MOTOCROSS ACTION WEEKEND NEWS ROUND-UP: LOCALS ONLY

Click on images to enlarge

LOCAL BOY DOES GOOD! JUSTIN JONES WINS ISDE GOLD & LEADS USA JUNIOR TROPHY TEAM TO VICTORY

JUSTINJONESnew
Justin Jones.

Most motocross racer know of the exploits of four-time 250 Motocross Champion Gary Jones, but for SoCal locals the name Justin Jones is just as important. Justin has grown up at the tracks of SoCal, especially Glen Helen’s weekly REM races, where he has been the dominant 450 Pro for the last couple years.

JUSTIARGENTINAJustin in Argentina. Photo: Troy Lee Designs

Now Justin has gone to the ISDE in Argentina and led the American Junior Trophy team to victory (winning his own Gold Medal in the process and being the highest placed member of the USA Junior team). Justin Jones ended up 11th overall in the combined standings of every rider in every class.

AndJustinJones5The winning team of Grant Baylor, Steward Baylor, Trevor Bollinger and Justin Jones. Photo:  Mark Kariya

JUSTINREMJustin at REM before going to Argentina. Photo: Dan Alamangos

“I feel great. I’m super excited about the good results we got here. Everybody did well, we had a little bit of bike issues, but it was a good week. I enjoyed every second of being here in Argentina. It’s awesome,” said Justin Jones.

MXA PHOTO OF THE DAY: WARNING! WARNING

ortstan3606Do not look directly at this Richard Stuelke photo of Jon Ortner and Kendall Stanley or the color palette will scar the retina of your eyeballs.

SAY WHAT! ANOTHER HUSQVARNA STREET BIKE — THE 701

2015-Husqvarna-701-supermoto-07The 2015 Husqvarna 701 is a 690cc street-legal supermoto bike, that will join their 450cc Supermoto street bike.

Husqvarna_701_Supermoto_detail_leftThe 701 makes 67 horsepower, weighs 320 pounds, comes with a slipper clutch, ABS brakes and and ride-by-wire modes.

2015-Husqvarna-701-supermoto-06It is essentially rebadged KTM KTM 690 SMC. Unlike the Black Arrow and White Arrow concepts bikes —this is a production model.

IS HONDA’S MOTO3 GP BIKE USING A R&D GENIUS SHAPED THROTTLE BODY?

ALEXMARQUEZAlex Marquez’s Moto3 World Championship Honda throttle body.

R&DgeniusR&D Genius throttle body.

In the above spy photo of Honda’s MotoGP3 throttle body, mounted vertically on Alex Marquez’s Honda 250 road racer, appears to be using some kind of revolving slide. Look at the TPS valve on the right and you can see that that the throttle body casting to the left of it is round—which indicates the shape of the valve. this is very similar to R&D Racing’s Genius throttle body (which the Geico Honda Team has used and Doug Dubach used to win two classes at 2014 World Vet Championship).

AMERICAN GAVIN FAITH WINS AUSSIE 250 SUPERCROSS TITLE

faith2014trophyGavin Faith finished second at the final round of the Australian 250 Supercross series to clinch the 2014 Aussie title. He says he will defend his title again in 2015. Photo Marc Jones

FINAL 450 AUSTRALIAN SUPERCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS STANDINGS
(After 5 of 5 rounds)
1. Matt Moss………………..175
2. Adam Monea……………150
3. Lawson Bopping……….142
4. Kirk Gibbs…………………137
5. Jesse Dobson……………121
6. Josh Cachia……………….113
7. Kade Mosig ……………….111
8. Jay Marmont………………104
9. Justin Carafa……………….94
10. Chris Carafa……………..81

FINAL 250 AUSTRALIAN SUPERCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS STANDINGS
(After 5 of 5 rounds)
1. Gavin Faith………………..187
2. Taylor Potter……………..144
3. Kyle Peters……………….140
4. Hayden Mellross………..137
5. Kale Makeham…………..125
6. Ryan Marmont……………118
7. Brenden Harrison……….112
8. Geran Stapleton…………103
9. Luke Wilson………………..99
10. Jackson Richardson…..96

MXA PHOTO OF THE DAY II: THE PERFECT TURN

CHRISALAMANGOSChris Alamangos exhibits perfect style in this bar dragging corner in practice. The catch? “I can do it whenever I want in practice, but I can never do it in the race.”

COMPARE & CONTRAST: CAIROLI’S PRE-PRO 2016 KTM 350SXF & THE 2015 350SXF

350sxfCairoli2016This is Tony Cairoli’s Grand Prix 350SXF for next season. You can expect a version close to this bike, although not as a 350, to be part of the 2015-1/2 KTM Factory Editions later this winter…and eventually the base of the 2016 250SXF, 350SXF and 450SXF models.

350sxf2014This is the stock 2015 KTM 350SXF. Click on both images to make them bigger and then compare and contrast the differences for yourself, but expect the 350SXF to be the least changed  of all the 2016 KTM four-strokes.

MALCOLM STEWART GETS A 250 DEAL AT GEICO HONDA

MALCOLMSMalcolm has ridden for the Troy Lee Designs team in the past.

Malcolm Stewart will race the 250 West for Geico Honda. Althoughg considered to be a better 450 rider, malcolm did finish the 2014 250 West in sixth place. Malcolm said, “I’m excited for this opportunity. Obviously, the Geico Honda team is a top-tier group that is always in contention. I think my previous experience in the 250 class, especially in 250 West, will help make this transition easier and get us off to a fast start.  Team manager Mike LaRocco said, “We like to put our best foot forward on the West Coast. “Not only is the majority of the industry located in this region but the West riders kind of dictate the rest of the racing. The other riders really get to build some momentum off the West guys if they’re running well, and that’s what we like to try to ensure. Running in both the 450 and 250 classes, we like to keep a good balance of experienced riders and rookies on the team. We think Malcolm will help bring that balance. The kid’s got speed and hopefully, in the right environment, we can get some podium results out of him.”

MY WORLD VET CHAMPIONSHIP BY JODY WEISEL

WORLD VETJODY26 years ago Jody came close to winning the 1988 Over-40 World Vet Championship. He got beat by nine-time Champion Alan Olson. 24 years ago he finished fourth in the same class. 17 years ago he was sixth in the Over-50 class. Since then he has made the top ten on occasion, but 2014 was his worst year ever.

“I love the World Vet Motocross Championships— perhaps because it came into being at a time when motocross racers used to be put out to pasture. With the explosion of Vet racing, not only did old guys like me get a new breath of life into our racing lives, but the sport in America got a boost that has kept it alive during the lean times.

worldvetjodyAnyone can go fast if they aren’t on the track. Actually this is an optical illusion, Jody is on a section of track high above the track in the background. His World Vet weekend boiled down to one moto and one lap.

“I am one of a very small handful of riders who have raced every single World Vet Championship since it was founded 30 years ago. Over the years I’ve had good days and bad days, I even came close to winning, lo those many years ago, when I was a much younger man. But the 2014 edition takes the cake.  It should be noted that I never expected to get younger or faster the longer I raced, but my increasing decrepitude has been a hard adjustment. I feel good on my bike, I’m racing hard, taking chances and fighting for my place in the pack — but my place in the pack is near the back. Que sera!

downhillGHIn the past, the riders, in this case Travis Preston (11), would be braking hard and turning down the bank to Travis’ left. But, by letting the downhills run another 100 feet, the braking bumps were reduced. Well, in truth, they were just delayed until the riders got to the next turn (on flat land). Much faster, but much safer. Photo: Mark Chilson

“The World Vet is a hectic time for me. I have magazine, testing and family responsibilities, but I also build the racetrack, cater to the desires of my test riders, have a crowd of out-of-state and foreign racers staying at my house and want to race at the same time. I started designing the World Vet track about a month before the event, and I thought I had struck on something that would make the layout better for Vet racers. In the past, I always built a mellower version of my AMA 250/450 National track. This year I realized that asking “men of a certain age” to race on an AMA National track was bordering on elder abuse. Thus, I lengthened the uphills (with more run at the bottom) and extended the downhills (so that the braking bumps would be reduced at the critical junction), I added sweeping turns (without any jumps, whoops or obstacles on them). I redesigned the jumps so that they were safe for slower riders, knowing that fast riders would do the impossible without any help. And I changed the pace of the track from section to section (so that it went very fast in the beginning, slowed down in the middle and went fast again at the end). I tested most of the track by getting the layout done a week early so I could run it at the REM Octobercross race — and then made changes to improve the design. Actually, I made changes all through the World Vet weekend (which ran from Thursday through Sunday).

watermainThat is Jody in the orange shirt looking at the cut on his hand as the water main shoots 40 feet in the air. A minute earlier he had been in the chain link cage with the explosion. This photo was shot on Dennis Stapleton’s cell phone.

“I skipped the Thursday practice because it is typically a zoo with Pros and Vets mixed together with the most dangerous riders in the sport — black plate 250 Intermediates. I spent Friday’s World Vet practice working on the track. And that is when my World Vet weekend started to go sour. While working on the track, I leaned over a high-pressure water main to turn it on. It exploded with unbelievable pressure. I was blown back into a chain link fence by the force of “Old Faithful.” The shrapnel-like metal valve cut the back of my left hand and the splintered PVC tubing speared me in the chest as both blew 40 feet in the air. No big deal. It happens to every track worker eventually.

CATfoedishThis section of track had to be rerouted on Saturday, not because of this puddle, but because of what came after it. Photo; Mark Chilson

“On day one of the race, Saturday, it rained all night and sprinkled all day. Glen Helen is in a valley between big hills. When it rains, all the water from the top of the hills runs to the bottom — and every low spot on the track becomes a wading pool. Since it wouldn’t stop raining long enough for the track crew to catch up, it was necessary to reroute some sections of the track up on dry land. This meant getting the Cat out, having a crew move corner markers and string pennants on the drier, not dry, new ground. The fixes worked, but by the time I was done my class was on the starting line — and I wasn’t even dressed yet. No big deal. I still had Sunday (which is the most important day anyway).

“Last year at the World Vet I tore my rotator cuff when I crossed wheels with another guy (totally the other guy’s fault from both our viewpoints) and had the front wheel torn out of my hands. I didn’t crash, but I stretched my shoulder beyond reason. I nursed that injury with the help of my doctor, but I kept racing through the winter. I was slowed by the pain and forced to play bike roulette until I settled on a bike that was easier on my shoulder (compared to my typical 450 four-stroke or 250 two-stroke choices).

“My shoulder slowly improved, but then, in the middle of the Summer, I got pneumonia. Very bad pneumonia. My doctor wanted me to go to the hospital, but I refused. He agreed to treat me in his office, as long as I came every day. I did, for two straight weeks, and I was so pumped full of antibiotics that I had to be pumped full of some other drugs to  fight the effects of antibiotics on my stomach. I don’t know how I got pneumonia, but my doctor knows how I ended up being so sick. I raced with what I assumed was the flu. It wasn’t the flu and I was actually forced to stop on the track, put my head on my handlebars and gasp for air. I gasped for the next month. Lovely Louella took me to the doctor the morning after the race. It’s now four months later and I still can’t take a deep breath, but after six weeks off I returned to racing — albeit slower than I was before, which is akin to going in reverse.

“The 2014 World Vet was one year since my shoulder injury, four month since my bout with pneumonia and two days after being impaled by PVC. I still thought it was going to be a great day. Unfortunately, in the second moto on Sunday, I found myself in neutral when the gate dropped. In an attempt to salvage something in the top 15, I rode like an idiot… and it worked for exactly one lap. Then, in a desperate attempt to repass a guy that I had already passed earlier in the lap, I changed lines and selected a very deep carving rut that led nowhere. I highsided over the berm and landed on top of the next rut. Where did I land? I hit on my right shoulder, the bad one, so hard that it knocked the wind out of me — out of my already bad lungs.

rustghdPick a rut, but whatever you do, don’t follow Jody.

“As I lay there gasping for breath and clutching my shoulder my first thought was not to what Lovely Louella would say (she was watching just down the next straight as I crashed). Or what my doctor would say when I went back to see him on Monday with the medical equivalent of a double whammy. Or whether I had wrecked my just completed Factory Service KTM 350SXF test bike. No. My first thought was that I hoped I’d be able to race at next weekend’s REM race. I think that is what any motocross racer would be thinking.”

HUSQVARNA BLACK ARROW AND WHITE ARROW PROTOTYPES

vit3The Husqvarna Vitpilen (White Arrow in Swedish) is inspired by the 1953 Silverpilen road bike. The frame and engine come straight from a KTM Duke 390, but has redesigned cosmetic to make it retro cool —ala cafe racer style.

svart2The 401 Svartpilen (Black Arrow) is another 390 clone, but this time as a retro-looking scrambler. These are not production bikes, but rather design concepts.

duke390The engine is a 373cc of KTM design. It puts out a reported 43 horsepower in street trim.

HAVEN’T WE SEEN THIS MOVIE BEFORE: RICKY’S TRUCKS

rickyCHEVYcolorado-02015 Chevy Colorado.

Suzuki-Equator_RMZ-4_Concept_2008_1280x960_wallpaper_042008 Suzuki Equator.

With the news that Chevy made a Ricky Carmichael replica Chevy Colorado for last week’s SEMA show, it brings back memories of the Ricky Carmichael Suzuki Equator concept from 2008.  We can only think of one person who would be willing to drive around in that gussied-up  Chevy Colorado and his name is Blake Baggett.

THE CURRENT ISSUE OF MXA IS HERE NOW

MXACOVERDEC2014The December 2014 issue of MXA is in the mail now and will be on the news stands in a few days. What’s inside? Full tests on the 2015 Yamaha YZ450F (on the cover), 2015 Suzuki RM-Z250, 2015 Husqvarna FC450, 2015 Honda CRF250, 2015Husky FC250 and a test of Christophe Pourcel’s National winning YZ250F. Not to mention a Ryan Dungey interview, guide to the six different types of 2015 forks and mini tests on every 2015 bike made. You can get MXA in the mail, on your phone, for your iPad or to your computer.

WHAT YOU’RE MISSING IN THE CURRENT MXA

thorks

Ever heard of leading link forks? Thorks? Ribi Quadilaterals? AMP forks? Swenco forks? Armstrong forks? Probably not, but Roger DeCoster believed in this design so much that he raced the 500 GPs with them on his works Suzuki and made Honda buy the rightswhen he switch to the red team. Read all about them in the new issue of MXA.

BIRTHDAYS OF THE STARS: WESTON PEICK IS 24

Weston-Peick-JGRWeston Peick will be at JGR in 2015.

Nov. 8…Weston Peick 1990
Nov. 8…Dave Strijbos
Nov. 8…Tyla Rattray 1985
Nov. 9…Paul Boudreau
Nov. 10…Pat Lio
Nov. 10…Cooper Webb 1995
Nov. 11…Richie Owens
Nov. 12…Paul Currie 1976
Nov. 13…Evgeny Bobryshev 1987

WHAT’S ON THE HORIZON? THE “RACE AROUND THE LAKE” IS COMING UP

RACEAROUND

2014 RACE AROUND THE LAKE
November 14-16……………Lake Castaic, CA

2014 PARIS SUPERCROSS
November 15-16……………Lille, France

2014 GEICO ENDUROCROSS  CHAMPIONSHIP
November 15……………….Boise, ID
November 22………………Ontario, CA

2014 DAY IN THE DIRT GRAND PRIX
November 28-30…………..Glen Helen, CA

2014 CANADIAN ARENACROSS CHAMPIONSHIP
November 28-29……….Chilliwack, BC
December 5-6……………Chilliwack, BC

DAY IN THE DIRT # 17 COMING TO GLEN HELEN ON NOVEMBER 28-30, 2014

DAYINDIRTTRACKMAPFor more info go to www.dayinthedirt.com

You might also like

Comments are closed.