Lommel

Herlings and Cairoli in Lommel

Surprisingly the rider many say is the best sand rider ever, Jeffrey Herlings has only won in Lommel on two occasions, those in 2011 in the MX2 class, beating home Ken Roczen, and again in the MXGP class in 2017, beating Antonio Cairoli.

Herlings did get a moto win at the 2012 Motocross of Nations but lost the overall to Antonio Cairoli who went 1-1 on that day. It might be added, Herlings has crashed in the first corner of the final moto of the day and came back from last to nearly pass the Italian in the dying stages of the moto, but he couldn’t get it done.

Antonio Cairoli got his first taste of victory at the Lommel circuit, winning in the MX1 class in 2010, and Cairoli again won in the MX1 class in 2011. Lommel disappeared for a couple of years from the GP calendar, first in 2012 when the MXoN was held at the circuit, and again in 2013, when Bastogne held a GP, but when Lommel returned in 2014 Cairoli won again, making it three from three (or four from four if you count the MXoN).

Since 2014 though, Cairoli hasn’t been able to get a GP victory in the deep sand of Lommel, with surprise winners in Shaun Simpson (2015), and Kevin Strijbos (2016), before Herlings won in 2017. 

So as it stands, while Cairoli has four victories at the circuit, he hasn’t won in four years, and Herlings has just the two wins, but is coming off that victory last year. Herlings has also missed the Lommel GP on a number of occasions due to mid-season injuries, and in fact also missed the GP of Bastogne in 2013, due to injury.

So on current form, you would have to go with Herlings to take victory, and make it three wins at the circuit, but history has been kind to Cairoli at this circuit. If the Italian can get a start, and Herlings doesn’t get the start, you can be sure Cairoli will be working hard in the early laps to make a break, and like that 2012 MXoN third moto, will be looking over his shoulder for the Dutchman to come, and you can be sure, if he doesn’t get the start, he will be coming, and fast.

If I was a betting man, of course I will pick Herlings to win this weekend, his 10 GP wins in 2018, and his nearly unbeatable form at the moment makes his a heavy favourite, but we all know that Antonio Cairoli won’t be giving up soon, and legends do things that can surprise us. With his hand now healed, we can see Cairoli trying to make it tough on the Dutchman, and don’t be surprised to see paint swapped as they both fight for not only a Lommel victory, but also the upper-hand in the MXGP championship.

Ray Archer image

Adventure Bike... Really?

Harley-Davidson Developing New, Liquid-Cooled

Models for Adventure

Prototype 2020 Harley-Davidson Pan America

Harley Davidson has announced a big push into new market segments with modular liquid-cooled engines. Sixteen new bikes will utilize the new 60° v-twins in displacements of 500cc, 750cc, 975cc, and 1250cc. These will be DOHC designs, so expect modern, competitive levels of horsepower and torque.

Pictured are a couple of prototypes shown by Harley of a new adventure model called the Pan America, displacing 1250cc, as well as a Streetfighter displacing 975cc. Harley expects these to be introduced as 2020 models.

Harley also emphasized the importance of electric models in its future. Pictured near the bottom of this article is the 2019 LiveWire. An entire “family of products” in the EV category will range all the way down to bicycles.

“Traditional” cruiser models will continue to be developed. Here is a summary from Harley-Davidson of its future plans, followed by a video:

It’s a fast-changing world with new consumer demands. Alongside our existing loyal riders, we will lead the next revolution of two-wheeled freedom to inspire future riders who have yet to even think about the thrill of riding.

Prototype 2020 Harley-Davidson Pan America

New 2019 Fly Race Gear!

The traditional new gear launch for Fly Racing is always the Washougal National. Here is a quick look at the new 2019 Fly gear. For more details go to www.Flyracing.com

Jarvis's Painful Romaniacs Decision

“Deciding to stop was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.”

As the 2017 winner and most successful rider in Red Bull Romaniacs history, Graham Jarvis began the 15th edition aiming for his seventh victory in what had been a vintage year for the experienced Hard Enduro specialist. 

Finishing fourth on the opening day in the mountains (after seventh in the Prologue), Graham was 17 minutes behind the leaders, not happy with his riding and clearly not where he or we expected him to be. 

However, despite citing a lack of energy, the 2018 Erzbergrodeo winner battled through Off Road Day 2 to reach half way in the race seventh, although over 30 minutes down on eventual winner Wade Young on the day. He did maintain fourth overall however and at this point we knew from past experience with Graham things could turn around.

 

Photo Credit: Andrea Belluschi/Future7Media

But Jarvis started the penultimate day still feeling low on energy and clearly fatigued. After reaching the first checkpoint of the day and riding with many possibilities running though his mind, he was forced to withdraw from the race before the midday service point. 

“Deciding to stop was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do but it was the most sensible option to take.” Said Jarvis after the event. 

“I simply had no more energy to continue and knew the safest thing to do was retire from the race. The race this year was tough, one of the toughest for a very long time and right from the off I just wasn’t feeling right. I didn’t get into that groove like I normally do and was struggling in places where I knew I shouldn’t have been.” He explained.

2018 has brought the usual mix of tough challenges for Jarvis but he more than met them with victory at Erzbergrodeo. The most successful rider in Romaniacs history was all set for the challenge against his younger rivals in the 2018 event: “I really wanted to challenge for a seventh Romaniacs win this year but it wasn’t to be. My focus now is to rest and recuperate and get back to full fitness and energy for the rest of the WESS championship.”

 

Photo Credit: Andrea Belluschi/Future7Media

Wade Young Wins 2018 Red Bull Romaniacs

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South African, Wade Young takes record-breaking win as the 2018 Red Bull Romaniacs lives up to its ‘World’s Toughest Hard Enduro Rallye’ billing.

24-year-old Sherco Factory Racing rider Wade Young has entered the record books by winning the 2018 Red Bull Romaniacs. At the end of an epic week-long battle, Young was joined on the podium by closest challenger all week Manuel Lettenbichler. Jonny Walker finished in third and remains the World Enduro Super Series points leader after four of the eight round series.

In a very global Romaniacs results list Austria’s Dieter Rudolf won the Silver category, Brazil’s Gianino Coscarelli claimed victory the Bronze victory and Lithuania’s Mindaugas Simkevicius topped the Iron class. 

 

Photo Credit: Andrea Belluschi/Future7Media

Decisive day four

With just four minutes separating Young and Lettenbichler entering the final day of racing at Red Bull Romaniacs, the outcome was too close to call. 

Young led the field away and pushed hard from the off. But Lettenbichler was making time in the early sections and by the midway point had caught up to Young, bringing Walker with him.

On a technical climb after the service point Lettenbichler found a way past the Sherco rider and suddenly it looked like the fight for victory was weighing in the 20-year-old German’s favour. However, the South African had other ideas and after taking a moment to regroup he made his break with about 20 kilometres to go. 

Pulling clear, Young charged his way into the Gusterita finishing arena and achieved a life-long goal to win Romaniacs: “I can’t believe it, I am over the moon to have won. It’s been such a long race and so tough. Manni caught me early on today. He would gap me on the hills and then I would have to charge on the fast sections to reel him back in. It went like that for the whole day right until the last couple of checkpoints where I was able to break away from him before the finish. It’s always been my goal to win here and now I’ve managed to tick that box. It’s the toughest race in the world and it feels awesome to have won it.”

 

Photo Credit: Robert Lynn/Future7Media

Letti pushes all the way

Ending his participation in the 2018 Red Bull Romaniacs in the best possible way with victory on the final day, Lettenbichler also secured his debut Red Bull Romaniacs’ podium result: “That was so gnarly.” Said Lettenbichler at the finish. “Wade and myself pushed hard today and rode it like a motocross race – a six-hour motocross! I gave my best to try and keep him behind me, but every time I gapped him, he fought back. My strength this year was on the hills — I think that comes down to training, good bike set up and determination. With a podium result at three rounds of the WESS championship things are starting to look good. Jonny has a bit of an advantage, but the gap is reducing.”

 

Photo Credit: Robert Lynn/Future7Media

For Walker, another strong ride saw him cement his position of third overall in the Hard Enduro Rallye. However, with Lettenbichler securing his third top three result this season, he now moves to within 185 points of series leader Walker as they tick off the fourth round in the championship.

“Congratulations to Wade and Manni — those guys were really on it for the whole event.” Walker commented after the podium. “I gave my all today and I’m pleased with the outcome of this race as I had plenty of issues during it. But I kept pushing on and focused on maintaining my lead in WESS. I’m looking forward to the next round — Red Bull 111 Megawatt. I’ve won it three times, so I’ll be pushing for a fourth.”

 

Photo Credit: Andrea Belluschi/Future7Media

Behind the top three, Billy Bolt finished fifth on the final day of racing to end his Red Bull Romaniacs in fourth overall. Building pace throughout the week, a very happy Alfredo Gomez took fourth on Off Road Day 4 to complete the top five in the overall classification.

Just missing out on an overall top five position, Paul Bolton was sixth, while David Cyprian was seventh. South Africa’s Blake Gutzeit was eighth, Mario Roman ninth and Philipp Scholz rounded out the top 10.

The World Enduro Super Series continues with round five at Red Bull 111 Megawatt in Poland on September 8-9.

Results Red Bull Romaniacs, Off Road Day 4:

Gold Class

1. Manuel Lettenbichler (KTM - GER) 4:58:48
2. Wade Young (Sherco - RSA) 5:00:37 
3. Jonny Walker (KTM - GB) 5:06:17 
4. Alfredo Gomez (Husqvarna – ESP) 5:19:23 
5. Billy Bolt (Husqvarna – GB) 5:24:48 
6. David Cyprian (KTM – CZE) 5:56:18 
7. Paul Bolton (KTM – GB) 5:56:31 
8. Blake Gutzeit (Yamaha – RSA) 5:56:45 
9. Mario Roman (Sherco – ESP) 6:01:09 
10. Philipp Scholz (KTM – DEU) 6:17:56

2018 Rattlesnake National Enduro

Josh Toth claimed his first-ever national enduro win at this weekend’s Rattlesnake Enduro, round six of the Kenda AMA National Enduro Series in Cross Fork, Pennsylvania. With the win, the FMF/KTM Factory rider moved into a two-way tie with Steward Baylor for first place in the series

Romaniacs!

Bolt Claims Red Bull Romaniacs Prologue Win

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Billy Bolt claims his first Red Bull Romaniacs Prologue victory ahead of Wade Young and Taddy Blazusiak.

Round four of the World Enduro Super Series got off to an exciting start with teh prologue today where Billy Bolt claimed Gold class honours. With the streets of Sibiu lined with thousands of Enduro fans, three action-packed finals concluded the opening day’s action in mixed weather conditions. Brazilian Gianino Coscarelli claimed the Bronze class victory in the first of the finals, while Austria’s Dieter Rudolf proved the rider to beat in the Silver category.

Setting the fastest time in a wet qualification session, Manuel Lettenbichler was keen to turn that speed into a winning result in the 35-rider Gold class final. However, Bolt had other ideas and immediately took control of the race lead following the Le Mans style start.

 

Photo Credit: Future7Media

With the track heaving with competitors, the British rider kept his cool as he navigated the obstacles with an ease the rest of the field didn’t master. Opening up an ever-increasing lead during the 15-minute final, Bolt lapped the entire field to claim the win. 

“It feels great to get a win in the bag already.” Said Volt after the final. “I know it’s only the beginning of a very long race but it definitely offers a good sense of confidence and motivation heading into the mountains tomorrow. The race was perfect for me — I think I led it from start to finish and lapped every rider. But of course tomorrow will be a different story. With this win I can start as the third rider and then see what happens.”

Behind him however the race was anything but sedate as Young, Blazusiak, Lettenbichler and WESS series’ leader Jonny Walker all battled for the podium positions. With a couple of laps to go, Young pulled clear to claim the runner-up result: “I’m really pleased with second place. I think it’s actually my first time finishing on the podium in the prologue, which is cool to finally get that done. It’s always impossible to know where you are in this race after a couple of laps. I knew I was in a good position and I was riding well but safe. I’m keen for tomorrow, I feel ready for it this year and want to put in a strong ride from the off.”

 

Photo Credit: Future7Media

Blazusiak got the better of Lettenbichler on the final lap to grab third: “I watched the prologue last year and it looked like so much fun so it’s been good to race it. The track rode really well and luckily it stayed dry too. It’s cool to be on the podium but third is a bittersweet position to be in as it means I’ll lead out tomorrow due to the reversed start order of the top three. I don’t have a lot of GPS experience, so with no tracks to follow it’s going to be an interesting start but I’ll give it my best, that’s for sure.”

 

Photo Credit: Future7Media

Jonny Walker completed the top five, with Pol Tarres sixth. Aiming for his seventh Red Bull Romaniacs victory, Graham Jarvis — the 2017 winner — got his week off to a comfortable start with seventh.

With the prologue complete, the starting order for the top three Gold class riders is reversed and will see Blazusiak lead the field out for the opening off road day, with Young second and Bolt third. The first off road day is set to be a challenging one as the competitors face a 160-kilometre ride across the Carpathian Mountains to Petrosani for the first of two overnight bivouacs.

Results - Red Bull Romaniacs Prologue Gold class

1. Billy Bolt (Husqvarna - GB) 11 laps, 17:50.377 
2. Wade Young (Sherco - RSA) 10 laps, 17:56.627 
3. Taddy Blazusiak (KTM - POL) 17:58.377 
4. Manuel Lettenbichler (KTM - GER) 17:59.877 
5. Jonny Walker (KTM - GB) 18:17.127 
6. Pol Tarres (Husqvarna - ESP) 18:34.130 
7. Graham Jarvis (Husqvarna - GB) 18:55.377 
8. Paul Bolton (KTM - GB) 19:04.880 
9. Alfredo Gomez (Husqvarna - ESP) 19:39.130 
10. Blake Gutzeit (Yamaha - RSA) 9 laps, 18:48.377

The IMPI Hard Enduro 2018 - Day 1 Time Trial

The IMPI Hard Enduro, set in the “Tribal Heartlands of Southern Africa”, is looking awesome in this video of the day one time trial at the 2018 event. It makes us want to get out there and ride.

Riders tackled a 25km time trial to determine start position for day two. Those 25kms don't look like a walk in the park mind you!

Ken Roczen interview

Before you can win races, you must first get comfortable with the pace at the front, and with every good start Ken Roczen gets, the more laps he leads and the more comfortable he is becoming with pushing himself at that elite pace at the front. At the 2018 Spring Creek National on Saturday, Kenny got the holeshot in moto one and tried checking out, but when that didn’t work out and he found Eli Tomac breathing down his neck, he never stumbled under the extreme pressure for 20-plus minutes. Eli was eventually—with the help of some oblivious lapped riders—able to get around the #94 about the 25-minute mark of the race and push Kenny back to a 2nd place finish in the opening moto, but it was definitely not due to Kenny’s lack of trying. In the end, Eli’s pace was just too much for anyone to stop.

Ryan Dungey said something on the broadcast about being impressed with Kenny not being afraid to fail, and I could not agree more. A lot of riders when coming back from a lengthy injury layoff will choose to forego the pressure of racing at the front when they know they don’t quite have the race pace and fitness needed to win. Instead, they will choose to race from the back with less pressure until they’re up to speed. That’s not the way Kenny is doing it, and each week he seems closer and closer to finally staying up front and scoring his first win of the year.

In the second moto at Spring Creek both Marvin Musquin and Tomac got away from Kenny, but he was still able to cross the line in 3rd. The 2-3 score on the day gave Kenny his second straight 2nd overall and Redbud and Spring Creek marked the first time all year that he landed on the podium two weekends in a row. He seems to have the consistency part of his comeback worked out. Now it is time to figure out how to win again.

After the racing was over, MotoXAddicts’ Chase Yocom had a quick conversation with Kenny about his Spring Creek National.

Ken, great day for you. Another week of positive improvements and results. You have to be happy with your Spring Creek National. Take us through your day if you can.

Absolutely, I’m pretty happy. This was probably one of the best weekends we’ve had. I was pretty good in practice, and I’m usually pretty far off there. We didn’t do any bike changes. That helped out a lot. Overall, we had a good day. Those guys were going really good. The track was pretty gnarly in the second moto as well. I’m doing what I can. I’ve been getting good starts and we’re—knock on wood—staying off the ground. I’m really enjoying the process, and I feel like once we win again, it will just taste so much sweeter. I definitely had a good weekend. Now we’re going back to California for a week and hitting up the surf. 

That sounds awesome. How much confidence have you been picking up leading the motos and all the laps that you have? In both the first and second moto you kept Eli Tomac behind you for twenty or so minutes.

Right now we’ve been doing a lot of changes to the bike because it wasn’t ideal yet. We want to get better and we especially want to use this year to do that and not next year. Next year we want to go for a championship. It’s good we’re going through all this. Today it was great to not have to doctor around with the bike too much. We’re going to keep it like that and hopefully ride the same bike. Obviously I’m going to California and we usually do some testing there, but we’re going to try to keep the same bike because I was pretty happy today. I’m sure once I ride the same bike over and over, that’s when I’m starting to pick up my speed and do my thing. 

The team came out to Florida and you guys did some testing and you were happy with it. If you made any changes today at all, what were they?

No, we just did a couple clicker changes for the second moto which I thought was good. Other than that, we kept it the same pretty much all day.

I love how you’re just all out there. The surfing, talking fishing for scallops [on social media] and all that. Does that help you out with the moto when you keep it fun and not completely focus on racing?

I mean moto is a big part of my life, but you have to have a life besides that. What a better way to spend an off weekend than to do something different. I’m a big believer in having a balance. 

I’m not going to lie, the scallops looked good too. (laughs)

Yeah, it was great. It’s kind of cool. I’m really into it—whether it’s fishing or even I would like to go hunting. You can catch your own food and it’s fresh. It’s great. I like things like that. 

They talked about you maybe racing Motocross of Nations for Germany in the press conference today and it sounds like you’re really excited to do that. How important is it for you to race that and keep the momentum you have going into the off season?

Oh absolutely, it’s huge! We’ve been having ups and downs, but we had another good weekend. That’s two good weekends in a row. We’ll hopefully keep building and staying the same consistency towards the end of the season. It’s just good to keep some momentum, prep in the off season but also take some down time and also do some racing with des Nations and Monster Cup. It’s always important to have some balance, but obviously I’m still way behind. All the other guys, they’ve been racing for three years straight and I’ve been out for quite a bit. Off season is where we’re going to make it happen, and hopefully we’ll be 100% next year.

The scary thing is, you’re saying you’re way behind, but you’re up there finishing 2nd.

I’m also saying I’m way behind because those guys kept racing and I was out. It’s really hard to catch up. Eli is in his top form right now and he’s been racing for the past few years without getting injured. That helps out big time. 

It’s been a lot of fun watching the crowd support for you. We love having you back too, but seeing the crowd loving having you back is cool. How cool is that?

Oh it’s great. The feedback that I’ve been getting is amazing. They make it all worth it and that’s pretty much why I come back to racing: because they support me the way they do. I usually take a lot of time after both motos to sign a lot of autographs and make them happy.

Yeah, I also see you on the podium too when people are calling your name. You’re always pointing at them and smiling at them. It has to be cool having a rider of your stature acknowledging them like you do.

It’s fun making a kid’s day. I used to be a kid looking up to people. There’s nothing better than getting a high five or a smile thrown at you.

Antonio Cairoli interview

Red Bull KTM Factory rider Antonio Cairoli isn’t about to give up his chase for that elusive 10^th world motocross championship. A qualification race win in Loket and second overall might be great for most, but for Cairoli, it was a step back as he watched his championship rival, Jeffrey Herlings go 1-1 on the Sunday.

Cairoli though is a wise old fox and knows that the next half a dozen rounds will be important for him to put pressure on the young dutchman, and maybe get some GP victories and close the 30-point gap to Herlings.

MXlarge: How was the GP for you Antonio?

Cairoli: It was a difficult week after we found out about my thumb, but Qualification was good on a dry track and it was easier to ride. Today it rained, and I couldn't really find a good rhythm; the track was very bumpy with a lot of ruts and I had a lot of pain, especially in the second moto and after the first fifteen minutes I could barely ride. I was fast behind Jeffrey but when he dropped the times I could not really follow him. Hopefully now we have more time to heal again and be in Lommel with less problems and pain and be able to fight for the win.

MXlarge: How is the hand doing?

Cairoli: It happened of course in Indonesia and my hand was feeling bad and I thought something was wrong. We did an x-ray and we saw the problem. I tried to ride on the Wednesday after Indonesia, but I couldn’t ride, so I rested and did physical training and then we went riding and it was a bad day, because I could hardly ride for 20 minutes. I went to my doctor and he said maybe we can do another scan, and he said let’s check. It wasn’t possible I had nothing, as I had so much pain and the scan took a long time, but we saw from the scan that I had two small fractures from my thumb, and that the capsular is open on my thumb, because I dislocated it. We were not happy in the week, because the hard pack of Loket made it tough. We did some laser for 24 hours, connected to this machine. I felt better on Saturday in Loket, and I took pain killers and I could ride and it wasn’t so bad.

MXLarge: As you mentioned, the track didn’t help your situation and you had to battle with some guys you would rather not battle with?

Cairoli: For sure this track is tough and its better when you are free and riding your own lines, than following somebody and having to change you lines because of other riders. With this pain, coming through the pack is difficult. My goal was to stay in front and be on the podium again. We have a week before Lommel, 10 or 12 days and Lommel isn’t easy, but it is like this.

MXlarge: We are ¾ of the way through the season, and the really important rounds coming up. Are you looking forward to that challenge?

Cairoli: I am really excited for the next rounds. We have ridden a lot of races and the points are close, so anything can happen, and I want to do my best and survive Loket and then in 10 or 15 days the thumb will be better, and I will attack more.

MXLarge: I know it is a long way off, but the final round is in Italy. To win the championship there would be something else?

Cairoli: It would be amazing, I have won a lot of titles, and I won in a championship in Faenza in 2012, but it is always special to win in Italy and I think about this, but my main goal is just race by race and try and be as competitive as before and not ride conservative.