[News]

Throwdown No.98 – Ready for Supercross

12 years ago

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.


MX/SX

What a standout last weekend’s Round 7 of MX Nats was with the Motul Pirelli Suzuki duo of Todd Waters and Cody Cooper, taking the team’s first 1-2 finish of the season in the premier MX1 class. Waters now sits just 8 points adrift of Yamaha’s Josh Coppins at the head of the table, while Cooper sits in fifth. In the MX2 class, JDR KTM’s Josh Cachia was on fire after his mechanical drama at Hervey Bay, and picked up his second Overall of the season. In the Pirelli MXD class, it was KTM-mounted Kiwi, Kayne Lamont, who scored his fourth consecutive win. Be sure to check out our exclusive video from the round, or you can check out our full race recap.

Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Blake Baggett will race in the second annual Monster Energy Cup at Las Vegas’ Sam Boyd Stadium aboard a 450cc. The October 20 event will be the first time the year-year-old will race a 450 and it will be very interesting to see how the current points leader in the AMA 250cc Outdoor title chase will handle the larger machine. Speaking of handling the machine, did you see the two big don’t argue passing moves that Baggett put on Justin Barcia at last weekend’s Millville round? Insane! Check out all the highlights.

JDR Motorsport’s Dan Reardon has announced his retirement from professional competition, to pursue a career in fitness. Read the full story now.

Pretty amazing what can be done with one tiny little GoPro, right? The Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship landed in Spring Creek over the weekend, which happens to be Ryan Dungey‘s hometown where we took home his fifth consecutive series win. Here’s a sweet little video covering the day’s events. Next stop for the series will be Washougal, July 21, before the series takes a two-week break.

The Monster Energy Motocross of Nations (MXoN) will be kicking off shortly, but who’s going to be representing each country? Check out this week’s MXGP Insider from Geoff Meyer for some insights into who could be filling the spots around the globe. Also, in yesterday’s USA Insider column, Jason Weigandt talks about Villopoto’s return to the bike and the ongoing injury dramas for James Stewart.

Miss Supercross, Dianna Dahlgren, will accompany Ryan Villopoto out on field during the ‘first pitch’ ceremonies at Angel Stadium when the before the Los Angeles Angels take on the Texas Rangers on Sunday, July 22. The Angel Stadium is a pretty special place for Villopoto, having won four Supercross Class races at the unofficial home of Monster Energy Supercross. The 2013 Monster Energy Supercross season will mark Dahlgren’s third season in the scantilly clad ambassador role. Beginning Wednesday, July 25, be sure to keep your eyes open for the first of 10 webisodes, titled SX ED from Miss Supercross. Here’s a tasty little preview.

We all print typos from time to time. But we just couldn’t leave this one alone. The ‘Out of Office’ email message from a Monza Imports staffer earlier this week proudly proclaimed that, “I’m out of the office on the Fox & Shit MX Roadshow”. Whoops!

Well, we’re stuck in the middle of a freezing cold winter here in Australia, but over in the US, it seems as though they are lucky enough to soak up a bit of sun. KTM and its team riders wish you a great Summer…

Monster Energy Kawasaki Pro Circuit’s Joel Roelants obtained his maiden MX2 podium this weekend in Latvia with a 1-2 performance. The next round of the series will take place this weekend in Russia, with Antonio Cairoli and Jeffrey Herlings at the top of the standings in MX1 and MX2, respectively. Check out last weeks MXGP Insider for a bit of history on the Russian GP.

Anybody else wondering what’s going on with the IEG-promoted 2012 Australian Supercross Championship? After the series was cobbled together and the abbreviated four-round race calendar announced a month ago, there’s been conspicuously little news since on the series that starts in mid-October. Word on the street is that there’s more than one race team manager who’d prefer the series didn’t go ahead at all this year, and that Motorcycling Australia should focus on getting their 2013 race calendars in place instead.

Enduro

Reigning Women’s AORC champ, Jemma Wilson, has been one busy girl, travelling all over Europe to compete in the EWC. She’s back home now, and will be doing demos this Friday, Saturday and Sunday for Yamaha at Farm Fantastic in Caboolture, along with Tom McCormack, Jarrad Vanderhor and Transmoto’s AJ Roberts. We’ll be releasing Part 3 of our exclusive series with Jemma, following her journey through the EWC, but make sure you catch up to speed with Part 1 and Part 2 of the series if you haven’t already.

New Zealand’s five-round National Enduro Championship comes to a climax this weekend near Taupo. Adrian Smith currently leads the Outright title chase, but, Adam Reeves, 2012 Champ Jason Davis, Sean Clarke and Mike Skinner are still in contention for Outright honours. And after two American GNCC wins, NZ’s reigning National Enduro Champion, Rory Mead, also makes a return to New Zealand soil for the final round.

Rounds 9 and 10 of the 2012 Yamaha Australian Off-Road Championship (AORC), scheduled to be held in Conondale, Qld on 28-29 July, have been cancelled due to unseasonably wet weather. Despite efforts to move the event to an alternative weekend, organisers have been unable to secure a new date due to clashes with State Championship calendars. The 2012 Championship will now be run as a 10-round series, with the final weekend of competition to be held in Kapunda, SA, on August 25-26. Toby Price leads the AORC’s Outright standings by 42 points and the E3 clasd by 24 points. With just 50 points now left on the table, it’s highly unlikely that anyone will be able to stand in the way of Price clinching his third AORC title.

South Australian enduro gun Nick Throup has won the 80th installment of the grueling Swann Insurance 24 Hour event. Second, third and fourth we’re taken out by Sean Throup, Rowan Pumpa and Chris Power, respectively, all of whom were aboard Yamaha’s fuel-injected WR450F. In fact, the new WR450F claimed four of the top six positions in the race, which is held an hour’s drive north of Adelaide at Kapunda.

HSE Motorex KTM Desert Racing’s Matt Fish claimed victory on debut in WA’s Indee 500 desert race on July 14-15. Filling in for the injured Ben Grabham, Fish rode a KTM 500EXC to a 10-minute win after two days and 500km of Pilbara Desert hardpack, station tracks, rocky sections, sandy rivers and creek crossings.

FMX

Here’s an interesting insight into the Monster Moto X athletes’ journey at this year’s X Games, billed as follows: “Follow along with the cameras as they go down deep in the concrete catacombs of the STAPLES Center where Monster’s omnipotent ‘FMX Air Force’ – Nate Adams, Andre Villa, Blake Williams, Adam Jones, Taka Higashino, Josh Hansen, Jeremy ‘Twitch’ Stenberg, Kyle Loza and Mark Monea – bare their hells angels soul and talk about their lives and careers in the biggest, baddest, gasoline-burning sport at the 2012 X Games!”

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The next stop on the X Fighters calendar is Madrid, Spain, this weekend. Victorian local Blake ‘Bilko’ Williams is keen and ready for the event. “This event is like no other – the fans are so close and the stadium is so small. You can hear everyone while you’re riding,” said Williams. “It will be a good chance to score some tour points and get me ready for competing at Sydney in a few months’ time.” Bilko will go against many talented riders, including Kiwi Levi Sherwood who already has an X Fighters victory under his belt for 2012.

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Jackson Strong‘s now back home in Aus after X Games 18 and taking a couple of well deserved weeks off from riding. Jacko will be catching up with Transmoto’s Lachlan Russell over the next few weeks, so be on the lookout for next crazy Russell Brothers Films project from the two. A few casual X Games Gold Medal winning tricks busted out in his backyard? We sure hope so.

Industry

Glove-only manufacturer, Deft, has signed the great Jeremy McGrath in what can only be described as a coup. Not bad to have Showtime on board as part of the Deft family.

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It’s a good time to be a KTM dealer. Aside from the 2012 range of EXC machines selling in much bigger numbers than their predecessors, KTM Australia is staging it 2012 Dealer Conference next week in .. wait for it … Bali, Indonesia.

Lots of 2013 riding gear is starting to appear, with sneak peeks and images appearing from distributors in our inbox. Take a first look at the all-new ONE Industries gear.

Can’t decide which Dunlop Geomax rubbers to mount onto your bike’s rims? Check this cool video in which former AMA champ and Dunlop’s off-road range ambassador, Broc Glover, takes you through the rubber range and explains the conditions each tyre is best suited for.

Word on the street is that Axo’s brand new “Dart Pro” moto boot will arrive in Oz in mid-Spring. It’ll feature updated construction specs and a traditional sole to replace the moulded version in the current Dart.

Troy Lee Designs has released its 2013 moto gear range to the masses. Steve Cramer Products, who distribute TLD in Australia, has confirmed that initial sets of SE and GP gear have landed. Click here to view TLD’s 2013 range.

Motosolutions, founded by Aussie FMX legend Matt Schubring, is running an all-ages trailride on August 18-19 in Tarome (west of Surfers Paradise). It’s guaranteed to be a cracker of a day with several trail options, an endurocross course, as well as loops for the kids and PeeWees. There will be camping facilities and catering all weekend. For more information and to download an entry form, click here.

World renowned Italian motorbike engine specialists, Athena, has been busy creating its very own direct injection system for two-stroke engines over the past year. They seem to be onto something pretty cool, but check out the video and make your own mind up.

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