MOTOCROSS ACTION’S MID-WEEK REPORT (06/06/11)


MXA INTERVIEW: TYLA RATTRAY


The Freestone podium was an accomplishment, but Tyla is training for the championship.

After his overall win at the Freestone 250 National, Tyla already had his nose to the grindstone at Competitive Edge in Hesperia, California. Not surprising since the Pro Circuit rider was so strong in the Texas heat this weekend. We talked to the South African about the similarities between his home country and the Lone Star State.

MXA: What was the game plan coming into Freestone?
I knew going in that it was going to be pretty tough with the heat. I walked the track on Friday and saw that there was a lot of sand mixed in with the dirt in some areas. So, I knew it was going to be pretty tough. I knew the track was definitely going to get a lot rougher than it was last year, and it did actually turn out that way. All in all it was good race.I just tried to conserve as much energy as I could. I knew that if I finished second, I would be in a good position to get the overall win. I didn’t really focus on winning the first moto, because everything comes down to the second moto when the conditions are so brutal. In the second moto I managed to chase Barcia down from quite a ways back and get the moto win, which gave me the overall, which was awesome.

Do you think that maybe some of the the riders wore themselves out pushing hard too early?
Yeah, definitely. I think that both motos, it was smart to just get into a good rhythm and just focus on that, and trying to be consistent. That’s what I did in. I just tried to watch my pit board and not focus on who was behind me or in front of me. I just tried to put down two solid motos with consistent lap times every lap. In the second moto, it was key to keep those lap times consistent from the beginning until the end and that’s what I did. All in all, it was a great weekend.


Tyla powers out of a roost storm on his Pro Circuit KX250F.

Can you give us some training tips? How do you stay strong through the whole moto?
Training in the winter is when it all counts. That’s when you do your preparation. Making sure everything is correct. I’m training with Alden Baker. I felt like I was pretty fit last year, but this year we have fine-tuned the program a bit. I definitely felt great through the moto, there wasn’t a time when I was getting tired, or started dropping off the pace. Obviously all the hard work has been paying off.

How do you like the Texas track?
It’s an awesome track. It’s a pretty flat area, so they have a lot of man-made stuff with the jumps and everything. I really enjoy racing there, we had a lot of tracks like that in South Africa. I really enjoy going to that race. In South Africa where I grew up, it’s really humid on the coast. I like the humidity and I’m looking forward to some of the East Coast rounds coming up.


Tyla in the opener at Hangtown, near Sacramento, California.

What other tracks are you looking forward to?
I really enjoy going to all the Nationals. My plan this year was to get the Supercross season under my belt so that I would know what to expect next year, so I could race for the championship. I managed to get on the podium a couple times. Motocross is where my roots are from. I’m looking to win this championship. We’ve got some good tracks coming up that I really love?Budds Creek, Red Bud and I also love High Point. It reminds me a lot of Europe, being in a valley with lots of greenery. I’m looking forward to going there in two weeks. Right now, I’m focusing on keeping my training up. During the week I spend time with my family. One of the guys on the team is expecting a baby and we have a baby shower to go to. I like to break it up. I really enjoy racing and riding my motorbike and then going home to spend time with my family. I have two great things in my life.

KTM AND HUSABERG PARTNER WITH SUPER-B BATTERIES

    The FMF/KTM Factory Racing Team and Husaberg Factory Racing Team are excited to announce a new partnership with Super-B that will extend throughout the remainder of the 2011 racing season. Super-B introduced a revolutionary new battery type, specifically designed for motorcycles, that replaces the existing lead/acid battery with a lithium-ion technology. The Super-B battery offers many advantages over conventional batteries including, lighter weight, faster charge time, more compact design, and a longer service life. The company was founded in 2007 by Mr. M.H. Doornekamp, an enduro rider from Holland. Upset over the lifetime of his four-stroke battery-life, he began a quest to engineer a more reliable battery. Being an engineer himself, he developed a new lithium-ion light-weight battery for use in motorsport racing.

    FMF/KTM and Husaberg Factory Team Manager, Antti Kallonen, commented, “I’m pleased to partner with Super-B for the 2011 racing season. It is important in off-road racing to have a strong and reliable battery that guarantees the bike will start every time you hit the button. Many of our series involve a dead engine start where it is crucial to have a good battery to get the jump you need. Super-B helps our FMF/KTM and Husaberg motorcycles get off the line the fastest each time. Having Super-B batteries on all our electric start 4-stroke KTM’s and Husaberg’s is a big advantage and a peace of mind for our riders.”
 
    Doornekamp is equally excited about the partnership with the FMF/KTM and Husaberg Racing Teams. “Our company is elated to partner with KTM and Husaberg, both leading brands in the off-road market. After years of testing our batteries in the Dakar Rally, motocross and multiple enduro series, we are proud that SuperB can be part of the world’s best off-road teams.” For more information on SuperB batteries please visit www.super-b.com.

THE MAICO MEISTER: ADOLF WEIL TRIBUTE T-SHIRTS



   From Scott Burnworth: Riders and Friends, I am finalizing the orders for the So Cal VMX event Tees and sweats. If you would like to reserve one (they sold out in the morning last year), please let me know ASAP. The Tees are $10.00 and the Hoody sweats are $25. I will also be running the Adolf Weil Tribute tees as well ($10 each). Please let me know your size and quantity. Thank you, Scott Burnworth
   For more info go to www.socalmxclassic.com

ARE YOU RICH? DR.D WILL HAVE FREE JETTING ASSISTANCE AT MAMMOTH

 
“Are You Rich?” Heading to Mammoth Mountain for the annual Mammoth Motocross June 16th ? 26th? At over 8000 feet in elevation, racers are encouraged to bring their race bikes to the DR.D pit area and have their jetting tested with a specifically built Lambda machine. You will receive jetting and mapping advice from 18-time World Vet Champion Doug Dubach and his staff. Whether carbureted or fuel injected, DR.D’s “Are You Rich” service will provide valuable information to all racers. “Are You Rich” is a complimentary service provided by DR.D that enables racers to test their jetting and develop the best set up possible for their race bike. Your bike will thank you on the long uphill and around the John Miller Tree Turn! Dubach Racing Development testing/developing headquarters will be located at the beginning of vender row near the bus drop and across from t-shirt vender

MXA INTERVIEW: MIKE WEBB

Suzuki Team Manager Mike Webb explained Dungey’s bike issues.

As last year’s winner and runner-up in the AMA National championships, Ryan Dungey and Brett Metcalfe are both title contenders in their own right. At Freestone they showed their talent, but in the roller coaster ride of championship racing, each rider came away with one great moto result and one not-so-good moto result at Freestone. We called up Factory Suzuki Team Manager Mike Webb to get the info on the the Suzuki riders’ and their race bikes, and quickly found out that after reading/surfing www.motocrossactionmag.com (specifically, “15 Things We Know About Freestone After The Fact” under “News” on the main page) Mike was irritated with us to say the least. It’s no surprise, that in our endeavor to tell the unvarnished truth, we ruffled a few feathers. We took the opportunity to talk to Mike, and get his side of the story on all fronts.

MXA: What are your thoughts on the race at Freestone?

Mike Webb: Ryan actually started dead last. He spun really bad coming out of the gate and there was nobody behind him in the first turn. By the time they got to the roller straightaway before the finish-line he was in fourteenth, so he was laying down some unreal laps. Ryan said that once he caught up to Reed, he kind of settled into his lines. I think he regrouped at that point and said ‘Do I push it and go for the “W” here, or do I wait for the second moto.’ I think he kind of settled in. We didn’t make any changes to the bike after the first moto. As always, we measure the amount of fuel left after the moto, and we were well within our comfort zone. But, the temperature during the first moto was 93 degrees. The second moto it jumped up to a little bit over a 100. Ryan and Metty I think were actually one and two on the start [of the second moto]. Then Ryan and Reed got into their little battle. It was pretty tight, and a pretty good race. Reed threw down a 2:06 [minute lap time] which really surprised us, but the next lap Ryan countered with a 2:06 as well. Right after that Reed hit the ground. I don’t know if that pace was a little out of Chad’s comfort zone or what, but Ryan just started throwing them down after that, clicking them off. It just went perfect and looked perfect. On lap15 of 16 it came through the headphones that he was rolling to a stop, and we were just in disbelief.  We went back and checked it and sure enough the fuel had vaporized, boiled, and  that’s what caused the bike to stop. Actually, Metty’s bike ran out of gas from the podium to the truck after the second moto. So we were really bummed. But I was really stoked with Metty’s second moto. After his first moto we made a ton of changes: Suspension changes, flywheel and mapping changes. They all worked correctly and Metty rode great. The fuel issue is a total drag. Everyone worked so hard and looked so good. It was real heart-breaker. But, everything happens for a reason. I have larger tanks being made and we’re looking at different options with our fuel mixture and things like that. That’s usually how things go in racing. Things go wrong, and then you address it, and you don’t have the issue again. That’s where we are with this.


As his first season on the Suzuki, Metty is still fine tuning his outdoor settings.

What changes did Metty’s bike get between motos?
We made a shock change after the second practice for Metty, going to a stiffer spring. He liked that, but said that it transferred too much weight to the front end and made the front end feel soft. So, we went with a spring rate and valving change on the front end with his forks. We went from a 5.5 to a 5.0 flywheel. Then we went to a “turbo” map as we call it, a boost map. We made three pretty dramatic changes for Brett. He was really bummed with the way he rode the first moto, and I wasn’t really happy. I said ‘It can’t get any worse, so let’s throw some major changes at some of these areas your not too happy with.’ It was one of those things where everything was exactly what he wanted. He rode like Brett should ride. I expect him to be up there riding like that, so I was really, really happy with him.

What else about the track and event stood out?
The track was way gnarly! It was way softer than it’s ever been. It was kind of a mixture of sand and loam. It placed a big load on the motors everywhere. As far as spectating, it was really difficult to see because it was flat. But, what  are you going to do? It’s that part of the country, you don’t have a lot of choice. Temperatures were high, but because it was windy it didn’t feel that hot. It was triple digits, but didn’t feel that bad. The finish-line rollers were so sketchy, I was shocked that there weren’t massive get-offs in those things. It’s a testament to how good those guys are. At the first two tracks of the year there has been some gnarly stuff that those guys are doing.


Dungey seems dead set on keeping that numero uno.

What MXA story did you have problems with?
On the “15 Things We Know About Freestone After The Fact,” the opening paragraphs talks about all these mechanical issues we’ve been having. They weren’t mechanical issues. The thrown chain in Supercross was a contact issue. The broken case in Daytona was a rock entering the sprocket. The mystery engine at Freestone was a fuel issue. I wasn’t really happy about the way that was addressed. But I’ll take that. When you say it’s a mechanical issue, it implies that Goose isn’t putting something together right, or that we have durability issue with our parts, but we don’t.

PRESS RELEASE: CUSTOM SUPERSPROX SPROCKETS COMING SOON

– Do you want something that is special or not in our regular range? – WE CAN DO THAT.
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– For all off-road bikes:
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When you order your special rear sprocket, add a countershaft sprocket and sealed link chain. Then you will qualify for free shipping and a lifetime guarantee on the rear sprocket. Visit the website for full details, terms and conditions: www.supersproxusa.com

NITRO CIRCUS LIVE PRACTICE SESSION
Last weekend, the Nitro Circus Live athletes practiced for their live show at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on June 4. All of the show’s stars, including Travis Pastrana, Andy Buckworth and Bob Burnquist are preparing at Pala Raceway for the show’s North American debut, which will also be filmed for a 3-D movie. All of these fine photos were taken by Travis Burke.


Nitro Circus Live star Travis Pastrana and his patented Lazy Boy.


Nitro Circus Live athletes on top of the Giganta Ramp.


Nitro Circus Live star Matt Whyatt.


Nitro Circus Live star Erik Roner on what appears to be roller skis.

RICKY CARMICHAEL’S MOTOCROSS MATCH-UP UPDATED

Ricky Carmichael’s Motocross Matchup is a racing game for Apple iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch where it’s just you against online competitors from around the globe! This includes the chance to bang bars with some of the best in the business, including Ricky Carmichael himself!

GAME FEATURES INCLUDE:
-Win real world prizes with YourRealRewards.com!
-Game Center support ? invite and race your friends.
-Voice Chat enabled.
-Full achievement system and leaderboards.
-5 indoor and 2 outdoor tracks to master.
-Track layouts based on the 2011 Supercross season.
-2 modes of play: Practice and Online Multiplayer Matchup.
-Select your appearance from a huge selection of bikes and riders.
-Level up to upgrade your bike and rider.
-iPad 2 and iPhone 4 Retina support.
-Gesture based stunt system.
-Multiple camera views including first person with handle bars.
-Select from multiple preset control schemes.
-Responsive tilt steering interface.
-Play on your TV with Apple’s Component A/V cable.


Virtual can-can.

The new version has too many updates to list here but…
To see a list of updated features and get more info, visit www.2xlgames.com

MXA INTERVIEW:  MORGAN CURTICE ON THE LOCAL HERO AWARD

Bristol Core’s Local Hero Award is new this year. The exhaust packing materials manufacturer Bristol Core plans to recognize hard working privateer riders at the 2011 AMA 250/450 Nationals by handing over a check for $275 to the fastest lap time that doesn’t qualify for the  program…in essence the 41st rider after timed qualifying.The story behind the company and the award is pretty neat, so we called up Bristol Core’s owner, Morgan Curtice to get the news.

MXA: How did this award come about? 
Morgan: We wanted to get involved in the outdoor Nationals on a scale that we could manage and we were looking for opportunities to support privateers. We were brainstorming and came up with the idea that we would create an award that would recognize the privateer that might not otherwise get any recognition or help. We were trying to come up with some sort of distinctive of criteria that could be used to select somebody and the idea of a local hero came up. We liked the concept of a local hero because to those of us who grew up around the local track always looked up to one or two local fast guys. You know the stories about them going to the Nationals and maybe qualifying. Back home, those are the guys that everybody looks up to and who are so much faster than everyone else.

I got it in my head that the guys that are trying to make the main program on Saturday or Sunday are heroes back home where they come from. We were originally trying to think of a way to identify people that live within a certain proximity to a track where the races were being held (maybe 50 to 100 miles) that became a little fuzzy and subjective, so we decided to go with the 41st fastest?the first non-qualifying rider. They are the guys who are on the bubble, tenths of a second from qualifying. Michael Giese at Hangtown was super-fast but just missed it by the skin of his teeth. He got the first Local Hero Award at Hangtown. I guess it’s like a consolation prize.

Which class gets the award?
We decided to alternate between classes. One week it will be someone from the 250 class and the next week from the 450 class. So, starting with Hangtown, we picked a 250F rider and his name was Michael Giese from Sedalia, Colorado. In Texas we picked a rider named Tucker Saye, number 693 on an RM-Z450. We are doing one rider per weekend. I was able to go to Hangtown, look up our first winner, introduce myself and tell him what we were doing. I wasn’t able to go to this last round, so we’re going through some back channels to get the rider’s contact information and address. It was a lot of fun. We knew how unhappy the rider would be after not qualifying for a National, but it was fun to makes his day better, even even though he didn’t qualify.

Why create the award?
The guys placing over 20th in the Nationals don’t get the name recognition or the sponsorship recognition that the well-known riders have. For a small manufacturer in the industry like Bristol Core, it’s those riders who are a lot of fun to work with. We can form relations with them. As a smaller company, by working with those guys on a local level, we go a lot further than we ever could trying to work with a larger team. I’m just glad to see so many guys putting the effort in to travel across the country. Our first rider Michael Giese, for example, drove from Colorado to California to try to qualify for the program. They are just packing it up in a van and paying everything out of their own pockets. It’s just great to see, and that’s what we are trying to recognize. We’re just a small manufacturer. We make exhaust packing materials and we’re just trying to grow awareness of what we do. We’re the only US-based company that focuses exclusively on materials for our industry. We are a small company of 10 people in the middle of New York. So, we’re just happy to be plugging away in this soft economy and be racing outdoors. 

What’s your role at Bristol Core?
I own Bristol Core. Bristol Core has been in business for three years, but it’s born out of a company called Race Tools. All of our employees came from there. We bought their muffler packing business a few years ago. We have some really great, dedicated people here who work with fiberglass all day long. We supply most of the major manufacturers. We put raw materials into a number of the factory bikes. The materials compete at the top level. We’ve worked with just about everyone at one time or another. It’s increasingly competitive in this business because of costs and constantly changing technology. Every bike is becoming hotter, leaner and more powerful with fuel injection. We also work with OEM exhaust manufacturers. That’s a growing part of our business as well. We are into snowmobiles, go-carts, automotive, motorcycles, ATV, UTV and Powersports applications. Really, anything with an absorbing material or layering is a candidate. When we first started out we were exclusively focused on fiberglass materials, but that’s really broadened now. Traditional fiberglass doesn’t take the heat or pressure that these modern engines put out. We had to go to different types of fibers. We have also been working with very specialized steel wool materials. That’s a really interesting area because those materials can take much higher temperatures than glass fibers. We are learning more about those materials and how to work with them acoustically. It’s a big area of focus for us. When you get down to the details, little differences in glass chemistry or metal alloy or fiber composition can make a difference in durability. The flexibility of the materials plays a major part in acoustics. It’s always a balancing act to keep the costs down for the manufacturer and give them as much durability and noise reduction as possible. You’re juggling a few different demands.

For more information on Bristol Core, please visit www.bristolcore.com.

THE GNARLIEST TRACK-WALK EVER

The mud run includes moto tracks, dragstrip, woods and military-spec obstacles.

Over time, motocross racers log their fare share of miles around a track on foot. As race photographers, some of us at MXA might even consider ourselves experts at hoofing it around muddy tracks. But, the Mud Run on August 6th at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown New Jersey will be on another level entirely. The Rock Solid hosted event will have two courses: A shorter, fun-type (5-6 miles) and a longer (10-12 mile), much more demanding and challenging serious-type course. The courses are laid out like a long GP race covering the motocross tracks, drag strip and winding through the woods of the facility with a big catch: there are obstacles.

There are walls, balance beams, monkey bars mud holes and all manner of tricky things that require running, swimming, crawling, climbing and jumping. Most of the obstacles were taken straight from a U.S. Military training book, but they have their own “Rock Solid” style obstacles too. The courses will be run simultaneously. You can enter individually, or form a team. A portion of the proceeds from the event will go to charity. There will be a big after-party. This is the only event Rock Solid is hosting all-year. It’s sure to be a unique type of challenge and great exercise. For more information visit www.rocksolidmudrun.com

KEEP YOUR OLD HONDA SHOCK FRESH


Even though we are are close to the fourth year (third year for the 250) of the latest generation Honda CRF, there are many serious older-Honda holdouts that have stuck with pre-EFI hardware. Some folks chose to take advantage of a Honda surplus and subsequent low prices when the newer Hondas came out. Some folks just couldn’t afford to buy new bikes in tougher times. Some folks just like the old bikes better. All of these are valid reasons in our book.

Pivot Works now has complete shock rebuild kits for the older CR/CRF’s (with Showa shocks). One complete kit fits an incredible amount of Honda’s; CR 250R (2002-2007), CRF 250R (2004-2009), CRF 450R (2003-2008) and the CRF 450X (2005-2009). The retail price is only $89.95. For more info visit www.pivotworks.com or call (515) 402-8000

HOW TO OWN YOUR OWN TRACKSIDE SPA

Kawasaki’s Freestone race report included this photo of Pro Circuit’s Broc Tickle and Dean Wilson (no that’s not Oscar the Grouch) cooling off in their poor-man’s jacuzzis. The moral of the story might be creativity: thinking outside the box pays off. It might be pride: top level pro’s who are focused on winning aren’t too proud to sit in garbage can. It might be gratuity: Don’t forget to tip your local sanitation workers.

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