Stefan Everts - Recovering

Posted on December 17, 2018

Great news came in today from Belgium. The condition of Stefan Everts, who was struck by malaria, is evolving favorably. His condition is no longer critical. That is why it is no longer necessary to sediment the 10 time world champion motocross. 

Everts is still in the intensive care department of the University Hospital in Leuven, where he is closely monitored and where only family members are admitted. About the effects of malaria (the investigations continue) or about the duration of the recovery, nothing can be said at the moment.

MXGP Injury News: Glenn Coldenhoff

Glenn Coldenhoff suffers a big setback

Friday 14, December 2018

The Grand Prix contingent have been rather quiet in recent weeks; riders have been logging countless laps in remote locations to prepare for the upcoming term. Glenn Coldenhoff had been doing exactly that with his new team, Standing Construct KTM, too, but suffered a major setback in training today.

"To avoid some speculation and dramatising, Glenn Coldenhoff had a crash today in Lommel," the Standing Construct KTM outfit declared on social media. "He has compressed vertebrae but has no further complications of it. He also has a fracture in his wrist, which needs no surgery. He will be back soon at his Motocross of Nations speed."

There is no word on a recovery time at this early stage. One would presume that he'll be up against it to return and be at his best by the time that the first round of the 2019 FIM Motocross World Championship, the Grand Prix of Patagonia-Argentina, rolls around on the first weekend in March though.

Lake Havasu WCGP

Blayne Thompson takes us for a ride around the notoriously tough Lake Havasu race track in Arizona during the final WCGP race of 2018. The Chaparral Motorsports, Precision Concepts, Kawasaki Team Green rider was caught out off the start when Zach Bell’s downed his Husky in the first corner. Thompson picked up around 11^th, eventually catching third placed Trevor Stewart. The two pitted on different laps and the Precision Concepts pit crew did a great job getting him out in third position.

A few laps later, Thompson fell in the swampy waters on the edge of the lake with the bike on its handlebars, causing havoc with the controls. With throttle issues, Blayne pushed on back past Stewart and back onto the podium. Thompson’s third place meant third overall in the FMF Big 6 Series having also wrapped up the Heavyweight AA championship on his KX450 with a top-ten finish on Saturday.

“I was feeling really good coming into the weekend thinking I could get a podium or a win out here.” Said Thompson after the Havasu race weekend. “We ended up coming out with a third, so I’m not going to complain about that. I felt like I was riding better than that third, but I had a couple issues and went down, so I can’t complain about anything. 

“I was caught sleeping a little bit [off the start], but came into the corner halfway decent. Then, Zach [Bell] crashed in front of me so I ended up hitting his bike. I tried to pick off people every lap and stay on two wheels.

“Coming into the straightaway next to the lake, the mud was getting really deep. I swapped out and the bike shot me off and I landed on my head. That slowed me down for a good twenty seconds. I had to get the bike off of me, turn it around and get going again. 

“Then, Dalton [Shirey] was pushing me into Trevor [Stewart] big time. When I saw Dalton coming and I had to go because that was third place in the championship right there. If he got around me he would have got third. 

“But I wasn’t going to let that happen so I sent it that last lap and ended up getting Trevor for third.”

Italy To Host 2020 FIM International Six Day Enduro (ISDE)

Parc fermé Chile 2018. Photo: Dario Agrati

The FIM has informed FMI (Italian Motorcycling Federation) that the request by Moto Club Alfieri to organise the ISDE has in 2020 been accepted.

The FIM has informed FMI (Italian Motorcycling Federation) that the request by Moto Club Alfieri to organise the ISDE has been accepted.

The dates are still being defined, but the Six Days will certainly take place between the end of August and the beginning of September, over the Piedmont and Lombardy regions. Moto Club Alfieri will organise the event in collaboration with other FMI clubs, and they are already working to prepare a memorable ISDE. The Six Days will be making its return to Italy (after the 2013 edition in Sardinia) in a territory with a strong Enduro tradition.

Jorge Viegas, FIM President expressed his satisfaction: “Italy has a lot of experience in the organisation of the FIM ISDE, as the country will be hosting the competition for the ninth time since its origin in 1913. Italy’s experience and affection for Enduro is a guarantee of success for the 94th edition!”

Giovanni Copioli, FMI President added: "I am really proud, both as president and as a passionate motorcycle fan, that the FIM ISDE will return to Italy. Six Days is a unique competition because of its history and the challenge between national teams. Furthermore, after the victories in Chile, there is a lot of enthusiasm. Congratulations to the Moto Club Alfieri! We wish to give big encouragement to all the clubs that organise this event. All eyes of the Enduro world will be focused on Italy and there is no doubt that the ISDE will have a great (economic and not only) impact on the areas where the race will be held.”

Franco Gualdi, FMI Enduro Committee Coordinator concluded, added: "In our country there is a lot of passion for Enduro. The organisation of a second edition of the ISDE in Italy within just a few years’ time bears witness to this. Six Days is a great event for hundreds of enthusiastic amateur riders who will surely come to Italy. Moto Club Alfieri and the other clubs have a lot of experience and expertise to organise this big event.”

The Moto Club Alfieri is already hard at work with club President, Giorgio Bandoli, concluding: "We are very proud and excited to organise the 2020 FIM ISDE. In 2015 we had the idea of asking to host the Six Days and now we are already working very hard on it. We are enjoying a great collaboration with other clubs.”

Josh Strang Goes Green In 2019

Josh Strang and his Team Babbitt’s/Monster Energy/Kawasaki Team Green Team.

Josh Strang has signed on with th new Team Babbitt’s/Monster Energy/Kawasaki Team Green that will see the former GNCC champion contest the 2019 GNCC and Full Gas Sprint Enduro Series.

Kawasaki USA will continue it's long and successful racing relationship with Team Babbitt’s Online where they captured eight of the last nine AMA Arenacross Championships from 2010-2018. Joining the team aboard his all-new KX450 motorcycle will be former GNCC XC1 Champion and current Full Gas Sprint Enduro Champion Josh Strang.

“I’m very excited for the opportunity to ride the all-new KX450,” said Strang. “It’s exciting to join a team like Kawasaki, who believe in the potential of my riding and my results. I rode Kawasaki’s in Australia for many years before moving to the U.S. to race, so it’s really gone full circle for me. I can’t wait to get back on a brand that helped start my career and continues to provide support, which is a big part of succeeding," the Australian concluded.

“We have been working hard to put these programs together and re-establish our presence in the off-road segment,” said Team Green Manager Ryan Holliday. “Having the opportunity to continue our successful relationship with Team Babbitt’s Online and be involved with the GNCC series was an easy decision for us. The combination of having a great new KX450 model, experienced riders and the knowledge of our team staff gives us the potential for success right away.”

Team Babbitt’s/Monster Energy/Kawasaki Team Green along with the Team Green trackside support crew will take on the treacherous terrain of the Big Buck GNCC season opener in Union, South Carolina on February 24, 2019.

Cole Seely Returns

Cole Seely is working hard to come back into the AMA Supercross series with confidence and good results, after an injury riddled 2018 seaso. Heading to Torino this weekend for the supercross, the American had done some preperation in California

Cairoli, Reed Challenge Rossi

MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi has claimed his seventh victory in the Monza Rally Show, sweeping all nine stages of the event's 2018 edition.

Valentino Rossi, Carlo Cassina, Ford Fiesta WRC

The result means that Rossi moves two wins clear of Le Mans 24 Hours winner Rinaldo Capello in the rankings of the most successful drivers in the history of the Monza Rally Show – which had also been won by the likes of Sebastien Loeb and Robert Kubica.

The dominant Italian, for who this year marked a fourth consecutive Monza triumph, shared the spoils with M-Sport Ford WRC regular Teemu Suninen on the eighth stage, but was otherwise unmatched throughout the three-day contest.

Rossi was in one of the four current-spec Ford Fiestas that ran in the WRC Plus category and locked out the top four against older-spec WRC machinery.

Suninen, partnered by WRC2 driver Takamoto Katsuta's regular co-driver Marko Salminen, had a big off at the chicane during one of the stages and ultimately ended the rally a minute and seven seconds behind Rossi.

Suzuki MotoGP staffer Roberto Brivio, brother of team boss Davide, took third place, edging out Rossi's long-time right-hand man Uccio Salucci.

Motocross great Antonio Cairoli – a Monza Rally Show regular – led the way among the older WRC cars in fifth place in his Hyundai i20. Fellow motocross star Chad Reed, likewise driving a Hyundai WRC car, was 27th.

Former Audi LMP1 driver Marco Bonanomi, who had been runner-up to Rossi in 2017, piloted an older-spec Fiesta WRC and came up less than a second short of toppling Cairoli.

The new Volkswagen Polo headed the R5 class at the hands of Alessandro Re, who benefitted from a technical infringement penalty assessed against Hyundai driver Luca Rossetti.

Davide Valsecchi, the 2012 GP2 champion, was among the competitors in R5. He wound up 24th in class and 37th overall of 85 finishers.

Rossi also beat Suninen in the WRC Plus class final of the subsequent head-to-head Masters competition - only to lose out in the four-lap super final to the older-spec Hyundai of Cairoli.

Cairoli trailed Rossi after the opening lap, but the motocross ace slashed the gap to 0.28s at halfway point before pulling away to win by half a second.

Stefan Everts introduced into a coma

Motocross legend Stefan Everts introduced into a coma due to a mosquito bite

Famous racer caught malaria 10-time world champion motocross caught malaria in November of this year during a charity event, okongo, and now he’s transferred to a hospital in Belgium. 46-year-old Stefan Everts now leads one of the most challenging races – if not the most difficult. Belgian legend of the world motocross contracted malaria three weeks ago in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where he participated in a charity event “4 hours Lubumbas”. The purpose of the event was to gain support for children in the area in several projects, for example, the construction of the school. Although the Everts spent in the Congo just a few days, it was time to bite the mosquito that carry pathogens, and the rider was taken to a Belgian hospital in Hasselt. The doctors brought the Belgian into a coma to try to stop the progression of the disease, while the condition of legendary racer “very heavy”. The family asked to respect the confidentiality of that Everts was treated in complete peace.

Motul Roof of Africa 2018

To mark the 51st running of this iconic extreme enduro event, the Motul Roof of Africa 2018 saw the introduction of an all-new opening format. The Round the Houses curtain-raiser was transformed from the traditional dash through the streets of the capital city into two laps of a custom-designed prologue at Maseru Mall.
Excitement mounted as the riders then set off for St Anthony’s School near Roma for the 48km time trial. This would see competitors tackle terrain that has not featured in the event for a decade.
This is day 1 from the Motul Roof Of Africa- Mother of Hard Enduro

Taddy wins in Poland

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Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Taddy Blazusiak has won the opening round of the 2019 FIM SuperEnduro World Championship held in Krakow, Poland. Completing an excellent one-two result, FMF KTM Factory Racing’s Cody Webb claimed second overall, just two points behind Blazusiak.

On a dry and fast track at the Tauron Arena in Krakow, Taddy Blazusiak delighted his home fans by taking the overall win at round one of the championship. It wasn’t plain sailing for the six-time champion however as an early fall in the third and final heat left him playing catch-up to the riders ahead.  With his KTM 350 EXC-F blasting off the line, Blazusiak secured the holeshot in heat one. The Polish rider was never challenged for the remainder of the race and after riding eight smooth and consistent laps crossed the line 15 seconds ahead of teammate Webb. Putting in a similar performance in the reverse-grid heat two, Taddy fought his way through the pack early on to win by over five seconds from the second-placed finisher Colton Haaker.  Aiming to take the hat-trick, Taddy fell early in the third heat and was placed dead-last at the beginning of the opening lap. Charging hard, he got his head down and proceeded to pick off the riders ahead of him, ultimately battling his way through to fourth at the line – enough to claim the overall event win and with it the championship lead heading into round two in Germany.  Taddy Blazusiak: “The whole event has been amazing. Race one went perfectly, I was able to get out in front and set my own pace to take the win. Race two was pretty much the same, I had quite a lot of pressure from the guys behind and made a couple of mistakes, but I was able to put in some fast lap times and break the challenge. In the last moto, I got a pretty good start but I got tangled up with some other riders over the first jumps and went down. I picked myself and the bike up and saw I was in last place so I took a couple of seconds to make sure everything was ok and set off again. I was pushing hard and able to overtake the guys in front quite well. I did make a mistake in one rut and washed the front again, luckily I didn’t lose too much time and was happy enough to take fourth. Championship-wise, I’m a little disappointed to lose a few points but I think we’ll all have challenging races over the season. To be leading going into round two feels great.”  With two runner-up finishes and a third-place result, FMF KTM Factory Racing’s Cody Webb enjoyed a strong start to the defence of his 2018 SuperEnduro title. After claiming the SuperPole award, the American rider fought hard throughout the three races with EnduroCross rival Colton Haaker. Despite a couple of mistakes, Webb was able to ride consistently over the three heats to take second overall, just two points behind Blazusiak.  Cody Webb: “I had great fun tonight, it’s always good to race here in Poland. I’m happy with my result, SuperPole and then second overall for the night is good – I just made a few too many mistakes out there. It’s nice to race the first round with no jet-lag but I haven’t been able to get on the bike so much in the last couple of weeks so I was maybe a little timid out there. I know my speed is good and my fitness is nearly there now after my injury earlier in the year. I’m excited for the rest of the season so we’ll see what round two brings in Germany.”  The 2019 FIM SuperEnduro World Championship continues with round two in Riesa, Germany on January 5, 2019.  Results — 2019 FIM SuperEnduro World Championship, Round 1  Prestige Class — Overall  1. Taddy Blazusiak (POL), KTM, 54 points  2. Cody Webb (USA), KTM, 52 pts  3. Colton Haaker (USA), Husqvarna, 49 pts  4. Alfredo Gomez (ESP), Husqvarna, 46 pts  5. Kevin Gallas (DEU), Husqvarna, 28 pts