Jett Lawrence

Interview: Jett Lawrence

Lewis PhillipsJanuary 8, 20220

It’s been an eventful week in the world of Monster Energy Supercross, as injuries have forced late changes to the 250SX West entry list for Anaheim 1. Jett Lawrence was one of those casualties, sadly, as a crash on December 27 left him with a fractured rib. Jett was lucky to escape with a relatively small injury, but it was still far too painful for him to ride and thus Hunter Lawrence was drafted in for the opening round at Angel Stadium.

Jett and Hunter were both in Southern California on Wednesday evening, as a pre-race press conference was held for the duo at the South Coast Plaza mall in Costa Mesa. It was a revolutionary event and one that opened eyes as to how much more could be done in the sport. The event also provided MX Vice with a chance to talk to Jett about his crash, injury and just how close he came to trying to racer at Anaheim 1.

“It sucked. I was feeling really good and very, very excited for the west coast,” Jett told MX Vice. “I just made a slight mistake and it ended up costing me, which sucked. Thankfully, I came away with just a fractured rib like you said. Very lucky with that. I get to have another second chance. Luckily, I have east coast to go to. Not like 450s where it is like, ‘Come on you have to suck it up and still go.’ It sucks, but it has kind of worked out a little bit.

“Monday was kind of the tell. I rode and tried to see if I could push through it. I still had a sharp pain. If it was not for the sharp pain, then I think I would be okay. The bone has kind of healed – it is more muscle now. I still had enough of a sharp pain where I could barely ride. I was so gutted.”

Let the Games Begin

2022 Dakar Rally Results: stage 6 cancelled after 100km – Sanders wins

07 January 2022 | Rally

Results from stage six of the 2022 Dakar Rally where tougher than usual riding conditions caused its cancelation – Daniel Sanders didn’t agree but won anyway taking a GASGAS one-two ahead of race leader Sam Sunderland.

Dakar Stage 6 in a nutshell:

• The switcharoo game played out by the organisers between the bikes and four-wheelers these last two days didn’t quite go to plan today. Competitors on two and four wheels separated for two stages, the bikes running yesterday’s car route today and vice versa.
• But after all the four-wheelers had ploughed the route and because of wet conditions (in places, our images don’t do it justice), it made heavy going for the bikes, dangerous some said, and the 400km special was cut to 100km.
• The official statement from race direction reads: “The bike and quad race was stopped at the first NEU (neutralised zone and fuel point). The degradation of the track due to the passage of cars and trucks yesterday, on the top of recent heavy rains made the course impassable.”
• Not everyone agreed with the decision, stage winner Daniel Sanders being one: “For me, there was no problem with the terrain. We’ve done many races like this…They [other riders] rang the officials and complained and they called it.”
• If you’ve ridden any muddy off-road event, Romaniacs or a Scandinavian winter enduro for example, these decisions seem hard to grasp. But these bikes are bigger, faster and the logistics of time and safety have to be taken into account. 
• Sanders was fastest out the blocks, those enduro skills helping when the going got tough and he bagged the stage six win. Whether he wanted a picnic today or not.
• The winning margin was 2:26 over Sam Sunderland with Matthias Walkner a further 10 seconds back in third.
• The early stop and the stage conditions meant the times were remarkably close – just seconds separated each rider right down the running order, not just the top 30.
• Danilo Petrucci got a rude awakening after yesterday’s historic stage win. First away means no-one in front and just some scribbly marks on a piece of paper to follow on this technically more demanding stage. Danilo had a minor tip-off three minutes into the stage and was quickly gobbled up by the following pack.
• The stage win moves Sanders past Adrien Van Beveren to third in the general classification, five minutes behind Sam Sunderland who leads with KTM’s Matthias Walkner sandwiched between the GASGAS boys ahead of tomorrow’s rest day.
• It was a disappointing end to week one for Ross Branch who also crashed early and injured himself. The Yamaha pilot DNFs his second Dakar on the factory Yamaha.

Feel the need for more stage six analysis? Read our daily Dakar notebook: 2022 Dakar Rally Notebook: stage six – should they have cancelled it? 

Brett Cue 2-Stroke at Nona’s Nightmare - 2022 YZ250

Musquin New Approach

Program for 2022 ‘completely different’ says Musquin

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Frenchman enters new season motivated and pressure-free.

 

Image: Supplied.

Marvin Musquin enters 2022 revitalized by a ‘completely different program’ led by David Vuillemin heading into the Monster Energy Supercross Championship.

Musquin, 32, has experienced success in off-season events in years past, the 2022 pre-season being no different as he was crowned the ‘King of Paris’ when he clean swept the 2021 edition in France.

However, with a multitude of accolades achieved at these one-off events, the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider is still chasing an elusive 450SX crown, a revolutionized approach heading into this season potentially the key to achieving such.

“This year is a lot different, my program is completely different, I decided to stay here in California and have DV with me at the practice track,” Musquin detailed, now on a Supercross-only arrangement with KTM riding the all-new 450 SX-F Factory Edition.

“I tried that in the past, in 2019 to have him with me but it didn’t really fit the program with Aldon [Baker], so this year was a lot different and I really wanted to work with him out on the track, and I knew it was going to be different and fun.

“He made me do different tracks on the actual track and like different rhythm sections and working on the whoops and stuff, that’s exactly what I wanted and it worked so I’m excited about it.

“But definitely the expectations, I have no idea but I want to do good, there’s so many good guys and I like it like this. There’s actually no pressure but I’m glad to be here with Red Bull KTM and we will see how it goes Saturday. It’s definitely a new program that brings motivation and more fun and more freedom going into the championship.”

Musquin started and finished the 2021 450SX championship strongly – a podium at Houston’s opener and a victory at round 16 at Salt Lake City – but suffered in the mid-season, crashing in the heat race at Arlington 1, forced to miss Arlington 2 before a tweaked wrist hampered his return at Arlington 3.

The is no doubting Musquin’s speed, and if the fresh program is the key to unlocking consistently throughout the season then he could be a real threat for the 450SX title when the 2022 Monster Energy Supercross championship kicks off this Saturday in Anaheim, CA.

DAKAR STAGE 5: HOWES OUT!

 Stage 5 was a day of mixed fortunes, particularly for the American riders. Skyler Howes suffered a crash towards the end of the 346-kilometer special. Although able to finish as the ninth fastest rider, he was then taken to hospital for medical checks. Reportedly, he didn’t even remember the crash, so medical officials decided not to let him continue. Ricky Brabec, on the other hand, had a great day, finishing fourth on time and moving up the overall standings. Likewise Mason Klein and Andrew Short had excellent days.

The fastest man at the finish seemed to be Toby Price. He was subsequently penalized 6 minutes for speeding, which gave the stage win to Danilo Petrucci, the MotoGP star who is in his rookie Dakar Rally. Petrucci suffered a fuel pump failure earlier in the rally, and incurred a massive penalty, which took him out of the overall standings. Sam Sunderland continues to run a tactically brilliant race, finishing outside the top 10 but remaining in the lead overall.

Today was the first of the two looping routes in Riyadh where – for the first time in Dakar history – the motorcycle riders rode the entire stage completely autonomously from the car and truck categories. The fifth stage of the rally was battled out over a 346-kilometer special stage, covering hard and stony ground and including, towards the end of the day, a 50-kilometer stretch of dunes.

Ricky Brabec was fourth fastest today as he slowly climbs his way back to contention.

Ricky Brabec: “One day before the rest day. It was a good day. We started off a little bit slow this morning. We were a little bit cold. The navigation was really tricky in the morning. Not super tricky as far as technical goes, but a lot of quick notes and a lot of quick turns. We really didn’t start picking up the speed until kilometer 60. For me, to get going this morning was a little bit tough but I managed OK and made it to refueling. After refueling it started to open back up. There was a sandstorm. It was wild; you couldn’t see much. One more day to rest day. We’ll keep on fighting to the end.”

Andrew Short, stage 5

 

Andrew Short: “Stage five was pretty good for me although it took a while for me to really get going. The early part of the stage was tricky, some roads and rocky sections, but when it opened out into sand dunes it was pretty awesome. I felt better as the stage progressed and overall, I’m really enjoying my time here. The bike is running great so if I can continue like I am throughout the rest of the rally with these good results then I’ll be happy.”

Mason Klein: “I finished kind of right where I wanted to today still in the top ten but not on the podium. Trying to figure out these Dakar games and get out of the Yo-Yo everyone always talks about. I want to finish top ten every day not on the podium 1 day and the next day
not. Can’t wait for tomorrow.”

RIP Kenny Clark

RIP Former Yamaha Racing Manager Kenny Clarke-Road Racing World Magazine

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© 2022, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc. By Don Emde.

We apologize for the bad news that former US Yamaha Racing Manager Kenny Clarke has died. His daughter Kim confirmed to me that he died at his home in Idaho in the last week of December. In addition to the sadness of losing a longtime friend to many of us, especially the people of the Yamaha world, as president of the Trail Blazers Club, we planned to honor him at a banquet in April. .. Hall of Fame.

His list of achievements on motorcycles is long. He raced at the professional level for some time in the 1960s, but then found a sports niche as a manager and organizer for both marketing and racing programs.

In his early days, he worked with Dick Mann and others to develop and create the legendary Yankee motorcycle.

In the early 1970s, he joined Yamaha and led a factory-level motocross team led by Perre Karsmakers. Immediately after Yamaha won the national title at both 250cc and 500cc levels.

He left Yamaha for several years in the mid-1970s to help Carroll Shelby develop a line of cast motorcycle wheels.

In 1977 Yamaha persuaded him to return to run the entire US racing program. From 1977 to 1989 he led Yamaha to 21 national championships.

In 1978, thanks to Clark’s support and others, Kenny Roberts went to Europe to compete in the World Grand Prix Championship and won three world titles in his career. Under Clark’s leadership, a total of 14 FIM World Championships have been achieved.

In addition to Kenny Roberts’ 1978 World Road Race title, Yamaha dominated the United States in both motocross and supercross with Bob Hanna, Rick Burgett and Broc Glover during the same season.

One of America’s most successful racing managers is gone, but it’s not forgotten. Just as it was shortly after the death of the prestigious Steve Johnson last year, the Trail Blazers will continue its plans to honor Kenny Clarke at the 77th annual banquet in Carson on April 2.

God Speed, Kenny Clarke.

https://www.roadracingworld.com/news/r-i-p-former-yamaha-racing-manager-kenny-clark/ RIP Former Yamaha Racing Manager Kenny Clarke-Road Racing World Magazine

Upcoming 450SX season the last for Brayton full-time

Part-time schedule being considered to achieve 200-race target.

Image: Octopi Media.

With the start of the 2022 Monster Energy Supercross Championship less than two days away, Justin Brayton has confirmed that the upcoming 450SX season will be his last full-time.

The SmarTop Bullfrog Spas MotoConcepts Honda rider enters his 20th year as a professional, making the switch from the Muc-off Honda team for his final year of competition.

Brayton, now 36, has enjoyed a successful career, a highlight winning the 2018 Daytona 450SX and becoming the oldest racer to win a main event at 34, also achieving a multitude of podiums at the highest level of competition and four Australian Supercross Championships.

“This is it for sure – this is it for full-time racing,” Brayton confirmed this week. “It’s really hard to say those words, but this is my last full-time preparing all off-season, doing all 17 races.

“I can’t say that I might not come back for a few, there is one thing that I have been thinking about, and that is if I do all 17 this year I will be six away from 200 starts, so maybe I pick six the following year, but for sure it’s my last full-time season and I just think it’s time.

“I just want it to end on a good note and I don’t want it to end bad, most things end because they go so badly and I don’t want it to go bad and have to end. I’m on a great team, great motorcycle and still feel like I can compete at the highest level and to go out with a bang and maybe a couple of podiums would be awesome.”

Brayton’s 2021 championship was brought to a premature end following a mechanical issue that caused him to crash at Arlington, with 2021 providing the seasoned contender with the chance to farewell full-time racing on his own terms.

“To come back, I’ve pretty much done everything I’ve wanted to do, a lot of people know my story… I never thought I would qualify for a Supercross main, let alone win one,” he added. “So I just want to go out really on my terms and hopefully not crashing on the track, having a solid season and having my family a part of it is the main thing.”

JUSTIN COOPER INJURED OUT FOR 2022 SUPERCROSS: SURGERY REQUIRED

Racer X has learned that 2021 Western Regional AMA 250 Supercross Champion Justin Cooper suffered a broken foot this week, which will not only prevent him from lining up to defend his #1W this Saturday in Anaheim, but also might push him out of supercross for the '22 season completely. It's difficult to get a complete timetable on the injury, but sources say it would be unlikely that Cooper would be ready to go even for the Eastern opener, which begins February 19 in Minneapolis.

The AMA rulebook indicates Cooper would only have one final year of 250 eligibility to defend his title, and then he would have to move to the 450 class. However, we're not sure how the rules would work if he doesn't get to line up for any races at all this year.

Interestingly enough, Cooper's Monster Energy/Star Yamaha Racing team has entered Colt Nichols into this weekend's Anaheim 1 opener for the West. Nichols is the defending 250SX Eastern Champion.

Jett Lawrence Out for SX

Team Honda HRC rider Jett Lawrence sustained a cracked rib on his left side in a crash while training at The Compound in Florida on December 27. The Australian was diagnosed the following day at B3 Medical in Tampa, Florida, and after taking a week off, he still wasn’t 100 percent when he tried riding in California on January 3. With the Anaheim 1 250SX West Region opener set to take place this Saturday, the team has decided to have Jett and teammate/brother Hunter Lawrence trade regions.

Last year, Jett finished third in AMA Supercross 250SX East and won the AMA Pro Motocross 250 National Championship, while Hunter was a solid second in 250SX West and third outdoors. This season, the plan had been for the brothers to trade Supercross regions, but with Hunter going well in testing and currently in full health, he will be in action at Anaheim 1. Meanwhile, Jett will take a couple of weeks off before resuming training in preparation for the East Region opener February 19 in Minneapolis.

“It’s a bummer, but at the end of the day, it could have been much worse,” Jett said. “If it was necessary, I might even have been able to race at A1, but waiting for the East Coast races is obviously the smarter choice. I’ll focus on healing up and getting ready for Minneapolis, and in the meantime, I know Hunter will do great in the West.”

“I’m pumped to be able to start racing sooner than expected,” Hunter said. “Honestly, I was already getting impatient to race, so although I’m obviously bummed for my brother, I was kind of excited when the decision was made for me to move to the West Coast races. Hopefully we can both come out on top.”