MXA WEEKEND NEWS ROUND-UP: TWO GIMMICK RACES BEFORE TESTING SEASON STARTS

On Oct 11, 2017 Last updated Oct 17, 2017

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MXA PHOTO OF THE WEEK: HOW CLOSE DO YOU GET?

Everybody loves to watch Pro racing, but often it looks like a Labor Day Parade with one float coming by every 15 seconds. Not so with local talent. They scrap it out. You don’t have to look very far at a local race to see someone stuff it in—although not always underneath the other guy’s engine. Robert Reisinger (96) and Mike Carter (50) demonstrate. Photo by Debbi Tamietti

MXA AD OF THE WEEK: NO WAY TO MAKE FRIENDS

Horst Leitner’s ATK motorcycle company was a different. Obviously the bikes were different—in an age when every manufacturers was going to water-cooling, radiators and clone-like thinking, the Austrian designer was thinking outside of the box in his Laguna Beach workshop. This 1989 ad for the ATK 406 two-stroke ruffled a few feathers when it came out, but it delivered the message that Horst wanted—and spoke to riders who didn’t want more complicated motorcycles.

WANT TO GO STRAIGHT? HERE’S THE PLACE

WHAT’S WORTH WATCHING? For the first time, Red Bull Straight Rhythm will introduce a two-stroke class featuring Chad Reed and Ryan Villopoto. The two-stroke class will be added in addition to the 450 and 250 class.

WHAT ARE THE TICKET PRICES? Red Bull Straight Rhythm general admission tickets are $35 per person with open seating. VIP admission is $175.00 per ticket and we are offering a 4-pack for $120.00 total ($30 each). Kids ages 6-12 are $15.00 and Kids 5 and under are free. General admission tickets can be purchased at the ticket booth the day of the event.

WHEN IS THE RED BULL STRAIGHT RHYTHM? Saturday, October 21, 2017.

WHERE IS THE EVENT? Pomona Fairplex at 1101 West McKinley Ave, Pomona, CA, 91768

HOW DO I GET THERE? Exit I-10 in Pomona at the Fairplex Drive exit. Head north on Fairplex Drive and it will lead you directly into the venue.

WHERE DO I PARK? Parking is provided by the Fairplex and costs $10 per car.

RED BULL STRAIGHT RHYTHM RACE SCHEDULE
1:00 p.m.—Gates Open
1:30 p.m.—Geoff Aaron Trials Demo
2:00 p.m. —Two-Stroke Qualifiers
2:20p.m. – 250 Class Qualifiers
2:40 p.m. Open class qualifiers
3:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. Rider auatograph Signing, Vendor Village, Side Acts
3:30 p.m.—Geoff Aaron Trials Demo
4:40 p.m.—Traxxis Demo
5:00 p.m.—Exhibition Race
5:30 p.m.—National Anthem/Red Bull Air Force Jump
5:40 p.m.—Quarter Final Rounds begin (two-stroke, 250, 450)
7:00 p.m.—Semi Final Rounds Begin (two-stroke, 250, 450)
7:30 p.m.—3rd Place and Final Rounds (two-stroke, 250, 450)
8:00 p.m.—Awards Ceremony

2017 GRAND PRIX & MONSTER CUP NEWS

**Hunter Lawrence is not in yellow anymore.**

HUNTER LAWRENCE NEWS

Australia Hunter Lawrence may have been the hot commodity on the 250 Grand Prix circuit in 2017, especially after his overall win in the 250 class at the MXDN, but that didn’t stop him from becoming unemployed. Hunter had a two-year deal with Stefan Everts’ Suzuki squad for 2018—but Suzuki pulled the plug on Everts team. Leaving every Suzuki Grand Prix rider out of work. Hunter Lawrence didn’t know it was coming, but he found a new gig almost immediately.

**Livia Lancelot started a 250 GP team—and was lucky enough to get Hunter Lawrence as part of the deal.**

Hunter signed a four-year deal with Geico Honda, but that doesn’t start in 2018–so he was loaned to the 114 Team run by former two-time WMX Champion Livia Lancelot. It is also a Honda team. He will ride the 250 GPs in 2018 and then move to America in 2019.

DAVI MILLSAPS NEWS

**Davi didn’t last long, but he has time to heal up before the Supercross season starts in January.**

Davi Millsaps was the surprise signing by the factory Yamaha team to replace Chad Reed (who left Yamaha, as he has almost every team he rode for, on bad terms). Sadly, Davi broke his elbow and was reportedly knocked out in a crash at the test track last week. He will not be at the Monster Cup. With Cooper Webb also out of action with a thumb injury, the Yamaha team can be found at the gaming tables come Saturday night.

TEAM HONDA NEWS

**Christian Craig has become the new Fredrik Noren at Team Honda. He is now getting the fill-in rides that went to the Swede a couple years ago.**

With Ken Roczen unable to go race speed yet, in fact he hasn’t even tried to ride on a Supercross track at all, Honda’s hopes switched to Cole Seely. But that went out the tube when Cole elected to have his injured finger worked on, so that he’d be ready for January. That meant that Team Honda was going to be standing next to Team Yamaha at the roulette wheel in the MGM Grand on Monster Cup weekend. But, Honda bailed themselves out by drafting Geico Honda’s Christian Craig to be their fill-in rider…again.

MISSING IN ACTION FROM MONSTER CUP

**Weston Peick doesn’t want to race the Monster Cup, he’d rather do more testing for the 2018 season.**

Obviously Ryan Dungey won’t be there, since he retired back in May. Neither will Ken Roczen (injured), Blake Bagget (injured), Davi Millsaps (injured), Cooper Webb (injured), Cole Seely (injured), Weston Peick (waiting), Mike Alessi (waiting), Justin Brayton (in Australia), Chad Reed (not ready), James Stewart (golfing) and Malcolm Stewart (fishing). Out of last year’s Monster Cup top ten (Eli Tomac, Ryan Dungey, Marvin Musquin, Chad Reed, Cole Seely, Mike Alessi, Blake Baggett, Benny Bloss, Jordon Smith and Shane McElrath), the only riders who will be in Vegas this Saturday are Eli Tomac, Marvin Musquin, Benny Bloss and Jordon Smith.

TIM GAJSER WILL BE THERE

**Tim Gajser’s Supercross dream comes true on Saturday night.**

2016 FIM 450 World Champion will get his wish to race in a Supercross—although the Monster Cup race is a whoopless Supercross. When Gajser won the 250 World Championship he said that his Honda contract let him come to America if he wanted. He wanted to, but got talked into doing another season in Europe (which worked out fine for him), but now he’s going to do another season in Europe. So, the Monster Cup might be his only chance to ever race in a real American Stadium.

EVERY MONSTER CUP WINNER THROUGH HISTORY…OOPS THROUGH 6 YEARS

**Of the six different winners at the annual Monster Cup, Ryan Villopoto is the only rider to win the $1,000,000 purse. All the rest had to settle for $100,000.**

MONSTER CUP WINNERS
2011…Ryan Villopoto
2012…Justin Barcia
2013…James Stewart
2014…Davi Millsaps
2015…Ken Roczen
2016…Eli Tomac

MXA TWO-STROKE FILES: A V6 YZ250 TWO-STROKE—MAKE THAT A YZ1200

v6stephens — **Two-stroke tuner Stan Stephens hand-built a 1200cc V6 two-stroke engine. It uses Yamaha Banshee cylinders mounted on a modified V6 crankcase based on an four-cylinder RZ500 V4 engine.**

THIS WEEK’S BIRTHDAY BOYS: P.J. LARSON’S BIRTHDAY IS MONDAY

Oct. 12…Dan Alamangos
Oct. 13…Greg Albertyn 1972
Oct. 13…Mike Shield
Oct. 14…Todd Lentz
Oct. 14…Ron Joynt

Oct. 15…Jimmy Decotis 1991
Oct. 15…Matt Walker 1981
Oct. 16…P.J. Larsen 1990

Oct. 17…Torsten Hallman 1939

Oct. 17…Evel Knievel 1938
Oct. 18…David Vuillemin 1977
Oct. 18…Marcus Hansson 1969
Oct. 18…Matt Boni 1987
Oct. 19…Jimmy Ellis 1955
Oct. 19…Vince Friese 1990

HALL OF FAME MOTORCYCLE AD: IT DOESN’T LOOK LIKE MUCH, BUT IT WORKED

hondameetthepeoplead — Considered to be one of the most effective motorcycle ads every produced this 1963 Honda ad put the Japanese motorcycle manufacturer on the map by making motorcycles look like fun. The $245 price didn’t hurt either.

SATURDAY’S MONSTER ENERGY CUP TRACK

BIKES YOU’VE NEVER SEEN BEFORE: AND DON’T WANT TO AGAIN?

**The electric-powered Yamaha Deinonychusa never went into production, but we would have loved to have seen the brochure explaining how it worked.**

MXA PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT: ACERBIS UPPER FORK GUARDS

MOTO BEACH CLASSIC: FLAT TRACK, SURFING AND DRAGS AT BOLSA CHICA BEACH ON OCT. 14

For more info go www.motobeachclassic.com.

2017 WORLD VET MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP ON NOVEMBER 4-5

2017WORLDVETCHAMPIONSHIP — The Dubya USA-sponsored World Vet Championship will be held on November 4-5, 2017, at Glen Helen Raceway Park in SoCal. Pre-registration is already open. Click here to sign-up or see the available classes and age groups.

TAKE TO THE STREETS! 2017 ELSINORE GRAND PRIX ON NOV. 10-12

It will be held on Nov. 10-11-12. For more info go to www.elsinoregrandprix.com

THE PARIS SUPERCROSS ON NOVEMBER 18-19

parissx — The 2017 Paris Supercross will move to the brand new U-Arena in the Paris business district. The U-Arena seats 24,000 spectators and has a larger floor area than Lille or Bercy. The 2017 Paris Supercross will be held on November 18-19, 2017.

2017 THOR MINI OLYMPICS TO BE BACK AT GATORBACK ON NOV. 20-25

For more information go to www.unlimitedsportsmx.com

SUBSCRIBE TO TWO MAGAZINES AT ONCE & GET $50 IN ROCKY MTN. GIFT CARDS

Do you subscribe to MXA? You should. We know that you think that print magazines are dead and that the internet will fill the void, but most of the stuff in the current issue of MXA won’t appear on the web for several months, if at all. Luckily, you can get all of MXA on your iPhone, iPad, Kindle or Android by going to the Apple Store, Amazon or Google Play or in a digital version. Even better you can subscribe to Motocross Action and Dirt Bike at the same time and get $50 in Rocky Mountain ATV/MC gifts cars to spend on whatever motorcycle parts or products you need. You can call (800) 767-0345 or go to www.hi-torque.com/mxcombo.

WHAT’S LEFT TO SEE IN 2017

**The attention will now turn to Straight Rhythm, Monster Cup, the Australian Supercross Championship and the Dubya World Vet Championship.**

The attention will now turn to Straight Rhythm, Monster Cup, the Australian Supercross Championship and the World Vet Championship.

2017 AUSTRALIAN SUPERCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP
Oct. 17……………………Virginia
Nov. 11-12………………Qudos Bank Arena
Nov. 18………………….Jimboomba

2017 MONSTER ENERGY CUP
Oct. 14…………………….Las Vegas, NV

RED BULL STRAIGHT RHYTHM IV
Oct. 21………………….….Pomona, CA

2017 DUBYA WORLD VET MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP
Nov. 4-5………………..….Glen Helen, CA

2017 THOR MINI OLYMPICS
Nov. 20-25……………….Gainesville, FL

2017 ADAC GERMAN MASTERS CHAMPIONSHIP
Sept. 24…………………..Holzgerlingen

2018 MOTOCROSS RACE SCHEDULES

**The 2018 Supercross schedule starts on January 6, 2018, at Anaheim Stadium, before going to Houston on January 13.**

2018 AMA SUPERCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP
Jan. 6……………………..…Anaheim, CA
Jan. 13………………………Houston, TX
Jan. 20………………………Anaheim, CA
Jan. 27………………………Glendale, AZ
Feb. 3……………………..…Oakland, CA
Feb. 10………………………San Diego, CA
Feb. 17………………………Arlington, TX
Feb. 24………………………Tampa, FL
Mar. 3……………………..…Atlanta, GA
Mar. 10………………………Daytona, FL
Mar. 17………………………St. Louis, MO
Mar. 24………………………Indianapolis, IN
Apr. 7……………………..…Seattle, WA
Apr. 14………………………Minneapolis, MN
Apr. 21………………………Foxborough, MA
Apr. 28………………………Salt Lake City, UT
May 5…………………….…Las Vegas, NV

2018 AMA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
May 19……………………Hangtown, CA
May 26.…………………..Glen Helen, CA
June 2..………………….Thunder Valley, CO
June 16..…………………Mt Morris, PA
June 23.………………….Muddy Creek, TN
June 30.………………….Red Bud, MI
July 7..……………………Southwick, MA
July 21.…………………..Millville, MN
July 28.…………………..Washougal, WA
Aug. 11..………………….Unadilla, NY
Aug. 18..………………….Budds Creek, MD
Aug. 25.…………………..Crawfordsville, IN

2018 FIM MOTOCROSS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Mar. 4……………………….Argentina
Mar. 25……………………..Spain
Apr. 8………………………..Italy 1
Apr. 15………………………Holland 1
Apr. 29………………………Russia
May 13………………………Latvia
May 20………………………Germany
June 3……………………….England
June 10……………………..France
June 24……………………..Italy 2
July 8………………………..Indonesia
July 22………………………Czech Republic
Aug. 5……………………….Belgium
Aug. 12……………………..Switzerland
Aug. 19……………………..Sweden
Sept. 2………………………USA
Sept. 9………………………Mexico
Sept. 23…………………….Holland 2
Sept. 30…………………….Italy 3

2018 MOTOCROSS DES NATIONS
Oct. 7………………………Red Bud, MI

2018 AMSOIL ARENACROSS CHAMPIONSHIP
Jan. 6-7………………………….Dayton, OH
Jan. 13-14………………………Worcester, MA
Jan. 20-21……………………….Wilkes Barre, PA
Jan. 27-28………………………Greensboro, NC
Feb. 10-11………………………Madison, WI
Feb. 17-18………………………Florence, SC
Mar. 17-18………………………Denver, CO
Mar. 24-25………………………Nampa, ID
Apr. 7-8………………………….Wichita, KS
Apr. 21-22………………………Portland, OR
Apr. 28-29………………………Reno, NV
May 4-6…………………………Las Vegas, NV

2018 BRITISH ARENACROSS CHAMPIONSHIP
Jan. 6…………………………..Manchester
Jan. 13………………………….Newcastle
Jan. 20…………………………Birmingham
Jan. 26-27…………………….Belfast
Feb. 10………………………….Sheffield
Feb. 17………………………….London

2018 WORLD OFFROAD CHAMPIONSHIP (WORCS)
Feb. 2-4…………………..……Las Vegas, NV
Feb. 23-25……………….…..Phoenix, AZ
Mar. 23-24……………….…..Lake Havasu, AZ
Apr. 20-22……………….…..Hurricane, UT
May 25-27……………………Cedar City, UT
Sept. 14-16……………………Glen Helen, CA
Oct. 19-21………………….…Adelanto, CA
Nov. 9-11……………………..Primm, NV

SEE THE 2018 KTM 450SXF IN ACTION

SEE THE 2018 YAMAHA YZ250F IN ACTION

SEE THE 2018 HUSQVARNA TE250i IN ACTION

SEE THE 2018 SUZUKI RM-Z450 IN ACTION

SEE THE 2018 HUSQVARNA FC450 IN ACTION

SEE THE 2018 YAMAHA YZ450F IN ACTION

SEE THE 2018 KAWASAKI KX250F IN ACTION

SEE THE 2018 KTM 350SXF IN ACTION

SEE THE 2018 HONDA CRF450 IN ACTION

SEE THE 2018 SUZUKI RM-Z250 IN ACTION

SEE THE 2018 KAWASAKI KX450 IN ACTION

Photos: Monster Energy, Brian Converse, Dan Alamangos, Debbi Tamietti, Justyn Norek, Jody Weisel, Scott Mallonee, Massimo Zanzani, Honda, KTM, Husqvarna, Daryl Ecklund, MXA