump sending her into a massive endo. Ejected from the bike the Kiwi returned quickly but after struggling to get it started her hope of winning disappeared. The crash left Van de Ven with the lead and a clear track ahead of Verstappen.

MXGP Rnd Netherlands Rutledge
Meghan Rutledge

At the finish it was a race win for Van de Ven but Verstappen’s pair of second place finishes was both too strong and too consistent to be beat in the overall result. Duncan recovered to seventh but finished fourth overall behind Verstappen Van de Ven and Papenmeier.

Courtney Duncan – P4

“It’s a little bit frustrating to miss the win and even the podium as I really felt easy on the bike all weekend; I felt good enough to win and honestly I don’t really know what happened before I crashed on this jump. Anyway I didn’t get injured in this crash; I’m healthy and I feel confident before the next round. Now I need to spend time with the team and on the bike, get some fitness back and we’ve now got six weeks to do that before Portugal.”

MXGP Rnd Netherlands Duncan
Courtney Duncan

The women will now prepare for round 2 of the 2019 FIM Women’s Motocross World Championship scheduled for the MXGP of Portugal on the 18th and 19th of May in Agueda.

WMX Race 1 Top Ten

  1. Courtney Duncan (NZL, Kawasaki), 24:47.429
  2. Amandine Verstappen (BEL, Yamaha), +0:06.661
  3. Larissa Papenmeier (GER, Yamaha), +0:06.762
  4. Nancy Van De Ven (NED, Yamaha), +0:40.317
  5. Shana van der Vlist (NED, KTM), +0:42.462
  6. Sara Andersen (DEN, KTM), +0:45.841
  7. Lynn Valk (NED, Yamaha), +0:54.902
  8. Nicky van Wordragen (NED, Yamaha), +0:58.314
  9. Meghan Rutledge (AUS, Kawasaki), +0:59.382
  10. Anne Borchers (GER, Suzuki), +1:27.155

WMX Race 2 Top Ten

  1. Nancy Van De Ven (NED, Yamaha), 25:00.931
  2. Amandine Verstappen (BEL, Yamaha), +0:08.011
  3. Larissa Papenmeier (GER, Yamaha), +0:13.410
  4. Shana van der Vlist (NED, KTM), +0:57.730
  5. Line Dam (DEN, Honda), +1:11.635
  6. Lynn Valk (NED, Yamaha), +1:12.584
  7. Courtney Duncan (NZL, Kawasaki), +1:20.931
  8. Meghan Rutledge (AUS, Kawasaki), +1:22.971
  9. Nicky van Wordragen (NED, Yamaha), +1:24.765
  10. Mathilde Martinez (FRA, KTM), +1:53.374
MXGP Rnd Netherlands WMX Top
WMX Overall Podium -1) Amandine Verstappen, 2) Nancy Van De Ven, 3) Larissa Papenmeier

WMX Overall Top Ten

  1. Amandine Verstappen (BEL, YAM), 44 points
  2. Nancy Van De Ven (NED, YAM), 43
  3. Larissa Papenmeier (GER, YAM), 40
  4. Courtney Duncan (NZL, KAW), 39
  5. Shana van der Vlist (NED, KTM), 34
  6. Lynn Valk (NED, YAM), 29
  7. Line Dam (DEN, HON), 26
  8. Meghan Rutledge (AUS, KAW), 25
  9. Nicky van Wordragen (NED, YAM), 25
  10. Virginie Germond (SUI, KTM), 18

WMX Championship Top Ten

  1. Amandine Verstappen (BEL, YAM), 44 points
  2. Nancy Van De Ven (NED, YAM), 43
  3. Larissa Papenmeier (GER, YAM), 40
  4. Courtney Duncan (NZL, KAW), 39
  5. Shana van der Vlist (NED, KTM), 34
  6. Lynn Valk (NED, YAM), 29
  7. Line Dam (DEN, HON), 26
  8. Meghan Rutledge (AUS, KAW), 25
  9. Nicky van Wordragen (NED, YAM), 25
  10. Virginie Germond (SUI, KTM), 18

Source: MCNews.com.au