Australasian Dirt Bike – June 2019

14 |JUNE 2019 http://www.adbmag.com.au

SOIL SAMPLE HOT OFF THE PRESS

THREE-PEAT

Husqvarna’sColtonHaakerhaswonhis

thirdSuperEnduroWorldChampionship,

claimingthisyear’stitleatthefinal

roundinBilbao,Spain.Haakerdefeated

defendingchampionCodyWebbin

controversialfashion(p24).Webb’sKTM

teammate,TaddyBlazusiak,finishedthird.

AORCUPDATE

KTM’sDanielMilnerleadstheAustralian

Off-RoadChampionshipE2classwitha

perfectscorecardonhis350EXC-Fwhile

thesamegoesforHusqvarna’sDaniel

SandersinE3.YamahariderLukeStyke

maintainscontrolofE1andYamaha’sJess

GardinerleadstheWomen’sclassafter

Dungog.Thenextroundisnotuntil20-

JulyatKyogle,NSW.

AUSSIESATMXGP

MitchEvansiseighthintheMotocross

WorldChampionshipMX2classonhisHonda

afterfourrounds.Evanshasfinishedas

highasthirdoverallforHunterLawrence’s

formerteamandplacedsixthinmoto

oneandseventhinmototwoinItaly.

Husqvarna’sJedBeatonisthirteenthafter

missingroundoneduetoabackinjury.

CAIROLIMEETSHISMATCH

KTM’sTonyCairolihaswonthreeofthe

fouropeningroundsofMXGPandleads

Honda’sTimGajserby20-points.Gajseris

the only other rider to claim a round.

NATS HEATS UP

Raceline KTM’s Hayden Mellross leads

the MX1 class of the MX Nationals after

three rounds. Mellross is in a close fi ght

with CDR Yamaha duo Luke Clout and

Kirk Gibbs, who are fi ve and seven points

behind respectively. The MX2 class is

being dominated by Husqvarna’s Wilson

Todd, who leads Yamaha’s Jay Wilson by 28

points with Aaron Tanti in third.

JMX TEAM

Motorcycling Australia has announced

the team for the Junior Motocross World

Championship in Russia. In the 65cc class,

it’s Kayden Minear and Ky Woods, with

Campbell Williams and Ryder K ingsford

taking the reins in 85cc and Alex Larwood

and Blake Fox in 125cc. The team heads off

to sunny Moscow in July.

Ferris

back on

track

DEANFERRIS’TRAINING

programisbackinfullswing

aheadofhisanticipated

assaultonthisyear’sAMAPro

MotocrossChampionship.The

28-year-oldsufferedaminor

kneeinjuryattheBritish

MXGPandDeandecidedtocall

anearlyendtohisthree-race

contractwithYamahafillingin

forRomainFebvreandreturn

hometoAustralia.

Theinjuryrequiredafewweeks

ofrestbutnosurgery.“I’mriding

andtrainingflatoutnowwithno

problems,”hesaid.“Itwasjust

asmalltwistoftheMCLandit

neededsometimeoffbut,after

twoandahalfweeks,I’mfeeling

absolutelyfine.”

RACING, RACING

AND MORE RACING

Sports

corner

Ferris said his decision

to return home was to avoid

jeopardising his American plans

and not due to the severity of

the injury. “I accepted a deal

with Monster Energy Yamaha to

compete in three MXGPs while

Romain recovered. Unfortunately,

it ended prematurely as a crash

in moto two in England left me

with a tweaked knee. It’s nothing

serious but the few weeks

recovery was the wise thing

to do.”

The AMA Pro Motocross

Championship kicks off with the

Hangtown Classic in Sacramento,

California, on 19 May.

HONDA HITS E-SCAPE BUTTON

HONDA HAS REVEALED a

prototype electric motocross

bike just months after American

manufacturer Alta went broke.

Relatively quiet on electric bikes,

the Japanese giant sparked up at

the recent Tokyo Motor Show with

an electric CR and electric version

of the Benly delivery scooter.

The Electric CR prototype,

looking ready to go into production

in press images and videos of

test runs, appears to have picked

up the frame and running gear

from the CR-F motocrossers in an

effort to maintain the handling and

ergonomics of the current bikes,

rather than those of the Benly.

The motor is not produced by

Honda but by motorsports specialist

Mugen, which was founded by

Hirotoshi Honda, son of Soichiro.

The aftermarket company already

has a wealth of experience with

electrics, producing the Shinden

road race bikes that have dominated

the one-lap Isle of Man TT Zero

event with little opposition.

No fi gures have been given for

the motor’s power output, torque

or charging time but it gives you

a fair idea of the future of indoor

racing disciplines like supercross

and endurocross, complete with

recorded four-stroke engine noises.

Jarvis Regan

REED’S

SEASON

DASHED

JGR SUZUKI RIDER Chad Reed

has bowed out of the AMA

Supercross Championship after

a nasty crash at round 12 in

Seattle. The two-time 450SX

champion placed fi fth in his heat

race and headed to the Main with

every intention of adding to his

impressive list of podiums.

But, after a mid-pack start,

Reed bobbled in the rhythm

section and careered into a

group of riders before being

landed on. A day after the race,

Chad said: “Yesterday was fun,

fi nally a halfway technical track.

The whoops were so freaking

awesome, loved every pass.

Unfortunately, a mistake in the

Main was costly. Eight broken

ribs, broken scapula and a

collapsed lung. I’m bummed my

year comes to an end with fi ve

(rounds) to go.”

Team manager Jeremy Albrecht

commented on how well Reed was

looking before the crash. “He was

on it all day. He was happy with the

bike and feeling great. I thought

he would do well on that track,

especially with how diffi cult the

whoops were.”

Reed is back training on his

bicycle and hopeful of a return for

the fi nal round of the series in Las

Vegas and in this month’s column

says he may even do some AMA

Pro Motocross outdoor rounds to

get back in the groove.

Heading back, Page 29