Throwdown No.255 – 17/09/15

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Over the last three years, Australia’s Dean Ferris has raced in Europe and the USA for Yamaha, KTM and Husqvarna. We’re hearing that in 2016, he’ll return to racing on Australian soil under Craig Dack’s Yamaha big-rig. If the deal goes ahead, what will happen to Dack’s current three-man squad consisting of Kade Mosig, Dan Reardon and Jacob Wright? Well, rumour has it that Kade will re-sign with the team, Reardon will make the move to NPS Monster Energy Kawasaki and Jacob Wright will be left without a ride. Stay tuned for developments.

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Josh Cachia has posted images on Instagram of his new @thecollectivefamily graphics kit, donning Yamaha logos, which all but confirms his seat with the DPH Motorsports Yamaha team to contest the upcoming Australian Supercross Championship. We can’t wait to see him back behind the gate.

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KTM Australia has announced that 18-year-old Caleb Ward has become the newest member of the KTM Motocross Racing Team, and will race for the expanded team in the MX2 category next year. Ward was without a doubt one of the most impactful players in this year’s MX2 title chase, recovering from an early season knee injury to go on a four-round winning streak. In 2016, Ward will join newly crowned Australian MX1 champ, Kirk Gibbs (crushing rumours that he would be heading to Europe in 2016) and Luke Styke.

^ Image Credit: Jeff Crow/Sport The Library

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American ace, Gavin Faith, and Venezuelan superstar, Anthony Rodriguez, are set to contest the 2015 Australian Supercross Championship with the Penrite Honda team. Faith, who is the defending Aussie SX2 champ, and Rodriguez, who is a multiple-time champion in his home country, will both line-up in the SX1 class against the likes of Chad Reed, James Stewart and Matt Moss.

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The 2015 MXGP season will come to an end this weekend, with the MXGP of Glen Helen taking place in the USA. Sure, we’re not getting the ‘Ryan Villopoto versus the world’ grand finale that we were all hoping for a few months back, but it’s going to be an exciting weekend of MX1 racing. And in the MX2 class, Tim Gajser holds an 18-point lead over Pauls Jonass after his horrific crash at the MXGP of Mexico, which you can check out below.

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Props to Thomas Covington who quietly won his first-ever race and also the Overall at the MXGP of Mexico, becoming America’s first MX2 winner since Zach Osborne.

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Team Australia’s World Trophy team finished runner-up behind Team France at the conclusion of the 2015 FIM International Six Days Enduro (ISDE) in Kosice, Slovakia. Despite winning day six, Australia was unable to gain enough of an advantage on their French rivals, who defended their ISDE title by finishing just over a minute in front in the Overall standings. It was a controversial ending to the 2015 ISDE, after the disqualified French riders were reinstated on day five on the back of the FIM International Disciplinary Court’s (CDI) decision to reintegrate all eight riders disqualified into the competition on a provisional basis until further notice. There were still plenty of individual highlights for Australia to celebrate, however. Daniel Milner finished the 2015 ISDE as the second fastest rider Overall (and also second in the E2 class) behind American Ryan Sipes, while Matthew Phillips and Josh Green also both finished in the top five of their respective E2 and E1 categories.

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Whatever disappointment existed with the World Trophy team’s ISDE result was tempered somewhat by the magnificent performances of Australia’s Junior Trophy and Women’s World Trophy teams, who each claimed their respective world titles. The Junior Trophy team of Daniel Sanders, Tye Simmonds, Broc Grabham and Tom Mason finished off a scintillating six days of racing to take out final day honours. Finishing 15 minutes ahead of Sweden in second spot, the win ended a 20-year drought for Australia in the Junior classification. The team win capped off a dream week for Sanders, who also claimed the Overall victory in the E3 class and an incredible fourth Outright finish.

^ Image Credit: Mark Kariya

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Australia’s Women’s Trophy team, consisting of Tayla Jones, Jemma Wilson and Jessica Gardiner, successfully made it three ISDE titles on the trot with another dominant display on day six. With the class all but secured leading into the final day, Australia yet again recorded the class win – their sixth of the week – to remain undefeated in Slovakia. Well done, ladies!

^ Image Credit: Mark Kariya

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Speaking of Jones, she’s headed to the USA to contest the next two rounds of the 2015 Grand National Cross Country (GNCC) series, before returning to Australia to take on the upcoming A4DE (Australian 4-Day Enduro) in Tasmania.

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Preparations for Team Australia’s 2015 FIM Trials des Nations (TdN) squad are well underway, with all members of the squad (Kyle Middleton, Chris Bayles, Tim Coleman, Colin Zarczynski, Kristie McKinnon, Kaitlyn Cummins and Ina Halls) now in camp in Tarragona, Spain, ahead of the September 19-20 event. To keep up to date with all the happenings from the 2015 Trial des Nations, stay tuned to the Motorcycling Australia website.

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Promoters have confirmed that Frenchman Tom Pagés will be contest the FMX Best Trick competition at the AUS-X Open in Sydney on November 28, alongside Jacko Strong, David Rinaldo, Libor Podmol, Rob Adelberg and Taka Higashino.

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Tom Pagès of France and Clinton Moore of Australia delivered a final for the ages in front of 17,000 wild fans at the return of the Red Bull X-Fighters World Tour to Pretoria, South Africa. Pagès claimed the top step of the podium, delivering what might be the greatest FMX run of all time, with Moore in second, while Taka Higashino of Japan took third. You can check out the highlights below, and grab the detailed results from the event here.

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Australian action sports brand, Unit, has added freestyle motocross talent, Emma McFerran, to its stacked team. The 27-year-old Australian has risen to the forefront of the dynamic discipline – training, competing and performing on the world stage.

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Transmoto Dirt Bike Magazine‘s 2015 September-October issue (#52) 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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The Bunbury Motorcycle Club is gearing up to play host to the 2015 KTM Australian Junior Motocross Championships (AJMX) as teams, families and Australia’s upcoming stars begin to make the exciting journey to the Australian West Coast. In just over a week, hundreds of Australia’s youngsters will take to the sandy conditions in Bunbury for the week-long motocross competition that will eventually see Australia’s newest Junior champions crowned. For more information on the KTM Australian Junior Motocross Championships, head to www.ajmxbunbury2015.com.au or stay tuned to the Motorcycling Australia website.

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FIST Handwear co-owner, Sam Moore, recently took on the Athlete & Events Manager role at Unit.

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For those interested, the FIM Team Speedway Under 21 World Championship is set to go down at Mildura’s Olympic Park Speedway in Victoria on Saturday, October 31.

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Husqvarna Australia has just launched its own Facebook and Instagram (@husqvarna.aus) pages. Be sure to give them both a follow.

^ Image Credit: Husqvarna Motorcycles

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