Is Eli Up for the Nationals?

ELI’S 2022 DOMINANCE DESPITE KNEE INJURY

Eli Tomac has been on a roll this year. But it wasn’t until he spilled the beans in his post race interview that we found out he had a knee injury.  

With a set of racers on new rides, we questioned who would do well during the season. Eli Tomac on Yamaha, Jason Anderson on Kawasaki, Malcolm Stewart on Husqvarna, and both Cooper Webb, Marvin Musquin, and Aaron Plessinger on brand new KTMs. By the halfway point, it was clear who the two top contenders were going to be when it came to figuring out their new bikes, Eli Tomac and Jason Anderson. While Malcolm Stewart was incredibly (and still is) consistent onboard his new Husky, he wouldn’t be able to win a Main Event like the other two.

Another factor in the 2022 season was Eli’s ability to stay healthy and on two wheels. In similar fashion to the 250 classes, the 450 class suffered many casualties in the 2022 season, knocking many of the top riders out of the races. While some weren’t capable of maybe winning the championship, less riders meant less competition in the Main Events.

Eli Tomac had all the wins and the momentum going for him with a large points lead mid-season. However, Eli hasn’t won since Round 12 at Seattle and he announced in his post race interview that he actually sustained a knee injury at the Atlanta Supercross that has severely hindered him lately and added lots of stress to his Championship-winning hopes. In the post race press conference, Eli mentioned that he didn’t ride at all during the week leading up to the Denver Supercross, but when he woke up on Saturday morning to race, his knee felt better and he was confident that he’d be able to ride through the injury one more time.

The next question is, will Eli Tomac’s knee feel good to race in Salt Lake City? Will he push for another win or just finish out the season smoothly? How much will this affect his training for the Nationals?

Dungey's Return

Dungey, who retired early at 28, has toyed with the idea of coming back before but things seem to have aligned this year and, at only 32 years old, Dungey should still be competitive, especially when you look at what his teammate for the opening two rounds, Antonio Cairoli, now 36, has achieved in his 30s.

There is going to be a lot of major titles under the KTM USA rig with Cairoli and Dungey and it is a great chance for the US fans to see two legends back in action.

Ryan Dungey: “I’m really excited about the opportunity to race the first couple rounds of the outdoors for Red Bull KTM. I’ve had a lot of success with KTM in my most recent years of racing and it’s exciting to go back and race for the same team with a lot of great personnel. I have a lot of trust with the team, which breeds confidence sitting on the line knowing I have good people behind me and we’ve got a great dirtbike underneath us. This is a stacked class and it’s been a long time since I’ve been on the line with them but I’m excited to be back on the gate. I’ve got a lot of respect for the sport and the riders, so I don’t go into this underestimating anybody. I’m excited to just be out there racing with everybody and see what we can do.”

Ian Harrison, Red Bull KTM Team Manager: “We couldn’t be more excited to have Ryan joining us for the first two rounds of the AMA Pro Motocross Championship. He’s a world-class rider who has obviously achieved many great successes throughout his career and it’s great to see him having so much fun riding the bike. Ryan is a true competitor at heart so we are happy to support his desire to line up on the gate this summer and we look forward to seeing what he can do.”

RYAN DUNGEY OFFICIALLY COMES OUT OF RETIREMENT

It’s official, Ryan Dungey is back! The press release says that he will contest in the opening Rounds, just like Antonio Cairoli, but we suspect that if they’re both scoring well, they’ll keep the train moving to Round three at Thunder Valley in Colorado. Read the press release from MX Sports below:

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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (April 29, 2022) – With one of the most exciting and unexpected announcements in the history of American motocross, four-time AMA National Motocross Champion Ryan Dungey will come out of retirement to contest the opening rounds of the 2022 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship, sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing. The Minnesota native amassed one of the most decorated careers in series history before he announced his retirement from racing just prior to the start of the 2017 summer campaign, but now, five seasons later, he’ll return to the starting gate as a member of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, with whom he captured the 2012 and 2015 titles in the 450 Class. Fittingly, Dungey’s comeback will also welcome the return of his famed No. 5 on the KTM 450 SX-F Factory Edition.

Mile High SUPERCROSS

With one more round left after Denver, the championship for all three classes may come to an end before we even step foot at the Season Finale. On the 250 East, we witnessed Jett Lawrence clinch the championship title in Foxborough. Now, it’s all up to Christian Craig and Eli Tomac to make it happen in their respective classes. Both have a massive lead in the points, and while Eli wasn’t able to clinch the title this past weekend, we expect the number 3 to do so in his home state of Colorado. The 16th round of the 2022 Monster Energy Supercross season may be one not to miss as we may see the wrapping up of the championship fight. Scroll down below to find out everything you need to know about the upcoming Denver, CO round.

MXGP of Latvia 2022

Tim Gajser And Jago Geerts Dominate The MXGP Of Latvia With Perfect 1-1 Scores

Relaxing After Boise Vintage Races

Legends come out for the vintage races at Owyhee Motorcycle Club

History is a big deal at the Owyhee Motorcycle Club which started in 1940 and this year marked the 50th anniversary that helped jump start motocross in the United States.

By: Steve Dent

BOISE, Idaho — History is a big deal at the Owyhee Motorcycle Club which started in 1940 and this year marked the 50th anniversary that helped jump-start motocross in the United States.

This sport originated in Europe and after introducing motocross to the United States it took a while for Americans to be able to compete with the Europeans, but that all changed 50 years ago when Gary Jones became the first national champion claiming the crown at the OMC.

 

"We are at the same track that hosted it way back when which is amazing, there are not too many tracks still running races that they hosted back in 71 & 72," said Scott Wallenberg a local racer who loves the vintage races. "It’s such a thrill it is like I’m back in high school and I think of my father cheering me on and it just really brings you back and you can’t do that in a lot of sports."

People ride bikes from 50 years ago at the vintage races which are the biggest event of the year at the Owyhee Motorcycle Club, it also draws riders from around the country as we spoke with three AMA Motorcycle Hall of Famers.

"By the time I was 17-years-old I won my first AMA National Championship at that time I was the youngest national champion," said Broc Glover who flew from an event in Foxboro Stadium in Massachusetts on Saturday to be at the OMC for the races. "I went on to win six more AMA Championships and many other major titles."

Ryan Villapoto is another Hall of Famer who drove from San Diego for the races and he finished first in one of the heats we saw while we were at the OMC.

 

Rodney Smith also got inducted into the AMA Hall of Fame after a career racing in Brazil, Europe and around the world, Smith now lives in Nampa.

"I say it is our turn to give back to the sport so even though we are racing today we are out mingling with people and getting to spend time with people that rooted for us so it’s really cool," said Smith. "It hits me pretty hard I think it is awesome."

But more than anything the OMC promotes a family atmosphere as I learned most people learn to ride from their parents and then pass down this passion to the next generation like the Lothrop family, even though sometimes it can be hard on dad to watch his son ride these motorcycles.

"It makes me nervous because it’s an extreme sport these bikes are really fast it stresses me out when he’s riding them, but it makes me happy at the same time," said Rob Lothrop. "Yesterday he won the race and it made me very proud of him."

To ensure the future of the Owyhee Motorcycle Club for generations to come this non-profit has to do some fundraising, but they have something special on the horizon.

The club will acquire a 2022 Husqvarna FFE 501 from Austria and it will be customized here in Idaho by local businesses, people have until November to get in on this sweepstakes to win a really sweet ride.

Red Bull Erzbergrodeo open up 300 extra starting places

22 April 2022 | Hard Enduro World Championship

Red Bull Erzbergrodeo organisers have announced they’ve expanded the starting grid back to max with 300 more places now available for the iconic extreme enduro event this June 16-19th.

We’re shocked to learn it is only around 50 days (at time of writing) until the flag drops on the 2022 Red Bull Erzbergrodeo. After a two year wait that seems like a mad fact.

Preparations for the “World Xtreme Enduro Supreme”, round three of the Hard Enduro Word Championship, are well under their way with new routing promised in each of the major elements across the weekend – Rocket Ride, Iron Road Prologue and main Hare Scramble – those fresh entries now available plus expanded spectator experience for the main event.

Sought-after starting places open up

“Due to the COVID-19 situation we had to narrow the starting grid down to 1200 riders last year.” Says Red Bull Erzbergrodeo’s Karl Katoch explaining why there are now additional starting spots available.

“Now that the situation in Austria and Europe has significantly relaxed, we are able to return to the full maximum of 1500 competitors. The Red Bull Erzbergrodeo has all lights put on green, and we are looking forward to a mighty showing of the motorcycle off-road racing family at our comeback after 2 years of break.”

The online rider registration for the Red Bull Erzbergrodeo 2022 can be found at: redbullerzbergrodeo.com

New racetracks, spectacular side events and extended spectator areas

The Erzberg quarry has changed its face a lot over the past two years while the event has been absent. That means they have added some new parts to the different racetracks including an all-new, “extremely spectacular” layout for the Rocket Ride and some fresh sections in the familiar Iron Road Prologue.

Sunday’s Red Bull Erzbergrodeo main Hare Scramble will be a mix of legendary classics and lots of new sections Katoch adds, “a unique challenge providing Extreme Enduro at the highest level.”

 

This is added the news Enduro21 already reported that the 2022 event will longer allow external helps or refuelling – red more about that here: No refuelling and no-helpers at 2022 Erzbergrodeo says race boss

Off-road festival – new spectator points, same beer tent…

The weekend is a festival on the mountain of course and the action coin the paddocks area includes a new “Akrapovic One-On-One” rider presentation, the all-new GASGAS Trial Extreme Challenge plus the notorious rider parties at the beer tent across the four days.

The most breathtaking parts of the racetrack will see extended spectator areas this year also, which can be reached using the free-of-charge shuttlebus service on site. “Both the MITAS Rocket Ride and Red Bull Erzbergrodeo will have new spectator areas which offer an extremely close experience of the racing action. Especially on Sunday, riders will need the full support of their fans and we will make sure that they’ll get it loud and direct!”, says Red Bull Erzbergrodeo head of organisation Mark Schilling.

Another double for dominant Gajser in MXGP of Latvia

 Post: Alex Gobert

MX2 clean-sweep enables Geerts to reclaim joint red plate.

 

Image: Supplied.

Team HRC’s Tim Gajser won both motos at the MXGP of Latvia to increase his advantage at the top of the world championship, while Jago Geerts swept MX2.

On what was a miserably wet day at the Kegums circuit, Gajser took control of both races in what were difficult conditions to further stamp his authority on the 2022 series.

Gajser won the opening moto ahead of Pauls Jonass (Standing Construct Husqvarna) and Ruben Fernandez (Team Honda 114 Motorsports), before repeating in the second from Jonass and Glenn Coldenhoff (Monster Energy Yamaha).

Fourth was enough for Fernandez to land on the podium overall behind Gajser and Jonass, while in the championship standings, Gajser is 66 points clear of Jorge Prado (Red Bull GasGas) – 12th overall at Kegums – and with Maxime Renaux (Monster Energy Yamaha) sitting third.

Image: Supplied.

In MX2, Monster Energy Yamaha rider Jago Geerts reclaimed the red plate by delivering 1-1 results to win the grand prix in convincing fashion.

Geerts topped moto one ahead of Kevin Horgmo (F&H Kawasaki Racing) and Thibault Benistant (Monster Energy Yamaha), before it was Geerts ahead of Kay de Wolf (Nestaan Husqvarna) and Tom Vialle (Red Bull KTM) in moto two.

Overall, Geerts stood atop the podium ahead of Horgmo, who went 2-4, and Vialle’s 5-3 scorecard. Both Geerts and Vialle are tied in the standings on 244 points apiece leading into Maggiora, Italy, on 7-8 May.

Eli Will Have To Wait A Little Longer

Eli Tomac has such a big points lead in the 2022 AMA 450 Supercross Championship that he doesn’t have to win to be crowned, and he didn’t win the Foxborough Supercross. Largely because Jason Anderson decided that it wasn’t going to happen this weekend and also because Eli sat up and rode a safe and sane race, that will allow him to go to Denver next Saturday with a 43 point lead—big enough to clinch in his home event as long as he makes the top five (regardless of what Anderson does). Marvin Musquin impressed everyone again with another podium in a valiant effort to prove to KTM that he is still a valuable member of the team—even though he is not signed to race the upcoming AMA Nationals. Marvin has a Supercross-only contract that expires in two more races. Marv wants to keep racing, and he is currently the best that KTM has. Chase Sexton got the second step on the Foxborough Supercross podium. Next week is the Denver Supercross and the 2022 series ends in Salt Lake City on May 7.