Sunday
Oct062024
More Team Australia
Sunday, October 6, 2024 at 12:10PM Team Australia captures historic first MXoN victory in 2024
Team USA's Tomac, Webb and Plessinger P2 at Matterley Basin.
Sunday, October 6, 2024 at 12:10PM Sunday
Oct062024
Jett Leads Australia to MXoN Victory!
Sunday, October 6, 2024 at 10:21AM 
The greatest Australian rider of all-time and (in my opinion) the future GOAT of our sport, Jett Lawrence, has led Team Australia to their first victory in the 40-year challenge by the Aussies for this prestigious event.
All the way back in 1984 team Australia contested their first MXoN and finished in the B-final, but today, at Matterley Basin in England, Jett Lawrence went 1-2 and placed himself as probably the fastest man on the planet, while also holding the Chamberlain Trophy.
Along with brother Hunter and young MX2 rider, Kyle Webster, Australia created history and the huge tour group from down under, with the tour guides, Stephen Gall, who first rode for Australia in that 1984 event and one of the Aussies best ever, Jeff Leisk, celebrated as the green and gold captured the greatest prize in the sport.
Hunter Lawrence: Sounds good, happy to hear you say it twice (that they are the champions), Jett is a freak, we all know that. Shitty weather, but what a great day. Good weekend, but I cannot think about my weekend and thanks for everyone who fund raiser and so pumped to get a gold plate for Australia, first time ever.
Jett Lawrence: It was good the first one cruisy and the second not as good a start and I got around Tim, but he got me on the last corner, like I got him last year.
Also a sensational performance from five time World motocross champion Tim Gajser, who went 1-1 to win the MXGP class and set himself up for 2025. Whatever happens, the AMA and FIM riders are so close in speed at the moment, it makes for some exciting events in the coming years.
In the MX2 class it was World MX2 champion, Kay De Wolf who won the MX2 class and showed that he would be hard to beat wherever he decides to race.
MXGP/Open Moto
Tomac the holeshot ahead of Seewer, Hunter Lawrence, Gajser, Prado, Roczen, Herlings, Febvre, Jett Lawrence in ninth and then Lopes 10th. Coldenhoff and Fernandez crashed and suddenly it Prado with the lead, but Tomac stole it back. Prado back into the lead, but Tomac tries to repass. Gajser all over Hunter Lawrence and did a pass. Jett Lawrence still in eight and Herlings just ahead of him, and Herlings passed Seewer.
Top ten on lap one was Prado, Tomac, Gajser, Hunter Lawrence, Roczen, Herlings, Seewer, Jett Lawrence, Febvre and Forato. Hunter Lawrence back past Gajser and Jett Lawrence beautiful as he moved into sixth and passed Herlings and Roczen. The Aussies looking good as Plessinger is in 12th and Coldenhoff way back outside the top twenty in 27th.
Tomac still all over Prado and into the lead and Gajser back past Hunter Lawrence as Jett Lawrence. The Lawrence brothers are leading Australia to their first ever Chamberlain trophy. Lap two it was Tomac, Prado, Gajser, Lawrence, Lawrence, Roczen, Herlings, Febvre, Seewer and Forato.
Herlings into sixth place as he passed Roczen and on lap three it was Tomac, Prado, Gajser, Hunter Lawrence, Jett Lawrence, Herlings, Febvre, Roczen, Seewer and Renaux. Tomac held a 2.6 second lead over Prado and Gajser and Lawrence all over Prado and both passed and Jett also closing up on the Spaniard.
Herlings 11 seconds off the lead and just not showing his speed. Having raced every single weekend for the last six months, is the Dutchman just burned out? USA 1-11, Australia 4-5, The Netherlands 6-26 and France 7-10. Hunter Lawrence moved past Prado and Jett about to do the same. The Aussies are going to win this, for the first time ever.
Jett a beautiful pass on Prado and the AMA boys are all moving forward. MXGP and AMA has never been this close. Lap five its Tomac, Gajser, Hunter Lawrence, Jett Lawrence, Prado, Herlings, Febvre, Roczen, Seewer and Renaux. Gajser holding up the honour of MXGP as he is circled by AMA riders. Gajser all over Tomac and the five time World champion looking very calm behind the American.
Gajser into the lead and the Slovenian showing he might just be the fastest man at this event, but Tomac pushed him aside and retook the lead, while Gajser not giving up either. They are five and six seconds ahead of the Lawrence brothers, but the Aussies know they just need to finish where they are to win the event. Gajser back into the lead, but this racing is first class and then some.
Top ten on lap eight was Gajser, Tomac, Jett Lawrence, Hunter Lawrence, Herlings, Prado, Febvre, Roczen, Seewer and Renaux. Plessinger 11th, Mewse 15th, Fernandez 16th, Coldenhoff 18th. Herlings into fifth as he passed Prado and onto Hunter Lawrence. Ten minutes to go and this is usually when Herlings goes, but he is 13 seconds back.
Jett Lawrence all over Tomac and the Aussie is flying and looking to call himself the fastest man on the planet. Lawrence into second and now going after Gajser, who isn’t that far ahead, just two seconds. Lap 11 and it was Gajser, Jett Lawrence, Tomac, Hunter Lawrence, Herlings, Febvre, Seewer, Prado, Renaux and Forato, with Plessinger 11th and Roczen 12th.
Jett Lawrence right up on Gajser and the Slovenian made a huge mistake, but kept the lead, but Lawrence is looking to pass. Prado a mistake and back down in 13th place and his brilliant season ended badly. Renaux also crashed and dropped to 11th. Jett Lawrence pushing hard, hardly needed, but don’t we love him for this type of charge.
Three laps remaining and the top ten was Gajser, Jett Lawrence, Tomac, Hunter Lawrence, Herlings, Febvre, Seewer, Forato, Plessinger and Roczen. Febvre crashed and out of the moto it seems.
Gajser all over Lawrence and took the lead, but Lawrence wasn’t allowing it, very close and intense racing. Gajser in the final lap charged up the inside to take the moto victory and show that MXGP and AMA are very lose in speed, but Lawrence leads his country to their first ever MXoN victory. Brilliant day for the sport, brilliant for AMA, brilliant for MXGP, just a huge day in the sports history. Gajser wins the MXGP class, Jett Lawrence the Open class and De Wolf wins the MX2 class.
Reprint from MXLarge.com
Saturday
Oct052024
WOW What They Really Need is a YZ350 Two Stroke!!
Saturday, October 5, 2024 at 2:59PM Rumor: Kailub Russell is Joining Yamaha to Develop the All-New YZ350F!?
Rumors are swirling about a new development in the Yamaha lineup—a potential YZ350F in the works. According to a well-informed source, Caleb Russell, a renowned off-road racer, might be switching from KTM to Yamaha. Not only is Russell expected to race in the XC1 class, but he may also play a key role in developing the much-anticipated YZ350F.
Kailub Russell is a prominent American motocross and off-road motorcycle racer, known for his achievements in the GNCC (Grand National Cross Country) series. He has won multiple GNCC championships, solidifying his status as one of the top riders in the sport. Russell is recognized for his exceptional skill and consistency on various terrains, making him a formidable competitor in both motocross and off-road events. His dedication to the sport and impressive track record have earned him a loyal fan base and respect among peers. In addition to his racing career, he has also been involved in mentoring younger riders, contributing to the growth of motocross in the United States.
The prospect of Yamaha entering the 350cc market could shake things up, particularly for riders who prefer a middle ground between the 250 and 450 models. With KTM’s success in this space, Yamaha’s move could attract riders who love the brand but have longed for a 350cc option. However, some within Yamaha are reportedly concerned about the potential impact on 450 sales.
If this rumor holds true, it marks a bold new direction for Yamaha and a potential turning point in the off-road market.
Saturday
Oct052024
Winning is the only thing that really matters"—Eli Tomac
Saturday, October 5, 2024 at 2:57PM Team USA shares their first impressions of the highly anticipated 2024 Motocross of Nations at the iconic Matterley Basin track in the UK. With the weight of expectations on their shoulders, the team is determined to put on a strong performance against the world’s best riders. Legendary Team Manager Roger DeCoster leads the charge, bringing decades of experience and insight to the competition. In a press conference, DeCoster discusses the team’s preparations and strategy, joined by standout American riders Aaron Plessinger, Cooper Webb, and Eli Tomac. Each rider shares their personal thoughts on representing their country in this prestigious event, reflecting on the challenges of racing at Matterley Basin and their determination to bring home the victory for Team USA.
Saturday
Oct052024
Thursday
Oct032024
The 40 Year Wait - Aussies
Thursday, October 3, 2024 at 4:43PM Reprint from MXlarge.com
Just over 40 years ago, Team Australia made their first appearance at what was then called the Motocross des Nations. Well in fact, the men from down under didn't race the MXdN, but just the Trophée des Nations, as it seemed a slightly easier route to their first ever major international venture. All racers on 250 machines was more to the liking of the Aussies than running the 500cc class against the World's best.
The journey to Matterley Basin this weekend has been a long one, tattered in highs and lows, podiums and moto wins, but never have Team Australian lifted the Chamberlain Trophy in victory.
Of course, I mentioned it last week, Australia started their Motocross des Nations challenge way back in 1984 and I remember them heading to Europe and wondering what the hell the MXdN was.
Australians number one rider, Stephen Gall was joined by Trevor Williams, Vaughan Style and David Armstrong. Held on the weekend of 15-16 September 1984 in Varberg, Sweden.
The Aussies were competitive, but due to a series of mechanical failures, including a rare stator coil failure on Williams Kawasaki in the qualifying heats, the Australian team was relegated to the B final, but more importantly, they were now involved and knew what to expect in the following years. Stephen Gall and Trevor Williams finished in third and fourth places, respectively, Australia finished in third last position as Armstrong and Style dropped out due to mechanical issues.
Just two years later, at the Maggiora circuit in Italy, Craig Dack finished fourth in a moto and fourth overall in the 250 class and Australia finished fourth overall. A year later in USA, at a very muddy Unadilla event, it was a different story, as they struggled big time and never showed anything of their 1986 form, but in recent years, Australia has shown signs of brilliance.
Back in the 1980s and early 90s it was Jeff Leisk leading motos, and battling the Americans, then came Chad Reed in the late 90s and 2000s who brought Australia some joy at this event, being the first Australian to win a moto at the MXdN, when he won the opening race in 2001 at Namur, before Jett and Hunter Lawrence arrived and started putting Australia back on the map.
Many Aussies have shown signs of their true class, be it Craig Dack at Maggiora in 1986, Leisk in France in 1988 and Sweden in 1990, Chad Reed, first at Namur in 2001 and on so many other occasions, be it 2009 in Italy, or 2011 in France and also Dean Ferris in Germany in 2013. Hunter Lawrence winning his class at Matterley in 2017, where he won the MX2 overall, or his three second places in the MX2 class in 2018, 2022 and 2023.
Along came maybe the biggest sensation to come out of Australia, Jett Lawrence winning his class in 2022 at RedBud, then finishing third in his class at Ernee last year and picking up his second MXoN moto win.
Only Reed and Lawrence have won motos at this event for Australia, Reed in 2001 and 2011 and Lawrence in 2022 and 2023. Can the current AMA Supercross champion, become the greatest MXoN performer ever for Australia and claim another moto win, but more importantly, take the Aussies to their first Nations victory? I guess as I write this, emotions take over a little and I dream of an Aussie victory. Damn, there would be some beers spilt early in the morning in Australia if that happens and what a perfect introduction to their MXGP round in 2025.
Having followed their progress since 1984, I have covered some of those early Nations for the Aussie magazines, and felt for their losses, it is hard not to be a little excited that they could finally pull off a victory and with Jeff Leisk, Stephen Gall, Craig Dack and many of their former team-members being at Matterley Basin this year, what a celebration it would be.
Please none of that, Aussie, Aussie, Aussie BS, just the Australian National anthem and some beers would do it for the old school men, who paved the way for the Lawrence brothers and this years Australian team.
Still, if The Netherlands win, I will be more than happy to listen to their national anthem, "Het Wilhelmus", which, will also bring a tear to my eye. Whatever happens, no USA or French win please, those guys have won enough for now.
As an Aussie, who has lived in The Netherlands now for 33 years, which is more than half my life, I have the great situation, where I really have two teams in the Monster Energy Motocross of Nations. For years, it was easy to root for the Dutch, as Jeffrey Herlings led the way, often with support from Glenn Coldenhoff. Their victory in 2019 at the Assen circuit was one of the highlights of working in the sport. But the Aussies haven’t ever won it, and what an amazing day that would be for the men from down under.
I know many years ago, I attended a football match with my kids, The Netherlands vs Australia in Eindhoven, and my kids wanted us to all get dressed up in the national colours of The Netherlands (orange). So, I arrive to the PSV stadium and see some Australian flags and decide I cannot follow The Netherlands. Australia scores first and I jump up on my chair and celebrate, with all those other Dutchies in orange looking at me like I am crazy. I wonder how it will be at Matterley Basin this weekend, because I am really stuck who I want to win more.
Thursday
Oct032024
Preview and predictions: 2024 Matterley Basin MXoN
Thursday, October 3, 2024 at 4:38PM
Images: MXGP/Infront Moto Racing + Full Spectrum Media (KdW)
Jonathan McCready: It is a very open MXoN field this year in what should be an all-time MXoN with an all-star cast of legendary champions lining up to face-off for individual and country honours on one of the best tracks in the world.
France, Australia, Netherlands, USA, even Germany have a shot at winning with Spain, Belgium, Italy and even GB a shot at a podium.
The MX2 class will be fascinating with De Wolf and Lucas Coenen back on track together again with no world title pressure for either. Simon Laengenfelder can always produce and then there are the AMA boys, can Tom Vialle run the pace of Coenen and De Wolf and the big wildcard is Cooper Webb, what can he do with two weeks on probably the best 250 in the world – can he top five or better in his class and top ten in moto? That would really help put USA amongst it. Don’t forget the likes of Mikkel Haarup and home favourite Max Anstie, both very capable on their day as Anstie proved the last time a MXoN was held at this very track and he has that Star Yamaha to power him around the circuit. And how will Kyle Webster do for Australia? His result could be key in helping the Lawrence brothers to get to the top step as a team.
For me Lucas Coenen might win the overall with other two most likely, De Wolf and Vialle, maybe having to play the team role in a certain moto with France and Netherlands up there as favourites, Coenen will be free to go all out as Belgium aren’t expected to win – but a podium isn’t out of reach if Coenen rides like he can, gets a start and puts that 250 up with the 450s.
MXGP is nuts! Jett,….er not anymore, its Hunter Lawrence, Jorge Prado, Jeffrey Herlings, Eli Tomac, Ken Roczen (he won the overall last year), Romain Febvre and Tim Gajser will all face-off. All champions and all legends of the sport they will all head to head three times against each other this weekend, and that’s before you add in the likes of Jeremy Seewer, Brent Van Doninck, Alberto Forato, Dylan Wright, Kevin Horgmo and Tommy Searle! Stacked is an understatement!
Who wins? Very difficult to say! The first seven names could all win a moto and three won a moto last year with Febvre, Prado and Jett while Roczen won the class! If Jeffrey Herlings gets a start, maybe the Dutchman comes put on top. Tomac can’t be counted out if beast mode is engaged, but with Prado, you have one of the two best executers of a race from start to finish in the game (along with Jett Lawrence), and with the speed of everyone else to match.
The Open class in intriguing and maybe deeper than prevous years! Jett is now in and the overwhelming favourite but when you add Ruben Fernandez, Maxime Renaux, Glenn Coldenhoff, Andrea Bonacorsi, Max Nagl, Valentin Guillod, Aaron Plessinger, a flying Jan Pancar, Jago Geerts and Britain’s flyer, Conrad Mewse. It is a strong field with eleven rapid riders before you even get to Harri Kullas and Canada’s Jess Pettis. But will Australia’s tactic to put Jett in Open, and not against Herlings, Prado, Tomac, Gajser, Febvre and Roczen, work? Hunter now gets the break between races but a tough class to race in.
The biggest wildcards for me are Conrad Mewse and Jago Geerts, Conrad can run up front in this class and be top three overall, the speed is there, we saw that all year in the British championship. Jago Geerts really should be a two-time world MX2 champ but crashes and injury ruined his last couple of seasons and he hasn’t got to show his potential ona 450 this year, will he be back on his game this weekend? Both riders could really put the cat amongst the pigeons if it clicks! For the class win it’s hard to look past Lawrence and Renaux as well as Plessinger and Glenn Coldenhoff, the Dutch rider usually rides very well at Matterley. Right now, Lawrence would be the big favourite given his form – but you can’t count out the rest mentioned, especially Renaux who has the elite talent when fully healthy.
For the team overall it’s also difficult, it’s very hard to count the USA out, they have three champions on their team and I expect them all to rise to the occassion, but to beat the French? That’s tough with Febvre, Renaux and Vialle, on paper they are the strongest trio but Netherlands with Herlings back,de Wolf the MX2 world champ and a fast Coldenhoff who is good at Matterley, they could take it to the French IF all three get the starts they need – that’s the biggest question mark.
There are no question marks over Jett and Hunter Lawrence, who could win their respective classes. Really, it is where does Webster fit in in MX2, that will determine how Austrlia do, if he’s fast and up in a top five overall spot, Australia can be victorious for the first time ever!
But everytime you think about someone else winning, the margins are smaller, it’s just so hard to bet against France with their three world champs, there is no real weakness in the team.
Team overall:
- France
- Netherlands
- USA
Class overall:
MXGP: Jorge Prado
MX2: Lucas Coenen
Open: Jett Lawrence
Thursday
Oct032024
Thursday
Oct032024
Thursday
Oct032024
Deegan Expects Long Recovery
Thursday, October 3, 2024 at 3:51PM My recovery will be longer than everyone expected' – Deegan
Taking up to six weeks off the bike following required wrist surgery.
Image: Octopi Media.
Double 250SMX champion Haiden Deegan has moved to detail the wrist injury that affected him in stages throughout the 2024 season, undergoing surgery following the SuperMotocross World Championship (SMX) Final in Las Vegas and now facing an extended six weeks off the bike during this current off-season.
Despite breaking his wrist in the Monster Energy AMA Supercross 250SX East pre-season and having two screws inserted, Deegan managed to race on to second in the standings, before going on to win the Pro Motocross 250MX Championship and again in SMX.
“Three weeks before the first round [of Supercross] I had a crash and ended up breaking my wrist,” Deegan recalled in an interview this week with Ricky Carmichael and Ryan Villopoto’s Title 24 podcast. “But, I wanted to race, my pre-season had gone super-good, so we went in for surgery and they gave me the option to put two screws in there so that there was no chance that the bone could move and I could race.
“So they had two screws in there, one was sticking out a little bit – they weren’t able to put it all the way into the bone. That’s been bothering me pretty bad all year, there were days where I was in a lot of pain during training and after races. Like, those outdoor nationals when I was sending it, jumping to flats, I was in a lot of pain after the races… It did hurt pretty bad.
“They went in and removed that screw, there was even a little bit of ligament damage from that screw sticking out, so we got that fixed up. I think my recovery will be a little longer than everyone expected, it’s not just take a screw out and be back on the bike in two weeks. I actually do have to take some time off and recover the wrist, because there was that little bit of damage from having that screw. It’ll be four weeks before I do any training, then back on the bike at around the six-week mark.”
Deegan sitting out this weekend’s Motocross of Nations (MXoN) at Matterley Basin has been a constant talking point over the past month, instead opting to have his surgery completed in order to focus on 2025 and with the target of a first 250SX title, but he has indicated that he intends to represent Team USA next year if the opportunity presents itself again.
“It’d be a dream come true to race Nations,” he added. “You’re racing against all the top guys from different countries. Obviously, you have to race the champs from MXGP as well, that was always the goal too. I feel like if you win MXoN, you kind of solidify yourself as the best 250 guy in the world, so if I’m healed and everything goes to plan, I definitely want to give it a run next year.”