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JOEL ROELANTS UNDERGOES SURGERY FOR BROKEN C7/C8

Joel Roelants.

Joel Roelants underwent surgery on Saturday evening in a Torino, Italy, hospital to stabilize his C7 and C8 vertebrae. the 25-year-old Belgian crashed in timed qualifying at Maggiora and was struck by his own bike. Joel was running 11th in the 450 World Championships heading into Maggiora. Roleants was airlifted immediately from the track. Joel’s brother Axel has reported that Joel is awake and the doctors say it will take several weeks to assess the damage. Our thoughts are with Joel and his family.

TEAM HONDA DECIMATED: EVGENY BOBRYSHEV OUT AGAIN

Evgeny Bobryshev.

After finishing fifth in the first moto at Maggiora in the 450 class, Russian Evgeny Bobryshev crashed just three corners into the second moto when he slowed to avoid another rider and was struck from behind. Honda’s spokesman says that Bobryshev broke his tibia and fubula in the incident and will be out for several months. With Honda teammate Max Nagl also out with an injury, Team Honda is without a rider until Nagl returns.

ARNAUD TONUS ON HIS MOVE TO AMERICA IN 2015

Arnaud Tonus.

“I signed a two-year contract with Pro Circuit Kawasaki, and I’m really happy to enter a new experience with such a prestigious team. It was a dream for me to go racing one day in the USA. I have not so much experience in Supercross, but I’m ready to work hard to get some good results there. We had a long reflection with my family and my manager; of course I had several good opportunities to stay in Europe, but due to my injuries in the last two seasons I’ve not achieved all my goals on a 250. Mitch Payton wanted me on his team and that’s a great honor, I’m also pleased to continue my great relationship with Monster Energy and Kawasaki; both have been nice to me when I had problems, so it’s perfect to stay with both companies. I’ll move with my fiancée to the USA after the Motocross of Nations, so we need to be organized as soon as possible to start working early. I know that there’s a lot of work, but I’m ready and excited by this new challenge.”

MT. MORRIS AMA NATIONAL RESULTS: STEWIE WINS HIS FIRST 2014 NATIONAL

Ken Roczen didn’t win in Mt. Morris, but did well enough to extend his points lead over second place.

450 Class:
1. James Stewart…Suz…………… (1-1)
2. Ken Roczen…KTM……………. (2-3)
3. Trey Canard…Hon………….…. (4-2)
4. Ryan Dungey…KTM…………… (3-4)
5. Josh Grant…Yam………………. (6-6)
6. Weston Peick…Suz……………. (10-5)
7. Andrew Short…KTM………….. (7-8)
8. Chad Reed…Kaw)……………….(5-10)
9. Brett Metcalfe…Kaw…………… (9-7)
10. Phil Nicoletti …Yam………….. (8-12)

Ever enigmatic, Christophe Pourcel had his best starts of the series at Mt. Morris, but couldn’t seal the deal.

250 Class:
1. Blake Baggett…Kaw………………(1-1)
2. Jeremy Martin…Yam…………. (2-6)
3. Jason Anderson…KTM……….. (7-2)
4. Justin Bogle….Hon……………… (4-4)
5. Christophe Pourcel…Yam…….. (5-3)
6. Cooper Webb… Yam……………..(3-7)
7. Marvin Musquin…KTM……..… (6-8)
8. Justin Hill…Kaw……………….… (9-5)
9. Cole Seely…Hon………………….. (8-9)
10. Alex Martin…Yam………………(10-10)

ITALIAN GRAND PRIX RESULTS: YES, THIS IS THE SECOND ITALIAN GP OF THE YEAR

Tony Cairoli must win in front of the Italian crowd.

450 Class:
1. Antonio Cairoli…KTM…………….. (1-1)
2. Jeremy Van Horebeek…Yam….. (2-3)
3. Kevin Strijbos…Suz……………….. (4-3)
4. Clement Desalle…Suz…………….. (7-4)
5. David Philippaerts…Yam………… (9-5)
6. Shaun Simpson…KTM……………. (8-6)
7. Tommy Searle…Kaw……………… (6-9)
8. Davide Guarneri…TM…………….. (10-8)
9. Steven Frossard…Kaw……………. (3-24)
10. Gregory Aranda…Kaw………….. (13-10)

Aleksandr Tonkov (59) gets the holeshot, but Jordi Tixier (911) and Jeffrey Herlings (84) are on his six.

250 Class:
1. Jeffrey Herlings…KTM………… (1-1)
2. Jordi Tixier…KTM………………. (3-3)
3. Arnaud Tonus…Kaw…………… (2-4)
4. Dylan Ferrandis…Kaw………… (7-2)
5. Tim Gajser…Hon……………….. (4-5)
6. Romain Febvre…Hus…………. (6-6)
7. Jeremy Seewer…Suz…………… (10-8)
8. Aleksandr Tonkov…Hus……… (5-13)
9. Petar Petrov…Yam……………… (9-11)
10. Julien Lieber…Suz……………. (13-9)

CANADIAN NATIONAL RESULTS: CALGARY

450 Class:
1. Mike Alessi (Suz)…………………(1-1)
2. Colton Facciotti (Hon)…………(2-2)
3. Tyler Medaglia (KTM)………….(4-3)
4. Teddy Maier (Kaw)………………(3-5)
5. Josh Hill (Kaw)……………………(5-4)
6. Kyle Chisholm (Yam)……………(6-7)
7. Dylan Kaelin (Yam)………………(7-8)
8. Josh Clark (Yam)…………………(8-10)
9. Morgan Burger (Yam)………….(10-9)
10. David Gassin (Yam)…………..(9-11)

250 Class:
1. Vince Friese (Hon)………………..(3-1)
2. Kaven Benoit (KTM)………………(2-3)
2. Jesse Wentland (KTM)…………..(5-2)
4. Topher Ingalls (Hon)……………..(4-4)
5. Dylan Wright (Yam)……………….(9-5)
6. Shawn Maffenbeier (Yam)………(8-7)
7. Jared Allison (Yam)……………….(10-6)
8. Austin Politelli (Kaw)……………..(1-36)
9. Parker Allison  (Yam)……………..(11-8)
10. Robert Wilson (Yam)…………….(12-10)

THE AMA NATIONAL WINNERS: SO FAR, SO GOOD

Ken Roczen has won two out of three 450 Nationals so far.

DATE………..TRACK………..450………………..250
May 24………Glen Helen……….Ryan Dungey……….Jeremy Martin
May 31………Hangtown…………Ken Roczen………….Jeremy Martin
June 7……….Thunder Valley….Ken Roczen………….Blake Baggett
June 14………Mt. Morris……….James Stewart………Blake Baggett
June 28………Muddy Creek…..
July 5…………Red Bud………….
July 12……….Budds Creek…….
July 19……….Millville…………..
July 26……….Washougal………
Aug. 9…………Unadilla…………
Aug. 16……….Indiana…………..
Aug. 23………..Miller …………..
450 Points Leader: Ken Roczen
250 Points Leader: Jeremy Martin

ELI TOMAC IS PREPARING TO COME  BACK…AGAIN

Eli got Yamathumb on his Honda.

Eli Tomac’s first day back on his bike was one week ago. How did it go? Eli said, “I went to war with my grips and I’m pretty sure they won.”

JUSTIN BARCIA WILL BE BACK…IN BLUE

Justin’s season is over.

Justin Barcia had surgery on his broekn ankle on Wednesday. He has to stay off of it for two weeks and will not be racing any more Nationals in 2014. The next time we see him he will be on a Yamaha.

THIS WEEK’S BIRTHDAY BOYS: GRANT’S STARTING A NEW CAREER AT 32

June 16…Jimmy Albertson 1988
June 16…Greg Berg

June 16…Grant Langston 1982
June 17…Arnaud Tonus 1991

June 18…Jeff Stanton 1968

June 18…Nick Wey 1980
June 19…Jason Thomas 1979

IF YOU GO…YOU GO ALONE

KTM mechanics Carlos Rivera and Kelly Lumgair are staying put.

Ken Roczen may be planning on switching to RCH Suzuki in 2015, but his mechanic Kelly Lumgair reportedly told Kenny that he was going to stay at KTM.

YAMAHA KICKS OUT THE SIDE-BY-SIDE-BY-SIDE JAMS

Put some doors on it and call it a station wagon.

Did you miss the big news last week? Yamaha has introduced a six-passenger off road side-by-side (or is that side-by-side-by-side). The Yamaha Viking VI sells for $13,000. That’s enough room for basketball team and their coach.

 

COOL BIKES FROM THE PAGES OF MXA

Jeremy Van Horebeek raced this retro red & white Yamaha YZ450F at the Italian GP this weekend and finished second overall. It is based on the 1997 Yamaha YZ400 prototypes of Andrea Bartolini and Doug Henry.

The sport needs more two-strokes and the revival of Husqvarna has resulted in some cool looking bikes. This is MXA’s 2014 Husky TC250. You can read the test on the homepage.

MXA’s quiver of bikes is almost limitless and it includes this KTM 350SXF project bike that we are fine tuning for a future issue.

The MXA wrecking crew spend some time on dirt track bikes and we really had fun, but imagine how much more fun you could have on the trick looking KTM dirt tracker.

This is Jody’s personal Yamaha YZ250 two-stroke. Since his job is to race a different test bike every week, he rarely gets to ride it, but he won’t let anyone else ride it either.

Daryl Ecklund’s KTM 125SX two-stroke was built for the 2014 World Two-Stroke Championship, but Daryl hurt his knee before the race and had to shelve the project. Guess what? He wouldn’t let anyone else ride his Factory Services 125SX either.

If 250cc is good, then 270cc might be better. MXA’s project YZ270 four-stroke showcased not just what you could do to the 2014 Yamaha engine, but to its overall look as well.

Very few racers from the 1970s still have their old race bikes. This is Jody Weisel’s 1974 Hodaka Super Combat. Well, some of it is a Super Combat, but the rest of it is cobbed together from every high-tech part that was available in the 1970s—including hubs, forks, gas tank, seat, airbox, shocks, swingarm, reeds, chain guide, carb, triple clamps and brakes. It currently resides in Tom White’s “Early Years of Motocross Museum.”

Works bikes are not legal in AMA Pro racing, but if they were this is what Trey Canard would be racing. Honda GP riders Max Nagl and Evgeny Bobryshev are both injured—so neither bike is being ridden at the moment.

Straight off the cover the current issue of MXA is this $30,000 KTM 450SXF Factory Edition. How could we possibly spend $30,000 on a motocross bike? We started with $9000 worth of Showa Works suspension and then kept right on spending.

This is the first four-stroke to ever qualify for an AMA Supercross. It was built by KTM’s Tom Moen for Lance Smail to race in the 1997 AMA Supercross season. This is the bike that KTM used their AMA four-stroke exemption on (Yamaha used theirs on Doug Henry’s YZ400, Honda on Ryan Hughes’ CRF450 and Suzuki on Sebastien Tortelli’s RM-Z450). Kawasaki and Husqvarna have never used their one-year exemptions…maybe next year.

MXA PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT: EKS BRAND GRIPS

$10.99 in red, yellow, graphite and white. For more info go to www.eksbrand.com.

RICKY FOWLER’S UNITED STATES GOLF ASSOCIATION TV SPOT FEATURES MOTOCROSS

2014 AMA NATIONAL CHAMPION POINTS STANDINGS AFTER  MT. MORRIS

Right now it is a two-man race between Dungey (5) and Roczen (94), but Trey Canard and James Stewart are coming.

450 class:
(After 4 of 12 races)
1. Ken Roczen……………..183
2. Ryan Dungey…………..167
3. James Stewart…………161
4. Trey Canard……………150
5. Brett Metcalfe………….115
6. Josh Grant………………104
7. Weston Peick…………..104
8. Malcolm Stewart………90
9. Chad Reed……………….88
9. Andrew Short…………..74

Jeremy Martin.

250 class:
(After 4 of 12 races)
1. Jeremy Martin…………..177
2. Cooper Webb…………….148
3. Blake Baggett…………….141
4. Christophe Pourcel…….128
5. Justin Bogle……………….126
6. Jason Anderson………….117
7. Marvin Musquin………….111
8. Justin Hill……………………93
9. Jessy Nelson………………..91
10. Cole Seely…………………..87

WHAT’S HAPPENING THIS WEEK IN THE WORLD OF MOTOCROSS?

The AMA Nationals take a break until June 28 when they return to Muddy Creek.

June 22….Canadian 250/450 National…………..Calgary, Canada
June 15……FIM 250/450 Grand Prix……………….Maggiora, Italy
June 15……300 Two-Stroke GP……………………….Maggiora, Italy
June 21……Geico Endurocross………………………..Sacramento, CA
June 22……FIM 250/450 Grand Prix………………Teutschenthal, Germany
June 22……Canadian 250/450 National…………..Edmunton, Canada
June 28……Muddy Creek 250/450 National…….Blountville, TN
June 29……Maxxis British National…………………Whitby, England

 

 

Photos: MXA, Eli Tomac, KTM, Kawasaki, Honda, Ray Archer, Justin Barcia, John Ker, Dan Alamangos, John Basher, Kawasaki, KTM, Yamaha.