2022 TKO Hard Enduro

2022 TKO Hard Enduro in a nutshell:

• If anyone was in any doubt Trystan Hart wanted to take back the TKO crown and claim his first HEWC win, his race day pace on the tough TKO course at teh Sequatchie Trials Training Center was as clear as it gets. Fastest in qualifying, then fastest in both knockout races – the Canadian was in flying form straight out the truck.
• With the Thursday night straight rhythm races for the fans in downtown Nashville a distant memory for winner Alfredo Gomez, the unique TKO single day format for the HEWC Pro riders is a busy one with qualifying and two knockout races to sift the entry down to size for a multi-lap final.
• Behind the US Hard Enduro champ in the knockout races, Taddy Blazusiak was looking good not for the first time on American soil along with Teo Kabakchiev and Mani Lettenbichler who were the only other riders dipping under the hour for their first long lap race runs.
• The top 26 qualified through to race two where they set off in groups of five and Hart again went fastest with Kabakchiev and Mario Roman the riders dipping under the one hour mark for that lap. Lettenbichler was fourth quickest with 2022 GNCC points standings leader Jordan Ashburn next best in fifth and showing his enduro skills are transferable.
• The grand final for the weekend raced on the shorter course with the top 20 riders facing what was, by the standards of other HEWC rounds, a sprint race of five laps.
• Hart was again the rider setting standard time, completing lap one just under 20 seconds better than his KTM teammate Mani with Roman matching their pace in third.
• Lettenbichler showed he wasn’t keen to repeat the 2021 defeat on the same course without a fight but the German was struggling with an injury. By the fourth and fifth laps Hart had stretched the gap to half a minute, was unbeatable over the rocks and took a popular win in front of the US crowd.
• The win backs up the 2020 TKO title for Hart and but this time adds some serious scalps from the Hard Enduro World Championship regulars for his first victory in the FIM series. “The pressure was pretty intense before the main race becasue I'd won everything else.” Explained Trystan. “Then the start was delayed and it got even more intense! I had so many close calls out there but it feels really good to get the win today.”
• Mario Roman bags himself another podium in third, finishing behind his chief championship rival Lettenbichler. That levels the standings right up heading to the penultimate race in Canada, in two weeks.
• The top four was completed by Wade Young on his return from injury after being forced to miss Romaniacs. The South African was the only other rider to complete five laps of the course and says he was stoked to get the result having not ridden a bike since the Abestone round.

Unadilla

Tim Gajser Wins His 5th World Championship!

Team HRC’s Tim Gajser became the most successful current MXGP rider after winning his fifth world title and the fourth in the premier MXGP class at the MXGP of Finland. The Honda CRF450R rider wrapped up this year’s championship two rounds early, after dominating periods of what has been a very challenging campaign.

Starting off the season with six wins in the first seven rounds gave him a platform that none of his rivals could get near, and further wins in Germany and a perfect performance in Indonesia meant that he was able to cement his crown and cruise home to yet another world title. This weekend at the sandy Hyvinkaa track, the #243 wasn’t at his best, but he was still able to post six-seven results, which was more than enough to give him a 104-point advantage and wrap-up the championship with two rounds still to race. With the pressure of winning his fifth world championship over, expect Gajser to be battling for wins once again, and adding to what is already a remarkable 2022 season.

Unfortunately, teammate Mitch Evans wasn’t able to put his practice and qualification speed into either of the two motos today, as first lap crashes in each race ruined his chances of challenging for a podium. The Australian had proved in every other session that he was a contender on this gruelling Hyvinkaa surface, but luck wasn’t on his side and instead has to prepare himself for the final two rounds of the season where he’ll be once again aiming to be up there at the front of the field.

The world championship now heads to St Jean D’Angely in France next weekend, for the penultimate round of the series, with both riders highly motivated to get back at the sharp end of this MXGP field. Gajser will be looking to add to his eight GP overalls, while Evans will be hoping to get his first podium of the season for what should be another action-packed weekend of high-quality motocross riding.

Tim Gajser: Wow! What a day. I definitely didn’t ride my best, but I got the job done and that’s what I set out to achieve at the beginning of the day. Five world titles, and I can’t believe it. It really hasn’t sunk in yet. A big thank you to the whole of Team HRC, the people at the races and all the support from Japan. Also thank you my girlfriend and all the support I receive from my fans around the world. It has been great to see so many of you cheering me on around the track and I can’t thank you enough. It is a special moment for me and I am just so happy to have got my fifth title!

Mitch Evans: Today was definitely not my day. I felt good coming into the motos but things just didn’t work out for me. A crash on the first lap in race one ruined any chance of a good result there, as I was almost last by the time I remounted. I charged through to 14th but it definitely wasn’t what I was after. Then a similar story in race two. Obviously, I’m really disappointed with how it went but I’m still fit, and motivated to get things right in the final two rounds of the season.

Marcus de Freitas:I am so happy for Tim, winning the championship with a couple of rounds to spare. He works so hard and thoroughly deserves all the success he gets and to win five world titles is an unbelievable achievement. The whole of Team HRC also deserve a lot of credit, for working hard and helping him get everything right, week in, week out. It hasn’t been an easy year but no one has stopped working for a second, and it shows in the results. Unfortunately, Mitch didn’t have the best of luck, but he’s really shown his speed the past few weeks and we are excited to head to the final two rounds, where both riders can really show how fast they are.

Sexton Grabs Red Plate

Unadilla double sees Sexton reclaim 450MX red plate

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Section: Competition Post: Alex Gobert

Title challenger too strong as series approaches final stages.

Image: Octopi Media.

Convincing double moto wins at Unadilla saw Team Honda HRC’s Chase Sexton reclaim the 450MX red plate this afternoon as Lucas Oil Pro Motocross enters its final stages of the 2022 series.

Moto one of 450MX saw defending champion Dylan Ferrandis (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) jump out front on return, before top-qualifier Ken Roczen (Team Honda HRC) took his turn at the front before the first lap was out.

It was then red plate-holder Tomac who made his move and led for the following 15 minutes, until a charging Sexton saw him slice his way from as far back as P6 on the opening lap through to the front and that’s how it would stay.

Sexton made a statement with his come-from-behind moto win, eventually 12.858s up on Tomac, with Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jason Anderson keeping the fast-finishing Ferrandis at bay for third position.

Behind Ryan Dungey (Red Bull KTM) in fifth, Roczen would end up fading to sixth by race’s end, in turn ahead of Aaron Plessinger (Red Bull KTM), Garrett Marchbanks (Muc-Off FXR ClubMX Yamaha), Joey Savatgy (Monster Energy Kawasaki) and Justin Barcia (TLD Red Bull GasGas).

This afternoon’s final encounter looked like it was going to be a dual between Sexton and Tomac, however, once again once Sexton caught his title-rival he made the pass and stretched his advantage from there. The final buffer on Sexton’s side was 15.852s over Tomac, as Anderson in P3 mirrored the opening race podium.

Plessinger impressed on his way to fourth this time around, with Barcia another improver for fifth, almost directly ahead of Dungey and Roczen. The top 10 was completed by Savatgy, Christian Craig (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) and teammate Ferrandis.

The round podium was naturally made up of Sexton, Tomac and Anderson, while in the championship standings it’s now Sexton back on top by a single point over Tomac with three rounds remaining in the season. Next stop, Budds Creek this coming weekend.

2023 YZ 250...Why more of the same?

"I love this bike, I must I've been ridning one for years however I would love it a lot more if it matched up with the Husky TC 250 or the KTM 250 SX. Yamaha enough already it's time to change."

Ward Robinson, Founder of Unadilla, Has Passed Away

by Slaw DogAugust 11, 2022, 1:47 pm

The motocross industry has lost an icon. Ward Robinson, founder of the iconic Unadilla, has passed away. He was 85.

MX Sports made the announcement today along with more information on Ward.

RIP, Ward!

Ward Robinson was one of the founding fathers of American motocross. From his early days of owning a motorcycle dealership in the 1960s and sponsoring riders to compete in the relatively new sport, to building one of the most famous motocross tracks in the world–Unadilla MX in New Berlin, New York–Robinson’s vision and dedication to the sport was immeasurable in both its early growth and continued success in the decades that followed. With his wife, Peg, at his side, Ward Robinson became a pillar of the motocross world, hosting some of the biggest and most important national and international events in the sport’s history. Peg passed on September 2, 2014; Ward passed on Monday morning, August 8, 2022, after a long illness. He was 85 years old.

It’s somehow fitting that Ward Robinson would pass on the eve of the 2022 Unadilla National, the biggest event at the track he first began running more than half a century ago.
 
After opening in 1969, Unadilla Valley Sports Center, nestled in the rolling hills of scenic Central New York, began hosting AMA-sanctioned motocross races in 1970 and quickly grew to the point where it became synonymous with the sport of motocross.
 
In 1970 Unadilla hosted a Trans-AMA event, which was part of the first AMA-sanctioned motocross tour in America. Two years later, in 1972, it hosted an Inter-Am event that was included in the very first AMA Pro Motocross Championship Series. In 1978 Unadilla hosted the first U.S. 250cc Grand Prix as part of the FIM World Championship Series, won by California’s Marty Tripes. Then, in 1987, Robinson’s facility became the first U.S. track to host the prestigious FIM Motocross of Nations, which was won by Team USA’s Rick Johnson, Jeff Ward and Bob “Hurricane” Hannah, and managed by international racing legend Roger DeCoster.

It was Hannah and DeCoster, back in his own days of racing, who really put Unadilla on the global motocross map in the seventies. Their annual Trans-AMA battles embodied the rivalry between the European masters and the aspiring young Americans, as the highly respected DeCoster was a five-time 500cc World Champion from Belgium, while the brash California upstart Hannah was the vanguard for the rapidly improving Americans. Unadilla fans embraced both of these great champions and the two rivals responded by putting on their most epic duels at Ward Robinson’s track, which both considered to be among the world’s premier motocross circuits.
 
“The passing of Ward Robinson is a big loss for everyone—he was the face of Unadilla,” said Hannah, a multi-time AMA Supercross and AMA Pro Motocross Champion. “First time I met him he was at the ’76 Trans-AMA, and he was out there on a tractor. He had no idea who I was, nor did I know who he was, but over the years we got to be pretty good friends. I really enjoyed visiting the area and working with him and his family and of course Unadilla was my absolute favorite motocross track—it was a man’s track—and I loved it more than any other track in the world. That’s why I made sure the ’89 USGP at Unadilla was my very last race.”

Over the 53 years since Unadilla MX first opened more than 100,000 different motorcycle and ATV racers have competed on the prestigious track, and not just in professional competition, as the facility also hosts a variety of amateur events for both motocross and off-road participants.

Surviving Ward Robinson are his children, Jill Robinson and Greg and Linda Robinson; his grandchildren Alex and Nick Robinson; and numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins.

Godspeed, Ward.

The Irish will be at Red Bud!

Ireland select MXoN team for RedBud

 

New team manager, Mark Mooney has selected his first Irish team for the Motocross Des Nations which heads to RedBud in September. Martin Barr who was excluded from the team last year is back in the fold and John Meara will race a Hitachi KTM machine in the MX2 class with Jason Meara also included.

The following statement was released:

The (MCUI) Motocross Commission met last evening Thursday 11th of August. The following riders have been selected by the Team Manager to represent their Country on the 24/25th of September at the Motocross of Nations (RED BUD) Michigan USA:

MX1 – Martin Barr, APICO HUSQVARNA
MX2 – John Meara, HITACHI KTM Fuelled by Milwaukee
MX3 – Jason Meara, PHOENIX TOOLS Even Strokes KAWASAKI

Due to the vast amount of Logistics involved in this particular event there are also tjhree reserve riders in wait if anything unforeseen happens or a selected rider gets a slight injury. There are still championships to be won and races to be completed both here in Ireland and in the UK by all names mentioned. As we all know with Motocross anything can happen in a split second so a plan B is a must.

MXDN (official reserve ) in order:

Stuart Edmonds
Glenn McCormick
Jake Sheridan

Congratulations to all involved and best of luck over the next couple of weeks. Please note that the Team Manager reserves the right to change the decision on a selected rider or class to be raced if any circumstances do change.

Team Manager
Mark Mooney

A Country Star Starts MX Tradition!

LORETTA LYNN LOOKED at the land and saw a home.

In 1966, the country music star and her husband, Mooney, were searching for a place to raise their six children away from the bustle of Nashville. Famously born in the coal-mining community of Butcher Hollow in the Appalachian hills of eastern Kentucky, Loretta wanted a place with wide-open spaces where she could disappear when she wasn't working. One afternoon, on a drive about 70 miles southwest of Music City, she saw a stunning white house on a hill surrounded by woods and water.

"My grandmother fell in love with the home," says Loretta's granddaughter, Tayla Lynn. "She also fell in love with the land around it."

When Loretta and Mooney inquired about the house, they learned it came with the town, which included an old grain mill, a general store and a post office. So, 56 years ago, to buy the house, the couple purchased the 3,500-acre community of Hurricane Mills, a peaceful place where the early-morning quiet was broken only by the throaty croak of the American bullfrogs lining Hurricane Creek, the meandering centerpiece of the town.

Read the full story online here: https://www.espn.com/auto/story/_/id/34375380/loretta-lynn-motocross-stars-unbelievable-comeback-racing-most-iconic-track

Honda NILS Racing Becomes Final Team On World Supercross Grid

The 10th and final team has been announced for the upcoming World Supercross Championship (WSX). The Honda NILS team fills this spot on the grid, led by former women’s world champion Livia Lancelot. Lancelot has been a staple in the MXGP scene, managing the 114 Honda team for a number of years now. While the Honda NILS team is listed as Italian, this partnership with Lancelot is likely to have connections with her current team and other Honda MXGP brass. Riders for the team (two SX1 and two SX2) have yet to be announced but will come in the following weeks. The official press release can be read below.

Livia Lancelot and the NILS Honda team take the 10th spot on the WSX grid.

SX Global, the Australian sports and entertainment company spearheading the FIM World Supercross Championship (WSX), today announced Italian team, Honda NILS as its 10th and final team competing in the 2022 FIM World Supercross Championship. The team will announce its four riders in the coming weeks as it prepares for the Global WSX Championship kicking off on Saturday, October 8th in Cardiff, Wales at Principality Stadium.

The 34-year-old Lancelot won the first ever women’s motocross World Championship in 2008 and followed it up with another world title run in 2016. After retiring from competition, she has worked as a Team Manager since 2017 in the MX2 class of the MXGP World Championship scoring multiple podium wins. She now becomes the most decorated female Team Manager in major Supercross anywhere in the world.

“We are excited to get to work and believe we will make a strong showing during the pilot FIM World Supercross Championship season,” said Lancelot. “Our ‘offseason’ is only a few weeks, so we are quickly working to get riders and crew members under contract, and bikes ready to race, all while tackling the logistics a global series requires. It’s a great challenge, and we are ready to face it.”

 

Ruben Fernandez currently rides for Lancelot’s 114 Honda team in the MXGP series. No word yet if he will ride WSX. Photo: MXGP

Italy Picks MXoN Squad

Italy reveal MXoN squad for RedBud

 

On Saturday 24th and Sunday 25th September Italy will take to the track for the Motocross of Nations. At Red Bud, in the United States, our riders’ bikes will be recognizable by the numbers 1, 2, 3 by virtue of the historic triumph obtained in 2021 in Mantova with Antonio Cairoli, Mattia Guadagnini and Alessandro Lupino.

The line-up called by the FMI Technical Commissioner Thomas Traversini for the next edition of the Trophy is unprecedented. The team captain has been confirmed, the nine-time World Champion Antonio Cairoli, who will wear the Blue Jersey for the fourteenth time. Mattia Guadagnini is also called up again, capable of winning the Motocross Junior World Championship (2019) with Italy in addition to the MXoN 2021. The new element is represented by Andrea Adamo, already on the podium in the MX2 World Championship 2022 and constantly among the best in the series. Alberto Forato has been designated as a reserve, having shown this season that he has what it takes to compete on par with many of the top MXGP riders.

Antonio Cairoli, born in Patti (ME) on 23/09/1985. Motorcycle: Ktm. Team: Red Bull KTM Factory Racing. Moto Club: Milani. MXoN class: MXGP. MXoN number: 1

Mattia Guadagnini, born in Bassano del Grappa (VI) on 11/04/2002. Motorbike: GasGas. Team: Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing. Moto Club: Ardosa. MXoN class: Open. MXoN number: 2

Andrea Adamo, born in Erice (TP) on 22/08/2003. Motorbike: GasGas. Team: SM Action Racing Team Yuasa Battery. Moto Club: Best – SM Action. MXoN class: MX2. MXoN number: 3

Alberto Forato (reserve), born in Feltre (BL) on 30/03/2000. Motorbike: GasGas. Team: SM Action Racing Team Yuasa Battery. Moto Club: Orbassano Racing.

Giovanni Copioli, IMF President: “We will go to the United States with the enthusiasm and determination of the reigning Champions. Seeing our drivers racing with numbers 1,2 and 3 will be a great thrill. Mantua’s success remains unforgettable and I think that even in 2022 we can aim for the top positions, despite the fact that repeating itself is always very difficult. I am happy to have Antonio Cairoli with us once again: by responding to the call-up he has shown that he is particularly attached to the Blue Jersey. Mattia Guadagnini is very young but used to this type of pressure while Andrea Adamo has shown his talents during this season. I also thank Alberto Forato, who gave maximum availability. I hope to see good races with Italy as the protagonist ”.

Roberto Rustichelli, IMF Motocross Committee Coordinator: “I think the composition of the team best represents the movement of Italian Motocross: expert and fast riders together with prospective athletes already prepared for high-level competitions. In this case, a multiple champion like Antonio Cairoli ready to make all his skills available to Guadagnini and Adamo. The IMF Motocross Committee always works with the aim of bringing new riders to the top international competitions and seeing our talents in the most important races is certainly a source of pride ”.

Thomas Traversini, FMI Technical Commissioner: “We decided to focus on this training by looking at the results of our boys. In the races held so far, Antonio Cairoli has shown that he has the pace of the best, and in any case a driver like him is a very precious resource, he would be for any national team. Guadagnini was able to face the problems of the beginning of the season by demonstrating his speed in MXGP while Adamo is constantly among the best in MX2 and his left knee injury does not seem to be worrying for the Motocross of Nations, with the event still missing several weeks”.