Moto Weekly | Junior MX Champs cancelled | MX Nats setting up for late spring start

Moto News Weekly Wrap
August 4, 2020

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Aussie Supercross in doubt
MX Nationals to start in late Spring

High level discussions are taking place this week to decide the fate of the 2020 Australian Supercross Championship amidst the current travel restrictions put in place by various states to try and counter the COVID-19 pandemic.

MCNews.com.au believe that it is highly likely that no Supercross Championship will take place this year, and that an Australian Motocross Championship will be scheduled to run over some of the months that Supercross would normally take place.

There could be as few as three double-header events that will make up the 2020 Australian Motocross Championship and at this stage the gates are unlikely to drop for round one until late October or possibly even into November.

Motorcycling Australia this week have already added the 2020 Australian Junior Track Championship, Australian Classic and Post Classic Dirt Track Championships, and the 2020 GasGas Australian Trial Championships to the list of cancelled events. The Australian Junior MX Championships have now suffered the same fate and have been officially cancelled.

AORC Events Calendar Update

The Yamaha Australian Off-Road Championship (AORC) presented by MXStore has made the decision to cancel Round 7 and 8 of the Championship which was to be held at Omeo, Victoria on September 19 and 20.

KTM have also released a statement that due to the complications of the pandemic they will not race AORC for the remainder of the year with their factory squad.

2020 Yamaha AORC Presented by MXstore Calendar

Round 9 & 10: Wynyard, TAS 17 – 18 Oct 2020
Round 11 & 12, Venue TBC 14 – 15 Nov 2020

Will Ruprecht tastes victory in Italy

Australian Will Ruprecht won both days against a well stacked field of top-level competitors racing in the Italian Enduro Championship in what were hot and dusty conditions at Carsoli on the weekend.

The 21-year-old from Taree got the better of fellow Beta rider and reigning champ Steve Holcombe to take victory on his Beta Boano Racing Beta RR300.

Riders contesting the Carsoli Enduro included the likes of Davidea Guarnoni, Alex Salvini, Dan McCanney, Thomas Oldrati, Matteo Cavallo, Brad Freeman and Loic Larrieu.

Ruprecht had not contested the opening two rounds of the series but his perfect scores on the weekend rank him in sixth place in the Italian Enduro Championship points standings and the highest ranked two-stroke rider.

MXGP stars have final hit-out in the sand of Axel ahead of MXGP getting underway again

The sand of Axel – on the Dutch/Belgian border – provided a suitable training exercise for many MXGP competitors ahead of the Grand Prix of Latvia at the similarly surfaced Kegums circuit; round three of the long-delayed 2020 FIM Motocross World Championship.

Jeffrey Herlings won the opening moto convincingly but the KTM man was caught up in a first turn crash in the second outing. The Dutchman and MXGP standings leader flew back through the field to 5th position, going 1-5 on the day and for 2nd place overall.

Jeffrey Herlings

“Today was a good day. I holeshotted the first moto before it was red-flagged and then did the same again and dominated. It was pretty-easy going. I started well in the second moto but a bunch of guys crashed and I ended up with my front wheel stuck between the rear wheel and the fender of another bike. So, it took some time to get free and start again. I was last but worked my way up to the front-runners. I just ran out of time. It was decent practice and beneficial day. I enjoyed it. Now we’re looking forward to Latvia.”

Romain Febvre was runner up in the opening moto but the Frenchman won the second to celebrate his first overall victory since joining KRT last winter and was credited with the overall win.

Romain Febvre

“It was another good weekend for us; the goal again this weekend was to prepare for the GPs with more starts. Two races, four starts, two holeshots and twice second, so that’s really positive. Here at Axel my feeling was not so good in the first race but better in the second; a win is always a good result but I feel that I can still improve and we’ll continue to work this week before the three GPs in Latvia.”

Glenn Coldenhoff didn’t quite manage to back up his recent success at Arnhem. The GasGas rider was sixth place for much of the opening moto, the Dutchman took his time before disposing of Benoit Paturel with two laps to go. Coldenhoff then went on to make a last-lap pass on team-mate Ivo Monticelli for fourth place when the Italian became held up by a lapped rider. Coldenhoff went on to claim a great start in race two, rounding the first corner in third place before shadowing early race leader Romain Febvre well into the second half of the race. The 29-year-old then unfortunately clashed with a lapped rider while setting up a pass for the lead and fell. Remounting quickly, Glenn crossed the finish line in fourth place, enough to secure the final step of the overall podium.

Glenn Coldenhoff

“Overall, I’m happy with today. Qualifying was really close with everyone and I qualified fifth so that was ok. I felt great ahead of the first race, taking the holeshot but then the race was red flagged. On the restart my start was not so good, around 10th place. I was quickly up to sixth, however the track was quite smooth and one lined, so it was hard to make passes. I knew my fitness was good so I passed Benoit Paturel with two laps to go, then Monticelli got caught up with a back marker so I passed him and finished fourth. Race two I had another good start in third place. I moved into second place quickly and stayed there for most of the race. I was setting up the pass for the lead when I came together with a lapped rider. I dropped back to fourth and took a couple of laps to find my rhythm again. When I did I closed in on third place but by then the race was over. I’m really happy with my MC 450F, we made some small suspension changes for today and they worked, my speed and fitness are good so I’m really looking forward to next weekend in Latvia.”

Riders are now heading for three consecutive one-day MXGP World Championship rounds at Kegums in Latvia; the first will take place on Sunday 9th August, the second on Wednesday 12th and the third on Sunday 16th. Herlings currently leads the MXGP World Championship by nine-points over Honda’s Tim Gajser.