Australasian Dirt Bike — January 2018

http://www.adbmag.com.au JANUARY 2018 | 33

the international

debate continues

SX1 RIDERS ATthe opening
round of the Australian
Supercross Championships in
Jimboomba were forced to
fi nish the last few laps of the
Main Event under low-light
conditions after two towers
went down, blanketing one
section of the track in
darkness. It’s alleged
organisers blamed vandals
for the light towers turning
off, saying some punk kids
unplugged the leads or
fl ipped a switch, but we also
heard reports the generators
simply ran out of fuel or
broke down.
The outages happened
towards the end of the night
so they didn’t really make
much of a difference but we
expect headlights will be
mandatory in the 2018
Australian SX Championship.

JAY WILSON HONEDhis

race starts for the

Australian Supercross

Championship and it paid

offatJimboomba,where

he shocked the industry by

using the under-rated

“wheelie-start” technique.

It’s not often seen

outsideofgoonvideosbut

we think Wilson’s effort

couldchangeallthat.

If pulled off correctly

your feet will come off the

footpegs and you will

rocket towards the first

turn.Wilsonmissedthe

holeshot at Jimboomba

and,forthelifeofus,we

can’tworkoutwhy...he

must not have pivoting

levers.Can’twaitforour

how-to-ride yarn.

GAVIN FAITH’S HOPESof

claiming the Australian

Supercross SX2 title were

crushed due to an injury

sustainedatR2inBacchus

Marsh, Vic. The American

riderdidhisbesttoretainthe

redplateandpushedthrough

pain to race R3 but later

decided to return home to the

U.S. for wrist surgery.

JONNYWALKERGAVEa

track-side marshal a taste of

hisreartyreattheHixpania

Hard Enduro. While

negotiating a gnarly climb,

Walker was kicked off line by

arock.

When his rear wheel came

backintocontactwithterrra

firma it must have been

spinning at six million revs

because the KTM 300EXC

shotoutfromunderhimand

slammed rear-wheel first into

the face of an unsuspecting

track marshal.

Amazingly the marshal

looked unhurt but Walker

wouldn’t have known. He went

running down the hill chasing

his Kato without giving the

poor bloke who’d just ingested

a face full of FIM-approved

rubber a second glance.

THERE ISN’T MUCHto

say about this exchange

between racer Kale

Makeham and Penrite

Honda team owner Yarrive

Konsky. Makeham posted

ascreenshotofa

conversation between a

punter and Konsky on the

Honda Supercross Team

Facebook page.

Essentially, the punter is

suggesting Honda should

recruitAussieriders

rather than imports. While

Konsky, rightfully so,

defended Honda’s stance

on using overseas riders.

Makeham and Konsky

were very diplomatic in

their responses, but we

wish we could say the

same about the keyboard

warriors who were quick

to point fingers.

The disucssion between

Konsky and Makeham

raises a good point. There

are valid arguments for

both views, and we’re

undecided on where we

stand, we just want to see

the sport thrive, whatever

it takes.

LIGHTS OUT! ‘WHEELIE’

WILSON

FAITH NO

MORE

WALK IT OFF

ROBBIE MADDISON GAVE

AUS-X Open promoters a

heart attack when he posted

a photo of his twisted KTM

after over-rotating a 75ft fl ip.

It didn’t help that Maddison

posted his photo on the same

day that Chad Reed

announced he had injured his

ankle, was pulling out of

Straight Rhythm and was

unsure if he’d be fi t to race

AUS-X Open – we all know

how that played out...

Maddison told his fans via

social media that the crash

had bruised his spine but he

would be all good for the

AUS-X Open. He did end up

sitting that one out and

leaving the freestyle riding to

Jackson Strong and Pat

Bowden.

MADDO

MESSED UP