Webb Uses Consistency Again

 Sly as fox Cooper Webb takes the win.

The Bullet Talks Racing

Jeffrey Herlings interview - Hawkstone Park, Prado and Lawrence

Billy Bolt Bashes Bulgaria

SuperEnduro Bulgaria 2024

Wiley Webb Takes Arlington!

Late drama sees Webb take Arlington 450SX victory

Image: Octopi Media.

A dramatic 450SX main event saw Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha’s Cooper Webb snatch a late AMA Supercross victory inside Arlington’s AT&T Stadium, as leader Jett Lawrence stumbled twice in the dying laps.

A near-perfect jump off the gate saw Team Honda HRC’s Lawrence grab the holeshot from Cooper Webb and his brother Hunter Lawrence and steadily build a lead, that at one point, nudged five seconds.

Behind the leading group carnage unfolded early, with Eli Tomac, Ken Roczen, Malcolm Stewart and Jason Anderson all crashing in separate incidents on the opening laps.

Tomac (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) then put in one of his signature aggressive performances to work his way forward from 16^th to take over third from Red Bull KTM’s Aaron Plessinger as the main event entered its final stages.

Further up front, Lawrence drifted wide off a jump and crashed, handing the lead to Webb with just a handful of laps left to run.

Lawrence desperately tried to close the gap, but on the last lap tangled with lapper Vince Friese (SmarTop MotoConcepts Honda) and again went down, allowing Tomac and Plessinger to claim the remaining podium places.

Jett and Hunter finished fourth and fifth respectively, ahead of Red Bull KTM’s Chase Sexton and Justin Cooper (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha). Roczen (Progressive Insurance Ecstar Suzuki), Stewart (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Racing) and Anderson (Monster Energy Kawasaki) completed the top 10 positions.

Lawrence still leads the 450SX points standings, but his margin has been trimmed to three points over Webb (135 to 132), with Plessinger just four points further back.

Round eight of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship will be held next Saturday at Daytona.

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