Motorcycling Australia (MA) has confirmed Moruya in New South Wales will host the 2019 Australian Four-Day Enduro (A4DE) on 1-4 May, marking the 41st edition of the prestigious off-road event.
It’s not since 2006 that the A4DE has been held in the Bateman’s Bay area, where Mogo played host to an action packed four days that was hailed as one of the best editions of A4DE in years.
Following on from an emotional 40th anniversary earlier in 2018, next year’s edition is set to be bigger and better than ever, as reflected in Australia’s success over in Chile for the 2018 ISDE.
Conceived in 1978, the A4DE is renowned for its fierce competition nationwide, and the Moruya location will provide a picturesque backdrop for the highly anticipated event. Parc ferme will be located at the Moruya Showgrounds, while the event will include excellent spectator vantage points, plus easy access from the township.
Waters signs multi-year agreement with Team Ecstar Suzuki
Three-time Superbike to remain aboard Suzuki machinery through 2020 season.
Image: Russell Colvin.
Victorian Josh Waters will remain with Team Suzuki Ecstar Australia for the next two years after signing a multi-year agreement to contest the 2019 and 2020 seasons of the YMF Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK).
Waters joined the squad for its inaugural season in 2017, which ultimately saw him seal his third Australian superbike title. Following a tough title defence this year, the number 21 wound up fourth in the championship standings.
“I’m excited to continue this partnership,” said Waters. “I have raced for Suzuki for over 10 years both here and overseas, I have a great team around me, we put in a lot of work this year and ended the season with some strong finishes and a race win, which was great. The goal is pretty simple next year, I want to win the title back”
The first official outing for the squad in 2019 will be the ASBK opener at Phillip Island, which will run alongside the WorldSBK on 22-24 February.
Australia’s Reardon a slender two points behind in title race.
Image: Supplied.
Monster Energy AMA Supercross regular Dean Wilson (DPH Motorsport Husqvarna) leads the bid for the inaugural Monster Energy S-X Open Supercross FIM Oceania Championship crown this weekend in Auckland, New Zealand, marking round two of the series.
Wilson inherited the lead by default with AUS-X Open Sydney victor Jason Anderson (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing) not contracted to challenge in Auckland on Saturday night, granting the Scotsman a slender two-point advantage over Australian Dan Reardon (Yamaha).
“To be leading the FIM Oceania supercross championship is amazing – I haven’t led a supercross championship in forever,” Wilson explained. “It’s awesome – it’s good for me and good for my confidence. I’m just getting back, and I’ve definitely got to put it together in New Zealand.
“There’s no training like racing – there’s nothing like it – the intensity, block passing, the risk factory. There’s so much that goes into it and there are three gate drops. I had eight days on a supercross track before Sydney, so I’m just doing best.”
Recently-crowned three-time Australian supercross champion Justin Brayton (Penrite Honda Racing) holds down third ahead of Chad Reed (Autotrader Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing), while added international talents Christian Craig (Geico Honda) and Josh Hansen (Honda) are to play a serious factor in the final championship standings.
Junior road racing academy rebranded ahead of inaugural season.
Image: Supplied.
Motorcycling Australia (MA) has announced announce the all-new bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup has officially aligned with the Road to MotoGP program with the support of Dorna Sports
This announcement comes as a huge boost for the already exciting junior road racing academy, with MA re-launching the program as the Oceania Junior Cup – formerly known at Oceania Rookies Cup.
Dorna Sports os the commercial rights holders and promoters of MotoGP, WorldSBK, Asia Talent Cup and British Talent Cup. Dorna has also co-organized the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup since its inception in 2007, and its endorsement is a significant development that adds the Oceania Junior Cup to the esteemed list of Dorna Road to MotoGP programs around the world.
The Dorna commitment provides five guaranteed positions in the 2019 Asia Talent Cup Selection Event for riders from the Oceania Junior Cup, and cements MA’s objective to develop clear pathways for junior road racers in the Oceania region.
“For Dorna to endorse the Oceania Junior Cup under the Road to MotoGP program is an exciting opportunity for all involved and adds a substantial level of credibility to what we are trying to achieve,” explained MA president Peter Goddard. “Such an important partnership cements the key criteria of the program, creating a clear progression plan between the Oceania Junior Cup and the world stage. The development of the next World Champion from our region has received a huge boost today.
A high percentage of riders across MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3 classes are products of the Road to MotoGP program, with every permanent rider in the Moto3 World Championship now having raced in an aligned series.
“We are delighted to welcome another series to our Road to MotoGP program,” adds Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta. “The Road to MotoGP is going from strength to strength and has an incredibly successful record in finding and promoting talent. The bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup will be an asset to the program and perfectly complements our aims for the Oceania region. We’re excited to begin this new collaboration.”
The response from MA and Motorcycling New Zealand (MNZ) members has been phenomenal, with the program over subscribed and applications coming in from nearly every discipline of motorcycle racing as young riders seek an opportunity to be involved.
Motorcycle industry to converge in Victoria for three-day exhibition.
Image: Foremost Media.
The Moto Expo will kick off in Melbourne today for a three-day affair that will the see the Australian motorcycle industry converge at Melbourne Showgrounds.
This morning, the covers came off a big line-up of new model motorcycles with consumers joining the media walk while being amongst the first in Australia to view new 2019 model motorcycles.
The walk included the latest releases from manufacturers including Kawasaki, Yamaha, Royal Enfield, Harley-Davidson, BMW, Triumph, MV Agusta, Peugeot Scooters, Gas Gas, Super Soco and Savic Motorcycles.
An incredible list of motorcycles have just arrived in Australia following their global debut at EICMA in Milan 10 days ago, where the all-new Gas Gas EC 300 Ranger will be unveiled by ambassador Shannon Noll.
Electric motorcycles will also be a big feature of the 2018 Moto Expo, with the media walk to introduce Super Soco Motorcyles and Savic Motorcycles to the Australian market.
Savic Motorcycles hold the global release of its first of a kind motorcycle invented and developed by 26 year old Melbourne Man Dennis Savic. Over 650 hours have gone into designing and building the prototype C-Series electric Cafe Racer which boasts instantaneous torque and power, allowing the bikes to go from 0 to 100kph in four seconds.
In addition to those taking part in the media walk over 100 exhibitors will showcase the latest motorcycles, scooters, ATV’S, side-by-sides and much more.
The 2018 Moto Expo will also give visitors the opportunity to engage with industry experts, test ride Yamaha ATV and UTV’s as well as be entertained by a full program of demonstrations, stunts, and special features. For more information, visit www.motoexpo.com.au.
Vinales and Rossi sample upgraded powerplants in Valencia.
Image: Supplied.
Next week’s MotoGP test at Jerez in Spain will determine Yamaha Factory Racing’s 2019 direction after Maverick Vinales and Valentino Rossi sampled a number of different specification engines at Valencia.
In a positive sign for the manufacturer that largely struggled in 2018, Vinales topped the timesheets on both days of testing with blistering pace, although shortened track time due to weather prevented him from trialling the upgraded powerplants to their full potential.
“It has been a positive test,” Vinales stated. “We’ve been working a lot on improving for the first lap of the race. I’m actually really happy because from the first lap I felt good grip and I could push. There’s still work to do to further improve the engine braking and the smoothness of the power, so that’s what we will work on in Jerez. It was unlucky that we couldn’t ride all day, like we had planned.
“We couldn’t test the engines very well, so we’re going to decide after Jerez which of the two we choose. As I said, we need to try more, to be more convinced about the engine decision, but I think we’re on the right track.
“We need to focus on the riding style and getting a smoother bike will be very important, especially when there’s no grip during the race, but there is an upgrade coming that will help a lot. In these last two days I only focused on the engine and didn’t touch anything concerning the setting.
Rossi, who wound up ninth on the results sheet, 0.614s off the pace of Vinales, agreed further testing is crucial in gaining a greater understanding of the newly-spec’d engines, particularly at a circuit where Yamaha struggled at earlier this year.
“We were able to improve compared to yesterday, but unfortunately our opponents were able to improve more,” Rossi explained. “Today was a bit more difficult. We tried a different engine and a different spec, but it was similar to the one we tried yesterday so they have more or less the same performance.
“For now we keep the same material, and next week we will try it again at another track, in Jerez, so there we’ll try to understand it in a better way. After that we have to wait for next year. The test in Jerez is important because in the GP there in May we weren’t very fast. We need to understand if we’re stronger now.”
Italian contender fifth fastest following day two of testing.
Image: Supplied.
On debut with Ducati Team, Danilo Petrucci has expressed his satisfaction with the base of the Desmosedici GP19 following two days of MotoGP testing in Valencia, Spain.
The Italian explained he tested a number items while remaining consistently quick, and despite not being able to lodge an attempted quick lap, he was still positioned fifth in the standings, just behind former teammate and Australian Jack Miller (Pramac Racing).
“I’m pleased with this second day of tests because we were able to try a lot of things and we were always pretty fast, up near the top of the timesheets,” Petrucci commented.
“I was able to lap consistently with excellent times, even though we didn’t do many tests with different set-ups, and this means that the 2019 bike has a good base. In the end, I only missed out on a quick lap, but I’m very pleased with the way the team is working, with even more engineers helping me, and this made all the difference.”
Testing will continue next week at Jerez in Spain on 28-29 November, marking the final opportunity to ride prior to the winter break.
Geico Honda ace to challenge for victory in New Zealand.
Image: Supplied.
Popular Monster Energy AMA Supercross contender Christian Craig will bolster an extensive international field at this weekend’s S-X Open Auckland in New Zealand, marking round two of the Monster Energy S-X Open Supercross FIM Oceania Championship.
The Geico Honda regular, who filled in for Cole Seely at Honda HRC in the premier class for much of 2018 before being sidelined with injury, will race the event with the assistance of Penrite Honda Racing, expanding the outfit’s efforts as the Californian joins Justin Brayton and Brett Metcalfe.
“New Zealand is a place I’ve wanted to visit for a while, so having a race there heading into the Supercross World Championship really is perfect timing,” Craig commented.
“There’s going to be some really fast guys there too, so it’ll be awesome to go up against them. Dean [Wilson] and Chad [Reed], they’re both really in form at the moment, so to race them and see where we’re at will be really cool.”
The addition of Craig comes just days after it was announced fellow American Josh Hansen (Honda) would join the line-up consisting of Dean Wilson (DPH Motorsport Husqvarna), Brayton and Chad Reed (Autotrader Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing), along with Australian Supercross contenders Dan Reardon (Yamaha), Metcalfe, Luke Clout (KTM Motocross Racing Team) and more.
A Perth rider has failed in his challenge to a $550 fine for a loose helmet strap after he says he only loosened it with one hand to talk to two motorcycle police who pulled him over.
Julian Collis says the judge sided with the officers despite proving in court he could undo his helmet with one hand and despite both cops swearing he was wearing an open-face helmet.
“I was actually wearing a full-face Bell Bullitt helmet at the time, so that evidence was clouded,” he says.
“I had taken my motorcycle gloves off and put them on the console and loosened my chin strap to take off my helmet but I kept it on when I was told I wasn’t being done for speeding.”
Reasonable doubt
Julian also believes his lawyer proved there was reasonable doubt that police missed seeing him loosen his helmet strap as they were occupied issuing a speeding ticket to a driver at the time.
Unfortunately the police officers’ helmet cameras were not operating as they had parked their bikes to conduct the speed trap.
“In the end, the judge said the two officers had dovetail evidence,” he says.
“We pointed out that they had lunch together in the court recess and could have illegally collaborated on evidence.
“The judge asked if they discussed the case and they said they didn’t and the judge believed them.
“It was a case of two against one.”
Court costs
Julian copped the original $550 fine and four demerit points plus $205 court costs, although his lawyer did not charge him a fee.
However, he says he has no regrets.
“I got to say my piece and tell the truth from what I can remember on the day,” he says.
“I wouldn’t ride around with a loose helmet strap. I value my safety as I have three small children at home and I’ve been riding for 20 years.
“I could appeal to the Supreme Court, but my lawyer said we had done as much as we can.”
Strap rule
Julian’s helmet has a double-D fastener which can be loosened without being undone
Regulation 244 of the Western Australia Road Traffic Code 2000 states that a motorcycle must not be ridden unless an approved helmet is securely fitted and fastened to the head of the rider.
“It doesn’t mention anything about how tight the helmet strap should be so it’s open to police interpretation,” Julian says.
Valencia test marks significant step in MotoGP for KTM.
Image: Supplied.
Johann Zarco has completed his first two days aboard the RC16 in his transition to the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, utilising the official MotoGP test in Spain to come to terms with the new machine.
Zarco was first out on track both days, making a number of changes to feel at home aboard the Austrian manufacturer. Finding the limit with two crashes on the final day, the Frenchman wound up 21st on the timesheets.
“I wanted to improve my lap-time more today but we could not do it,” Zarco explained. “I can really feel the potential of the bike but we still need to get the speed. It was a shame to have two crashes but I didn’t have any injuries and it helped to understand things about the bike and what I might have to change with my riding style.
“Step-by step. I’m building up this adventure. We are working on corner entry feeling and to find a direction but we improved and I felt I could play with the bike. I’m already thinking about what changes I need to make. Anyway, it was pretty nice to get on that bike and something so different that I’ve discovered in MotoGP until now. Even all the colours, the suit – it was exciting.”
The test in Valencia marked a significant one for KTM, not only with Zarco’s maiden appearance, but also the transition of Tech 3 Racing to KTM machinery with riders Hafizh Syahrin and Miguel Oliveira – the duo finishing 23rd and 25th at the conclusion of Wednesday. Fresh after claiming both his and KTM’s maiden MotoGP podium, Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory) was 13th fastest.
MotoGP will now move further south to Jerez to continue testing on 28-29 November for the last track days before the winter break.
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