Dylan Ferrandis out for Pro Motocross

Dylan Ferrandis of the Phoenix Racing Honda team announced on Monday that he will miss the entire 2025 AMA Pro Motocross Championship due to a stress fracture in his leg.

“The Supercross season is over — I finished seventh in the championship. Unfortunately, I won’t be racing this summer. I’ve been dealing with a stress fracture in my left leg all season. I thought it had healed recently, but it came back last week. It’s a real shame, because I love the outdoors and felt like my phxracinghonda bike had a lot of potential. The plan now is to return for SMX and maybe race the last few rounds of the MX season.”

After a slow start in the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship, Ferrandis found his rhythm later in the season, recording seven top-10 finishes.

The Glen Helen National is BACK! (kinda)

This Week in MXA, presented by O'Neal, is about the upcoming MotoFest at Glen Helen, May 15th through the 18th. Bud Feldkamp, the owner of Glen Helen Raceway, has invested big time into this race; not only is he putting up $100,000 in purse money, but Glen Helen has also invested in a new backdrop to the starting gate, and they're revamping the track for this weekend of racing. This video is all about the MotoFest and "Stopwatch National" at Glen Helen next week, plus MXA's Josh Mosiman talks about this past weekend's Denver Supercross with the Deegan takeout drama and more. Also, special thanks to Kyoshi Becker for the awesome featured image photo.

Countdown: Supercross finale storylines

 Kane Taylor - motoonline

Seven key aspects to follow at this weekend's finals in Salt Lake City.

Following 16 rounds of the 2025 Monster Energy Supercross Championship, all is set to be decided at this weekend’s Salt Lake City finale inside Rice-Eccles Stadium. In this Countdown feature, we review the primary storylines that are yet to be resolved as we enter the final round of action.

Image: Octopi Media.

7. 250SX Showdown:
The 250SX Showdowns are always highly anticipated. A diverse group, including wily veterans, explosive rookies, riders who may have underdelivered, and those who want to carry momentum into Pro Motocross, all meet one last time this year in Supercross, with bragging rights of the fastest racer from either coast on the line. There’s no shortage of motivation, either, as Cole Davies will no doubt be fired up after Denver, and a pressure-free Haiden Deegan will want to put a stamp on the 250SX class that he is indeed the top dog. The top three 250SX East contenders – Tom Vialle, Seth Hammaker and RJ Hampshire – will need to balance a title, but think of riders like Nate Thrasher, Austin Forkner, Jordon Smith and Michael Mosiman, for example, who would love to come out and send a statement that they are indeed not to be slept on in 250SX for future results.

6. JCoop’s last chance:
Justin Cooper’s 2025 Supercross season no longer has him on the bubble of ‘will he get a ride or won’t he get a ride?’ moving forward. This was a little unfair considering his credentials, however, given the loaded 450 rostrum at the Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing team between Eli Tomac and Cooper Webb, he was more a victim of circumstance. Having seen out the entirety of the season, Cooper is now 10 points shy of the absent Ken Roczen, so P3 in the standings is entirely possible, which is a huge win for both Cooper and the team. That being said, he’s been knocking on the door for that elusive 450SX main event win, and if he wants to check that off the list this year, Salt Lake City is his last chance to do so.

5. Ferrandis and Hill duke it out for P8 overall:
It’s maybe a left-field topic, however, rarely have we witnessed a more silent championship season than Dylan Ferrandis’ 450SX campaign this year. Someone could tell us that he’d been missing since Glendale, and honestly, you could believe it. Yet, the Frenchman sits eighth in the premier class standings and is two markers ahead of the equally quiet – at least in recent weeks – Justin Hill, with a fight here apparently raging on despite having not appeared on the broadcast. Maybe we’ll hire a spotter for this final round, just to confirm that there are indeed motorcycles with the numbers 14 and 46 circulating. Anyway, props for these two for having made it until the end, and for those wondering, Ferrandis has a high score of fifth place on two occasions this year, while P5 in Arlington marks Hill’s best performance.

4. Davies versus Deegan:
It’s unclear how the relationship is now between teammates Davies and Deegan. The once jovial pair experienced adversity last weekend when Deegan effectively put Davies over the berm in a bid to capture the 250SX West class title. Little has since indicated that the friendship has been rekindled, with Deegan notoriously finding the friendship/competition dynamic a difficult one to balance. It now seems that each has a point to prove as we enter the finale here, and maybe it’s the nail in the coffin as to who the alpha-male on the Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing 250 squad will be moving forward? Yes, Deegan claimed the number one plate, but Cole is only in his rookie season. For whatever reason, it just feels like this race will bring with it bragging rights that will extend back to the Goat Farm and beyond.

3. The pressure of leading:
It may be counterintuitive to say given his customary mental astuteness, but it could be said that this title chase is getting beneath Cooper Webb’s skin. As far as championships go, it seems like the pressure only mounts as one ticks them off. The first one is met with an air of surprise and joviality – like a ‘You did it!’ type of response. Number two is, ‘Well, you’ve done it before, so it would be cool to do it again,’ and then three and beyond is ‘Yeah, you’re expected to do this now.’ If this is anywhere near correct, then we’re likely seeing this unfold with Webb. Was the weekend sickness stress-induced? Coupled with the ‘not easy’ and ‘you wouldn’t want to bear this type of pressure’ comments, this title seems to be weighing on the two-time 450SX champ. If he seals it this weekend, look for a huge sigh of relief more than anything from Webb this time around.

2. The East is wide-open:
Literally, wide-open – anyone’s game, and may the best man win. We’ve viewed it as no one wanting to grab this series by the scruff of the neck on multiple occasions this year, however, what if the answer lies in just how close these riders are, across the board? Between Hammaker, Hampshire and Vialle, it’s tough to point out a separating factor, which is probably why they’re separated by three points entering Salt Lake City this weekend. They each have great teams, are great riders, and have a great chance of securing what will be a well-earned 250SX East crown. Both Vialle and Hampshire have wrapped up titles before, but Seth is the only multi-time winner this season. Ultimately, all that is left to do is line ‘em up and drop the gates in Rice-Eccles Stadium, and again, may the best man win!

1. 450SX comes down to the wire:
After 16 grueling rounds of Monster Energy Supercross competition, the time has finally arrived – we will crown a 450SX champion this weekend. What an absolute dogfight it’s been all season, and a huge hats off to both Webb and Chase Sexton, as well as their respective teams and camps. It’s been a barn burner of a season, with these two swapping momentum – especially after the break – on a round-by-round basis. These two have given us one of the best title battles in recent memory, and whoever walks away as the champion has well and truly earned this one. Sexton needs help to shrink the nine-point deficit he faces, but it is Supercross, and nothing is guaranteed. However the cookie crumbles, though, it has to be said that we have watched two of the very best go head-to-head in 2025, with anyone who tuned in this season as the real winners.

Hangtown Is Coming Soon!

Round 15, Pittsburgh

450 CLASS: Cooper Webb won the Pittsburgh Supercross from start to finish and barring an injury, mechanical failure or really bad race, Cooper is on the fast track to win his third AMA 450 Supercross crown when the 2025 series ends in Salt Lake City. Coming into Pittsburgh Chase Sexton was 9-points behind Cooper Webb. Chase’s big hope was to win all three of the final races, which would earn him the 9 points he needed if Cooper Webb finished second in all of them (because the 2025 Championship would then be tied on points and the title would go to the rider with the most wins—which would be Chase Sexton. The fly in Chase’s title hopes was that if he lost one of the final three rounds, Cooper Webb would be in the driver’s seat. Webb’s win in Pittsburgh gave him a 12-point lead in the points total—and 12 points would be hard for Chase to make up with only the two remaining races (Denver and Salt Lake City) — not impossible, but a very long shot.

250 EAST CLASS: Four things happened in the 250 Main event; (1) Point leader Seth Hammaker spun his rear wheel at the start and was buried in heavy traffic. He decided to throw caution to the wind and had a wild and wooly ride through the pack, but eventually moved up to finish 5th. (2) R.J. Hampshire jumped off the side of the track while running third, landing on a tough block, but quickly remounting to end up 4th. (3) Nate Thrasher led the 250 East main event from the start and seemed to be in control, but late in the moto he was caught and pass for the lead by a revitalized Tom Vialle. Nate didn’t give up, but there wasn’t enough time left to get back by Tom Vialle, who won his first race of the season and took the 250 East points lead by 1 point ahead of Seth Hammaker, with R.J Hampshire 3 points out of the lead. (4) The 250 East doesn’t doesn’t race again until the East/West Showdown race in Salt Lake City on May 10.

KTM Still Has Problems

KTM Group Stops Motorcycle Production Due Lack Of Parts!

Although KTM AG recently outlined ambitious plans for the future during a rebooting process unveiled a few weeks ago, progress has not gone as smoothly as anticipated. Just days before a critical vote on the company’s direction, production has once again come to a halt due to a lack of funding.

According to European media sources, particularly GPOne, the core issue stems from supply chain disruptions. KTM relies on third-party suppliers—such as Brembo—for many of its motorcycle components, rather than producing everything in-house. A reported spending freeze is currently preventing the company from purchasing necessary parts, effectively stopping production since they can’t complete assembly without them.

While Pierer Mobility has not issued a press release confirming this situation, the development isn’t entirely surprising. It was already known that KTM’s financial struggles had begun affecting its suppliers, with some pushed into precarious positions themselves. Larger suppliers, such as electronics or tire manufacturers, may be able to weather the storm but are likely demanding guarantees of payment. Smaller, local factories, however, are hit much harder and may not survive KTM’s delayed payments.

Now, GPOne says KTM did indeed start production mid-March, as planned, but that they had to shut the Austrian factory down after making only 4,200 bikes. Considering the plan was to build 230,000 motorcycles this year, they’ve got a lot of catching up to do.

This is bad news, but it only sits as background to even more potentially significant news. While Bajaj (KTM’s largest minority owner, by far) contributed the €150M needed to resume production, KTM AG is still short hundreds of millions of euros. When leadership announced its restructuring plan in February, much of that plan hinged on KTM AG repaying its creditors to the tune of €550M by late May. It does not appear that, at this point, the money has been secured; indeed, the company’s early-April press release indicated half of KTM AG’s share capital had been lost. In other words—investors’ shares were losing their value drastically, and the company needed to raise new money. There will be a general meeting on April 25 (tomorrow) to discuss how this is all worked out, especially as to whether KTM needs funds beyond Bajaj’s €150M (with another €50M also potentially incoming from Bajaj).

This story is far from finished—in fact, even the beginning is still unfolding. In the coming months, it appears increasingly likely that KTM will no longer remain under Austrian ownership. There’s also a strong possibility that a significant portion of production will move away from Mattighofen. Bajaj, which already manufactures a large part of KTM’s lineup in India, could take on even more production responsibilities if it gains greater control of the company.

For consumers, there’s a silver lining: there’s still a healthy supply of 2024 KTM, Husqvarna, and GasGas models available. So, even if 2025 bikes aren’t on the table, finding a brand-new ride this year shouldn’t be a problem. Ever since the company began openly addressing its financial troubles in late 2024, questions about its long-term future have been swirling. Unfortunately, without a crystal ball, it’s impossible to predict what will happen with parts availability, factory support, or other services. Based on our conversations with North American staff, it seems they don’t have many clear answers either. So, make your purchase decisions carefully—but from what I’ve personally seen, there are some excellent deals floating around in the KTM world right now.

Lawrence Bros Back Soon

    

Race Day Live caught up with both Hunter and Jett Lawrence in Pittsburgh, with Hunter confirming their return to racing is marked on the calendar as the 24th of May, the opening round of the Pro Motocross series at Pala.

Hunter said: “We are back racing soon, May 24th, Pala. We have that circled on the calendar and we are excited for it. Long days (prep), it’s like anything, it takes a lot of time, a lot of effort, takes a village to get to where we need to be. We work hard and they work just as hard with us, it’s going to be good.”

Jett said the pain of the rehab on his ACL injury has been real but it will be worth it to be back on track: “A lot of sweat and tears into getting this leg functioning again, trying to build the strength up to be riding a dirt bike with cycling, being in the gym, just doing everything painful that the knee doesn’t want to do, you kind of have to do it! All that pain is going to be worth it to be back racing, with the fans, and get that adrenalin rush again.”

With Jorge Prado and Eli Tomac also coming back from injury, and all being well, Jason Anderson, the Pro Motocross series opener won’t be one to miss with all the big hitters back on the gate!

Webb Builds on His Lead!

Coper Webb is one tough dude.

1. Webb

2. Sexton

3. Cooper

Jorge Prado Motocross Testing

Great Companies Have Great People

It's no secret great companies have great people and for 25 years Ryan has helped make Works Connection great. Jon well done Ryan!

25 years ago @ryno19801 Ryan Burke, answered an ad in the local newspaper for ‘help wanted’ and he was hired on the spot. Ryan started at the bottom and worked his way all the way to GM in 2010. If you’ve ever dealt with Ryan either in person or on the phone, you know he is a stand-up guy and Works Connection wouldn’t be where we’re at without him. Congrats Ryan on your 25th year at WC