Throwdown No.145

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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Let’s get back into it! The Red Bull Budds Creek National, Round 5 of the 2013 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship, is set to take place this weekend, June 22. Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto leads the charge in the 450 class, having won three of four rounds Outright so far. Challenging RV for the title is Red Bull KTM’s Ryan Dungey, 16 points behind, while in third is Team Honda Muscle Milk’s Justin Barcia. TwoTwo Motorsports’ Chad Reed has been saying for (three) weeks that he’ll feel better in three weeks’ time. That time, is now. Hopefully Reedy has his mysterious illness behind him, and can finally get out there and show everyone what he’s got starting this weekend.

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In the 250 class, it’s the Red Bull KTM duo of Marvin Musquin and Ken Roczen out in front, followed closely by GEICO Honda’s Eli Tomac. Last year’s champ, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Blake Baggett, is still struggling with a wrist injury suffered at the 2012 Monster Energy Cup in October.

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16-year-old Adam Cianciarulo will finally make his Pro 250 class debut this weekend at the Red Bull Budds Creek National, riding for the decorated Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki team. AC suffered salmonella food poisoning before his expected Pro debut at Hangtown earlier this year – we’re keen to see what he can pull off once he lines up on that start gate.

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This year’s Eastern Regional AMA Supercross Champion, GEICO Honda’s Wil Hahn, will also return to racing this Saturday at the Red Bull Budds Creek National. Hahn was sidelined for the opening chunk of the outdoor season, after suffering a wrist injury at the SX finale in Las Vegas. “I was looking forward to carrying that momentum from supercross into motocross, but it didn’t work out for me that way,” said Hahn. “But since the surgery on my wrist, I’ve been working as hard as I can. I’ve had some good therapy to get this thing healed and get back on the bike as soon as possible.”

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18-year-old Jeffrey Herlings has stated via Twitter that racing in America could be on the cards for him in 2014. As he’s only allowed to defend his MX2 crown once (this year), he would be forced to move into the big-bike class next year. He’s now publicly stated that if the rule remains, he wants to head to the USA and try his hand in the 250 class, as he feels he’s too young to ride the 450 machines in MX1. You can grab more details here.

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Victoria’s Kade Mosig made his return to racing over the weekend, going 1-1 at the second round of the Victorian Senior MX Championship in the Pro Lites class at Swan Hill, Vic. Mosig fractured his L2 vertebrae at the third round of the 2013 Monster Energy MX Nationals a couple of months ago, after Carlton Dry Honda Racing’s Josh Cachia crashed in front of him, leaving him with nowhere to go. Funnily enough, Mosig is actually at Cachia’s place in SA right now, training and preparing for the sixth round the MX Nats to be held in Appin, NSW, July 14.

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Who would have thought that Canadian motocross could be so interesting? Australia’s Brett Metcalfe claimed his second consecutive MX1 clean sweep over the weekend, to win the third round of the Monster Energy Motocross Nationals in Canada, at Wild Rose MX Park in Calgary. In the MX2 title hunt, Metcalfe’s Monster Energy/Parts Canada/Leading Edge Kawasaki teammate Austin Politelli stayed on a roll to claim his second consecutive clean sweep, and third Overall win of the year. We’ll keep you posted with Metcalfe’s progress.

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Australia’s Meghan Rutledge went 2-9 at the Italian round of the 2013 FIM Women’s World Motocross Championship to claim fourth Overall. Rutledge unfortunately crashed out on the opening lap of the second moto, and had to battle her way back to the front to salvage valuable points. In the Men’s racing, Australia’s Dean Ferris started off his weekend well when Saturday’s qualification race saw him finish a strong second behind Russian hopeful, Alexander Tonkov. The Monster Energy Yamaha rider posted a 7-7 result on Sunday, leaving him with a solid seventh Overall. Joining Ferris’ team in Italy for a one-off race in the MX1 class was CDR Yamaha’s Billy Mackenzie, who finished 15th Overall after obtaining a 16-14 result.

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Want to learn how to rail a berm with ease and style? Young-gun Errol Willis has blinding corner speed and bad-arse berm technique. Back in Transmoto Issue #13, we got him to explain how he perfected the art.

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The fourth round of the 2013 East Coast MX Series, presented by Transmoto Dirt Bike Magazine, is scheduled to go ahead this weekend at Mt. Kembla, NSW. Scheduled, is the key word at this point. Heavy rain is looming at this point, and the round may need to be postponed – if so, it will be the second round to be postponed in 2013 due to wet weather conditions. Fingers crossed, eh?!

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Is Matt Phillips Australia’s next Enduro World Champion? At this stage, his chances of taking home a title in 2013 are looking pretty good… The fifth stop of the 2013 EWC, the GP of Romania held in Buzau, ended successfully for the 19-year-old, as he extended his lead in the Enduro Junior (EJ) class to 28 points. “It’s been great to get another win this weekend,” said Phillips. “To be honest I didn’t feel like I rode good enough to finish as runner-up but thankfully I was able to take the position right at the very end of the day. I’m happy to have made it onto the podium both days and collected more points towards the championship.”

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In the Enduro Women’s class, Australia’s Jessica Gardiner went 2-2 to claim second Overall in Romania, and maintains her second place position in the championship standings behind Laia Sanz. The 2013 FIM Enduro World Championship continues this weekend with the penultimate rounds in Greece, June 22-23.

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Husaberg Factory Team rider, Jamie McCanney put the finishing touches to his Enduro Youth World Championship campaign at the GP of Romania over the weekend, winning his first-ever EWC title aboard his TE125. With eight consecutive round wins to his credit, added to his two runner-up results at the opening round of the Enduro World Championship in Chile, McCanney became the first rider to be crowned as an Enduro World Champion in 2013. Congratulations, buddy.

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The six-member World Trophy Team that will represent America at the 2013 International Six-Days Enduro has been announced. Kurt Caselli, Mike Brown, Charlie Mullins, Thad Duvall, Zach Osborne and Taylor Robert will face the best off-road racers in the world in Sardinia, Italy from September 30 until October 5. Who’s representing Team Australia? Click here and find out.

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The HSE Motorex KTM Off Road Racing duo of Ben Grabham and Matt Fish will be there when the all-new WA Desert Tri-Series kicks off this weekend at Doorawarra, near Carnarvon in Western Australia’s upper Gascoyne Region. The exciting three-round series will take place over the next two months, and sees two established events in the Pilbara Region and a new event to open the series at Doorawarra Station. The format for each round will see three days of desert racing action, with a 10-kilometre Prologue on the Friday followed by a 500km event stretched over two days.

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Australia’s Josh Strang secured a third and a second at the last two rounds of the 2013 Grand National Cross Country (GNCC) Series, and we certainly believe he could put his Rocky Mountain ATV/MC Kawasaki KX450F on the top step of the XC1 podium before season’s end. You can read more about Strang’s on-going positive progress in this week’s USA Insider.

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The team that will represent Victoria at this year’s Australian 4-Day Enduro (A4DE), set to take place in Harvey, WA, July 17-20, has been announced. The Senior team will feature Peter Boyle, Leigh Monkhouse, Jacob Deagan, Richard Chibnall, Stuart Gannon and Dylan Rees, with the Junior team starring the 2012 A4DE Outright champion Daniel Milner, Daniel Sanders, Matthew Phillips and Scott Keegan, while the Women’s team will feature Kellie Catanese, Teneil Van Doorn and Sophie Coldicutt. We’ll have more information on the 35th edition of the A4DE online for you guys soon.

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Fifteen freestyle motocross riders will do battle at this weekend’s RFDmx-promoted Australian FMX Championship (AFMXC) qualifier, to secure a position at the JetPilot Invitational FMX competition – the opening round of the 2013 AFMXC – that kicks off one week later on the Sunshine Coast, Qld. Never before has the level been as high, or as much interest shown, by riders eager to stake their claim in the AFMXC series. For more information, click here.

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The third stop on the 2013 X Games calendar is set to take place in Munich, Germany in just under two weeks. At this stop, we’ll see Moto X Best Whip, Moto X Step Up, Moto X Speed & Style, Moto X Freestyle and Enduro X. You can check out the entire schedule for the event here.

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Here’s a freakin’ sweet FMX edit we came across earlier in the week, featuring mad-man Adam Jones. Insane riding, smooth heli-shots, decent tunes – what more could you ask for?

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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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Suzuki’s 2014 four-stroke motocross bikes were unveiled this week, with minimal changes featured for the new model year after significant upgrades were made for 2013. Both RM-Z450 and RM-Z250 models are claimed to have improved starting performance, courtesy of revised ECM ignition programs. Other than that, there are now two-tone radiator shrouds, new graphics and yellow number plates. We’ll let you know when an Australian release date and pricing comes to hand. Click here for more details.

And, no more than 24 hours after the 2014 Suzuki models were unveiled, Kawasaki’s 2014 four-stroke motocross bikes broke cover in America, with the KX250F receiving a few notable updates, while the 2013 Transmoto Dirt Bike Magazine Motocross Bike Shootout winner, the KX450F, merely received bold new graphics. With both machines receiving significant upgrades in 2013, it wasn’t expected that much would be done to the the new year models. Kawasaki Australia anticipates a July/August Australian release date, and pricing is yet to be announced. Click here for more details.

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International Entertainment Group (IEG), promoters of the 2013 Australian Supercross Championship, has announced that this year’s series will receive 12 hours of free-to-air coverage on SPEED WEEK, SBS. The coverage is another step forward for the championship, and aims to bring mainstream attention to the sport, teams and riders. In addition to the 12 hours of coverage on SPEED WEEK, SBS, the 2013 Australian Supercross Championship will be aired in New Zealand, the UK, Europe and Southeast Asia. For more details, click here.

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Honda Motorcycles Australia has announced Toowoomba Honda Motorcycles as National Dealer of the Year for 2012. The announcement was made at the Dealer of the Year Awards dinner held in Melbourne over the weekend. Honda Motorcycles Australia took the opportunity to congratulate all of the State and Territory winners who were all in attendance at the awards dinner.

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KTM Motorsports Pit Beirer announced at the Grand Prix of Maggiora, Italy on Saturday that the KTM Racing Department has extended their factory management contract with Stefan Everts. Everts, one of the most outstanding motocross riders and a 10-time world champion, has guided the KTM MX2 factory team to its present dominance and has been a manager and mentor to talented young riders such as Marvin Musquin, Ken Roczen, Jeffrey Herlings and Jordi Tixier. Beirer said by signing Everts for another three years, the factory team would have both continuity and consistency. He also confirmed that KTM has already extended the contracts of Claudio de Carli, Team Manager of the MX1 Factory line-up and Roger DeCoster, who manages the Factory KTM team in the USA, for another three seasons.

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Prorider Motorcycles, located in Lithgow, NSW, now stocks and sells Fantic two-stroke enduro bikes. Click here to check out what’s on offer.

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Red Bull’s latest concoction, Danny Macaskill’s Imaginate, most definitely gave amazingly spectacular a whole new meaning this week… No matter what style of moto riding you’re into, we promise, you’re going to really enjoy this one…

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