[Features]

THROWDOWN NO.251 – 21/08/15

9 years ago

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Earlier this season, Yamalube Star Yamaha teammates Jeremy Martin and Cooper Webb were arch enemies who could barely stand being in other’s vicinity. But now that Webb’s out of the title hunt and Martin is closing in on his second MX2 class title, Webb seems to have changed his tune. Did you notice Webb intentionally let Martin by in the second moto at last weekend’s Utah Nationals? Webb later (unconvincingly) said he’d stalled his bike, but it was pretty clear that that the kid was riding shotgun for Martin and helped his teammate retain his 2-point lead in the standings over KTM’s Marvin Musquin (with whom Webb has had some on-track run-ins lately). What is they say about people with common enemies becoming friends? From the outside, it sure looks as if Webb would hate Martin to win the #1 plate less than he’d hate Musquin to win it. Transmoto’s Jason Weigandt expands on the fascinating scenario in this week’s USA Insider , which includes claims (by a French website) that Red Bull KTM plans to move Ryan Dungey onto a 250 this weekend to help Musquin.

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With Dungey already wrapping up his third title in the 450MX class, the 250MX class title fight between Yamaha’s Jeremy Martin and KTM’s Marvin Musquin will no doubt take centre stage at this weekend’s final round of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship finale at Indiana’s Ironman Raceway. Who’s your money on? Our head says Martin, but our heart says Musquin. Having battled through so many nasty injuries in his first few years in America, Musquin is owed some luck. But unlike Martin, the Frenchman doesn’t have a KTM compatriot who’s on the pace at this point in the season to ‘assist’ with his cause. If Marvin wins, it’ll be because he singlehandedly bettered the Yamaha duo. If Martin wins, it’ll be the first time a rider has won back-to-back 250MX-class titles since Ryan Villopoto in 2007-08.

The other attraction at this weekend’s Ironman Raceway Outdoor National will be the inaugural Legends Race, which will serve as a curtain-raiser to Saturday’s main race program. So, which legends? Well, try Ricky Carmichael, Kevin Windham, Jeff Emig, Tim Ferry, Jeff Stanton, Robbie Reynard, Todd DeHoop, Jason Thomas, Tom Hofmaster and Guy Copper for size. Not a bad line-up! We wonder if Windham will finally get the wood on RC.

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Did you see Episode 4 of Red Bull’s epic video series MX Nation that we posted yesterday? If you missed it, check it out here.

After a two-weekend break, the GP of Italy gets under way this weekend at the flat and sandy Lombardia track for Round 15 of the 18-round FIM Motocross World Championship. The points leader in the premier MXGP class, Yamaha’s Romain Febvre, hasn’t been off the podium since Round 6 in Spain, and he now holds a commanding 84-point lead in the standings. As is the case in the national MX championships in both America and Australia, it’s the MX2 class that will be much more hotly contested over the remaining few rounds of the MX World Championship. With Jeffrey Herlings injured, KTM’s Pauls Jonass (433 pts), Honda’s Tim Gajser (429 pts) and Yamaha’s Valentin Guillod (408 pts) are all within striking distance of the world title.

Speaking of the MXGP, what the hell is with the calendar? In one rapid-fire three-week window sits the final two rounds of the World Championship (in Mexico and then the USA) before everybody has to hot-tail back to France the following weekend for the MXoN in France.

GIBBS

After a three-week break, the Australian MX Nats is set to resume this weekend at the classic amphitheatre that is Toowoomba’s Echo Valley track in Queensland for the ninth and penultimate round of the series. If KTM’s Kirk Gibbs can extend his 65-lead by 11 points at Echo Valley, he can wrap up his first premiere-class title with a round to spare. His teammate Luke Styke, however, will be under pressure from Yamaha’s Kade Mosig and Kawasaki’s Adam Monea for the final podium positions, as just 16 points split the three. In the MX2 class, expect the showdown between Luke Clout and Jay Wilson to intensify. The two Yamaha riders are separated by only 3 points, while Kawasaki’s 35-year-old Takeshi Katsuya sits another 27 points back and still has a shot at the title if Yami’s young guns trade too much paint over the next couple of weekends in Queensland.

Echo Valley will also feature both Ben Townley and Cody Cooper under the Penrite Honda rig once again. Two-thirds of New Zealand’s Motocross of Nations team in the form of BT and Coops are looking to maximise their racetime ahead of donning the silver fern in Ernee, France, in less than six weeks. This week’s NZ Insider has more info.

ECMX

The fifth and final round of the East Coast Motocross (ECMX) series gets under way at Kembla on the NSW south coast this weekend, where double points are up for grabs. Keep an eye on www.transmoto.com.au this coming week for an image gallery and final results. Check the series’ website for more information.

So the news has finally come out that Justin Barcia, Cooper Webb and Jeremy Martin will officially be on the start line for the USGP next month and to be honest, it’s about time. This petty side of the sport with constant bickering between the two series has to end, and the first step is for American riders to show up at GP events when they are in their backyard. To find out more check out this week’s MXGP Insider.

Have you seen this week’s GoPro footage from on board Ken Roczen at the Utah National? If not, check it out here.

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What a stella finale the Dungog Motorcycle Club put on for the Australian Off-Road Championship (AORC) last weekend – with an epic, fully double-bunted course making for really tight sprint-format racing all weekend. Sure, Toby Price had wrapped up the Outright title, and Josh Green had amassed an unassailable lead in the E1 class, but it was still all to play for in the other Pro classes and the coveted top-10 Outright positions. In the E2 class, Transmoto test rider Beau Ralston fended off the advances of fellow Yamaha rider Chris Hollis to claim his first AORC title win. Similarly, in the Transmoto 19 & Under class and the Women’s class, Tom Mason and Tayla Jones took home their first titles. Trent Lean and Kirk Hutton won the Masters and Vets classes, respectively, while Fraser Higlett (J4), Josh Brierley (J3) and Mitch Brierley (J2) all dominated their Junior classes. Grab a copy of Transmoto’s Sept-Oct issue (#52) for a 12-page feature on the 2015 AORC season.

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In addition to the class wins, the way that the AORC’s Outright results played out was intriguing last weekend. Just 4 points separated KTM’s Daniel Sanders and Yamaha Chris Hollis coming into the weekend, and it appeared that Sanders had done enough to secure third Outright for the series. That was until Sanders’ KTM teammate, Tye Simmonds, unwittingly played spoiler. By pipping Sanders by a meager 0.4 of a second for fourth Outright on Sunday, Simmonds allowed Hollis to draw even with Sanders in the series points and claim third on a countback. Naturally, Sanders was gutted. But, as his Team Manager Ben Grabham explains in the feature article on the AORC that appears in the Sept-Oct issue of Transmoto, Sanders should be proud of a fourth Outright in his first year in the big league.

Speaking of Daniel “Chucky” Sanders, KTM Australia has pitched in to help him race the final two rounds of the Enduro World Championship (EWC) in France in early October. The kid could be posted to be another Matthew Phillips and pick up a ride in Europe at the tender age of 20. Remember, it was just last year that Sanders burst onto the national scene, winning the AORC’s Transmoto 19 & Under class.

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Did you see the online piece we posted about the former MotoGP great, Daryl Beattie, as he chaperoned the three big-name four-wheel racers on a Simpson Desert adventure ride. Dz sure is living the life these days. After 20 consecutive annual trips with mates to Cape York, he formed his own tour company, DB Adventures.

Shortly after the ISDE in Slovakia, recently crowned Women’s class AORC champion, 19-year-old Tayla Jones, will head to America to contest the final three or four rounds of the GNCC series. From what we understand, Tayla’s deal with N-Fab Am Pro Yamaha’s Randy Hawkins was brokered by Yamaha Australia’s Motorsport Manager, Ray Howard. Jones smashed her rivals last year in the one GNCC round she contested, so we’ll be watching her progress this year with great interest.

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The Motonomad journey has come to a close in this week’s blog post ‘The Great Wall‘. It details the riders’ intense journey in order to get home back to Australia.

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Did you know that Jackson Strong’s film Headstrong actually topped iTunes’ mainstream charts when it was first released. The Russell Brothers Films’ masterpiece then remained in the top spot in the documentary category for more than a week. Jacko is now working with Transmoto’s FMX Insider columnist, Ben Heidrich, to produce Headstrong 2. And from what we hear, it’s set to be a doozie. The Sep-Oct issue of Transmoto magazine (#52) has a 10-page feature on Strong. It’s on sale September 3, so check it out.

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The Rampt Mini FMX crew are heading to the Imbil Town show this weekend in Queensland. Lejae Surch, Kade Imlach, BJ Kelly and Brock Hollis will be throwing down big tricks on their mini bikes!

FMX Insider is set to be released early next week. It features a interview with Freestyle MX rider Alex Bucholtz. So stay tuned for more.

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As mentioned in last week’s Throwdown, Michael Byrne is back in Oz to stage his Masterclass rider tuition with the Moto Development crew. Sadly, he crashed on Tuesday this week and suffered busted ribs and a partially collapsed lung, and has advised he’ll have to reschedule Masterclass for later in the year.

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Here is the first look at Dragon’s brand new NFX2 goggles that will be released at the end of this month. Lance Russell is busy running these in now!

For the fourth consecutive year, KTM Australia has signed on as the naming-rights sponsor of the 2016 Australian Junior Motocross Championship (AJMX), which will be held in Renmark, SA.

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Having just released their all-new Starcross 5 range of high-performance off-road tyres, Michelin is pretty damn happy about the fact that Active8 Yamalube Yamaha’s Josh Green and Beau Ralston both wrapped up national titles aboard the new hoops at last weekend’s AORC. Stayed tuned as we test a set of the new Starcross 5 hoops in the coming weeks.

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A month ago, we brought you news of the release of Honda’s highly anticipated dual-purpose CRF1000L Africa Twin. This week, Honda Australia announced that the Twin’s three different models would go on sale in early 2016 at a Manufacturer’s List Price of $15,499 (Standard), $16,999 (with ABS) and $17,999 (with ABS and DCT – Dual Clutch Transmission, which allows the rider to shift gears through a handlebar trigger!)

 

Promoters of the Australian Supercross Championship have announced Dunlop as a major sponsor of 2015’s six-round series, which kicks off on October 10 at Bathurst, NSW, during festivities at the V8 Supercars Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 at Mount Panorama.

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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Got a dirt bike you want to sell? How about some used gear, parts or accessories? Thanks to the Transmoto Trader, you can advertise what you’ve got to sell in front of a captive audience of over 100,000 unique website browsers per month, more than 350,000 Facebook followers and 15,000-plus Instagram followers. Start buying, selling and swapping your unwanted bikes, gear, parts and accessories for FREE!

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