MOTOCROSS ACTION MID-WEEK REPORT #5
#WHIPITWEDNESDAY
Rider: Ken Roczen
Location: Anaheim Stadium
Date: January 21, 2017
Photographer: Daryl Ecklund
Camera: Canon 5D Mark iv
Lens: 300mm f/2.8
Focal length: 300mm
Exposure: 1/1600 sec.
F-stop: 2.8
ISO: 2500
THE INJURED LIST IS GROWING
Weston Peick had a bad get-off in Phoenix that put him on the sidelines for several weeks to come.
Weston Peick – Bad crash in Phoenix. No information has been released. We do know that he will be out for several weeks.
Chris Alldredge – Broken collarbone. Will be out 3 to 4 weeks.
Justin Barcia – Wrist injury. Replaced by Jake Weimer.
Trey Canard – Out with a torn rotator cuff. The report says it is a minor injury and may be back any week.
Mitchell Oldenburg – Broke his collarbone in practice in San Diego.
Colt Nicholls – Broken leg. Replaced by Dan Reardon.
Bradley Taft – Concussion while practicing after San Diego.
Ken Roczen – Dislocated elbow, dislocated wrist and compound radius after his crash in A2. He will be out for the season.
Justin Bogle – Bruised lungs after his crash at A2.
Tyler Bowers – Fractured femur from Phoenix crash.
MINI-VIEW: JUSTIN HILL
Justin Hill is on a roll and is now a championship player.
In the motocross community it was pretty big news when Josh Hill’s younger brother Justin turned Pro for the 2013 season. Signed with the Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki 250 team, Justin’s rookie debut year was, okay. But when he followed that up with a win at the Las Vegas East/West 250 Supercross finale, it made him a hot prospect. Hill would sign with the Red Bull KTM team for 2015 before moving to the Troy Lee Designs KTM team in 2016. While riding orange, Hill would have a couple fantastic rides, but often he was sidelined with numerous injuries. Now back with the Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki 250 team, Justin is looking to turn one-off wins into a championship! We spoke with Justin after his dog eat dog battle at the Phoenix Supercross with good friend Shane McElrath earning him another win – and just four points out of first in the championship standings.
By Jim Kimball
Justin, I want to begin with this, you had an injury before the season, and was actually hoping to race the East coast series right?
Yes, I hurt my shoulder, but honestly the timing could have been worse. We could have done it further down the line and then really been screwed. I did it kind of late October, and it was a full two months off the bike. Then once I got back riding, it was not great right away. I had a lot of pain in my shoulder, and I broke my shoulder blade in three places. I also broke my collarbone, so it was a lot of stuff to get healed in that short time. When I got back to training it was just strong enough to ride, but it hurt a lot. It took me at least two full weeks to just feel good. Then to throw stuff on top of it, I had two weeks in the middle where I was just sick as a dog and could not ride at all. Truthfully, I had 12 days of riding before Anaheim, and that is not a lot, especially, considering getting on a new bike from last year. But we did really, really good with the time we had. Me, and my trainer Johnny Louch just cycled, pushed hard, and put the work in. We hurt for a while and it was what was necessary. I could not be happier with what we have come through to that point.
Has much changed in that time when you were with Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki initially?
Its been very amazing changes that they have done since I was gone. I kind of joked with them like “yeah it is a good thing I left and came back, because you guys did great without me.” They really did; they made the bike amazing when I was gone! I never should have left them in the first place, you know. Mitch, and I are good buds, and that is great. I have a great relationship with everybody. Obviously, my brother (Josh) works at Monster Energy and that is cool; it is kind of all in the family. My mechanic, Shawn is the coolest dude ever. I hope I can keep him for the rest of my career. Everything just came together; when Mitch called me about possibly riding for them in 2017 I was just like, “That is cool”. Not many people, if any at all have had the chance to ride for him, and then ride for him again. He was bummed when I left, but it was not so much about him. There were other things at play about why I left in the first place. I feel bad about doing it, and I am really happy that he had me come back. I just want to win for him, he deserves me to give it my all and that is what I am doing.
Can Justin Hill make it three in a row in Oakland?
I first talked to you back in 2014 when you were a rookie in Supercross. You just seemed so happy go lucky, but you had a lot of adversity the past two years.
Oh, I definitely had a lot of it. That was the point when I made the team change, and I went into 2015 after a really good year. I beat about everybody in my class then; I won races, and I should have been the next guy to win. That was when Cooper Webb started to ride real good, and he gained a little bit of experience. I had a bunch of concussions, and I just showed up not even myself at so many races. It took me a long time to get normal again after 2015. Then I started feeling good in 2016, and got a win again. Everything was going good and had another dumb crash. So it’s just really been a lot of unfortunate stuff that had happened. A lot of it not my fault, but things happen in this sport. There are so many variables that people do not realize. It is truthfully the toughest sport in the world, because at the end of the day, if you are a boxer or you are this or that, it is normally you and your body and the thing. But for us, you got the track to account for, and you got the bike to account for. You have other people on the track who are going crazy around you. I am just thankful that I am back in a position that I can contest for wins, and contest for the championship, because that is what I have dreamed of since I was a little kid – and not just in the 250 class either. I want to go to a big bike soon, and I want to contest for that one -that is the plan. I ride the 450 bikes better than my 250, and this is the deal right now. I am doing well enough that I think we can get there (to a 450 Championship)
How cool is it that your archrival for this championship (Shane Mcelraith) is also a great friend?
You know, Shane and myself were teammates last year, and we developed a good relationship. If you can ride with your buddies, and make it like practice day, but you are actually under the lights with all the crowd, and flames that is pretty cool. A lot of people will never really experience that, you know? A lot of things in this sport are almost like family, it is just such a tight knit sport, and a lot of people do not realize it. Like my brother Josh and I both being professional racers – that is crazy. My best friend, Matt Bisceglia and I have been friends before we even knew we were friends, just babies. Now he is a professional rider seeded guy and I am a seeded guy, and we are doing well. So, to be able to race with your friends, and also make new friends in the sport is amazing! Shane is a great guy, and we have gotten closer over the years and it is fun, riding with your buddies.
Lets finish up with this: Shane has won two rounds, and you have won two rounds, what do you think about the championship at this point?
At the end of the day, I want this championship very bad, but I am not thinking about it really. It is always the big picture, and it is always in the back of your mind, but I just put it aside. I just think if I can win this race and I can win that race and I can win this race, it is going to work out. I am doing the best that I can do every time I race and that is all I can do.
SUPERCROSS KNOWLEDGE: PHOENIX
The 450 main event start in Phoenix.
By Broc Bridges
1. Eli Tomac earned his first win of the season and fifth of his career in Phoenix. Phoenix is also where he earned his first career 450 Supercross class victory in 2015. Eli Tomac’s fifth win ties him with Davi Millsaps, Trey Canard, Kent Howerton and Mike Kiedrowski on the all-time wins list.
2. With Tomac winning the 450 Supercross class and Justin Hill winning the 250 Supercross class, Kawasaki got their first sweep since Daytona of 2014 (Ryan Villopoto and Blake Baggett).
Eli Tomac got his first win of the season in Phoenix.
3. It was Justin Hill’s fifth career 250 Supercross class win. He and Shane McElrath each have two wins a piece on the season.
4. Justin Hill’s victory was Pro Circuit’s 140th win of all-time.
5. There has now been three different winners in four rounds in the 450 Supercross class.
6. With Tomac’s victory, Kawasaki takes over the all-time record for number of seasons with a win with 35. Honda has 34, Yamaha has 33, and Suzuki has 22.
It was Chad Reed’s 131st career podium in Phoenix.
7. Chad Reed earned his first podium since Altanta of 2016 and his first runner-up since Anaheim II of 2016. It was his 131st career podium which is still far and away the most.
8. Chad Reed now has 15 seasons with a podium, the second most all-time behind Mike LaRocco (17 seasons).
9. Chad Reed also ties Kevin Windham for second on the all-time starts list with 207. LaRocco also holds this record with 228.
10. Before Phoenix, it was noted that Reed had never gone four races into a season without a podium. He was able to keep that streak alive. Unfortunately, he also kept his 30 race winless streak alive, which is seven rounds more than his previous high winless streak of 23. Can Reed rebound for his first win since Atlanta of 2015?
Ryan Dungey is still the guy to beat in the long haul.
11. Kawasaki has now won at least one race for 13 consecutive seasons. Yamaha has the all-time record of consecutive seasons with a win with 16 (1997-2012).
12. Ryan Dungey made his 121st career start in Phoenix. He now has 93 career podiums and is the only rider to be on the podium for all four races in 2017. He is currently on a 39 race top five streak.
13. Cole Seely finished fourth in Phoenix. It was his third consecutive top five finish.
14. Davi Millsaps earned his first top five since finishing fourth in Atlanta in 2016.
Davi Millsaps qualified 2nd on the night and finished 4th in the main. His best finish yet.
15. Justin Brayton finished inside the top-10 for the first time this year with a sixth place. He now has 109 career starts.
16. Austin Forkner has earned a career best finish in each start so far. Improving from 8th, 5th, 4th, to 3rd.
MXA OUTTAKES
Veteran MXA test rider, Dennis Stapleton shows the youngsters a new line to capture good photos. Instead he shows them want not to do as he loops-out our 2017 Honda CRF450. The youngsters must not have heard the “what not to do part”.
Here is Justin Muscutt aboard our Husky TC300. Justin followed Dennis in suit.
Jeremy Lasater thought he could do better. And well, if it were a crash contest, the Veteran would take the cake. The bike did a full backflip.
Jeremy aboard the 2017 Yamaha YZ125 as he caught an edge and high-sided.
Justin was trying to show off for the camera, instead he kept on engraving marks into the front fender with rocks. Thanks Justin.
As we have to give our guys a hard time for twisting up our new bikes, we know they do it all for that perfect shot. Jeremy poses the YZ125 for Daryl’s camera.
Justin shows the pure grunt of the TC300 that we are currently testing.
TWO-STROKE SPOTLIGHT: SCOTT DENISON 1983 CR480 MAGOO REPLICA
“I bought this one nearly finished, but added a few things to get that factory look. The suspension was done by Pro Circuit, and has been updated with cartridge internals from a KX80. The biggest score for this project was an actual HRC Double-strap screen door front number plate.”
HRC Double-strap screen door front number plate.
This CR480 has an old set of KX80 forks on it that were worked on by Pro Circuit.
Please keep those submissions coming. If you would like your bike to be featured in the “Two-Stroke Spotlight,” please email me at [email protected]. All I ask is that you give a breakdown of your bike and a detailed description of the build. Please also send a few photos of your steed. By submitting your bike for the “Two-Stroke Spotlight,” you agree to release all ownership rights to the images and copy to MXA. Please don’t email me spam or try selling me Taylor Swift concert tickets or email me spam. I already celebrate T-Swizzle’s entire collective, and there will be “bad blood” if you send me junk mail. See what I did there? Happy submitting your smoker.
THEY SAID IT: RIDERS TAKE ON HOW THEIR WEEKEND WENT IN PHOENIX
Eli Tomac and Chad Reed chat on the podium after the race.
COLE SEELY
Cole has taken the lead position at Honda since Ken Roczen is sidelined.
“It wasn’t in the cards for me tonight. The soil is super tricky here: sometimes I’ve ridden here and it’s gone well and sometimes not. The line changed throughout the day and between the heat rounds and the main event I thought I had my lines picked out. But it changed and that changed my night. Mentally I feel like I’m stronger than I’ve ever been. The bottom line is that I want to win and we’ll see what happens in Oakland.”
ELI TOMAC
Your 450 Supercross podium in Phoenix from left to right: Chad Reed, Eli Tomac, Ryan Dungey.
“The only thing I can say is I’ve been in a funk lately. It’s been a bummer, and it’s been tough mentally, too. All I can say now is I feel like I’m back. I was able just to ride [tonight]. The past three weeks it wasn’t me, and it was pretty scary at one point, but we’re here [on top of the podium].”
RYAN DUNGEY
Ryan Dungey is a man on a mission to the championship.
“After I got up to 3rd I set my sights on trying to make the pass on Seely and then I was able to, which was good. In the sand he came back and took the position back and then we go into the next corner and Seely slid so I was boxed in down that whole rhythm and there came Chad – he was riding good. Once Chad got by I tried to tow in behind him – I knew I was losing a lot of time in that one rhythm lane but overall just trying to tow in with him. I really wanted to make a late charge at the end but I wasn’t able to, those guys were riding good tonight.”
SHANE MCELRATH
Shane Mcelrath getting sprayed with champagne by his buddy, Justin Hill.
“We overcame a lot of adversity today. I had been riding a little cautious and wanted to have that fire again. That race should have been mine, but you do need to be careful when you come up on lappers and aren’t sure what they are going to do. I’m thankful we’re safe after going down in the heat race.”
IN THE WORKS: SEAN COLLIER’S KX500
Sean Collier hopped on his KX Guru Racing KX500 for our video guy, Travis Fant.
We have already tested the KX Guru Racing KX500 of Sean Collier’s. But we didn’t get a chance to do video. So we got the KX500 king Sean Collier out to turn some laps and give his impression on the bike. This is Sean’s second KX500. The first one we tested over a year ago. Sean had impressive results on that machine, but he also knew it had some major downfalls. This is where KX Guru Racing came into play making a bike to suit Collier’s needs. Which were also our needs. Look for a full test of Collier’s KX500 in the April issue of MXA with a video coming soon. To keep an eye out for the video, subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Sean sat down with his no-holds-bar personality and put the cards on the table. Sean has been through the ups and downs of the sport that he loves. Today he loves it more than ever. All in the name of fun.
DETAIL SHOTS OF GAUTIER PAULIN’S FACTORY HUSKY FC450
PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT: JGRMX HARD PARTS BLACK KIT
The JGRMX Hard Parks Black Kit is the direct result of rigorous testing and development done by our professional race team that has trickled down to consumers. Each component has been CNC’d from high quality 7075 billet aluminum to JGRMX’s exact specifications. Anodized in stealthy black, with laser etched JGR logos, the Hard Parts Black Kit is functional as it is stylish. The kit includes axle blocks, a front brake reservoir cap and rear brake master cylinder cap–all of which are proudly made in the USA. Hash marks on the axle blocks ensure proper rear wheel alignment in order to maximize chain and sprocket longevity. The JGRMX Hard Parts Black Kit is race proven and long lasting–two traits synonymous with all JGRMX components. Please visit www.jgrmxstore.com for more information on this kit and all other JGRMX products. MSRP: $92.95
2017 RACE SCHEDULES: BE THERE OR BE SQUARE
California is the richest race state in the union, with seven major events in 2017. Folks in Michigan should rejoice, as Supercross (Detroit), Arenacross (Grand Rapids) and the Lucas Oil Nationals (Red Bud) visit “The Great Lake State.” And those residing in the Pacific Northwest will be happy hosting a bevy of events, from Supercross to the AMA Nationals.
2017 MONSTER ENERGY SUPERCROSS SERIES
February 4…Alameda Coliseum…Oakland, CA (West)
February 11…AT&T Stadium…Arlington, TX (West)
February 18…U.S. Bank Stadium…Minneapolis, MN (East)
February 25…Georgia Dome…Atlanta, GA (East)
March 4…Rogers Centre…Toronto, Canada (East)
March 11…Daytona Speedway…Daytona, FL (East)
March 18…Lucas Oil Stadium…Indianapolis, IN (East)
March 25…Ford Field…Detroit, MI (East)
April 1…America’s Center…St. Louis, MO (East)
April 8…CenturyLink Field…Seattle, WA (West)
April 22…Rice-Eccles Stadium…Salt Lake City, UT (West)
April 29…MetLife Stadium…East Rutherford, NJ (East)
May 6…Sam Boyd Stadium…Las Vegas, NV (East/West)
*Visit http://www.supercrosslive.com/ to purchase tickets
2017 AMSOIL ARENACROSS SERIES
January 28-29…Bridgestone Arena…Nashville, TN
February 4-5…Freedom Hall…Louisville, KY
February 18-19…Sprint Center…Kansas City, MO
February 24-26…Georgia Dome…Atlanta, GA
March 3-5…Landers Center…Southaven, MS
March 11-12…Smoothie King Center…New Orleans, LA
March 18-19…Moda Center…Portland, OR
March 24-26…Livestock Events Center…Reno, NV
April 1-2…Golden I Center…Sacramento, CA
April 22-23…Denver Coliseum…Denver, CO
May 5-7…Orleans Arena…Las Vegas, NV
*Visit http://www.supercrosslive.com/ to purchase tickets
2017 LUCAS OIL PRO MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP
May 20…Hangtown…Sacramento, CA
May 27…Glen Helen…San Bernardino, CA
June 3…Thunder Valley…Lakewood, CO
June 17…High Point…Mount Morris, PA
June 24…Muddy Creek…Blountville, TN
July 1…Red Bud…Buchanan, MI
July 8…Southwick…Southwick, MA
July 22…Spring Creek…Millville, MN
July 29…Washougal…Washougal, WA
August 12…Unadilla…New Berlin, NY
August 19…Budds Creek…Mechanicsville, MD
August 26…Ironman…Crawfordsville, IN
* Visit http://www.promotocross.com/mx/tickets to buy tickets
2017 FIM MOTOCROSS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
February 25…Losail…Qatar
March 5…Pangkal Pinang…Indonesia
March 19…Neuquen…Argentina
April 2…Leon…Mexico
April 16…Trentino…Italy
April 23…Valkenswaard…The Netherlands
May 7…Kegums…Latvia
May 21…Teutschenthal…Germany
May 28…Ernee…France
June 11…Orlyonok…Russia
June 25…Maggiora…Italy
July 2…Agueda…Portugal
July 23…Loket…Czech Republic
August 6…Lommel…Belgium
August 13…Frauenfeld…Switzerland
August 20…Uddevalla…Sweden
September 3…Charlotte…USA
September 10…Assen…The Netherlands
September 17…Villars sous Ecot…France
Photos by Scott Mallonee, Husqvarna and Daryl Ecklund
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