Throwdown No.131

What’s this “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, the Throwdown will touch on everything from racing to trailriding; from industry tidbits to issues facing the sport. It’s about delivering you timely information all in one place so you don’t have to scour the internet looking for it.

Ryan ‘Red Plate’ Villopoto is back! Yep, the Monster Energy Kawasaki rider claimed his fifth 450SX Class victory of the year at the Daytona round of the 2013 Monster Energy Supercross, an FIM World Championship, and is now two points clear of Rockstar Energy Racing’s Davi Millsaps. Red Bull KTM’s Ryan Dungey sits in third, followed by Honda Muscle Milk’s Trey Canard in fourth and TwoTwo Motorsports’ Chad Reed in fifth. As the season moves to Indianapolis this weekend for the eleventh round of the season, things sure are heating up!

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In the Eastern Regional 250SX Class, it was Red Bull KTM’s Marvin Musquin who stole the show and claimed his first win of the season at Daytona. He sits in third Overall, as GEICO Honda’s Wil Hahn is ahead of the pack, followed closely by Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Dean Wilson. At this stage, it’s still anyone’s game in the class.

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Cody Cooper and Scott Columb still lead their respective MX1 and MX2 classes in this year’s New Zealand Motocross Championships after the third round of series took place at the Harrisville circuit near Pukekohe last weekend. Suzuki-mounted Cooper finished the day with ease, as he scored a perfect set of wins in the Premier MX1 class, extending his lead to a massive 31 points over the CDR Yamaha’s Billy Mackenzie. In the MX2 class, the injured JCR Yamaha rider Columb had a rough day, taking home a 4-6-4 result. Fortunately for Columb, it wasn’t a great day for his main rival either – Australian first-time visitor to New Zealand, CMR Red Bull KTM’s Brock Winston. Winston went 6-4-3, claiming enough to end the day marginally ahead of Columb, but he merely reduced the championship deficit by two points. The shock winner of the day in the MX2 class was another Aussie, Raceline Suzuki’s Ryan Marmont – who managed 8-2-1 results on Sunday – but as it was his debut appearance in the series, he therefore has no chance of claiming the title.

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Speaking of Winston, apparently he kicked MX2 rider Ethan Martens off his bike in the pits last Sunday due to an altercation on the track. Both 250cc two-stroke riders rubbed more plastic during that race than a man-woman hooker on a Saturday night in Auckland’s red light district, K-Road.

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Carlton Dry Honda Racing’s Ben Townley was absent at the third round of the New Zealand Motocross Championships due to an injury sustained at the second round, and is now well and truly out of the points chase. Transmoto has intel that Townley will definitely be racing at the fourth and final round of the series however, no matter what. Solider on, BT.

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Check out Transmoto‘s exclusive highlights from the opening round of the 2013 East Coast MX series, held at Appin’s Macarthur Motorcycle Club, February 2-3! JCMX Films’ Josh Cassidy did a rad job, so stay tuned for out next video from Round 2 at Canberra, which will be released soon.

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Chillin’ on the back of CDR Yamaha’s race truck on a rainy day at Appin’s Macarthur Motorcycle Club, Transmoto‘s Andy Wigan checks in with the team’s newest recruit, Billy Mackenzie. The Australianised-Scotsman goes in-depth and speaks about his past injuries and misfortunes, racing in New Zealand, plans for the upcoming season and loads more.

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At the 2011 Junior Motocross Nationals, young Aussie Jesse Dobson dislocated his shoulder in a racing incident, and would later require a shoulder reconstruction. After being back on a bike for less than one week, Dobson was taken out by another rider during a race, and broke his leg in three places. Injured for eleven months, he forced to rehab and train intensely to make it back in time for the 2012 Junior Motocross Nationals. We check in with the shredder to have a top-line chat about his injury-riddled past and the season ahead.

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Kiwi Courtney Duncan is currently in the States getting ready to qualify for Loretta Lynns – she’s too fast for the Junior boys in NZ. There was a report that she had broken her wrist while training, but that’s not the case at all. Turns out, the pain is actually tendonitis from too much throttle twisting, as she rides for hours everyday.

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Another Kiwi, Cody Cooper, has a new dog… It’s a staffie named Saber. Man, staffies are awesome…

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The long-awaited 2013 Yamaha Australian Off-Road Championship (AORC) is set to kick off this Saturday and Sunday in Buladelah, NSW. You may remember the last time the season opener took place at the same location in 2011, at a scorching 40ºC! Don’t worry, we’ve been told that this year the track conditions are prime, and we can expect a pleasant 20ºC throughout the weekend. Motorex KTM Off Road Racing’s Toby Price will look to claim his fourth consecutive Outright title this year, while new faces and teams will step into the ring to have a dip. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram @transmoto as we bring you exclusive updates throughout the season.

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The Active8 Yamaha Yamalube Racing Team are fit and ready for the first and second rounds of the 2013 AORC. Championship E2 Class rider, Josh Green as well as new E1 contender, Tom McCormack, and Championship E3 hopeful, AJ Roberts, are currently en-route to the Markwell Road venue to set up camp and pre-walk the sprint/cross-country circuits. Check out this rad new video of the team, produced by 404Shots.

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Another crew set to make their mark this year at the AORC is the 2013 Husqvarna Racing team. Husky stalwart Glenn Kearney returns for 2013 following a successful 2012 season, joined by rising star Lachlan Stanford. Kearney will make the transition from the E2 Class to E1 for 2013, while Stanford is expected to be in the thick of the E2 action on the new 2013 TE 310R. 2012 AORC and A4DE E2 champion, Matt Phillips, has also joined Husqvarna Racing for 2013 and will share his time competing in the 2013 FIM Enduro World Championship (EWC) and the AORC when the EWC calendar permits. In Australia, Phillips will ride a TE 310 R in the E2 class.

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You won’t see Phillips on board his TE 310 R this weekend though, as the EWC actually kicks off this weekend as well! Stay tuned as we bring you updates throughout the season on the Aussies competing, such as Phillips and Jess Gardiner on board her all-new Sherco.

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After 12 years and 10 Dakar podiums, five of which were victories, Cyril Despres and KTM have jointly agreed to go their separate ways, leaving Cyril free to explore new challenges and new horizons. “I have spent a large part of my career to date with KTM, so as you can imagine it wasn’t a decision that was taken lightly,” said Despres. “They were great years, very fruitful, both professionally and personally, and I owe much to everyone at KTM, especially Stefan Pierer who’s enthusiasm for the sport of rally-raid matches my own.” Although it’s not yet known who Despres will be racing with from here on, his relationship with Red Bull stays intact. As the explorer Mike Horn would say, “It’s not the end of the story, it’s just the beginning of a new one,” concluded Despres.

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Speaking of KTM, the brand has announced the extension of Factory rider Kurt Caselli’s contract to race the Dakar Rally and SCORE/Baja events with the team until 2016. The 29 year-old has raced with the KTM Factory team for the past 11 seasons, and looks forward to sticking with the orange family for an additional three years of racing.

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Aussie Motorex KTM Off Road Team rider, Toby Price, shook off a mid-week illness to bring his team home in fifth place at the 27th MasterCraft Safety Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250, in Mexico. Price rode a KTM 450 SX-F with American KTM factory racer Mike Brown in the 254-mile desert race – the first of three SCORE races he’ll do for the official factory KTM squad this year on the famous Baja Peninsula. Originally, it was released that Price and Brown claimed fourth at the event, while Kurt Caselli and Ivan Ramirez claimed first – however it was later announced that the Honda-mounted duo of Timmy Weigand and Colton Udall claimed the top step of the podium, forcing everyone back a place.

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Factory FMF/KTM’s Charlie Mullins topped a stacked field of riders at the 2013 Grand National Cross Country (GNCC) season opener in River Ranch, Florida. The win wasn’t exactly handed to the 2011 GNCC champion though, as teammate Kailub Russell and former XC1 champion, Australia’s Josh Strang, as well as Paul Whibley contested Mullins throughout the full three-hour battle, presenting a lethal combination of some of the roughest and highest speed terrain on the 13-race circuit. XC2 Pro Lites winner Andrew DeLong made waves from the second row, finishing in front of reigning XC2 champ Jason Thomas and motocross star, Zach Osborne.

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NZ Enduro Champion, Chris Power, lined up on the start gates of the MX3 race at Pukekohe on Sunday with his WR450F and won the first race, with the headlight running… The only thing to fail during the race was the horn – it overheated from excessive use around the track. Power narrowly missed out on another win in the final moto of the day.

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Do we have any X Games fans here? Are you feeling a bit bummed out that Moto X Best Trick has been discontinued ahead of 2013? We are\! The Best Trick division at at X Games has driven progression in freestyle motocross for so many years now, and it was easily the most entertaining competition to watch — so much better than watching Jeremy “Twitch” Stenberg throw boring whips and claim gold medals year after year in the Best Whip category. Unfortunately, ESPN feels as though Best Trick is pushing the boundaries of progression just a little too much these days — you can find out more on the matter here. Thankfully, we’ll always have those epic memories of Best Trick, such as when Travis Pastrana electrified the audience of Los Angeles in 2006 when he pulled the first-ever Double Backflip, Kyle Loza claimed gold in 2009 with his Electric Doom body varial, and Australian sensation Jackson ‘Jacko’ Strong unleashed the Frontflip in 2011.

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Tom Pages of France claimed victory at the opening round of the 2013 Red Bull X-Fighters World Tour last Friday, with a thrilling freestyle motocross performance in the high altitude of Mexico City. Pages defeated Dany Torres of Spain in an action-packed final, while defending tour champion, Levi Sherwood of New Zealand, took out third place at the first of six stops on four continents. It was the second career victory for Pages, and an emotional triumph for the effervescent Frenchman, who wore jersey with the Eigo Sato’s name on it to pay tribute to the Japanese FMX athlete who sustained fatal injuries in a training accident last month in Japan. The next Red Bull X-Fighters World Tour stop will take place in Dubai, April 12. Be sure to check out all of the highlights from Mexico City and get pumped for it\!

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Check out this awesome highlights reel from Devonport, Tasmania, where fans witnessed the opening show of the Nitro Circus Live Australian Regional tour. Tickets are still available for the remainder of the tour, with shows set to take place across Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland. Head to the official website and find out if there’s a show taking place near you soon – better yet, grab out your copy of Transmoto’s April Issue and you’ll find all of the dates and locations inside!

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The 2013 Transmoto 12-Hour is just around the corner! We can’t wait to see ya’ll at Batemans Bay next weekend – hope you’re all ready and well. Here’s a shot from last year’s event to get you pumped – hopefully no one will need to do this creek crossing again.

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Happy birthday to Husqvarna Racing’s Glenn Kearney, iKapture Images’ Greg Smith and Lusty Industries’ Johnny McLean! March 14 isn’t a horrible day for the moto industry, it seems.

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Speaky of Johnny from Lusty, apparently was spooned by a shark at his home-break last weekend and hasn’t been in the water since. Most likely due to a suspected severe salt rash, oh, that and being terrified beyond belief.

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