Throwdown No.113 – Silly Season Continues

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.

The talk at the Phillip Island round of the Australian Supercross Championship was that Kawasaki’s Billy Mackenzie is all but a done deal with CDR Yamaha for 2013, but Team Manager, Craig Dack, isn’t giving anything away. “It’s no secret that we are in discussions with Billy Mackenzie for 2013,” said Dack. “Although, we are yet to finalised our rider line up for next season. And as for our second rider, we’re in talks with current team rider, Lawson Bopping, but we’re in no rush to make any commitments while the Australian Supercross Championship is underway.” While Dack’s official line is that the team is in talks to re-sign Bopping for 2013, word on the street is that Bopping’s attitude or dedication towards training hasn’t been too flash lately. And with Waters almost certainly moving to KTM, rumours are hotting up that Bopping may return to Suzuki next season. However, when we put the question to Motul Pirelli Suzuki Team Manager, Jay Foreman, he denied the report. “We haven’t even spoken to Lawson about signing with the team for next season,” said Foreman. “We hope to do something with Matt Moss next year, and it would be ideal to sign Cody Cooper again, but it’s too early to announce anything.”

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TwoTwo Motorsports fans weren’t disappointed with Chad Reed’s return to racing in Australia, with the Aussie legend leading all 20 laps in the main event and taking his first win in Australia under the TwoTwo Motorsports banner. And how did he celebrate his victory? By riding a tricycle down Lukey Heights… Oh boy…

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Serco Yamaha Metal Mulisha Racing’s Luke Styke busted his wrist at the Phillip Island Supercross round, and by the looks of the X-Rays taken after the operation, he might be out for some time. The team has already substituted the injured Kirk Gibbs with Luke Clout for the SX season, and with the first half already over, Team Manager Gavin Eales has confirmed they’ll just be running Clout for the final two rounds. “We won’t be replacing Styke for the remainder of the Supercross season as there’s no benefit to us – we won’t be in contention for the Lites Supercross Championship title,” said Eales. “It will just be a single-rider team with Luke Clout for the remainder of the season.” Eales also confirmed that Stykes’ surgery went well, and he’ll be back on the bike in six weeks time.

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Carlton Dry Honda Thor Racing’s Ford Dale will undergo a knee reconstruction after tearing his ACL, during the final round of the Japanese National two weeks ago. It’s sad news for the Australian MX2 champion, but he hopes to get an artificial ligament put in instead of getting the full reconstruction – as recovery time would go from six months to a more manageable three or four.

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Check out our exclusive highlights reel from the second round of the Australian Supercross Championship.

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Riders changing teams isn’t anything new, although what is currently taking place on the FIM World Motocross Championship scene is something that is quite interesting. With the ruling that riders have to leave the MX2 class before they reach the age of 23, the MX1 class has become deeper than it has been in years, maybe even decades. Read all about it in this week’s MXGP Insider.

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Australian rider, Dean Ferris, has officially signed with Monster Energy Yamaha, and will race in the MX2 division at the 2013 FIM Motocross World Championship. Ferris spent the majority of the 2012 season on the sidelines, but is now ready to depart from his MX1 ventures and race aboard a YZ250F.

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There’s talk that the 2013 AORC draft race calendar has been circulated to team managers, and that it’ll be a 14-round affair. So even if bad weather causes the cancellation of a weekend’s racing, it’ll still be a 12-round series. AORC Coordinator, Denise Hore, was unavailable for comment but Motorcycling Australia’s Communication Manager, Megan Hannan, said “I know a draft calendar has been discussed but I do not know if it has been released at this stage.”

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Reigning AORC champion, Toby Price, is yet to lock in a deal for 2013, despite the fact that KTM put a contract in front of him about two months back. You can bet that Price has also been approached by both Yamaha and Honda for next season, but at the A4DE presso on Sunday night, Pricey was still talking about the prospect of racing overseas in 2013. He said he’d sent countless emails in the past few weeks to pursue opportunities and plans to head over to the Baja 1000 next week, as a back-up rider for the American KTM team. So where does that leave his Motorex KTM Off-Road team in Australia? Well, Chris Hollis’ contract was a two-year affair, so he’ll be back for 2013. And it looks like Ben Grabham will remain on the desert race only program. Ben Burrell has been solid, but not spectacular in the E1 class, so there’s talk that KTM has thrown out the feelers to Daniel Milner in the wake of his incredible A4DE Outright win on weekend. But you can’t help but think nothing will happen until Price’s future is locked in – one way or another. Oh, and when we talked with the team’s Manager, Brad Williscroft, he denied having spoken to Milner.

Gotta love the silly season!

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Also at the 4-Day, we overheard rumours that MX1 Australia Suzuki’s Lachie Stanford has been offered a ride with the Husqvarna Racing Team for 2013. Husqvarna’s Joerg Hoffmann Transmoto, “We’re in discussion with Lachie, but nothing has been signed yet.”

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Speaking of the Husqvarna Race team, Glenn Kearney is all set for the final round of the Japan National Cross Country, and will fly over to Japan today for the weekend’s race. Kearney commented before he left, “I’m looking forward to a racing holiday in Japan with my wife Krystle, to finish off what has been an excellent year of racing with the PFG Husqvarna team. After the AORC season, the recent ISDE in Germany and the A4DE in Warragul things have been quite hectic with a lot of travel, so after this race in Japan I look forward to a few days of relaxing and experiencing the Japanese culture. Krystle and I both love sushi, so we plan on getting our fair share of the Japanese specialty.”

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Off the back of his A4DE Outright victory, Ballard’s Off-Road Racing’s Daniel Milner is off to the States to compete at the final round of the GNCC series at the historic Loretta Lynn Ranch in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee. Show ’em who’s boss, Milner!

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And speaking of Ballard’s, after 24 years of running race teams, the Ballard’s Off-Road Racing Team Owner, Geoff Ballard, has officially called it a day as Team Manager. He leaves an unforgettable legacy to the sport of off-road racing.

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The GNCC has come down to the wire in both the XC1 and XC2 classes (450 and 250cc, respectively) with two riders in each class vying for the title, only one point apart. In the XC1 class, KTM’s Kailub Russell and Kiwi favourite, Paul Whibley, will go head-to-head, while the XC2 class sees Steward Baylor Jr and Jason Thomas fight for the title. It’ll be one exciting showdown!

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2012 Red Bull X Fighters World Champion, Levi Sherwood, recently went under the knife to remove a rod that was placed in his femur a while ago. He uploaded this with the the caption “It’s not a real opp unless you do a facebook upload haha!”

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Oh, and take a quick look at Levi’s brand new backyard freeride jumps… Absolute insanity…

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Joe Sheppard claimed the Overall 2012 Australian FMX Championship crown at the weekend’s final AUFMXC round – the Unit FMX Open – after landing on the third step of the podium. Clinton Moore out-rode his competitors on the day, winning a large chunk of the $13,000 prize pool on offer. “I’ve been keeping an eye on the riders in the AUFMXC and I know their level has risen considerably. I would have been happy finishing on the podium coming in fresh off a shoulder reconstruction, but I’m stoked to come away with the win. I just focused on the tricks I was comfortable with while trying to minimise mistakes and it worked out for me.”

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Russell Brothers Films’ video-editing genius, Lance Russell, spent his 21st birthday lying in a hopsital bed back in 2010, after suffering a crash which took him out of action for quite some time. Two years down the track, he spent his birthday out and about riding. Happy birthday, mate!

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DC and Troy Lee Designs have come together to create two limited edition gear sets, basing the designs on Australian FMX star, Robbie Maddison, and Jeremy McGrath. The two companies plan to continue this partnership into the future and create four unique rider-specific signature gear each year. To celebrate the launch of the collaboration, DC produced a short video featuring moto athletes, Jeremy McGrath, Robbie Maddison, Travis Pastrana, and Nate Adams, riding in the exclusive gear.

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Unit Clothing uploaded this shot to Facebook, of their all-new “Jah” gloves, which have been developed by powerhouse BMX rider, Kyle Baldock. Gotta love that rastafarian feel, eh man? They’ll be released early in 2013.

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Exhibitions and Trade Fairs (ETF) has announced the appointment of Mal Jarrett, as the new Event Manager of the Australian Motorcycle Expo. His role will begin just prior to the Australian Motorcycle Expo in Melbourne, being held November 23-25 – an event that is shaping up as the largest standalone show of its kind with over 135 exhibitors confirmed.

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Here’s something that’ll leave you frothing for the weekend. From what we’ve gathered, it’s New Zealand’s Jace Owen doing his thing… Yewwww!