Moto News Wrap for April 30, 2019 by Darren Smart

Proudly brought to you by Dunlop Geomax

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The LATEST News

• Arizona AFT Super TT falls to JD Beach
• Webb and Sexton Top the Podium at East Rutherford SX
• Upton Wins Gascoyne Dash
• Doyle headlines FIM Speedway of Nations Race Off 2
• Murray Bridge Double Header This Weekend
• Victoria, ACT and WA Host Championship Rounds
• Weekly Up-Date on Our Aussies Abroad

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Arizona AFT Super TT falls to JD Beach

Yamaha MT-07 rider JD Beach pulled off an improbable come-from-behind victory to claim his first-career American Flat Track premier class win in last Saturday night’s thrilling Super TT at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park in Chandler, Arizona.

AFT Twins Report

Throughout the day it was the points leader Briar Bauman on his Indian who logged the fastest laps around the twisting and undulating Super TT circuit and he appeared well on his way to a seemingly effortless victory deep into the 25-lap Main Event but the determined Beach slowly reeled his quarry in and finally positioned himself to attack with just two laps remaining.

Beach, a multi-time national road racing champion made his move up the inside entering Turn 2 and pulled clear from there to at last complete the long-awaited breakthrough win ahead of Bauman and the defending champion Jared Mees (Indian) whom in turn got the nod over the Jeffrey Carver Jr. (Indian) and Jake Johnson (MT-07).

JD Beach

“It’s amazing. This is something I’ve wanted to do since I was a kid. We’ve been close before but never quite got it. To ride the race that I did — to be back from Briar like that and catch him and pass him with two to go — was awesome. I’ve just got to thank the whole team. We’ve definitely had our highs and lows this year so far. They’ve worked so hard. It’s a great feeling, but we’ve still got a lot of rounds to go and a lot of work to do. We’ll have some fun tonight and get back to work tomorrow.”

Bauman could take solace in the fact that he continued his perfect podium record on the season and extended his title lead to 18 points after four rounds.

Briar Bauman

“I had nothing for him. He came by me like I was tied to a tree… The bike was great all night. I thought I was in a pretty good position. I got the start and did everything right. The only problem is JD Beach came, so here we are in second.”

Arizona Super TT – AFT Twins Main Event

1. JD Beach Yamaha MT-07
2. Briar Bauman Indian FTR750 +2.244
3. Jared Mees Indian FTR750 +19.026
4. Jeffrey Carver Jr. Indian FTR750 +23.610
5. Jake Johnson Yamaha MT-07 +23.907
6. Bronson Bauman Indian FTR750 +35.266
7. Kayl Kolkman Yamaha MT-07 +35.896
8. Brandon Robinson Indian FTR750 +36.052
9. Sammy Halbert Harley-Davidson XG750R +40.515
10. Larry Pegram Indian FTR750 +1 Lap

AFT Twin Standings

1. Briar Bauman 82
2. Jared Mees 64
3. Brandon Robinson 64
4. Henry Wiles 51
5. Jarod Vanderkooi 51
6. Jeffrey Carver Jr. 44
7. Sammy Halbert 44
8. Jake Johnson 43
9. Larry Pegram 42
10. Bronson Bauman 37

AFT Singles Report

TT specialist Jesse Janisch and his Yamaha YZ450 upped his AFT Singles win streak to three with a wire-to-wire victory in Saturday night’s undercard Main Event over Dalton Gauthier and Ryan Wells.

Janisch found himself under heavy pressure throughout the Main Event courtesy of points leader Dalton Gauthier who threw everything he had into one final strike at the chequered flag, pulling alongside Janisch as they two exited the race’s last corner and powered up the decisive jump with Janisch holding on by a scant 0.105 seconds at the line.

Jesse Janisch

“This race was so much about the start. These guys were flying all day… I just tried running clean laps. Roof Systems Dallas TX got me off to a great start, and I was trying to watch the monitor and I saw Dalton right on me. But they kept going to a different battle, and I wanted to see where Dalton was at! He was really coming on that last lap.”

2016 AFT Singles champion Ryan Wells came home third ahead of Mikey Rush and Dan Bromley while Aussie Max Whale who was still feeling the effects of last weekend’s crash struggled home to 16th but he maintains a top ten position in the points.

Arizona Super TT – AFT Singles Main Event

1. Jesse Janisch Yamaha YZ450F
2. Dalton Gauthier Husqvarna FC450 +0.105
3. Ryan Wells Yamaha YZ450F +3.324
4. Mikey Rush Honda CRF450R +5.822
5. Dan Bromley KTM 450 SX-F +6.227
6. Chad Cose Honda CRF450R +10.395
7. Cole Frederickson Honda CRF450R +10.922
8. Andrew Luker Kawasaki KX450F +11.236
9. Ben Lowe Honda CRF450R +13.251
10. Jacob Lehmann Honda CRF450R +13.829

AFT Singles Standings

1. Dalton Gauthier 79
2. Jesse Janisch 72
3. Mikey Rush 63
4. Dan Bromley 58
5. Morgen Mischler 40
6. Oliver Brindley 38
7. Shayna Texter 35
8. Chad Cose 34
9. Ryan Wells 31
10. Max Whale 25

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Webb and Sexton Top the Podium at East Rutherford SX

On a jump infested and highly technical layout Cooper Webb has managed to win an action packed 450 main event to extend his championship lead, while Chase Sexton took over as the 250 East Coast class championship leader after winning his first main for the year.

450SX Report

While his teammate Marvin Musquin was avoiding being run over after crashing in the first corner, Webb grabbed the holeshot from Zach Osborne and Eli Tomac, but before the opening lap was complete Tomac had moved to second and was right on the rear wheel of Webb.

After a few attempts Eli was finally able to get to the lead and reminiscent to his Vegas performance in 2017 Tomac was looking to unsettle Webb as he slowed in several sections before cutting down to a tighter line through some of the corners but the Kawasaki rider finally cleared his thoughts to establish a small lead.

In fact, it looked like Eli would pull away for the win until he got cross rutted and went down in the whoops to drop back to fourth behind Webb, Osborne and Blake Baggett. Osborne caught up to Webb to make the pass for the lead so it this stage Zach led ahead of Webb, Baggett and a fast closing Tomac but then Baggett crashed and Osborne rode straight up a right hand berm which gave the lead back to Webb.

The atmosphere was electric as Tomac caught all the way up to Webb but an identical crash in the whoops dropped him back to third and that is the way they stayed to the line with Webb winning over Osborne, Tomac and Baggett.

With one race left, Web has a 23-point lead over Tomac while Musquin, who came into the race as the only other rider besides Tomac within striking distance of his teammate salvaged a fifth after his crash to now trails Webb by 31 points so he is no longer in championship contention.

Cooper Webb

“The win is a great momentum booster for me. Having another win for me and the team that works so hard is awesome, but anything can happen, as we saw tonight, but it is nice to come in with a bigger lead. I felt like crap all day and all week, so to be out here at all was great, the goal was a top five, so to come away with a win was incredible.”

Zach Osborne

“It’s been a long gruelling road to get back, I felt great in the off season, had a really good bike and one tiny mistake took me out of the first six rounds but it is finally coming back to me, we completely changed the bike in the off week and I felt a lot more comfortable in the whoops. In the main event I got off to a good start and after getting beaten up in the past I decided to just send it which I did for a couple of laps then made the pass for the lead – it was a really good race for me.”

Eli Tomac

“I had to have a chuckle about it, I mean, I did the exact thing twice (crash twice in the same spot), I mean, how do you even do that? We were going triple into the whoops and I was leaning a little too far to the right, got cross rutted and then went into the same tuff block, the same tip over, it’s like a replay. I could have got away with one of those but the second one really did me in.”

450SX Main Event Results

1. Cooper Webb
2. Zach Osborne
3. Eli Tomac
4. Blake Baggett
5. Marvin Musquin
6. Ken Roczen
7. Joey Savatgy
8. Joshua Grant
9. Cole Seely
10. Justin Hill

450SX Points after 16 of 17 Rounds

1. Cooper Webb – 358
2. Eli Tomac – 335
3. Marvin Musquin – 327
4. Ken Roczen – 300
5. Blake Baggett – 274
6. Dean Wilson – 223
7. Joey Savatgy – 208
8. Cole Seely – 194
9. Justin Bogle – 158
10. Justin Barcia – 154
11. Chad Reed – 151
12. Justin Brayton – 151

250 East Coast Report

After the injured championship leader Austin Forkner made his way to the main event with a far from convincing fourth place in his heat race it was Alex Martin who grabbed the early lead in the main event ahead of Martin Davalos, Sexton and Forkner.

Austin slammed by Sexton for third but he was soon in second behind his teammate Davalos after Martin slid out so it looked like things were going the way of Forkner BUT a flat landing before the wall jump caused him to re-aggravate his knee and take him out of the race.

When Austin pulled off, Sexton inherited second place and later he took over the lead from a struggling Davalos who would also surrender second and third to the Yamaha duo of Mitchell Oldenburg and Justin Cooper, so the win went to Sexton over Oldenburg, Cooper and Davalos.

With just the final East/West shootout at Las Vegas to go next weekend Sexton has inherited/earned a nine-point lead over Cooper with Forkner a further 13-points back. The 250 West Coast series is similarly placed with Adam Cianciarulo holding an 8-point lead over Dylan Ferrandis heading into Vegas so the combined final is going to be very interesting indeed.

Chase Sexton

“We have made a lot of bike changes from the beginning of the season, it is pretty crazy when you compare what I was riding back then to now, it has made a big difference and I have just been trying to put in my laps but I felt really good out there tonight, it feels awesome to be fastest qualifier, win my heat then the main, it’s been a long time and it feels great.”

Mitchell Oldenburg

“It has been a tough physically and mentally but everyone around me has believed in me so this feels great, I felt awesome tonight, comfortable and it’s been a long couple of years but we can now see the light at the end of the tunnel.”

Justin Cooper

“We struggled with suspension but we did our best and I felt really good in the heat where I got into second and started putting in my laps before I ended up jumping into the hay bales and it all went downhill from there because I didn’t feel myself in the main event but not taking any credit from these guys, they are riding awesome.”

250 East Coast Main Event Results

1. Chase Sexton
2. Mitchell Oldenburg
3. Justin Cooper
4. Martin Davalos
5. Brandon Hartranft
6. Kyle Peters
7. Alex Martin
8. Jordan Bailey
9. Lorenzo Locurcio
10. Anthony Rodriguez
    …22. Austin Forkner

250 East Coast Points after 8 of 9 Rounds

1. Chase Sexton – 174
2. Justin Cooper – 165
3. Austin Forkner – 152
4. Martin Davalos – 134
5. Mitchell Oldenburg – 128
6. Alex Martin –121
7. Brandon Hartranft – 118
8. Kyle Peters – 115
9. Kyle Cunningham – 108
10. Jordon Bailey – 91

250 West Coast Points after 9 of 10 Rounds

1. Adam Cianciarulo – 208
2. Dylan Ferrandis – 200
3. Colt Nichols – 163
4. RJ Hampshire – 145
5. James Decotis – 128
6. Michael Mosiman – 128
7. Cameron McAdoo – 128
8. Shane McElrath – 123
9. Chris Blose – 119
10. Garrett Marchbanks – 100

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Upton wins Gascoyne Dash

Easter weekend saw defending champion Cody Upton win the Gascoyne Dash which has competitors racing from the WA coastal town of Carnarvon to the outback oasis of Gascoyne Junction and back.

Upton lead a field of 32 bikes and 19 quads away for the Prologue but it was KTM rider James McCarthy, stopping the clock some 13 seconds ahead of fellow KTM Rider Thomas O’Connell, with the Yamaha of Alex Moore rounding out the outright podium while the leading quad was ATV MX convert, Luke Gaisford on his Honda.

The first day of the main event saw the field race east approximately 205 kilometres from coastal Carnarvon to the outback oasis of Gascoyne Junction and it was Upton who managed to take the win. The defending champ not only faced stiff opposition from his fellow competitors and the tough terrain on the race home, he would also have to overcome a broken left hand thanks to a rock thrown from a competitor’s bike on the run to Gascoyne Junction.

While not able to match the pace that he set on day one, Upton was able to do just enough to lead the Moto field home ahead of McCarthy, Moore and O’Connell while Jye Schaap, Damon Meyer, Luke Thomson, Cameron Smart, Michael Lough and Andrew Somers rounded out the top ten.

Amongst the hotly contested quad category, ATV MX specialist Luke Gaisford powered home from the Junction to win his first desert enduro. Finishing 15th outright ahead of Blake Croonen and Colin Balshaw.

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Doyle headlines FIM Speedway of Nations Race Off 2

World champions Tai Woffinden and Jason Doyle lead a stellar field for the FIM Speedway of Nations Race Off 2 in Manchester on May 11 as the squads and starting line-ups are confirmed.

Reigning world #1 Woffinden captains the Lions on home shale in his first racing appearance in the UK since becoming the first Brit to win three world titles last October.

Meanwhile, 2017 FIM Speedway Grand Prix winner Doyle leads the Australian challenge. The Brits and Aussies are up against Denmark, USA, Latvia, France and Finland with three places up for grabs in the Monster Energy SON Finals at Russian race track Togliatti on July 20 and 21.

Every nation had the chance to name a squad of up to five riders – three seniors and two under-21s, with two seniors and a junior starting in Manchester. Each under-21 must take at least one ride.

Doyle teams up with Belle Vue skipper Max Fricke, who gets the nod ahead of 2012 world champion Chris Holder to race on his SGB Premiership home track. Aussie Under-21 champion Jaimon Lidsey serves as their junior rider, with Redcar rider Jordan Stewart the reserve under-21.

The Finals field will also feature three nations who advance from Race Off 1 in Landshut, Germany on May 4, which sees Germany, Poland, Sweden, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Ukraine and Italy compete.

Race Off 2 Squads & Line-Ups (In Draw Order):

• AUSTRALIA:
  • 1 Jason Doyle (captain), 2 Max Fricke, U21 Jaimon Lidsey.
  • Also in squad: Chris Holder, Jordan Stewart (U21).
• FINLAND:
  • 1 Timo Lahti (captain), 2 Tero Aarnio, U21 Timi Salonen.
  • Also in squad: Jesse Mustonen, Niklas Sayrio (U21).
• LATVIA:
  • 1 Andzejs Lebedevs (captain), 2 Jevgenijs Kostigovs, U21 Olegs Mihailovs.
• DENMARK:
  • 1 Niels-Kristian Iversen (captain), 2 Leon Madsen, U21 Frederik Jakobsen. Also in squad: Michael Jepsen Jensen, Patrick Hansen (U21).
• GREAT BRITAIN:
  • 1 Tai Woffinden (captain), 2 Craig Cook, U21 Robert Lambert.
  • Also in squad: Chris Harris, Daniel Bewley (U21).
• FRANCE:
  • 1 David Bellego (captain), 2 Dimitri Berge, U21 Gaetan Stella.
• USA:
  • 1 Austin Novratil, 2 Luke Becer (captain), U21 Broc Nicol.
  • Also in squad: Ricky Wells.

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Murray Bridge double header this weekend

This weekend will see the first of the two ‘double header’ rounds of the 2019 Australian MX Nationals with Murray Bridge putting together two days of racing that could well see major changes in the MX1, MX2 and MXD championship classes.

MX Nationals Series Promoter Kevin Williams today expressed his gratitude for the Rural City of Murray Bridge and explained that the venue is well equipped to have a full two days racing and the club are ready to welcome thousands of motocross fans.

Kevin Williams

“I’m very thankful to the Rural City of Murray Brdge for there commitment and partnership in making this event happen with Murray Bridge hosting the first of this years double header rounds, the South Coast Club have been working around the clock to make sure everything is up to a double standard and the track is well equipped to handle two days of gruelling racing.”

In the MX1 class Hayden Mellross holds on to the championship points lead by a slender 5-points over Luke Clout who in turn has a 2-point gap to Kirk Gibbs who has the exact same gap back to Todd Waters so that is less than 10 points from first to fourth which means this weekend at Murray Bridge could well shake this championship up…..or will it?

MX1 – Championship Standings After Round 3

1. Hayden Mellross – 152
2. Luke Clout – 147
3. Kirk Gibbs – 145
4. Todd Waters – 143
5. Jesse Dobson – 121
6. Justin Rodbell – 110
7. Erki Kahro – 107
8. Jayden Rykers – 102
9. Brett Metcalfe – 97
10. Charlie Creech – 94

The likes of Jay Wilson, Aaron Tanti, Kyle Webster and Nathan Crawford need to pull their fingers out and stop Wilson Todd from running away with this championship – and that is going to be difficult with Wilson looking to be in a class of his own during the last two rounds to now have a 28 point lead over Wilson.

MX2 – Championship Standings After Round 3

1. Wilson Todd – 170
2. Jay Wilson – 142
3. Aaron Tanti – 133
4. Kyle Webster – 126
5. Nathan Crawford – 122
6. Cooper Pozniak – 115
7. Dylan Wills – 113
8. Jye Dickson – 107
9. Riley Dukes – 103
10. Issac Ferguson – 93

The MXD class has been it’s usual action packed adventure for the youngsters and so far it has been Regan Duffy who has been the most consistent but Rhys Budd, Max Purvis and Mason Semmens have been on the winners pace while there are three or four other riders who are currently top ten in the points who have the speed to win motos.

MXD – Championship Standings After Round 3

1. Regan Duffy – 157
2. Rhys Budd – 152
3. Maximus Purvis – 140
4. Mason Semmens – 125
5. Jack Kukas – 113
6. Noah Ferguson – 111
7. Brodie Ellis – 110
8. Jayce Cosford – 99
9. Mason Rowe – 98
10. Liam Walsh – 98

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Victoria, ACT and WA Host Championship Rounds

The Yamaha BluCru 2-Stroke Nationals was held at Fairburn Park last weekend as was the VSMX at Swan Hill in Victoria and the WAMX Championships at the Coastal Motocross facility.

Jai Walker won the premier YMI All-Power class at Fairburn Park over Jake Cobbin and Connor Whitney while Blake Fox (Yamaha 125cc Jnr Cup), Ryder Kingsford (Yamaha 85cc Cup), Ky Woods (Raceline 65cc Cup) and Steven Bowen (Hallman Retro Cup) took out the support classes.

On a day that fielded many national riders Jayden Rykers won the premier All Powers class at Swan Hill over Erki Kahro and Ryan Shadbolt while Mason Semmens got the win over Max Purvis is the MX2 class then we saw Lewis Stewart (MX1A), Justin Carafa (Over 30s), Mike Reefman (Over 40s) and James Graham (Over 50s) win the support classes.

Coastal hosted the opening round of the WAMX championship and it was Regan Duffy who took out the MX1 class over Charlie Creech and Josh Adams before Duffy also took out the MX2 class over Corben Weinert and Dylan Hennessey while Chris Bosnakis (Quads), Hannah Bagnall (Womens) and Jacob Whatley (Amateur) won the support classes.

Over in the junior ranks the class winners were Brock Flynn, Kayden Minear, Seth Manuel, Dylan Walsh, Mason Brown, Jaylee Rimbas and Jodh McQuade.

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Weekly Up-Date on Our Aussies Abroad

Jed Beaton – Rockstar Husqvarna

Championship: World MX2 Motocross Championship
Current Standing: 13^th 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 12^th of May.

Mitch Evans – 114 Honda

Championship: World MX2 Motocross Championship
Current Standing: 8^th 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 12^th of May.

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: 16^th 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 26^th 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% ready for the outdoors which kicks off at Hangtown on May 18.

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: 13^th 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 13^th 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: 11^th after Round 16 of 17
Notes: Chad was part of a multi bike crash at Seattle when he was sitting 7^th 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 this weekend.

Wil Ruprecht – Johansson MPE Yamaha

Championship: EnduroGP – Junior Class
Current Standing: 2^nd 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 the 3^rd and 4^th of May.

Meghan Rutledge – Bud Racing Kawasaki

Championship: MXW World Motocross Championship
Current Standings: 8^th 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 19^th of May.

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

Championship: GNCC / AMA Enduro
Current Standing: 6^th 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: 3^rd 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: 10^th after Round 4 of 18
Notes: Max scored a disappointing 16^th at the Super TT in Arizona last weekend thanks to still feeling the effects of the previous weekend’s big crash but he still sits 10^th in the points with plenty of rounds left to prove his worth.

Source: MCNews.com.au