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DID YOU HEAR ABOUT …? WHOOZ GOIN’ WHAR? 

There are 33 notable riders signed to contracts for 2015 with the established and high-profile teams. That is no small number and is nothing to sneer at. Here is who is going where.

At the moment Ken Roczen is the only signed rider at RCH Suzuki and because he busted the bank they will probably sign a less expensive rider to be his teammate. Broc Tickle is the obvious candidate because his raincoat is still in the semi’s closet.

Eli Tomac is staying at Geico Honda to be their sole 450 rider. The Geico Honda’s 250 squad will be Justin Bogle,  Matt Biscelgia and R.J. Hampshire.

James Stewart is staying at Yoshimura Suzuki, but will be joined by Blake Baggget. As of today, Stewart has yet to hear anything from WADA or the FIM in Geneva about his current suspension.

Ryan Dungey has a year to go on his current KTM contract and readily admits that he will re-sign with KTM in the future (as long as Roger is there). Dungey will be joined by Dean Wilson in the 450 class and Marvin Musquin and Justin Hill (previously at Pro Circuit) in the 250 class.

Jeremy Martin and Cooper Webb re-upped at Star Yamaha in the middle of the 2014 National season and are on blue for two more years. They will be joined by Anthony Rodriques again and amateur sensation Aaron Plessinger.

Justin Brayton is no longer at Joe Gibbs Racing. Justin moved to BTO KTM to become Andrew Short’s teammate.

Former Team Honda rider Justin Barcia moved to Brayton’s gig at Joe Gibbs and will be joined by Weston Peick.

Josh Grant moved from Joe Gibbs to Chad Reed’s Kawasaki team.

Honda renewed Trey Canard early on and named Cole Seely as Justin Barcia’s replacement early also…or maybe they just leaked it.

Ryan Villopoto’s spot at Team Kawasaki was taken by Davi Millsaps, while Wil Hahn got Jake Weimer’s hot seat.

The Troy Lee Designs team is switching from Honda to KTM and will race with Jessy Nelson, Shane McElrath and Pro Circuit transplant Darryn Durham (above).

Jason Anderson will lead the new Rockstar Husqvarna team. Anderson will be in the 450 class, while former Pro Circuit rider Martin Davalos and two Geico riders, Zach Bell and Zach Osborne (above), will be on 250s. Davalos will get to ride a 450 between 250 Supercross races.

Pro Circuit Kawasaki only kept Adam Cianciarulo from their 2014 team and brought in Joey Savatgy, Amateur Chris Alldredge, Arenacross Champion Tyler Bowers and Grand Prix immigrant Arnaud Tonus.

Name riders who haven’t been signed or are waiting to announce their new teams include Jake Weimer (above), Malcolm Stewart, Phil Nicoletti, Fredrik Noren and Josh Hill. Of course, there will be a need for fill-in riders as the season progresses and not every team has filled every spot yet.

DON’T FORGET! OCTOBERCROSS ON OCTOBER 25: WORLD VET WARM-UP

If you are planning on racing the 2014 Dubya World Vet Championship on November 1-2, you might want to get in a little extra practice on the  new World Vet track layout by racing the REM Octobercross the Saturday before the Vet race. It will feature most of the World Vet track so you can get dialed in. For more info go to www.remsatmx.com

THIS WEEK’S BIRTHDAY BOYS: THE OLSONS, TONY C, MITCH, MERT & BOB

Sept. 22…Warren Reid
Sept. 23…Kyle Lewis 1970
Sept. 22…Josh Woods 1982

Sept. 23…Alan Olson 1944

Sept. 23…Tim Olson 1974

Sept. 23…Antonio Cairoli 1985

Sept. 24…Mitch Payton
Sept. 24…Frank Hoppen

Sept. 25…Mert Lawwill 1940
Sept. 25…Zach Osborne 1989

Sept. 26…Bob Hannah 1956
Sept. 26…Jesse Masterpool

THE “ART OF MOTO” TRAILER

WHAT’S LEFT? ONE MAJOR CHAMPIONSHIPS YET TO BE DECIDED

Ben Adriaenssen and Ben van den Bogaart clinched their second consecutive World Sidecarcross title on Sunday.

Although the AMA, FIM, Australian and Canadian Championships are now over, only one major motocross series has yet to be concluded. The All-Japan National Championship. Here are the Japanese point standing in each series and how many races are left.

ALL-JAPAN 450 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS STANDINGS
(After 7 of 9 races)
1. Akira Narita………………….320
2. Makoto Ogata…………….…265
3. Yoshi Atsuta…………………234
4. Hiroaki Arai………………….233
5. Yu Hirata……………………..187
6. Koh’ichi Fukaya……………..180
7. Yui Hoshino…………………..177
8. Takuya Mihara………………174
9. Masanori Itoh………………..134
7. Masaaki Suzuki………………123
Final races: Oct.5 (Hiroshima) and Oct. 26 (Sugo)

ALL-JAPAN 250 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS STANDINGS
(After 7 of 9 races)
1. Takeshi Katsuya…………….…308
2. Toshiki Tomita…………………288
3. Jun’ya Takenaka……………….231
4. Chihiro Nohtsuka……………..210
5. Nozomu Yasuhara…………….198
6. Takashi Okano…………………183
7. Shin’ichi Inque…………..……..168
8. Gota Ohtsuka…………………..164
9. Masami Tanaka………………..159
10. Lucas Santana………………..102
Final races: Oct.5 (Hiroshima) and Oct. 26 (Sugo)

A PRESS RELEASE FROM PRETORIA

Loftus Versfeld will be hosting the greatest Supercross event ever staged in Africa on the November 1, 2014, when the field will be transformed into a giant supercrosstrack with tons of dirt and sculpted obstacles. The event will pitch some of the world’s best riders against local talent to compete for the monstrous $50,000 dollars prize purse. With top international riders like Justin Hill and Darryn Durham pitched against the next generation of stars, the battle for the winning position is going to be a fierce competition that will keep the fans out of their seats and on their feet. The winner of the Monster Energy Supercross Africa will walk away with $20,000, the second place will pay out $10,000 and the third position will get a cool $5000, making Supercross Africa the biggest purse in South African motorsport. The hefty purse is set to entice many more of the top riders, making it a race that no one will want to miss. For updates on riders, Monster Energy Girls and the latest news visit www.supercrossafrica.com

THE ART OF THE GARAGE: INSIDE FORMER CMC #1 VAL TAMIETTI’S GARAGE

Sometimes you get a tie for Father’s Day, but this year former CMC number one rider and Maico star Val Tamietti got full-size oil painting commisssioned by daughter Tawni from artist and former AMA Pro Jon Ortner. The painting, based on a 1981 magazine photo, covers a whole wall of Val’s garage — which is where he has to go if he wants to look at it.  If you’d like to see more of Jon Ortner’s work go to www.weatheredwalls.com.

JESSE MASTERPOOL CHALLENGE ON SEPTEMBER 26-28 AT HIS 956 FACILITY

For more info go to www.masterpoolchallenge.com

THE “DES NATIONS” IS NEXT ON THE SCHEDULE

The MXDN is next weekend, September 28, 2014, in Latvia.

2014 MOTOCROSS DES NATIONS
September 28….Latvia

2014 RED BULL STRAIGHT RHYTHM
October 4….Pomona, CA

2013 ALL-JAPAN MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP
October 5…………..Hiroshima
October 26…………Sugo

2014 BRANSON USA CHAMPIONSHIP
Oct. 8-14………Branson, MO

2014 WORLD OFFROAD CHAMPIONSHIP (WORCS) SERIES
October 17-19…Primm

2014 GEICO ENDUROCROSS  CHAMPIONSHIP
October 4…Denver, CO
October 11…Salt Lake City, UT
October 18…Everett, WA
November 15…Boise, ID
November 22…Ontario, CA

2014 MONSTER CUP
October 18….Las Vegas, NV

2014 AUSTRALIAN SUPERCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP
October 10……….Bathhurst
October 11………..Bathhurst
October 18………..Phillip Island
October 19………..Phillip Island
November 8………Brisbane

2014 CANADIAN ARENACROSS CHAMPIONSHIP
October. 24-25…………Armstrong, BC
November 7-8…………..Cloverdale, BC
November. 28-29………Chilliwack, BC
December. 5-6…………..Chilliwack, BC

2014 REM OCTOBERCROSS (FORMERLY COMMOTION BY THE OCEAN)
October 25……………..Glen Helen, CA

2014 WORLD VETERAN MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP
November 1-2…………….Glen Helen, CA

2014 PARIS SUPERCROSS
November 15-16……………..Bercy

LAST MINUTE TEAM CHANGES FOR NEXT WEEK’S MXDN

The list of Motocross des Nations teams will change right up to the cut-off date. So far, these are the teams that have made changes or may have to.

FINLAND

Toni Eriksson replaces Ludvig Soderberg – 450
Ludvig Soderberg replaces Henric Stigell – 250
Santtu Tiainen – Open

AUSTRALIA

Chad Reed – 450
Luke Clout replaces Dean Ferris – 250
Matt Moss – Open

SWEDEN

Filip Bengtsson – 450
Ken Bengsson replaces Eddie Hjortmarker – 250
Fredrik Noren – Open

RUSSIA

Evgeny Bobryshev  – 450 (Questionable)
Alexander Tonkov –  250
Evgeny Mikhaylov – Open

POLAND

Lukasz Lonka – 450
Tomasz Wysocki replaces Adam Tomiczek — 250
Karol Kedzierski— Open

Photos: Ben Adriaenssen.com, Pro Circuit, MXA, John Basher, John Ker, Jody Weisel, Ray Archer, Debbi Tamietti