[Features]

Throwdown No.211 – 23/10/14

9 years ago

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If this year’s edition of the Monster Energy Cup gave us anything to go off, we can be sure that the opening round of the 2015 Monster Energy AMA Supercross series, to be held at Anaheim’s Angel Stadium in January, is going to be ridiculously good. Regular frontrunners, RCH Racing’s Ken Roczen and Yoshimura Suzuki’s James Stewart, weren’t in attendance, leaving the doors wide open for Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Davi Millsaps and Team Honda Muscle Milk’s Trey Canard to dominate the proceedings. Canard went 1-1 in the opening two motos (and scored the first two holeshots on offer) before making mistakes in the third and final moto, costing him $1,000,000 and a brand new Toyota truck. Millsaps capitalised on Canard’s errors and went 3-4-1 to claim $100,000 at his first race in 18 months (it was his first professional race aboard a KX450F, too). You can check out highlights from the event by clicking here.

Most moto fans know that the careers of Millsaps and Canard haven’t been easy ones. Both riders are insanely fast, but they’ve both struggled to stay healthy for entire seasons and make it through series without sustaining injuries. Their CVs are full of second place finishes, which doesn’t do their talents any sort of justice. For an in-depth look at the roads that Millsaps and Canard have walked down, have a read of this detailed article, penned by Transmoto‘s Jackson Reardon.

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Red Bull KTM’s newest 250cc rider, Justin Hill, impressively finished in sixth Overall at the weekend’s fourth annual Monster Energy Cup, on board a 450SX-F. He would have finished within the top three (he could have beaten Millsaps, or maybe even booted GEICO Honda’s Eli Tomac from second Overall), had he not scored 18th in the third moto after going 2-2 in the opening two motos. He’ll be a force to be reckoned with come Anaheim 1.

According to Racer X Online, Yoshimura Suzuki’s James Stewart will be eligible to race the 2015 Monster Energy AMA Supercross series. Apparently, his Theraputic Use Exemption (TUE) has been approved, and when the FIM gives him his official sentence (really soon), it’s going to be smooth sailing for the rider that tested positive for a banned substance use at the Seattle SX in April.

Transmoto sources tell us that when Ryan Villopoto first inked a deal to head to Europe for season 2015, Kawasaki was trying to force French rider, Gautier Paulin, to America to contest SX and MX. Now that Davi Millsaps seems to have Team Green covered, though, we doubt we’ll see anything strange happening on that front.

Australia’s Dean Ferris will return to the FIM World Motocross Championship full-time next year, following an unsuccessful attempt in the US (where he was signed on with Red Bull KTM). Ferris secured three top-ten finishes in the 250SX Western Regional Championship in six races, before suffering a wrist injury. He never raced a Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship round, and instead returned to the GPs with Red Bull IceOne Husqvarna Factory Racing at Round 12 in Sweden. He raced the next five rounds before suffering a broken femur at the MXGP of Brazil. Ferris has now signed with the Wilvo Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing team to race in MX1 for season 2015. He will join Aleksandr Tonkov, who will ride MX2.

Check out the official highlights from the third and fourth rounds of the 2014 Penrite Oil Australian Supercross Championships, held at Phillip Island in Victoria, October 17-19. Team Motul Suzuki’s Matt Moss went 1-1 (as he did at Bathurst one week earlier) in the premier SX1 class, as did Penrite Oil Honda Racing rider, Gavin Faith, in the SX2 division. In the SXD class, KTM-mounted riders, Brock McLeary and Jack Simpson, split the wins available. The series finale will take place indoors at Brisbane on November 8.

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2014 Australian Junior MX Champ, Hunter Lawrence, will join Yamaha Junior Racing (YJR) for season 2015 (he’s raced aboard KTMs his whole life), and will campaign a YZ125 and YZ250F in his final year of Junior competition. Queensland-based Lawrence made the jump to Yamaha just weeks ago, and after spending just a couple of days on the blue bikes is more than happy with his decision. All the best, buddy.

Check out the official trailer for MOTO 6: The Movie, starring Kris Foster, Luke Renzland, Aaron Plessinger, Trey Canard, Justin Bogle, Jimmy Albertson, Jackson Strong, Josh Cachia, Kade Mosig, Rob Adelberg, Ryan Dungey, Jeremy Martin, Kailub Russell, Josh Strang, Josh Hansen, Jonny Walker, Jimmy Decotis, Zach Bell, Austin Forkner, Brett Cue, Homero Diaz and many more!

The event on everyone’s minds in New Zealand right now is Taupo’s famous annual Labour Weekend extravaganza, dubbed MX Fest for 2014, set to take place this weekend. One of the biggest MX events in NZ will be made even bigger this year, with the Taupo Motorcycle Club raising the bar, bringing in additional events to cater for a wider fan base and create a non-stop motocross festival. Read more about it in this week’s NZ Insider column.

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This year saw two more rider titles secured for KTM in the Enduro World Championship. First, Christophe Nambotin added the 2014 Enduro 1 World Championship title in Italy to his trophy collection, and then Australia’s Matthew Phillips prevailed over team veteran, Ivan Cervantes, in France, winning the Enduro 3 title by just nine points. This sweet video celebrates their victories.

Word on the street is that Tom McCormack is pretty much a done deal to race at CDR Yamaha Off Road Racing come season 2015. We’ve heard that the Byron Bay-based rider will be racing aboard one of Yamaha’s all-new WR250Fs in the E1 category. Transmoto sources also tell us that Daniel “Chucky” Sanders has almost finalised his deal with the KTM Enduro Racing Team to race alongside Toby Price next year. Stay tuned for developments.

The 2014 edition of the International Six Days Enduro (ISDE) is sneaking up on us quickly! Team Australia rider, Scott Keegan, sent us this image from the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) a little while ago. It’s nice to see a few of the Aussie representatives finding some time to relax before heading over to San Juan, Argentina to race next month.

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Nothing beats packing up your van or ute and heading off for a weekend of trail riding with your closest mates. To venture to a new location, guided by a local who knows the place inside out, guarantees you the best experience. Recently, Transmoto’s Phil Osborn and Ben Bunda joined the crew at Barrington Tops Trail Bike Adventures for a ride. Read all about it here – it’ll sway you to head out that way and book in a weekend, we promise.

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We could not be more stoked for Australian FMX sensation, Jarryd McNeil (pictured at the top of this article, shot by Bret Trigg Visual), who threw down some of the gnarliest whips we have ever seen on his way to winning the second annual Dirt Shark Biggest Whip contest at the Monster Energy Cup over the weekend. A victory like this has been a long time coming for McNeil, who we’ve been keeping a very close eye on for years now. Well done, mate.

Over the past five years, professional freestyle motocross rider, Queensland’s Pete Anderson, has been a smooth contender at FMX competitions and demonstrations. By securing a spot early in his career on one of Australia’s fastest growing action sports teams, Anderson grew into the experienced rider that he is today. Transmoto‘s Ben Heidrich caught up with the all-round nice guy to have a chat about his career and his involvement with JC Epidemic. Have a read of the interview in this week’s FMX Insider column.

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Click here to find out what’s inside Transmoto Dirt Bike Magazine’s 2015 September-October Issue (#46), and be sure to grab yourself a print or digital edition.

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Got a dirt bike you want to sell? How about some used gear, parts or accessories? Thanks to the Transmoto Trader, you’re going to be able to advertise what you’ve got to sell in front of a captivated audience of over 100,000 unique website browsers per month, more than 310,000 Facebook followers and 10,000-plus Instagram followers. Create an account via Transmoto’s website (it’s quick and easy to do, and you can even log in using your Facebook account) and start posting. Start buying, selling and swapping your unwanted bikes, gear, parts and accessories.

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Transmoto‘s first-ever Day In The Vineyard is taking place this weekend at Stroud, NSW. If you missed the memo, the sell-out Day In The Vineyard is all about relaxed, non-competitive riding on private property, aimed at all ages and experience levels. We’ve even got CDR Yamaha’s Chris Hollis coming along to hang out all weekend. We’ll have a highlights video and images from the event online next week.

Last week, the release of the 2015 FIM Motocross World Championship confirmed that Australia has once again been left off the schedule. “MA is aware Australia has been floated by Giuseppe Luongo for a possible MXGP round in the future,” Motorcycling Australia’s Jack Lucas told Transmoto. “Australian MX fans would love the opportunity to see world-class riders such as the likes of our own Todd Waters, Dean Ferris and, of course, international stars like Ryan Villopoto and Antonio Cairoli. We’re certainly open to the idea of hosting an international meeting provided we’re in a position financially to make it a premier event on the Australian Calendar.” We’ll keep our fingers crossed!

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