MXGP

MONACO (Principality of Monaco) 4 May 2019 - Youthstream is proud to announce that MXGP Mag issue number sixty-nine is online as we get set to head to the Monster Energy MXGP of Lombardia next week! The newest issue of MXGP Mag features the F&H Kawasaki Racing Team as they take on the 2019 MX2 World Championship with Henry Jacobi and Adam Sterry. We also give a recap of the events at the MXGP of Trentino in our racing catch up along with the updated Fox Holeshot report and standings. Then we give a look at the work that goes into the suspension on MXGP bikes from KYB, SHOWA, and WP. Finally, we take a look back to the past with Akira Watanabe’s 1978 World Championship 125 Suzuki and then we feature motocross hall of famer Steve Ramon!

Click HERE to read the sixty-ninthissue of MXGP Mag or download it for FREE on Apple Store or Google Play.

Those users who have already downloaded other issues on their iOS device can automatically download the new issue by opening the News Stand and clicking on the cover of the MXGP Mag. Whereas those readers using an Android device will be able to download the magazine for free thanks to this app: http://bit.ly/IssuuOnAndroid

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“MXGP of TURKEY” organization, which hosted MXGP last year, has been included as a project under the auspices of the President of the Republic of Turkey for 2019!

Nearly 40 thousand people followed the MXGP of Turkey, held together with AfyonMotoFest at Afyon Motor Sports Center built on 250 thousand square meters in Afyonkarahisar. The organization was given “The Best Infrastructure” award by MXGP.

The “MXGP OF TURKEY”, which was added to the MXGP calendar last year, has been included in the projects under the auspices of the Presidency of the Republic of Turkey as of 2019.

Strengthening its position every passing year among popular organizations all around the world, the MXGP of Turkey takes pride in holding a new race after the one in 2018. 

MXGP of Turkey will be held on September 6-8, 2019 in Afyonkarahisar under the auspices of the Presidency of the Republic of Turkey.

BOS GP Kawasaki rider Tommy Searle might be sitting in 15^th place in the MXGP point standings, but the British rider is only thinking of continuing to build on his already impressive career. Having scored 58 points from the first four rounds, Searle is slowly getting back to his best form, when he battled Jeffrey Herlings for the MX2 championship a handful of years ago.

Searle is still enjoying his racing, despite the MXGP class being ridiculously difficult and he knows that the tough days only make his successful days more enjoyable. Despite some good results in the last round in Trentino, Searle struggled mentally.

“There are races that are not fun,” Searle said, “But some are fun, and you can enjoy it. I am working on intensity, because I lack that at the minute, but I think everyone is doing that. It is a bit risky, well, not risky, but you have to get used to it. I did a lot of sprints in practice and you get used to it, but I wouldn’t say it isn’t fun. I didn’t enjoy Arco, mentally it was tough, we had some problems there. I still enjoy racing and riding my bike and if it goes well, it is a good weekend.”

There is no doubt, when you look at total GP results, over a span of many years, Searle has been the leading British rider and is proud of that fact. Now racing hard with Shaun Simpson for national honour, Searle knows that his battles with Simpson will only improve both riders’ results.

“My Auntie sent me a stat thing that somebody had done,” Searle said. “I have had 47 podiums and 14 GP wins and that is a lot more than any other British rider over the past decade, so I have been more successful, but at the moment he has come on in the past five years and I haven’t had the best last five years. I think Shaun and I are pretty similar at the moment, sometimes he beats me, sometimes I beat him. At the GPs sometimes you get caught up mid-pack and you get lost. When you actually get a start and are out front, the speed is good. I was a little faster than Shaun last weekend and sometimes I ride better in England than in the Grand Prix, because when you don’t get a start in GP, it is hard, getting hit with the rocks, and you are mid-pack and can’t ride your own race.”

Searle will now head back to Italy and the circuit of Mantova, where his sand skills will be tested, but with a good break from the GP scene and some domestic races giving him more confidence, don’t be surprised to see Searle crack the top five, something he has struggled to do this year.

World MXGP Champion Jeffrey Herlings is finally back on the bike, not his motocross bike, but at present his mountain-bike, and in a day or so, he will be riding Enduro. With his bones healing well, there is a chance of seeing the Dutchman racing at the next GP at Mantova.

With two weeks to train and prepare, Herlings told us in Valkenswaard that he wants to be back for the next round of the MXGP Championship and some of the KTM team members are excited for that moment, including his mechanic Wayne Banks.

“Of course,” Banks said. “I mean when you see the fight in Arco with Tony and Tim, and you imagine if Jeffrey was in the mix. I am pretty sure every race fan can’t wait to see him battling with those guys. I get a bit bored at the races and I much prefer going about my own routine and working on the bike. Injuries are part of motocross, nothing I can do about it, we want him back as soon as possible of course, but he needs to recover from the injury and there is no point in rushing back. Dirk and Val keep in contact with him, I send him some text messages to see how he is feeling. There are heaps of people checking up on him day to day. I don’t keep in that close a contact with him.”

Dirk Gruebel, the team manager of the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team isn’t in too much of a hurry to see his rider back, but he does want to leave it up to Herlings to make the decision on his return.

“We told him”, Gruebel said, “First go to the doctor and he gives the green light, then we see how his foot feels in the boot and see how he is riding. If he feels good for Mantova, then he can come back, but he shouldn’t push too go for a top spot, because I don’t think he is able to do that yet. In our opinion, we think maybe one or two races after that. He shouldn’t rush anything. Yes, it is a big question mark. Not training for three months, coming back from a big injury. I know his level of speed is high anyhow, but these two guys, they are also in a good level, like Tony and Jeffrey are last year. It will be the wrong approach to try and battle with them in his first race back but knowing Jeffrey how quickly he recovers from injury and how quickly he gets his speed back, I wouldn’t be surprised if by the second or third race he is already battling with them.”

So with Herlings back on the bike this week, and the motocross world waiting for his return, it will now be a waiting game to see if the Flying Dutchman will return in two weeks’ time, or take the safety first mode and wait until Portugal a week later, or maybe even France on the 25^th and 26^th of May.

Photo Copyright: Ray Archer

There is no doubt, the MX2 class at the moment is very much a young version of the MXGP class. While Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider Jorge Prado seems to be the fastest, he isn’t leading the championship points due to missing a round after picking up an injury.

Prado will need to stay consistent to catch red plate owner Thomas Olsen of the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory team, but both will need to remain calm under huge pressure from names like Henry Jacobi, Jago Geerts, Ben Watson and Tom Vialle who are also showing amazing speed.

Dirk Gruebel of the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team has been able to sit back and watch his young gun Vialle surprise many people. Like many inside the GP paddock, Gruebel is loving everything about the MX2 class and these young rookies.

“It is fantastic,” Gruebel said. “I would never have imagined how much talent and how strong Tom is riding. I mean our job was the bring him on, help him get to the top ten and take it from there. Since the pre-season races, he surprised us, and he did well in the pre-season race in Mantova, then Hawkstone it was less, but Lacapelle was good, and since Argentina, he takes the good starts and he is living from that a bit, just as Jorge did two years ago. Still, he isn’t fading away and it is great to see. In Arco, he has never been there before, and he is keeping guys like Olsen behind him, and they are pushing hard. The last 10 minutes is still crucial for him, because he doesn’t have the strength yet, but it will come. It is just fantastic, the podium in MX2 is really young now.”

Former GP winner Marc De Reuver also has one eye on the MX2 championship as his riders fight for podiums finishes. At present Henry Jacobi is proving many people wrong with his consistent and strong showings and isn’t far off the pace of Prado and Olsen.

“Yes”, De Reuver said, “MX2 is super, and I didn’t expect it to be like this. It is really nice to watch, they all want to win, or go for the podium. Yes, Prado is too good, but that is okay, you also see he can make mistakes and you never know in this championship and I am not saying Henry will be World champion, but Prado is better at the moment but behind him, they are all equal. Watson, Olsen, they are all together and its good. We are not on Prado level yet, and if you want to go to Prado level, you need to continue. It isn’t like after one podium the season is over.”

And now, in two weeks’ time, the MX2 class will arrive at the Mantova circuit in the north of Italy, and once again, the pack will be hunting down red plate owner Thomas Olsen and defending champion Jorge Prado. With names like Ben Watson, Tom Vialle, Jago Geerts, Henry Jacobi and so many others all looking for a way to unsettle the championship picture.

Photo Copyright: Ray Archer

From April 12th to 14th, the organizer for the MXGP of China, H&H Sports Protection, hosted a road show at Formula One China’s commercial area where more than 60 thousand people visited per day.

Through this road show, numerous amounts of potentential fans got to know MXGP for the first time, and they expressed huge interest to keep following Grand Prix Motocross. At the same time, many veteran motorcyclists and motorcycle fans were also extremely excited for MXGP as it has been 11 years since the last motorcycle related grand prix happening in China. 

On the first day of the exhibition, the Deputy Mayor of Shanghai Fengxian District Ms. Yuan Yuan made a visit to the booth. While on the third day of exhibition, the Director of Sports Bureau in Shanghai Fengxian District Jiang Hongjuan visited the booth to give his compliments. 

At the booth, the helmets and motorcycles attracted a lot of interest with visitors staying to look at the display, play interactive games, and take photos for memory.

Additionally, there were promo models who caught people’s eye and distrubited small gifts at the booth.

Even at the last minute of the event, people’s enthusiasm still did not fade away. They were thrilled to know MXGP will be held in China for the first time. Also with the scheduding for MXGP China being during the Mid-Autumn Festival, a Chinese traditional holiday, many people plan to bring their whole family to the great event.

Copyright: Photos: H&H Sports Protection

MONACO (Principality of Monaco) 23 April 2019 - Youthstream is proud to announce that PATRON has committed to be the title sponsor of the 8^th round of 2019 FIM Motocross World Championship season, the MXGP of Russia in Orlyonok. The event now coined the “PATRON MXGP of Russia” is set to take place this 8^th and 9^th of June.

As a global auto parts brand PATRON is owned by Shate-M Plus, the largest distributor of its kind throughout Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan making the Russian GP and Youthstream the perfect partner.PATRON produces a wide range of auto parts at the highest OEM quality including more than 39,000 individual products for today’s cars and all of which come with an impressive 1 year/20,000 km guarantee. 

PATRON is already a long-term partner of the 2016-2023 Ice Hockey World Championships but the new MXGP partnership will propel the brand even further within motorsports and world motocross specifically.

More information about the 2019 PATRON MXGP of Russia can be found here while further information about PATRON is available here.

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HRC rider Brian Bogers might not be running up front at the moment, however the Dutchman, who missed the complete 2018 season due to injury, is working hard to get back to where he feels he should be.

Holding down 19^th place in the MXGP point standings Bogers knows he needs to improve and quickly if he wants to continue as a factory rider.

The last round in Italy a little over a week ago a 10^th place finish in the second moto should give him confidence going into Mantova in a months’ time.

“The first race (in Trentino) I didn’t have the best start and I also crashed, taking too long to get back going because I got stuck under the bike. This left me a long way behind, but I got to work and despite this being a difficult track to pass on, I worked my way back inside the top 20, ending up 19th. Obviously, I knew that I needed to improve my start and that’s exactly what happened in the second moto. I rounded the first few turns inside the top 10 and that’s where I was able to finish. You could see that if I can fight with those riders, I can finish in these good positions, so that was another step in the right direction. I improved my season best result with this ninth place, but I know I need to keep working and that’s what we are going to do in this break.

Even racing at home, around the Eurocircuit in Valkenswaard was a tough weekend for Bogers. A good start in the opening moto and a 12^th place finish proved he was capable of running inside the top 15, but then a crash in moto two and his weekend again ended badly.

“The first race went pretty well. I had an okay start, around 11th and I saw that on the pit board, so I really tried to push to get inside the top 10. Maybe I pushed too hard to make that happen, and I ended up riding too tight and I couldn’t push anymore. I finished 12th and I was very happy with that, and it was a nice to see my work paying off. In the second race, my start wasn’t so good, and I got hit by another rider, but I still managed to get up to 14th place. Unfortunately, though, the impact with the other rider caused some damage to the bike and I wasn’t able to finish the race. It’s a shame but this is motocross and I must put it behind me and move on.”

Matterley Basin and Bogers struggled in England when he 21-22 results and no points. Making mistakes is something the Dutchman knows he has to correct, or his season will remain a major drama.

“My first race was not good; it was one to forget. I didn’t have a good start but in the beginning, I could push for quite a few places and I was around 16th. Then I got arm-pump and I couldn’t push anymore, and I finished 21st. The second race, it was a little bit a better. In the beginning I was around 12-13 and I felt quite good, but then I had a small crash and I dropped back to 22nd and I just couldn’t find my rhythm again and that’s where I finished. Overall, it’s definitely one to forget, but I need to learn from my mistakes.”

Despite his low place on the series points, moving into Mantova in Italy the HRC rider knows that he will feel comfortable on the sand and can hopefully put together two solid starts and score a bunch of points.

Italy will hold the next round of the FIM Motocross World Championship, set for Mantova in the far north of Italy. It is little surprise that there is a buzz in the air for this event as the MXGP riders return back to Italy after a stunning round in Trentino a couple of weeks ago.

A handful of countries have a special long-standing relationship with the FIM Motocross World Championship, and Italy is one of those. Of course, our current MXGP red-plate owner is Antonio Cairoli, an Italian who has dominated the sport for the last 15 years.

Cairoli is passionate about his sport and even more so about his country. Sportsman of the year in Italy in previous years and a household name, Cairoli has done more for Italian motocross than any other Italian motocrosser, and believe me, there have been some very special Italian riders to have graced our sport.

Present day Yamaha Factory team owner Michele Rinaldi was the pioneer of Italian world champions, winning the FIM World 125cc Motocross Championship in 1984 and scoring 13 GP wins.

Rinaldi was a lucky man, like anyone else who raced for the Suzuki factory back then he knew he had the bikes to win. The yellow Suzuki machines won 10 125cc titles in a row, Rinaldi’s crowning glory being the last of the 10.

Rinaldi still attends the races as team owner of the Yamaha Factory effort, and he has seen a changing of the guard in many ways. He has also seen the improvement in the MXGP riders over recent years.

Alessandro Puzar kept the fire burning in Italian motocross with a 250cc title in 1990 and a 125cc title in 1995. Puzar also picked up 22 GP victories in his very exciting career and he remains one of the most interesting characters in the sport.

Following Alex Puzar’s success came Alessio Chiodi. Chiodi won three 125cc titles in 1997, 1998 and 1999 and scored 26 GP wins, previously placing him just outside the top ten for all time GP winners. Just ahead of him were Georges Jobe, Andre Malherbe, and Paul Friedrichs on 28 GP victories.

At the time Chiodi was considered the best Italian rider of all time, and his battles against the likes of Grant Langston, James Dobb, and David Vuillemin were epic.

Another Italian Andrea Bartolini won a world 500cc championship in 1999, racing for the Rinaldi Yamaha team Bartolini was up against the mighty Joel Smets, but made the most of the Belgian's misfortunes to clinch Italy their seventh motocross world championship.

After the Bartolini championship times got a little quiet for the Italian riders, with Cairoli scoring two MX2 World championships in 2005, and 2007, and in 2008 David Philippaerts added an MX1 championship. Cairoli would then win titles in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2017, a stunning performance.

What makes the performances of Cairoli so special is the fact he has won FIM Motocross World Championships on nine occasions, with just 14 years. Cairoli also has 88 GP victories and stands just second in the all-time GP winners list to Stefan Everts, who has 101.

Now as the MXGP class head to Mantova, Cairoli can look at GP win number 89, as he climbs closer to his 10^th World Motocross championship. A true legend, just not for Italy, but for motocross worldwide.

Anyone who watched the last Grand Prix in Trentino had to be excited for the MX2 class. No doubt led by Red Bull KTM Factory Racing's Jorge Prado, the 18-year-old Spaniard who has really dominated this year, we have a long list of youngsters fighting for their own piece of the MX2 pie.

In Italy just over a week ago, two other 18-year olds, Jago Geerts and Tom Vialle joined Prado on the podium, finishing second and third overall and moving into fifth and sixth positions in the MX2 championship points.

When Prado drove out of the Trentino circuit on Sunday night, the smile on his face couldn’t hide the fact he has won at this circuit three years in a row and continues to impress the motocross public.

“Three years racing in MX2 here and three victories,” Prado said. “There must be something at this track for me! I felt comfortable and we have been training hard after the time-off with the injury and a bit more riding time. I was happy coming here. The qualification heat gave me confidence and two very good starts today was really important on this track because it is tough to pass. Good riding and a good result. I’ll just try to keep on doing what I’m doing and avoid the mistakes.”

As for Monster Energy Kemea Yamaha rider Geerts, it was his second trip to the podium this year, and his confidence continues to grow moving into Mantova in a month’s time. The Belgian rider is now looking at that top three position as much as possible.

"It was a really good weekend for me,” Geerts said. “Even Saturday was really good with second place in the qualification race. Sunday went the same, I had two good starts and moved to second place and finished second place. I had really good speed and really enjoyed the track this year as it was really rough, especially in the second race and I like that. Now I just want to work hard in this small break that we have and try to be on the box again in Mantova."

The young Frenchman Vialle was also standing on the box for the second time this season and although he also rides for the Red Bull KTM Factory team, and is the same age as Prado, everyone is surprised by his sudden rise in the division.

“A second podium in four GPs is unbelievable,” Vialle said. “When they called me to come in after the finish line, I thought they had made a mistake! I was a bit disappointed a few moments before because I thought I’d lost it. I was so happy to learn I was third and was actually happy with my riding the whole weekend considering this was my first visit to this circuit. I love trying new tracks and new ground and it played into my favour today.”

Now back to Italy, and the circuit of Mantova in a month’s time. A track where all three teenagers should shine, as all have great sand skills, it wouldn’t surprise anyone this time if we have the three young men standing on the box.