Tag Archives: Silk Way Rally 2021

Walkner wins Silk Way Rally to extend points lead

Silk Way Rally

2021 FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship


The 2021 Silk Way Rally faced its fair share of challenges this year, with Covid-19 preventing the event from crossing into Mongolia, instead being confined to Siberia, with Austria’s Matthias Walkner (KTM) taking top honours.

Daniel Sanders

Walkner was able to claim the victory from Skyler Howes (Husqvarna) and Franco Caimi (Hero), with Australia’s Daniel Sanders (GasGas) proving a strong competitor but finishing fourth after a slow start couldn’t be offset by a number of stage wins.

First into the stage and enjoying a near five-minute advantage over the second-placed rider, Matthias Walkner still pushed hard through the tight forest tracks.

Matthias Walkner

With navigation less of a factor on the timed special, the experienced Austrian was able to maintain a fast, but safe pace over the demanding terrain. In doing so he finished the day as runner-up and increased his lead in the final event standings to six minutes and 20 seconds.

Combined with his second-place finish at round one of the FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship – Rally Kazakhstan – Walkner moves into the lead of the series standings with a 21.5-point advantage over the second-placed rider.

Matthias Walkner – P1

“The final stage here was really nice to ride. It was the same as day two, but instead of making it rougher, it seems the cars and trucks prepared it quite well for us today. I really tried to push at the beginning, because I know the first part of the stage is good for me over the fast pistes. In the forest I thought I might have to ease off a little, but it rode better today, and I was able to push for the whole stage. It’s a shame the rally had to be shortened, but the organizers did a great job of giving us a full event to race. To win the famous tiger trophy here at the Silk Way feels amazing, and with my win here I’m now also leading the championship. I couldn’t have asked for a better result really.”

Matthias Walkner

Aiming to defend his position, yet not wanting to make a costly mistake on the fast tracks of the special, Howes chose the perfect pace over the 110km timed section to ultimately finish fourth on the stage and claim second overall in the final rally standings.

Despite having a technical issue on the previous round of the series that knocked him down the order, his second-place result from the Silk Way Rally elevates Skyler to second overall in the FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship.

Skyler Howes – P2

“To get second place and my first podium at a world championship round is amazing. I was hoping for a slightly longer race, and maybe another step higher on the podium, but I can’t tell you how stoked I am to finish as runner-up. Things went well over the whole race and in the end, it came down to just seconds on the final stage. Thankfully, I had a really good ride and was able to defend my position in the standings. The result here moves me up to second in the championship standings, which after my issues in the first round feels amazing. We’ve got a bit of a break now until the next race, but to be in the fight for the championship only gives me more motivation. I definitely can’t wait to get racing again.”

Skyler Howes

A stellar ride from Franco saw him hold on to his third position in the overall rankings, missing out on the second position by a mere six seconds, after close to 3,100 km of racing over five days.

Franco Caimi – P3

“I don’t have the words to describe how happy I am feeling right now, not just for myself, but also for the team. They have done a fantastic job, and we were able to finish on the podium. We pushed hard during the entire race and in the end, missed the second position by just six seconds. I am really happy with the result, and looking forward to growing with the team. I am sure we can accomplish great things together. I also want to take this opportunity to thank the Hero family and the fans for their support and good wishes.”

The fifth and final day of racing at the Silk Way Rally saw riders line-up for a re-run of stage two, the very same stage that Daniel claimed victory on just days ago.

Daniel Sanders

Entering the stage with the sole focus of making up time, Sanders was never headed as he reached each waypoint as the fastest rider, taking his third stage win from five starts at the shortened event. With two rounds of the FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship now complete, Daniel moves up to third in the provisional standings, although Walkner holds a significant lead.

Daniel Sanders – P4

“I pushed really hard today to try and get onto the overall podium, but it wasn’t quite enough. I left everything out there and did everything I could to make time up on the riders ahead, but it was a short stage and there wasn’t much to separate us all today. I learned a lot this week, I felt great on the bike, and I know I have the speed so it’s all positive. When we get home from here my main focus will be on improving my navigation as this is where I feel I’m lacking a little bit. But overall, a pretty decent week for me and the team.”

Daniel Sanders

Buhler also had a good rally and his consistency got him the fifth position in the overall standings. Joaquim had difficult times and luck during some stages and this cost him time and positions. Yet, he recovered well to complete the rally in the top 10.

Sebastian Buhler – P5

“Today was the same stage as SS2, so it was nice to ride at a good speed without too much navigation. The rally was shorter than what we were expecting, due to the situation in Mongolia, but the organisers did their best and we were able to complete the rally. Overall, it was a positive race and I felt good on the bike. I was gaining confidence to push harder each day and the team also did a good job. Thanks also to our fans all around the world for their support.”

Bringing his time at the Silk Way Rally to a positive end, Adrien Van Beveren finished stage five as the seventh fastest rider through the shortened special.

Adrien Van Beveren

Completing the stage just over one minute adrift of the third-place rider, it was a strong performance from Adrien despite the terrain not quite being to the Frenchman’s liking. Overall, Van Beveren placed sixth in the final classification.

Adrien Van Beveren – P6

“I enjoyed today’s stage, both with the terrain and also my riding. There wasn’t so much navigation today and it was something different to be riding fast through the woods. It was fun and I felt relaxed on the bike, which is something that I’ve been searching for this week. It’s been good to end with a positive ride. Because of the change to the schedule we didn’t go to Mongolia which is unfortunate, however, for me it was good to challenge myself on terrain that I’m not so comfortable on. This will make me a better rally rider so even if the result was not my best, I learned a lot this week with my riding and also the bike. Overall, it has been a positive experience for me at the Silk Way, it was great to be racing again, and I’m happy to have completed this rally.”

2021 Silk Way Rally Results

Source: MCNews.com.au

Moto Wrap | Silk Way Rally | Beach Racing | MX | TrialGP | Hattah

2021 Pro Motocross Championship
Round 4 – Twisted Tea RedBud National

Following its second break of the 2021 season the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship, sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing, returned to action for its Fourth of July tradition with the annual Twisted Tea RedBud National.

The fourth round of the season saw a massive crowd line the fences in their red, white, and blue for America’s Independence Day holiday and were treated to an afternoon of perfect weather.

Monster Energy/Star/Yamaha Racing’s Dylan Ferrandis continued his impressive season by leading the way in the 450 Class for his third victory of the season.

In the 250 Class, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s RJ Hampshire demonstrated incredible speed all day en route to his third career win.

450 Moto1

As the gate dropped on the opening 450 Class moto, Monster Energy/Star/Yamaha Racing’s Aaron Plessinger prevailed with the Motosport.com Holeshot ahead of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Cooper Webb and Team Honda HRC’s Ken Roczen. A quick pass by Webb in the second turn allowed him to steal the lead from Plessinger who retaliated to retake the lead just turns later. It was Plessinger, Roczen, and Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Adam Cianciarulo at the completion of the opening lap. Championship point leader Ferrandis was sixth at the start.

Red Bud AMA Pro Motocross

As the moto surpassed the 10-minute mark, Roczen started to close on Plessinger for the lead, eventually making the pass stick as Plessinger slid back to second. As Cianciarulo continued his charge in third, he would soon find himself under pressure from Ferrandis who was turning the fastest lap times of the race.

Adam Cianciarulo

Ferrandis was relentless in his push to the front and made the move on Cianciarulo just before the halfway point of the moto. The battle for the lead began to tighten up as Plessinger closed in on Roczen while his teammate Ferrandis closed in on them both with 10-minutes remaining. The Star Racing Yamaha teammates pulled alongside each other several times before Ferrandis took possession of second with a pass on Plessinger through the sand rollers.

Ferrandis

Ferrandis’ charge to the front could not be stopped as he struck on his championship rival Roczen to take the lead with just three laps remaining. The Frenchman would hold on to claim his second moto win of the season with 2.9 seconds to spare on Roczen. After leading early, Plessinger would finish third.

450 Moto 2

The deciding 450 Class moto kicked off with Plessinger launching out of the gate to sweep the Motosport.com Holeshots by edging out the Monster Energy Kawasaki duo of Eli Tomac and Cianciarulo, followed by Roczen and Ferrandis. Cianciarulo would lose the front end coming downhill on the opening lap and be forced to rejoin near the tail end of the field as Plessinger, Tomac, Roczen, and Ferrandis led the way on the opening lap.

The deciding 450 Class moto kicked off 450 Moto 2with Plessinger launching out of the gate to sweep the Motosport.com Holeshots by edging out the Monster Energy Kawasaki duo of Eli Tomac and Cianciarulo, followed by Roczen and Ferrandis. Cianciarulo would lose the front end coming downhill on the opening lap and be forced to rejoin near the tail end of the field as Plessinger, Tomac, Roczen, and Ferrandis led the way on the opening lap.

Ken Roczen

The battle immediately intensified up front as Tomac made quick work of Plessinger to take the number one position from Plessinger. Just behind the leaders, Roczen and Ferrandis matched one another’s pace in an effort for valuable championship points and to keep the leaders in sight. Roczen made a costly mistake that saw him go down hard, but he was able to dust himself off and remount in sixth.

Up front, Tomac and Plessinger were separated by no more than two seconds for the majority of the race as they took turns on clocking the better lap times.

With the race winding down, the battle for second began to heat up as Ferrandis closed in on his teammate Plessinger. He would use an excellent drive through the sand rollers to take second and set his sights on the race leader Tomac. As the crowd cheered them on, Tomac held on to take his second moto win of the season by just 1.5 seconds over Ferrandis. A distant third would go to Plessinger, while Roczen recovered for sixth.

Eli Tomac

It was Ferrandis who’s hard charging and consistency would give him the overall victory (1-2). Tomac earned his second consecutive podium of the season in season (4-1), while Plessinger completed the podium with an impressive 3-3 moto scores on the day. Roczen’s 6-2 was good enough for fourth. A jump during the red cross flag in Moto 1 resulted in Ferrandis being docked a single point and Roczen two points, however, the overall finishes remained the same.

Dylan Ferrandis

“I gave it everything and it was a big fight today, I charged really hard at the end of the motos. I wanted to win the second moto, but Eli [Tomac] was riding really good. I dreamed of winning here at RedBud and thanks to the fans for cheering loud for us all day. It’s been a good start to the season and I’m really looking forward to keep working hard so we can stay up front the rest of the season.”

Ferrandis passes Plessinger

With the win Ferrandis was able to extend his lead in the championship standings to 14-points over Roczen who lost crucial points in the second moto. Plessinger sits third, 36-points out of the lead.

Ken Roczen

“I was excited coming into RedBud for Fourth of July; it’s always a special race and the fans always go wild. We had a pretty decent couple of qualifying sessions. I ended up going fifth to the gate, which was totally fine; I felt pretty good on the track and was ready for the moto. In the first moto, I think I was third after the start and just kind of worked my way up there into second right away and made a move on [Aaron] Plessinger and was leading most of the race until about two laps to go. I kind of lost my rhythm a little bit. The track is really hard-packed underneath and soft on top, so it was really tricky to ride. It just wasn’t really my best performance, but at the same time I was okay with the second place. I got passed there with a couple of laps to go and tried to hang on behind [Dylan] Ferrandis and tried to make a pass back, but it just wasn’t enough. I was looking forward to the second moto. Moto 2 was kind of like when everything came undone. I was battling really hard to get to the front. I was in third and [Eli] Tomac was leading and Plessinger was second. I made my way past Ferrandis and just sat in third for a while trying to see what the race gave me. I had a bad case on [LaRocco’s] Leap, as Plessinger’s roost slowed me down so much. I hurt my wrist a little bit, but then a couple laps later I fell right after the leap. I tucked the front end, had a pretty big get-off, and my bars were a little bent. I’m glad I was able to finish at least in sixth and minimize the points damage. We’re healthy leaving RedBud and I’m just looking forward to prepping for next weekend’s race.”

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250 Moto 1

When the gate dropped for the first 250 Class moto of the day it was Monster Energy/Star/Yamaha Racing’s Justin Cooper who emerged with the Motosport.com holeshot just ahead of the Team Honda HRC duo of Jett and Hunter Lawrence, Monster Energy/Star/Yamaha Racing’s Jeremy Martin and Hampshire.

Justin Cooper

As they crossed the finish on the opening lap, Cooper lost traction going up the face of the finish line and crashed out of the lead. Cooper’s mistake allowed a hard charging Hampshire to inherit the lead over the Lawrence brothers and Martin. Cooper would remount in 10th.

Hampshire pushed the pace out front with Jett Lawrence in tow and the duo began to slowly distance themselves from the train of riders behind them. As Jett Lawrence applied the pressure, Hampshire crashed out of the lead, but was able to restart quickly in second. Hunter Lawrence remained a distant third.

Jett Lawrence

With the race closing in on the halfway point of the 30-minute-plus-two-lap moto, Hampshire started to inch back onto the rear wheel of Jett Lawrence and searched for a way around. Hampshire would once again lose the front end of his motorcycle and find himself on the ground while contending for the race lead. Hunter Lawrence took full advantage of Hampshire’s mistake to move into second, while Hampshire remounted in third.

As Jett Lawrence continued to control the race out front, Hunter Lawrence and Hampshire started to gain momentum and slowly reduce the gap to the race leader. With three laps to go, Hampshire muscled his way around Hunter Lawrence for second and began to set his sights on the race leader Jett Lawrence but Jett held on to take the checkered flag for his third moto win of the season by 2.2 seconds over Hampshire. Hunter Lawrence finished third, just ahead of Cooper who recovered for fourth.

Hunter Lawrence

250 Moto 2

The final 250 Class moto of the afternoon saw Cooper capture his second Motosport.com Holeshot of the day, just ahead of his teammate Martin and first moto runner-up finisher Hampshire. The Lawrence brothers found themselves mired deep in the pack as Hunter was scored 11th and Jett 18th at the completion of the opening lap.

Justin Cooper

As the lead trio went to work with a clear track out front, Jett Lawrence put his head down in an attempt to do damage control, however, a costly mistake would see him make contact with another rider and go down, losing valuable time as he remounted outside the top-30.

Out front, Hampshire began to find his momentum as he moved Cooper to within striking distance for the race lead, using every inch of the track to find a way past. At the 15-minute mark, Hampshire would get a drive and out drag race Cooper to become the new race leader.

Just as Hampshire looked to have the race under control he would yet again find himself picking himself up off the ground as he surrendered the lead to Cooper in the late stages of the moto. Cooper emerged with his second moto win of the season by 12.9 seconds over Hampshire. Martin finished third in an impressive return from injury, followed by Hunter Lawrence in fourth. An inspiring ride by Jett Lawrence netted him sixth.

Hunter Lawrence

By virtue of 2-2 finishes Hampshire prevailed for his first win of the season and won the RedBud National for the second consecutive year. Cooper’s second moto win earned him second overall (4-1) as Jett Lawrence completed the podium in third (1-6), followed by his brother Hunter in fourth (3-4).

Jett Lawrence on the podium but saw his series lead trimmed by three points

RJ Hampshire

“This win just feels so good after everything I’ve gone through lately,” said Hampshire. “As you can hear, I’ve been super sick all week, so to be up here today is a bit emotional. I give it my all everytime I’m on the track, and it would have been great to get those moto wins today, but to win here at RedBud for the second year in a row is an amazing feeling. The speed has been really good lately and I’m looking forward to some of my favorite tracks coming up on the schedule.”

Jett Lawrence maintains his hold of the championship point lead by eight over Cooper who reduced the gap by three on the day. Hunter Lawrence remains third, 44-points out of the championship lead.

Jett Lawrence

“The bike setting in the first moto wasn’t good. I had RJ [Hampshire] charging, and if he got me, I didn’t really have any ammo to fight back. Between motos, my team did a great job making some adjustments that made the bike work better for me, but I just didn’t give myself a very good chance for winning or even getting myself into a good position. I came from 37th to sixth, so I think that’s pretty good. I definitely made a lot of passes, maybe the most passes of the day. I think if you look at the result it sucks because I lost three points, but you have to look at the positives; it was a strong ride, and I felt like there’s not many other people in this class that could do that.”

Jett Lawrence

Hunter Lawrence

“My weekend wasn’t bad; it wasn’t great, but we’ll take it. We went 3-4 moto scores for fourth overall. I missed out on the box by two points. That second moto I was in a ‘do or die’ position to catch J-Mart [Jeremy Martin] and make that pass. I was pushing to make up a lot of ground on him, coming from a pretty bad start, so I was ‘damned if I did, damned if I didn’t’; I had to risk it and push. I ended up laying it down and got back up, managing to finish in a position where I was chasing down fourth. All in all, I’m really happy with how the team worked together to make changes on the bike for the second moto, which benefited us a lot. It maybe wasn’t a moto-score result, but as far as my feeling on the bike, and everything else, we left better than what we started in the first moto, so I’m happy with that. RedBud was awesome. That was my first proper Fourth of July RedBud experience, so it was pretty cool. I also checked something else off my bucket list; I really wanted to scream ‘RedBuuuuud’ into the microphone. I hadn’t been able to do that until today, so that was cool.”

Source: MCNews.com.au