Rippin Thru Idaho Corn Feild

2020 Idaho NGPC: Robby Bell Sings the 2021 KX250 in the Vet AA Class. This looks like lots of fun on a great day in Idaho.

Woodstock of Vintage Motocross

Hundreds turn out for AHRMA Vintage Motocross at Diamond Don Event Center

• By Bridget Ortigo bortigo@marshallnewsmessenger.com

 JEFFERSON — More than 600 people from across the nation turned up to Jefferson’s Diamond Don Event Center this week for the 18th annual AHRMA International Vintage Motocross races.

The dirt was flying and the engines were revving as racers ran through the course throughout the day on Saturday.

“We’ve had families that have been here in Jefferson since Labor Day weekend for this event,” co-owner of the Diamond Don Event Center Francene Rainey said on Saturday. “They come every year for the races but they love Jefferson and it’s a great place to vacation so a lot of them came early and have been here since Labor Day weekend.”

Founder of the annual races “Diamond” Don Rainey also climbed on his bike Saturday to join the races with fellow national champion racers, such as Motorcycle Hall of Famers and legends Barry Higgins, Steve Wise, Brad Lackey, Trampas Parker, Trey Jorski, Guy Cooper and Gary Semics.

“The racers have all been telling me how excited and grateful they are that we went ahead with the races this year,” Diamond Don Rainey said Saturday. “The vintage motocross is a series and most of those races take place throughout the year on the east coast. Out of 16 races, 10 of those were canceled so the racers are just so excited to be here and racing.”

The event kicked off on Thursday with a charity Golf Skills Challenge benefiting the Jefferson Railway and Wetlands Foundation that helps fund local youth activities and programs.

“We raised about $1,000 for the foundation through the golf tournament and we raised about $2,000 from the raffle ticket sales of the motorcycle,” Francene Rainey said.

With more than 600 racers camped out in the bayou city, the annual AHRMA Vintage Motocross event serves as one of Jefferson’s largest events of the year, Rainey said.

“This is the Woodstock of vintage motocross,” Rainey said previously.

“This is a family friendly event, and many of the wives and children come for this event each year because they love visiting Jefferson,” Rainey said. “We even have some women competitors racing this year.”

Next up, Diamond Don and Francene, who own several businesses in Jefferson, are set to put on the second annual Antique Tractor Show and Trump Tractor Parade next Saturday at 10 a.m. in downtown Jefferson.

Following the tractor show, the couple, who own the Historic Jefferson Railway, will host the Halloween Express Train which is a family friendly Halloween train that will run each Saturday in October in both the day and night.

Beginning the day after Thanksgiving, the Historic Jefferson Railway will host the Christmas Express Train through the Christmas holiday, with both day and night time runs.

King of the Castle - Cairoli

You know, maybe we will never really work out just how good Antonio Cairoli is, because every time we think we have seen the best of the Italian, he shows us something else. After picking up his 91^st Grand Prix victory last weekend, and taking hold of that MXGP red plate, the Sicilian once again proved how close he is to being the greatest Grand Prix rider of all time.

It isn't surprising that he continued to remind us of his greatness as it was back at the Valkenswaard circuit in Holland in 2004 that he made us all take notice, sit up and wonder who this kid was, in his rookie season, when he burst out of the gate at the eurocircuit and battled the best in the World.

Statistically wise he still has some work to do, and I won’t be putting the KTM rider ahead of Stefan Everts until he passes the Belgian greats stats. We have forgotten far more about how good Everts was and the records he holds in the sport, to hand Antonio the number one of all-time tag for now would be wrong, but damn, there isn’t much in it between these two.

Cairoli, who in his first full season in the Grand Prix’s finished with a podium and battled the 2004 MX2 World champion Ben Townley. He won his first  of 91 Grand Prix’s and not surprisingly, the riders he raced on that day are now all retired, yes, every single rider from the 2004 Grand Prix of Wallonie, set at the famous Namur circuit put their boots away and many of them years ago.

It is a similar story from his first World championship year in 2005, of the top 30 riders from 2005, only Cairoli survives, with 31^st placed Shaun Simpson and 40^th places Tommy Searle still racing. Of course, many great champions ride through different era’s, and as their success continues, their rivals fall to the wayside. A good example of that is Clement Desalle and Gautier Paulin, two of Cairoli’s biggest rivals in his career and both now languishing in 9^th and 10^th place in the MXGP points standings and being trampled by the youth of today. Between Cairoli and his former rivals are a group of young men all looking to make their own piece of history as “old man” Cairoli calmly walks to the top step of the 2020 championship, acting like this is a sport that is kind to the elderly, it isn't, but in Cairoli's case, it sure has been kind to him.

Let us not forget after two rounds of this year’s championship it looked like just two men would rule the ever powerful MXGP class, four-time World champion Jeffrey Herlings and three-time World champion Tim Gajser. The level was higher than ever and carrying injuries it looked all but over for the Sicilian. 

While Cairoli picked up a GP victory in Latvia a month ago, he was pretty much handed it to by Herlings late race mistake, but still, NOT making mistakes is what wins championships and Cairoli as I have so often said is the smartest Grand Prix rider I have ever seen, and once again, he playing the smart game to possibly another championship.

Now, at the grand old age of 35, nearly twice as old as MX2 red plate owner Tom Vialle, the Sicilian rules the World, at a time when the MXGP class is levels above anything else, and the European based riders are dominating like they did in the 1970s, we are led by one of the all-time greats, and as I mentioned at the very beginning of this article, we might not have even seen his greatest moment.

For the real story, just take a look at the statistics for Antonio Cairoli. He has averaged around 40 points a GP in 250 Grand Prix appearances, that is just staggering. His GP win percentage is around 35% through both his MXGP and MX2 races.

His worst season performances are 10^th in 2019 when he went out injured and for each championship since he raced his first GP in 2004, he has gone 3-1-2-1-6-1-1-1-1-1-1-7-2-1-2-10-1. Of course, also in 2008 when he finished 6^th, he went out of the series injured, and same story with his seventh place in 2015. Outside of being injured, he hasn’t finished outside the top three, or since 2005, his championship winning season outside the top two.

King Cairoli - GP Statistics

MXGP

GP wins 67 (37.0%)

Race wins 178 (33.9%)

Podiums 127 (70.2%)

Points 7,255pts

Average points per GP 40pts

Total Grand Prix 181

GPs Years 2007 - 2020

MX2

GP wins 24 (34.8%)

Race wins 91 (44.6%)

Podiums 42 (60.9%)

Points 2,588pts

Average points per GP38pts

Total Grand Prix 69 GPs

Herlings To Sit Out!

KTM confirms Herlings to sit out next four MXGP rounds

World championship red plate-holder to undergo further scans.

MXGP World Championship leader Jeffrey Herlings will miss the next four rounds after an injury scare in Faenza on Wednesday, due to undergo further scans to determine the extent of any injuries.

Red Bull KTM has confirmed that Herlings, 25, will sit out the Emilia Romagna, Lombardia, Mantova and European rounds of the 2020 season after suffering a large impact to his neck and shoulders in free practice.

“While it was a scary crash, we have to be thankful that Jeffrey was not badly hurt,” explained Dirk Gruebel, Red Bull KTM team manager and technical co-ordinator. “The first scans are positive when you consider the injuries he could have picked up. He is a really tough guy and has been through this process before.

“It is frustrating because of the good work he’d done in the championship standings but it is the negative part of the sport we have to accept. Hopefully the scan in a few weeks will show his recovery is going in the right direction. All the team will miss him until he’s back on the bike and doing what he does best.”

Herlings held a 60-point advantage in the 2020 MXGP World Championship standings entering Faenza, which was reduced to 22 points after sitting out the motos. He is scheduled to have another MRI on 29 September prior to any potential return.

Polish star Maciej Janowski ready to ramp up FIM Speedway Grand Prix title bid in Gorzow.

Maciej Janowski 

FIM Speedway Grand Prix frontrunner Maciej Janowski pledged “we will be ready for hard racing” as he steps up his world title challenge at Enea Gorzow SGP rounds three and four on Friday and Saturday.

Janowski heads to the Edward Jancarz Stadium as World Championship leader on 38 points after winning round two in his home city Wroclaw on Saturday, August 29 – 24 hours after finishing second in Friday’s opening round.

He heads to Gorzow on a huge high after seeing off SGP rival Bartosz Zmarzlik in a titanic tussle to win the Polish Championship Final in Leszno on Monday.

Janowski lifted his first Polish title in Gorzow in 2015. While he admits it’s not his favourite track, the 29-year-old is determined to maintain his momentum in the world title race after a lightening start to SGP 2020 two weeks ago.

“Gorzow never used to be my favourite place, but I also won the Polish title there. The track will be the same for everyone. I will just prepare the best I can and fight for everything I can get," Janowski said.

“We did a great job in Wroclaw, but we have three more weekends like this. We will try to do everything like last time, prepare well and just try to push even more. I hope we won’t miss anything and we will be ready for hard racing.”

Janowski’s quest for the sport’s biggest prize is boosted by the presence of chief mechanic Rafal Haj in his SGP crew.

The Pole was part of American great Greg Hancock’s team when he claimed three of his four world crowns. Like Janowski, Haj hails from Wroclaw and has followed Janowski’s career for a long time.

The Californian retired in February and Haj made a permanent move to Janowski’s pit corner. The seven-time SGP winner admits his experience and ideas have been a huge boost.

“It’s great to have Rafal in my team. He looks at many different things and since the beginning of the season we have tried so many things," Haj said.

“We have made many changes to our bikes and put in a lot of work. We still have a couple of ideas. I am glad to have him on my side.”

Janowski, who has 38 championship points, holds a six-point lead at the top of the standings over Russian star Artem Laguta and Great Britain hero Tai Woffinden, who are deadlocked on 32 in second and third respectively.

Fredrik Lindgren is in fourth place on 30, while world champion Zmarzlik goes into his home event placed fifth on 27.

Zmarzlik is joined in representing host club Gorzow by Niels-Kristian Iversen and wild card Anders Thomsen of Denmark.

In-form Thomsen is the second foreigner to be handed the No.16 race jacket for the Gorzow SGP – following in the footsteps of Darcy Ward, who was called up for the event in 2011.

The 26-year-old is grateful for the opportunity and has his sights set on mounting a podium push.

“I think my form is pretty good, so I am confident I can get some really good results and maybe stand on the podium in the end," Thomsen said

“I want to show people I can be in the GP. Last year I was so close to getting into the GP series. I didn’t get the chance to qualify at the GP Challenge this year, so I really want to show I can be one of the boys at the top.”
FIM Speedway Grand Prix frontrunner Maciej Janowski pledged “we will be ready for hard racing” as he steps up his world title challenge at Enea Gorzow SGP rounds three and four on Friday and Saturday.

Janowski heads to the Edward Jancarz Stadium as World Championship leader on 38 points after winning round two in his home city Wroclaw on Saturday, August 29 – 24 hours after finishing second in Friday’s opening round.

He heads to Gorzow on a huge high after seeing off SGP rival Bartosz Zmarzlik in a titanic tussle to win the Polish Championship Final in Leszno on Monday.

Janowski lifted his first Polish title in Gorzow in 2015. While he admits it’s not his favourite track, the 29-year-old is determined to maintain his momentum in the world title race after a lightening start to SGP 2020 two weeks ago.

“Gorzow never used to be my favourite place, but I also won the Polish title there. The track will be the same for everyone. I will just prepare the best I can and fight for everything I can get," Janowski said.

“We did a great job in Wroclaw, but we have three more weekends like this. We will try to do everything like last time, prepare well and just try to push even more. I hope we won’t miss anything and we will be ready for hard racing.”

Janowski’s quest for the sport’s biggest prize is boosted by the presence of chief mechanic Rafal Haj in his SGP crew.

The Pole was part of American great Greg Hancock’s team when he claimed three of his four world crowns. Like Janowski, Haj hails from Wroclaw and has followed Janowski’s career for a long time.

The Californian retired in February and Haj made a permanent move to Janowski’s pit corner. The seven-time SGP winner admits his experience and ideas have been a huge boost.

“It’s great to have Rafal in my team. He looks at many different things and since the beginning of the season we have tried so many things," Haj said.

“We have made many changes to our bikes and put in a lot of work. We still have a couple of ideas. I am glad to have him on my side.”

Janowski, who has 38 championship points, holds a six-point lead at the top of the standings over Russian star Artem Laguta and Great Britain hero Tai Woffinden, who are deadlocked on 32 in second and third respectively.

Fredrik Lindgren is in fourth place on 30, while world champion Zmarzlik goes into his home event placed fifth on 27.

Zmarzlik is joined in representing host club Gorzow by Niels-Kristian Iversen and wild card Anders Thomsen of Denmark.

In-form Thomsen is the second foreigner to be handed the No.16 race jacket for the Gorzow SGP – following in the footsteps of Darcy Ward, who was called up for the event in 2011.

The 26-year-old is grateful for the opportunity and has his sights set on mounting a podium push.

“I think my form is pretty good, so I am confident I can get some really good results and maybe stand on the podium in the end," Thomsen said
“I want to show people I can be in the GP. Last year I was so close to getting into the GP series. I didn’t get the chance to qualify at the GP Challenge this year, so I really want to show I can be one of the boys at the top.”

Herlings - Out of Mantova

 

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings will sit out the Grands Prix of Lombardia, Citta di Mantova and Europe from September 27-October 4 to undergo another MRI scan in the wake of his crash during Free Practice for the Grand Prix of Citta di Faenza last Wednesday.

The current MXGP FIM World Championship leader and winner of four rounds from seven so far in 2020 fell and suffered a large impact to his neck and shoulders at the Monte Coralli circuit on Wednesday morning. The soon-to-be 26-year old was taken to a hospital in Bologna and then to Herentals in Belgium where he was examined by renowned and trusted surgeon Dr Claes.   

While Herlings was fortunate to escape serious injury, the hard landing means he needs to rest and monitor the state of his upper torso in the next two weeks. He is due to have another MRI on September 29th. The date means he will miss the next four rounds of the series. The Mantova circuit will stage a triple header in one week at the end of this month.   

Dirk Gruebel, Team Manager and Technical Co-Ordinator: “While it was a scary crash we have to be thankful that Jeffrey was not badly hurt. The first scans are positive when you consider the injuries he could have picked up. He is a really tough guy and has been through this process before. It is frustrating because of the good work he’d done in the championship standings but it is the negative part of the sport we have to accept. Hopefully the scan in a few weeks will show his recovery is going in the right direction. All the team will miss him until he’s back on the bike and doing what he does best.”

The Three Kings in 2020

 

The MXGP class was again very competitive yesterday and the numbers of this class tell a big story. Of course, the injury to Jeffrey Herlings was a bummer, and I can tell you, after he was packed off to the hospital, I just didn’t even feel like following the racing. I was gutted and I can’t even imagine how Herlings and his team felt. But life goes on, and the racing was close and exciting and once again, a number of riders were in contention for the GP victory.

In the end though, while Red Bull KTM factory rider Jorge Prado walked away with the victory, only three men are really contenders for the 2020 MXGP championship, and all three know a thing or two about becoming champion. Unless we get another 2015 scenario, where Romain Febvre survived an injury riddled season, where Cairoli, Villopoto, Desalle, Nagl and others fell out of contention through injury, then one of these guys below will be crowned champion. The great thing is, whoever wins becomes even more of a legend than they already are.

With a combined 16 World championships and 204 Grand Prix victories between them, Antonio Cairoli, Jeffrey Herlings and Tim Gajser belong among the all-time greats. They are also the 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 MXGP champions. We are so lucky in this era to see all three battle for a championship, in an era when the Grand Prix riders have never been faster and more feared.

The good news is, this 2020 MXGP championship is just warming up, and whoever comes out on top will be celebrated for years to come. Let’s take a look at what they have done so far.

Jeffrey Herlings hadn’t dominated the series so far, however he had before Faenza II rolled up a big championship points lead and won four of the six GPs. However, now, with the seventh round held yesterday, the stats level up a little, although “The Bullet” if fit to come back for Mantova in a couple of weeks will still be the favourite to win his fifth World motocross championship. With the four GP wins, five moto wins and 263 points he remains the man in this current crop of Grand Prix riders. Herlings moto results until his practice race yesterday was very impressive, and his riding slower and smarter was working, but the four-time World champion just can’t take a trick when he hits the deck and injury seems just around the corner every time he crashes.

Herlings Results: 1-2-2-1-4-4-3-3-4-1-1-1-DNS-DNS

Antonio Cairoli, the second greatest GP rider of all time is once again being smart and is a close second in the championship points, just 22 points behind Herlings. The Italian has just one race win, one GP win, and 241 points, but being in the right place at the right time is something Cairoli has learnt well in recent years. Cairoli is a very smart rider and while he doesn’t always have the speed at 34 years of age, he knows racking up points is important and just like in 2017 he could easily win a title despite not being the fastest man in the class. The fact the Sicilian has finished with a 17^th, a 9^th and two 7^th places is really unlike Cairoli, but you can see he is warming up to the job at hand and his last five motos have been a little more like the old Tony Cairoli. As I said, being smart is his strong point and nothing would surprise me to see him crowned a 10-time World champion in November.

Cairoli Results: 4-3-7-5-7-17-1-4-9-2-3-3-4-3

Tim Gajser has thrown it away probably more than anyone this year, but he has also shown that he can on his day be the fastest motocross rider in the World. The HRC rider also has five moto wins, but probably one of the biggest surprises is yet to win a Grand Prix, and after seven rounds that is one of the unexpected things until now. The defending champion has looked good enough, but mistakes and that horrible bike problem in Kegums has cost him dearly. I always knew Gajser would come back from that Latvian disappointment, because when it comes to being mentally tough, the Slovenian is right up there. With that final race win yesterday, you can bet he heads to the third and final Faenza GP full of confidence and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him go 1-1 and come out of the three Faenza races with the red plate. I don’t think Gajser would be even close to happy with what he has put together in race results so far. I mean he has either looked like a king, or at times the king’s servant. Like Herlings two DNS results, Gajser has two DNF’s, but still without question a championship contender and a chance to pick up his fourth World motocross championship.

Gajser Results: 8-1-1-2-1-5-DNF-5-1-DNF-8-5-1-7

Ray Archer image

The Road 2 Recovery Foundation

VINTAGE IRON AND ROAD 2 RECOVER JOIN FORCES TO ADDRESS DEPRESSION ENCINITAS, Calif.- Vintage Iron owner Rick Doughty, recently lost his son Max to the devastating effects of depression. In Max’s honor, he has reached out to Road 2 Recover to create an event designed to generate funds specifically geared for injured riders and racers that may need the resources to deal with the onslaught of depression.  Fighting the Dark Depression is so much more than the disappointment of not making the podium or being side lined with an injury. Depression may start with harmless disappointment but unchecked it can advance like many other illnesses, to the point that it becomes debilitating or even fatal. Depression is not the result of a negative attitude but quite the opposite. Upbeat, positive people can succumb to the overwhelming effects. The real physical manifestations are many. Distortion of thinking / reason, body /joint pain, appetite loss and worst of all, loss of hope. People don’t choose to be depressed but they can choose how to combat it. Joining together it is a winnable fight. The life you save may one day be your own or someone you love.  Event The First Annual Max Matters Motocross is scheduled for Sunday, October 4th and will be hosted at Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino CA. Classes will include 85cc and up, vintage to modern, young to not so young. The hillside course will be challenging but deliberately accommodating to all skill levels. Entry fees for Members receive the first entry for $35 and subsequent entries are $20. Non-members receive the first entry for $45 and subsequent entries are $20. Registration and fees are handled at the event. American Retrocross will be the host club organizing the event. More information can be found at www.americanretrocross.org. Donations: Companies, riders and/or fans are encouraged to donate items to the online and on-site auctions that will be forthcoming. Proceeds will be going to Road 2 Recovery Foundation and will be tax deductible. Questions or comments: Rick@vintageiron.com Media Contact: Lori Armistead Road 2 Recovery Foundation 619-339-5671 Lori@road2recovery.com   About Road 2 Recovery: The Road 2 Recovery Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2000 to help AMA-licensed motocross and supercross professionals and action sports athletes with financial assistance after sustaining career-ending injuries as well as providing motivational, emotional and spiritual support to these individuals and their families.   For more information on Road 2 Recovery, upcoming events and athlete updates, visit road2recovery.com or click here to make a donation.

MX Mount Rushmore?

Our Mount Rushmore - Opinion

Posted on September 08, 2020

An interesting topic over at vitalmx, on their all so famous forum. Somebody asked who would be on the Mount Rushmore of motocross/supercross. It is a great question, because there are so many variables to why somebody should end up on Mount Rushmore. I mean the original Mount Rushmore

Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a massive sculpture carved into Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills region of South Dakota. The huge granite faces depict U.S. presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. No doubt, back when the sculpture was built, these four stood pretty high in the list of all-time best Presidents. Apart from maybe John F. Kennedy nobody really seems worthy to replace the current faces on the side of that rock-face.

But Mount Rushmore for motocross/supercross. I think if you go America it has to be the winningest riders, which are Ricky Carmichael, Ryan Villopoto, Jeremy McGrath and Ryan Dungey. You see, RC has 15 major AMA titles, Villopoto 9, McGrath 8 and Dungey 8, but do you really leave out Ricky Johnson, Jeff Ward or Bob Hannah from the list, who have 7, 7, and 6 championships?

It is a tough one, because as a kid, well, Bob Hannah was the King of US motocross, and as I started working in the sport it was Ricky Johnson who dominated Worldwide, including the MXdN. Was the competition in the 1980s for Johnson and Ward tougher than the competition that the RC, McGrath, Villopoto and Dungey era? That is a hard one, because you got the more recent era guys with more championships, but without question less depth than in the 1980s.

Moving to a Worldwide standpoint, and again, as a kid “The Man” was Roger Decoster, and while he captured five 500cc World championships, he also won a bunch of MXoN events, both for Team Belgium and individually, and Trans-AMA titles in US. Obviously for the GP riders it is hard to not put Stefan Everts and Antonio Cairoli one and two, 10 and 9 World titles, 101 and 90 GP wins, nobody comes close to these two for now.

Does Jeffrey Herlings with his four titles (maybe five this year) and 90 GP wins belong third in the GP all-time list? I would put him there, despite having to put one of my childhood heroes (DeCoster) behind him. Herlings is winning at a time when the Grand Prix riders are better than ever, faster, stronger and with names like Cairoli, Gajser and Prado in the MXGP class, “The Bullet” is still way stronger than anyone else at the moment, and the points race tells us that.

Back in the day they raced a lot less rounds, so for Everts, Cairoli, Herlings, Prado and Gajser, it is easier getting the numbers up, but still, you have to win a GP and that is a mammoth task in any era. For somebody like Robert, who might have raced at times 8 to 12 GPs, getting to 50 GP wins was very impressive.

Robert never raced the premier class but does have six 250cc World titles and 50 GP wins and for decades was the record holder for Grand Prix racers. Damn, the guy never even broke a bone in his career, and like DeCoster ruled America for many years. Still, Robert and the stories about the man, will belong in motocross folk-law forever, thankfully.

If I had to pick, just from my own feeling, my American Mount Rushmore would be RC, McGrath, Hannah and Villopoto, with Ricky Johnson just missing out. In Europe, without question Everts, Cairoli, DeCoster and Herlings, with Robert or Eric Geboers just missing out.

Either way, we have dozens and dozens or legendary riders, former World champions, GP winners, MXdN winners, so many belong in the motocross hall of fame, and maybe one day, somewhere in the World we will actually have a Hall of Fame that does them proud. All of them.

We're Back!

Our regular readers have noticed we havn't been very active in the last thirty days. The reason is we've been very busy with relocating. We have wanted to move for a while and everything came together very quickly. The bad news is I won't be able to ride all my favorite tracks with my buddies... at least not very often. The good news is I will be able to ride new tracks and trails and report on new rides. We have left California and relocated to Boise, Idaho. I'm looking forward to lots of new riding and meeting new riding buddies.

More good news our two bloggers #33 and 21J have returned with new stories. Eric has finished his new "Garage Mahal" and Doug just cannot stop tinkering.

Life is Good!

Art

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