More From Vet MXdN 2017

Ricky Talks MXoN

 

Ricky Carmichael interview – MXoN

America’s leading motocross journalist, Eric Johnson sat down with the GOAT, Ricky Carmichael and asked him a bunch of question for RacerXonline (here) Eric was kind enough to let us have these three questions right here, talking about the MXoN and the current crop of GP riders.

Okay RC, everybody wants to hear what the GOAT has been up to. How have things been going with the one and only Ricky Carmichael?

I have a really busy fall coming up and some really fun, exciting events starting with the Motocross of Nations here in a few weeks. I’m really excited to go back. I haven’t been to the Motocross of Nations since 2007—my last race! That was the last Motocross of Nations I’ve been to. I’m really excited about going there and especially to be going to the UK. I love going to that country. It’s always a great time. I’m really excited to see all the fans and to spend face time with them and maybe do some hot laps with [Stefan] Everts for all the fans. That should be pretty fun. I’m ecstatic about that.

The Motocross of Nations and trying to get our guys to line up for that deal. You always went. Even when things weren’t totally going your way, you always went. What do you think?

I was telling somebody this the other day: I remember in 1997, my rookie year, I had a really healthy points lead. I was the dominant guy when it was time to for the Motocross of Nations team to be picked. They ended up not picking me. They took Steve Lamson over myself. In light of everything, that probably was the right decision, but I was pretty butt-hurt about it. It was an honor to go to the Motocross of Nations and to be invited to that race. In my day, if you could win any title and be selected to represent the USA at the Motocross of Nations, I mean that was one of the greatest honors. So, that was always one of my goals. Times have definitely changed. It’s not like that anymore. I’m not exactly sure why. They’re racing the same amount of races that everyone else did when everyone was going. It’s sad to see. It really is. I’m still trying to figure out why it is the way it is. If they have an injury, then they have an injury. I raced the Motocross of Nations in Zolder, Belgium, and we did pretty good. We didn’t win as a team, but it was one of the best races of my life and I had a blown out ACL. You can’t always blame injuries on everything. It doesn’t mean that I don’t respect our racers. I have a tremendous amount of respect for our guys. They’re allowed to make their decisions, you know what I mean? It’s just different times. I’m still looking into why no one wants to do it, other than they just want time off. And why isn’t it an honor to them to be picked?

Last topic. There has been a lot of talk over the past month or so about how Jeffrey Herlings and Antonio Cairoli and a host of other MXGP guys are taking over global motocross and that the American-based guys aren’t as fast as them and are losing speed and … what do you make of all that?

Well, I think the GP guys are really good. I mean, I love watching them. They definitely have a lot of speed right now. They really, really do and it’s cool to see. As far as the debate centering on if the GP riders are better than the US riders? I think they’re all good. I think they’re both good at what they do. I think it totally depends on the situation, you know? Honestly, I just think it depends on the day. I don’t look into it as much as everyone else does. I do know and feel that there are faster guys coming from the GPs now than there was in my day. There were just a few back in my day when I was coming up. However, those few were some of the greats. I mean, Stefan Everts, the guy is a complete legend in his own right. I think there is more of them now and there are faster guys, for sure. It just depends on the day, in my opinion.

Vet MXDN

VMXdN – Saturday Highlights

It was a day of legends at day one of the VMXdN 2017. Take a look at the highlights from the Saturday at the VMXdN at Farleigh Castle. News we have received is that Team Great Britain lead after the two motos.

Neville Bradshaw leading the Brits, winning the two EVO motos from Mike Brown and Kurt Nicoll, then Mike Brown and Brian Wheeler, with the top three scores of each team, counting towards the overall result the Brits look hard to beat.

British legend, Kurt Nicoll won both over 50 EVO races ahead of American Doug Dubach and Australian James Deakin. EMX champion Brad Anderson won both motos of the EVO 500cc class, while former American 125cc champion Mike Brown won both motos of the Twinshock and former American champion and MXoN hero, John Dowd won both motos of the Over 50 Twinshocks

DeSalle Recovering

Clement Desalle on the road to recovery from broken C6 vertebra

Clement Desalle is currently recovering at home from his crash during the opening moto of the penultimate round of the FIM MXGP Motocross World Championship at Assen in the Netherlands last weekend.

Until last weekend the 2017 season had been a good one for Clement Desalle and the Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team as they were in contention for a top three finish in the FIM MXGP World Championship.

Winners of two GPs this season Clement and the team were confident before Assen as the Belgian rider had enjoyed his first GP win with Kawasaki at this track one year ago. But the season ended for Clement with a crash during the first heat, when he landed heavily from one of the biggest jumps of the artificial track built in front of the main grandstand at the famous road race facility.

After several examinations, first at the track and later in Belgium, it has been confirmed that Clement suffered a broken C6 vertebra without displacement; he will need to rest for several weeks to recover but according to the medical experts he will not have any more disturbance from this injury once he has recovered.

Desalle in action through the year

"I’m disappointed as I can’t finish the championship and fight for the top three in the series, but I’m also glad as my doctor confirmed to me that I will have no further trouble with my vertebrae in the future," Desalle said.

"We had a good season with the team as I won two GPs and got some other podiums but the goal was of course to do the entire series; there’s a great atmosphere in the team, we know each other really well and we have reached a high level as we are the leading Japanese brand in the championship. Concerning my injury I feel pretty lucky as it was a big crash; the sand was wet and heavy due to the rain and just before one of the biggest jumps I came in a softer part of the track and lost my balance.

"I went over the bars and hit the ground pretty hard; I had feeling in all my limbs and could move them, but I had a lot of pain in my back. Now I have to rest for a few weeks, which is not easy as I’m used to being very active, but there’s nothing else I can do except accept the situation," the Frenchman concluded.

Red Bull’s best bits of 111 Megawatt

      

Check out the best moments from the 2017 Red Bull 111 Megawatt…some crazy stuff!

Barcia's Next Ride?

2017 Monster Energy Cup | Justin Barcia Racing Privateer Honda

September 16, 2017 By Michael Antonovich

     

These last few weeks have been busy for Justin Barcia. After three years with the JGRMX team, Barcia announced he was parting ways with the North Carolina crew after the 2017 MXGP of USA and that his plans for the immediate future were unclear. After a bit of downtime and a trip to England, Barcia has declared that he will line up for the 2017 Monster Energy Cup aboard a privately funded Honda CRF450R. This is a huge change in pace for Barcia, who spent the majority of his career on Honda equipment and departed the brand to ride for JGRMX in 2015.

Barcia claimed the overall win at the 2012 Monster Energy Cup aboard a Team Honda HRC bike, so he’s no stranger to success at the unique event in Las Vegas.

Barcia’s personal sponsors have a massive impact on his one-race program, as he will receive support from Alpinestars, Monster Energy, SCOTT, Arai as we as a list of new partners. The full list is posted below in Barcia’s announcement message.

Hello Everyone,

Well I have an option or two that I will be looking into for 2018, but for now I am extremely excited to announce my plans for the Monster Energy Cup.

On October 14th I will be riding a privateer Honda. Details are still getting worked out, but so far I am excited and wanted to share the news with the Moto community.

I am extremely appreciative and grateful for all the support that is going into this project and I could not do it without these awesome companies & people:
Alpinestars
Scott
Arai
Monster Energy
Morgantown Powersports for supplying practice bikes
Levi Kilbarger/BONZI
Tim Bennet
TCD Racing for building & prepping the race bike
Twisted Development Motors
Yoshimura
Brian Fleck at Dunlop
Feld Motorsports
The Home Team of Mom & Dad, Amber & Dr. Steve Navarro for all the hard work, phone calls and behind the scenes hustle.

See ya’ll soon, JB51

image: http://cdn.motocross.transworld.net/blogs.dir/441/files/2017/09/2017-Monster-Energy-Cup-Justin-Barcia-Racing-Privateer-Honda_4-600x400.jpg

 

Read more at http://motocross.transworld.net/news/2017-monster-energy-cup-justin-barcia-racing-privateer-honda/#jKS9bBiJ4E0yBDf0.99

MCR's Weimer Hurt

Jake Weimer | Injured While Testing

Series Of Injuries For MCR Rider

We’ve learned that Jake Weimer has suffered a series of injuries after a practice crash. The SmarTop/MotoConcepts/Honda rider went down while practicing at Milestone MX Park and was taken to a nearby hospital with a broken right wrist, broken left scapula, broken left elbow, bruised ribs, a bruised right lung and a collapsed left lung.

This comes just weeks after the announcement that Weimer had signed to the SmarTop/MotoConcepts/Honda team for the 2018 Monster Energy Supercross Series alongside Justin Brayton and Vince Friese.

MXGP France

Herlings win in France

Red Bull KTM Factory rider Jeffrey Herlings has won his sixth overall victory in seven weeks to remain as the man of the moment. The Dutchman went 3-1 in condition that usually don’t suit the sand master. Second overall was Tim Gajser with 1-3 and third Max Anstie with 4-2.

“He (Anstie) took the holeshot and was tough to pass, the last few laps was on the edge, three in a row, could have been six in a row. I want to thank my mum, she does everything for me. Great finish to the season.”

Anstie led the final MXGP moto of the year, as Febvre is stuck in the early going, and out of contention. Herlings second, then Gajser, Tonus, Bobryshev, Van Horebeek, Simpson, Cairoli and Coldenhoff.

After a lap Herlings was all over Anstie, for the lead, and Febvre up to 10^th after a flying first lap. Anstie continued to lead, as Herlings remained close, and Cairoli passed Tonus for fourth place.

After five laps it was Anstie, two seconds ahead of Herlings, then Gajser, Tonus, Cairoli, Bobryshev, Coldenhoff, Febvre, Paulin and Van Horebeek.

Bobryshev into fourth as something went on with Cairoli and Tonus. Herlings all over Anstie as the rain started falling hard, it was tricky with the muddy conditions. Febvre up to seventh place and Paulin passed Coldenhoff. Febvre then passed Cairoli for sixth position.

Bobryshev went down and Febvre up to fourth place, due to the error by the Russian rider. Herlings also down, and so did his overall victory chances.

Herlings suddenly closing quickly on Anstie as the Dutchman wants another MXGP overall victory. Ridiculous how quick Herlings is, back onto the back wheel of Anstie.

Herlings took the lead on lap 15 as he goes for the overall victory, his sixth overall win in seven weeks.

Herlings and Anstie were all over the place as the mud causes everyone problems. Still the remained first and second. Even in these tough conditions, these guys are on it.

Herlings wins it from Anstie and Gajser.

MXGP – Overall Classification

1 84 Herlings, Jeffrey NED KNMV KTM 20 25 45
2 243 Gajser, Tim SLO AMZS HON 25 20 45
3 99 Anstie, Max GBR ACU HUS 18 22 40
4 461 Febvre, Romain FRA FFM YAM 22 18 40
5 21 Paulin, Gautier FRA MCM HUS 16 15 31
6 22 Strijbos, Kevin BEL FMB SUZ 15 13 28
7 4 Tonus, Arnaud SUI FMS YAM 11 16 27
8 89 Van Horebeek, Jeremy BEL FMB YAM 13 14 27
9 259 Coldenhoff, Glenn NED KNMV KTM 14 12 26
10 24 Simpson, Shaun GBR ACU YAM 6 10 16
11 12 Nagl, Maximilian GER DMSB HUS 7 9 16
12 77 Lupino, Alessandro ITA FMI HON 8 8 16
13 7 Leok, Tanel EST EMF HUS 4 11 15
14 999 Goncalves, Rui POR FMP HUS 5 7 12
15 222 Cairoli, Antonio ITA FMI KTM 12 0 12

Covington wins MX2 in France

American Thomas Covington of the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna team has won the Grand Prix of France with 1-2 results, leading home Australian riders Hunter Lawrence and Jed Beaton. Lawrence going 4-1 and Beaton 3-4.

“It’s unbelievable,” Covington said. “Man, I have to thank my team, the bike is awesome this year.”

Covington took the holeshot for the second MX2 moto, then Lawrence, Bogers, Prado, Jacobi, Pootjes, Beaton, Seewer, Lieber and Jonass 10^th.

Bogers took the lead on the second lap, but Covington regained the lead soon after. Bogers then got passed by Lawrence, who then also passed Covington. Bogers also went past Covington, and Seewer also looking for a way past.

After three laps it was Lawrence, Bogers, Seewer, Covington, Beaton, Pootjes, Prado, Jonass, Ostlund and Olsen.

After six laps it was Lawrence with an eight point lead, then Seewer, Covington, Beaton, Bogers, Jonass, Prado, Pootjes, Ostlund, and Olsen 10^th.

Covington was all over Seewer as those two fight for the overall positions. Covington into second and into the overall lead. Lawrence just walking away with the moto, and Covington just ahead of Seewer, with Beaton fourth.

Lawrence won the moto from Covington and Jonass.

MX2 – GP Classification

1 64 Covington, Thomas USA MUL HUS 25 22 47
2 96 Lawrence, Hunter AUS MA SUZ 18 25 43
3 14 Beaton, Jed AUS MA HON 20 18 38
4 91 Seewer, Jeremy SUI FMS SUZ 22 16 38
5 41 Jonass, Pauls LAT LAMSF KTM 16 20 36
6 19 Olsen, Thomas Kjer DEN DMU HUS 14 9 23
7 189 Bogers, Brian NED KNMV KTM 6 15 21
8 61 Prado Garcia, Jorge ESP RFME KTM 7 14 21
9 57 Sanayei, Darian USA AMA KAW 10 10 20
10 161 Östlund, Alvin SWE SVEMO YAM 12 8 20

Positive finish on the cards for Lawrence in MXGP finals

Factory Suzuki rider excited to race in front of 'crazy' French fans.

Youthful Australian Hunter Lawrence is eager to finish off the 2017 MX2 World Championship on a strong note, as he takes on the Villars sous Ecot circuit in France for the very first time in his career.

Lawrence, who is just in his rookie season of world championship racing, currently sits ninth in standings after a challenging round at last weekend’s penultimate stop in The Netherlands.

The Queensland-native mentioned he’s excited to race in front of the French fans, and with a dramatic change in surface from recent rounds, he’s hopeful of gaining an good feeling with the conditions.

“I always like going to a French GP,” Lawrence commented. “I’ve only been to one but it was a cool experience with some crazy fans. The track looks okay, quite hilly, a lot more hard-pack than the one in Assen so I just hope I can get a good result and have a good feeling on the track to end the season performing well.”

The factory Suzuki World MX2 rider has endured many highs and lows in his opening year of MX2, recording two overall podiums at the German and USA rounds, while a back injury suffered in a local German race saw him sidelined for a number of rounds in the middle of the championship.

Following the weekend’s final grand prix, Lawrence is poised to represent Australia at the prestigious Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations, which is slated to be hosted by Matterly Basin in Great Britain, on 1 October.