MXGP of Latvia 2022

Tim Gajser And Jago Geerts Dominate The MXGP Of Latvia With Perfect 1-1 Scores

Relaxing After Boise Vintage Races

Legends come out for the vintage races at Owyhee Motorcycle Club

History is a big deal at the Owyhee Motorcycle Club which started in 1940 and this year marked the 50th anniversary that helped jump start motocross in the United States.

By: Steve Dent

BOISE, Idaho — History is a big deal at the Owyhee Motorcycle Club which started in 1940 and this year marked the 50th anniversary that helped jump-start motocross in the United States.

This sport originated in Europe and after introducing motocross to the United States it took a while for Americans to be able to compete with the Europeans, but that all changed 50 years ago when Gary Jones became the first national champion claiming the crown at the OMC.

 

"We are at the same track that hosted it way back when which is amazing, there are not too many tracks still running races that they hosted back in 71 & 72," said Scott Wallenberg a local racer who loves the vintage races. "It’s such a thrill it is like I’m back in high school and I think of my father cheering me on and it just really brings you back and you can’t do that in a lot of sports."

People ride bikes from 50 years ago at the vintage races which are the biggest event of the year at the Owyhee Motorcycle Club, it also draws riders from around the country as we spoke with three AMA Motorcycle Hall of Famers.

"By the time I was 17-years-old I won my first AMA National Championship at that time I was the youngest national champion," said Broc Glover who flew from an event in Foxboro Stadium in Massachusetts on Saturday to be at the OMC for the races. "I went on to win six more AMA Championships and many other major titles."

Ryan Villapoto is another Hall of Famer who drove from San Diego for the races and he finished first in one of the heats we saw while we were at the OMC.

 

Rodney Smith also got inducted into the AMA Hall of Fame after a career racing in Brazil, Europe and around the world, Smith now lives in Nampa.

"I say it is our turn to give back to the sport so even though we are racing today we are out mingling with people and getting to spend time with people that rooted for us so it’s really cool," said Smith. "It hits me pretty hard I think it is awesome."

But more than anything the OMC promotes a family atmosphere as I learned most people learn to ride from their parents and then pass down this passion to the next generation like the Lothrop family, even though sometimes it can be hard on dad to watch his son ride these motorcycles.

"It makes me nervous because it’s an extreme sport these bikes are really fast it stresses me out when he’s riding them, but it makes me happy at the same time," said Rob Lothrop. "Yesterday he won the race and it made me very proud of him."

To ensure the future of the Owyhee Motorcycle Club for generations to come this non-profit has to do some fundraising, but they have something special on the horizon.

The club will acquire a 2022 Husqvarna FFE 501 from Austria and it will be customized here in Idaho by local businesses, people have until November to get in on this sweepstakes to win a really sweet ride.

Red Bull Erzbergrodeo open up 300 extra starting places

22 April 2022 | Hard Enduro World Championship

Red Bull Erzbergrodeo organisers have announced they’ve expanded the starting grid back to max with 300 more places now available for the iconic extreme enduro event this June 16-19th.

We’re shocked to learn it is only around 50 days (at time of writing) until the flag drops on the 2022 Red Bull Erzbergrodeo. After a two year wait that seems like a mad fact.

Preparations for the “World Xtreme Enduro Supreme”, round three of the Hard Enduro Word Championship, are well under their way with new routing promised in each of the major elements across the weekend – Rocket Ride, Iron Road Prologue and main Hare Scramble – those fresh entries now available plus expanded spectator experience for the main event.

Sought-after starting places open up

“Due to the COVID-19 situation we had to narrow the starting grid down to 1200 riders last year.” Says Red Bull Erzbergrodeo’s Karl Katoch explaining why there are now additional starting spots available.

“Now that the situation in Austria and Europe has significantly relaxed, we are able to return to the full maximum of 1500 competitors. The Red Bull Erzbergrodeo has all lights put on green, and we are looking forward to a mighty showing of the motorcycle off-road racing family at our comeback after 2 years of break.”

The online rider registration for the Red Bull Erzbergrodeo 2022 can be found at: redbullerzbergrodeo.com

New racetracks, spectacular side events and extended spectator areas

The Erzberg quarry has changed its face a lot over the past two years while the event has been absent. That means they have added some new parts to the different racetracks including an all-new, “extremely spectacular” layout for the Rocket Ride and some fresh sections in the familiar Iron Road Prologue.

Sunday’s Red Bull Erzbergrodeo main Hare Scramble will be a mix of legendary classics and lots of new sections Katoch adds, “a unique challenge providing Extreme Enduro at the highest level.”

 

This is added the news Enduro21 already reported that the 2022 event will longer allow external helps or refuelling – red more about that here: No refuelling and no-helpers at 2022 Erzbergrodeo says race boss

Off-road festival – new spectator points, same beer tent…

The weekend is a festival on the mountain of course and the action coin the paddocks area includes a new “Akrapovic One-On-One” rider presentation, the all-new GASGAS Trial Extreme Challenge plus the notorious rider parties at the beer tent across the four days.

The most breathtaking parts of the racetrack will see extended spectator areas this year also, which can be reached using the free-of-charge shuttlebus service on site. “Both the MITAS Rocket Ride and Red Bull Erzbergrodeo will have new spectator areas which offer an extremely close experience of the racing action. Especially on Sunday, riders will need the full support of their fans and we will make sure that they’ll get it loud and direct!”, says Red Bull Erzbergrodeo head of organisation Mark Schilling.

Another double for dominant Gajser in MXGP of Latvia

 Post: Alex Gobert

MX2 clean-sweep enables Geerts to reclaim joint red plate.

 

Image: Supplied.

Team HRC’s Tim Gajser won both motos at the MXGP of Latvia to increase his advantage at the top of the world championship, while Jago Geerts swept MX2.

On what was a miserably wet day at the Kegums circuit, Gajser took control of both races in what were difficult conditions to further stamp his authority on the 2022 series.

Gajser won the opening moto ahead of Pauls Jonass (Standing Construct Husqvarna) and Ruben Fernandez (Team Honda 114 Motorsports), before repeating in the second from Jonass and Glenn Coldenhoff (Monster Energy Yamaha).

Fourth was enough for Fernandez to land on the podium overall behind Gajser and Jonass, while in the championship standings, Gajser is 66 points clear of Jorge Prado (Red Bull GasGas) – 12th overall at Kegums – and with Maxime Renaux (Monster Energy Yamaha) sitting third.

Image: Supplied.

In MX2, Monster Energy Yamaha rider Jago Geerts reclaimed the red plate by delivering 1-1 results to win the grand prix in convincing fashion.

Geerts topped moto one ahead of Kevin Horgmo (F&H Kawasaki Racing) and Thibault Benistant (Monster Energy Yamaha), before it was Geerts ahead of Kay de Wolf (Nestaan Husqvarna) and Tom Vialle (Red Bull KTM) in moto two.

Overall, Geerts stood atop the podium ahead of Horgmo, who went 2-4, and Vialle’s 5-3 scorecard. Both Geerts and Vialle are tied in the standings on 244 points apiece leading into Maggiora, Italy, on 7-8 May.

Eli Will Have To Wait A Little Longer

Eli Tomac has such a big points lead in the 2022 AMA 450 Supercross Championship that he doesn’t have to win to be crowned, and he didn’t win the Foxborough Supercross. Largely because Jason Anderson decided that it wasn’t going to happen this weekend and also because Eli sat up and rode a safe and sane race, that will allow him to go to Denver next Saturday with a 43 point lead—big enough to clinch in his home event as long as he makes the top five (regardless of what Anderson does). Marvin Musquin impressed everyone again with another podium in a valiant effort to prove to KTM that he is still a valuable member of the team—even though he is not signed to race the upcoming AMA Nationals. Marvin has a Supercross-only contract that expires in two more races. Marv wants to keep racing, and he is currently the best that KTM has. Chase Sexton got the second step on the Foxborough Supercross podium. Next week is the Denver Supercross and the 2022 series ends in Salt Lake City on May 7.

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Dues to the Daddy

Offspring to ‘re-spring’: Eli Tomac talks about the mindset, the focus and the factors that have led to a powerful 2022 AMA Supercross campaign. We also find out a lot more about the new FIM Supercross World Championship.

By Adam Wheeler, Photos by Align Media

The demeanour is between tiredness and self-assurance. The eyes have a few more wrinkles around the edges and the face has the slight haggard look of a man with two children under the age of two and that of an athlete at the end of a twelve consecutive weekends of supercross; although it’s a streak in which he has added seven further triumphs to his career total and has slipped a few fingers around a second 450SX championship trophy.

Eli Tomac sits down in Seattle to chat about the ingredients that have gone into a thumping 2022. His defection from Monster Energy Kawasaki after six years in green to Monster Energy Star Yamaha raised more than a few eyebrows in the off-season. Tomac had excelled on the KX450F but with a strange ‘hot-and-cold’ existence at Kawasaki that somehow seemed to edge him outside of discussions about the all-time greats of supercross racing. The environment he requested and created around him at Yamaha has seen the 29-year-old produce some of the best form of his career and since the quiet and private Colorado-native first fired onto the Pro scene in 2010 at Hangtown with victory in his first Lucas Oil AMA Pro National Motocross bow.

Eli is friendly and receptive but his slightly conservative nature comes across in answers where he sometimes measures how much he wants to explain, or wrestles with how he wants to articulate his thoughts. It seems like a media-wariness thing. Tomac’s barely passable social media presence and relative anonymity compared to the high-profile of someone like Ken Roczen means his motives and methods have not always been evident. It has left him open for criticism. A conversational on-the-record chat seems like a rare duty for him and other riders these days. “It’s more video [work] now,” he agrees. “Even our press conferences are more digital so it’s quite a disconnected feeling.”

In an effort to connect and discover why he has been able to boss the mental side of supercross that has seen hot competition from his former team and Jason Anderson – as well as evade some of the controversial clashes that have happened on track this season – we sit and take fifteen, as he zips from a Monster bottle in the Yamaha pit complex at the Lumen Field stadium…

You’re a father twice-over now…Yes, we have a daughter that is almost two and our son is just six months old. So, sleeping patterns were pretty irregular in the beginning but now I’d say we are quite settled in. There is nothing like having kids to show you how selfish you were before they came along.

In terms of racing, does the family offer you the perfect disconnection? Yeah, although it didn’t really change my working environment. Since I was 22 and moved out of my parents’ place I managed to have that good balance between the work at the track and what I was doing at home. Having kids didn’t change that much for me. The fame thing…I don’t know: I think it just makes me more appreciative of both sides. I love going home to see the kids but at the same time I’m getting a lot of drive for my riding and working environment.

So, both sides feed into each other? That’s right. They do. That’s what I exactly what I mean. They bounce off each other and, for me, it hasn’t slowed me down. There are hard days when you go home and you’re glad to be a Dad and then good days as a Dad where you are ready to get to work: that’s how it is. It’s a different outlook on life. I believe that you don’t have that true love for something until you have your own kids. You see things in different ways and it teaches patience in all aspects of life. It’s been great for us.

How does winning feel different now compared to when you were younger and when you were only worried about yourself? Is it still the be-all and end-all? To me wins are still wins. It’s what’s driving me. That has stayed the same. It’s my drive and motivation and the reason I’ve kept going. I enjoy that feeling and I enjoy the chase. It is the only thing I really know right now. I’m doing what I want to do on my motorcycle and I don’t have much distraction from home. I still love that feeling of chasing the win.

Are you tired yet of the tag that you might be the oldest champion in the history of the sport? It is wearing thin! I was told I was getting old two years ago! A lot of people were like “he’s 27-years-old, he’s the old guy in the class!” I am getting tired of it, and I heard on the telecast recently that I am 29 but then so is Jason [Anderson], Malcolm and I think Barcia. So, we’re all pretty close. It goes to show that if you still have motivation to do it then you can keep going. It doesn’t matter where the line or where the mark is. It felt like people used to draw it at 26-27 but now we getting more years out of the guys. I think it’s awesome.

Can you see yourself doing a ‘Tony Cairoli’ and going into your late 30s? And then I think of Tony! It’s totally out of the window compared to riders in the U.S. It is so impressive and so cool to be that competitive at the top for that long.

Was there a time a few years ago where you were ‘over it’? Around the time you were getting criticism for not doing things like that Nations…for not being as dominant as you should…I wouldn’t say I was ‘over it’ but what people did see was a lot of pressure. I still didn’t have the supercross championship and there was a lot of pressure to be in that position. In a way that was fine… but a lot of times as an athlete you can get overloaded with expectation. That’s what it was. There was also expectation of extra races. At the time you are younger and you see things a bit differently compared to when you are older and since then I’ve had the accomplishment of the supercross championship and that changed my mindset too. Expectation was putting that image on me [of a guy under stress] and now I have put a whole package together: I have my family, my kids, my team. Everything feels right and good.

 "Tomac’s blaze to seven wins and ten podium finishes from the thirteen rounds to-date puts him on the verge of delivering Yamaha’s first 450SX title since James Stewart banked the prize in 2009. He will be the eleventh multi-champ in the history of the sport and the sixth to take one championship or more since the turn of the century."

Turning blue. Obviously, things are going very well but was there ever a time when you were worried that you’d made a misstep by changing brands and teams? There was a lot of thought that went into the decision. I’m not the kind of guy just to ‘wing it’ that way. I knew there was a lot on the line, like my reputation. I didn’t want to come here unless I really knew that we could make it happen as a team and try to get even better results than what I had at Kawasaki. Yeah, from the outside looking-in it was a gamble but we tried to make sure that the tools were in place to get the job done.

You’ve only been with two brands in your career so was the change motivated by wanting to start a new chapter or purely to follow the best route to another championship? It was both. It was me thinking ‘I can get some more out of what this team has to offer’ and the other things just fall into place, right? That’s the way it has been here. You try to surround yourself with guys that you think will fit and suit you and that’s what I wanted at this point in my career: to be happy in all aspects.

Was it also to seek betterment and what you can do with the limits of your own performance? Yes, that’s what it came down to. I was plateaued with what I had, with my previous platform, my previous bike. I had great success and won a lot of things but I felt that there was still more on the table for me as a racer. I think that in the past two years I have changed mentally. I have been in more of a focused, calm state. I feel more solid, period. It’s where I needed to improve. If I look back to say 2017 and some of the mistakes I made in the series, if I had been the guy I am now some of those things wouldn’t have happened. But at the same time maybe they had to happen to get you to where you are at now.

Why were you making those mistakes? I just had a different mindset…about knowing when to ‘go’, when to perform and having patience at the right time. There were times when I was impatient as a racer. I look back at some of my crashes and I feel like I have changed.

It amazing that you are still able to implement that ‘Tomac rhythm’. It just wipes everybody and must be as satisfying as win…It is! It’s called getting-in-the-zone, when everything is working right. I hope I can find that again…even in motocross.

With the creation of the Supercross World Championship a chance exists to be a full-time supercrosser. How do you feel about that and the prospect of it enticing young racers coming up? It’s interesting. I’ve thought for a while that we should have a world championship in a stadium environment. It should be an option-

You’ve travelled for Bercy…That’s right, and I believe we can pull crowds around the world. It could happen. It will be a building process but I totally believe it’s possible. I’m for it. People probably don’t want to hear it over here… but it could have really cool growth potential for our sport and eyeballs on supercross. As a racer I’ve always thought it would be cool to travel the whole world to do it.