Throwdown No.77 – Australian 2012 WR450F first impressions…

What’s this “Throwdown”? It’s a digital home for rumour, fact and innuendo, delivered on a weekly basis. Covering a broad spectrum of the off-road world’s news, the Throwdown will touch on everything from racing to trailriding; from industry tidbits to issues facing the sport. It’s about delivering you timely information all in one place so you don’t have to scour the internet looking for it.

As most of you will now by now, TwoTwo Motorsports’ Chad Reed had a massive crash last weekend at Dallas, which has forced him to retire from the AMA SX series. The Aussie has torn his ACL, broken his tibia and fibula, sustained two broken ribs and broke his T6 vertebrae. And he still managed to get to his feet just 20 seconds after the gnarly crash. Tough! Reedy posted this shot of his horribly engorged knee on Twitter earlier this week:

And throwing cold water on speculation that another Honda rider, such Eli Tomac or Justin Barcia, would keep the #22 bike’s seat warm while he’s sidelined through injury, Reed tweeted, “At this time, I have zero interest in putting someone on my bike. Benefit-to-cost ratio doesn’t even come close to making sense.”

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Rumours that Jake Moss was putting together his own privateer Honda team for 2012 have been confirmed. Moss will contest the MX Nationals with the all-new Campbell Mining/TLD/Maxima Honda Team. Click to find out more about the new team and see what sponsors they have on board.

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Raceline Pirelli Suzuki’s Errol Willis has flown the coup and is training in the States. Willis raced the Millcreek Moto X over the weekend and scored a 3-3 result in the 250 A Pro class and 5th in A Pro class before the event was called off due to rain. The 18-year-old and reigning Under 19s MX and SX champ is set to return to Australia on March 1.

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Rumour has it the 07 Axis Motorsports team will become the 07 Byrners Suzuki team for 2012, and will field two riders: Adam Monea and Ross Beaton. Stay tuned.

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Honda America has announced a replacement for Muscle Milk Honda’s Trey Canard after he was injured at the LA supercross. Troy Lee/Lucas Oil/Honda’s Lites rider, Cole Seely, will step up to the Supercross class and race selected rounds, beginning with Atlanta this weekend. The 21-year-old current sits in third place in the West Coast Lites SX points chase.

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We caught up with JDR Motorsport’s Ryan Marmont at the opening of MXR&D’s new premises over the weekend and discussed his plans for the remainder of the year. “I’m getting ready to ride the MX Nationals in the Pro Lites class,” Doggy confirmed. “Because I covered for PJ Larsen in the AMA’s West Coast SX, it left me open for the Australian MX.” When asked about his efforts in America this year, Marmont conceded he was, “Nowhere near prepared. I came out of an ankle operation and three weeks later I was flying to the US for Anaheim 1. It was tough trying to play catch-up and get ahead of the competitors, but I think I did a reasonable job for the preparation I had.” Looking forward, Marmont feels he has what it takes to win the Pro Lites championship, “I put a lot of pressure on myself last year going into the Pro Opens class. I had some good races but unfortunately I had a bad injury. Coming into this year, I know what I need to do to win championships, so I’ll stick to that game plan and go for the win.” Marmont last won the Australian MX Pro Lites Championship in 2006.

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New Zealand’s Michael Phillips has signed on with newly created Honda Australia-backed MX Factory Honda Racing for 2012, and will ride a CRF450R in the Pro Open class. Joining Phillips on the Gold Coast-based team will be Kiwi countryman, Justin Macdonald, who will contest the Pro Lites class.

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The Andrew’s Motorcycle TM Racing Team made their motocross debut at Round 1 of the Shell Advance Sunshine State Series over the weekend. Team riders, Nyk Geck and Michael Munro, both competed in the Pro Open class and finished 5th and 15th, respectively. The team’s Media Manager, Tahlia Geck, says, “Nyk and Michael will compete in the remainder of the Shell series as well as the Queensland-based MX National rounds, including Conondale, Hervey Bay and Coolum. And they hope to race the Super X series if it goes ahead for 2012.”

Transmoto’s Ollie Sharp attended the Australian launch of the all-new fuel-injected 2012 Yamaha WR450F this week near Coffs Harbour. So what were his first impressions after two days in the saddle? “I was skeptical at first, because they had a US sand map in the bike,” Sharp said. “So we swapped it out for an Australian one and played with the suspension, which completely transformed the bike. It’s definitely lighter than the 2011 model and feels like you’re on a YZ250F, but with a more powerful engine. The ergos are too small for someone my height, at 6″2′, -but that can be solved by putting on the 2012 YZ250F’s top triple clamp- (after further discussions with Yamaha, it’s been revealed the 2012 YZ250 top triple clamp will not fit).” We’ll have more on the launch online over the coming days, and the full feature the May issue of the magazine.

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The Suzuki MX1 Australia team, managed by Trent Lean, has stepped up its AORC efforts this year after receiving additional support from sponsors. Lean will once again contesting the Masters class, while his son, Nick, will move up from the Junior ranks to race in E1. Also onboard are Lachlan Stanford, E2, and Wil Ruprecht, who are racing the Under 15 85cc class in the Juniors. “After a great year in 2011, we’ve received addition support this season from Suzuki, MX1 Australia, Metzeler, KC Tools, Motul, RK, Kearney Electrical, Uber Moto Graphics and Yoshimura to help grow our infrastructure,” a typically enthusiastic Lean told Transmoto.

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Rumour has it Husqvarna’s Glenn Kearney will head to the US to race a round of the GNCC series in between Round 1/2 and 3/4 of the AORC, which takes place on March 10/11 and March 24/25, respectively. We had heard he was planning on racing the opening two rounds of the GNCC, but with the first round of America’s premier off-road clashing with the AORC opener, that isn’t going to happen. The Ginger General has not been available for comment this week.

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The Active8 Yamaha Yamalube Racing Team have signed their team shirt and donated it to Transmoto.com.au. Autographed by AJ Roberts, Jarrod Bewley and Josh Green, the shirt will be giving away in the coming weeks. Keep your eyes peeled for details.

Crusty Demons freestyle daredevil, Robbie Marshall, made a daring Backflip over the spinning blades of a helicopter at Avalon Airport yesterday outside Melbourne. His jump is said to be a warm-up and the exciting prelude to the inaugural Crusty Demons Cup, which takes place at the 2012 Formula 1 Melbourne round from March 15-18. We seem to remember Travis Pastrana pulling exactly the same stunt a couple of years back as a pre-promo for the first Nitro Circus event in Oz.

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So how is Double Backflip king, Cam Sinclair, recovering after his nasty crash at the Monster Energy Cup in October where he broke his femur. “I just started riding two weeks ago actually,” Sinclair told Transmoto. “My leg’s still sore, and I’ve got a limp, but I feel good on the bike. I’m still going to physio and won’t be pushing myself until I’m 100 percent.” Sinclair goes on to say he’ll be focusing on his recovery to prepare for the year ahead: “I’ll be doing Nitro Circus, which starts in May, the Australian FMX series, X Games and I’ll probably head to Europe at the end of the year. As far as X-Fighters go, it just depends on if I get an invite.” That’s not all Sincs has been up to lately, though. He’s been heavily involved with the launch of his new DVD, Twice. “I’m really happy with how the DVD turned out. It has been a work in progress since 2008, and follows my career, recovery and comeback since my crash in Madrid in 2009.” That’s the crash where he nearly lost his life, but which he came back from to win an X Games gold medal just a year later … doing the very same trick!

There’s a new adventure bike on the market. This time, it’s Honda taking a swing at the BMW 1200GS’s (once virtually unchallenged) market share, with the announcement of an all-new Crosstourer VFR1200X, which is due for release in Australia in April. Powered by a 1237cc V4 engine, the Crosstourer comes with 43mm upside-down forks, Pro Link rear suspension, traction control and ABS, and has an optional Dual Clutch Transmission – one manual clutch and one automatic. Honda hasn’t released a retail price yet, but you can bet it will be competitively priced against BMW, Triumph and Yamaha’s 1200cc adventure models, which retail for $27,290, $21,110 and $19,990, respectively.

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KTM has released figures of their 2011 sales numbers, claiming they are the most successful motorcycle manufacturer in Europe and the USA after increasing their market share by a whopping 30%. Let’s look at their numbers: turnover of €526.8 million (up 13.4%), net profit of €20.7 million (up 30.2%) and a total of 81,200 motorcycles sold (up 22.4%). Sehr gut!

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Transmoto’s European-based correspondent and MXGP Insider columnist, Geoff Meyer, has released Issue 14 of his free online motocross magazine, Motocross Illustrated. You’ll find a preview on the 2012 GP season, a cool story about Mike Alessi and Ryan Villopoto in their junior days and even a pictorial of the 2010 Finke. Take a look.

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Carlton Dry Honda rider and former World MX1 Champion, Ben Townley, has signed with Scott goggles for 2012.

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Stand-in Jeff Ward Racing rider, Australia’s Cody Mackie (who is covering for Josh Grant after he crashed at Round 3 of the AMA SX), has signed with Von Zipper to wear their goggles for the 2012 season. Nice move, MadDaddy!

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100% is a new brand of goggle released out of the US and distributed in Australia by Queensland-based Serco Motorsports. They come in two models, the Accuri and Racecraft, which retail for $49.95 and $79.95, respectively. The brainchild of the new brand is Frenchman, Ludo Boinnard, who is best known in America as the co-founder of One Industries, a brand he sold out of several years ago.