Throwdown No.245 – 10/07/15

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Big weekend for the folks at Yamaha, who grabbed the Overall wins in both classes at RedBud’s round of the 2015 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship. Justin Barcia and Jeremy Martin did the winning, and Martin’s teammate Cooper Webb also played a supporting roll by nearly winning both 250 motos before yielding to J-Mart late each time. Then Barcia straight-up held off Ryan Dungey to take the final 450 moto. The last time Yamaha won both classes on the same day? It was all the way back in 1998, with Doug Henry and John Dowd. More in this week’s USA Insider column.

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And did you catch young Webb running around the pits with a dart in his mouth (as a joke, obviously)? Here’s a hilarious shot from Simon Cudby’s Instagram feed (@cudby).

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Ryan Villopoto has officially retired from full-time professional racing. Villopoto’s first national title came on a KX125 at the AMA Amateur National Championships at Loretta Lynn’s in 2005. After turning Pro, he went on to sweep three consecutive AMA Motocross championships from 2006-2008 in the 250 class while also claiming the 2007 250SX AMA Supercross Western Regional championship. Villopoto is one of only four riders to ever win three consecutive 250 class titles. Once he moved up to the KX450F, Villopoto won four straight Monster Energy AMA Supercross titles from 2011-2014 while also claiming two AMA Pro Motocross titles (2011, 2013). Villopoto’s nine professional AMA national championships places him second in the record books behind only Ricky Carmichael. For more on RV’s retirement, click here.

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Another MXGP, another injury (Jeffrey Herlings, pictured below). It seems to be a recurring theme and one that now is starting to get taken seriously by all involved. There will be a meeting at the Latvian GP between the media, Youthstream and the FIM regarding the recent state of the tracks and what can be done. The main concern has been with the hard-pack terrain and now we hit up Latvia (sandy), Loket (hard), Lommel (very sandy), Assen (sandy) and Mantova (sandy) so really it is only the Czech GP that has the potential for more watering problems that we saw in Sweden with riders complaining of it being like riding on an ice rink. More in this week’s MXGP Insider column.

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Along with the USA, Australia was specifically singled out in Youthstream’s PR about 18 months ago as a potential future host of the FIM Motocross World Championship. But when the official 2016 calendar was released earlier this week (shown below), there was still no mention of Australia. We contacted the offices of series promoter, Youthstream, to ask whether Australia is still under consideration as a series host or even fill one of the three “TBA” rounds currently on the 2016 calendar. We’re still awaiting a reply. But, given MA’s preoccupation with its “Whole of Sport Review” and getting its own house in order, we wouldn’t be holding our breath.

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How good was it to see Australian Husqvarna-mounted riders, Dean Ferris and Todd Waters finish in fourth and fifth Overall at the Swedish MXGP of the weekend? We’re hoping to see the boys break through for some podium finishes before the season’s end.

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The 2015 MX Nationals resumed at MX Central in Raymond Terrace, New South Wales, over the weekend. Who showed up to play and who flopped in the MX1 and MX2 classes after the annual mid-season break? Read our Hot’N’Cold feature, penned by Jeremy Hammer, to find out.

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Click here to check out Transmoto‘s hot shots from Raymond Terrace, courtesy of Jarrad Duffy Photography.

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Australian MX Nats series promoter, WEM, has confirmed that next weekend’s Shepparton round of the series (round 7 of 10) will run a colourful retro theme. Given that most factory teams and riders now get right into the theme with retro riding gear and bike graphics, it’s always a special round for spectators. Adding to the colour (and dare we say, flouro) in the Shepp pits will be ‘Retro Show and Shine’, with spectators encouraged to bring their pre-’90 machines to display in the pits. And if you do, you’ll get into the event for free, according to WEM. We wonder if WEM’s got someone on the gate making the arbitrary call about whether the old chook chaser that someone’s brought along is good enough to warrant free entry?!

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The prospect of witnessing Chad Reed and James Stewart race head-to-head is almost too good to be true, and Aussie race fans sure didn’t take long to lap up all the tickets for the inaugural Australian Open of Supercross (the “AUS-X Open”) at Sydney’s All Phone Arena on November 28. So much so that organisers quickly added a Sunday matinee show. After all, it’s the first (and quite possibly the last) time these two legends of the sport will bang bars in Australia. Word on the street is that Reed and Stewart may not be the only regulars from the AMA MX/SX scene to be coming to Oz. We’re hearing that former World and AMA champ, Grant Langston, has been offered the commentary gig. And given that GL is notoriously fond of a party, we reckon he’ll feel right at home among friends at Sydney’s waterholes at the start of Summer.

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Speaking of World Rally news, Husqvarna Motorcycles announced this week it will enter an official factory team into the 2016 Dakar Rally. Racing Husky’s FR450 Rally machines will be experienced Dakar campaigner, Ruben Faria (who’s been waterboy to some of the greats in recent years), and multiple Enduro World Champion, Pela Renet. Despite the new-look, Austrian-owned Husqvarna initially saying it was in no rush to re-establish its presence in World Rally circles, this move sure looks like an intentional way to fend off the ramped-up efforts of other factory teams in recent years, the most notable of which is Honda’s HRC outfit (HRC is spearheaded by Joan Barreda, who cut his Dakar teeth with the previous Husky team). With KTM’s rally technology and experience to call on, you’d have to think this new-look Husqvarna team – the “HT Husqvarna Rally Team”  – is likely to hit the ground running next January in South America.

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Mainly because of its geographic isolation, Tasmania hasn’t played much of a part in national enduro series in years past. But that’s set to change on October 19, when the annual Yamaha Australia 4-Day Enduro (A4DE) kicks off in Wynyard in Tassie’s north-west. Despite the fact the event is still several months off, organisers have told Transmoto that they already have more than 150 entries. Let’s hope the entry list swells to the expected 300-plus entries, because we’ve ridden that terrain down in Tasmania and it is epic! And if you enter before August 31, there’s an early bird entry fee of $600 (after which it’s $700). Stay tuned to www.transmoto.com.au for more info about the A4DE in the coming weeks. For more info, check our the event’s dedicated website or Facebook page.

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In spite of initially thinking her wrist would be sufficiently healed to contest this weekend’s Belgian round of the Enduro World Championship (EWC), Australia’s Jess Gardiner (who’s siting second in the EWC’s Women’s class) got some bad news this week: “I had more X-Rays and saw a sports specialist here in Belgium,” Jess explained yesterday. “The answer was not what I was hoping to hear. My wrist is attached and healing in a good way but the risk is too high that I’ll just simply re-break it again, which then means an operation will follow and a lot of complications. As much as my heart wants to race the World Championship round this weekend, my mind had to take over the reality of what I have at hand for my short term and future goals and wellbeing.”

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Just like the Transmoto 12-Hour, next weekend’s inaugural Transmoto 6-Hour is as much about having fun and riding with your mates as it is about racing. But that hasn’t stopped the serial racers out there from talking themselves up ahead of the event. So, if you had to put money down on a favourite, who would it be? Well, the KTM Newcastle boys (sprearheaded by in-form moto maniacs, Mitch and Myles Bowen) would have to rate a mention, but we can’t help thinking that Active8 Yamaha teammates, Josh Green and Beau Ralston (two blokes who’ve literally been racing together since they were seven years old) have got to be roaring favourites to take the 6-Hour win. It’ll be a novelty for the two Novocastrian lads to be racing as a team, rather than their conventional cycle of pre-weekend smack talk.

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Qualifying for the third round of the 2015 Red Bull X-Fighters World Tour just went down in Madrid, Spain. Frenchman Tom Pagés topped the standings, followed by New Zealand’s Levi Sherwood and Australia’s Clinton Moore. Stay tuned for final results and updated championship standings.

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FMX rider, Robbie Maddison, kicked arse with his KTM 450SX-F during his first time at the Erzberg Rodeo in 2015. The film crew from Red Bull Media House accompanied the Aussie on his “Iron Giant” conquest.

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Transmoto Dirt Bike Magazine‘s 2015 July August issue (#51) is on sale now. Click here to find out what’s inside and be sure to grab a print copy from your local newsagents or a digital version via the Zinio App.

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$65 worth of magazines and $179 worth of tools for just $50?! That’s right, this no-brainer is the best subs deal we have ever offered! Visit www.transmoto.com.au/magazine/subscribe and purchase a six-issue print subscription for a mere $50 and you’ll receive a FREE Pro Series Moto Toolkit valued at $179! Limited to the first 50 subscribers so HURRY!

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Want to watch Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson get jumped over by Australian Flair Riders pilot, Jack Field? Check out our Instagram channel.

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Steven Bruce has been appointed as the NSW/ACT Regional Sales Coordinator for Kawasaki Motors Australia.

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GoPro has released its smallest, lightest, most convenient POV camera yet – the HERO4 Session. Shaped like a cube, the HERO4 Session is 50% smaller and 40% lighter than GoPro’s best-selling HERO4 Black and Silver cameras. Check it out here.

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