Ronin Xtreme: Xtreme Sports Blog
The Red Bull KTM team are working on World domination and with the rider lineup they have it is very possible. Last weekend in Mantova they won both the MX1 and MX2 overalls and many of the orange riders looked strong. Here is a really cool video from Tim at T7-Videoproductions.
Here’s Shorty’s race-day, and post-race video report. Keep your fingers crossed for good results from Monday’s doctor visit. more »
This is our latest print ad featuring Hoang Tran. It’s his first print ad ever with us and he’s kicking things off with a can can. Click the photo to view it large and download it as your desktop’s wallpaper!
SX Race Report
Honda Red Bull Racing’s Davi Millsaps was back on top at Round Five (5) of the 2010 AMA Supercross series at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California on Saturday, February 6, winning aboard his Honda CRF450R.
Red Bull KTM factory rider Shaun Simpson made a winning start to the 2010 season when he took the overall victory in the MX2 class at the traditional opening event in Mantova, Italy for the second year in a row. The young Scot was dominant throughout the weekend, and only a couple of bits of bad luck stopped Shaun from making a clean sweep on both days. The sand circuit in the north of the country coped well with the heavy rain that fell in the week before the event, and with bright sunshine and blue skies on race day conditions were as good as could be expected for this time of year.
Having missed most of last year due to injury Simpson has worked hard over the winter months with his Dutch trainer Twan to arrive at the start of the new season in good shape.
Image by Ray Chuss
Showing no signs of the leg injury that robbed him of much of 2009 or any ill effects of his operation to his shoulder late last year, Shaun signaled his intentions by topping the first free pratice session on Saturday morning. His best lap, which was nearly a full second faster than his team mate Musquin, was even quicker than any of the MX1 riders at this point in the day.
Confirming that his initial showing was no fluke Shaun was even more dominant in the second free practice session, and recorded a time some four seconds better than reigning MX2 World Champion Musquin. In fact only home favourite Tony Cairoli managed to beat Simpson’s time in the MX1 class, as the twenty-one year old showed the true potential of the 2010 factory MX2 machine, which is pretty much new from the ground up.
Simpson converted this speed into a comfortable lead in the MX2 qualifying race on Saturday afternoon, and had stretched his advantage to nearly five seconds before he made a small mistake that handed his rivals the lead. The resulting crash put Shaun down in third spot and left him with a slightly twisted ankle. Due to the short nature of the race, the KTM teamster consolidated his position, knowing that this would still give him a good gate pick for Sunday’s three races.
A good start in the opening MX1 / MX2 mixed class moto saw Simpson move into a top ten position after the initial few turns despite having been out powered by the larger capacity bikes in the sprint to the first corner. Having easily established himself as by far the best placed MX2 rider Shaun was still not content and started to make his way past the MX1 riders ahead of him. A fine fourth place at the flag was the reward for his efforts, as the next best MX2 rider was Roczen in eleventh spot.
A similar story was unfolding in the second mixed moto, with Shaun again battling against the MX1 riders at the front of the pack, whilst his MX2 rivals found themselves much further down the field. With another top five finish looking a real possibility, Simpson’s progress was halted when De Reuver hit the young Scot in one of the slower speed corners. With his rhythm broken Shaun slipped back to seventh, but this was still enough to be the highest placed MX2 rider for the second race in a row.
Simpson’s chance of making three wins out of three were lost early in the final outing, as he found himself on the deck and dead last after an unavoidable racing incident as he and De Reuver found themselves fighting for the same piece of track. Unable to start the factory four stroke machine, the pack had long gone by the time Shaun had managed to fire his orange mount back to life. An inspired ride saw Simpson claw his way into the top fifteen come the finish, to become the second MX2 rider home on this occasion, which in turn was enough to give him the overall class win.
Simpson spoke about his winning weekend. “The plan was to come here and have some fun, to ride well, but perhaps not to win as I expected both Musquin and Roczen to be both fast and strong. Things went well from the start with some good speed in qualifying, just one small mistake in the qualifying race spoilt what otherwise was a perfect Saturday.”
“I made a couple of good starts in the first two motos and gave myself a good chance of making some strong results. Apart from coming together with De Reuver in the second race I managed to stay out of trouble during the first two motos. I got a good start in the final race, but got squeezed out as we headed towards the second turn. The next thing I knew I was on the deck. It was hard work coming back through, but in the end I managed to do enough to take the overall win.” Continued Shaun.
“It’s a positive start to the season, but I will not be getting carried away, as the plan remains to be fully ready for the first GP, so I will be looking to have some more fun at the next few meetings rather than putting myself under pressure before the championship begins.” Simpson ended.
Mantova – Starcross 2010
Moto One: 1: Cairoli 2: Philippaerts 3: De Reuver 4: Simpson 5: Barragan
Moto Two: 1: Cairoli 2: Desalle 3: Leok 4: Ramon 5: De Reuver 6: Albertson 7: Simpson
Moto Three: 1: Leok 2: Desalle 3: Cairoli 4: Ramon 5: Albertson…..14: Simpson
MX2 Overall: 1: Simpson 72 2: Musquin 65 3: Tonus 56
Keep up to date with Shaun’s season on his official website at www.shaunsimpson.com
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After six seasons, the run is finally over for America’s favorite dysfunctional custom chopper family. The not so surprising news was announced on Saturday, February 6th by TLC.
The Teutuls will always be a part of the Discovery family and we congratulate them on a tremendously successful series run.
The show was already on its last legs due to all the family drama which includes a lawsuit between Paul Teutul, Sr. and his son Paul Teutul, Jr. over the family business, Orange County Choppers, regardless its still a great run for any TV series. The last episode airs on Thursday, February 11th at 9pm.
Teka Suzuki World MX1 and Teka Suzuki Europe World MX2 commenced their 2010 activities at the Starcross International Motocross at the sandy track of Mantova in central Italy today as Clement Desalle and Arnaud Tonus made their debuts upon the RM-Z450 and RM-Z250 respectively.
Both riders finished on the podium, along with Steve Ramon in the MX1 and MX2 classes, after three 20 minute and 2 lap motos.
The event involved an entry list of many of the key protagonists from the FIM MX1 Motocross World Championship including at least five factory teams.
The grassy banks of the enclosed Mantova circuit, located in the centre of the historic town, housed a decent crowd for the initiation of the racing season. The meeting also represented a ‘warm-up’ and test opportunity for the Teka Suzuki quartet.
2007 MX1 World Champion Ramon was the highest-ranked performer with the runner-up position to Antonio Cairoli: The Belgian enjoyed three bright launches from the start gate and although he had to slow due to arm-pump to take 5th in Moto1, he was tussling with the leaders in the following outings and gained two 4th places for his overall mark. Desalle (pictured)Â was 3rd on the rostrum and also had an eventful first race in which he crashed and could only recover to 16th. The Belgian then flew to a brace of 2nd positions in the following sprints for his final classification. His last moto duel with Cairoli was the action highlight of the day.
Teka Suzuki Europe World MX2 saw their two riders go up against the extra torque and speed of the 450s but the tight and jump-lined course narrowed the deficit: Swiss teenager Tonus gained his first piece of silverware after taking 5th, 3rd and 3rd among the MX2 field (19th, 16th and 15th in the races themselves).
Roczen was unlucky to only place 8th: The stylish German suffered a bad start in Moto1 but fought back in style to 11th (2nd place among the MX2 field). He then had to retire from Moto2 after twisting his knee and the third and final affair was curtailed after a technical problem again forced a premature retirement.
Beursfoon Suzuki’s Marc de Reuver was 5th overall in his first race with the RM-Z450 and the Dutchman collected a promising 3rd position in Moto1.
The next major meeting for the Teka Suzuki collective will occur in two weeks time with the International at Valence in France. However, a local race at Lommel in Belgium next Sunday will witness the RM-Zs again in action.
Steve Ramon – 2nd MX1:
“I am happy because Mantova is always a difficult race for me. This is an improvement over last year for sure. I had bad arm-pump in the first moto but the other two races were fine and I am pleased with three good starts. My riding was good and the third moto was the best mainly because I found the rhythm I wanted right away. This is the first race and I am on the podium, so I cannot complain too much.”
Clement Desalle -Â 3rd MX1:
“I just wanted to come here to ride and start the year in a good way. The result was not that important for me: I had a crash in the first moto and decided to take it easy after that. Physically I feel fine and I am taking things step-by-step. The bike worked well and we will continue to test; overall I am pretty happy.”
Arnaud Tonus -Â 3rd MX2:
“It is great to be on the podium. I had some good races here and the track was very difficult. We had to push a lot against the 450s and it was a positive way to train and get more time on the bike. The second and third motos were the best for me as I could not really find a rhythm in the first.”
Ken Roczen – 8th MX2:
“The first start waas bad and I was outside the top 20 but I kept going and pushed up to 11th place; I felt good on the bike and did not have any arm-pump. I got a perfect start in the second moto but then someone hit me and then crashed beside me. I got held up and was around 13th. I saw Xavier Boog ahead and thought I would have a good battle but then in a rut on the start straight I caught my left knee and had some pain. I did not want to take a risk so I stopped. The final moto was over pretty quickly when we had the engine problem. I am quite confident the knee is OK but we will get it checked tomorrow to be sure.”
Mantova Starcross Results:
Race1: 1. Tony Cairoli, ITA, KTM; 2. David Philippaerts, ITA, Yamaha; 3. Marc de Reuver, NED, Beursfoon Suzuki; 4. Shaun Simpson, GBR, KTM; 5. Jonathan Barragan, SPA, Kawasaki; 6. Steve Ramon, BEL, Teka Suzuki World MX1; 11. Ken Roczen, GER, Teka Suzuki Europe World MX2; 16. Clement Desalle, BEL, Teka Suzuki World MX1; 19. Arnaud Tonus, SUI, Teka Suzuki Europe World MX2.
Race 2: 1. Tony Cairoli, ITA, KTM; 2. Clement Desalle, BEL, Teka Suzuki World MX1; 3. Tanel Leok, EST, Honda; 4. Steve Ramon, BEL, Teka Suzuki World MX1; 5. Marc de Reuver, NED, Beursfoon Suzuki; 16. Arnaud Tonus, SUI, Teka Suzuki Europe World MX2; DNF. Ken Roczen, Teka Suzuki Europe World MX2.
Race 3: 1. Tanel Leok, EST, Honda; 2. Clement Desalle, BEL, Teka Suzuki World MX1; 3. Tony Cairoli, ITA, KTM; 4. Steve Ramon, BEL, Teka Suzuki World MX1; 5. Jimmy Albertson, USA, Honda; 15. Arnaud Tonus, SUI, Teka Suzuki Europe World MX2; DNF. Ken Roczen, Teka Suzuki Europe World MX2.
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Yamaha Monster Energy MX Team and the Yamaha Monster Energy Ricci MX Team kicked off their 2010 schedules at the Starcross International at Mantova last Sunday. After revealing the new black and green liveries and designs to be worn by the YZ450F and YZ250F the Friday prior to the gathering at the venue, the 2010 MX1-GP machine made its debut in front of a reasonable attendance that braved the temperate conditions. David Philippaerts was 5th overall under the Italian sunshine in what was very much a shake-down outing for the team.
The 2008 MX1-GP World Champion started well in all three motos (of 20 minutes and 2 laps duration) and his finest finish was a determined push through to the runner-up slot in the first race. The sand was bumpy and rough after heavy rainfall. A small crash in the next outing dropped him to 8th while a steady run to 6th in the last moto of the day – with low sunshine obscuring some of the jumps – assisted in his priority to further refine the set-up of his new machinery.
Ken De Dycker was the sole representative of the Yamaha Monster Energy Ricci MX crew with Loic Larrieu still recovering from his shoulder injury and Alessandro Lupino nursing a sore wrist. French 19 year old Larrieu started riding three weeks ago. De Dycker, making his maiden appearance in Monster Energy colours and with Yamaha, again used the motos to flex his muscles after the off-season and learn more about his new mount in race conditions. He finished 9th twice before struggling slightly in the last race that necessitated a visit to the pits. He ended the day 12th overall.
The opening round of the Italian Championship takes place next weekend at Montevarchi and will see a virtually full entry of the Yamaha Monster Energy Motocross Teams. Larrieu will hold off participation until the International event at Valence in France in two weeks. Gautier Paulin will compete with the 2010 YZ250F for the first time after arriving back from the United States last week.
Mantova Starcross International Classification:
Moto1
1. Tony Cairoli, ITA
2. David Philippaerts, ITA, Yamaha Monster Energy MX Team
3. Marc de Reuver, NED
9. Ken De Dycker, BEL, Yamaha Monster Energy Ricci MX Team
Moto2
1. Tony Cairoli, ITA
2. Clement Desalle, BEL
3. Tanel Leok, EST
8. David Philippaerts, ITA, Yamaha Monster Energy MX Team
9. Ken De Dycker, BEL, Yamaha Monster Energy Ricci MX Team
Moto3
1. Tanel Leok, EST
2. Clement Desalle, BEL
3. Tony Cairoli, ITA
6. David Philippaerts, ITA, Yamaha Monster Energy MX Team
38. Ken De Dycker, BEL, Yamaha Monster Energy Ricci MX Team
David Philippaerts:
“I am pretty happy. Today the first moto was good and we did some work with the bike. My main goal was to get time on the track and running the speed with the others. Many riders crashed and I did not want to make mistakes; the track was difficult. We collected some data, which was important and we are ready for the next step. The season has started earlier this year and I am not 100% but this is fine and I am pleased with the level we have.”
Ken De Dycker:
“Today was a start. We did some work and development of the bike to get the setting right for me and that was the main reason for coming here. The last moto was not going well and it was a little dangerous with the sun so low. We will continue with what we need to do and I may travel down to race at Montevarchi next week.”
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Check out both of Jim’s bikes on ESPN. Photo by Sandy Carson.
Jim Bauer has a couple bike checks up on ESPN (above). The one of the left is his Sunday Model C and the one on the right is his prototype Metal frame. Sandy Carson walks you through it and even throws in a trails pic in the end!
While you’re on the ESPN site, make sure to hit up the article about Ben Ward’s ‘09 Photo Project (right). He snapped a photo a day, for a full year, complete with write-ups on each one.
And, to add to your list of things to check out this morning, Terry Adams’ Twitter contest is happening today. To win some free goods, follow him on twitter.com/terryadamsbmx.
