Throwdown No.196 – 03/07/14

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That’s five rounds of the 2014 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship over and done with. The Red Bull Tennessee National, held at Muddy Creek Raceway over the weekend, saw Red Bull KTM’s Ken Roczen go 2-1 to take the Overall in the 450 Class, ahead of teammate, Ryan Dungey (1-2) and GEICO Honda’s Eli Tomac (3-3). In the 250 Class, Yamalube/Star Racing/Yamaha’s Cooper Webb went 2-1 to secure his first-ever Overall, ahead of Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Blake Baggett (1-3) and Tomac’s teammate, Justin Bogle (4-2). Round 6 will take place at Redbud this weekend. 

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This James Stewart business definitely isn’t going to go away anytime soon. He raced at Muddy Creek, and the racing Gods threw down the typical storm via a pair of first turn crashes. The crashes kept him off the podium, away from the spotlight and TV cameras and press conferences, and Stewart also produced a statement. Now the long process begins, and the hype around this story will die a bit while we wait. He was obviously darned fast as he came from way back to fight for the top five in moto one, and would have done the same if not for another crash in moto two. The skills are still there despite the drama surrounding him, but this weekend he got to go low profile. Read more about it in this week’s USA Insider column. 

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Speaking of those first-turn crashes, you can check out the footage from the first one here. The footage was streamed LIVE via Josh Grant’s helmet camera – a first for the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship.

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The 2014 Monster Energy MX Nationals resumed over the weekend with Round 6 at Swan Hill, Victoria, after the series took its annual mid-season break. DPH Motorsport Yamaha’s Kade Mosig went 1-3 to secure his first-ever MX1 Overall ahead of KTM Motocross Racing Team’s Kirk Gibbs and Team Motul Suzuki’s Matt Moss. The red plate is held by Moss, who sits 19 points ahead of Gibbs, and a further 26 points ahead of his brother, NPS Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jake Moss, who won the Super Pole at Swan Hill. In the MX2 class, 16-year-old Husqvarna-mounted rider, Nathan Crawford, stepped up to take home top honours after going 2-1. Crawford has been riding in the MXD (Under 19s) class at selected rounds of the series, and was given a wildcard entry into the MX2 class. He grasped the opportunity with both hands to win the round ahead of Husqvarna’s Luke Arbon and Serco Yamaha’s Luke Clout, who currently holds the red plate. The seventh round of the 2014 Monster Energy MX Nationals is set to take place at Conondale, Qld on July 13.

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There was plenty of action at the Battle of the Clubs Motocross at Taupo, held on Saturday, June 28. The South Waikato Motorcycle Club coming out on top, with their strong team of Oliver Ayre (Junior 85cc), Wyatt Chase (Junior 125cc), Ben Broad (Junior 250F), Cohen Chase (MX2), Dion Picard (MX1) and Nigel Gainford (Vets). Second Overall went to the Taranaki A team, led by Daryl Hurley, and third was Nelson, led by Josh Coppins! Read more in this week’s NZ Insider column. 

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Beginning at this weekend’s round of the 2014 FIM Motocross World Championship, taking place in Uddevalla, Sweden, Australia’s Dean Ferris will compete in the MXGP class for Red Bull IceOne Husqvarna Factory Racing. Ferris will remain with the team for the following races in Finland, Czech Republic and Belgium. The 23-year-old Australian will act as a replacement rider for the injured Tyla Rattray. Best of luck, mate.

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Want to know how Brett Cue, Nick Wey and Ben Townley spent their week in the lead-up to the 2014 Manjimup 15,000? Check out this must-watch video for lovers of burnouts, goon riding and racing at its finest in Western Australia.

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The fourth round of the 2014 East Coast MX series, presented by Transmoto Dirt Bike Magazine, went down over the weekend at the Nowra Motoplex. You can check out highlights from the event here, thanks to Real Media Productions.

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The annual Hattah Desert Race, held just outside of Mildura, Victoria is going to be an awesome one this year. It’s taking place this weekend, and you can expect big names like KTM Desert Racing Team’s Toby Price and last year’s winner, Active8 Yamaha’s Josh Green to be gunning it for the win down there. Unfortunately, CDR Yamaha Off Road Racing’s Daniel Milner and KTM Enduro Factory Racing’s Matt Phillips were originally pencilled in to contest the event, but won’t be doing so in 2014. Milner’s ankle injury is still giving him grief, and Phillips has an Enduro 3 World title to focus on securing (the 2014 FIM Enduro World Championship moves to Mexico this weekend). Hopefully see the boys there in 2015, eh?

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We will see Phillips at the 2014 Wildwood Rock event, though, which is scheduled to take place at Wildwood in Victoria on November 23. Entries for this year’s edition of the Extreme Enduro event are now open, so be sure to secure yourself a spot.

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As y’all know, the 2014 Australian 4-Day Enduro (A4DE) is being held at Riverwood Downs near Dungog, NSW, from August 13-16. The event is being run by Dungog MCC, with help from OBMCC, CCDR and Cessnock MCC. OBMCC’s Lyn Braico has put the call out for volunteers to spare some time over the four days, as well as in the lead up to the event, to help with jobs such as scoring, test maintenance and running the time control. If you’re interested in lending a hand, please call Lyn on 0422 580 922.

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Transmoto tests and reviews the entire 2015 Husqvarna TC/FC (motocross) and TE/FE (enduro) model-range.

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In line with the international media launch of the 2015-model Husqvarnas, that Transmoto‘s Alex Horvath (pictured) attended in Lulea, Sweden, the brand has released two action clips both for enduro and motocross models. Check ‘em out here.

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Three weeks after taking out a spectacular debut win in the Finke Desert Race, the KTM Desert Racing Team eclipsed another quality field to occupy all three steps of the podium at the first round of the WA Desert Racing Tri-Series, the Kumarina 500, in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Finke winner, Toby Price, made it two on the trot, powering his KTM 500EXC to victory over Ivan Long with Ben Grabham, ahead of brothers, GHR Honda’s Jacob and Todd Smith, with Active8 Yamaha’s Josh Green finishing in sixth. Detailed results from the event can be found here.

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That’s three rounds of the 2014 Red Bull X-Fighters World Tour done and dusted. France’s Tom Pagés walked away with the win, defeating Australia’s Josh Sheehan, who executed three perfect Double Backflips over the course of the weekend. What day and age do we live in where a Double Backflip isn’t enough to secure you a win at X-Fighters?! The day and age of the Bike Flip…

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Before France’s Tom Pagés pulled the first-ever Bike Flip at Madrid’s Red Bull X-Fighters World Tour round over the weekend, USA’s Kyle Loza tried it for years and NEVER succeeded. In this week’s FMX Insider column, we analyse the history of the Bike Flip.

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Last week, Transmoto presented to you an exclusive sneak peek at Taka Higashino’s full-length FMX segment from RIDE: World Elements, the all-new dirt bike film from Fourohfour, set to be released in December, 2014. As sections of RIDE: World Elements are filmed, we’ll be dropping heaps of these exclusive teasers, right here on Transmoto’s website. Stay tuned for more.

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Click here to find out what’s inside Transmoto Dirt Bike Magazine’s 2014 June Issue (#44), and be sure to grab yourself a print or digital edition.

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Kawasaki’s 2015-model KX250F and KX450F machines have broken cover in the US. The 2015 KX450F receives a Showa SFF-Air Fork, lighter rear subframe and more. Information on all changes made to 2015 Kawasaki KX450F and KX250F models can be found here.

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Want to know what Australian MX Team Managers think about two-strokes competing against four-strokes in the Monster Energy MX Nationals? They’ve offered up their opinions, and you can read ’em here.

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Sherco Australia has announced they will partner with Kooweerup Motorcycle Club as a major sponsor of the popular Golden Beach Six Hour Cross Country enduro in August. The Golden Beach Six Hour Cross Country will take place on August 2-3 at Golden Beach, Victoria. The technical circuit offers racers 19km of sand and takes about 40 mins to complete a lap. For more information, click here.

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Is adventure riding your passion? Are you keen to test ride BMW’s entire range of GS motorcycles? If you answered yes, these rides taking place in Maleny, Queensland from August 13-14 and Toolangi, Victoria from October 8-9 thanks to BMW Motorrad Australia might be the perfect fit for you! You can book a spot here, and check out footage from previous GS Experience rides below.

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Transmoto – part of one of Australia’s largest actions sports media groups – covering surf, snow and moto, located on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, is expanding its event marketing and coordination business segment. We are currently searching for a marketing, sponsorship and events coordinator, to work across our titles – Transmoto, Coastalwatch, Surfing World and Transfer. Do you think you have what it takes to be the driving force behind developing and administering events across Australia and New Zealand? Click here for more information… 

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