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August 24, 2021 mcnews Leave a comment

Todd Waters wins King of Capricorn 2021

Todd Waters has won the 2021 King of Capricorn over the weekend, with a consistent performance across the top two steps of the podium in the day’s races leaving him 20-points clear of runner-up Kirk Gibbs. Aaron Tanti completed the podium in third, with fourth through sixth a close affair between Jesse Dobson, Jai Walker and Levi Rogers, with a single point separating each rider, on 149, 148 and 147 respectively.

Todd Waters – P1

“Super fun weekend at the King Of Capricorn MX over the weekend. Taking out the overall in both the two-stroke and the King of Capricorn classes. Huge thanks to Mike Ward for pulling off the largest cash prize purse in Australian MX together with the RADMX Rockhampton Motocross, you guys rock.”

Kirk Gibbs – P2

“My Terrafirma Honda worked well all weekend and I felt competitive. My biggest setback were my starts. The format included 9 races, 5 of which were 3 lap sprint races. I got one out of nine holeshots. I definitely made life hard for myself all day and I know what I need to practice on. I really felt strong, and I could have made some aggressive passes, but I could have taken myself down as well. As much as I wanted to win the overall, I am glad I won the final race comfortably and I am in one piece to fight for the Queensland titles this coming weekend in MacKay.”

Kobe Drew claimed the Prince of Capricorn title, winning the class on 169-points, ahead of Jack Mather and Jett Burgess-Stevens, with Jake Cannon and Jet Alsop completing the top five.

2021 King of Capricorn Top 10

Pos	Rider	Total
1	Todd WATERS	213
2	Kirk GIBBS	193
3	Aaron TANTI	176
4	Jesse DOBSON	149
5	Jai WALKER	148
6	Levi ROGERS	147
7	Jayce COSFORD	112
8	Ricky LATIMER	103
9	Noah FERGUSON	93
10	Lochie LATIMER	87

2021 Prince of Capricorn Top 10

Pos	Rider	Total
1	Kobe DREW	169
2	Jack MATHER	147
3	Jett BURGESS-STEVENS	141
4	Jake CANNON	128
5	Jet ALSOP	110
6	Blake HAIDLEY	106
7	Liam OWENS	102
8	Charli CANNON	90
9	Jack WILLIAMS	78
10	Frederick TAYLOR	70

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2021 International Six Days of Enduro returns to Italy

The 95th edition of the FIM International Six Days of Enduro will kick off in Lombardy / Piedmont on Augusta 30, marking the 11th time Italy has hosted the event, with only Great Britain holding a better record.

Italy’s long association with the ISDE – originally titled the International Six Days Trial (ISDT) – began in 1931 when the town of Merano had the unique honour of hosting the event in back-to-back years. The Italians triumphed on home soil on the first of these occasions before giving way to the British who won the main two trophies when the ISDE returned a year later.

ISDE Day ImageDarioAgrati — The ISDE returns to Italy in 2021 for the 11th time – Image by Dario Agrati

It wouldn’t be until 1948 that the event would return to Italy, in San Remo, followed by Varese in 1951. 17-years later it would reconvene in San Pellegrino Terme, before heading to Camerino in 1974.

1981 was the next time that Italy would act as the host to the freshly named ISDE. Isola d’Elba was the venue for this memorable edition, and home nation won both of the new team classes – namely the now established World Trophy and Junior Trophy competitions.

Five years later as San Pellegrino Terme accommodated the ISDE for a second time and was the scene of the 1986 celebrations as once again the host nation won both the World and Junior Trophies.

After an extended break, Italy was back in charge of delivering another notable running of the ISDE in 1997. Brescia being the last venue where the Italians achieved home wins in both the World Trophy and Junior Trophy categories. The beautiful island of Sardinia was the host in 2013, which marked the tenth time that the ISDE had been held on Italian soil.

Eight years later, and after having been postponed twelve months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the FIM International Six Days of Enduro is returning to the Italian heartland of Enduro and to some of the best off-road terrain in Europe. Lombardy / Piedmont will once again welcome riders from across the world for six demanding days in the saddle from August 30 to September 4, 2021.

Leszno defeat Lublin 48-42 at the Alfred Smoczyk Stadium

Polish racers Przemyslaw Pawlicki and Krzysztof Kasprzak were the last-heat heroes as they secured Grudziadz’s spot in the 2022 PGE Ekstraliga and sent Zielona Gora down.

Grudziadz spent most of the season bottom of the table, but they stormed to a last-gasp 48-42 victory at home to Czestochowa on Sunday, which saw them leapfrog Falubaz for seventh spot and drop one of Polish speedway’s superpowers into the First Division for next season.

Pawlicki has endured a mixed campaign for Grudziadz, but delivered when it mattered most, top-scoring on 13 points.

He led Kasprzak to a 4-2 in heat 15, parting Lions pair Leon Madsen and Bartosz Smektala on turn two to send the home fans into raptures, while KK nipped past Smektala on bend three to break Zielona Gora hearts.

This was after Nicki Pedersen and Kenneth Bjerre raced to a 4-2 of their own over Jonas Jeppesen and Mateusz Swidnicki in heat 14, with Jeppesen just snatching second on the line to send Grudziadz’s relegation fight to the last heat.

Kasprzak has endured a tough couple of seasons, but lifted himself for Grudziadz’s biggest match of the year, delivering 10 paid 11.

Triple world champion Pedersen roared back into action with 11 points after his racing ban for remonstrating with a referee was put on hold by the Danish Sports Confederation. His contribution was telling for a team that has relied on him heavily all season. His compatriot Bjerre collected nine paid 10.

Madsen was Czestochowa’s top scorer on 10 paid 11, while Smektala scored eight and Freddie Lindgren registered four.

Grudziadz’s triumph throws the future of Zielona Gora’s big guns for 2022 into serious question as the club faces its first season out of the top flight since 2006.

Local hero Patryk Dudek may be forced to move away from his boyhood club for the first time in his career in search of PGE Ekstraliga action, while SGP regulars Max Fricke and Matej Zagar may also seek pastures new.

In the day’s other match, Lublin secured second spot in the PGE Ekstraliga table and booked a play-off semi-finals showdown with Gorzow.

Leszno defeated Lublin 48-42 at the Alfred Smoczyk Stadium. But with the visitors taking the bonus point, the reigning champions will now face a tough semi-final showdown with table-topping Wroclaw as they bid for a fifth straight league title.

Aussie icon Jason Doyle impressed for Leszno on 13 paid 14, while Emil Sayfutdinov tallied 10 and World Under-21 champion Jaimon Lidsey added eight paid 10. Jaroslaw Hampel was Lublin’s top scorer on nine.

Max Fricke on the podium at SpeedwayGP Challenge

Polish racer Pawel Przedpelski admits he’s in dreamland after crowning the week he became a father by booking his place in the 2022 FIM Speedway Grand Prix series alongside Max Fricke and Patryk Dudek. The Torun icon topped the GP Challenge podium to take his place in the SGP World Championship for the first time next year.

Przedpelski tied on 12 points with Aussie champion Fricke, but triumphed in a run-off to win the meeting, while Fricke secured his SGP status for next year – regardless of where he finishes in the SGP 2021 standings.
Meanwhile, former world No.2 Dudek bagged third place on 11 points to earn an SGP World Championship comeback after just a season away.

Victory capped a week Przedpelski will never forget after he welcomed daughter Rozalka into the world along with partner Michalina on Tuesday.

Pawel Przedpelski

“I can’t believe it. This week couldn’t have been better for me. On Tuesday my daughter came into the world. That was unbelievable. Today I got into the GP, so it is like a dream. It cannot be real. It is a beautiful day.”

Przedpelski stormed to 11 points from his opening four rides to put himself within touching distance of qualification. He found himself at the back in race 18 behind Dudek and Jan Kvech, but Przedpelski powered past Slovakian racer Jakub Valkovic for third going into bend three to snatch the point that sealed his spot on the sport’s biggest stage.

Fricke endured a difficult start, fighting his way past former Belle Vue team mate Dan Bewley for third in heat four as he finished behind Przedpelski and Andzejs Lebedevs.

The Victorian ace racked up 11 points from his remaining four rides, rounding them off by winning a ferocious battle with compatriot Chris Holder to take victory in race 19 and seal a podium place.

But the Zielona Gora and Indianerna star is still targeting qualification via the SGP 2021 top six – even with his spot for next year secure.

Max Fricke

“It definitely takes the pressure off, knowing that I am in the championship next year. But hopefully we don’t need this place. That’s the aim of the game. Now I can go out and focus on every GP and try and put in the best possible results to finish off the year.”

Dudek raced to two seconds and a third in his opening three heats. But he delivered a flawless finish, winning races 13 and 18.

Dudek’s fellow Polish star Janusz Kolodziej could have sealed a spot in SGP 2022 with second place in heat 20. But the Leszno man was left languishing at the back after a nightmare start and first turn, sending Dudek through.

Kolodziej had to make do with fourth spot on 10, although it could still be enough to secure his place in SGP 2022 in the event Fricke finishes in the 2021 SGP World Championship’s top six.

Kolodziej’s 10-point haul was matched by German ace Martin Smolinski in fifth. The Bavarian roared to victory in his opening two heats, before finishing second to Przedpelski in heat nine. But third places in his final two rides saw him fall short of a remarkable SGP comeback – just 15 months after recovering from serious hip and nerve injuries, which could have ended his career.

Latvian international Andzejs Lebedevs missed out on nine, while 2012 world champion Chris Holder, Dan Bewley, Jevgenijs Kostigovs and Jan Kvech all collected eight points.

John Darroch tops WA State MX Round 4

Round 4 of the WAMX Senior State Championship ran over the weekend, with John Darroch taking a double win for the MX1 Pro victory, ahead of Charlie Creech and Stuart Eardley-Wilmot, with Luke Davis and Brendon Bayliss completing the top five.

In the MX2 Pro Class, Daniel Pajewski took the overall win ahead of Evan Browne, with each rider taking a win a-piece. Cody Chittick was third overall with a consistent 4-3 result.

Kayden Minear topped the MX3 class going 1-1, ahead of Deacon Paice (2-2) and Jordan Minear (3-3).

In the Veterans class Luke Few swept all three races for the win, ahead of Aaron Chircop and Trevor Unstead. Kara Cats meanwhile won the Womens class, ahead of Hannah Stewart and Che’Ebert.

WAMX Round 4 Final MX1 Pro Results

Pos	Rider	Total	R1	R2
1	JOHN DARROCH	50	25	25
2	CHARLIE CREECH	44	22	22
3	STUART EARDLEY-WILMOT	38	20	18
4	LUKE DAVIS	36	16	20
5	BRENDON BAYLISS	34	18	16
6	STEVEN POCOCK	29	15	14
7	AUSTIN RIDLEY	27	12	15
8	CODY HEGGS	27	14	13
9	CHRISTOPHER RUTTICO	25	13	12
10	MARIO D’ERCOLE	21	10	11
11	CHRISTIAN SILVESTRO	19	9	10
12	MICHAEL ZAWADA	17	8	9
13	JYE CORMACK	11	11	–

AORC Rounds 9 & 10 in South Australia cancelled

The AORC management team have now officially cancelled Rounds 9 and 10 of the Yamaha Australian Off-Road Championship, presented by MXstore, due to the continuing COVID-19 state border closures and lockdowns.

AORC Rnd Dungog Daniel Milner — Daniel Milner – AORC 2020, Round 3 – Dungog

The AORC management team worked closely with their South Australian counterparts and host club Keyneton MCC, but under the current regulations, with border closures and extended lockdowns in several states, it is not possible for the Kingston SE round to proceed.

The AORC management understand riders were very keen to hit the track, but with the current state restrictions, the health and safety of competitors, teams, officials and fans are paramount.

Despite this, the South Australian Off-Road Championships which were to run alongside the AORC will still proceed for South Australian riders at a yet to be confirmed new venue.

The AORC management team thanked Keyneton MCC for their significant work in preparing for the AORC rounds as well as the wider enduro community for their support and understanding during this difficult time.

Under-16s Speedway Championships cancelled due to Covid

South Australian Sidewinders Under Sixteen Speedway Club have cancelled of the 2021 Australian Under 16’s 125cc Speedway Solo and Under 16’s 125cc Teams Championships due to COVID-19 State lockdowns and border restrictions. The Championships were to be held at Wingfield, South Australia on September 24 and 25.

Meredith Sterry – South Australian Sidewinders U16 Speedway Club Secretary

“In view of the Country’s current Covid 19 situation, and in particular the issues in NSW, along with the subsequent lock downs and border restrictions, we feel it would not be possible to conduct the event in the manner in which it deserves to be run.”

The Club and MA will work together in regard to next year’s Championships and to find a suitable date which will be announced in the near future.

2021 Australian ATV National Championships cancelled

The Cretive48 have, in consultation with Motorcycling Australia, cancelled the 2021 ATV MX Nationals to be held at Kilcoy, QLD, October 16-17 due to current global pandemic of COVID 19 and the restrictions, lockdown and quarantine laws that vary from State to State that have resulted from this crisis.

Mitch Van Vliet

“We had big plans for the 2021 ATV MXN and the event was looking to be the biggest and best nationals yet. After the crazy year we had in 2020 it was looking promising for the event to go ahead 2021, but with the uncertainty and ever-changing laws from State to State the safest thing we could do at this point in time is cancel the event. We had some great sponsors lined up and for the first time we were planning on having the event Live streamed for the ATV World to tune in to see just how fast us Aussie are. I am still very passionate about growing the sport and plan on giving all ATV racers the most professional events that continue to get bigger and better every year. We are currently in negotiations with Motorcycling Australia in regards to the 2022 and 2023 ATV MX Nationals and will be making an announcement in the near future regarding those events. In the meant time please stay tuned to the Facebook page and instagram for any updates.”

FOX Racing teams up with Australian Supercross Championship

The Australian Supercross Championship have entered into a naming rights partnership with global motocross apparel giant FOX Racing, with the FOX Australian Supercross Championship to boast a complete rebrand and all-new look.

Domestically, FOX have held a strong partnership for the best part of three decades with Australia’s successful racing outfit, CDR Yamaha, with a large collection of number one plates going to the Craig Dack run operation.

Mikey Rangel – FOX’s Global Director of Marketing

“The team at FOX is beyond excited and grateful for the opportunity to partner with the Australian Supercross Championship. The work Adam & the crew have done to drive a premier race experience through this series is admirable. We’re eager to kick off further collaborative efforts to celebrate Supercross in Australia with our activations on-site, presence in the domestic marketplace, and through FOX’s global platforms.”

FOX Racing teams up with Australian Supercross Championship

Adam Bailey – AUS SX Holding

“To say that we’re excited to be partnering with a global and iconic brand like FOX is a massive understatement. FOX is synonymous with dirt biking, globally. Their ability to build and market a brand is second to none and their designs and products they have built over the years are etched into some of the most memorable moments in Motocross and Supercross. We can’t wait to see what we can do together, with Supercross in Australia.”

Following a tumultuous two years which has been plagued by the Covid-19 pandemic, sports fans across the world have demonstrated their thirst for the return of actions sports. The 2021 FOX Australian Supercross Championship was scheduled to kick off in Queensland on October 16 and conclude in Victoria in late November, with events also confirmed in SA, WA and NSW. The current Covid-19 outbreak however has put this on hold until further notice.

‘It’s obviously been a tough period for everyone and for Supercross fans it’s been no different. We felt like as a Championship we were hitting our straps in 2019, culminating with 35,000 fans inside Marvel Stadium, so it was a huge shame to miss out on backing that up in 2020.

An official schedule for the 2021 FOX Australian Supercross Championship is expected to be released in the coming weeks.

Adrien Metge wins 2021 Rally dos Sertões

The third round of the FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship took place in Brazil on a route between Tamandaré and Tibau do Sul, offering a diverse challenge over stony and sandy terrain, rolling tracks and magnificent landscapes.

It was also a difficult route because of logistical issues created by the ongoing Covid-19 crisis, and as a result few riders were able to participate, while the last stage was cancelled after torrential rain inundated the region.

Adrien Metge (Yamaha) led the motorcycle category from the Prologue to the end of the rally. However, the Frenchman experienced GPS issues on the first stage and over-speeding cost him a 16-minute time penalty and he finished the section in ninth. The Yamaha rider then went on to win all the stages, with the exception of the last one, that fell to Gregorio Caselani (Honda).

Adrien Metge wins 2021 Rally dos Sertões

On SS6, Metge almost didn’t finish when his engine gave signs of weakness and gave in at the end of the special. Fortunately, team-mate Tulio Malta – who had started far behind after experiencing a problem on stage five – was able to tow him to the bivouac.

Jean de Azevedo (Honda), for his part, made a comeback at the handlebars of a Honda and demonstrated that he had lost none of his ability to finish second overall, ahead of Bissinho Zavatti (Honda), Tulio Malta (Yamaha) and Gregorio Caselani (Honda).

Ricardo Martins (Yamaha) fell on the fourth stage and was forced to retire with fractured ribs.

With all the aforementioned riders registered in Rally2, Metge won Rallye dos Sertões and the Rally2 category, while the victory in RallyeGP went to Caselani.

2021 Rally dos Sertões Results

Pos	Rider	Nat	Man	Time
1	Adrien Metge	FRA	Yamaha	31:13.3
2	Jean Azevedo	BRA	Honda	31:47.2
3	Bissinho Zavatti	BRA	Honda	32:03.2
4	Tulio Malta	BRA	Yamaha	32:11.1
5	Gregorio Caselani	BRA	Honda	32:06.3

Speedway of Nations Semi-Final line-up revealed

The line-ups for the 2021 Monster Energy FIM Speedway of Nations Semi-Finals in Daugavpils on September 17 and 18 have been revealed.

Poland, Sweden and Denmark have all been drawn into a stacked Semi-Final 1 on Friday, September 17 with the nations boasting 15 FIM Speedway World Cup titles between them. They’ll battle for places in the Monster Energy SON Final in Manchester on October 16 and 17.

They are joined in the meeting by 2020 finalists, the Czech Republic, plus the USA, Slovenia and Finland.

Hosts Latvia take their place in Semi-Final 2, which sees them come up against reigning champions, the Motorcycle Federation of Russia.

Their national heroes FIM Speedway Grand Prix world title contender Artem Laguta and double European champion Emil Sayfutdinov have won all three Monster Energy SON world championships since the competition was launched in 2018 and will hope to make it number four in Manchester.

They will be determined to deliver a big performance in neighbouring Latvia as they also take on 2019 SON bronze medal winners Australia, Germany, France, the Ukraine and Italy.

The top two teams after 21 heats in each Semi-Final will automatically join hosts Great Britain in the Monster Energy FIM SON Final in Manchester.

The third and fourth-placed countries in each Semi-Final will then face off in the Final Qualifier, with the teams that triumph also taking their places at Manchester’s National Speedway Stadium.

SEMI-FINAL 1 LINE-UP:
- Poland,
- Denmark,
- Sweden,
- Finland,
- Czech Republic,
- Slovenia,
- USA.
SEMI-FINAL 2 LINE-UP:
- Motorcycle Federation of Russia,
- Australia,
- Latvia,
- Italy,
- Ukraine,
- Germany,
- France.

Toni Bou finishes Andorra TrialGP 1-3

Toni Bou sneaked the win by the narrowest of margins in the first of the two TrialGP World Championship trials held this weekend in Sant Julià de Lòria, Andorra, before finished the fifth round on the third step of the podium, retaining the overall championship lead.

Toni Bou - Andorra TrialGP 2021 — Toni Bou – Andorra TrialGP 2021

The difficulty level of the twelve Andorran sections made for a closely-fought trial on the first day of competition at the Andorra TrialGP, filled with tough, highly-demanding sections. In addition, several riders were further penalised for exceeding the maximum time limits.

Repsol Honda Team rider Toni Bou fought neck and neck against long-term arch-rival Adam Raga for the triumph throughout the two laps of the Andorran course. Bou and Raga constantly traded places at the head of the table, but in the end it was Toni Bou who claimed the win, in spite of finishing on 46 marks, the same number as his rival. The tie-breaking factor proved to be the total time taken in completing the route, with the Repsol Honda Team rider finishing one minute ahead. Another fine result sees Toni Bou continue to top the championship leaderboard, now holding a thirteen-point advantage in the general standings.

The second trial of the Andorra TrialGP turned out to be an arduous task for the Repsol Honda Team riders. Andorra, while always a gruelling event for riders, also usually makes huge demands on the bike due to the high altitude of the sections and the high temperatures. Day 2 proved a struggle for all the competitors over the two twelve-section laps of the Sant Julià de Lòria course.

And it was Toni Bou’s turn to struggle in Andorra. Right off the bat, in section two, he picked up a puncture, before committing several errors which would eventually cost him the lead and rob him of a potential tenth win in Andorra. The Repsol Honda Team rider had to settle for third place in the end, but Bou keeps hold of the overall championship lead with an eight-point advantage over pursuer Adam Raga, winner of today’s trial.

Competitors will get little rest in this week with the forthcoming sixth trial of the 2021 TrialGP World Championship to be held next weekend in Cahors, France.

Toni Bou

“This weekend was really complicated. Finishing first and third is a great result, considering that we struggled so much. Despite all the problems, the team has worked hard and I am very grateful for that. Now we just have to work to recover the good feelings on the bike and be in the fight for the win in France next week.”

2021 TrialGP or Andorra Results

Source: MCNews.com.au

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August 9, 2021 mcnews Leave a comment

GYTR YJR success continues in Tasmania, WA and Queensland

Despite the various state and regional lock downs, racing has continued in some area and when there is a race, you know that the GYTR Yamaha Junior Racing Team will be there flying the Yamaha flag. With New South Wales holed-up at home, Victoria, South Australia and Queensland in snap lock downs, its been left to the Western Australian and Tasmanian riders to head line the team at their recent state championship events.

Tasmania

The Apple Isle has been able to sneak in a couple of state rounds to keep their racing going and have now just one more state title round remaining for the 2021 season. The duo of Angus Pearce and Jay Jennings are in the box seat, leading their respective championships after recent good form.

Pearce is looking good for victory in the 13-16 years Lites class after dominating the last two rounds. Pearce took three from three at Smithton and backed that up with identical results from Cambridge, meaning he has won six races on the trot and has extended his lead out to 41 points over his nearest rival.

Jay Jennings is also in a good position after the Cambridge round and leads both the 10-12 years 65cc class and the 9-11 years 85cc class. Jennings dominated the day at Smithton, winning all his races and cement his position at the top of the championship chase. Any consistent round at Cambridge on the weekend saw him consolidate that position despite not feeling 100%.

Jay now holds down a 35-point lead on his YZ65 and a 36-point lead on his YZ85.

“The last two rounds have been good for both the riders, and we are now really well placed in all classes with just one round to go,” said Team Manager, Brody Jennings. “Each track provided a different challenge for the riders with Smithton being wet and technical while Cambridge was dry and fast. We just need to finish the last round as strongly as we have contested the previous two rounds and we should be able to secure some more state championships for YJR.”

Western Australia

The WA guys have also been in action with plenty of local racing over there to keep the team of Jake Rumens and Deegan Fort motivated. The weekend just gone saw the running of round four of the Western Australian Motocross Championship and the riders again showed good speed and skill on a wet track.

Jake Rumens come out swinging on his YZ85 to take the round victory with 1-1-2 results and close in on the 12-14 years 85cc class lead. Rumens came into the round in second place but needing to win races to claw his way back to the top and he was able to make that happen and now just sits one point from the class lead.

He was also able to put some consistent races together in the 13-15 years 125cc class, finishing fifth in all three races and now moves to fourth in the championship.

Deegan Fort also double up on the weekend contesting both the 10-12 years 65cc and the 9-11 years 85cc class. Across the six races he contested, he finished with five, second place finishes and one fourth, giving him second place in both divisions. But the battle for the state championship is far from over with three riders duking it out for 85 class honours, while Fort sits in second on the 65cc, 24 points from the championship leader.

Peter Strickland

“Another good weekend for both riders and families in cold and damp conditions. It was far from perfect out there, but they battled away and finished up with some good results that has them looking pretty good in the championship. The boys and the team will keep on it for the remainder of the year and make the most of the racing we have in WA as we can see how fast things can change in other states.”

Queensland

The opening round of the Queensland Motocross Championship got underway at the Coolum circuit recently, but no sooner had it started, it was shut down when South East Queensland went into a snap lock down. Practice was completed but no racing held. Mackay is the next round on the schedule while MQ look at a new date for the Coolum round.

But, a round of the Queensland Off Road Championship was able to be ran recently and the young guns of Harley and Drake Hutton contested the event. Harley took the class win in the 85cc J1 category while younger brother, Drake, finished second on his 65. Old man Kirk also took the win in the Masters Over 45 class.

Harley leads the 85cc class by 28 points over his nearest rival while Drake hangs onto a narrow seven-point lead in the 65cc division.

Sebastian Bühler wins Hungarian Baja 2021

The Hungarian Baja was staged in the Lake Balaton region around the small town of Várpalota, with the overall victory falling to Sebastian Bühler (Hero) in the motorcycle category despite two special stages being cancelled. Other standouts were Junior rider Konrad Dabrowski (KTM) who was classified in seventh and, in the female category, Mirjam Pol (Husqvarna) 11th ahead of Margot Lloberat (KTM) the second Junior – and Sarah Khuraibet (KTM).

The first day of the fourth round of the 2021 FIM Bajas World Cup was somewhat epic… just like the second. Event organisers decided to start the motorcycles after the cars and riders duly encountered unusual difficulties over the damaged and rutted terrain, with banners and signs torn off and cars being delayed. They also had the added hazard of overtaking the slowest of the four-wheel entrants in the dust.

Used to getting up at dawn on Saturday morning, riders were able to sleep in because their departure was at 11.45hrs! Torrential rain had fallen in the area the day before the race began, so riders encountered very damaged ground after the passage of the cars. Riders incurred numerous penalties because, despite the road book, they found themselves racing on bad tracks.

The FIM jury decided to cancel the last special on Saturday for safety reasons as cars had become lost in SS5 and the departure of the motorcycles had been delayed with some riders running the risk of not arriving at nightfall.

A similar decision was taken on Sunday to cancel the last stage (SS7) for safety reasons and to avoid cars and motorcycles overtaking in the dust. Victory, therefore, fell to Sebastian Bühler (Hero).

Sebastian Bühler

“This morning, the track was broken after the cars passed twice yesterday. We still had to manage the banners but I managed to stay focused and gain a little time, despite destroying my rear tyre in 86 km. I’m happy with this performance because I was able to improve at each stage.”

Stefan Svitko (KTM) climbed on to the second step of the podium and Joachim Rodrigues (Hero) was third.

Stefan Svitko

“I didn’t feel comfortable attacking on increasingly destroyed ground. So I managed to finish. Our goal was to train and ride the bike for miles for the next rally.”

After entering the Baja at the last minute, Mathieu Doveze (KTM) finished fourth.

Mathieu Doveze

“This is my second Baja. I’m here to learn and store as much information as possible. With the rally bike, it was complicated on this broken ground, you had to stay focused but it was a good exercise.”

Graham Jarvis undergoes successful knee surgery

Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Graham Jarvis is recovering well following knee surgery, required after he injured himself on day two at Romaniacs. Breaking the Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) in his left leg, Jarvis travelled to Madrid in Spain where he underwent an ACL reconstruction and is now resting at home awaiting a green light so he can proceed with his rehabilitation.

Topping the first full day of offroad competition in Romania, Jarvis looked set to battle it out for the overall win as he chased an incredible seventh Romaniacs victory. With just 40 minutes of racing to go before the finish of the second day, and having successfully navigated through the toughest part of the course, Graham twisted his knee on a high-speed section, forcing him out of the event and requiring him to undergo the needed surgery.

Graham Jarvis

“I guess there are always positives and negatives with injuries like this, but I’m doing all I can do at this time. I managed to get surgery pretty quickly – in Madrid, Spain, on the Tuesday after Romaniacs – so that’s a real positive. Thankfully, there wasn’t much swelling, so I didn’t have to wait for things to settle down before visiting the surgeon. Now I’m just resting and keeping my leg elevated as much as possible. It’s a little uncomfortable, but as soon as I can I’ll start the rehab. It’s going to be a long time before I’m back racing – but it is what it is. I’ll be doing all I can to make sure when I do return, I’m as strong and fit as I can be. Right now I’m just taking things day-by-day. It goes without saying that I’m hugely disappointed, it was one of those silly little accidents. The support I’ve received has been incredible. From the team, from Husqvarna, and from fans all around the world – it’s been amazing. Thanks to everyone, and I look forward to being back racing as soon as I can.”

Red Bull Romaniacs 2021 Recap

Round four of this year’s FIM Hard Enduro World Championship at Red Bull Romaniacs was one to behold. A full week of pure Hard Enduro action and passion, it will be one to remember for a long time to come. With so much happening in such a relatively short space of time, here is a quick look back at some of the bits you may have missed…

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Reading through the results sheet of the Gold class and it’s clear to see the growing number of manufacturers present with KTM, Beta, GASGAS, Sherco, and Husqvarna all in the mix. KTM topped the class thanks to Manuel Lettenbichler’s win, but Sherco were arguably team of the week with both Wade Young and Mario Roman second and third, respectively. A fourth from Jonny Walker was also Beta’s best ever result at Red Bull Romaniacs.

Making it two Gold class finishes in a row, Sandra Gomez (GASGAS) continues to push the limits for women in Hard Enduro. Last October she became the first female competitor to complete Gold at Red Bull Romaniacs, and this time she smashed it. Finishing an incredible 29th overall, she also stayed clean on penalties.

The much-anticipated marathon stage proved a hit during this year’s race. Between Offroad Day 2 and Offroad Day 3, competitors got back to basics by spending a night in the forest at a makeshift campsite. With no outside assistance from their teams and support crews allowed, they had to take care of all mechanical maintenance, while recharging body and mind for the following day.

Pol Tarres on his T7 in the 2021 Red Bull Romaniacs

Another little piece of history was made when Pol Tarres powered his adventure bike to a Bronze class finish. It was captivating, to say the least, watching Pol wrestle his 200kg twin-cylinder Yamaha Tenere 700 through the Carpathian Mountains.

While the top stars of Hard Enduro ultimately filled the top placings, they were pushed all the way by some rising stars of the sport. Bulgaria’s Teodor Kabakchiev (Husqvarna) took it to them throughout the week. Placing second in Tuesday’s Time Trial qualification was a sign of things to come. Never outside of the top 10 all week, third on Offroad Day 3 secured him an eventual eighth overall. With Michael Walkner (GASGAS) and Dominik Olszowy (KTM) ninth and 10th, the young guns are closing in.

One of the week’s most impressive rides came from Canada’s Trystan Hart (KTM). Making his Red Bull Romaniacs debut, he quietly chipped away at things. Settling into the race and adapting to the incredibly long and steep, descents and climbs, Hart placed seventh. As the 2020 winner of Red Bull TKO in the USA, expect him to be a rider to beat when we visit there on August 13-15 for round five.

The FIM Hard Enduro World Championship continues with round five at Red Bull TKO in the USA on August 13-15.

Source: MCNews.com.au

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Moto News | WMX | MXGP | Hard Enduro | SGP | AORC | ProMX

August 3, 2021 mcnews Leave a comment

Jed Beaton P5 in MX2 at Lommel

Coming into round six of the MX2 World Championship, Jed Beaton was in great form following podium appearances and solid results in recent weeks. In Belgium, the Australian’s strong speed continued with an eighth-place finish in race one despite a small crash around the halfway stage of the moto.

In race two, Beaton started eighth and moved into fifth as the moto reached half distance. The 23-year-old then engaged in a battle for position with Conrad Mewse, ultimately coming out on top to claim fifth in the moto and secure his third consecutive top-five overall finish.

Jed Beaton

“Today was a little bit of a bad day, but if I can take fifth overall on a bad day then it’s not so bad. I was fortunate in race one to miss a big crash just after the start but then while sixth I crashed on my own and fell way down the field. I got back to eighth which was ok though. My start in race two wasn’t so good and by the time I got into fifth the leaders were gone. It was unfortunate but fifth was good and solid points overall so all things considered, I’m happy with today.”

Bike It MTX Kawasaki’s Wilson Todd had a tough introduction to the deep Lommel sand. A respectable thirteenth in Qualifying, the Australian charged from twenty-third to fifteenth during the first half of race one before being forced out.

Wilson Todd – 2021 MXGP of Flanders-Belgium – Round 6

A lightning start in race two saw him round turn one in the top six but the joy did not last long as a fall at turn three put him at the back of the field; he bravely persisted to the end to finish twenty-third despite two further falls. He is now thirteenth in the series points standings.

MX2 Race 1

In the first MX2 race, it was Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Tom Vialle who grabbed the Fox Holeshot, though it was Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing’s Maxime Renaux who led the way.

Tom Vialle – 2021 MXGP of Flanders-Belgium – Round 6

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider Mattia Guadagnini had an unlucky start to the race as he crashed in the first corner and had to re-join the race way behind the rest of the pack. Eventually the Italian was able to fight back to 14th place.

Hitachi KTM Fuelled by Milwaukee rider Conrad Mewse got off to a great start in the race as he was running behind Renaux, Vialle and Geerts, though by the second lap he crashed and was unable to carry on due to a bike issue.

Kay de Wolf – 2021 MXGP of Flanders-Belgium – Round 6

Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Kay De Wolf started the race down in around 10th place, while his teammate Jed Beaton was fighting sixth place. By the following lap Beaton dropped to 12th, while De Wolf was able to make a couple of nice passes to get into eighth.

Vialle also crashed in the beginning stages of the race as Renaux continued to lead Geerts who was keeping close.

Jago Geerts – 2021 MXGP of Flanders-Belgium – Round 6

De Wolf continued his charge up the field after making passes on F&H Kawasaki Racing’s Mikkel Haarup and Mathys Boisrame, while Vialle took third from Honda 114 Motorsports rider Ruben Fernandez.

At one point, De Wolf and Vialle were the two fastest riders on the track, setting very similar lap times. By lap seven De Wolf caught onto Fernandez to take fourth and then just under three laps later he was also ahead of Vialle as he got himself into third position.

Maxime Renaux – 2021 MXGP of Flanders-Belgium – Round 6

Renaux continued to lead the race keeping Geerts at bay until lap 10. The Frenchman crashed which allowed Geerts through. Luckily, the pair was so far ahead that Renaux was still able to finish the race second, as Geerts took the win and De Wolf finished third. Jed Beaton finished eighth.

MX2 Race 2

In race two, it was De Wolf who was flying into the first corner and took the second Fox Holeshot of the races. He led the race immediately with Geerts and Thibault Benistant of Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing, Renaux and Mewse just behind.

Geerts then got Benistant for second as Renaux struggled for a few laps to do the same. Meanwhile, Vialle started the race in sixth place though crashed lap two and dropped down to 10th.

After making several attempts, Renaux was finally able to get Benistant for third at lap five, by which point De Wolf and Geerts were already quite far ahead as the two leaders kept a steady gap, setting very similar lap times.

T Benistant – 2021 MXGP of Flanders-Belgium – Round 6

At one point, Mewse started to close in on Renaux and Benistant as it looked like the Brit was going to push for higher positions, though he started to fade a little towards the end of the race to eventually finish in sixth position. Beaton was one of the riders who passed Mewse in the closing stages, as the Aussie made his way from eighth to fifth in the race.

De Wolf’s gap to Geerts remained at around three seconds for most of the race, though with two laps to go Geerts put on a late charge to get onto the back of the Husqvarna rider.

Jago Geerts – MXGP of Flanders-Belgium – Round 6

The battle for the win was close and continued right until the chequered flag, but it was De Wolf who came out on top to win his first ever MX2 race, while Geerts finished second and Renaux in a distant third.

With a win and a second, Jago Geerts was the overall winner at his home track, while Kay De Wolf stood on the second step of the podium after some very strong races and Maxime Renaux joined the pair, to stand on the third step of the podium and extend his championship lead to 26 points over Mattia Guadagnini who only managed 12th overall today. Fernandez remains third in the standings, while Geerts is fourth just two points from second.

MX2 Podium – de Wolf, Geerts, Renaux – 2021 MXGP of Flanders-Belgium – Round 6

Jed Beaton finished fifth, to claim fifth overall for the weekend, while Wilson Todd was 23rd.

Jago Geerts

“I’m really happy to win here in Lommel. Last year I think everyone expected that I would win at least one of the three GP’s but it didn’t happen. In the second race Kay was riding really good and at the end I tried to go for the pass, but I couldn’t make it happen. It’s nice to head in the right direction but the season is still long and I’m not really thinking about the championship that much, I just want to go out every weekend, do my best and collect as many points as possible.”

Kay De Wolf – P2

“The fight in race two already started with two laps to go. I enjoyed racing. It’s an amazing feeling to win a race. It’s going really well this season so far, so we’ll keep on fighting and keep up with the hard work.”

Maxime Renaux – P3

“The first race, I took a good start, well actually the start was better in race two but I went wide in the first corner because Kay was really close, so I went wide. The first race I made a good start and was feeling great on the track and took a little gap to Jago. I was just feeling really good and made a silly mistake passing a lapped rider, I got cross rutted and went down. That was a shame but finishing second was really good for the points for the championship. The second race I had a good start, I didn’t push too hard as the guys were pretty quick and were so far in front that it was almost impossible to get them, so I finished the race third. Third overall is good, good for the championship so I’m happy. I’ve only won one race since the beginning of the year and I’m not happy with that, I want to win more races. When you win races and put 25 points you can get a bigger gap to your opponent, so yeah, I try to be as consistent as I can and will try to win races, take good starts, which I think is very important this year and hopefully it will pay off.”

Thibault Benistant – P6

“My day was quite good overall because I finished fourth with 34-points. This is only 1-point less than my best ever finish this year, with my best weekend being 35-points. When you look at it like this, it is quite good. I had a bit of bad luck in the first race. Another rider hit my lever and I had no front brake for the whole race, but in the end of the race I was feeling really good and was one of the fastest guys on track at the end of the moto. In the second race, the feeling was not there, so I did not want to go over the limit and make a mistake for nothing; fourth overall in Lommel is not a bad result.”

Tom Vialle – P7

“Seventh is not what we want but after the injury I have not ridden in the sand for a long time. I tried twice this week but it wasn’t going too well with my hand. In another way I’m quite happy because my hand came through the motos well. We can build from here. I was already tired at the start of the second moto and the track was really tough today. If you are not ‘bike fit’ then it is extra difficult here. I think I would have enjoyed today a lot more if I had that fitness. I know from here we will be a bit better every day. We will train hard this week and I know I will be 100% by the time we go to Turkey.”

Simon Langenfelder – P9

“I felt really good on my bike today. I was flowing in the turns and after qualifying I was really confident for some strong results. Unfortunately, in both races I had to come from the back because of avoiding a crash in race one and then in moto two, I had a really good start, but I was pushed wide and off the track. In that one I came from 25th to ninth so my speed is there, I just needed a little bit of luck to get some better results.”

MX2 Results

Source: MCNews.com.au

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July 27, 2021 mcnews Leave a comment

2021 EnduroGP of Estonia – Day 1 Report

Images by Dario Agrati

Bouncing back from a disappointing performance one week ago at the GP of Estonia, 22-year-old Australian Wil Ruprecht (TM) proved himself to be the rider to beat on day one of the Airmousse GP of Sweden, Round Four of the 2021 Borilli FIM EnduroGP World Championship in Skövde.

Wil Ruprecht (TM) took the outright ahead of Josep Garcia (KTM) and Brad Freeman (Beta)

With Wil topping the overall EnduroGP results by a healthy 20 seconds, as well as winning the Enduro2 class, the Australian was joined as a class winner by Davide Guarneri (Fantic) in Enduro1, Brad Freeman (Beta) in Enduro3, Laia Sanz (GASGAS) in Enduro Women, and Lorenzo Macoritto (TM) in Enduro Junior. Albin Norrbin (Fantic) claimed a home win in Enduro Youth.

The outright top seven were all on different brands of motorcycle with Ruprecht putting TM on top.

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EnduroGP – Ruprecht bounces back

Taking the win on the Friday night Akrapovic Super Test, Wil Ruprecht made his intentions clear right from the start of the Airmousse GP of Sweden. Although only winning by a slender margin, come the end of the first day’s opening lap, Wil was still pushing hard and battling against both Josep Garcia (KTM) and Brad Freeman.

With Freeman losing time on each of the three AcerbisCross Tests, the battle for the EnduroGP class lead was all about Ruprecht and Garcia.

With little to separate the two riders as the day neared its close, the final Champion Enduro Test would prove decisive. For Ruprecht it went well, very well, as the TM mounted rider topped the time sheets to maintain his class advantage and ultimately secure the day’s win. For Garcia, who needed to deliver his best while hoping for a mistake from Ruprecht, things didn’t work out. The Spaniard fell, but still earned a hard-fought runner-up EnduroGP result.

With Freeman rounding out the podium, fourth, fifth, and sixth positions all went to 250F mounted riders – Davide Guarneri, Samuele Bernardini (Honda), and Andrea Verona (GASGAS).

“Yeah, today was good,” said Wil. “The tests were nice to ride, but also a little scary in places – you certainly didn’t want to be making any big mistakes. I just rode a strong but steady pace, hit my marks, and tried not to over ride the bike. I think there’s a little more that I can give, but it was a good day.”

EnduroGP Stage One Results

Wil Ruprecht – E2 – TM
Josep Garcia – E2 – KTM +20.25s
Brad Freeman – E3 – Beta +37.04s
Davide Guarnoni – E1 – Fantic +1min01.51s
Samuele Bernardini – E1 – Honda +1min14.99s
Andrea Verona – E1 – Gas Gas +1min17.74s
Hamish McDonald – E2 – Sherco +1min18.74s
Jaume Betriu – E3 – KTM +1min31.98s
Jamie McCanney – E3 – Husqvarna +1min51.32s
Antoine Magain – E1 – Sherco +1min52.81s

Enduro1 – Guarneri claims day win number two

Although delivering a not-so-great time on the opening Akrapovic Super Test, Davide Guarneri hit the ground running at the start of day one, topping the opening Champion Enduro Test before winning a further three tests before the mid-way point of the day.

“I had a really strong opening lap, which meant that I was able to open up a small advantage,” commented Italian Guarneri from the podium. “I made some mistakes, it wasn’t a perfect day from me, but I think everyone was making some mistakes. For myself and Fantic, it’s great to get this second victory of the championship. I was also a little lucky – I had a big crash in the final enduro test, but I was able to get back on my bike quickly.”

It was a great day for Samuele Bernardini who secured his best result of the season with second. Andrea Verona dropped outside the top two for the first time, taking third. Antoine Magain (Sherco) and Mikael Persson (KTM) were fourth and fifth respectively.

Enduro2 – Ruprecht and Garcia lead the way

The Enduro2 class boiled down to a battle between Ruprecht and Garcia for the win. With the duo pushing the pace in the overall EnduroGP standings they pulled clear of their classmates. With Ruprecht holding firm, Garcia would be denied his third race win in a row.

Behind the top two it was another consistent performance from New Zealand’s Hamish MacDonald (Sherco) in third. The reigning Enduro Junior champion is growing stronger with each round and will soon look to bridge the gap to the top two.

Delivering a strong performance on home soil, Sweden’s Albin Elowson (Husqvarna) was fourth with Finland’s Eero Remes (TM) fifth.

Enduro3 – Seven in a row for Freeman

While admitting to not having the measure of Ruprecht and Garcia in EnduroGP, Freeman continued his win streak in Enduro3 to claim his seventh victory of the season.

As ever the battle behind him was a much tighter affair with Jaume Betriu (KTM), Jamie McCanney (Husqvarna) and Daniel McCanney (Sherco) fighting for the remainder of the podium. Betriu placed as runner-up, with Jamie getting the better of his brother Daniel for third. Antoine Basset (Beta) rounded out the top five.

Enduro Women – Laia by a mile

Starting as she meant to continue, Laia Sanz comfortably topped the event opening Akrapovic Super Test before firing out of the blocks early on day one with what would be the first of three wins. Unbeaten on any special test during lap one, and having extended a healthy lead in the process, Laia topped just one of the final lap’s three special tests – the Acerbis Cross Test – yet still ended the day on the top step of the podium and close to 50-seconds ahead of her closest challenger.

Second on day one went to Britain’s Jane Daniels (Fantic) who put together a largely mistake free day, beating Laia on one of the day’s special tests. The only other rider to take a test win off Sanz was Mirea Badia (GASGAS). Like Daniels, Badia wasn’t really able to challenge Laia, placing third overall and 13 seconds down on Daniels. With Britain’s Rosie Rowett (KTM) fourth and Norway’s Marie Vilde Holt (GASGAS) fifth, the best placed home rider was Linnea Akesson (Husqvarna) in sixth.

“I felt like the special tests didn’t really suit me too well, but I’m really happy to have got the win,” explained Sanz at the end of the day. “The day was quite relaxed, no stress, so that was good. I’m sure tomorrow will be tougher, but I hope that I can match this result and not struggle on the second day as I have at some events recently.”

Enduro Junior – Macoritto takes it

As has been the case so far this year, the battle for top honours in Enduro Junior was played out between Lorenzo Macoritto and teammate Matteo Pavoni (TM). Spurred on by his day two win last week in Estonia, Macoritto held off Pavoni by 12 seconds to get the job done. With home support on his side, Sweden’s Max Ahlin (Husqvarna) wasn’t too far away, just 19 seconds behind Pavoni, for third. He’ll look to go better on day two. A strong ride by Fantic’s Jed Etchells saw him beat Ruy Barbosa (Honda) by five seconds for fourth.

Enduro Youth – Home win for Norrbin

Following his win in Italy and double in Estonia, Albin Norrbin is now the rider to beat in Enduro Youth having won today in Sweden. The Swede was a class act taking eight test wins from 10. Kevin Cristino and Harry Edmondson made it a Fantic 1-2-3 in Skövde. Samuli Puhakainen (TM) and Albert Fontova (KTM) completed the top five.

After a physically demanding opening day in Skövde, the Airmousse GP of Sweden concludes on Saturday July 24.

2021 EnduroGP of Estonia – Day 2 Report

Brad Freeman (Beta) has fought back to win day two of the Airmousse GP of Sweden, round four of the Borilli FIM EnduroGP World Championship, in Skövde. After finishing third on day one, a determined effort from the Brit saw him fend off Italy’s Andrea Verona (GASGAS) by four seconds, with Davide Guarneri (Fantic) placing third overall in EnduroGP.

Brad Freeman (Beta) extended his EnduroGP outright and E3 category points lead

It was double delight for Spain’s Laia Sanz as she secured a day two win in the Enduro Women’s category, while Lorenzo Macoritto (TM) and Albin Norrbin (Fantic) also ended their time in Sweden with double wins in the Enduro Junior and Enduro Youth classes respectively.

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EnduroGP class – Four-way battle upfront

The fight for top honours in EnduroGP was a hard-fought one on day two of the Airmousse GP of Sweden with the top four riders separated by just 14 seconds after more than one-hour of timed special test racing. Frustrated by his mistakes on day one, Freeman began day two on a mission, sweeping the first three tests to grab an early lead. But the pace was frantic at the top as Verona, Guarneri and Josep Garcia (KTM) all came to the boil early on lap two. Garcia won the second Champion Enduro Test, while Verona topped the Acerbis Cross Test.

Opening up a slender advantage on lap three, Freeman held some breathing room entering the final test of the weekend, the Acerbis Cross Test. Behind him Guarneri provisionally held second with Garcia one tenth of a second adrift in third. But a blisteringly fast time from Verona leapfrogged him past both riders and into second, finishing just four seconds behind Freeman.

With second slipping from his grasp on the final test, Guarneri held of Garcia by less than one-second for third. Although starting the day strongly, Will Ruprecht (TM) – day one winner – couldn’t maintain that pace and slipped down the order to fifth.

“It’s amazing to get the win, but for me the biggest thing was to turn things around from yesterday,” said Freeman. “I started strong and was able to lead all day. Hats off to Andrea on that final test though, I’m glad I had some breathing room going into it!”

Freeman now leads the EnduroGP standings entering the summer break with the final two rounds of the championship remaining in October.

EnduroGP Stage Two Results

Brad Freeman (GBR), Beta,
Andrea Verona (ITA), GASGAS, +4.33s
Davide Guarneri (ITA), Fantic, +13.64s
Josep Garcia (ESP), KTM, +14.52s
Wil Ruprecht (AUS), TM, +45.70s
Hamish MacDonald (NZL), Sherco +1m29.62s
Albin Elowson (SWE), Husqvarna +1min47.08s
Jaime Betriu (ESP), KTM, +1min48.37s
Joe Wootton (GBR), Husqvarna +1min54.41s
Anton Lundgren (SWE), Husqvarna +1min58.27s

EnduroGP Championship Standings

Brad Freeman (GBR), Beta, 146 points
Josep Garcia (ESP), KTM, 124 pts
Wil Ruprecht (AUS), TM, 120 pts
Andrea Verona (ITA), GASGAS, 102 pts
Davide Guarneri (ITA), Fantic, 92 pts
Hamish MacDonald (NZL), Sherco, 74 pts
Steve Holcombe (GBR), Beta, 72 pts
Jaime Betriu (ESP), KTM, 67 pts
Samuele Bernardini (ITA), Honda, 37 pts
Daniel McCanney (GBR), Sherco, 37 pts

Enduro1 – Verona steals the show

Fresh from his Enduro1 clean sweep last weekend in Estonia, Andrea Verona arrived in Sweden focused on delivering more winning rides. Perhaps a little too eager to continue from where he left off, the Italian frustratingly hit the deck multiple times early on during day one. Relying upon his impressive pace to bring him back up to the sharp end of the results by the end of the day, Andrea would ultimately claim third in E1.

Hitting the reset button ahead the second day of racing, Verona was back to his best. On pace with his rivals from the start, more importantly he kept things rubber side down with the 22-year-old engaged in a day-long battle with countryman Davide Guarneri for overall victory. With the outcome of day two coming down to the results of the final test of the weekend, Verona dug deep to take the win and top the Enduro1 class by just over nine seconds. In doing so he also claimed a runner-up EnduroGP result.

Andrea Verona

“I’m super happy with how my weekend ended. On day one I had too many crashes but despite that, I still wasn’t too far from the win. To turn it around on the second day and take the win, this was really huge for me to bounce back like that. With it going down to the last test, I had nothing to lose and I gave it full gas. I gave it everything and to take the day win after a close battle all day feels amazing. My speed put me on the podium in EnduroGP as well, so for me this second day was really special after a difficult opening day.”

Behind the top two, Honda’s Samuele Bernardini took third, albeit over two minutes behind the leaders. Sweden’s Mikael Persson (KTM) finished fourth, with Canada’s Kade Tinkler (KTM) fifth.

Enduro1 Stage Two Results

Andrea Verona (GASGAS)
Davide Guarneri (Fantic) +9.31s
Samuele Bernardini (Honda) +2min13.24s
Mikael Persson (KTM) +2min23.51s
Kade Tinkler (KTM) +2min43.57s

Enduro1 Championship Standings

Andrea Verona (GASGAS) 152
Davide Guarneri (Fantic) 142
Samuele Bernardini (Honda) 109
Antoine Magan (Sherco) 99
Davide Soreca (Husqvarna) 85

Enduro2 – Garcia ahead of Ruprecht

The second of two back-to-back rounds held in the north of Europe, the EnduroGP of Sweden gave riders very little in terms of rest between events due to its Thursday-to-Saturday schedule. Delivering a mixture of terrain, including forest tracks, open grass tests, and dusty hardpack, one thing that remained constant was the weather – hot, dry conditions punished the riders even further, with fitness and endurance proving key to a strong result, especially on the second day.

Following an intense two-rider fight for the win that raged throughout day one, Garcia went into the ninth and final test of the day trailing leader Wil Ruprecht by just over 11 seconds. Giving his all, Josep looked like he might be able to claw back the time needed, but a small mistake mid-test cost the Spaniard the seconds he required, and he was forced to settle for second overall on day one behind the Aussie.

On day two the fight was contested by a number of riders, with the top five separated by just over 20-seconds after eight of the nine special tests. Josep secured the Enduro2 class win, but missed out on the EnduroGP podium by just 0.88 seconds. His results over the two days were enough for him to successfully maintain his second place in the outright EnduroGP standings and close in on Ruprecth for the points lead in Enduro2, where the KTM 350 EXC-F rider now trails TM’s Ruprecht by just five points.

Another third place for Kiwi Hamish MacDonald (Sherco) on day two, while Albin Elowson (Husqvarna) and Joe Wootton (Husqvarna) were fourth and fifth respectively.

Josep Garcia

“It’s been an excellent event here in Sweden, but of course another tough one. Day one went well, I was fighting with Wil (Ruprecht) the whole day and in the end, it came down to the final test. I gave it my all, but a small mistake just lost me too much time, but it was good to finish second in EnduroGP. Day two went well for me, I had a crash on the second Cross Test and that cost some seconds, but I was still in the fight for the win. In the last lap we were all together, really close on time. I pushed as always but I just missed out on the EnduroGP podium by a tiny amount. I’m happy with the E2 class result, but in the overall I know it could be better, but this is racing, and I know I did my best.”

Wil Ruprecht

“That’s a wrap from Sweden! Solid riding both days with some fast company. Happy with the outright speed going into the summer break but it’s clear I’m coming up a little bit short late Sunday. As with all challenges I’ve faced this year I will dedicated all of my energy towards cleaning up this area and hopefully have something to show for it come the back half of the season. A big thanks to the team for a big 2 weeks of support.“

Enduro2 Stage Two Results

Josep Garcia (ESP), KTM
Wil Ruprecht (AUS), TM, +31.18s
Hamish MacDonald (NZL), Sherco, +1min15.10s
Albin Elowson (SWE), Husqvarna, +1min32.56s
Joe Wooton (GBR), Husqvarna, +1min39.89s

Enduro2 Championship Standings

Wil Ruprecht (AUS), TM, 146
Josep Garcia (ESP), KTM, 141
Hamish MacDonald (NZL), Sherco, 112
Steve Holcombe (GBR), Beta, 106
Eero Remes (FIN), TM, 68

Enduro3 – Freeman extends championship lead with win

While Freeman ran away with proceedings in Enduro3, there was plenty of battles behind him for the podium. Jaume Betriu got the better of the McCanney brothers for second, while Jamie McCanney (Husqvarna) edged out his brother Daniel McCanney (Sherco) for third. Antoine Basset (Beta) took fifth.

Enduro3 Stage Two Results

Brad Freeman (GB) Beta
Jaume Betriu (ESP) KTM +1min48.37s
Jamie McCanney (GB) Husqvarna +2min14.85s
Daniel McCanney (GB) Sherco +2min23.72s
Antoine Basset (FRA) Beta +3min22.50s

Enduro3 Championship Standings

Brad Freeman (GB) Beta 160
Jaume Betriu (ESP) KTM 134
Daniel McCanney (GB) Sherco 116
Jamie McCanney (GB) Husqvarna 108
Antoine Basset (FRA) Beta 77

Enduro Women – Sanz in charge

It was a weekend of fast and frantic action at round four of the 2021 FIM EnduroGP World Championship, with Laia Sanz topping the Women’s class on both days of racing. In dominant form throughout the entire weekend, the Spanish ace enjoyed a maximum points haul, heading home to Spain with the Women’s class lead.

Arriving at the EnduroGP of Sweden tied on points at the top of the Women’s championship standings, Laia Sanz had only one thing on her mind – leave Skovde with a firm hold of the Women’s title chase. After topping the timesheets on Thursday night’s Super Test (the race ran from Thursday to Saturday!), Laia was in full control throughout the opening day of racing, claiming a convincing victory.

For day two, the Spanish ace frustratingly lacked the energy needed to push forward, opting for a consistent pace in order to secure another strong result. Nevertheless, Laia won three of the six tests to claim a second day win in Sweden and now sits on top of the series standings with a comfortable eight-point lead.

Laia Sanz

“It’s been another good weekend for me and overall I’m really happy with my results. I would have liked for some of the tests to be a little slower and more technical, especially the extreme tests, but it was the same for everyone. Like the first round, my fitness isn’t quite where it needed to be in order to be able to push on the second day, so I had to maintain a strong but steady pace. In terms of my championship, it’s been a great weekend and now I have a nice gap at the top of the standings with one round to go in France.”

Fastest on the Acerbis Cross Test, Mireia Badia (GASGAS) claimed the runner-up result with Jane Daniels (Fantic) third. Rosie Rowett (KTM) and Marie Holt (GASGAS) rounded out the top five.

EnduroGP Women Two Results

Laia Sanz (GASGAS)
Mireia Badia (GASGAS) +29.69s
Jane Daniels (Fantic) +42.89s
Rosie Rowett (KTM) +2min47.84s
Marie Vilde Holt (GasGas) +3min36.95s

EnduroGP Women Championship Standings

Laia Sanz (GASGAS) 75
Mireia Badia (GASGAS) 67
Jane Daniels (Fantic) 66
Rosie Rowett (KTM) 45
Joana Goncalves (Husqvarna) 39

Enduro Junior – Last gasp effort for Macoritto pays off

Delivering more great battles, both Lorenzo Macoritto (TM) and Matteo Pavoni (TM) again fought it out for the Enduro Junior victory. Entering the final test it was Pavoni who held the upper hand by nearly two seconds, but a flyer from Macoritto saw him collect his second win of the weekend.

Never too far away from the TM mounted pairing, Leo le Quere (Sherco) ended his day in third. Max Ahlin (Husqvarna) was fourth with Luc Fargier (GASGAS) fifth.

Enduro Junior Stage Two Results

Lorenzo Macoritto (TM)
Matteo Pavoni (TM) +1.71s
Leo Le Quere (Sherco) +37.00s
Max Ahlin (Husqvarna) +48.23s
Luc Fargier (GasGas) +1min28.15s

Enduro Junior Championship Standings

Matteo Pavoni (TM) 148
Lorenzo Macoritto (TM) 142
Leo Le Quere (Sherco) 99
Max Ahlin (Husqvarna) 84
Sergio Huertas Navarro (GasGas) 69

After a busy fortnight of racing, the Borilli FIM EnduroGP World Championship takes a well-earned summer break before returning for the final two rounds of the championship in early October.

Before that many riders in the field will contest the 2021 International Six Days Enduro, held in Italy from August 30 – September 4.

Source: MCNews.com.au

Motorcycle Racing, News

News Wrap | SpeedwayGP | Capricorn XTreme | EnduroGP | AMA MX

July 19, 2021 mcnews Leave a comment

2021 Australian Classic and Post Classic MX Championships Cancelled

The 2021 Australian National Classic and Post Classic Motocross Championships hosted by Heaven VMX, originally set for July in Nowra, NSW that had been postponed due to concerns around COVID-19 have now officially been cancelled for 2021.

Due to the ongoing outbreak of Covid-19 across the country and the uncertainty in the current climate the Heaven VMX Club in consultation with Motorcycling Australia made the tough decision to cancel these events.

Kenneth Swan – Heaven VMX President

“The Heaven VMX club is passionate about the great sport of Vintage Motocross. The planned 2021 Australian National Classic and Post Classic Motocross Championships was intended to be an opportunity to extend our arms to, and share our passion with, all VMX racers from around Australia. Bring the whole VMX family together for a VMX Festival of Fun. When the Heaven VMX Club of NSW does run this event, we want to do it at the right time when all VMX racers from around Australia are safe and happy to travel and give it every chance to be the amazing event we have planned.

2021 Australian Classic and Post Classic MX Championships cancelled

“Therefore for 2021 for the Heaven VMX Club, have made the difficult decision to cancel the Australian National Classic and Post Classic Motocross Championships. With this news we are equally as disappointed as everyone is, we hope you understand though as this should be a truly national event for all our competitors.”

The Heaven VMX Club thanked all those riders that had already entered and supported the events. Over the next 2 weeks, all entry fees taken to date will be refunded through Ridernet and refunds will be finalised by July 31.

Australian Speedway Under 16’s 125cc Solo & Teams nominations open

Motorcycling Australia ihave opened nominations for the 2021 Australian Speedway under 16’s 125cc Solo and Teams Championships. The Championships will be held at South Australia’s Sidewinders U16’s Speedway Club, September 23-25.

Supplementary regulations for the Championships can be found here (link). Nominations can be submitted by filling out the following form here.

Two New Zealand Oceania Speedway Sidecar rounds announced for 2022

FIM Oceania, Speedway NZ (SNZ) and Motorcycling NZ (MNZ) have revealed that competitors will be set to battle out the 2022 FIM Oceania Speedway Sidecar Championship over two rounds on January 29th, 2022, at Moore Park Speedway, Christchurch, New Zealand and Oreti Park Speedway, Invercargill New Zealand on February 5th, 2022.

The FIM Oceania Speedway Sidecar Championship heads to New Zealand in 2022

This will be the first time the FIM Oceania Speedway Sidecar Championship has been hosted on New Zealand soil, and over two rounds. With both host tracks sporting a rich history in Motorcycle Racing.

Moore Park speedway was founded and named after the late Ronnie Moore, and Oreti Park Speedway, Invercargill has strong ties to Burt Munro.

The final round of this FIM Oceania Championship finishing in Invercargill the week before the annual pilgrimage to the South for the Burt Munro Classic, which is always a talked about two wheel event.

Peter Doyle – FIM Oceania President

“FIM Oceania was very pleased to be working with Speedway NZ and their host tracks, Moore Park & Oreti Park Speedways for what is sure to be an amazing 2022 FIM Oceania Speedway Sidecar Championship. It is excellent to have this FIM Oceania Championship conducted in New Zealand and we encourage motorcycle racing fans from across New Zealand and Australia to get along and not miss a minute of this speedway action. There is a long history of excellent competition and hard fought battles between the Aussies & Kiwi riders across many motorcycle races over the years. I am sure in January 2022, there will be two rounds of sensational speedway racing.”

Speedway NZ will be seeking Expressions of Interest from New Zealand based riders for the event over the next six weeks before finalising the qualification process for NZ representation.

Motorcycling Australia and ACU have been delegated 8 of the 16 spots in the rider line-up, for what promises to be an action packed international event.

Maciej Janowski tops Czech Speedway GP Round 1

Polish star Maciej Janowski was elated to end his Prague struggles as he topped the Anlas Czech Republic FIM Speedway Grand Prix round-one podium on Friday evening.

‘Magic’ delivered a dream start to his season when he overhauled Emil Sayfutdinov at the start of lap three to win the final. Great Britain racer Tai Woffinden was third, while Sweden’s Fredrik Lindgren was fourth after hitting the tapes.

Despite Sayfutdinov cruising through to the final after topping the heat score chart on 12 race points, it was Janowski who got the verdict when it mattered most to top the World Championship.

It’s the first time he has qualified for a Prague final since his SGP debut season in 2015, when he finished third. Janowski had reached the semi-finals at Marketa Stadium three times in seven appearances going into Friday night, so he was delighted to triumph at the opening round of SGP 2021.

Maciej Janowski

“For the last couple of years, I have been struggling on this track. But today I felt great and my team was working great. The bike was so quick and I really enjoyed racing. I want to say thanks to my team. I love you guys. We found a good setup from the beginning and that was very fast. I used good lines on the track. I got good points and I rode very well. So I am very happy and that’s a great start to the Grand Prix series. The season is long; we have 11 rounds. We need to be smart and fast like today. Tomorrow is a different day. We will try to focus on the same things as tonight and I hope tomorrow I can show the same speedway.”

Double European champion Emil Sayfutdinov was content with second spot as reached his first SGP podium since 2019.

Emil Sayfutdinov

“It was very good. I felt good from the start and I was happy around the track because I had good speed. I would like to say thanks to my team, who have been working very hard. That’s the next goal, so we will just concentrate on that. It is always a different day and a different track. Today I will try to relax, have a good sleep and then we will see.”

Woffinden was pleased to pick up third place on the Marketa Stadium track where he won three SGP rounds on the bounce between 2013 and 2015.

Tai Woffinden

“We salvaged a third, which was pretty good. I started the night okay with a second and a win. The next two races were really bad and we were just trying to find the setup. We were chasing it all night. I needed to win my last race to make the semi, which I did. I needed to finish first or second to get into the final, which I did. If Freddie hadn’t touched the tapes, I wouldn’t have been on the podium. We learned a lot today for tomorrow.”

Australian Max Fricke finished eighth with nine-points, while Jason Doyle was 12, on five.

Speedway GP World Championship Standings after Round 1

Maciej Janowski 20
Emil Sayfutdinov 18
Tai Woffinden 16
Fredrik Lindgren 14
Artem Laguta 12
Bartosz Zmarzlik 11
Leon Madsen 10
Max Fricke 9
Martin Vaculik 8
Robert Lambert 7
Matej Zagar 6
Jason Doyle 5
Jan Kvech 4
Anders Thomsen 3
Oliver Berntzon 2
Krzysztof Kasprzak 1

Artem Laguta claims Speedway GP Round 2 victory

Triple FIM Speedway of Nations world champion Artem Laguta admits the Prague rain clouds had a golden lining as he stormed to victory in Anlas Czech Republic FIM Speedway Grand Prix round two on Sunday.

Czech Republic FIM Speedway Grand Prix Round 2

The sport’s biggest stars returned to Marketa Stadium for an early-afternoon start after Saturday’s event was postponed due to heavy downpours in the Czech capital.

A rare afternoon round proved lucky for Laguta as he collected the second SGP victory of his career – following up his triumph at the 2020 season opener in Wroclaw.

Laguta raced past fellow SON winner Emil Sayfutdinov to hit the front, with Friday’s round-one winner Maciej Janowski joining him for second and Sweden’s Fredrik Lindgren rounding Sayfutdinov for third on the final corner.

Heavy rain followed by bright sunshine meant track conditions changed drastically for speedway’s biggest stars. But Laguta made the most of them to move up to second place in the World Championship on 32 points – just six behind leader Janowski.

Artem Laguta

“I am very happy today. It was a good day for me. It was a good meeting and I made good starts today. I am very, very happy with the win. Now I am looking forward to the next meeting. But Speedway Grand Prix is always very hard. There was a lot of rain on Saturday, but it went today and the track was okay. It was very hard with grippy starts, but for me it was no problem. I want to say thank you to my team and thank you to my family – they are my life. I am very happy. Thank you.”

Janowski admits the bike which fired him to victory in Friday’s first round didn’t have the same impact today. But a change of equipment saw him bounce back with a very handy second place – meaning he has dropped just two championship points from a possible 40.

Maciej Janowski

“They were two completely different days. After four heats I changed my bike. My first bike that I used on Friday lost some energy, so we changed and then everything was much, much better. It could have been better, but I am happy with what we got. Second place in the second GP sounds good and I scored good points – that’s the most important thing. We had a very hard day, but I am happy with how it finished.”

Lindgren has made a habit of scraping into semi-finals and taking full advantage of the opportunity. He turned eight race points in the heats into a very useful 16 championship points with third place.

The Swede is now fourth in the World Championship on 30 points and was pleased to make his mark when it mattered once again.

Fredrik Lindgren

“Today was a big battle all the way through. I never really felt I had good speed. I was making decent starts and had good track craft, but I was struggling a bit and really had to scrape through to the semis. In the semi we found a bit more speed in the bike and I was very happy I made it to the final. In the final I just gave it everything I had. It was a big battle and a big blast around the outside on the last corner to make it on to the podium. I am happy with that.”

Round 2 saw Jason Doyle in sixth, claiming 11-points, with Max Fricke in 11th for six. Doyle and Fricke are now ninth and 10th in the standings respectively.

Next up for the FIM Speedway Grand Prix stars is Betard Wroclaw SGP of Poland rounds three and four at the legendary Olympic Stadium on July 30 and 31, as Janowski bids to extend his series lead in his home city, with Laguta and Tai Woffinden also lining up on their Polish home track.

Speedway GP Round 2 Results

Artem Laguta 20
Maciej Janowski 18
Fredrik Lindgren 16
Emil Sayfutdinov 14
Bartosz Zmarzlik 12
Jason Doyle 11
Martin Vaculik 10
Anders Thomsen 9
Tai Woffinden 8
10 Leon Madsen 7
Max Fricke 6
Matej Zagar 5
Krzysztof Kasprzak 4
Jan Kvech 3
Robert Lambert 2
Oliver Berntzon 1
Petr Chlupac 0
Daniel Klima DNR

Speedway GP World Championship Standings after Round 2

Maciej Janowski 38
Artem Laguta 32
Emil Sayfutdinov 32
Fredrik Lindgren 30
Tai Woffinden 24
Bartosz Zmarzlik 23
Martin Vaculik 18
Leon Madsen 17
Jason Doyle 16
Max Fricke 15
Anders Thomsen 12
Matej Zagar 11
Robert Lambert 9
Jan Kvech 7
Krzysztof Kasprzak 5
Oliver Berntzon 3

DuQuoin Mile Cancelled Due to Weather

Due to the significant level of rainfall in the area, the 2021 DuQuoin Mile has been cancelled. Progressive AFT will continue its season with the Port Royal Half-Mile on Saturday, July 24 at Port Royal Speedway in Port Royal, Penn.

Fans who have purchased advanced tickets for the DuQuoin Mile will receive information on refunds and ticket credits from Track Enterprises in the coming days.

2021 Capricorn XTreme – Grassroots Enduro Round 3

Round Three of the Australian Hard Enduro Championship has been run and won, despite the challenges to organisers and promotors of the national series, Grassroots Enduro Australia, who spent the week leading up to the race contending with Covid lockdowns and heavy rains.

A brand new venue located at Mount Morgan, eight hours north of Brisbane in Queensland saw 176 Hard Enduro nutters register for the Capricorn X-Treme.

Riders were meant to compete in the prologue in order to determine their starting positions for race day, with Juniors racing a two and a half hour event on the same day as the prologue. However 80 mm of rain preceeded the event, which saw the access road washed out, with the go-ahead only coming through 6 pm the day prior to racing.

2021 Capricorn XTreme – Grassroots Australian Hard Enduro

As such the the prologue was abandoned and Juniors race moved to the morning of race day. Gold, Silver, Bronze and Ladies classes raced on the 45 km track over a six hour time limit, while the Juniors track was eight km in length, with a reduced two hour limit.

The Pro/Gold class was won by Rob Nowak (KTM), a veteran of the Hard Enduro scene in Australia with international race experience such as RBR, Erzberg and Sea to Sky. Runner up went to Wade Ibrahim (KTM), who won round two, leaving him in a strong position on the points chart.

Sherco rider Chris Perry rounded out the top three with a solid performance and backing up his third place at the previous round.

In the Silver class Chris Dark took the win ahead of Trent Tucci, with just a minute separating them, while Frank Fee completed the podium.

Mac Vonthien won the Bronze category by a handy seven-minutes over Robert Brosig, while Adam DeCaria claimed the final podium positon.

Ebony Nielsen won the Ladies, ahead of Cheyenne Jones and Zeena Gadsby, with Amy Davidson a more distant fourth.

In the Junior class, Brody Reed took the win ahead of Toby Page, as the only two riders to complete five laps. Third placed Michael Blake completed four.

Source: MCNews.com.au

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Moto News | Abestone Hard Enduro | Pro MX | Flat Track | SGP

July 12, 2021 mcnews Leave a comment

Wodonga ProMX Round 5 postpone due to Covid

The ProMX Management Team have postponed Round 5 of the Penrite ProMX Championship, presented by AMX Superstores, which was to be held at Wodonga, Victoria.

This decision has been made due to the continued complications of state government COVID-19 restrictions which have resulted from the ongoing COVID-19 outbreaks across Australia including South East Queensland and Greater Sydney.

ProMX Round 5 has been postponed due to Covid travel restrictions

The postponement decision has not been made lightly, as enforced border restrictions have affected a number of riders and teams, but more significantly they affect the ability to produce the ProMX Live TV production that is based from Greater Sydney.

ProMX Management has made the decision to provide advance notification to riders and teams during this highly complicated time, after the NSW Government recently extended its Greater Sydney lockdown for a further seven days.

Round 5 of the ProMX Championship was to be held July 25 at Wodonga, VIC. ProMX Management Team and the host club, Albury-Wodonga MCC will now work closely to review a potential new date the Penrite ProMX Championship, presented by AMX Superstores.

2021 AMA Flat Track Grand Championship scheduled for July 15

The 2021 AMA Flat Track Grand Championship is scheduled for July 15-20 in Du Quoin, Ill., promising five days of intense competition among the nation’s elite amateur riders as the Grand Championship returns to the Du Quoin State Fairgrounds.

This year’s event features 24 competitive classes, and in addition to racing the Mile on day one, racers will compete on the Half-Mile, TT and Short Track over the five-day event. The full racing schedule, class structure and updated regulations can be viewed at americanmotorcyclist.com.

The Magic Mile has an illustrious history in flat track racing, with races dating back to the 1920s. The return to the Magic Mile for 2021 is the first in over half a decade.

AMA National No. 1 plates will be awarded to the racers in each class who earn the highest point totals. Racers will compete for the Nicky Hayden AMA Flat Track Horizon Award, which honors an amateur racer poised for success at the pro level.

Awards will also be given for AMA Youth Flat Track Racer of the Year and AMA Vet/Senior Flat Track Racer of the Year. The Bill Werner Fast Brain Award will also be handed out to racers who are fast and display academic excellence. The award is bestowed upon a racer based upon his or her performance at the event, as well as their performance in school based on official school transcripts supplied at the time of application.

2021 SGP finale in Torun becomes a double

The FIM and BSI Speedway have revealed that the season-ending 2021 eWinner Torun FIM Speedway Grand Prix of Poland will now be a double-header event. The action takes place on Friday, October 1 and Saturday, October 2 at the Marian Rose Motoarena.

As with the previously announced double-headers, riders will compete each night for the maximum 20 points per SGP round. The final stop on the 2021 calendar is sure to be an exciting weekend, culminating in a world champion being crowned.

Torun has hosted an FIM Speedway Grand Prix round every year since 2010, with the World Championship trophy being presented six times at the Motoarena.

Tickets for the newly-announced Friday event will be available in due course.

Honda’s first MXGP champ meets its latest at Matterly Basin

At the second round of the 2021 FIM World Motocross Championship, in Matterley Basin, there was a meeting between two very special riders in Honda’s illustrious history – Graham Noyce and Tim Gajser.

The importance of these two legends cannot be understated as Noyce was Honda’s first ever world motocross champion in 1979, in the 500cc class, leading the way for a whole host of title-winning riders on red machines to follow, including Gajser, who is the reigning 2020 MXGP champion, on board his Honda CRF450RW.

In the years between, the list of champions riding Honda machines is unmatched by any other manufacturer, with a total of 20 titles by nine different riders in the 41 years, including a streak from 1984-1993 when Honda won every single premier title. And when you add in other world motocross championship classes, that streak extends to 1997 for a total of 14 years when Honda was on the top step of the final podium.

With over double the number of premier class championships, Honda could actually increase their dominance even further after the 2021 season as Gajser looks to win his third MXGP title in a row. He is already the most successful rider in their history with four titles and 30 GP wins and he is currently holding the red-plate in this year’s championship after third round which just took place in Maggiora, Italy.

Number of Premier Class Titles for Honda

3 – Tim Gajser
3 – Georges Jobe
3 – David Thorpe
3 – Andre Malherbe
2 – Frederic Bolley
2 – Stefan Everts
2 – Eric Geboers
1 – Greg Albertyn
1 – Graham Noyce

World Championship Titles for Honda

1979 – Graham Noyce (500cc)*
1980 – Andre Malherbe (500cc)*
1981 – Andre Malherbe (500cc)*
1984 – Andre Malherbe (500cc)*
1985 – David Thorpe (500cc)*
1986 – David Thorpe (500cc)*
1987 – Georges Jobe (500cc)*
1987 – Eric Geboers (250cc)
1988 – Eric Geboers (500cc)*
1988 – Jean-Michel Bayle (125cc)
1989 – David Thorpe (500cc)*
1989 – Jean-Michel Bayle (250cc)
1990 – Eric Geboers (500cc)*
1991 – Georges Jobe (500cc)*
1991 – Trampas Parker (250cc)
1992 – Georges Jobe (500cc)*
1992 – Greg Albertyn (125cc)
1993 – Greg Albertyn (250cc)*
1994 – Marcus Hansson (250cc)
1995 – Alessandro Puzar (125cc)
1996 – Stefan Everts (250cc)*
1997 – Stefan Everts (250cc)*
1999 – Frederic Bolley (250cc)*
2000 – Frederic Bolley (250cc)*
2011 – Julien Bill (MX3)
2013 – Klemen Gercar (MX3)
2015 – Tim Gajser (MX2)
2016 – Tim Gajser (MXGP)*
2019 – Tim Gajser (MXGP)*
2020 – Tim Gajser (MXGP)*

* denotes premier class title

Bolt claims 2021 Abestone Hard Enduro victory

Britain’s Billy Bolt started off by laid down the gauntlet at round three of the FIM Hard Enduro World Championship, producing the fastest qualification time at the Abestone Hard Enduro.

Already looking at home in the Tuscan mountains, Bolt topped Saturday’s time sheets ahead of Manuel Lettenbichler (KTM) and Taddy Blazusiak (GASGAS).

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After a nine-week wait between the opening round at Extreme XL Lagares and the Abestone Hard Enduro, this year’s FIM Hard Enduro World Championship has finally roared back into life. Friday’s ELEVEIT Extreme Test gave competitors a chance to stretch their legs over a short but demanding extreme course.

The new Italian event promised much with big mountain riding, gnarly rocky climbs, and true Hard Enduro terrain, and it delivered on every count. After Saturday’s qualification, competitors got down to the business end of the weekend with the LIQUI MOLY Super Final, where two laps of a world-class Hard Enduro awaited them.

Having topped both Friday’s timed practice and Saturday’s qualification, Bolt sat on pole position for Sunday and started as the rider everyone had to beat. However, with just a 12-second cushion over closest rival Lettenbichler, it was still all to play for.

With Bolt opening the course, Lettenbichler patiently took his time and then gave chase. Knowing the early river section would be tough, he worked it hard and immediately caught up to Bolt’s rear wheel. From there the fight for victory was on. Throughout the two laps the duo swapped positions.

Lettenbichler appeared to have the edge on the rocky climbs up the mountain, while Bolt held the advantage on the way down. Pulling the pin on the final descents, Bolt put his Husqvarna out front and held Lettenbichler off to win.

Billy Bolt

“It’s awesome to pull off the win – it’s been a dream weekend for me to be honest. I came here wanting to show that my pace at Extreme XL Lagares was no fluke and that I’m ready for the riverbeds and climbs and I got to show that. The race itself was a bit of a blur, it was proper intense. I messed the early river section up and Mani got on my wheel, and we just battled from there. He had me in the Minestrone Rock Garden, but I felt strong in the woods. On the final lap I just went for the pass, made it stick and hung it out for the win!”

Manuel Lettenbichler

“I’m a little bummed not to have won, but second is definitely a great start to the season and the pace we had over the rest of the field was very strong. I can’t complain with my riding, I gave it everything and it was a good fight with Billy. I caught him early in the river and we rode back and forth together for most of the race. It came down to the wire, but just didn’t go my way. But it’s good to know where my pace is at now and with what we showed today, there’s going to be a lot more tight battles to come.”

Behind the leading duo – over 13 minutes behind, such was the speed of the top two – Jarvis was another man on a mission. Hampered by a starting position of ninth, he had work to do. Building pace as the race progressed, he began to pull back positions. A gamble not to refuel at the end of lap one leapfrogged him further up the running order. And with a strong run over the mountain, the 46-year-old Hard Enduro legend, took third.

Graham Jarvis

“My qualification wasn’t too good with ninth, so I had a good bit of traffic in front of me most of the way through. I rode too tense on the first lap and struggled to find a decent rhythm – especially with those early riverbed sections. Gradually I got the speed up and lap two was much better. We gambled on not refuelling and it worked out in our favour. I think my speed and fitness was there to get up with the top two, but the early issues didn’t make it possible. But I’m looking forward now for Red Bull Romaniacs.”

Putting in a strong showing throughout the two laps, Jonny Walker (Beta) just didn’t have an answer for Jarvis in the closing stages and had to be content with fourth. Shadowing Jarvis off the line, Alfredo Gomez (Husqvarna) kept close to his teammate during the opening lap. But with Jarvis finding another gear on lap two, the Spaniard wasn’t able to go with him, ending his race fifth.

Alfredo Gomez

“The first part of the race was good. Riding with Graham I was feeling good. We managed to catch and pass a lot of the other guys on the way up the mountain, but on the descents I wasn’t so comfortable. I’m happy to go top five and finally get the season underway, but today wasn’t my best day.”

Taddy Blazusiak fought hard, right to the end, to claim a sixth place result, showing great speed throughout the three-day event.

Taddy Blazusiak

“I really enjoyed today – the race was really tough, but good fun, and I think in general I rode really well. I was in the fight for the podium early on and heading through the river section I made a mistake that cost me some time and put me a few minutes behind the guys in front. I tried my best to claw the time back, but I bruised my ribs a little in the crash and decided to aim for a good, safe finish. I’m really happy with sixth place, especially as I was on pace with the others. The event here in Italy has been great, the fans have been amazing too. The race is really intense, the terrain is perfect for hard enduro – I hope it stays on the calendar for a long time to come.”

The FIM Hard Enduro World Championship continues with round four at Red Bull Romaniacs in Romania on July 27-31.

Source: MCNews.com.au

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

July 6, 2021 mcnews Leave a comment

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.

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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.

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.

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’ 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.

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.

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.”

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.”

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.”

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

Motorcycle Racing, News

Moto News | MXGP | Lima Half Mile | Snowshoe GNCC | ProMX | EnduroGP

June 29, 2021 mcnews Leave a comment

Webster to move up to MX1 with Honda Racing Australia in 2022

Kyle Webster has signed a long-term contract with Honda Racing Australia, which will see the current MX2 points leader move up to the MX1 class from 2022.

Kyle Webster

“It’s a dream to race for Factory Honda and I am proud to extend my relationship with them long-term. Honda continues to prove they have race and championship winning bikes, the new CRF450R has already won a World Championship so I am pumped to move into the MX1. We have come close, but I haven’t won it. This is my first full season of racing with Factory Honda and so far, things are going to plan. We will keep our heads down and maintain our focus for the rest of the season. We have a great program this year, we are winning races and I am working hard to keep that momentum going. There are 10 moto’s to go so I am focusing on each race as it comes, as moto two on the weekend was certainly a reminder of the unpredictability of the sport.”

Webster has endured his fair share of ups and downs throughout his career, where an overall National MX2 Championship has eluded him thus far. With a 34 point lead in the current MX2 Championship after three rounds, Webster isn’t ready to let his guard down just yet.

Capricorn X-Treme takes over as AHEC Round 3

Grassroots Enduro Australia has replaced the postponed Tasmanian Insane Ride Event with the Capricorn X-Treme as Round 3 of the Australian Hard Enduro Championship, after Covid restrictions prevented almost half of the 220-rider line-up from attending the event.

The Capricorn X-Treme is located in Mount Morgan, just 30 kms from the city of Rockhampton in Queensland, Australia and will be held this weekend, July 3-4.

Day One will feature an eight-kilometre track for the prologue for all classes, with the Juniors racing a two and a half hour hard enduro to complete the day. Day Two will feature a 45 km track, where the Gold, Silver, Bronze and Ladies classes will battle the terrain and elements during a four-hour hard enduro event. A pony express format means riders can do as many laps as they like with the allocated time, with completing a third lap seen as a pretty big challenge.

Victorian-based Wade Ibraham and Chris Perry are travelling 3800 km to defend their first and third places respectively, while Queensland’s Ruben Chadwick will be defending his second place in the championship.

Australian National Classic & Post Classic MX Championships postponed

The Heaven VMX hosted 2021 Australian National Classic and Post Classic Motocross Championships, set for July has been postponed due to concerns around COVID-19 in NSW and the ensuing lockdown.

Pre 1995 Class to be recognised in Post Classic Motocross and Dirt Track Racing for 2018 — Post Classic Motocross

New Championship dates will be announced shortly. All current entries will carry forward to the new dates. If once the new dates are announced, if any entrant is unable to attend, a full refund will be provided.

Gillman to host ProMX Final in September

The ProMX Round 3 at Gillman which was postponed from May 30 due to the SA Government border restrictions will not be possible on the tentative rescheduled date due to the current COVID-19 outbreak in Greater Sydney.

ProMX in consultation with host club – Motocross Riders Association (MRA), have revealed a new date of Sunday September 5, for this round of ProMX in South Australia. Further communication to advise teams and riders about Gillman round entries will be announced in the coming weeks.

Silk Way Rally 2021 at a glance

After the opening round in Kazakhstan, the 2021 FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship moves east with the second round starting in the Siberian city of Omsk. The route crosses Mongolia from west to east over a course of 5,000km, including more than 3,000km in special stages through Siberian forests, across mountainous plateaux, steppes and the Gobi Desert in Mongolia, before reaching Ulan Bator on July 11.

Silk Way Rally Stage barreda — Silk Way Rally

This is the first day of the traditional Mongolian festival of Naadam and a national holiday in the ‘Land of the Blue Sky’. Twenty-four riders, including 10 in RallyGP are scheduled to attend administration and technical checks in Omsk on June 30 and July 1.

Amongst them is the Yamaha team of recent Kazakhstan Rally winner Ross Branch, from Botswana, and his team-mates Adrien van Beveren and Andrew Short.

Sam Sunderland (KTM) was injured after a violent crash on the last day in Kazakhstan and he misses out on this occasion, with KTM fielding only one motorcycle for the Austrian rider Matthias Walkner.

Team Husqvarna has entered both Luciano Benavides and Skyler Howes, while Daniel Sanders will ride in the colours of the GasGas team.

Sanders will be jumping in at the deep end of rally competition, the Silk Way represents just his fourth competitive rally outing. Signing for GASGAS Factory Racing earlier this year following a stand-out ride at the Dakar, the 26-year-old will be looking to continue gaining more experience, and work on his speed and navigation skills as he takes on the grueling 10-day event.

Daniel Sanders

“I’m really looking forward to the Silk Way Rally, it’s definitely looking like it’s going to be hard, both physically and mentally. I’ve been getting in the miles since Kazakhstan, so I’m really happy with how the bike feels and I think we’re in a good place with the settings heading into this second round of the championship. Looking at the terrain it really does look like a real mixture, and the stages are long – even when the specials aren’t too bad, there is often some lengthy liaisons to cover, and that can really prove tiring. My strength is definitely racing in sand, so I hope we see plenty of that when we hit Mongolia. Up to then, my plan is to get through the first week safely and then push on towards the end. With the added points awarded at this race, it’s important to get a good safe finish, so that’s my number one goal.”

Hero continues with the three-rider line-up of Franco Caimi, Joachim Rodrigues and the young Sebastian Bühler.

Among the 14 Rally2 riders are Carlo Cabini (Honda) and the returning Aldo Wrinkler (KTM), who has been absent from the rally scene for many years and will accompany his son Andrea on the Silk Way Rally adventure.

Cairoli bounces back to MXGP of Great Britain win

The MXGP of Great Britain saw rain forecasted for the entire day, but this did not stop a healthy crowd of British fans from making the trip to Matterley Basin to enjoy some of the most exciting racing of the season so far.

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In MXGP all eyes were on Antonio Cairoli who bounced back in incredible fashion, following an unlucky GP in Orlyonok, going 1-3 in the races to secure his sixth GP win in Matterley Basin. Joining him on the podium was Tim Gajser and Jeffrey Herlings who put together another solid day to get himself on the podium.

MXGP

In the opening heat it was Jorge Prado who grabbed the Fox Holeshot with Jeremy Seewer and Cairoli closely behind. Though Cairoli wasted no time as he jumped into the lead, while Gajser was fighting further down the order.

On the opening lap it was Cairoli, Prado, Glenn Coldenhoff of Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing and Herlings, with Seewer, Gajser and Pauls Jonass just behind.

A few laps later, Gajser had managed to get around Seewer and was closing in on the back of Herlings, while Seewer was coming under more pressure from Jonass. And so was his teammate Coldenhoff, who lost two positions in one lap to Herlings and Gajser as the pair went after Cairoli and Prado.

On his return to MXGP racing, Arminas Jasikonis had a tough opening heat, as he eventually pulled into the pits to retire from the race.

With 2 laps to go Cairoli stretched out his lead to 8.731 seconds over Prado, with Herlings, Gajser and Coldenhoff completing the top 5, as Romain Febvre from Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team chased down Jonass.

In the end it was Cairoli who secured his first race win of 2021, with Prado second and Herlings third.

In race two it was Febvre who grabbed the second Fox Holeshot, though much like in the opening heat, Cairoli was quick to get out in front.

The opening lap was exciting, with Prado taking the lead from Cairoli and then Febvre doing the same as Gajser got himself up into third.

Seewer then lost a position to Herlings who took 5th from the Swiss. Prado also lost another position, this time to Gajser as he got up into second and then it was game on as the Slovenian rode patiently behind Febvre for most of the race.

Gajser worked away at the gap lap by lap and towards the end of the race he was right on Febvre’s tail. Cairoli kept up with the leaders and at one point it looked like both Gajser and Cairoli were in for the chance of stealing the race win from Febvre.

The last two laps of the heat were intense, as Gajser and Febvre traded positions, with Gajser eventually able to make a pass on the Frenchman stick, on the final lap, and edge out slightly to take the chequered flag.

Cairoli topped the podium, with Gajser second and Herlings third. Febvre ended up fourth overall just 2 points off the podium.

Heading into the third round of the FIM Motocross World Championship, Tim Gajser continues to lead with 93 points, as Jeffrey Herlings sits second in the championship standings just 15 points behind and Romain Febvre is third a further 5 points back.

Antonio Cairoli – P1

“Actually, I enjoyed race two more because it was nice with all the passing, and it was nice to be back battling. In the first race I had a really good start and immediately after a few corners I made my way into first place and then pushed as fast as I can. Of course, I was disappointed with last week. I was really not happy about this mistake; we lost a lot of points but of course today was very good and I really enjoyed the track. I ran short of breath during the second race in the last 4 laps, the guys were pushing hard. It was easy to make a mistake, so I thought let’s bring it home and make this 93rd GP victory happen.”

Tim Gajser – P2

“I always enjoy coming to England and racing here at Matterley Basin. The weather meant that they didn’t rip the track so much, so in the first moto there weren’t many lines and it wasn’t easy to pass on so I just had to settle for a fourth place. I felt I could have challenged for the lead but I didn’t want to push too hard and I thought that in race two it would be easier. I got a better start in second race and although there was a lot of passing and action going on, I stayed calm and focused on finding good lines and working my way to the front. When I was in second place, I couldn’t stay too close to the leader for a long time because the roost was hard and I wanted to make sure I had clear vision for near the end of the race. When I saw the two-lap board come out, I knew a couple of places where I could make my move and on the last lap I used a really good outside line and took the lead. I’m really happy with how I’m riding and how everyone in the team is working together to improve each weekend. I can’t wait for Maggiora and I hope to continue this run of results. A big thank you to everyone!”

Jeffrey Herlings – P3

“It’s our goal this year. We used to go out and try to win but I just want to be on the podium, and it has shown in the past that when you are on the podium almost every weekend you can keep close to the championship. First race was alright, the second race same, nothing impressive, I just don’t have the speed yet, I can do a good lap, but I still struggle with race speed. I’m not far off but I don’t want to throw it away in the beginning. I just want to keep racing and get better and improve week by week.”

Romain Febvre – P4

“A lot of guys were fast today and with a bad start in the first race it was not so easy to come back through the pack; my jump out of the gate was good but I was maybe too far inside and after the first corner I was outside the top ten. I came back strongly to seventh, but then the speed was similar with my rivals and it wasn’t possible to make the difference. I changed my gate pick for the second race and my start was much better as I got the holeshot and for sure that made life much easier! There was one section on the track where I didn’t find the best line; that is where Tim passed me as I didn’t know which one he would choose. We exchanged the lead several times during the last two laps and in the end he won; it’s always frustrating to lead all the race apart from the last two laps but that’s it; we’ll continue to work before Maggiora next weekend.”

Jorge Prado – P5

“Today was good in some ways but a bit negative with that second moto. I was struggling with the track from the morning and how flat it was. I knew the start would be important for me. I had the holeshot but made a small mistake and Tony came past. That was actually pretty good because he was riding really well: I could stay behind him and he pulled me along. Physically I felt strong in the second moto, which is positive for the next few races, but I didn’t have the feeling with the bike or the set-up. It was too difficult for me to turn, open the gas and go with the others when they were full-on. I was too slow, even taking some risks. So, we need to look at that. We will keep working. It will come. I’m in the right place.”

MXGP of Great Britain Overall Results

Pos	Rider	Nat.	Bike	R1	R2	Total
1	Cairoli, Antonio	ITA	KTM	25	20	45
2	Gajser, Tim	SLO	HON	18	25	43
3	Herlings, Jeffrey	NED	KTM	20	18	38
4	Febvre, Romain	FRA	KAW	14	22	36
5	Prado, Jorge	ESP	KTM	22	14	36
6	Jonass, Pauls	LAT	GAS	15	15	30
7	Seewer, Jeremy	SUI	YAM	13	16	29
8	Coldenhoff, Glenn	NED	YAM	16	12	28
9	Watson, Ben	GBR	YAM	10	11	21
10	Lupino, Alessandro	ITA	KTM	12	8	20
11	Van Horebeek, Jeremy	BEL	BET	6	13	19
12	Olsen, Thomas Kjer	DEN	HUS	7	9	16
13	Vlaanderen, Calvin	NED	YAM	4	10	14
14	Strijbos, Kevin	BEL	YAM	9	5	14
15	Tonus, Arnaud	SUI	YAM	11	2	13
16	Bogers, Brian	NED	GAS	8	4	12
17	Sterry, Adam	GBR	KTM	3	6	9
18	Jacobi, Henry	GER	HON	0	7	7
19	Simpson, Shaun	GBR	KTM	5	0	5
20	Van doninck, Brent	BEL	YAM	0	3	3
21	Östlund, Alvin	SWE	YAM	2	0	2
22	Locurcio, Lorenzo	VEN	KTM	0	1	1
23	Guillod, Valentin	SUI	YAM	1	0	1

MXGP Standings

Pos	Rider	Nat.	Bike	Total
1	Gajser, Tim	SLO	HON	93
2	Herlings, J.	NED	KTM	78
3	Febvre, Romain	FRA	KAW	73
4	Cairoli, A.	ITA	KTM	65
5	Prado, Jorge	ESP	KTM	61
6	Seewer, Jeremy	SUI	YAM	60
7	Lupino, A.	ITA	KTM	54
8	Jonass, Pauls	LAT	GAS	50
9	Olsen, T.	DEN	HUS	43
10	Coldenhoff, G.	NED	YAM	42
11	Van Horebeek, J.	BEL	BET	39
12	Tonus, Arnaud	SUI	YAM	31
13	Vlaanderen, C.	NED	YAM	29
14	Strijbos, K.	BEL	YAM	28
15	Watson, Ben	GBR	YAM	22
16	Van doninck, B.	BEL	YAM	21
17	Tixier, Jordi	FRA	KTM	19
18	Sterry, Adam	GBR	KTM	17
19	Östlund, Alvin	SWE	YAM	16
20	Simpson, Shaun	GBR	KTM	14
21	Bogers, Brian	NED	GAS	12
22	Jacobi, Henry	GER	HON	7
23	Watson, Nathan	GBR	HON	4
24	Locurcio, L.	VEN	KTM	3
25	Brylyakov, V.	MFR	HON	2
26	Guillod, V.	SUI	YAM	1

Todd Wilson eighth in British MXGP – Beaton 12th

In MX2, Maxime Renaux was determined to make up for lost ground in Orlyonok and he did just that with a win and a second to secure his career second overall victory.

Mattia Guadagnini placed second overall during what was his second Grand Prix as a factory KTM rider and Ruben Fernandez continued his podium streak to finish third.

MX2

In race one, it was Renaux who took the Fox Holeshot as he edged out ahead of Isak Gifting and Mathys Boisrame. Thibault Benistant was keen to move forward as he got himself into third, with Jed Beaton getting off to a fantastic start in fourth as he pushed Benistant.

Meanwhile Geerts struggled down the order as he was 12th, though he managed to get back up into 7th by the end of the race.

Benistant remained one of the fastest riders out on track as he was pushing to catch Boisrame and Renaux, while also fending off Beaton. Beaton then crashed out of 4th and eventually came into pitlane before retiring from the heat.

Benistant then crashed also, dropping from 3rd to 5th. At that point Renaux had pretty much controlled the race but things got interesting behind him as Fernandez and Guadagnini were having a strong fight for third.

Guadagnini was applying the pressure as he clocked fast laps, lap after lap, though Fernandez was able to respond and that’s when the pair caught up with Boisrame who was second. Fernandez went after Boisrame and was able to make a pass on the corner before the finish line, for the perfect photo finish.

Renaux was the race winner, with Fernandez and Boisrame 2nd and 3rd.

In race 2, it was Simon Laengenfelder who secured the Fox Holeshot. Though he didn’t hold the lead for long as Guadagnini and Rene Hofer were quick to jump into P1 and P2. Fernandez didn’t have the best start as he began the race in 11th.

Guadagnini then edged out from the rest of the field as Boisrame went after Hofer with the pair having a close battle. Hofer did a great job of fending off the Frenchman, though some laps later Boisrame was able to find a way through into P2, before making a mistake and crashing. He re-joined to eventually finish in 7th.

Jago Geerts was another rider to crash and had to restart from the back.

Race 1 winner, Renaux was keen on getting back in the action and chase a podium spot as he worked his way up the order as he caught up with Roan Van De Moosdijk and then Hofer.

5.929 seconds separated Renaux from Guadagnini, as Geerts finally found his way up into the points. And as Renaux was looking like he was working away at the gap to the race leader, Guadagnini responded quickly to keep the gap healthy.

In the end it was the #101 of Guadagnini who won his first ever MX2 race, while Renaux was second and Hofer third.

A 1-2 result gave Renaux the overall win, while Guadagnini got his first taste of a World Championship Podium and Fernandez made it two in a row with a 3rd overall.

With Tom Vialle not lining up for today’s races due to injury sustained during the week, Ruben Fernandez has taken the championship lead, five-points ahead of Maxime Renaux who is second and Mathys Boisrame who sits third on the same points (74).

Maxime Renaux – P1

“I had really good races, we worked with the team to make progress on the starts, and I actually took the Fox Holeshot in race one so I’m happy about that. I had some consistent races, so I’m very happy about the weekend.”

Mattia Guadagnini – P2

“It’s amazing. I just felt really good and really enjoyed racing here, really like the track and also good feeling on the bike, didn’t’ get the best time this morning but I did a good start and first race. I know the start is important and I took a good start, I was second and passed for the lead in the first lap. I just enjoyed the racing, I made my race, and I got the win, so I’m really happy about that. It was an amazing weekend.”

Ruben Fernandez – P3

“I’m happy. To get the red plate is just awesome. I didn’t expect it so just to have it is unbelievable. The day started well with pole position, but I made my races really difficult with two bad starts. In the first race I was able to get second place after a last corner pass on Mathys Boisrame and also, I had a good battle with Mattia Guadagnini and I felt the pressure from behind so I knew I had to push. In race two, was difficult with the start and then I made a mistake on the first lap. I got sixth in the second race, and I was expecting more. It was a tough day but I am on the podium and with the red plate so just have to keep working.”

Mathys Boisrame – P4

“I took a great start in the first moto and rode a strong race but at the end I lost a position in the last corner. I had a good start in the second race too but I made a small mistake which cost me several positions and a podium result. I tried to pass Hofer for many laps but there were not so many ruts as usual so it was difficult to pass him quickly and then I made that mistake after passing him. My riding was good but I am still making little mistakes; I learnt that again today but the final result is not so bad. I got good starts and the bike is really strong so now I must avoid those mistakes and continue to work.”

Roan van de Moosdijk – P5

“My reaction at the gate was not good in the first race so I got closed down and I didn’t really find my rhythm all moto. I went a bit more outside on the gate for race two, got a better start and could turn better at the first corner. I could follow the leaders but it’s never easy to pass here so I’m satisfied with my result in the end. I was involved in a crash with another rider during the week but luckily I only had a little muscle pain from it and the physio confirmed everything is OK. I never raced Maggiora where we race next weekend but of course I know my home GP track at Oss where we go two weeks later; I raced many times there in the Dutch championship and I did some tests there earlier this year so I’m really excited about that GP.”

Wilson Todd – P8

“Eighth overall for the British GP, slowly getting back up to speed and fitness. Hopefully start a little further up the field in coming weeks!

Jed Beaton – P12

“As soon as I went out for the first lap in practice I felt great on my bike. I loved the track and then in race one things were going really good. I got into fourth and was just biding my time, finding some good lines and letting the track dry out before making a charge. Unfortunately, I caught a bump wrong and had a pretty big crash. I hit my head and my bike was too bent up to continue. It’s a real shame as up until that point I felt awesome out there. In race two I lined up to give it a good go and finished eighth. Not where we want to be but it’s early in the season and there’s a long way to go. My starts were good so despite the crash there are some positives to take away from this weekend.”

MX2 of Great Britain Overall Results

Pos	Rider	Nat.	Bike	R1	R2	Total
1	Renaux, Maxime	FRA	YAM	25	22	47
2	Guadagnini, Mattia	ITA	KTM	18	25	43
3	Fernandez, Ruben	ESP	HON	22	15	37
4	Boisrame, Mathys	FRA	KAW	20	14	34
5	Van De Moosdijk, Roan	NED	KAW	13	18	31
6	Laengenfelder, Simon	GER	GAS	15	16	31
7	Benistant, Thibault	FRA	YAM	16	12	28
8	Todd, Wilson	AUS	KAW	11	10	21
9	Hofer, Rene	AUT	KTM	0	20	20
10	Boegh Damm, Bastian	DEN	KTM	10	5	15
11	Geerts, Jago	BEL	YAM	14	0	14
12	Beaton, Jed	AUS	HUS	0	13	13
13	de Wolf, Kay	NED	HUS	6	6	12
14	Haarup, Mikkel	DEN	KAW	12	0	12
15	Gifting, Isak	SWE	GAS	0	11	11
16	Adamo, Andrea	ITA	GAS	3	8	11
17	Mewse, Conrad	GBR	KTM	4	7	11
18	Hammal, Taylor	GBR	KAW	9	1	10
19	Rubini, Stephen	FRA	HON	0	9	9
20	Dickinson, Ashton	GBR	KTM	7	2	9
21	Sandner, Michael	AUT	KTM	8	0	8
22	Florian, Lion	GER	KTM	5	0	5
23	Facchetti, Gianluca	ITA	HON	0	4	4
24	Pancar, Jan	SLO	KTM	1	3	4
25	Polak, Petr	CZE	YAM	2	0	2

MX2 Standings

Pos	Rider	Nat.	Bike	Total
1	Fernandez, R.	ESP	HON	79
2	Renaux, Maxime	FRA	YAM	74
3	Boisrame, M.	FRA	KAW	74
4	Van De Moosdijk, R.	NED	KAW	67
5	Guadagnini, M.	ITA	KTM	66
6	Hofer, Rene	AUT	KTM	54
7	Laengenfelder, S.	GER	GAS	53
8	Vialle, Tom	FRA	KTM	50
9	Benistant, T.	FRA	YAM	48
10	Beaton, Jed	AUS	HUS	37
11	Geerts, Jago	BEL	YAM	33
12	Todd, Wilson	AUS	KAW	33
13	Pancar, Jan	SLO	KTM	26
14	Adamo, Andrea	ITA	GAS	26
15	Haarup, Mikkel	DEN	KAW	24
16	de Wolf, Kay	NED	HUS	23
17	Boegh Damm, B.	DEN	KTM	20
18	Rubini, S.	FRA	HON	19
19	Florian, Lion	GER	KTM	13
20	Gifting, Isak	SWE	GAS	12
21	Mewse, Conrad	GBR	KTM	11
22	Hammal, Taylor	GBR	KAW	10
23	Dickinson, A.	GBR	KTM	9
24	Sandner, M.	AUT	KTM	8
25	Teresak, Jakub	CZE	KTM	5
26	Facchetti, G.	ITA	HON	4
27	Brumann, Kevin	SUI	YAM	3
28	Polak, Petr	CZE	YAM	2
29	Petrashin, T.	MFR	KTM	1

Source: MCNews.com.au

News

Moto News | Finke | King of MX | NZ Enduro | TrialGP | MXGP | Rally

June 15, 2021 mcnews Leave a comment

Yearbury wraps up 2021 New Zealand Enduro Championships

By Andy McGechan

There was probably a small moment in time when Waikato man Dylan Yearbury thought his national title hopes had just flown out the window. But, a never-say-die attitude from the Husqvarna man was enough for him to complete the task he’d set himself when forced to settle for overall runner-up at last season’s COVID-19 pandemic-shortened New Zealand Enduro Championships… and that was to fight back and win it in 2021.

Yearbury (Husqvarna FE350) was in command after the first three of five rounds in this year’s championships, having compiled a 2-1-1 score-sheet from the events in Tokoroa and the Marlborough and Porirua/Upper Hutt regions respectively, and he arrived in the Wairarapa Region for the final two back-to-back rounds at the weekend in a confident mood.

Yearbury finished runner-up to his main title rival Tommy Buxton at round four on farmland near Masterton on Saturday and was still the favourite to go on and wrap it up on similar terrain near Martinborough the following day. But a high-speed crash during Sunday’s fifth and final round very nearly shattered his dreams.

“I had a huge crash and the impact of that cracked the bike’s rear sub-frame. I knew it was risky to carry on with the bike damaged like that, but I didn’t have a lot of choice,” said the 26-year-old Cambridge builder. “The crash was in the day’s first ‘special test’ and it stunned me a bit. I struggled to get a flow going with my riding after that. I went okay, but not brilliant.”

But even when Yearbury is not at his best, he’s still a lot better than so many others in the competition and he managed to end the day at Martinborough third overall of the 65 starters, finishing behind Whanganui’s Seth Reardon and Buxton.

Fortunately for Yearbury, this was easily enough for him to get the job done and he could therefore celebrate winning his first national enduro championships outright. Buxton finished the series runner-up, with Reardon, Oparau’s James Scott and Taupo’s Wil Yeoman rounding out the top five.

Yearbury also added icing to his cake by claiming the over-301cc four-stroke class win. He is current and two-time winner of the parallel-but-separate New Zealand Extreme Off-Road Championships, but never the enduro nationals and that’s probably largely due to his competing overseas in past years.

With COVID putting a crimp on international travel, it’s likely we’ll see Yearbury’s name feature a little more regularly at home.

The various class winners this season were:

Dylan Yearbury (Husqvarna, expert over-301cc 4-stroke class);
Seth Reardon (Yamaha, expert under-300cc 4-stroke class);
Aston Grey (Yamaha, expert over-201cc 2-stroke class);
Wil Yeoman (Yamaha, expert under-200cc 2-stroke class);
Sean Clarke (Husqvarna, expert veterans over-40 years class)
Julia Williams (KTM, women’s class);
Joshua Alexander (KTM, intermediate over-201cc 2-stroke and over 301cc 4-stroke class);
Harrison McClintock (KTM, intermediate under-200cc 2-stroke and under 300cc 4-stroke class);
Phil Gibson (Husqvarna, intermediate veterans 40-49 years class);
George Callaghan (Yamaha, intermediate 50-54 years class);
Phil Skinner (Husqvarna, intermediate veterans over-55 years class).

Bou & Fujinami share TrialGP opener victories

Repsol Honda Team rider Toni Bou became the first leader of the 2021 TrialGP World Championship after claiming victory in the Italian town of Tolmezzo. Team-mate Takahisa Fujinami finished in seventh place.

Just five weeks ago Toni Bou was lying on a stretcher waiting to be operated on for a left leg fibula fracture. Today, Toni Bou was back in the competition, finishing on the highest step of the podium, having sealed the win at the 2021 Trial World Championship curtain-raiser in Italy.

Without having prepared or trained as he had wished, the Repsol Honda Team rider was nevertheless able to endure the first day of competition held in Tolmezzo (Italy). Despite suffering some discomfort on the second lap of the twelve sections, Bou went on to claim the victory by a mere point ahead of arch rival, Adam Raga.

Takahisa Fujinami, at 41 years of age, claimed victory on the second day of the Italian TrialGP. Toni Bou, runner-up, keeps hold of the overall leadership after the world championship opener.

Five years have gone by since Takahisa Fujinami’s last win in Lourdes, France, in July 2016. Today, Repsol Honda Team’s Japanese rider made his return to the top step of the podium sealing victory number 34 in the Outdoor Trial World Championship.

Elevated temperatures marked the second day of the trial in the Italian town of Tolmezzo, wreaking havoc among riders in the more technical sections. Repsol Honda Team rider, Takahisa Fujinami, gradually improving throughout the day, was however, able to overcome many of the tougher sections, picking up just four marks on an extraordinary second lap to capture the final victory. With this superb result, “Fujigas” now holds third place in the overall standings, eight points behind the leader and team-mate, Toni Bou.

Takahisa Fujinami

“Yesterday, I felt comfortable on the bike, but the results didn’t materialize. In general, these last few months I have trained hard and I have felt very good with the bike. Yesterday, I did not expect to finish seventh, but the truth is that I was close to fifth and with room for improvement. What I did not expect was to be able to win today! I was looking for the win, but not 100%. I’m very happy. At 41, I don’t think anyone was expecting it, not my team, nor Toni, and I don’t think I was. It was terrific to be able to achieve it. I felt like I did in 2004, when I was 24 years old. Thank you very much to the whole team for always supporting me and helping me, this victory is a gift for all of you.”

Despite starting the day somewhat worse for wear after Day 1’s huge victory effort, Toni Bou once again performed well and was able to finish in a more than commendable second position. The Repsol Honda Team rider leaves Italy leading the world championship.

Toni Bou

“First of all, I want to congratulate my partner Takahisa Fujinami. What he has done today at 41 has been incredible. He works a lot and does such a good job with the whole team. As for me, I am happy with the weekend in general. Today in section 6 I hurt myself a bit, I made a mistake with the line and wasn’t able to secure my foot. Even so, I got a very good result. I hope I haven’t done too much damage and hopefully I will be able to recover fully for the second round of the world championship.”

Laia Sanz also showed she’s lost none of her feet-up skills by winning the opening day of the Women’s Trial World Championship at the GP of Italy. Giving her all to secure victory, Laia then placed a strong second on day two to sit as joint leader of the women’s championship ahead of the second round.

Laia Sanz

“Overall, it’s been a great trial for me. It’s been so nice to be back in the trial paddock, and to win on the first day was incredible – it felt so, so good to get that result. It wasn’t easy for me with the non-stop rules, but things worked out really well. The second lap was tough, but I managed to push to the end. I found day two hard. I was already struggling physically a little at the end of the first day, and today, with the heat, I wasn’t at 100%. I made some mistakes on the first lap that really I shouldn’t have made, but I was leading, so I was happy. The second lap was hard, I dropped some extra marks, and Emma was riding well. But there are many positives from this weekend, not least the day one victory.”

Next stop for the TrialGP World Championship will be a one-day-only event in Charade, France, on July 3.

TrialGP Italy Results

Pos.	Rider	Nation	Team	Points
1	Toni BOU	SPA	Repsol Honda Team	37
2	Adam RAGA	SPA	TRRS Factory Team	32
3	Takahisa FUJINAMI	JPN	Repsol Honda Team	29
4	Matteo GRATTAROLA	ITA	Beta Factory Racing	26
5	Jeroni FAJARDO	SPA	Sherco Factory Team	24
6	Jaime BUSTO	SPA	Vertigo Factory Team	22
7	Miquel GELABERT	SPA	Gas Gas	18
8	Gabriel MARCELLI	SPA	Montesa Factory	18

Abestone Hard Enduro next stop for World Championship

The 2021 FIM Hard Enduro World Championship looks to hit its stride for round three at the Italian Abestone Hard Enduro. Despite a difficult start to this year’s championship, due to the Covid-hit Extreme XL Lagares and subsequent cancellation of Red Bull Erzbergrodeo, the fighting spirit of Hard Enduro is very much alive as it regroups for the remainder of season.

Only four weeks out from the Abestone Hard Enduro, all eyes focus towards the Italian event. Injecting a new event into the Hard Enduro scene, taking place in the heart of the Tuscany mountains, the event is set to be both spectacular and exciting. Hard Enduro veteran Michele Bosi and his organising team are hard at work to ensure no stone is left unturned and no trail unexplored, as they work to ensure a race that will undoubtedly put Italy firmly back on the international Hard Enduro map.

With barely time to recover it’s then off to Romania and the incredible Red Bull Romaniacs for round four. An event that needs little introduction, it’s produced some iconic memories during its 17 editions to date. With organisers also planning for a marathon stage, featuring a ‘night under the stars’ for competitors, another show-stopper is on the cards.

From Romania the series heads across the pond to the USA for the Red Bull TKO. North America’s premier Hard Enduro, the Tennessee venue will be one to watch. With a wealth of American talent eager to shine on home soil, everyone will be pushing the limits to win.

Poland’s HERO Challenge in early September brings the series back to Europe for the home stretch. Staged over days there will be a real mix of Urban and Hard Enduro for riders to contend with, plus high-speed elements. The city prologue in the heart of Dabrow Górnicza is sure to become a highlight of the weekend. At a crucial stage in the championship, expect this year’s title contenders to step forward.

Spain’s Hixpania Hard Enduro plays host to the penultimate round of the series. Staged over three days, it offers a wide array of riding. From Friday’s prologue in the heart of the medieval town of Aguilar de Campoo, to Saturday’s extreme cross-country race around the shoreline of a gigantic lake and Sunday’s intense multi-lap quarry-based finale, it’s a technical masterpiece to excel at.

Ready to provide a truly memorable ending to the inaugural season of the FIM Hard Enduro World Championship is Germany’s GetzenRodeo. Arguably one of the smallest venues on the calendar, it punches way above its welterweight. As the venue of the 2019 WESS finale, the racing was electric and we’re certain it will deliver another grandstand ending to sign off 2021.

The FIM Hard Enduro World Championship continues with the Abestone Hard Enduro in Italy on July 10-11.

ProMX set for Gillman, SA return to action at Round 3

The dirt flying action will return to South Australia on July 11 when the 2021 Penrite ProMX Championship, presented by AMX Superstores, hits Gillman, following the forced postponement last month of Round 3 of the Championship.

The round was scheduled for May 30 at Gillman but was postponed due to the South Australian Government’s COVID-19 border restrictions only days prior to the event.

ProMX Management Team has now advised the tentative rescheduling of the Gillman round for July 11, 2021, subject to lifting of the SA Government COVID-19 border restrictions. The team will provide confirmation that the round will go ahead no later than June 25.

If restrictions do not allow the July 11 date to occur, a secondary date of September 19 will be considered by the ProMX Management Team and MRA.

Riders and teams are advised to monitor ProMX announcements in the meantime and entries for the event will re-open soon, a further communication will be announced confirming the time.

For the fans who had already purchased tickets, they will be able to use them for entry in July. For spectators wanting to get along to Gillman tickets are available now via www.auspromx.com.au.

Queensland to host 2021 Australian Senior Dirt Track

The 2021 Australian Senior Dirt Track Championships will fly into action September 4 and 5, at Mick Doohan Raceway, Banyo, Queensland. Originally slated to be held in Canberra, Queensland club North Brisbane Junior MCC will now host the Championships. The club is also hosting the Australian Junior Track Championships July 3 and 4.

The Senior Dirt Track Championships weekend will see Australia’s best dirt trackers fight it out to be crowned Motorcycling Australia’s Senior Dirt Track Champions. Full fields of 10 Championship classes are expected following the success of the recent Track Championships held Tamworth in NSW.

Classes of competition will include:

Pro 250 – 100cc to 150cc 2-stroke & 200cc to 250cc 4-stroke (MX)
Pro 450 – 250cc 2-stroke & 450cc 4-stroke (MX)
MX Open – 500cc 2-stroke & Over 300cc 4-stroke (MX)
250cc Slider – Up to 250cc
500cc Slider – Up to 500cc
Slider Open – Unlimited 460cc and over
Pro Open – Women Unlimited (MX)
Sidecar – Up to 1100cc
ATV Open – Up to 550cc 2-stroke & 700cc 4-stroke
ATV Open – Women Up to 550cc 2-stroke & 700cc 4-stroke

Jarred Brook who recently had success at Tamworth will be hoping to repeat his 2019 Australian Senior Dirt Track Championships results (the last time the Championship was held) where he clean swept the competition in the MX Open, Pro 450 and Pro Open classes.

Andrew Brook – North Brisbane Junior MCC President

“It’s an honour to host the Championships, we as a committee have worked really hard to get us in this position to hold major meetings and we are very happy that we have secured both the Junior and Senior Dirt Track Championships. We have been doing some fairly major pit extensions which are looking very professional and will be ready in time for the Championships. With the excitement of Australian titles and being so close to the Brisbane, people love to see good riders, and good fast clean action, so we certainly expect a good crowd.”

Oklahoma City OKC Mile I & II this weekend!

Images by Scott Hunter

For the first time in 2021, the full power of Progressive American Flat Track will be unleashed on a big Mile racetrack with this weekend’s Indian Motorcycle of Oklahoma City OKC Mile I & II at Remington Park in Oklahoma City on Friday, June 18 and Saturday, June 19.

Coming off of the cathartic victory of reigning two-time champion Briar Bauman at the recent Chicago Half-Mile, his title rival Jared Mees will be seriously motivated to counter with a victory (or two) of his own this weekend.

While he built his reputation largely on his Half-Mile prowess – and later his all-around game – Mees has developed into one of the sport’s all-time great Milers in recent years. Since 2016, he’s racked up an astonishing 15 Mile wins, including all three previous stops at Remington Park.

Even though title hopeful Sammy Halbert is out of action while on the mend from injury, Mees’ path to victory will be all the more difficult to negotiate considering this weekend marks the anticipated return of “Mile Master” Bryan Smith.

A tactical genius in high-speed drafting wars, Smith is tied with the iconic Bubba Shobert for third on the all-time Mile wins list at 25. Now picking and choosing his best races and funneling all of his focus and effort into winning those rather than the season-long grind of a championship chase, Smith could be a serious threat at the OKC Mile.

Despite the fact that the OKC Mile is one of the few Miles Smith has yet to conquer, he’s been on the podium in each of his three attempts. Given a sniff of the draft on the final lap, victory #26 could be within his grasp.

AFT Singles

Estenson Yamaha teammates Dallas Daniels and Mikey Rush are separated by just a single point atop the AFT Singles championship order thanks to their consistent excellence. Rush has yet to finish off the podium this year, while Daniels has finished no lower than fourth and holds the slight advantage thanks to his Atlanta Super TT victory.

Both riders are proven Mile experts – Rush in particular – so it would be a surprise if they weren’t among the lead group battling it out for the wins again this weekend.

However, all eyes will be on the class’ all-time winningest rider, Shayna Texter-Bauman. Aggressive, instinctive and intelligent, Texter-Bauman is nearly unbeatable on high-speed tracks when everything is clicking, as evidenced by her record eight-career Mile wins, including one at Remington Park. Should she up that tally to ten, Texter-Bauman would instantly reignite the title pursuit she kicked off in double-win fashion back in March at Volusia Speedway Park.

Even though he’s best known for his legendary TT and ST accomplishments, Henry Wiles was actually the best Miler in the class during last year’s abbreviated schedule with a win and runner-up at the 2020 Indy Mile. The Honda ace could use a similar result this weekend to kickstart his championship campaign.

AFT Production Twins presented by Vance & Hines

Cory Texter leads the AFT Production Twins presented by Vance & Hines field into the OKC Mile fresh off his second victory of the season at the Chicago Half-Mile.

The championship’s top four ranked riders – Texter, Chad Cose, Dan Bromley and Dalton Gauthier – have put themselves in that position with consistently strong performances.

Oklahoma native Danny Eslick, fresh off of a third place finish at the Chicago Half-Mile, stands confident as he prepares to line up on his home turf.

In its return, the Indian Motorcycle of Oklahoma City OKC Mile brings back with it the open paddock experience and the return of a rider autograph session to precede Opening Ceremonies both days. Chasing Neon will entertain with its eclectic mix of live party music that ranges from country to classic rock and everything in between. Additionally, the Fan Zone and vendor area will keep spectators fully fed, hydrated, and stimulated all day at the track.

AMA 2021 ISDE Teams revealed

The American Motorcyclist Association have announced the 10 Trophy team riders selected to represent the United States at the 2021 FIM International Six Days Enduro in Italy on Aug. 30 – Sept. 4, 2021.

ISDE Day ImageDarioAgrati USA Australia Italy — Team USA win ISDE 2019 – Image by Dario Agrati

The 10 Trophy riders will compete as the U.S. World Trophy, Junior World Trophy and Women’s World Trophy teams. Every country participating in the ISDE is allowed four riders on its World Trophy Team, three riders age 23 or younger on its Junior Trophy Team, and three female riders on its Women’s team.

The U.S. World Trophy Team last won the ISDE —- the world’s largest annual off-road motorcycle competition – in 2019, giving the U.S. its second ISDE World Trophy title. The U.S. Women’s Trophy team won in 2019, as well, the first time since 2007 the Women’s Trophy team had taken the award.

The 2021 U.S. World Trophy Team includes: Johnny Girroir of Boonville, N.C., GASGAS EC 250F; Taylor Robert of Scottsdale, Ariz., KTM 450 XC-F; Layne Michael of Boonville N.C., Yamaha YZ450F; and Ryan Sipes of Ekron, Ky., GASGAS EC 300 TPI.

Antti Kallonen – U.S. ISDE Trophy Team Manager

“I’m excited to return to ISDE racing after a long, one-year break from it and our motivation is high with lots of fresh faces on our team roster this year. I’m excited to bring a new rider — Johnny Girroir — to the World Trophy team, as [Girroir] has been dominating in our national races here on a 250F. He is new to ISDE, but I have all the confidence he will perform well. With our seasoned veterans and former ISDE overall winners Taylor Robert’s and Ryan Sipes’ guidance, I have no doubt about it. I’m very excited to welcome back Layne Michael, who was part of our championship team in 2016. Since then, Layne has developed tremendously and I’m looking forward to a great performance from him as well. I’m equally excited about our all-new Junior team this year. Our former riders from the past have all aged out and we have some very fast, next-generation riders eager to step in, prove their speed and continue the title hunt in the Junior class. We have some new faces in the Women’s division as well. Brandy Richards will be returning and gunning for the overall victory together with new team member Rachel Gutish, who is no stranger to ISDE and I’m happy to welcome her back. I’m excited to bring new rider Britney Gallegos to the team and work with her and the entire team to have a successful race. I believe we have been able to form three strong teams to defend our World Trophy and Women titles and aim for a Junior title, as well.”

The 2021 U.S. Junior World Trophy Team, made up of riders age 23 and younger, includes: Cody Barnes of Sterling, Ill., Honda CRF250R; Dante Oliveira of Hollister, Calif., KTM 450 XC-F; and Austin Walton of Sparks, Nev., Husqvarna FX450.

ISDE Day ImageDarioAgrati Women Sheets Richards Gieger — USA took out the Women’s competition in 2019 – Image by Dario Agrati

The 2021 U.S. Women’s World Trophy team includes: Brandy Richards of Lake Havasu City, Ariz., KTM 250 XC-F; Rachel Gutish of Terre Haute, Ind., Beta 250 RR; and Britney Gallegos of Monte Vista, Colo., Husqvarna 250FX.

Joining the 10 Trophy riders are 21 Club Team riders, who have qualified through the AMA East and West ISDE Qualifier series in the first six months of the season.

Club Team riders include:

Tyler Vore — Indianapolis, Ind.
Axel Pearson — Panaca, Nev.
Tanner Whipple — Colona, Ill.
Preston Campbell — Murrieta, Calif.
Travis Reynaud — Strafford, Mo.
Anson Maloney — Grass Valley, Calif.
Cade Henderson — Pacelot, S.C.
Josh Knight — Ogden, Utah
Talon Soenksen — Fife Lake, Utah
Anthony Ferrante — Penn Valley, Calif.
Nicholas Swenson — Delano, Minn.
Nathan Ferderer— Bend, Ore.
Grady Faint — Hoschton, Ga.
Joel Tonsgard — Arlington, Wash.
Brian Storrie — McKinney, Texas
Jayson Densley — Fairfield, Utah
Reid Brown — North Plains, Ore.
Mateo Oliveira — Hollister, Calif.
John Beal — Snohomish, Wash.
Cole Martinez — Camp Verde, Ariz.

Source: MCNews.com.au

Motorcycle Racing, News

Moto News | Manjimup 15000 | Evans to miss MXGP opener | ISDE is go

June 8, 2021 mcnews Leave a comment

Mitch Evans to miss 2021 MXGP opener

Team HRC’s Mitch Evans will have to sit-out the opening round of the 2021 MXGP season after complications with his wrist injury has deemed him unfit to race in Russia this weekend.

It is a big shame for Evans, who has shown that when he fully fit, he can battle with the top riders in the class, posting numerous top five finishes in what was his rookie MXGP campaign in 2020. Now though, his focus is to try and get 100 per cent healthy so that he can get back to that level and challenge for the podium spots when he returns to racing action.

Mitch Evans

“Obviously, I am really disappointed to have to miss Russia and the start of this season. I have tried my hardest to be ready but we just aren’t in a position where I feel confident I can give it my best shot and perform at the level that I expect from myself. Everyone at Team HRC has shown their support during this difficult time and it is now up to me to make sure that I am back ready to compete in the shortest timeframe possible. A big thanks to my team and all my fans around the world, and hopefully I’ll be able to see you at a racetrack soon.”

Central Coast Cup this weekend at Somersby

The 2021 Honda / The Construction Team Central Coast Cup dirt track motorcycle meeting is on this weekend as a one-day event on Sunday June 13 at the Allen Park track at Somersby.

Central Coast Cup - Billy van Eerde and Kale Galeano - Photo by David Lamont — Central Coast Cup – Billy van Eerde and Kale Galeano – Photo by David Lamont

Since its inception in 2005 the Central Coast Cup meeting has established itself as one of the major non-championships meetings on the dirt track calendar but this year it falls in between an Australian Championship meeting and a New South Wales Championship meeting two weeks either side of it.

Even with entry numbers down on previous years Central Coast Junior Motor Cycle Club President David Smith Snr. said that the club is committed to staging the meeting for the competitors who have supported the event.

Looking down the honour roll of winners in both the senior and junior (13 to Under 16s) classes you quickly realise how significant the Central Coast Cup is.

The senior class has been won by previous, or future, Australian champions and even a future world champion. David Smith will be striving to become the first rider to win the Senior event for a fourth time, but he faces a stern task to do so.

Harrison Ryan will also be out to achieve an unusual double as he is aiming to become the third Junior Cup winner to go on to win the Senior Event. David Smith and his brother Peter are joined by another pair of brothers Angus and Rory Hutchison in the line-up.

Defending champion Jarred Brook - Image by David Lamont — Jarred Brook – Image by David Lamont

Boyd Hollis, who won the Casey Stoner Cup meeting late last year, and the fast-starting Luke Bush are two others expected to serious contenders. There will definitely be a new name on the Junior Cup honour roll, with two contenders standing out as favourites.

Kurri Kurri Junior Club rider Cameron Dunker and host club rider Cody Lewis loom as the stand-out contenders.

The younger age brackets will have to wait to be able to chase Central Coast Cup honours but their racing invariably provides plenty of close, hard-fought racing which augers well for the future of the sport.

Also on the programme to add to the variety will be races for older riders (Over 35s) and older bikes (pre1995). The 8-lap finals of both the Junior and Senior Cup will wrap up the program on Sunday afternoon after action gets underway at 10 am. Entry fee for spectators this weekend will be $10 per vehicle payable at the gate as a tax deductible donation to the St Johns First Aid.

The Allen Park track is situated at Debenham Road North, Somersby. For more information see – http://www.ccjuniormotorcycleclub.org.au.

95th ISDE to go ahead in Italy

With registration now finally closed, after the extension due to the pandemic situation, the 95th edition of the FIM International Six Days of Enduro (ISDE) in Italy now has a full list of entrants. This includes 29 nations and a total of more than 200 teams of which 160 will participate in the Club Team Award plus the entire Italian team of 150 riders.

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At the time of writing, the 2021 ISDE has received confirmation that it has been approved as a recognised international event by the Italian authorities, meaning that all participating riders and staff members are exempt from the normal quarantine requirements. Obviously all other COVID protocols and rules will still need to be respected, full details of which will be confirmed in due course.

National teams entered for both the World Trophy and the Junior Trophy include, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and the United States The other federations that will compete solely for the World Trophy are Austria, Brazil, Canada, Estonia, Hungary, Mexico, Poland, Switzerland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Venezuela. The Chilean and Norwegian federations will also be present with their respective Junior teams.

Eight national teams will contest the Women’s World Trophy: France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States.

In the meantime, the organisation proceeds according to the programme with the definition of the details of the route that will be developed for the first three days, mainly in the province of Pavia going up the Staffora Valley, and the following two days, the fourth and fifth plus a part of the third, in the adjacent Val Curone in the province of Alessandria.

The competition days will offer a single lap for each day with a diversified programme and route for day 1/2 and 3, plus 4/5. There will be six special stages on each race day, three cross tests and three enduro tests.

In the initial two days, the four scheduled time checks will be in Ponte Nizza (twice), in Casanova di Staffora and in Varzi, a total of 192 kilometres will be covered. There will be three time checks on the third day, in Varzi and Ponte Nizza (twice), about 195 kilometeres in total.

The fourth day will be spent in Piedmont with a tour of just under 200 kilometres used as it is also for the last stage: five time checks, in Monleale to and from the start, then Garbagna, Fabbrica Curone and San Sebastiano Curone.

The cross test on the sixth day, 4 September, has been moved as is well known, to the Tazio Nuvolari facility in Cervesina, which is about 20 kilometres from the paddock. A mixed dirt and 10% asphalt track in the internal area of the circuit will be created especially for the Six Days.

Jeffrey Herlings wins French Elite MX opener

The opening round of the French Championship at Ernée attracted a truly world-class entry as many GP teams and riders took the opportunity to complete their final preparations before the 2021 GP premiere.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing were active in France over the weekend in national competitions for final ‘warm-up’ outings ahead of the 2021 FIM Motocross World Championship. Jeffrey Herlings and Tom Vialle won their respective classes at Ernée for the first round of the French Elite series.

It was also the first racing opportunity for the Kawasaki Racing Team since their success at the Italian International Championship more than three months ago.

Herlings, steering his factory KTM 450 SX-F, took his second win in as many weekends (after success in the UK), with a 2-1 scorecard. The Dutchman barreled through from a mediocre start in the first moto but aced his launch in the second outing to beat Romain Febvre to the checkered flag.

Jeffery Herlings

“I was fastest in qualifying by a good margin! I had a bad start in the first moto but came from mid-pack to be on the rear wheel of the winner by the end. I pulled a holeshot in the second and could lead, control and win it. My feeling was alright on the track. The bike was working well but I had a bit of arm-pump. Overall, some good work done for Russia.”

Wheelspin at the gate cost Febvre a top-six start in the first race but he was soon on the charge and, setting the fastest laps of the race, was established in third by lap four and confirmed his speed over a full race distance by closing down the front two in the final minutes. An impressive second-placed start in race two saw the Kawasaki rider, who again set the fastest lap, pressure the leader to the finish as they outdistanced the chasers by no less than thirty-six seconds; his 3-2 moto placing’s secured third overall on the day.

Romain Febvre

“I’m happy with this weekend; we had good weather and a very nice track. That’s why we came here; we knew that the track would be very well prepared! In the first race I spun at the gate, came back sixth, then third, but was still making a few mistakes. However I had good speed racing together with Herlings and came back close to the leader. My second start was much better in second position behind Jeffrey and we were close all race with the gap always between one and two seconds; I was close but I never had the possibility to pass him even if there were many lines on the track. I’m ready for the GP season; I’m not afraid to say that I have never been so well-prepared. It was a long winter but we did a good job with the team; the bike is really good and mentally I feel confident. I showed again today that I have a good speed and a good rhythm.“

Vialle used the KTM 250 SX-F to defeat countryman Thibault Benistant in both motos. The MX2 World Champion claimed a comfortable second race by almost seventeen seconds. Also active in MX2 was Vialle’s teammate Rene Hofer. The Austrian made a lively getaway in the first moto before collecting 4th place by the finish. Hofer would occupy the same slot in the overall classification after a small crash meant 5th position in the second race.

Tom Vialle

“A nice day. The track was good to ride and my results were decent. I was 1st in practice and then passed Rene in the first moto. I had a bit of arm-pump but this is pretty normal as it was my first race in almost six months! In the second I had the holeshot and won with pretty good lap-times. Today was fun and went well. I’m ready for the first GP.”

Ivo Monticelli again showed the advances he has made since joining KRT and was fifth overall on the day.

Ivo Monticelli

“It was good to be back racing; it had been like another winter as it was more than three months since our three races at the start of the year in Italy. Today was almost a mini-GP so it was nice to see where we are and I had two good starts. The first moto I got really bad arm pump at the end after not racing for so long but the speed was already there. I could pass Seewer for third in the second race but I took a stone on the front brake and had to take care during the second half. Romain and Jeffrey are another level, but we could see that I can stay close to the top five; the work we did this winter is already paying off. You never know where you are until you get to race with the others; now I look forward to showing my speed with a good result in Russia next week.”

Mathys Boisrame also finished on the podium for the F&H Kawasaki Racing Team in the MX2 class, taking the chequered flag third in each moto after topping his qualification group during the morning.

Mathys Boisrame

“I had a good feeling on this nice track and I already had a good result in the timed practice period. The first race was not that easy. My start was not so good but I came back to second; then I made a mistake and crashed back to fourth but I finished third with good lap times and good lines. In the second moto I was nearly last at the start but I came back to third again so in the end it was a good result for me.”

French Elite Championship, Rnd1, Ernée
MX1 Overall Result

Jeffrey Herlings (NED), Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
Jeremy Seewer (SWI), Yamaha
Romain Febvre (FRA), Kawasaki
Glenn Coldenhoff (NED), Yamaha
Ivo Monticelli (ITA), Kawasaki

MX2 Overall Result

Tom Vialle (FRA), Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
Thibault Benistant (FRA), Yamaha
Mathys Boisrame (FRA), Kawasaki
Rene Hofer (AUT), Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
Tom Guyon (FRA), KTM

Yearbury wins NZ Enduro Round 3 at Moonshine Valley

By Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com

After two brutal and unforgiving, back-to-back days of racing, there was just one-second to separate the top two finishers at round three of the 2021 New Zealand Enduro Championships at the weekend.

Cambridge’s Dylan Yearbury (Husqvarna), on his way to cementing his position at the top of the standings at the weekend. Photo by Andy McGechan, BikesportNZ.com

The third round of five in the Yamaha-sponsored series was held in forestry in the Moonshine Valley, halfway between Porirua and Upper Hutt, over the Queen’s Birthday Weekend, the tricky terrain certainly putting riders to the test and ensuring the margins between success and failure were ever so small.

It was a gruelling double-header event, with riders racing two consecutive days in the Akatarawa Forest, albeit with Sunday’s racing in a few different sectors of the forest than had been raced on the previous day, and it was the cream of New Zealand’s dirt bike racing talent that rose to the top.

Best of the bunch were close friends and fierce rivals Dylan Yearbury and Tommy Buxton, with Oparau’s young enduro racing rookie James Scott, Whanganui’s 2019 national enduro champion Seth Reardon and Taupo’s national junior cross-country champion Wil Yeoman the most impressive.

Thames’ multi-time former New Zealand and international championship winner Chris Birch, Palmerston North’s two-time former United States cross-country champion Paul Whibley, Wainuiomata’s eight-time former New Zealand trials champion Jake Whitaker and Wairoa’s 2021 national cross-country champion Tommy Watts also shone out at the weekend.

Helensville’s Buxton won Saturday’s phase of the action by 13 seconds from Cambridge rider Yearbury.

Yearbury responded by going on the attack on Sunday, the Waikato man wiping out the time deficit and reasserting himself at the top of the standings.

Yearbury won day two by 14 seconds from Buxton and he therefore took the weekend’s overall honours by a solitary second.

Dylan Yearbury

“Well, the weekend went not too bad in the end. I finished 13 seconds behind Tommy on Saturday, but I caught up that time and won Sunday by 14 seconds, so that gave me the overall win. It was extremely close… two days of racing and just one second between us in the end. That’s pretty incredible really. I had a small crash on Saturday and then had an incident when I stalled the bike on Sunday… and it is little mistakes like those that can spell the difference in the end. The course at Moonshine was pretty fast in a lot of places and not too technical, but I was okay with that. With just two rounds to go, I need to minimise my mistakes. A slip-up now could be costly.”

The 19-year-old Scott finished the weekend third overall, 53 seconds behind Buxton, the recently-crowned national motocross championships No.2 (in the 250cc class) showing great versatility to take a 450cc enduro bike and seamlessly transfer his skills from one bike code to the other.

Motorcycling New Zealand enduro commissioner Justin Stevenson said the course at Moonshine was certainly tough, but he was also pleased to report that there were no injuries all weekend.

Justin Stevenson

“That’s a credit to the host club. The course featured a few very steep down-hills, but the club did a wonderful job of marking it well to ensure the safety of riders.”

It could be a winner-takes-all final two days of racing, at separate venues in the Wairarapa Region, next weekend. Round four is set for farmland near Masterton on Saturday, June 12, with the fifth and final round due to be fought near Martinborough the following day.

The 2021 Yamaha NZ Enduro Championships are supported by Mitas tyres Macaulay Metals, Best Build Construction, Silver-bullet and Kiwi Rider magazine.

Daniel Sanders set for Rally Kazakhstan with GasGas

Daniel Sanders is the newest member of the GasGas Rally team and will be competing the 2021 FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship this year, with Rally Kazakhstan.

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Held in the west of the country, and based in the coastal city of Aktau, Rally Kazakhstan will cover a total distance of 2,270 km, of which 1,465 km will be timed special stage with competitors racing through the mixed terrain of the Mangystau region.

June 8 will see the traditional ceremonial start, held on the Caspian Sea shore of Aktau City, that will then be followed by five tough days of racing, including one marathon stage, before the finish on June 13. Both Sunderland and Walkner will be looking to get their world championship campaigns off to a positive start with strong performances in the Kazakhstan dirt.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Sam Sunderland and Matthias Walkner are ready to compete at the first round of the 2021 FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship – Rally Kazakhstan – taking place from June 7-13.

Sam Sunderland

“I am feeling good at the moment. We’ve been doing some really constructive testing with the team in Spain, and it’s been great to get the feel of things back after Dakar. We’ve made some changes to the bike’s settings, mostly with the suspension so it’s good to make some really positive steps there. I’m looking forward to seeing how they work out in a full race situation. The goal for me for this year is to keep the number one on my bike, which I won in 2019. Obviously, with no championship last year I’m still carrying the #1 plate. Hopefully, a strong start to the series in Kazakhstan will lead to another good year.”

Matthias Walkner

“I’m super excited to start the world championship season, it feels great to be back on the rally bike again. The first round is looking really interesting because hardly any of the leading riders have been to Kazakhstan and so the race should be a good test for all of us. I’m really looking forward to racing in a new country and experiencing some different landscapes. My preparation in the off-season has been going well. I’ve really tried to focus on my bike skills – getting back out on the motocross bike and working on my speed. Testing in Spain has gone well, we made some good changes and I’m really happy with how I feel on the bike. The plan now is to do my best at round one of the championship and keep working hard for the rest of the year.”

Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Luciano Benavides and Skyler Howes are also set for the rally. For Benavides, the race marks the first competitive outing since his injury at the Dakar in January, while for Howes, it will be his first FIM event since signing for the team earlier this year.

Luciano Benavides

“Thankfully I’m feeling really good right now. It’s been three months since I had surgery on my shoulder after Dakar, and so I feel like new again. A lot of the time since then I have been training hard to get back to 100 percent, and more recently I have been in Spain with the team, back on the rally bike and working on my navigation. I really want to come back to competition even more prepared than ever. For me, when I have a crash or an injury it often motivates me to come back even stronger and that is what I have been working on. The changes we have made to the bike seem to be good – I felt more comfortable straight away and that is important for my confidence going into round one of the world championship. My plan for the race is to get a strong finish, I will take it day by day and try not to make any mistakes. I’m really looking forward to starting racing again now!”

Skyler Howes

“Everything has been going really well since joining the team. It’s been a nice, smooth transition from privateer to factory rider and thankfully because of that I’ve had time to not only work on setting up the bike, but also on myself in terms of focus and fitness. I have done a couple of races already in the U.S. and they both went well with me finishing as runner-up twice. Since then, I have come to Spain to do more road book training and get better acquainted with the team. I’m really looking forward to racing my first FIM event for Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing, but the major goal is to get more time on the bike and try and build my confidence as the year goes on and we get close to Dakar 2022.”

Source: MCNews.com.au

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Andrea Verona

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Josep Garcia

Wil Ruprecht

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450 Moto1

450 Moto 2

250 Moto 1

250 Moto 2

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2021 Pro Motocross Championship
Round 4 – Twisted Tea RedBud National

French Elite Championship, Rnd1, Ernée
MX1 Overall Result