Motocross

MIDWEEK MOTO 2019 Week 9

Author: Aaryn Minerds

Posted:

Thursday, February 28th, 2019

5:35 AM

Jay Wilson looks in fine form as the opening round of the 2019 MX Nationals approches.

GRASSROOTS TESTING

A host of Pirelli MX Nationals title contenders spent the weekend getting in some precious gate time around the country as the opening round of this years Australian Motocross championship rapidly approaches.

The likes of DPH Motorsports Todd Waters, the Yamalube Yamaha pairing of Richie Evans and Jay Wilson and Serco Yamaha‰Ûªs Aaron Tanti battled it out at the annual Mountain Man motocross event held at the Eco Valley circuit in Toowoomba.

It was Waters who took the overall win ahead of Evans, with Tanti the leading 250F rider in third and closely followed by Wilson.

While he did not race, the weekend was a big step forward for Davey Motorsports KTM MX1 hope, Caleb Ward who returned to riding after a crash in New Zealand left him injured.

Over in Victoria the likes of Jayden Rykers and Regan Duffy had some great results in the opening round of the Gippsland Region championship.

AUSSIES OVERSEAS.

Kirk Gibbs will head into the last round of the 2019 NZMX championships just three points behind Cody Cooper

Jed Beaton ‰ÛÒ It was not a great day for Jed Beaton, with the Factory Husqvarna racer injuring himself during practice at the Lacapelle Marival International MX race, the final big hit out before the opening round of the 2019 MXGP championship.

Unfortunately, while details are scarce, his team have confirmed that the Aussie will miss the opening round of the championship in Argentina this coming weekend.

Mitch Evans ‰ÛÒ The news was much brighter for Mitch Evans who went 3-3 aboard his 114 Motorsports Honda CRF250R at the same event to finish the day third overall in the MX2 class.

Kirk Gibbs ‰ÛÒ CDR Yamaha‰Ûªs Gibbs continued his fine pre-season form with another strong showing at the third round of the New Zealand Championships, winning one moto, but finishing the day second overall to Honda mounted Cody Cooper.

With just one round to run, Gibbs trails Cooper by only three points!

Kyle Webster took the round three win in NZ in the weekend in what is a great sign for his Honda team heading into the start of the MX Nationals.

Wilson Todd ‰ÛÒ Wilson Todd like Gibbs was well in contention for a championship in New Zealand, and things were looking even better after he won the opening moto of the MX2 class at round three. However, a crash in the second moto put him out of action for the day.

Kyle Webster ‰ÛÒ It proved to be a great day out for Webster at round three of the NZ MX Championships, taking the round win with a clutch win in the third and final moto of the day. With some tremendous early year form, the Penrite Pirelli CRF Honda Racing rider is one to watch for when the gates drop at Appin in a couple of weeks.

Morgan Fogarty ‰ÛÒ An excellent 6th place finish at round three of the NZMX Championships has Fogarty placed in 6th position in the championship with just one round remaining.

CHAD REED ‰ÛÒ 132 and COUNTING

Chad Reed continues to re-write the histroy books

How cool was it to watch Chad Reed battle his way to a podium finish at the 8th round of the 2019 Monster Energy Supercross Championship.

In the triple crown format, Reed set up his overall podium performance in the opening race, running second for the majority of the first 12 minute plus one lap race, before a fast-finishing Eli Tomac passed him with a couple of laps to go.

Moving forward in both the second and third races, Reed aboard his JGR Factory Suzuki finished 5th then 7th in the final moto, so hold down 3rd overall for the round, giving him his 132 podium result of his 450 AMA Supercross career (Which also included a few years on a 250 two-stroke)

It added to some already interesting stats regarding his 245th start in the premier supercross championship on the planet, and if you are a regular on the Vitalmx.com forum, you would have come across these stats during the week.

One of the most interesting stats‰Û_ - The two riders he shared the podium with on the weekend have had less race starts in the 450SX class than Reed has had podium results, with Cooper Webb having just 34 starts to his name and Eli Tomac 89.

THE WORLDS BEST HEAD TO ARGENTINA

With the current world MX1 champion sidelined this weekend, who will take out the first round of the Championship on Sunday?

The opening round of the 2019 World Motocross Championships heads to Argentina this weekend in what is shaping up to be an exciting championship, but maybe for the wrong reasons.

The big news heading into the opening round is that the current world MX1 champion, Jeffrey Herlings will miss at least the opening round after suffering a pre-season injury to his foot while testing in Spain.

What it means is that the rest of the field will be looking to gain the biggest points advantage they can before the "BULLET" returns to racing and with no time frame given for his return, it could be as little as just one round to gain points on the man widely tipped to defend his title in 2019.

So who is the favourite going into this weekend in the MX1 class?

With Herlings out it really is wide open, though it is hard to look past the experienced and still superfast Antonio Cairoli who was runner up to Herling last year.

Jed Beaton may be down but he is not out, we all know he will come out swinging after his latest setback.

But with Max Nagl, Gautier Paulin, Kevin Strijbos, Clement Desalle, Pauls Jonass, Jeremy Van Hoorbeek, Jeremy Sewer, Max Anstie, Tommy Searle, Glenn Coldenhoff, Evgeny Bobryshev, Jordi Tixier and former MX1 World champion, Tim Gasjer and Romain Febvre all lining up, it is sure to be one heck of an opening round, with all riders knowing this could be their year.

The MX2 class sees a new breed of racers coming through in what is also likely to be a wide-open championship.

For us Aussies, all attention at the opening round will be on our sole representative at the event Mitch Evans. As mentioned above, Jed Beaton will miss the opening round due to an injury sustained last weekend.

To watch all the action from the opening round and the entire championship, head to MXGP TV by clicking here

MX1 Entry list

MX2 Entry list

PRODUCT OF WEEK

Scott 450 Angled Light Racewear

SCOTT 2019 450 ANGLED LIGHT RACEWEAR

I have had a chance to run a set of SCOTT racewear for quite a number of years now, they have always been a high-quality product and over recent years have become one of the most comfortable gear sets in my collection.

For 2019 the 450 range has once again been improved with a focus on being lightweight and breathable, a combination that comes in very handy during the warmer months here in Australia.

The new 450 Angled Light pant for 2019 has a great mixture of stretch material panels, a great amount of room in the knee to accommodate any knee brace you run, including an inner leather knee for extra protection and durability.

The redesigned inner liner is much better than previous years, it was one of the only things I was not a fan about with the Scott Pants before this year, the inner liner would always get caught up while trying to get the pants on, or get hooked on the straps of my knee braces, so far with the new set it has not been an issue at all.

Fit wise they fit "Large" I have generally been on the limits of running a size 36 of late, and even the set of SCOTT 350 pants that I have are quite tight in a 36, but with the adjustable velcro waist tabs, along with the elastic type waist, the 450 pant in size 36 fits very comfortably.

we could not be happier with our Scott 450 Angled Light Racewear

Little additions like the silicon grip on the back side of the waistband to help keep your jersey in place is a nice touch.

Overall a great lightweight set of pants, that are super comfortable, very well vented.

The 450 Angled Light Jersey much like the pant is a lightweight, vented design that fits comfortably. While a lot of companies have headed down the path of a lycra style body-hugging material for their top of the range riding gear, SCOTT continue to run with a set up that is much more flattering for us every day riders, offering an athletic design and feel that while not being body-hugging is also not to lose, giving that nice middle ground feel.

The tapered cuffs do a great job of making sure the sleeve of the jersey is never in the way or riding to high while in any position on the bike.

Overall another great set of gear from SCOTT that really has suited riding over the warmer months in Aus.

OUT AND ABOUT

Our 2018 Yamaha YZ450F was a lot of fun, but we can't wait to hit the track on our new YZ250F this Sunday

It has been a big week and a bit for us at Fullnoise.com.au, I didn‰Ûªt know it at the time, but my second ride of the year at Gilman in S.A last weekend was my last ride aboard our Fullnoise.com.au YZ450F.

The good news is that we picked up an all-new 2019 Yamaha YZ250F during the week and I am hanging to get out and start putting some hours on the blue small-bore beast.

It has been five years since I have spent a season racing and riding a 250 four-stroke and I am excited to hit the race track this year on the Lites class bike. I have always found the 250F more fun to ride, something about changing gears that makes you feel like you are riding.

With the temperature in little ole South Australia, hovering around the 40 degree mark for nearly two weeks, there has not been an opportunity to get out and ride just yet, but with a break in the weather this Sunday, with the temp dropping to a fresh 31-32 Degrees Celcius, we will finally get a chance to get some more seat time.

Jayden takes in some wise words from Shane Metcalfe

While I have had no seat time for the past two weeks, Jayden braved the heat on Saturday just gone to attend the annual 50/65cc coaching day held at Gilman, with host Shane Metcalfe.

It was Jayden‰Ûªs first school aboard the 65, and it was great to see him instantly pick up on somethings he had gotten a little lazy with over the past few months.

As a dad, you can say something over and over again, but it's funny how a respected coach says the same thing, and instantly there is a change lol.

That is about all for this week; hopefully, we will check back in with some details about our first ride on the Yamaha YZ250F.

A WEEK IN MOTION - A Selection of Video's and Films from the past week