Catch Up - Taylor Robert ISDE Champion

Team USA Wins ISDE

Catching up with Taylor Robert, the man who won the ISDE…

Congratulations Taylor, how does it feel to be ISDE individual and team champion?

Taylor Robert: “It’s wild. It’s huge really. To get both done in the same year is crazy. It’s been such an intense week, I’m happy for myself but also for the team. There’s a lot going on right now!”

How were the stress levels coming into day six?

“Ah man, I was so stressed out, both for the team’s result and myself. It’s so easy for something to go wrong. I was just trying to keep focused and hold everything together.”

What’s it like to be on the winning team?

“Everyone is on cloud nine right now. We’re on a wave of happiness, relief, tiredness and celebration. We’ve had an amazing week. The team rode great all week. Granted we all made mistakes, got banged up bikes and bodies - everyone goes through that in the Six Days. But we never stopped putting out best effort in to get the job done and now finally we’ve won the thing!”

Aside from winning, what's been the highlight of your week in Spain?

“I won day three but I feel like day four was the most pivotal in winning the event outright. I crashed on the first test of the morning and lost a bunch of time. And then I spent the rest of the day trying to recover from that but also managed to gain time on Daniel Sanders too. I went from a two second lead to 26 second lead, which was a big confidence boost for me for sure.”

Did that recovery give you a feeling that you could go on and win the thing?

“Definitely. Once I got through that it changed my mind set and I felt that the end was in sight and I could make it. It was a bit of a game changer for me.”

Now your sixth ISDE, how has Spain compared to the rest?

“It’s probably been the most varied by far. Days one and two were so dry and dusty but then when the rain came conditions were so muddy and slippery. Then things dried out again and were really tacky. There was a big variety for sure. The transfers were fairly simple, easier than world championship stuff, but the enduro tests were really technical.”

Do you feel your year in Europe racing EnduroGP helped at the ISDE?

“Yeah I definitely feel it’s paid off here. I just felt so more in tune with things. But I was a bit bummed on my EnduroGP campaign. I had some highs but some lows too. But it was all added experience for an event like this. The enduro test on days three and four was one of the toughest I’ve ever raced but I knew how to ride it fast and not fall over and that came from EnduroGP.”

History of World Vet Championship

In this episode of Glen Helen's "Feel The Speed" We talk all about the Dubya World Vet Nationals Happening on Nov 5-6, 2016. Guests Tom White and Doug Dubach Talk Edsion Dye Award and the History of the World Vets.

Red Bull.....On The Beach!

New motocross park brings new adventures

Tuesday

Posted at 1:00 PM

               

By Sharon MyersThe Dispatch

Motocross enthusiasts in Davidson County North Carolina now have a new facility to practice or sharpen their biking skill.

Silver Valley MX Park, owned by Cassie and Thad Parrish, opened the first week of October. Thad Parrish said he has been involved in the sport for many years and wanted to open a facility to help all the MX fans in the county.

“I have had a personal track for years,” Parrish said. “I have always had the idea of opening a track for the community, if I could get around to it.”

He said one of the reasons they opened the track is because several people had expressed an interest in the past. Plus, he said there is a lack of decent tracks in the area.

“I think we are filling a void because there is not another track in the area,” Parrish said. “There are a lot of young people around here that ride on a national level.”

Parrish said he designed this track himself, using his past experience to guide him. He said the track is designed to give riders and racers a safe place to improve their riding skills and to build their confidence.

“I have been around MX all my life,” Parrish said. “I designed this course myself, plus I have a logging business, so I’m used to moving dirt around … It is built for professional and amateur riders, so if you can ride a dirt bike, you can ride this course. You can work your way up.”

Silver Valley MX Park is currently only open on Saturdays, weather permitting. Parrish said although it has only been a short time, they have had lots of positive feedback.

“It is going good so far,” Parrish said. “We have had a lot of new riders and haven’t had any negative feedback.”

Parrish said he feels the sport is something that families can do together, but it also give kids a passion and a focus.

“My personal opinion is it takes young people and gets them interested in something,” Parrish said. “It keeps them busy and gives them something that can help them later in life … I have always enjoyed the family oriented atmosphere and plus it’s good for you.”

Silver Valley MX Park is located at 502 Hill Road. Hours of operation are Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The yearly membership fee is $20. Members receive $10 off of the daily riding fee, which is $35 for non-members.

All riders and spectators 18 years of age or older must sign a waiver at each visit. All riders and spectators under the age of 18 years old must have a parent or guardian present to sign this document on their behalf at each visit. If a minor is present without a parent or guardian, then they must bring in a notarized copy of this document signed by their parent or legal guardian.

For more information, check out their webpage at www.svmxpark.com or Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/svmxpark/?fref=ts

BAJA RALLY

 Day 6 - Special Stage Four

The BAJA RALLY's Special Stage Four has come to an end at even faster speeds than we've seen all week! Competitors slipped and slid through silty laid tracks and others carved out their own.
But all those who finished felt accomplished for they agreed with Lawrence Hacking that the #BajaRally is tough, diverse and proper training for the Dakar Rally.

Day 6 - Video Highlights - FIM ISDE

Ryan Dungey Is Rested and Ready for Battle

The 2016 SX champ talks SMX Cup win, Straight Rhythm and reflection during his recent time off.

Dungey and Stewart face off at Straight Rhythm © Chris Tedesco/Red Bull Content Pool 

By Eli Moore on 12 October 2016

Ryan Dungey has spent his professional career at the top of the sport. Plucked from the amateur ranks by the legendary racer-turned-team-manager Roger DeCoster, Dungey immediately excelled as a pro via an incredible work ethic and desire to win. Throughout the span of his decade-long career, Dungey has been the mark of consistency in American motocross, but in 2016 succumbed to a neck injury that pulled him out of the AMA Pro Motocross Championship in the midst of his battle with eventual champ Ken Roczen. Finally, Dungey is back, and ready to prove that his summer off did nothing to quell his incredible speed and race ability.

 

Ryan Dungey © Chris Tedesco/Red Bull Content Pool 

Red Bull: Ryan you just got back from SMX in Germany, which was your first race back after your injury, how was it?

Ryan Dungey: It was good. It was my first race back from injury and thankfully I’m 100-percent healthy. I lost a little bit of fitness but once I was able to get back on the bike and build up the physical side of things, everything came back nicely — then we started to hit some Supercross riding. It had been about four months since I had been on the gate, so there was a little bit of adrenaline and the nerves were a little jumpy, but we were able to calm down and get back in a good groove. We were able to bring home the first-ever Manufacturers Cup for KTM with Marvin [Musquin] and [Jeffrey] Herlings so it was definitely a great weekend. With it being the first race back, to have some success was a lot of fun and we’ll keep building from here. 

Straight Rhythm is such a different beast, what’s the strategy like on race day compared to a normal Supercross?

There’s a couple of things that are unique about it, one of those being that there are no turns, just a bunch of rhythm. Which is fun, but it doesn’t make it easy; it’s almost more difficult than your normal Supercross as far as just getting the rhythm down and making no mistakes. Getting through everything smooth, fast and efficiently is the key. The other thing that makes it unique is that you’re not racing against 20 guys at one time, it’s just you and one other guy and you win or you lose, so it’s pretty simple. It’s almost a little higher pressure because you know you have to hit everything just right. You can’t afford a hiccup because once you make that mistake because it's such a close race and you’ve only got a half mile to make it back up. It’s definitely fun to switch things up a bit, get out of the racing we’re used to and come into more of a drag race type of event.

James Stewart and Ryan Dungey give congrats © Chris Tedesco/Red Bull Content Pool 

Any expectations going into the event?

You know, not really. You definitely don’t go there to get second by any means — you want to win, but just to be there and see the fans and how much they get into it, it’s really great. I think with all the riders and the fans that attend the event, it’s not such a high-pressure situation; it’s more of a fun event. It’s definitely cool of Red Bull to think of these types of things, we have such a long racing career and it allows us to have some fun.

Ryan Dungey and Ken Roczen © Chris Tedesco 

You got some time off this summer, which was the first time you’ve really had that in your career. Has that affected you heading into 2017?

Absolutely I mean with racing and the seasons, you’re racing eight months out of the year. You know a lot of people think you get four months off in the offseason, but what they don’t know is we only get about a month off from riding, which is a good bit, but there’s so much preparation that comes with racing that we’re back on the bike in October hitting it pretty hard to get ready for the new season. So with this injury I was able to get a couple months off, which obviously wasn’t ideal but I think that in any situation you can look at the positives — I was able to rest up my injury and get some rest mentally. On the physical side, obviously I was a little bit out of shape, but with taking the time off your body is more fresh and it’s able to adapt a little better [to training] because of that, so that has been nice

The time off for sure makes you more hungry to get back to racing. You get to kind of sit and reflect, and really see the other side of life and what it would be like if you didn’t race. I think at times you miss certain things in life and you don’t realize that what you think it would be like and what it really is like are two different things and for me to be able to see that side of things was great. You know you look at something down the road and you think "If I could just do it this way it would be perfect," but then you’ve got to realize you’re going to still have problems in life and you’re going to have to deal with those situations. So it was good for me to see that side of things to help me really appreciate where I’m at now and get back to it to get ready for a new season and the challenges that lie ahead. I’m definitely looking forward to it.

2016 Big 6 Series - Ridgecrest GP

Presented by Viewfinders MC in Ridgecrest, CA October 1-2, 2016. Filmed and edited by Beau Cottington, video made possible by MSR, GPR Stabilizer, and Maxxis tires. For more info on the series visit www.big6racing.com and for more videos visit www.beaucottington.com

Skills | Two-Strokes to Four-Strokes

Sean Collier Breaks Down The Transition

October 12, 2016 By Mike Emery

 

Photo by Casey Davis

It is pretty obvious that the sport of motocross has evolved way past the two-stroke era, and racing at the highest professional levels will continue to be four-stroke motorcycles. This doesn’t change the fact that there are still two-strokes being raced and ridden globally, all the way down to the grassroots amateur level. The reality is most kids learn how to ride and race aboard 50cc, 60cc, 80cc, and 125cc two-stroke machines before jumping to the next competitive level bike, a 250cc four-stroke. There is certainly a transition period for anyone that must go back and forth between the styles of engine and their inherited handling characteristics.

While filming our video last year, aptly named Transworld Motocross Premix, we did a segment with a talented rider named Sean Collier who has gathered a cult following based on his ability to muscle around his KX500 with ease. Sean also sometimes lines up for select Lucas Oil Pro Motocross nationals for fun, competing at the highest level aboard a KX450, so transitioning back and forth from a two to four-stroke quite often is something the friendly Californian is very used to. Sean even raced both the 450 class and the 2015 FMF Two-Stroke National Challenge on the same day at the Glen Helen national a couple years back. It’s safe to say the guy knows a thing or two about transitioning back and fourth between the two different types of machines, and let us in on a few tips to consider when making the switch back and forth.

Power Delivery: Naturally moving to a four-stoke, the biggest thing you would notice first is the power delivery. The power is a lot more usable, you have a lot more traction out of the hole, and it also feels like it has a lot more power initially, especially when you are coming straight off a two stroke. Two-strokes don’t have as much hit, but the way it’s delivered can sometimes be more violent so controlling traction and the rear end can be more difficult on a two-stroke. The way the four-strokes deliver the power is like a tractor, lots of torque. You need to remember how to deliver the power on each type of bike.

Shifting Points: A two-stroke doesn’t have that torque that a four-stroke has, so it’s really critical to be shifting and stay in the right gear at the right time. If you go into a corner in too high of a gear on a four stroke you can be alright and the bike is going to still want to pull through it, with a little bit of clutch and a raise of the RPM’s. On a two-stroke if you go into a corner in too high of a gear it’s just gonna bog. You have to be in the right gear!

Engine Braking: Engine braking is the biggest difference. There’s really not any engine braking on a two-stroke, it’s minimal. You are going to be over taxing the brakes more on a two-stroke if you aren’t riding the bike properly. You have to learn to carry your momentum into a corner with a two-stroke, rather than race from point A to point B. With a four-stroke you can really utilize the engine breaking when entering a corner to help slow you down, and that is a lot different.

When Jumping: When you’re on a four-stroke, it is going to have that feeling where it wants to throw you over the front a little bit more, where with the two-stroke it’s a little bit more of a free feeling due to not having engine braking, and it’s not going to have that same inertia as the four-stroke. You definitely have to adjust your position on the bike accordingly and prepare for that.

Modern Technology: The first time I went to ride my 500, I brought it to my buddy’s track and it was in a little higher elevation. It literally wouldn’t even run, and I was so bummed. So on a two-stroke you have to get the bike dialed in and jetted properly, and I find that part pretty fun. When you get to a track on a four-stroke everything is self-adjusting, and that kind of took that away now without the carburetors. So if you are getting on a two stroke you may have to re-acclimate yourself to that quickly, getting the bike set up properly, especially if you are in elevation.

Don’t Forget The Premix: I was like twelve years old or so, and this is the first and only time I ever did this. I had about an eighth of a tank left, and my buddy had some random fuel laying around with no oil in it, and I just threw that in the bike. I ended up riding it for the rest of the day and went through that entire tank. When I got home and told pops what happened, he was obviously worried that I damaged the bike. Surprisingly after tearing it down there was minimal damage! So obviously that’s critical, make sure your gas is mixed up for the two-stroke or you’re screwed!

Reprint ffrom Tranworld MX

Weston Beach Race 2016

Is this the gnarliest dirt bike race on earth? With 800+ riders, a 6 mile course, huge sand dunes and one long ass straight the RHL Weston Beach Race might well be the toughest off road race there is. We were there for the 2016 edition of the legendary event to catch all the action. Check out superstars such as Jonny Walker, Robbie Maddison, MotoGP's Scott Reddding and 4 time world champ Dave Thorpe hit the beach!