Throwdown No.143

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.

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The 2013 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship hit up Muddy Creek Raceway over the weekend for the inaugural Built Ford Tough Tennessee National. Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto found himself in a battle with Team Honda Muscle Milk’s Justin Barcia again this week in the 450 Class, but Villopoto fell victim to a rough track in the second moto and opened the door up for Barcia and Red Bull KTM’s Ryan Dungey to fight for the win. Eventually, it was Dungey who walked away with his first Overall round win of this year’s season with a 3-1 result. In the 250 Class, consistency ultimately paid off for Dungey’s teammate Marvin Musquin, who was able to secure the Overall with a 2-2 score. Racing continues this weekend at High Point, June 8.

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Unfortunately, TwoTwo Motorsports’ Chad Reed is still not riding at 100%. Recovering from an illness and getting back up to speed, Reed rode two solid motos at Muddy Creek and salvaged 12th Overall. He’ll be looking to re-group when the series takes a two-week break after this weekend’s round.

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With the second 250 class moto drawing to a close, Muddy Creek witnessed a great three-way battle for third between Red Bull KTM’s Ken Roczen, GEICO Honda’s Zach Osborne and Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Blake Baggett, with all three riders occupying the position at some point. Watch Baggett recap his late-race charge to get from fifth to third in the final laps.

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Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Dean Wilson and GEICO Honda’s Zach Bell will both sit out the remainder of the 2013 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship with shoulder injuries. Wilson’s had surgery on the shoulder he injured in a practice crash last week, and Bell will go under the knife next week to fix the shoulder he originally injured late in the 2013 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship.

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Can you believe that we’ve reached the halfway mark of the 2013 Monster Energy MX Nationals already? Motorex KTM’s Todd Waters will carry a 25-point lead into the mid-season break ahead of Motul Pirelli Suzuki’s Matt Moss and CDR Yamaha’s Billy Mackenzie in the MX1 class. Serco Yamaha’s Luke Styke leads the charge in the MX2 class by 50 points, in front of teammate Luke Clout and Carlton Dry Honda Racing’s Josh Cachia. You can check out the current leader board here. Racing resumes with Round 6 at Appin, July 14.

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The 2013 Matrix Equipment Manjimup 15,000 is set to kick off this weekend at the world renowned Cosy Creek Circuit, Manjimup in Western Australia. Willie Thomson’s Dirt High Promotions has gathered the best of the nation’s motocross riders along with several overseas stars for the prestigious event. On Saturday, some of Australia’s best juniors will take to the track, including 65cc FIM Junior World Motocross champion Caleb Grothues, while the senior event will take place on Sunday. Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jay Marmont is aiming to secure his fourth Manjimup 15,000 title this weekend. For more details, click here.

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The 2013 FIM Motocross World Championship resumes this weekend in France, June 9. Red Bull KTM riders Antonio Cairoli and Jeffrey Herlings lead the MX1 and MX2 classes, respectively, and don’t look as though they’ll be slowing down any time soon. Australia’s Dean Ferris currently sits sixth Overall in the MX2 class on board his Monster Energy Yamaha. Find out a little more about what’s been happening of late on the European motocross scene in this week’s MXGP Insider.

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New Zealand’s Josh Coppins jumped on board a JCR Yamaha YZ450F and won four out of five motos at the 30th anniversary Michael Godfrey Memorial Motocross in Waipara, north of Christchurch, over the weekend in the MX1 class. The 36-year-old proved that he’s forgotten next to nothing, and can still shred as he pleases. As you can see below, though, his leg clearly took a nasty beating from a starting crash. Body’s not quite what it used to be, eh mate?

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Who loves the Finke Desert Race? We do! The 2013 instalment of the gruelling event is set to take place this weekend in Alice Springs. Last year’s champion, Motorex KTM Off Road Racing’s Toby Price will be on the sidelines this year due to injury, cheering on HSE Motorex KTM Off Road Racing riders Ben Grabham and Matt Fish. Grabbo, a four-time winner of the race, will be making his return as a competitor for the first time since he suffered spinal injuries at the Condo 750 more than a year ago. Also vying for the title will be the well-prepared Active8 Yamaha duo of Josh Green and AJ Roberts. Stay tuned over the weekend, as we’ll try to keep you as best updated with what’s going on as we can.

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When we were speaking with New Zealand native, Ben Townley at the opening round of last year’s Australian Supercross Championships in Dubbo, and he told us that he was interested in racing the 2013 KTM Hattah Desert Race, we definitely didn’t take him seriously. It’s now been confirmed that the recently-retired Townley will be racing the gruelling event in just one month’s time. Preparation is reaching fever-pitch to welcome well-over 500 professional and amateur riders to the North West Victorian Motorcycle Club at Mildura, July 6-7. For more details, click here.

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Factory FMF/KTM rider Kailub Russell took the win at the Wiseco John Penton GNCC to clinch his second victory of the 2013 Grand National Cross Country series. Russell’s teammate, Charlie Mullins, joined him on the podium in second place, while in third place was Rocky Mountain ATV/MC Racing’s Josh Strang. The next event in the series is set to take place in Masontown, June 15-16.

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Honda-mounted riders Timmy Weigand, David Kamo and Colton Udall claimed the motorcycle win at the 2013 SCORE/Baja 500 event over the weekend. The Rockstar/JCR Honda trio, backed by team owner and Baja legend Johnny Campbell, defeated the Factory FMF/KTM Off Road team of Kurt Caselli, Ivan Ramirez and Mike Brown. You can check out race footage of the Factory FMF/KTM squad below, and suss out the full results here.

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Former Husqvarna rider, Joan Barreda has officially signed with Team HRC Honda to race the 2014 Dakar Rally on board a CRF450 RALLY.

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KTM’s Marc Coma sealed victory on Wednesday in the Sardinia Rally to complete a hat trick of wins in this season’s FIM World Cross Country Rally Championship, and now has a perfect score card of 60 points. With this win, KTM’s multiple Dakar Rally winner has laid the foundation to retain his title in the 2013 edition of the World Championships. The Spanish rider finished the five-stage rally a shade over seven minutes in front of Paolo Goncalves of Portugal and Joan Pedrero of Spain, making it a three-way win for riders from the Iberian Peninsular. Coma’s old rival, Yamaha’s Cyril Despres finished in fourth.

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After many years of disappointment and despair, Husaberg’s Graham Jarvis finally had a reason to celebrate at the end of the 2013 Erzberg Rodeo, as he delivered one of the best performances of his extreme enduro career. Jarvis delivered a faultless performance to claim a well-deserved win, followed by Andreas Lettenbichler and teammate Alfredo Gomez. For full results from the event, click here.

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Japan’s Taka Higashino won the first Red Bull X-Fighters event of his career in a thrilling final against Frenchman Tom Pages, as the world’s most prestigious freestyle motorcross series made its eagerly awaited debut in East Asia. Higashino pulled off a spectacular upset victory over Pages at the Red Bull X-Fighters’ first-ever stop in Japan, giving his home country a fascinating taste of FMX with an unlikely win against the Frenchman, while finishing in third place was America’s Adam Jones. Interestingly, the six-round 2013 Red Bull X-Fighters World Tour has now produced four winners in four rounds. Pages still leads the 2013 Red Bull X-Fighters World Tour heading into the next stop in Madrid, Spain next month.

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Here’s the step-by-step rundown on how the night unfolded in Osaka, as the hometown hero Taka Higashino claimed his first-ever Red Bull X-Fighters victory.

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What brand of bike do 99.9% of Red Bull-sponsored athletes ride? Yep, KTMs. Australia’s Robbie Maddison has made the switch, leaving Yamaha behind. Strangely, he’s not rockin’ DC Shoes Apparel either – instead, he’s wearing Alpinestars gear with DC/Skullcandy branding on it.

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Transmoto’s July Issue is on sale now! This month, we present to you a special edition based entirely around the 2013 Transmoto 12-Hour event! Included free is a full-length DVD, showcasing all of the action that went down over the weekend of March 23-24 at Batemans Bay, NSW. Don’t waste time – grab your print or digital copy.

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Who’s giving away a 2014 KTM 350EXC-F? That would be _Transmoto Dirt Bike Magazine_. Click here and find out how you could easily become the lucky winner.

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Our good friends at Lusty Industries & Distributors have announced that they are the newly-appointed distributor of Troy Lee Designs in Australia, also incorporating James Stewart’s apparel company SEVEN and the co-branded DC Shoes Apparel. Click here for more information.

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Get your free copy of the Fox Winter Catalogue when you download Transmoto’s App on iTunes! It’s easy to do, there’s tonnes of extra video content included, and did we mention that it’s 100% free?

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We leave you with this rad footage of Ricky Carmichael lapping through his Tallahassee, Florida track back in the day. If only we could listen to that sweet two-stroke sound without the terrible, terrible music being played over the top…

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