16 November 2019 – Michigan’s AMA/D14 Motorsports News MAPES continued from page 13
NOVEMBER 2019 – by Steven Beane • I know you’re not supposed to read too much into it, but Adam Cianciarulo’s victory over Eli Tomac at the recent Monster Energy Cup had to make Kawasaki feel good about their chances indoors come January. • RacerX recently reported that ‘Cody Webb and KTM Agreed to Mutually Part Ways’. That news wasn’t terribly shocking – Webb won everything that KTM asked him to ride, but he wanted more control over his schedule – but that PR headline is horrible. How about “… Mutually Agreed to Part Ways” ? • So where is Webb going? The best money is on Sherco, where he is expected to join Stu Baylor, Ty Tremaine, Quinn Wentzel and Louise Forsley on a blue and floyellow super team. Three more riders are expected to be named to the team. Look for an IRS audit to find out where all the money is coming from soon. • The abbreviated 2019 EnduroX schedule concluded recently in Nampa, Idaho. Colton Haaker retained his crown over Taddy Blazusiak, with Trystan Hart finishing a credible third place. Haaker’s margin of victory over the Polish superstar was only two points. • I mentioned last month that the new Betas had a number of neat features, and as I set up the first 300RE that we’ve sold I discovered a few more. There are wiring and cable guides molded into the trip computer bezel for instance. The frame guards no longer cover the lower subframe mounting point, so they don’t have to be removed when you need to tip up the subframe. There is a little trough in the fuel tank cover (blue on the REs, black on the RRs) that funnels any gas spilled during filling down to the skidplate. The skidplate itself has a new shape and new mounts, the location of which now allows the plate to be removed with the spin of
a T handle wrench. You kind of get the picture – very thoughtful design. • Phoenix Racing is a multi-discipline race organization that has Honda backing. They look to be making a push into GNCC to try to unseat Kailub Russell and the newly promoted Ben Kelley in the XC1 division. • Speaking of Kelley, the youngster just won his second consecutive XC1 race … out of a total of three entries! Thad DuVall and Kailub Russell may have their hands full next year – the ten consecutive XC2 race victories Kelley scored to start the season contributed to his third place overall standing for the year. • The Spanish island of Ibeza (or Ibiza, depending who you ask) recently hosted the Trials des Nations, where the American men’s squad comprised of Pat Smage, Josh Roper, and Daniel Blanc-Gonnet finished 3rd in the International contest. American ladies Maddie Hoover (9th ranked in the world of women’s TrialGP), Louise Forsley, and Kylie Sweeten carded a fifth place finish in their division. The Spanish juggernaut of Toni Bou, Adam Raga, and Jeroni Fajardo took home the gold for a 16th time. • It’s not too late to get suggestions for rule changes in to your division chairs, unless of course your division conducts its’ rule-making process outside of the yearly District sanctioning meeting. Here’s an example proposal for the Enduro division– “ Open entries for AA riders two days ahead of the general signup, and allow those twelve riders to sign up additional riders for their rows at the same time”. For those of you that don’t follow the woods racing scene, you might be surprised to find out the most crucial start is not away from the gate, but at your keyboard when you’re trying to preenter for an event.
• Indian just released a ‘frame-mounted fairing’, 108ci touring bike called the Challenger that looks all the world like the Harley Road Glide that it is meant to compete against. • Marc Marquez may be 8-time world champion in the world of road racing, but its his younger brother Alex that logged what some are dubbing ‘the save of the century’ after high-siding during a rain-soaked practice Twin Rings Motegi in Japan. Look it up, and prepare to be amazed. • As Husqvarna continues to re-build it’s street-bike street cred, look for a twincylinder entry into the wildly popular American Flat Track series. • Don’t forget to cheer on Tyler Vore as he represents D14 and America at the ISDE in Portugal on November 11-16. • What’s old is new again – longtime District 14 member and officer Brian Kidner is once again sporting Team Green graphics on a very green KX450 as he attempts to qualify for Loretta Lynn’s and generally demoralize younger riders everywhere. Kidner last raced for the Kawasaki program before the 250F had been introduced. • Don’t look now but TM Racing is offering fuel-injection on its full range of offroad (EN) bikes, although the time-tested Keihin twist-cap carb is still offered on the 250 and 300 models, as well as the motocross bikes. At PlusOnePerformance, our goal is to help you get the most out of your next ride. Whether you need parts or suspension tuning, a new Beta dual-sport, trials, or enduro bike, or possibly even one of the spectacular new TMs, you owe it to yourself to check us out at afterhourscycle.com.
That’s a tough one… growing up I was a huge Chad Reed fan, he was smooth and just had a killer style, to some extent I always wanted to replicate that. I would have to blame my dad for getting me into more of a “stand up” riding style, when I was a kid he always threatened to take my seat off if I didn’t get off of it. As I got older my dad and I rode a lot with Leroy Keen and the Keen family. All the Keen’s were helpful in showing me the easier way to do things. Leroy was always so smooth on a bike and riding behind him while trying to mimic him helped out a ton. You’ve been around the sport a while, what do you think we can do to make it better? One thing that’s much different now than when I was growing up is the amount of kids in the morning races. Back when I was on 60’s and 85’s there was a lot more kids out there. I wish this sport wasn’t so expensive for families and there were more kids racing. The only thing I looked forward to while growing up was the racing on the weekends. The off-road community is an awesome group of people and I wish more families got to experience it. You and your girlfriend Kristine Curler are having a Baby soon. That has to be very exciting for you both. How has that changed your perspective. Yup! We’re expecting a boy this December! We’re both really excited as well as both our parents. It’s crazy how perspective changes without him even being here yet, you kind of lose the selfishness and start thinking big picture. Thanks for taking the time for this interview. In closing I have to say you have always been someone that showed his competitors respect and I appreciate that. You and I have talked a few times and I could see you have struggled to overcome these head injuries. I get along well with all the guys that we race with but I was stoked to hear you pull off the Championship. I hope that you continue to have success on and off the bike. Thanks Corey, I appreciate it. You yourself have dealt with some rough patches and you always come back from them. It’s admirable the amount of determination you have and we all know you’re going to do it again! Thanks man!