Thursday Throwdown No.3

What’s this “Thursday Throwdown”? It’s a digital home for rumour, fact and innuendo, delivered on a weekly basis. Covering a broad spectrum of the off-road world’s news, Thursday Throwdown will touch on everything from racing to trailriding; from industry tidbits to issues facing the sport. It’s about delivering you timely information that can’t wait til the next issue of Transmoto magazine, and stuff we’d like to hear your immediate feedback on.

MX/SX

Jake Moss

was back in Australia for the final round of the Rockstar MX Nats at Coolum on the weekend. Despite still carrying a wrist and finger injury (care of a nerve damaged during an operation), Jake confirmed that he has definitely signed on with the Rockstar Motul Suzuki team for the 2010 Super X series and suggested his bro, Matt, will join him. Asked about his plans beyond this year’s Super X, Jake said he’d “probably race here in Australia or even over in Germany.” Germany….What the?

Husky rider, Craig Anderson

, turned up at the Coolum MX Nats on a Honda CRF450R purchased the previous Monday at Cessnock Motorcycles. Pit talk suggested for former champ’s move might have ruffled more than a few feathers in the Husky camp, where Anderson is contracted to ride. All season!

Coolum MX Nats produced its share of rider injuries, most notably during the Saturday race program. Suzuki’s Cody Cooper gashed his elbow to the bone in a crash and had to stay in hospital for a couple of days to get it sorted. Kawi’s Cody Mackie broke his collarbone and ribs in a crash in Saturday’s Moto 1. KTM’s Ryan Marmont

knocked himself out in a crash and then, after remounting, crashed again half a lap later when the front brake jammed on over a jump – when Marmont knocked himself out again! Despite the battering to Doggy’s brain, he climbed back aboard to race on Sunday, finishing a valiant fourth in the Pro Lites championship.

Ryan Marmont before banging his head and knocking himself out

Speaking of Ryan Marmont, the former MX and SX champ has been offered the role of team manager/rider mentor with the JDR Motorex KTM outfit in Australia. Marmont tells Transmoto he is seriously considering the role, despite the fact he hasn’t really contemplated the prospect of retiring yet. With the JDR team set to establish a presence in the USA from 2011, the offer would seem to be a tantalising one for the quietly-spoken 25-year-old Aussie.

Dean Ferris, winner of the Andrew McFarlane Cup

for the best-placed privateer in the Pro Open class, appears set to race the MX GPs in Europe next season. Ferris looks like he may even miss part or all of the Super X series as he heads to Germany this year to establish the links needed for the 2011 season. He’s been linked to a major Honda GP Team and is set to race as many of the remaining 2010 World MX GP’s as he can to prove his net worth.

With Chad Reed sitting out the rest of the Outdoor Motocross season due to the Epstein Barr virus diagnosis, it seems that he will have to pull out of the Australian MXoN team for this year’s attack at the coveted team’s trophy. With that being said, it now looks like the rider list has changed a little. Jay Marmont is certainly back on the list and is off to the US to gauge his outdoor pace against the Americans. Others that are likely to make the team are Brett Metcalfe and Matt Moss (Jake’s injured) for the Lites class. However there has been talk that Kirk Gibbs may be able to step it up for the event, and with a confident year on the Serco 250F underneath him it may not be a bad choice. What about Ford Dale

?

What the hell happened to the ADB Manufacturers’ Cup for the MX Nats? With Dirt Action taking over from ADB as media partner for the series a couple of years back, promoters are pointing at ADB’s lack of initiative in promoting the Cup. But from where we sit, the onus sits squarely with the promoter, Williams Event Management

. The Manufacturers’ Cup was started in 2006 to generate an extra element of interest for industry and race fans, and to recognise the contribution privateer riders make to each manufacturer’s cause. So why haven’t the manufacturers been pushing for it? Surely if a rider on your equipment doesn’t win the title, having a Manufacturer Cup under your arm is a pretty damned good consolation prize.

James “Bubba” Stewart is practicing his heart out and is rumoured to be competing at Unadilla. Word is he may be competing with Ryan Dungey

for the USA Team’s number1 plate for the MXoN – that’s if he gets selected at all!

OFF-ROAD

Toby Price at round 1 of the AORC

Motorex KTM Off-Road team riders, Jarrod Bewley, Ben Grabham and Toby Price will be joined by team mechanic/factotum Luke de Graaf to head Stateside and compete in the last two rounds of the GNCC – the Ohio round on Oct 9-10 and the Indiana round on Oct 23-24. The boys have arranged support from KTM and Shane Watts’ DirtWise Schools, and will base themselves out of Wattsy’s house in the hope the wily GNCC vet will show them the ropes. With brothers Glen and Ben Kearney

living just down the road, there promises to be a strong posse of talented Aussies in the GNCC ranks this October. At this stage, it appears that Bewley and Price will be riding 450 XCFs in the XC1 class, and Grabbo on a 250SX two-stroke in the XC2 class. De Graaf will be racing in the mechanics’ race on the morning of the GNCCs, purely to provide some track info to the riders.

Toby Price

will be competing in the last round of the EWC on Sept 25-26, before making the trip over to his KTM teammates us in Charlotte, North Carolina.

FMX

Robbie Maddison celebrating his win at the Spanish X-Fighters

Robbie Maddison took his first ever win at the Spanish X-Fighters, the prestigious Red Bull FMX event. As it turned out, the deciding vote that gave Maddo the win was long-time Aussie FMX judge and photojournalist, Grant “Goba” O’Brien

. “He deserved it, mate, but it was weird that it all came down to my vote, which happened to be the final vote,” Goba told Transmoto.

It’s a shame that one of last year’s X-Games Gold Medal winners, Blake “Bilko” Williams, won’t be able to defend his title. After taking a pretty big hit in Moscow and busting his shoulder, Bilko hasn’t been able to recover and has had to withdraw. Apparently he had a bet with Travis Pastrana

for $5 to see who would do the biggest trick. Looks like Travis gets the $5 now…. pay him with a Kiwi $5, Bilko!!

INDUSTRY

John Hall’s Funeral

The funeral for the founding father of the Australian 4-Day Enduro and TM Motorcycles Importer, John Hall, was held in the dirt bike stronghold of Cessnock last Saturday. Fittingly, the very first TM Hall brought into Australia – a 1992-model 125 – was brought back to its former glory and ridden by former 4-Day champ, Tony Vickers

, in a large procession of bikes that led the hearse through Cessnock.

Victorian distributor Monza Imports held their now annual Motocross Food Festival at Coolum on the weekend. Both Jarrod and Scott Runciman

are on annual leave with their families, holidaying on the Sunshine Coast. Both donated their Sundays to help roast some animal parts and fry up some vegies for a select few thousand people. Thanks for the effort guys; I wouldn’t have eaten if it wasn’t for you!