Throwdown No.180 – 13/03/14

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Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto will win this year’s Monster Energy AMA Supercross series. There, we said it! RV became a four-time Daytona SX winner over the weekend – Jeff Stanton has also won four times at the venue, and Ricky Carmichael has won five. It’s consistency. Consistency is what is going to win Villopoto his fourth consecutive SX title. The 2014 Monster Energy AMA Supercross series moves to Detroit this weekend for Round 11.

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“Daytona is ridiculous. It’s bacon-wrapped ridiculous. It’s a steak wrapped in bacon and drizzled with chocolate sauce. And beer. And bacon. It’s debauchery and a celebration of everything that is American – and that said, I think you folks would really enjoy it.”

You know you want to read this week’s USA Insider now!

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Baby TwoTwo number three is on the way! Congrats, Chad and Ellie – and Tate and Kiah!

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You all know what happened, thanks to social media. Team Honda Muscle Milk’s Justin Barcia and Troy Lee Designs/Lucas Oil/Honda’s Malcolm Stewart collided at Daytona (click here to check out the footage if you missed it). Was Barcia going for a clean pass? Should Mookie have pushed Bam Bam the way he did? There are two sides to every story, but Malcolm has been fined $5000 by the AMA, and is on probation. It doesn’t help that he got a bit rough with Cooper Webb at the start of the year, either. The whole thing’s a real shame, as Malcolm was killing it on his 450 Supercross debut.

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Did you notice how much Kawasaki dominated Daytona’s AMA SX round? The 250SX Qualifying was topped by Adam Cianciarulo (Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki) and the 450SX Qualifying was topped by Discount Tire Racing/TwoTwo Motorsports’ Dean Wilson. Then came the Heat races. Four of ’em, all won by Kawasaki-mounted riders. Blake Baggett (Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki) went on to win the 250SX Main Event and Ryan Villopoto (Monster Energy Kawasaki) went on to win the 450SX Main Event. The 2014 Daytona Supercross by Honda was destroyed by Team Green.

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Contesting the MXGP class, Australia’s Todd Waters finished in seventh Overall at the second round of the 2014 FIM Motocross World Championship, held in Thailand over the weekend. Waters, racing for the Red Bull Ice One Husqvarna Racing outfit, went 10-6 to score the impressive result. Winning the MXGP division in Thailand was Red Bull Factory KTM’s Antonio Cairoli, who went 1-1 ahead of Clement Desalle and Jeremy Van Horebeek. In the MX2 class, Cairoli’s teammate Jeffrey Herlings aced his competition, going 1-1 ahead of Glenn Coldenhoff and Max Anstie. The 2013 Australian MX and SX champ, Yamaha-mounted Luke Styke, was forced to pull out of both MX2 motos with technical issues. The third round of the 2014 FIM Motocross World Championship is set to take place in Brazil, March 30.

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Dodgy fuel caused issues for many in Thailand, as race teams weren’t allowed to take their regular fuels used into the country. Fuel supplier, ETS, has released a statement that can be downloaded here if you’re into finding out what happened. Riders such as Round 1 MX1 winner, Gautier Paulin, lost valuable championship points because of something they couldn’t control, which is a real shame.

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Check out Aussie off-road rider, Jarrod Bewley, cutting a few laps of his property aboard his prized possession – a mint-condition 1992 Honda CR250, that was actually raced by Rob Haskins at the 1992 International Six Days Enduro (ISDE) in Cessnock, NSW.

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New Zealand natives, Cody Cooper and Kayne Lamont, continue to dominate the 2014 New Zealand Motocross Nationals in their respective MX1 and MX2 classes. These two riders will almost certainly claim titles when the series concludes at Taupo, March 22.

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The second round of the 2014 East Coast MX series, presented by Transmoto Dirt Bike Magazine, took place over the weekend at ACT MCC. Another awesome round in the books, despite muddy and slightly wet conditions. We’ll have highlights and full results from the event posted online soon.

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Check out Yamaha’s highlights from all three rounds of the 2014 Aussie Enduro-X Nats, produced by the talented team at Fourohfour…

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Speaking of Fourohfour, they kicked off filming for their second feature-length film, RIDE: World Elements, this week, with KTM’s Toby Price in Alice Springs. Their first film, RIDE: The Australian Off-Road Moto Film, was amazing, and it impressed many all around the world. Transmoto will be working closely with the Fourohfour crew this year. In fact, we’ve got some awesome news to share with you regarding their all-new film. Check next week’s Throwdown for an announcement.

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Word on the street is that Active8 Yamaha, the team that currently consists of Josh Green and Tom McCormack is looking to sign Privateer MXer turned Enduro-X star, Beau Ralston, to contest the 2014 Australian Off Road Championship (AORC). Ralston turned quite a few heads at this year’s KTM Australian Enduro-X Nats, finishing fourth Overall at Round 2 in Sydney, and second Overall at Round 3 in Melbourne. Yeah, he really stuck it to the Pro off-roaders, and many have already started to label him as the next Toby Price. Will he ditch the motocross scene for off-road racing? Apparently, it’s going to happen. Active8 Yamaha Team Manager, AJ Roberts, wasn’t able to comment on the rumours when contacted by Transmoto late last week. We’re hearing Ralston may have other offers on the table, too – including a contract that has $20,000 and/or 100 llamas involved (someone behind an off-road brand in Australia was one of the first guys to import llamas into the country)! Don’t ask us much more…

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And speaking of Josh Green, he made a return to riding last week after breaking his wrist in Alice Springs nearly seven weeks ago. Green was forced to sit out the entire 2014 KTM Australian Enduro-X Nationals, and will aim to return to racing in time for the opening round of the 2014 AORC, to be held at Bulahdelah, NSW on March 23-24.

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Are the sceptics right in saying that the 2014-model enduro bikes from KTM, Husaberg and Husqvarna are simply rebadged versions of each other? Or do differences in the bikes’ forks, shocks, subframes and bodywork create distinctly different rides? We put these three 510.4cc beasts head-to-head to find out.

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Transmoto‘s Andy Wigan sits down with 32-year-old Aussie, Ben Grabham, to talk about the 2014 Dakar Rally, his plans to manage (and race for) the all-new KTM Desert Racing Team this year, and life as a father.

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Australia’s Josh Strang killed it at the opening round of the 2014 Grand National Cross Country (GNCC) series over the weekend, taking third Overall in the XC1 class behind Charlie Mullins and Paul Whibley. On board his all-new 2014 YZ450F, the Rocky Mountain ATV/MC AmPro Yamaha rider scored the $250 All Balls Racing XC1 Holeshot Award. He’s in for a great season, we reckon. Round 2 is taking place this weekend.

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The 2014 Red Bull X-Fighters World Tour will kick-off in style in the thin air of Mexico City tomorrow, with Tom Pagès of France looking to defend his title against the world’s top freestyle motocross riders. Dany Torres (ESP), Levi Sherwood (NZL), Rob Adelberg (AUS), Javier Villegas (CHI), Josh Sheehan (AUS), Adam Jones (USA) and the rest of the roster are expected to give Pagès a run for his money in the rarefied altitude in Mexico City, the first of five stops on four continents this season. You can keep up to date with loads of X-Fighters content throughout the year here.

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An FMX accident left Andy ‘Maddog’ Hensel paralyzed from the waist down in 2012, and he recently jumped back on board a dirt bike for the first time since his crash. Check out the footage from his first ride back below. And you know what’s even crazier than the fact he’s riding again? He’s already doing Back Flips into Jackson Strong’s foam pit… Yeah, crazy…

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Click here to find out what’s inside Transmoto Dirt Bike Magazine’s 2014 April Issue (#42), and be sure to grab yourself a print or digital edition.

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At the end of last year, we teamed up with Jayco to give Transmoto Dirt Bike Magazine readers a chance to win a brand new Toy Hauler valued at over $37,000. To go into the draw, all you needed to do was subscribe to the print version of the mag, and tell us in 25 words or less what you’d do with the thing if you won it. From several hundred entries, Aaron Lewtas from Torquay, Victoria was chosen as the lucky winner of the Jayco Toy Hauler. Congratulations, mate! Click here to read his clever winning answer.

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The 2014 Transmoto 12-Hour is going down this weekend near Batemans Bay, NSW. Competitors are ready to ride on Sunday and spectators are more than welcome to head on down. It’s the fourth annual event we’ve held, and each year the thing seems to get better and better. If you didn’t enter, stay tuned to our Facebook page and Instagram @transmoto to get the latest on what’s happening in loamtown. It’s going to be epic.

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Did you catch the news that KTM Sportmotorcycle AG, who acquired the Husqvarna Motorcycles brand in early 2013, sold the two-stroke and four-stroke engine technology used in the ‘Italian’ Husky machines that were built and developed under BMW ownership, to Gas Gas? No? Click here to catch up on the story.

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In two minds about bringing your better half to the 2014 Transmoto 12-Hour? You shouldn’t be, because there’s a pair of handcrafted diamond earrings up for grabs this year. That’s right; thanks to Bunda, one of Sydney’s most exclusive jewelers, a lucky lady will win a pair of $1250 ‘Apus’ diamond stud earrings made in 18ct white gold on Saturday night after rider briefing. Cool, eh?!

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And that wasn’t enough for Bunda to contribute this year! He also had to present us with this 9ct gold sprocket, to be handed to the winner of the 2014 Iron Man category. Those punters just jumped out of their seats…

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This week, Fox made the announcement that its Board of Directors has appointed Nick Adcock as Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately, following the resignation of Pete Fox, who many recognise as the heart and soul of Fox USA. For more, click here.

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The Mr Motocross Legends and Stars Charity Dinner took place over the weekend, and it was a ripper of a Saturday night. All Mr MX winners prior to 1979 (when the infamous muscleman trophy was first introduced) received a handcrafted trophy on Saturday night. That is, Garry Flood (1974), Trevor Flood (1975), Anthony Gunter (for 1976/77) and Stephen Gall (for 1978). Craig Dack was also handed his fourth trophy for 1990. The other Mr MX winners present were Jeff Leisk and Ray “Goof” Vandenberg. When will these seven legends all be under one roof again? Maybe never… It was a special one. If you’d like to purchase a poster, stubby holder or program from the event, click here. Event organiser, Rosco Holden, is pictured below with one of the posters available.

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Epic! Chase Bell had quite a bit of fun during the Main Event of the 250B Class at the 2014 Ricky Carmichael Daytona Amateur Supercross. Apparently, dragging a couple hundred feet of banner around during a race isn’t quite that efficient whilst trying to haul ass. Catch you next week – or this weekend at the 12-Hour!

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