Moto News Wrap for February 11, 2019 by Darren Smart

Proudly brought to you by Dunlop Geomax

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Moto News Latest

• Webb and Faulkner Take Minneapolis AMA SX
• Taddy Wins SuperEnduro in Budapest
• Cairoli and Prado Wrap Up Italian Motocross Championships
• Dean Wilson to Rockstar Husqvarna
• Hunter Lawrence Injured
• Traralgon Hosts Successful 2 Stroke Nationals
• FIM Speedway of Nations News
• Applications Open for Australian WJMX Team

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Webb and Faulkner take Minneapolis AMA SX

The sixth round of the 2019 AMA Supercross Championship was held in Minneapolis last weekend and the racing has once again held the fans of the sport on the edge of their seats as two of the brightest stars in the sport in Cooper Webb and Austin Forkner took out main event wins the 450SX and 250SX East classes respectively.

450SX Report

Kawasaki’s Joey Savatgy scored the holeshot in the main event and for the first half of the race Webb was looking for a way around Savatgy while holding off Ken Roczen, Blake Baggett and Marvin Musquin but when Webb got around Savatgy on lap 15 the flood gates opened allowing Roczen, Baggett and eventually Musquin get around Savatgy.

Webb reeled off the closing laps without any mistakes to score his third win of the year ahead of Roczen who also kept himself tidy for second place ahead of Musquin who was gifted yet another podium after Baggett went over the bars on a tricky seat-bounce double-triple combination.

Eli Tomac was almost dead last after his poorest start of the season but the former championship leader whittled his way to sixth place, one spot ahead of Chad Reed who encountered his own problems during the main event to not only score seventh place but also move into eight in the championship, just 14 points out of the top five.

The 2019 season has set a new record with the top four in the Championship standings only separated by two points after six rounds with Roczen on 125, Webb on 124 while Eli Tomac and Marvin Musquin are both tied with 123 points – even more amazingly, Roczen and Musquin are yet to win a round!

Cooper Webb

“To get three wins this year is pretty spectacular, especially bouncing back from last week – having that bad race in the mud – but I never lost belief, never lost faith and knew I was still good. I felt good all day today and to be able to apply it in the heat race, win that, and then win the main was pretty special. It’s cool, I have to pinch myself because I’ve come such a long way in a short amount of time. It’s crazy what a year or half a year will do to you. The last two years this place ended my season, so it’s pretty cool to bounce back from that and never give up, never doubt myself, make a change and stick to it. I want to keep doing well and doing what I’m doing. I definitely feel like I have a lot to improve on and a lot to learn but we’ll see if we can keep going.”

Ken Roczen

“I felt really good, and early on when Joey was still leading, I had a couple of good spots, and I kind of came up on Cooper a little bit. But I couldn’t pass him. After Cooper passed for the lead, I noticed that Joey was getting tired or whatever, but he was still going enough where we couldn’t pass. I had to pick my battles a little bit. The way these turns are, and the intensity that we brought, I didn’t want to do a silly, aggressive move and bump up on the inside. I just wanted to do it in a smart way, but I waited too long, for sure.”

Marvin Musquin

“It was definitely a tough night. I made it really hard on myself going down in the heat race while running in second – I made a little mistake that cost me big time and then again, I hit neutral and went down again. With a really bad gate pick, I knew it was going to be hard to choose either inside or outside on the gate but I chose to go very far inside and I didn’t get the start I wanted. I was tight inside and came out top-ten but on a track like that, it’s super tough to be in that position to make passes. It took me a long time to get into the top-five and I was pushing to get around [Blake] Baggett and unfortunately, he went down hard, hopefully he’s okay. Once I was in third, I tried to give a push for second but there was a gap and physically I gave a lot when I was trying to pass guys for most of the Main Event. Definitely tough, but to be third on the podium tonight is a good result considering where I came from with the heat race and the start, so I’ll definitely take it.”

Dean Wilson

“The night wasn’t great but not too bad, either, I’m not super pumped on it but I came out healthy. I think the past couple weeks of not getting into my normal schedule, due to the rain and resting the week after Oakland because of my knee, definitely had me feeling it and it was a tough Main Event the whole time. I think just trying to get back to my normal schedule will help a lot. It was awesome to be back with the team this weekend and we’re just going to get better from here.”

Justin Barcia

“Going into the main event I didn’t make any bike changes, or anything like that I was really comfortable. I was right on the main pack of guys in front of me, I just came into the corner pretty quick, pushed my front end and ended up going down pretty hard and rode home to ninth. For me it was a frustrating race to say the least because I felt like I was capable of being on the podium tonight and fighting for the win. It’s definitely frustrating, but I felt like I was back to myself again, comfort wise and stuff, I felt good on the bike. I was happy with my riding, just wish I could’ve done better in the main event. Moving on to next weekend I just want to have good starts and get back up front.”

Aaron Plessinger

“It was a rough one for me. I definitely struggled on my starts. I got a break in the heat race. I got a bad jump, but shot the gap and made it. In the main event I didn’t have that gap and I got shut off; I definitely need to keep working on it. We’re going to go back to California this week, we’ll get some more testing in on the bike and try and dial it in a little more for me. I just need to keep working on it, getting used to it. I’m going to go back and do some more homework and come back ready for Dallas.”

450SX Main Event Results

1. Cooper Webb
2. Ken Roczen
3. Marvin Musquin
4. Joey Savatgy
5. Justin Brayton
6. Eli Tomac
7. Chad Reed
8. Dean Wilson
9. Justin Barcia
10. Aaron Plessinger
11. Cole Seely
12. Vince Friese
13. Justin Bogle
14. Tyler Bowers
15. Kyle Chisholm
16. Alex Ray
17. Ben Lamay
18. Daniel Herrlein
19. Cheyenne Harmon
20. Casey Brennan
21. Blake Baggett
22. Aj Catanzaro

450SX Points after 6 of 17

1. Ken Roczen – 125
2. Cooper Webb – 124
3. Eli Tomac – 123
4. Marvin Musquin – 123
5. Dean Wilson – 95
6. Justin Barcia – 88
7. Blake Baggett – 82
8. Chad Reed – 81
9. Aaron Plessinger – 79
10. Cole Seely – 77
11. Justin Brayton – 70
12. Vince Friese – 65
13. Justin Bogle – 60
14. Joey Savatgy – 59

250SX East Report

Austin Forkner was fast all day and it wasn’t good news for his opposition when the Kawasaki pilot grabbed the holeshot and he never looked back to take the win but the action behind was a little more riveting with Jordon Smith surviving a flat tyre change on the start line and a small crash mid race to finish second ahead of Justin Cooper who looked smooth and untroubled on his way to third head of Chase Sexton and Alex Martin.

Austin Forkner

“Basically, you don’t want to think about not making mistakes because that’s when you make them. I was just trying to click off laps. My starts were killer tonight in the heat and the main. I was just out there trying to maintain it, and I saw, whenever Jordon [Smith] got into to second, I might have to try to turn it up. He was maybe going a little bit faster, but then he went down. But when you get to that settle stage, sometimes that’s when mistakes happen, so I just tried to keep focused forward.”

Jordon Smith

“We got a flat tire and Christian, my mechanic did an amazing job, they started the bikes before he had the nut off the rear wheel, I was afraid the gate was going to drop and we weren’t going to be ready.”

Justin Cooper

“The bike was awesome all day and the team made adjustments to fix anything I was uncomfortable with. I was able to predict exactly what the bike was going to do throughout the race, even with the track conditions getting worse. I had a terrible start, but felt great on the bike the whole main and just had to maintain the race as best I could with all the chaos around me. Everything about the day went smooth except a little first race jitters in the heat race. First podium at my second Supercross race ever… what more is there to say? It’s a great feeling!”

Mitchell Oldenburg

“Today was decent. Practice went well for me, I felt really comfortable and the bike was working awesome. Tonight though, just wasn’t the best night for me. I didn’t feel that great. Not racing for a year was tough, and it showed tonight. I’m looking forward to building off of this and getting ready for the next few races and Dallas next weekend.”

Jordan Bailey

“It was a good start to my first supercross, practice went well and the track was pretty good. I got fourth in the heat race, and in the main my start wasn’t very good but we got ninth. I’m happy with it to start with but we’ve got to keep getting better.”

Thomas Covington

“It was a solid first weekend for me, I was definitely a little bit nervous and tight throughout the whole day but each session got a little bit better and I squeaked into the Main Event in the heat. In the Main Event, I just went out and had as much fun as I could out there and it turned out pretty good. I was happy with how the bike was working and everything, just have to get back to work this week and hopefully progress next weekend.”

Alex Martin held Justin Cooper at bay for nearly the whole main but he ended up getting bumped off the track by Cooper and missed the transponder line at the finish so his team had to go and request a manual rescoring of that lap for Alex to be credited with fourth place after initial results had him back in 13th.

250SX East Results

1. Austin Forkner
2. Jordon Smith
3. Justin Cooper
4. Alex Martin
5. Chase Sexton
6. Mitchell Oldenburg
7. Kyle Cunningham
8. Brandon Hartranft
9. Jordan Bailey
10. Kyle Peters
11. Thomas Covington
12. Blake Wharton
13. Martin Davalos
14. Christian Craig

250SX East after Round 1 of 9

1. Austin Forkner – 26
2. Jordon Smith – 23
3. Justin Cooper – 21
4. Alex Martin – 19
5. Chase Sexton – 18
6. Mitchell Oldenburg – 17
7. Kyle Cunningham – 16
8. Brandon Hartranft – 15
9. Jordan Bailey – 14
10. Kyle Peters – 13
11. Thomas Covington – 12
12. Blake Wharton – 8
13. Martin Davalos – 7
14. Christian Craig – 3

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Taddy Wins SuperEnduro in Budapest

Budapest hosted round four of the 2019 FIM SuperEnduro World Championship last weekend and it was Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Taddy Blazusiak who took the win ahead of teammate Cody Webb and Husqvarna’s Colton Haaker.

Superpole went to Webb, with Blazusiak finishing a close second before Webb took the lead in the first of the three finals and set about opening up a good margin over the chasing riders. Although pressured early on by his teammate, Cody went on to claim a flag-to-flag victory with Blazusiak fighting off the challenges from Colton Haaker to finish second.

In the reverse-grid race two, it was Blazusiak who got the best start of the championship contenders but Haaker took over the lead and quickly opened a gap that he would maintain to earn the win over Blazusiak and Webb.

In the final race, it was Blazusiak who took the holeshot over Haaker with Webb close behind in third and for the first half of the race the three leading riders pushed hard, maintaining a fast pace on the demanding course but Taddy managed to hold his nerve to ultimately take the race three win over Haaker and Webb and with it the overall victory.

Taddy Blazusiak

“To take the win tonight feels great. I’ve been mostly off the bike since I hurt my knee in Madrid, so to come here and claim the overall is amazing. I didn’t quite have the out-and-out speed this evening, so I knew I would have to be clever and use my race craft. I got two second places and then in the last race I got a good start and knew it would be difficult for the others to pass. I rode clean but defensively and it paid off. Budapest has been great – the track was not too technical, but it was physically demanding and tricky to make time on. I’m really looking forward to Bilbao now in April.”

Webb edged Haaker by one point in the overall standings in Budapest so going into the final round in Spain on April the 6^th, Haaker holds a 12 points lead in the championship.

Cody Webb

“It’s been a good night for me overall – I’m happy with second. I got a really good start in the first race and was just able to run away with it. In the second race, I started off right on the inside from the second row but I got caught up early and had to fight my way through the whole pack back up to third. In the last race it was good fun battling with the guys up front but it was so tricky to make a good pass – we were all pushing so hard and the pace was relentless. I struggled with traffic later on and couldn’t quite close up to the two leaders. We have got a bit of a break now before the last round so I’ll keep training and work on my intensity before Bilbao and hopefully be in a good position to fight for the championship.”

Results — 2019 FIM SuperEnduro World Championship, Round 4
Prestige Race 1

1. Cody Webb (USA), KTM, 6:44.923
2. Taddy Blazusiak (POL), KTM, 6:50.858 +5.935
3. Colton Haaker (USA), Husqvarna, 6:51.421 +6.498
4. Alfredo Gomez (ESP), Husqvarna, 7:22.186 +37.263
5. Pol Tarres (ESP), Husqvarna, 7:28.249 +43.326

Prestige Race 2

1. Colton Haaker (USA), Husqvarna, 6:38.691
2. Taddy Blazusiak (POL), KTM, 6:47.256 +8.565
3. Cody Webb (USA), KTM, 7:00.298 +21.607
4. Alfredo Gomez (ESP), Husqvarna, 7:10.778 +32.087
5. Pol Tarres (ESP), Husqvarna, 6:52.969 +1 lap

Prestige Race 3

1. Taddy Blazusiak (POL), KTM, 6:36.278
2. Colton Haaker (USA), Husqvarna, 6:38.226 +1.948
3. Cody Webb (USA), KTM, 6:50.587 +14.309
4. Alfredo Gomez (ESP), Husqvarna, 7:13.035 +36.757
5. Diogo Viera (POR), Yamaha, 6:43.492 +1 lap

Prestige Class — Overall

1. Taddy Blazusiak (POL), KTM, 56 points
2. Cody Webb (USA), KTM, 53 pts
3. Colton Haaker (USA), Husqvarna, 52 pts
4. Alfredo Gomez (ESP), Husqvarna, 39 pts
5. Pol Tarres (ESP), Husqvarna, 32 pts

Championship Standings (After round 4)

1. Colton Haaker (USA), Husqvarna, 211 points
2. Cody Webb (USA), KTM, 199 pts
3. Taddy Blazusiak (POL), KTM, 184 pts
4. Pol Tarres (ESP), Husqvarna, 122 pts
5. Alfredo Gomez (ESP), Husqvarna, 119 pts

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Cairoli and Prado Wrap Up Italian Motocross Championships

Mantova hosted the final round of the three round Italian Motocross Championships last weekend and it was Tim Gajser who scored the MX1 win before Jorge Prado dominated the MX2 race then Antonio Cairoli managed to win a the Superfinal.

HRC Factory rider Tim Gajser won the MXGP race at Mantova ahead of 2015 World MXGP champion Romain Febvre, Antonio Cairoli, Gautier Paulin and Max Nagl with Cairoli being crowned MX1 champion of Italy for 2019.

Tim Gajser

“It is great to win again, it is just Italian championship, but a great race. I wanted to pass Tonus quickly and I tried to gap Romain, but he was really close. We had a good pace, and I liked the track. I look forward to the second race.”

Romain Febvre

“It went good, I had a good start, not very good but good start. I was quick to second and battled with Tim, really close to him and I made some mistakes. Sometimes I was faster, sometimes he was faster. I was happy, but I got some arm pump and that is why I slowed down.”

Red Bull KTM Factory rider Jorge Prado earned the Italian Championship with the MX2 race win in Mantova over early leader Moreau, Tom Vialle, Jago Geerst and Stephen Rubini while Aussie Mitch Evans ended the race in 11th of the 40 starters.

The Superfinal saw a massive first turn pile-up but out front Cairoli managed to etch out a lead before taking a comfortable win ahead of Nagl who had to fight off a fast finishing Prado who started well outside the top ten to narrowly miss out of second place while Mitch Evans ended the race in a credible ninth place.

Cairoli and Prado ended up 1-2 in the Superfinal Championships.

Antonio Cairoli

“The Italian Championship is always a good series because we have a lot of champions on the line, this year especially, with four different world champions. We had a lot of things to test and the best way to do that was with racing. We had a perfect series, except for that first moto today: I was upset with my start. It was good in one way, and that’s to be able to make some passes and work through the pack and learn about that. This is also good training for the GPs. When we are on the line in the world championship it is a little bit different; everyone is extra motivated and doing their best to keep up with me and Jeffrey. I think since last year people have been working with us in mind. We will improve but they will improve also. We’ll see when the gate drops in MXGP but the championship there is very long and you have to be consistent and don’t make mistakes. This is the key.”

Jorge Prado

“It’s been a really good championship and great pre-season training. Mantova was a different kind of track today: big ruts and with some special demands. I won my MX2 race and then had a good jump [from the gate] against the 450s. I was battling a long time with [Max] Nagl and I couldn’t make the pass, but anyway I’m happy. The bike was working great in these races. We have some weeks of training ahead but we are in the good way and will go to Argentina in the best shape possible.”

Final Championship Standings MX1

1. Antonio Cairoli (KTM) 320pts
2. Romain Febvre (Yamaha) 300
3. Tim Gajser (Honda) 280

Final Championship Standings MX2

1. Jorge Prado (KTM) 360pts
2. Mikkel Haarup (Husqvarna) 195
3. Michele Cervellin (Yamaha) 180

Final Championship Standings Supercampione

1. Antonio Cairoli (KTM) 240pts
2. Tim Gajser (Honda) 200
3. Jorge Prado (KTM) 160

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Dean Wilson to Rockstar Husqvarna

With Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing team having no fit 450SX riders, Dean Wilson has been given a seat with the team for the remainder of the AMA Supercross season.

Jason Anderson and Zach Osborne are currently out with Anderson sustaining a season ending broken arm injury, while Osborne (Broken collar bone) is expected to return to the team in the coming weeks.

Wilson started with the team at Minneapolis last weekend where he finished a solid 8^th place in the main event to maintain 5^th in the championship standings.

Dean Wilson

“I am really excited to be back with the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna team. They have been a great help with my privateer effort. I am looking forward to putting in good results and making everyone proud.”

Bobby Hewitt

“Dean has been a part of our program for many years. I am very excited to have him back under the truck for the remainder of the 2019 AMA Supercross Championship Series.”

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Hunter Lawrence Injured

On the eve of making his AMA Supercross debut Australia’s Hunter Lawrence has crashed and aggravated a collarbone injury which he sustained some eight to nine weeks ago.

A timetable for Lawrence’s return has not been set but he could be back in time to compete in some supercross rounds or the Geico Honda pilot might be out until the Lucas Oil AMA Motocross Championship which begins in May.

Below is his Instagram post.

‘Absolutely heartbroken to say the least guys. I wont be lining up at round 1 this weekend. Some of you know a few months back I had a collarbone injury that I have now re-injured. And it isn’t in a condition where I am not able to plate it. A misfortunate crash and part of the sport. Will do everything i can like always to get back to 100%. I want to thank my amazing @fchonda team and supporting sponsors for all their great support. And a massive shoutout to all of the Aussie fans that were behind me and following along. Super bummed, but with the aussie grit and determination i’ll be back soon.’

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Traralgon Hosts Successful 2 Stroke Nationals

Traralgon has hosted the opening round of the Yamaha bLU cRU 2 Stroke Nationals and it was Pro racer Joel Milesevic who won the premier YMI All Powers Cup ahead of Deakin Hellier and Ryan Kenney.

Meanwhile Blake Fox (125cc Junior Cup), James Hanson (Hallman Retro Cup), Hunter Collins (Yamaha 85cc Cup) and Ky Woods (Raceline 65cc Cup) earned the top spots in the support classes.

Coolum will host the second round of the series on March 3, before Canberra get the final round on April 27.

YMI All Powers Cup

1. Joel Milesevic
2. Deakin Hellier
3. Ryan Kenney
4. Taylor Potter
5. Jai Walker

Yamaha 125cc Junior Cup

1. Blake Fox
2. Alex Larwood
3. Blake Hollis
4. Ricky Chalmers
5. Ryan Alexanderson

Hallman Retro Cup

1. James Hanson
2. Steven Bowen
3. Jake West
4. Paul Grant
5. Kade Dunscombe

Yamaha 85cc Cup

1. Hunter Collins
2. Cambell Williams
3. Ryder Kingsford
4. Jett Burgess-Stevens
5. Seth Burchell

Raceline 65cc Cup

1. Ky Woods
2. Jett Williams
3. Jack Deveson
4. Koby Hantis
5. Kayd Kingsford

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FIM Speedway of Nations News

The start position draw for Monster Energy FIM Speedway of Nations Race Offs 1 and 2 in Landshut and Manchester in May has been confirmed.

Germany host Poland, Sweden, Slovenia, Ukraine, Czech Republic and Italy at Race Off 1, which takes place in Landshut on Saturday, May 4, before the Lions come up against Australia, Denmark, USA, France, Finland and Latvia at Race Off 2 in Manchester on Saturday, May 11.

The start position draw sees GB line up in the white and yellow starting gates against fellow 2018 finalists Australia and Denmark, with the Danish clash coming in race six and the Aussie showdown taking place in heat 15.

With gates two and four producing 14 winners compared to the nine that triumphed from gates one and three at Race Off 2 in 2018, the Lions will be hopeful the draw works in their favour at the National Speedway Stadium.

The hosts come up against neighbours France in their opener in heat three, with Australia kicking the night off against Finland in race one and Latvia taking on Denmark in heat two. The USA get their night started against the Aussies in race four.

The Landshut round sees Germany face tough finish to their heats as they come up against Sweden in heat 13, Ukraine in race 17 and Poland in heat 20 to round off the night. They will be keen to pile up the points early on, starting in their opener against Italy in race two.

Their fellow 2018 finalists Poland and Sweden collide in their opening heat – race three – a clash that could have a massive bearing on who tops the podium in Bavaria, with the Poles starting from gates one and three.

The top two teams from both Race Offs are guaranteed a spot at the Monster Energy SON Finals in Togliatti alongside hosts Russia on July 20 and 21, with the teams placed third to fifth competing in two knock-out heats to decide the final qualifier from both meetings.

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Applications Open for Australian WJMX Team

Applications are now open for Australian riders who want to compete in the 2019 FIM Junior Motocross World Championship which will take place at Russia’s cosmopolitan capital, Moscow, in July.

2018 was a massive year for Team Australia with the event held on home soil and Australia taking out the Team of Nations trophy, and competitors Bailey Malkiewicz and Braden Plath taking out the 125cc WJMX title and 65cc World Cup respectively!

Team Australia will be split out according to the 2019 WJMX classes:

• FIM Junior 65cc Motocross World Cup: Age Restrictions-minimum 10 years of age and maximum 12 years of age.
• FIM Junior 85cc Motocross World Championship: Age Restrictions-minimum 12 years of age and maximum 14 years of age.
• FIM Junior 125cc Motocross World Championship: Age Restrictions- minimum 13 years of age and maximum 17 years of age.

The Australian squad will be supported by the 2019 Team Manager, Mark Willingham who will continue in this role for the third year running.

Applications close in less than a month so click on the link below for more information:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fIs4qLw9k3YLC4uXMIBuC2BBMp_DjRlW/view

Source: MCNews.com.au