Thursday Throwdown No.16 - Kristy Gillespie on form at WMX Championship

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 until the next issue of Transmoto magazine, and stuff we’d like to hear your immediate feedback on.

MX/SX

The first ever Motul Pirelli Australian WMX Championship was held last weekend at the Albury Wodonga MX circuit. From all reports Kristy Gillespie killed it!

Check out this “behinds the scenes” chat with the girls on the day.

More video’s from the event here: http://www.skuff.tv/moto/

The silly season for all Australian moto riders is currently underway and a quick call to some of the major players and team managers has confirmed one thing: no one is really certain of their places at the moment! The only team that has put the issue to bed is Team Rockstar CDR Yamaha, with their riders being Josh Coppins and Jay Marmont for 2011. All of the other Teams are still in negotiations with naming rights sponsors, riders and in some cases manufacturers.

The USA is another story. There are still some seats to be filled but it will only be a matter of days until everything is finalised, with the highest profile unsigned rider being Chad Reed — it is well known that Chad wants to ride a Honda. So with the departure of Ben Townley to GP’s it would only make sense that Chad stepped into his position, but they didn’t have enough money for BT101 so how are they going to lock in CRtwotwo? Chad may be looking at combining an external sponsor into the mix, one that would boost his salary and also fit into the mix of the team.

Here’s a picture of his test mule:

The current US Teams and rider line-up:

Rockstar Makita Suzuki

Team Manager: Mike Webb
No. Rider
1 Ryan Dungey
24 Brett Metcalfe

Monster Energy Kawasaki

Team Manager: Mike Fisher
No. Rider
2 Ryan Villopoto
32 Jake Weimer

San Manuel / Yamaha / JSE

Team Manager: Larry Brooks
No. Rider
7 James Stewart
30 Kyle Regal

MotoConcepts Yamaha

Team Manager: David Vuillemin
No. Rider
11 Kyle Chisholm
12 Tommy Hahn

Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki

Team Manager: Mitch Payton
No. Rider
15 Dean Wilson
20 Broc Tickle
28 Tyla Rattray
57 Blake Baggett
100 Josh Hansen

Honda Red Bull Racing

Team Manager: Erik Kehoe
No. Rider
33 Josh Grant
41 Trey Canard

Rockstar Energy Suzuki

Team Manager: Bill Keefe
No. Rider
23 Martin Davalos
77 Ian Trettel
71 Ryan Morais
Jason Anderson

Valli Motorsports Rockstar Yamaha

Team Manager: Jon Mitcheff
No. Rider
74 Austin Stroupe

Muscle Milk/Toyota/JGRMX

Team Manager: Jeremy Albrecht
No. Rider
10 Justin Brayton
18 Davi Millsaps

GEICO Powersports Honda

Team Manager: Mike LaRocco
No. Rider
14 Kevin Windham
17 Justin Barcia
19 Eli Tomac
21 Blake Wharton
31 Wil Hahn

Red Bull KTM

Team Manager: Roger DeCoster
No. Rider
29 Andrew Short
800 Mike Alessi
Marvin Musquin
Ken Roczen (SX only, then MX2 World Championship series).

DNA Shred Stix / Star Racing / Yamaha

Team Manager: Alan Brown
No. Rider
25 Ryan Sipes
35 Kyle Cunningham
Gannon Audette
Gareth Swanepoel
Jessica Patterson

Troy Lee Designs / Lucas Oil / Honda

Team Manager: Tyler Keefe
No. Rider
36 Cole Seely
58 Travis Baker
144 Christian Craig

JDR Motorsports Motorex KTM

Team Manager: Nate Ramsey
Rider
PJ Larsen
Tye Simmonds

Hart & Huntington Dodge Kawasaki

Team Manager: Kenny Watson
No. Rider
9 Ivan Tedesco

BTOSports.com / Palmetto Suzuki / BBMX

Team Manager: Forrest Butler
No. Rider
26 Michael Byrne
47 Jason Thomas

Here’s the rider line-up for the World famous Bercy Supercross (held November 19/20/21). Check out Ivan Tedseco’s new team and you will know why Chad Reed test rode for Valli Motorsports. It looks set to be a cracking race with Barcia & Wharton stepping up to play with the big boys. It will also be the first time that either of these riders have competed on a 450cc bike in Supercross, so we’re betting that the US Team managers will be watching very closely.

SX Open Inters
1 Marvin Musquin (F – KTM Red Bull)
10. Justin Brayton (USA – Yamaha JGR) ou 9. Ivan Tedesco (H&H Kawasaki Dodge)
17 Justin Barcia (USA – Honda Geico)
20 Greg Aranda (F – Kawasaki Bud Racing)
21 Gautier Paulin (F – Yamaha Rinaldi Monster)
23 Arnaud Tonus (CG – Suzuki Teka)
30 Kyle Regal (USA – Yamaha L&M/JSE) ou 11 Kyle Chisholm (USA – Yamaha Moto Concepts)
41 Trey Canard (USA – American Honda)
52 Max Anstie (GB – Kawasaki CLS Monster)
121 Blake Wharton (USA – Honda Geico)
222 Antonio Cairoli (I – KTM De Carli Red Bull)
871 Fabien Izoird (F- Suzuki)

OFF-ROAD

Josh Strang has finished with his duties in the GNCC and is headed back home for a couple of weeks with his family back in Inverell. The 22 year-old took control of the series early on and never looked back. There’s no word on what is happening for the 2011 series but we’d have to imagine that he would be the most heavily chased rider in the paddock. Another deserved mention would be Paul Whibley. The Kiwi had all sorts of drama’s early on in the year but worked his butt off the rest of the season to win the last races of the year.
It’s all go in New Zealand with the Honda 3 Day Enduro being held in Maramarua on the 3/4/5 of December. If you are keen to get over there to compete, the guys at Power Adventures can help you out. The following weekend there is a National Enduro and a GNCC, both taking place in Waimiha, that the Power Adventure guys can assist you with, too. If you’re up for it get onto the guys at http://www.poweradventures.co.nz or ring 02 7445 4429 for more information.

FMX

The Crusty shows have been getting pretty crazy, with a bunch of riders trying some crazy moves, with one of the riders Mike Mason having to abandon his bike and free-fall from about 10 metres when he couldn’t find his grab spot. Luckily, Mason was able to get out of his fall-to-earth without any serious injuries. However, he was seen walking like a decrepit old lady the next day. The Crusty Tour hits Melbourne this weekend, get your tickets or just check out what’s happening here: http://www.crusty.com/home
Jolene Van Ugt was on hand at the Canberra round of the Super X to cheer on the US riders and help promote the upcoming Australian Regional Nitro Circus Tour (picture). Apparently Jolene was nursing some broken ribs and bruising from a crash she had recently when a photo-shoot got out of hand. Get well girl. For more on the tour check the Nitro website.

INDUSTRY

The Queensland arm of Gas Imports had to move premises in order to keep up with the demand of their products. Good thing for them that it’s just around the corner and is still located in the hub of QLD’s motorcycle district. There shouldn’t be any disruption to supply when the move takes place.