Throwdown No.2 – 15/01/16

What a crazy week it’s been for Australians on the international racing scene – Toby Price won the 2016 Dakar Rally, becoming the first Australian to ever do so in any division, and Chad Reed scored his first AMA Supercross podium on board his all-new Monster Energy/360fly/Chaparral/Yamaha Factory Racing YZ450F. There’s been heaps more going on, and we’ve got loads to talk about, so let’s get stuck into it.

• Ryan Dungey and Cooper Webb won at San Diego 1, James Stewart didn’t race due to his A1 head-knock, and Justin Barcia is going to be sitting on the sidelines for a little while, opting to have surgery done on a nagging thumb injury this week.
• With Reed claiming sixth at A1, and second at SD1, do you think a win could be on the cards for the 33-year-old at A2? He was the winner of that round back in 2014.
• The press release hasn’t been issued yet, but it’s basically been confirmed that 2014 Australian MX Nationals MX2 champ, Luke Clout, will contest the remainder of the 250SX Western Regional AMA Supercross series with the MAD Racing Yoshimura Suzuki Dirt Candy Graphics team, alongside Matt Bisceglia.
• Following on from Luke’s Australian racing departure, Wade Hunter and Wilson Todd have been signed by Clout’s former team, Serco Yamaha. Clout’s 2015 teammate, Jed Beaton, has been signed by DPH Motorsports Yamaha (who Wade raced for last year).
• A new-look Proformance Yamaha Maxima Oils Bulk Nutrients Racing team will field Kale Makeham (MX2), Lachie Davis (MX2) and Hugh McKay (MXD) in 2016. The team was spotted at Ride Park in Victoria over the weekend, cutting laps on board their YZ250Fs.
• When Youthstream, promoters of the FIM Motocross World Championship, released the official team line-ups list for the MXGP of Qatar (the 2016 season opener at Losail on February 27-28), it was a stark reminder that there are no Australian riders taking place in the series this year. Yes, with Todd Waters and Dean Ferris returning to race the Australian MX Nationals this year, there will be zero Aussies taking part in the MXGP series. It’s been a long time since that was the case, and it sure doesn’t bode well for Team Australia’s chances at the annual Motocross of Nations.
• New Zealand’s Ben Townley headed over to Europe last week to commence his training ahead of the 2016 MXGP season opener. He’s currently doing some testing in Spain.
• The rider line-up for the opening round of the 2016 East Coast MX series, presented by Transmoto (taking place at Lakes Motorcycle Club this weekend) has been released. Check it out here, and visit www.eastcoastmx.com.au for more information.

^ Image: Stuart Myatt

• NZ-based surf photographer, Derek Morrison (who has been a part of the Australasian motocross industry for many years) runs a fantastic website called Box Of Light that he uses to post small articles on topics of his choice, and this week, he had an awesome tale to tell about Australia’s man of the moment, Toby Price: “13 years ago I found myself on the side of a motocross track in Australia shooting images of a kid on a Kawasaki with the #287 number plate emblazoned across it. He was 15 and stood head and shoulders above his rivals. Not just in a physical sense, but with his skill and command over his bike. I knew instantly that this was a special racer when I met him. He was polite and humble – even after winning two Australian Junior titles that day. I asked him how he managed to gap the field so well on the fastest section of the track. He smiled and replied, ‘I just trust my tyres, I trust them not to let go.’ Over the past few weeks that friendly, smiling kid – Toby Price – has been racing through the most remote parts of Argentina and Bolivia in the 37th edition of the great Dakar Rally. In the past two weeks he’s trusted his tyres across almost 9000km of desert, rocky mountains and desolate backcountry. On Saturday, Toby rolled over the finish line at Rosario to become the first Australian rider to ever win the iconic race and the first to ever win it on only their second attempt. In the 13 years since I first met him, he has worked tirelessly to hone his craft. He has had ups and downs, won races with broken ankles, battled back from a broken neck and has buried teammates. To see all the hard work pay off for the talented rider is simply inspiring.” Check out Morrison’s website for more interesting stories like this one. Dig deep enough and you’ll find a cool one about Transmoto‘s Editor, Andy Wigan.
• Speaking of Toby, our boys over at Enduro21.com spoke with him prior to his second Dakar Rally attempt and put together this insightful pre-race interview. It’s well worth reflecting on.
• The 2016 Dakar Rally winner is also “Mr January” on our 2016 wall calendar, presented by KTM, which can be purchased here.

^ Image: KTM Images

• You reckon Yamaha is keen to win the Australian Off-Road Championship (AORC) this year? Well, if you look at their rider line-up, they intend to OWN it! In addition to CDR Yamaha’s Chris Hollis and Tom McCormack, Active8 Yamaha’s Josh Green (the AORC reigning E1-class champ), Beau Ralston (the AORC reigning E2-class champ) and Tayla Jones (the AORC reigning Women’s-class champ, who’ll be racing the blokes in E1 this year), Yamaha has also signed Scott Keegan, Riley Graham and Stefan Granquist – all riders who’ve posted top-10 Outright finishes in recent AORC seasons. The AORC gets under way in Queensland on March 19-20.
• Tayla Jones will also be a part of Active8 Yamaha’s desert racing program. Which makes sense, given that she placed an astounding second in the 250cc four-stroke class at the 2015 Finke Desert Race – the first woman to ever finish on the podium in the iconic race’s 40-year history – and towelled up the rest of the women at the Hattah Desert Race yet again.”
• Former two-time Enduro World Champion, Matt Phillips, has confirmed that his deal with the CH Sherco race team gives him an option to extend the deal to the end of 2017, and that he’ll be racing a Sherco 450SEF-R this season. We’ll have an interview with Matt online next week, in which he explains the surprise move from KTM to Sherco and his expectations for the coming EWC season.
• Speaking of the EWC, its promoters have unveiled a fresh new logo for season 2016 – the series’ “new visual identity”, as they put it. In keeping with naming protocol of the FIM’s MotoGP and MXGP World Championships, the 2016 EWC will be referred to as “EnduroGP”. The eight-stop series kicks off in Morocco on April 8-10.

• CPW Motoparts has been appointed as the Australasian contact for the 2016 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge – the first round of the 2016 World Rally Championship. Any competitors from Australia or New Zealand who need assistance can contact Don McGrath by emailing don@cycleproducts.com.au or calling (08) 9434 1653.
• We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: the 250cc four-stroke enduro bikes made in KTM’s Austrian factory (that is, the KTM 250EXC-F and the Husky FE250) have improved so much in recent years that they are now by far and away the best bang-for-buck enduro machines on the market. Sadly, they still don’t sell very well in the horsepower-obsessed Australian market – despite the fact that a greater majority of riders we see on the trails would be far better off aboard one. To help move these bikes, KTM has just announced a deal so good that you’ve be crazy no to reconsider you choice of capacity. For a limited time, KTM Australia is offering a $1400 Factory Edition Kit and $2000 cashback on the 2015-model 250EXC-F’s normal $12,995 RRP. For details, check out KTM’s website.
• Unfortunately, the 2016 edition of the Troy Bayliss Classic was rained out over the weekend before the finals could take place, which is a real shame considering the amount of talent that was lining up. See if you can name everyone in the shot below?!

• After 13 years as the go-to guy for Sydney-based parts and accessories business, Ballard’s Offroad, Brad Beddoes has recently joined Link International as the Queensland-based distributor’s NSW Area Sales Manager. Nice work, B-Rad!
• Our 2016 January-February issue (#54) is on sale now. Grab a print copy at your local newsagents today, or a digital copy via the Zinio App – simply download it for free on your favourite handheld device and search Transmoto.
• Don’t forget that our latest magazine subscription deal is still running. Purchase a 12-issue print subscription for just $90 (it’s a bi-monthly mag, so you’ll receive your 12 issues over two years) and you’ll go in the running to win a 2016 Husqvarna FC450 worth $11,995, a selection of Husqvarna Accessories genuine parts worth $1470 and a year’s supply of Bel-Ray oils and lubricants worth $2387. That’s a potential $15,852 worth of goods that you could win by simply spending what works out to be $3.75 per month. You’d be mad not to enter, right?

• And in huge news for us, the 2016 Transmoto 12-Hour, powered by Yamaha, sold out in less than 48 hours over the weekend. We’d like to thank the 20 Ironmen and 360 Team-of-Four competitors who secured a spot for 2016 – we can’t wait to see you at Batemans Bay on February 27-28. If you missed out, stay tuned to www.transmoto.com.au and our Facebook page for updates regarding upcoming Transmoto events.