“The Weekend Off” | Kickstart

May 13, 2019

The one weekend break between the end of the 2019 Monster Energy Supercross Series and the start of the 2019 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship came and went. To cram Seventeen rounds of racing into eighteen weeks is a tall order for all involved in the sport and there’s only a little bit of time to rest, regroup, and reorganize before the trucks roll out for another trip on the road. Although there are many more breaks to the outdoor schedule, the intensity of the summer series takes a much bigger toll on riders, teams, and motorcycles, so this last breath before things start was much needed.

HAWAII SUPERCROSS

Unless you were one of the riders that went to Honolulu for the latest iteration of the Hawaii Supercross, that is. Famed promoter Eric Peronnard pulled everything together, from track build to motorcycles to talent, in just seven weeks and made it an event that will leave an impression on the island. We’ve been fortunate to join Peronnard on a number of trips over the years through Europe and know the level that he brings to every event. If you want to hear more about it, CLICK HERE to listen to our podcast with attendee Alex Ray.

As for the race itself, Ryan Sipes was a surprise of the night. Part of his Red Bull-backed “race everything” schedule of motocross, flat track, and off-road, Sipes was aboard a KTM 250 SX-F and swept all three of the motos, two of which came down to last-lap passes. Justin Brayton was the incoming favorite, but still on the mend from a knee injury, he logged 3-2-2 motos for second overall. Austin Politelli’s performance was a talking point of the weekend for us on the mainland, as the California privateer claimed third overall with 2-3-12 finishes. Maybe Politelli should push for a schedule of international Supercross races, because he is fast and could make good money.

SPRING TRAINING AT FOX RACEWAY

If you crawled the site last week, you saw our recap of the first-ever MX Sports organized Spring Training at Fox Raceway. Much like the standard tests of MotoGP and Formula1, only those committed to racing the Nationals were to wheel a bike onto the track during the day’s practice sessions and it allowed everyone a chance to get things worked out on their bikes and bodies. With no official timing loop or transponders to collect data, we had to use the eye test to see who was fast on the track. Adam Cianciarulo and Dylan Ferrandis seemed to set the pace for guys in the 250 class, while Eli Tomac, Zach Osborne, Justin Barcia, Cooper Webb, and Marvin Musquin kept everyone’s attention in the 450 class. One thing we noticed was that the fastest guys did the least number of laps. That’s a sign that they have things lined up and there’s no sense of panic days before the first gate drop.

We kept an eye out for new parts or pieces, but strictly from appearances, there doesn’t seem to be much new. Monster Energy Kawasaki has configured their oil cooler system to mount up to the side of the 2019 KX450’s engine and with a custom build and carbon air ducts, it’s one of the parts everyone is excited to see. GEICO Honda had a fleet of CRF250R bikes on hand with various configurations for riders to test, but most of the key tech was hidden or hard to note from afar. Once we get to Hangtown and Fox Raceway, we’ll know more about what’s going on.

The day was highly important for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing and Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/KTM, as it was the first chance that some of their riders had on their motorcycles. For Dean Ferris, Wednesday was his maiden ride on the factory YZ450F after a quick trip over from Australia and we’ll have some more with him on site soon. As for Jordan Smith and Shane McElrath, it was their time to learn the settings that Broc Tickle sorted out for their KTM 250 SX-F.

2019 MXGP OF LOMBARDIA

After a month-long break that almost felt like the season started over, the 2019 Monster Energy FIM Motocross was back in action with the fifth round of the year, the 2019 MXGP of Lombardia in Mantova. A sandy track on the edge of a small Italian town, Mantova is a race that fully encapsulates the experience of an MXGP round and that was again the case this weekend. The weather was perfect for Saturday’s qualifying motos, but torrential downpours soon after left the track waterlogged for Sunday’s points-paying race. The DeCarli side of the Red Bull KTM MXGP team swept the MX2 and MXGP classes with Jorge Prado and Antonio Cairoli; it’s clear that Prado is picking up on Cairoli’s controlled pace, because the young rider avoided many of the mistakes that his competitors made in the muck and closed in on Thomas Kjer Olsen in the championship standings. As for Cairoli, he added even more markers to his margin over Tim Gajser and is now forty points ahead of the Team HRC rider.

ALL JAPAN NATIONAL MX

Round two of the All Japan National MX Championship went down last weekend at Off-Road Village just outside of Tokyo, Japan, and defending champion Akira Narita finished third overall and took over the championship points lead with 5-1 moto scores. “I hate that race track,” he told us. “It is so tight and hard to pass on. But, I got a win in race two and got the red plate! Old man can still win.” Narita, who is now 38 years old, has 12 premier-class championships to his credit and must still be considered a favorite for this year’s championship. His biggest rival for the title is his Honda HRC teammate Kei Yamamoto, a rider who cut his teeth on the MXGP circuit for several seasons before returning to Japan in 2017 and winning his first All Japan Championship. As champion, one might wonder why Narita is running #114 this year, rather than #1 or his trademark #982. “I have run 1 and 982 so many times,” he explained. “This year I wanted to do something different so I chose the last number of my MX hero, Damon Bradshaw!”

CLICK HERE for a photo gallery from Toru Matsunaga.

PEDAL FEST

With the break in between the end of Supercross and the start of the MX Nationals, many racers spent the off weekend in the saddles of their bicycles. Over the weekend, we ran into Broc Tickle, GEICO Honda’s Chase Sexton, Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha’s Colt Nichols, Justin Cooper, Jarrett Frye, trainer Gareth Swanepoel, Red Bull KTM’s Cooper Webb, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Zach Osborne, and SmarTop/Bullfrog Spas/Honda’s Malcolm Stewart on the SoCal trails. Mountain biking is not only fun…it’s a great way to cross train!