Throwdown No.226 – 19/02/15

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Red Bull KTM’s Ryan Dungey has stamped his authority on the 2015 Monster Energy AMA Supercross series, claiming his second 450SX Overall win at Round 7 over the weekend. He now leads RCH Racing Suzuki’s Ken Roczen by 12 points, and Team Honda’s Trey Canard sits a further 11 points back from that. If Dungey can remain consistent (which he is more than well known for) we see no reason why he won’t be able to take his championship home in Las Vegas.

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Prior to Arlington’s SX round – this year’s 250SX Eastern Regional opener – Transmoto’s Jason Thomas offered us his two cents on who he thinks the players will be this season and why. We compared his predictions with the results from Texas – check ’em out here.

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Chad Reed always thought he’d be a ‘lifer’ with Thor riding gear, but all that changed in 2010. So what about Ryan Villopoto? Also a Thor lifer, right? Well, it’s true that RV wore Thor in 2005 when he turned Pro and again in 2006 when he won his first AMA title. In fact, he’s showcased the gear ever since. But if our sources are one-the-money, the American will appear in Alpinestars gear at the opening round of the 2015 Motocross World Championship in Qatar next weekend. Anyone want to bet against that happening?

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Check out RedBull IceOne Husqvarna Factory Racing Team riders, Max Nagl, Nathan Watson and Australia’s Todd Waters, preparing for the opening round of the 2015 FIM Motocross World Championship.

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Take a look at the official highlights from the opening round of the 2015 East Coast MX series, presented by Transmoto Dirt Bike Magazine.

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A storyline that’s doing the rounds amongst the tightknit Kiwi motocross community this week focuses on ‘the other guys’. These are guys who are not lucky enough to be on manufacturer teams, and receive the benefits that come with that – financial backing being just one element – not to mention bikes and gear supplied. These are the guys who may receive the odd discount on gear and parts from their local dealer, but still foot the bill for the majority of the costs of going racing. Read more on ‘the other guys’ in this week’s NZ Insider column.

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Check out this video. Yamaha-mounted riders take on Round 1 of the 2015 InsureMyRide Australian Enduro-X Nationals, that was staged at Brisbane’s Archerfield Speedway, February 7. Round 2 will take place at Sydney Dragway, February 28.

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The opening round of the 2015 Italian Enduro Championship is set to take place this weekend at Lignano Sabbiadoro. Riders such as Antoine Meo, Alex Salvini, Johnny Aubert and Australia’s Matt Phillips will all be going head-to-head. For more information on the event, click here.

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Toby Price has been a hectic man since his incredible third place finish at this this year’s Dakar Rally. He’s busied himself catching up with sponsors, fulfilling a bunch of media obligations since returning from South America in late January, and racing the IMR Australian Enduro-X Nationals. His newfound international celebrity status has also opened doors for something he’s really excited about – racing a stadium truck at the Clipsal 500 V8 Supercar season opener in Adelaide next week. “Being invited to take part in this celebrity truck race is a pretty cool opportunity,” Price told Transmoto earlier this week. “I head to Adelaide on Monday to get some seat-time in one of the SST trucks I’ll be racing. Basically, they’re similar to the stadium trucks they race at the Finke Desert Race, except they’re about a tonne lighter and have the same horsepower. They run a two-speed transmission and get up to 240km/h. As far as I understand it, we’ll be racing on the same track as the V8s, but they’re throwing in some steel ramps for us guys to jump off. As the Clipsal 500 clashes with the second round of the Australian Enduro-X nationals in Sydney next weekend, my good mate from Billy Geddes will step in and race ‘my’ truck on the Saturday. Then, after I’m done at the Enduro-X, I’ll fly straight back to Adelaide for the Sunday race. These sorts of opportunities don’t come up too often, so I’m really looking forward to it,” Price went on to say.

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Speaking of Price, now that he’s had some time to recuperate physically, how does he reflect on his success at the Dakar and the fact he was regularly on-pace with five-time winner, Marc Coma? “Marc’s a great guy,” says Toby. “During the event, he’s clearly there to do a job for KTM. He’s such a smart rider and so calculated in his riding and strategy. He taught me a lot before the event, but I made sure I didn’t bother him with too many questions during the race itself. For me, it was more a matter of sitting back and observing how he went about his business. We’d chat at the end of each day, and share a bit of a joke – often about how he couldn’t understand my Aussie accent or the fact I said ‘no dramas’ or ‘no worries’ all the time. But then when the race was over, he came up to me, shook my hand and said I’d done an amazing job for my first Dakar. He even told me I had a very bright future in Rally racing, so it was really special for me to hear that from a multiple Dakar champion.” Well deserved praise, we reckon.

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Prior to heading back to Europe last week, reigning World E3 Enduro Champion, Matt Phillips, contacted Transmoto’s HQ to confirm that he will definitely be racing the 2015 Yamaha Australian 4-Day Enduro in Tasmania this October. “I’ve already spoken the KTM Off-Road Racing team manager, Ben Grabham,” explained Phillips, “and I’ll probably be racing the 4-Day on the 300cc two-stroke I’ll race in the EWC again this year. The really cool thing about this year’s 4-Day is that one of the event’s special tests actually uses the quarry that I rode all the time as a little tacker. It’s literally 300 metres from the house where I grew up and where my family still lives.” The October 19-24 A4DE is being run by Matt’s old man, Glen “Yogi” Phillips, along with 7 Four Media’s Darren Brumby. Stay tuned for more info about the Tassie-based 4-Day in the coming weeks. Phillips is yet to win the A4DE Outright, and as much as it might not have quite the cache as an Enduro World title, a 4-Day is definitely something he wants to add to his CV.

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Motorcycling Australia is now calling for expressions of interest for the following positions on the Australian Team for the 2015 International Six Days Enduro (ISDE) to be held in Kosice, Slovakia from September 7–12.

• Australian Team Manager
• Australian Team Riders
• Australian Team Assistant
• Australian Jury Delegate
• Australian Club Team Riders

For more information, click here.

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Check out Jonny Walker’s epic section from RIDE: World Elements, produced by Fourohfour.

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International competitions such as Red Bull X-Fighters and X Games have a worldwide reputation for their massive freestyle motocross courses and technical designs. Professional track builders such as Jesse Olson and Dan Herron have been designing and building these insane courses for decades. For this week’s FMX Insider column, Transmoto‘s Ben Heidrich caught up with Aussie OG rider, Cameron ‘Sturto’ Sturbridge, to speak about the world-class complex that he designed and built in Coonabarabran – Goanna Tracks.

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Click here to find out what’s inside Transmoto Dirt Bike Magazine’s 2015 November-December Issue (#48), and be sure to grab yourself a print or digital edition. You can grab a print edition at your local newsagents, or a digital version via the App Store or Zinio.

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Got a dirt bike you want to sell? How about some used gear, parts or accessories? Thanks to the Transmoto Trader, you’re going to be able to advertise what you’ve got to sell in front of a captive audience of over 100,000 unique website browsers per month, more than 320,000 Facebook followers and 11,000-plus Instagram followers. Create an account via Transmoto’s website (it’s quick and easy to do, and you can even log in using your Facebook account) and start posting. Start buying, selling and swapping your unwanted bikes, gear, parts and accessories.

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General public entries are now open for the 2015 Transmoto 12-Hour, set to take place at Batemans Bay, NSW, on March 28-29. You can purchase a ticket (or tickets), by clicking here. Don’t mess around, as this event will sell out fast.

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Transmoto is giving away 10 tickets to the second round of the 2015 InsureMyRide Australian Enduro-X Nationals, taking place at Eastern Creek’s Sydney Dragway, February 28. To find out how you can score yourself a ticket, click here.

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The picturesque town of Birdwood in South Australia is home to the National Motor Museum, which will become the centre of attention on March 17. The scene will be set when Charley Boorman of Long Way Round fame, in partnership with Compass Expeditions, ride into the museum’s carpark a week into their 10-day Sydney-to-the-Outback Tour, where they’ll be met by motorcycling royalty, including Jerry Burgess, Andy Haydon, Toby Price, Dave Schwarz and the Caldecott family. Why, though? Click this link and find out.

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Thanks to Fox Head Australia, we’ve chosen two lucky Transmoto fans to win a limited edition Marz helmet and gearbag. These special products were released over the weekend of the San Diego AMA Supercross round. The winners are Brendan Neagle (helmet) and Demi Townsend (gearbag). Congratulations, guys.

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