Throwdown No.227 – 26/02/15

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Chad Reed has had a lot on his mind this year – basically since the FIM’s John Gallagher gave him that Black Flag at Anaheim 2, things haven’t been looking overly bright for the Australian, essentially being out of title contention and all. That’s why it was incredible to see him basically lead from start to finish in Atlanta, the eighth round of the 2015 Monster Energy AMA Supercross series. He now sits seventh Overall in the 450SX standings (behind Dungey, Canard, Roczen, Tomac, Anderson and Seely). This weekend, when racing returns to the Georgia Dome, Reed will attempt to become the first rider to claim back-to-back victories in Atlanta since Ricky Carmichael in 2005-2006. Reckon the TwoTwo can go 1-1? We’ll have to wait and see.

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Did you know that Chad Reed has now won at least one SX race every year for the last 11 years? It’s a new record. James Stewart has also won at least one SX race every year, up until the end of the 2014 season, that is. Unfortunately, as we all know, that comes to an end this year.

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Atlanta served up a night that RCH Racing Suzuki rider, Ken Roczen, will be more than happy to forget about. The Anaheim 1 winner finished in 18th Overall after sustaining one crash during Qualifying and one in the Main Event. GEICO Honda’s Eli Tomac will also look to put Atlanta’s round behind him – he crossed the finish line in 20th Overall after crashing (the crash might not have looked very gnarly, but it did some damage to his body and his bike) in the Main Event. If they wish to sit third and fourth in the standings (or move up past Dungey and Canard) they can’t let races like this one slip through again.

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The 250SX Eastern Regional race was won by Yamalube/Star Racing/Yamaha rider, Jeremy Martin, over the weekend. In second was Red Bull KTM’s Marvin Musquin, and in third was GEICO Honda’s Justin Bogle. In our opinion, these are the three key players that have a chance to take home the crown come the final round in Las Vegas. Bogle was last year’s Eastern Regional champ, but Martin and Musquin (the current points leader) won’t let him have an easy run. Of course, we can’t count out the likes of Joey Savatgy, Martin Davalos and a couple of others to jump in the mix.

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Jeremy Martin doesn’t mind breaking records. Consider this. Yamaha had gone 11 straight seasons without wining a 250SX race in Atlanta until Jeremy Martin’s victory last weekend in the first of the city’s back-to-back AMA SX rounds. And last season, when Martin wrapped up the 250cc AMA Outdoor title, it was Yamaha’s first since 1992, when Jeff Emig won the 125cc class aboard a YZ125. Which means, incredibly, that Yamaha’s venerable YZ250F – the bike that first appeared in 2001 and is widely regarded as the machine that revolutionised small-capacity motocross – had never won an AMA Motocross title until Martin’s 2014 triumph. You reckon he can back up and win the AMA SX title this year? Don’t discount the kid.

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In his 66th career start last weekend in Atlanta, Martin Davalos also appeared set to create some history. The Husqvarna-mounted Ecuador native led the 250SX field for the first half of last weekend’s race (Round 2 of the Eastern Region AMA 250SX Championship), and if he’d stayed there until the chequers, he would have (according to the TV coverage commentary) given Husqvarna its first win in the class since Jimmy Button won a 125cc class Main way back in 1991 (according to Transmoto‘s US sources, Travis Preston actually won on a Husky in 2001, but only because Langston was about to win his first SX, fist-pumped over a triple, and crashed!). In any case, Davalos didn’t go on to win the Atlanta Main Event. He faded very quickly back to fourth, behind Martin, Musquin and Bogle.

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The 2015 FIM Motocross World Championship is kicking off in Qatar this weekend, and it’s all eyes on Team USA’s Ryan Villopoto and Team Italy’s Antonio Cairoli. Read our season preview in this week’s MXGP Insider column, presented by KTM Australia.

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The biggest news on Australian shores this week has been former Aussie MX and SX champ, Dan Reardon, returning to full-time racing in 2015 having secured a ride with the factory CDR Yamaha team. Before we even had the chance to inform Transmoto readers of the rumour, it was made official. After a three-year hiatus from racing, the 28-year old has rekindled his love of racing and is determined and motivated to make the most of this opportunity presented to him. He’ll be riding alongside Jacob Wright and Kade Mosig. Read the official press release, here.

^ Former CDR Yamaha rider, Jay Marmont (right), pictured with Dan Reardon (left) at the 2015 Troy Bayliss Classic…

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OG of motocross, Danny Ham, shared his two cents on Reardon coming out of ‘retirement’ this week, stating via Facebook, “I should get back on the bike and start racing again. Seems to be all the rage these days. Oh wait, I can’t, I never actually said I was retired.” The comment was made all in good fun, of course, but it got us thinking about who we could potentially see racing again in 2015. Will Ben Townley sign with the factory Honda team in Australia to contest the 2015 MX Nationals? Will Jay Marmont contest rounds? We’ll have to wait and see!

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One rider that’s set to make his return to professional racing in 2015 is DPH Motorsports Yamaha rider, Ross Beaton. Unfortunately, he won’t be able to make his come back at the season opener in Horsham on March 29 as originally planned. “I was riding at a friends place with my brother and Lawson Bopping actually,” said Beaton. “We were on our first ride out after lunch and I was trying to wash some speed off over a jump and I stalled my bike on the up ramp, which resulted in me going over the handlebars and breaking my leg.” Beaton will be ready to race by the halfway point of the MX Nats.

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The second round of the 2015 New Zealand Motocross Nationals was held over the weekend near the South Canterbury settlement of Pleasant Point at the Backflips Dirt Farm. Incredibly, the MX1, MX2 and 125cc winners (Cody Cooper, Jay Wilson and Josiah Natzke) all went 1-1-1 to claim Overall victories, stamping dominance on their competition. For more on the racing, check out this week’s NZ Insider column.

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The 45-minute telecast that wrapped up the 2014 Australian Supercross Championship, featuring Matt Moss, Jay Marmont, Brenden Harrison, Lawson Bopping, Gavin Faith, Kale Makeham, Dan McCoy, Taylor Potter, Hayden Mellross, Ryan Marmont, Luke Arbon, Josh Cachia, Sam Martin, Kirk Gibbs, Adam Monea and more, is now online. Check it out below.

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As we predicted back in December, the Australian Supercross rounds at Phillip Island would appear to be a thing of the past. Despite the success of the double-header ASX rounds that were held in conjunction with the MotoGP over the past three years, the track has now been flattened and converted into a dirt track. It was used last weekend to host the Baylisstic Scramble that was held in conjunction with the opening round of the 2015 WSBK Championship, where it was officially announced that the track would also be used in October when the MotoGP returns to Phillip Island. This time around, it’ll be called the Troy Bayliss Invitational GP, staged by Troy Bayliss Events (who runs the annual Troy Bayliss Classic at Taree, as well as the Moto Expo in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney). All of which begs the question of what has become of Rounds 2 and 3 of the Australian Supercross Championship. In spite of the fact the ASX double-header still sits on Motorcycling Australia’s 2015 race calendar for that that October 17-18 weekend, it clearly won’t be staged on the now non-existent Lukey Heights SX track. Word on the street is it’ll be shifted to another (yet to be maned) Victorian venue. Could we be heading back to the speedway track at Avalon again? Quite possibly!

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The second round of the 2015 InsureMyRide Australian Enduro-X Nationals is going down at the Sydney Dragway this Saturday night (February 28). American Husky-mounted import, Mike Brown, will again be looking to romp the Aussie top-dogs such as Josh Green and Toby Price as he did in Brisbane. It’s going to be a solid night of racing. Tickets are still available via www.enduro-x.com.au, so grab one or two now if you haven’t already done so.

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Refresh your memory on the Enduro-X series so far by checking out the official highlights below.

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As stated in last week’s Throwdown, KTM’s Toby Price will be racing a stadium truck at the Clipsal 500 V8 Supercar season opener in Adelaide this weekend. “Being invited to take part in this celebrity truck race is a pretty cool opportunity,” Price told Transmoto. “Basically, the SST trucks I’ll be racing are 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. Good luck, big guy!

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French freestyle motocross rider, Tom Pagès, has landed another world first – the Alley-Oop Flair. He’s officially dubbing it the Tom Pagès 540.

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Check out Aussie FMX riders Jake Bowen, Rob Adelberg, Rhys Hillier, Joe Sheppard and Brodie Markham shredding in the hills of Bowraville.

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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 12,000-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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Positions are filling up really quickly 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.

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Williams Event Management, Motul, Pirelli and Monster Energy have solidified their partnerships for 2015, today announcing the support being provided to the MX1, MX2 and MXD (Under 19s) classes of the MX Nationals. Monster Energy will once again support the premier MX1 class, although they won’t be the naming rights sponsor for the series ahead. The MX2 class will again don the name of Motul MX2, with continued support from the team at Link International, who will also continue their partnership and support for the development class, snapping up the chance to continue naming rights for the Pirelli MXD class.

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Word on the street is that Carlton Dry could be exiting its involvement with the factory Honda team in Australia, and signing on with CDR Yamaha. Stay tuned for developments.

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Sweet campaign that Thor is currently running around Villopoto. Mission Impossible or mission accomplished? We’ll know next week!

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