Forkner Update

Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Austin Forkner had a brutal crash in the Arlington Supercross last night and was immediately taken to the medical center for a checkup. Today, we received an update from his father, Mike Forkner, who posted the update and then decided to delete it. However, we managed to obtain a screenshot of the update, which stated that Austin’s CT scan of his head is good. He has fractured L3 and L4 in his back, which will not require surgery and will heal on its own. He also has a broken scapula, which also does not require surgery. He has been discharged from the hospital and will return home to California.

Austin Forkner’s Dad Mike posted on social media – Man oh man, what a sport! The highs are high and the lows are pretty low. So proud of Austin for overcoming the adversity and setbacks that he has dealt with the last few years. I’m confident this is just a bump in the road and Austin will be back on top again. Injury update: Austin’s CT Scan on his head came back good. Fractured L3 & L4 in back but no surgery has to heal on its own. He has a broken scapula. Which will heal on its own. So no surgery. They have been discharged from hospital and heading back to California. Thank you for checking on Austin. On a side note: Austin said one of his contacts came out of his eye halfway through the race. Maybe that played a part in miss judging the double. Not making excuses but I feel it played a part.

HIGHLIGHTS: Round 7 in Arlington

An Original

John Penton still going strong.

"THERE'S A HOLE IN THE GEAR INDUSTRY" Michael Leib

Dirt Bike Magazine met up with Michael Leib and talked about his business Canvas MX. Michael explains where the idea came from, who he works with, and their plans for the future. Canvas is a fully customizable gear company that works with companies who want to sponsor teams/athletes in the motocross industry. You can also customize your own personal gear anyway you want by visiting their website.

www.Canvasmx.com

Ferrandis Switches Tires

The Pirelli-Dunlop switch that levels Ferrandis playing field

Competition Post: Alex Gobert

Phoenix Racing Honda move places them in line with factory teams.

Image: Octopi Media.

An early season transfer from Pirelli to Dunlop tires has effectively leveled the playing field for Dylan Ferrandis in Monster Energy Supercross, eliminating a critical variable that now places his Phoenix Racing Honda team in line with the factory organizations.

One of the headline moves of the 2024 pre-season, the 29-year-old Frenchman aligned with Phoenix Racing owner David Eller and Factory Connection’s Rick ‘Ziggy’ Zielfelder to surface on Honda’s CRF450R following a seven-year stint at Star Racing Yamaha.

Whether or not switching tire brands is a sure performance gain on-track is up for debate, but in 450SX it is Dunlop that has the history and championships to its credit. In fact, since Bridgestone exited the sport at the end of 2009, Dunlop has been a powerhouse that has proven dominant with 14-straight premier class titles.

As it goes in racing, removing any question marks if you possibly can is the preferred method of choice, and that’s precisely what this change does for Ferrandis. Instead of being the outlier in one of the most competitive fields ever, trading Pirelli in favor of Dunlop is of value – even if his 5-6-6-9 finishes on Pirelli across the first four rounds were credible.

Ferrandis made the transition prior to Detroit and has gone 7-6 since, edging his way forward from outside of the top 10 on the weekend in Glendale to claim a convincing result. Now, he believes, improvements in the bike setting to suit the Dunlops over the upcoming weekend off will result in even more gains.

Image: Octopi Media.

“A good night,” Ferrandis reflected on Saturday night. “Didn’t start very well with my heat race – a bad start and a little crash – but the main event was pretty good. I fought my way through the pack and ended up P6, which is a good step in the right direction.

“We made some changes recently and it’s getting better race after race. Now we have two weeks to improve the bike, improve myself and try to be better at the next race. We made a big change in tires the last two weeks, so we need to try a little more suspension with the new tire that we are riding now.”

As a two-time 250SX West champion (2019 and 2020), Ferrandis’ credentials in Supercross are better than most. At least in the regional tier. However, he’s yet to find any significant success in the premier division, because beyond his first 450SX campaign in 2021, in which he finished seventh, he’s had two largely injury-affected years. Now, he wants to change that, in search of the same type of success on the 450 that he enjoyed en route to clinching the 450MX crown as a rookie in 2021.

“I work every day for this and I think that since I moved to the 450 class, I’ve never really ridden in Supercross the way I know how to ride, the way that I used to ride in the 250s,” he told MotoOnline. “That’s really the goal this year, to try be myself and race the way that I used to race in 250s. That would be great for me because I never really found that before, so that’s what I really want to do.”

Is this rapid move from Pirelli to Dunlop after just four races going to be the more familiar upgrade that they’re hoping it will be for Ferrandis? The results will tell that story. As for Pirelli, the brand new Liqui Moly Beta Factory Supercross Team is its highest profile partner at this point, which is a fascinating storyline in itself.

Dirt Shark | 2024 Glendale Supercross

The Lawrence Bros Riding the Wave!

 Jett and Hunter generate lots of media attention and are attracting crowds everywhere they go. They are having fun and so are the fans. Hers's a quick video showing the enthusiam they bring.

Foxhill VMXdN

Team Italy is coming into Foxhill VMXdN swinging with former world champion David Philippaerts at the helm. The Italian team have entered the International VMXdN team race at the annual VMXdN Foxhill event which has quickly become the biggest and most anticipated event on the UK motocross calendar. The epic MX festival has also become the biggest vets’ event worldwide.

Spearheading the Italian squad which is owned by Bruno Mamprin and managed by Dalle Ore Gianluca will be the 2008 world MX1 champion, David Philippaerts

Philippaerts needs no introduction and will be racing a Kawasaki KX 500. Philippaerts is a super smooth, yet aggressive racer who spent fifteen years racing at world championship level, culminating in a championship on the factory Rinaldi squad in 08 and will sure to be at the sharp end of the racing in the headline event of the weekend on August bank holiday weekend.

Backing Philippaerts up is another former MX1 and MX2 Grand Prix rider Andrea Cervellin. Cervellin’s experience over the years racing for many factory teams will be a real advantage for the Italian squad, he is lining up on a Honda CR 250.

The third rider on the squad is former MXGP racer from 2017 and 2018 is Filippo Bertuzzo. He will be on board a Yamaha YZ 250. 

The Italian team is sponsored by Acroprofil Italy, and these three guys will boast plenty of experience. 

To witness all the action when the gate drops, secure your tickets now. If you’ve never been before, this four-day festival will leave you wanting more and for those that have witnessed the event first hand it just keeps getting better! 

Roczen – more ready than ever to battle for a championship!

Ken Roczen took his first win of the season and admitted that mentally, he is in a much better spot than he was ten years ago to deal with the first turn crashes this season that hindered his true potential this season – but the speed has always been there.

“We have been riding real good, just not having the best luck getting around the first turn and that’s kind of been my achilles heel,” said Ken in the press conference.

“It is a bit frustrating. Some things are a little bit, I mean, you kind of make your own luck, you know what I mean? But some things are just a little bit out of control.”

“I’ve left way more frustrated before where I felt like crap,” said Ken, who is now 15 points back of points leader Jett in the title chase. “I was riding like crap and it just sucks ending on a bad note on a race night. Nonetheless, whether I go down on the first turn or not, I’ve just always left it out there and, charged how long I could. When you feel strong, too, and you do everything in your power to make the best of the situation, then that angriness or frustration just leaves me a lot sooner”.

“I just chalk it up to, it is what it is and we try again next weekend. So, I think I’ve just also gotten better at putting that aside. Yeah, (this year) some of the results were just not that great, but I felt like I was riding really well and that’s in the end what I mainly focus on.” 

“The mindset and the comfort for me personally is way different than 10 years ago, that’s for sure,” he says. “And even, just even from a few years ago, I honestly feel like I’m now more ready than ever to battle for a championship than I’ve ever felt in the past. And that’s a nice feeling to have. So I just value a lot of things that I used to stress about. Like practice. Every weekend is a bit different, and sometimes you need to force yourself to kind of like, quit being the way you are right now and just focus on the night show. So, it just really depends. Sometimes I wake up on the wrong side of the bed and then it just makes things a lot harder. I feel like today was honestly one of those days a little bit. I think I just know how to deal better with it honestly. It’s just, an experience thing, I think. I wish I would have that mentality a lot sooner than now, but I’m almost 30!”

There is no doubt Ken Roczen has always had more than enough talent to win a supercross title and if he can get around the first turn and lap with no issues, then maybe at nearly 30, this could finally be Ken Roczen’s year – what a story it would be!

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