Throwdown No.232 – 02/04/15

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KTM Motocross Racing Team’s Kirk Gibbs arrived at the opening round of the 2015 MX Nationals with a point to prove over the weekend. After recording the second fastest lap time in the GoPro SuperPole behind Penrite Honda’s Ford Dale, Gibbs went 1-1 to take the MX1 Overall ahead of CDR Yamaha’s Kade Mosig and teammate, Luke Styke. Looks like contesting the 2015 New Zealand Motocross Championship paid off for the trio on the podium. The favourite heading into Horsham, Team Motul Suzuki’s Matt Moss, went 14-14 for 13th Overall. He’ll be charging with anger from here on in, we reckon.

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The results don’t show it, but Mosig’s teammate, Dan Reardon, made a really impressive return to racing over the weekend, after being retired for almost two years. He missed the holeshot in the opening moto by a few tyre knobs, but unfortunately dropped back to 19th after stalling his machine early on. Reardon managed to battle his way back up to fifth, though. He scored a DNF in the second moto due to a mechanical issue, but with his opening moto result, you can bet Dan would have been challenging for the race win had everything gone his way.

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Honda-mounted riders, Cody Cooper and Ford Dale, impressively went 5-6 at the MX Nats season opener. Prior to the weekend, Fourohfour hooked up with the boys to put together a sweet pre-season clip. Check it out by clicking here.

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In the MX2 class at Horsham, Serco Yamaha’s Jed Beaton went 3-1 to take home his first Overall in the class on debut. His teammate, Luke Clout, would have taken home the victory, but a 10-second penalty in the second moto (for hitting a track marker) saw him finish in second Overall, ahead of Kawasaki-mounted rider, Takeshi Katsuya. Expect Beaton and Clout to do battle all season long.

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Yamaha-mounted rider, Jordan Hill, won the opening MXD (Under 19s) moto in Horsham after the top qualifier and holeshot winner, Mitchell Evans, pulled off the track after one lap nursing his wrist. Dylan Wilson claimed second while Jayden Rykers claimed third. The second moto got underway, however a critical incident involving Wilson saw the race red-flagged. With the MXD class unable to complete moto two, round results were calculated based on moto one results only. Williams Event Management will look to add an additional race to the MX Nationals program at one of the remaining nine rounds of the series, to ensure the MXD championship is calculated correctly. A fundraising page has been set up for Wilson and his family. D-Dub “Stay Strong” T-Shirts are being sold for $22 each, with all profits going to the Wilson family to assist them with medical support required for Dylan.

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Transmoto‘s sharp shooter, Toby Stocks, was present at Horsham’s MX Nats opener, as the rest of the Transmoto crew was busy at our 12-Hour event in Batemans Bay. Click here to check out some of Toby’s fine work.

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In America, the Red Bull KTM duo of Ryan Dungey and Marvin Musquin returned to their ‘rightful places’ at the top of the podium (each rider has won four out of the last five races they have contested) in St. Louis. The 2015 Monster Energy AMA Supercross series will take its first and only break this weekend, before heading to Houston, Texas, on April 11.

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That’s another round of the 2015 FIM Motocross World Championship in the books, and everything’s just getting more and more intriguing. Ryan Villopoto is still looking a smidge off the pace and Antonio Cairoli hasn’t even won an Overall yet. Gautier Paulin is still has yet to produce anything, and Jeremy van Horebeek has been sadly disappointing as well. The only two guys who are happy are Max Nagl and Clement Desalle. In theory, it can only get better from here on in, which is awesome. Read more in this week’s MXGP Insider column.

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As mentioned, the fifth annual Transmoto 12-Hour took place over the weekend in Batemans Bay. It was a ripper of a weekend – the dust stayed down and the heat was manageable, thanks to our swimming hole. Although the event isn’t about winning and losing – it’s about riding with mates – a basic summary of results can be found below. Why are there two Ironman winners this year, you ask? Well, as explained to Anthony Venn after the race and to everyone at the event’s presentation, Anthony was recognised as the joint winner of the class (along with Hudson Atkins), and will be sent a coveted BUNDA Golden Sprocket (worth $1500), despite being the only rider at the event not to perform the mandatory transponder timing check (which means his name never appeared on the event’s timing). He was not disqualified, as some people thought. We congratulate Anthony and Hudson on their incredible achievements.

Ironman
Equal 1st. Anthony Venn
Equal 1st. Hudson Atkins
3rd. Lindsay Bond

Team-Of-Four (Mens)
1st. Husqvarna Australia
2nd. Here For Beer
3rd. KTM Australia

Team-Of-Four (Mixed)
1st. Mt Buller Motorcycle Adventures
2nd. Wacky Waving Inflatable Flailing Arm Tube Men
3rd. Newport Marine Services

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Australia’s Josh Strang is on a silver streak. The Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing rider claimed his third consecutive second place finish in the XC1 class at the third round of the 2015 Grand National Cross Country (GNCC) series over the weekend. KTM’s Kailub Russell has been the consistent winner this year.

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“I was having a late arvo practice ride, when my foot slipped out of my foot hook going for a Nac Flip – a crash I’ve since discovered is very common,” says Barossa Valley-based FMX rider, Adam Grope, to Transmoto‘s Ben Heidrich. “I didn’t have any flip levers up and lost control of the bike; going over the bars and landing flat on my back. I broke my left pelvis, dislocated my femur, cracked my right hip and scored some massive bruising covering my back.” That crash took place just over a year ago. Read the full ‘comeback’ interview with Grope in this week’s FMX Insider column.

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Click here to find out what’s inside Transmoto Dirt Bike Magazine’s 2015 March-April issue (#49), 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 can now advertise what you’ve got to sell in front of a captive audience of over 100,000 unique website browsers per month, more than 330,000 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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John Titman Racing is now the exclusive Australian distributor for Excel Rims.

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Tuesday, March 17, started perfectly with a bright sunny day that will go down as a special day in motorcycling history. Charley Boorman of Long Way Round fame arrived with his 25-strong Compass Expeditions Tour Group as they rumbled in on their Big Twins into the National Motor Musuem Car Park in South Australia. They were greeted by Moto GP legend, Jerry Burgess, Andy Haydon (who was the first Australian to podium at Dakar Rally, with a third Outright in 1998 as a Privateer), Toby Price (who, 17 years on, emulated Haydon’s feat with a stunning third Outright in the 2015 event), Dave Schwarz (who was Andy Caldecott’s teammate in the 2005 Dakar Rally) and Andy’s wife, Tracey Caldecott. Holden On Tight’s Rosco Holden, known for staging special motorcycle events, was thrilled with the Tuesday turnout of 450 two-wheel enthusiast’s to witness the coming together of Australian and International Motorcycle Royalty. Some of the public paid for the privilege to have a photo with Burgess, Boorman, Haydon, Schwarz and Price, with all money raised going to Tracey and her children, Caitlin and Mitch.

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Now in its seventh year, the 2015 Penrite Broadford Bike Bonanza is a marquee must attend Easter event for motorcycling enthusiasts. Attracting iconic motorcycles as well as some of the biggest names in racing, the 2015 Penrite Broadford Bike Bonanza, taking place this weekend, will include a special commemoration of 50 years of bikes at Bathurst (1938-1988). Entry tickets are available from the front gate. For more information, go to www.ma.org.au

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