MXGP #23 August 2015

#23_AUGUST 2015

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RACING CATCH UP

RIDER OF THE MONTH Kiara Fontanesi

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INDEX

COOL SHOT

MONSTER GIRLS

HALL OF FAME Georges Jobe

MXGP MAG: Chief Editor: Marionna Leiva Photos: Youthstream YOUTHSTREAM Media World Trade Center II Rte de Pré-Bois 29 1215 Geneva 15 Airport Switzerland MXGP Mag #23 Agust 2015 The articles published in this magazine do not necessarily reflect the official position of Youthstream.

Then content of this publication is based on the best knowledge and information available at the time the articles were written.

The copying of articles and photos even partially is forbidden unless permission has ben requested from Youthstream in advance and reference is made to the source (©Youthstream).

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EDITORIAL

Giuseppe Luongo President of Youthstream Group

ing for the MXGP title was a professional decision which shows Ryan’s determination I would like to pay tribute and strength of character, to Ryan Villopoto for all the unfortunately for him things achievements he has made went differently than planned throughout his career and with his injury at the MXGP for being the only great of Trentino and it’s underAmerican Champion to decide to take on the world by standable he decided to recoming and racing in MXGP. tire when he realized it was no longer possible to fight for This decision was openly the Championship title. The discussed in media and on whole MXGP world has to social networks and many thank Ryan, Monster Energy of the comments were not backed up by facts or knowl- and Kawasaki because thanks edge, however for those still to his participation now a door has been opened with in doubt Ryan very clearly the US Motocross, thanks to explained in his exclusive Ryan American fans started interview on MXGP-TV.com to follow MXGP, and thanks all the motivations for this to that they have started to decision. Ryan is a great appreciate the value and the champion and his decision quality of our riders and the to finish his career strivDear MXGP Friends,

great organization. We saw many American fans started to follow MXGP during the first 4 MXGP events when Ryan was present, but now they continue because they enjoy the great show of MXGP. 2015 is a crazy season for the MXGP class; the 4 riders who were the most accredited for the title are all injured and out of the fight for the title (Cairoli, Villopoto, Nagl and Desalle), and the rookie of the year, Febvre, is leading the Championship with a good gap on the 2nd and is showing everyone he’s ready for the Championship victory in his first year, he is proving to everyone that he is fast on

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any type of track and any type of condition.

After Herlings’ last injury the MX2 class has become a battlefield where 5 to 6 riders have the potential of taking the title, each rider representing a different motorcycle brand they are making the races thrilling with a different rider on the top step of the podium each time. It looks like the Championship will be decided at the last race in USA.

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I would like to especially congratulate Shaun Simpson and Max Anstie who both had a perfect weekend on an extremely demanding track in Lommel last weekend, they showed the growth of British Motocross.

So far this year we have witnessed outstanding performances in both the MXGP and MX2 classes where the riders have been very competitive in many different conditions and tracks many

of them showed the potential of winning but all of them showed the high level of those Championships. The classifications of the MXGP and MX2 races this year show the first lapped rider is placed between the 18th and 20th position, which is about 1.50 minutes from the first placed rider, considering this is after 35 minutes of tough racing it shows the riders are all very compact and the level has increased considerably giving a exciting show for the fans.

COOL SHOTS

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COOL SHOTS

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COOL SHOTS

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FOX HOLESHOT

Let’s take stock of the current state of first turn affairs as we look back at the winners and losers of the Fox Holeshot competiton at rounds 11, 12, 13 and 14 in MXGP and MX2.

Coming into Sweden Max Nagl was at the head of the MXGP competition, with 8 vital points to his name, most of those had lead to race wins, but he wasn’t going to get

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any more points in Sweden after his broken ankle in Germany ruled him out of the next 4 rounds.

It was a similar story in MX2 with Wilvo Nestaan Husqvarna’s Aleksandr Tonkov leading the way on 6 points, but his broken collarbone, also from a crash at the German GP, has put him out for the season.

So entering Sweden both championships were blown wide open and were there for the taking.

4 rounds later the question is do we have a new leader in our two categories, a rider who has taken on the challenge and burst forward for Holeshots that go on to be run away victories? Well, no, not quite anyway.

With Herlings taking a single point with a virtuoso display in race 1 in Sweden he moved to share the top of the tree with the absent

HOLESHOT

Aleksandr Tonkov. That race, as we now know, would be the last one he would complete in 2015 with his subsequent brace of nasty injuries in race two and in the Czech Republic taking him out of the running for the season. So that left us with a duo atop the tree that will play no further part in the Fox Holeshot competition in 2015. Jeremy Seewer took his and Suzuki’s first point in race two in Sweden but since then the mantle of challenger has been taken on by a certain ginger man on a green bike, the one and only Max Anstie. His second race holeshot in Latvia took him to 3 and his subsequent run to turn one in the Czech Republic put him on 4 and within striking distance of the 5000 Euro prize.

Last year in Lommel Anstie took his first double win and that was helped in no small measure by his holeshot in race one. This year he and his need Kawasaki steed did the repeat. Getting a good jump

and shifting well the Monster Energy DRT Kawasaki rider was untouchable in both starts and had clear air over his rivals as he crossed the line. With that clear air and two championship points he is now just one shy of Tonkov and Herlings, and with starting form like this Anstie is now the man to beat in 2015.

Bobryshev in race 1, his first Fox Holeshot point in a very long time, and an ecstatic Clement Desalle on his return to racing in race 2.

Neither of those men were capable of repeating their performances in the sands of Lommel, as Desalle’s troublesome shoulder left him a mere bystander and Bobryshev’s lack lustre qualifying race meant he had a less than MXGP faces a similar dilemma, desirable gate pick. As in MX2 those who dominated the starts there was a ‘one colour flash’ that early on have fallen by the injury cut the Fox Holeshot line first in wayside and other riders are now both motos, this one was blue and moving to the fore to split up the consisted of Romain Febvre and remaining points on offer. A prime his YZ450FM. He didn’t convert example is Glen Coldenhoff, the his start speed into wins but he Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe did do enough to close to within rider came from nowhere to mas1 point of Cairoli and 3 of Nagl’s ter the tricky 180 degree hairpin 8. If Nagl can return in Mantova of Kegums and walk away with his then perhaps he will be able to first and second points of the year, defend this championship lead but in the Czech Republic he was from Febvre, because the Yamaha nowhere and the spoils of the much man is now the only one left who preferred uphill start in Loket went is capable of toppling the Husqto the Team HRC machine of Evgeny varna from the top of the tree.

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RACING CATCH UP

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JULY’S ROLLER COASTER RIDE 4 rounds have passed since the last issue of the MXGP Mag, that’s 8 motos in each class, that’s a cumulative 9 hours and 20 minutes of racing for this months racing catch up to dissect. 16 starts have passed, not including the drama that is now de rigueur in Saturday’s 20 plus 2 qualifying races, 8 sets of trophies have been handed out and we’ve had new red plate holders in both MXGP and MX2.

Let’s start with one of those two men.

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Romain Febvre took a hold of the red plate in the last moments of the MXGP broadcast in Germany as he stood on the top step of the podium, and though it was thoroughly well deserved there was a feeling that he would find it tough to hold onto it for more than a couple of races. And yet here we are 4 rounds later and the gap has gone from 9 points over Nagl to 84 points over Paulin. That’s the largest lead that any rider has had this year and it even dwarfs the 57 point lead that Antonio Cairoli had this time last year over Febvre’s Yamaha Factory Racing Yamalube team mate Jerermy Van Horebeek That’s a hefty sum, but just how did he mange to extend his lead so massively in such a short period of time? Well a large part of that comes down to two men, Max Nagl and Antonio Cairoli. The former

red plate holder was never likely to race in Sweden but many, including the team, had a hope that he would return in the Czech Republic and resume his championship challenge on the slick and unique terrain, he did not. The ankle injury has proven difficult and painful and with Nagl lacking movement and strength the decision was taken to sit out all racing until the summer break, but with social media working its wonders it looks as though Max is working his way back to race fitness and will play at least some part in the culmination of the championship.

nature of sand riding combined with his undoubted prowess in the soft stuff would allow him time to ride himself back to 100% fitness.

That was not the case and more damaging was the news that the injury, instead of healing, had got worse and was unlikely to heal any time soon without proper rest. So Cairoli and the team took the disheartening decision to sit out the next two races in Loket and Lommel to let the bones set properly.

None of this takes away from what Romain Febvre has done in the last 4 races, he has extended his podium run to 9 in a row, won two For Cairoli, this season’s bitter double moto overalls in Sweden body blow in Maggiora finally and the Czech Republic, and with caught up to him after the punish- the deep and dastardly sand of ing hard sand of Latvia. Up until Lommel now just a memory, proven that point both he and the Red Bull that he has what it takes to run KTM Factory Racing Team had held with the best sand riders in the out hope that the slightly softer world.

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So who is left to challenge the blue streak with 4 races to go? Gautier Paulin, that’s who. The Team HRC rider has emerged from an inconsistent mid season to be head the chasing pack.

The irony that he is chasing a French rookie will surely not be lost on the Honda rider, nor will he be drawn in detail on his strategy of taking the title by beating Febvre, very succinctly telling MXGP-TV.com presenter Lisa Leyland “Exactly, that is the goal.”

With those two men now separated by 84 points at the top of the table, after Paulin’s brace of second place finishes in Lommel that clawed back the first 4 points on Febvre since Germany, we had a few other ups and downs in the MXGP pack to deal with. A real high note was the dramatic and very popular win

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for Glen Coldehoff on the Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe machine in Latvia. Bizarrely enough it was the first win for the Yellow bikes this year and came at the hands of the MXGP rookie and not from one of the full factory Suzuki World riders. After the race Coldenhoff looked like all his Christmases had come at once “It’s a great day, first and second for first overall, it’s just amazing”.

He was chased home in the first moto by his marque team mate Kevin Strijbos, and the experienced Belgian rider has been on a decent run of form since returning from his arm pump surgery at the GP of Italy. However, he had no answer for Coldenhoff in the shallow sands, nor did he put in the sort of performance that he wanted in the sands of

Lommel 3 weeks later where all of the Yellow riders struggled.

However, he has faired better than Clement Desalle who made a brilliant comeback from the shoulder and knee problems that ended his title challenge earlier in the year with a podium in the Czech Republic, made up of two vibrant third place finishes. One week later at home in Belgium his return to racing ended abruptly.

Just single lap into practice he over jumped the finish line and immediately laid the bike down to sit in the sand in clear discomfort.

The cause, his right shoulder had once more come out of its socket and as a result he would play no more part in the race weekend and after taking the decision to have surgery, the 2015 MXGP World Championship.

It was a bitter end to a promising campaign for the Belgian and he was joined on the sidelines by Red Bull KTM’s Tommy Searle who reinjured his ribs in practice meaning he to missed Sunday’s race. Searle will be back on track this season and will be joined in the not too distant future by a rapidly recovering Ken De Dyker who returned to the paddock as a spectator and was caught signing autographs by TV presenter Lisa Leyland for a Pit Chat.

year’s event was sand riding on steroids, with holes as high as the bike’s seat to bump and disrupt the flow of even the best sand riders in the world. Simpson however was in his element, even from Friday he was reveling the thought of a really tough race and when he won the two races on Sunday, passing both Championship contenders in the process, he repeated that sentiment, “I was definitely the strongest, maybe not the fastest but I was definitely the strongest.” It was a milestone win for the privateer Hitachi Construction Machinery KTM team and with Simpson on the top step of the podium KTM still had reason to smile despite the absence of their 3 Factory riders.

Without doubt the stand out story of the last four Grand Prix, more so than Coldenhoff’s Latvian win, was the sand dominance of Shaun Simpson in the rutty hell that was the 2015 Belgian Grand Prix. After a 2014 event that failed to give us the true Lommel conditions due to rain in the preceding weeks, this

The success of Jonass, his brace Lommel was also the culmination of of second places behind a rampant a crazy set of 4 races in the MX2 Max Anstie in Lommel were the class as against all the odds a Red key to his points lead, may go some Bull KTM still holds onto the red way to soothing the hearts of the plate of the championship leader Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team despite Jeffrey Herlings’ difficult after the dramatic injuries to their and distressing withdrawal from number 1 rider Jeffrey Herlings at the championship hunt for 2015. the Grand Prix of Sweden and the

It was his brand new team mate Pauls Jonass who proudly lifted the red plate above his head in Belgium and it proves once more that consistency reaps its own rewards as Jonass remains the only rider out of the top 4 in MX2 to have not won a race in 2015, or indeed ever.

Don’t let that fool you into thinking the Jonass doesn’t have race winning pedigree, he may have had a tough time in EMX250 in 2014 but his domination of the EMX125 championship and the 125cc Junior World Championship in 2013 set the bar very high for the young Latvian, and it seems as though he is delivering on his potential early.

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Czech Republic. It was race two in Sweden that got the ball rolling, he had done enough to win in race one, after taking things comparatively easy in the early stages to build speed later on and displace Jonass at the head of the field, but his luck abandoned him at the start of race 2 as he was pitched off the KTM at turn one and sustained a finger injury that was one of the most gruesome selfies on Instagram to date. He miraculously returned to action just 2 races later in Loket but his luck lasted for just 7 laps of the qualifying race. A crash due to clipping the bank left him sprawled on the start finish straight and directly in line of a blameless and unsighted Jordi Tixier, who hit Herlings like a ton of bricks, dislocating the Dutchman’s hip and unhinging any hope of a third MX2 title in 2015. Herlings will be back in 2016, but he faces a long road to regain the dominant form that he so desperately wants to show to the world.

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In an irony not lost on the paddock we find ourselves in a similar situation to last year, where three French riders all had a mathematical chance of the title due to Herling’s broken femur. However, this year the number of championship candidates has grown from 3 to 7.

One of those men has been here before but it seems as though 2015 is not Jordi Tixier’s year. The defending champ has more often than not found himself on the bottom step of the podium and in posting a DNF in race 1 in Loket, plus a disappointing 7th overall in Kegums and a comparatively ruinous 9th overall in Lommel the number 1 plate will have to get his grove back if he wants to play any part in the title showdown.

His Monster Energy Kawasaki brand mate Max Anstie is currently the man on a wicked run of form with wins in 5 out of the 6 motos since Sweden, the only blot on his record sheet was a DNF in the Czech Republic in race two when

he was simply too fast in the corner before the waves and caught himself by surprise when he over jumped the first wave slamming one handed into the face of the second. Such is his confidence and form that the Monster Energy DRT Kawasaki rider barely cracked a smile after dominating Saturday in Lommel, it was only after putting in, dare we say it, an almost Herlings-esque performance on Sunday that he declared himself satisfied with his weekend’s work. If he can keep up this turn of pace in the next 2 races then he will be right in the mix for the season ending fly away Grand Prix in Mexico and The USA, and of the title contenders he is just one of two rider, the other being Jordi Tixer, to have raced in Glen Helen, an advantage that may well prove decisive.

Of the other top men in MX2, Jeremy Seewer on the Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe machine is still putting in his top 5 moto finishes, a high point was a fine

second in moto 2 in Sweden, but he has, like Tixier, yet to set the world alight, but there is surely more to come from the young Swiss rider, who proudly wore a “made in Switzerland” butt patch in Lommel as he fought to control his Suzuki through the vicious wave section.

when the local rider was spat off his Yamaha after a hard landing.

Guillod had nowhere to go but straight as he ploughed his way just to the right of the stirken rider, he somehow managed to miss Van Doninck but was collected by the cartwheeling Yamaha and went down in a spray of coolant as his Seewer has actually out pointed his machine was ripped open in the more decorated countryman Valen- collision. It was game over in that tin Guillod 120 to 111 in the last 4 moment and any hopes he may Grand Prix, helped in no small part have had of taking the red plate

by Guillod’s genuine distaste for into the short summer break were sand riding. The Standing Condashed. struct Yamaha Yamalube GP winner may have taken the Grand Prix of It could have been worse, much the Czech Republic overall with a worse for Guillod but misfortune supreme display of drifting but he and mistakes have also struck was all at sea in Latvia and Belgium the man many expect to be the as the sandy bumps pitched him new MX2 king, certainly Honda back and forth and lady luck dealt do as they announced on Sathim a dastardly blow. Guillod had urday in Belgium that Tim Gajsjust been passes by Kemea Yamaha er will ride for HRC for 5 more Yamalube’s Brent Van Doninck for years. He has rewarded that 7th on lap two of race 2 in Lommel faith with multiple race wins in

2015, the last coming in Sweden when his 2-1 score was enough to keep Guilod at bay, but a costly DNF after clipping a bank and having his Honda CRF250’s exhaust reshaped by Jeremy Seewer in Loket was enough to keep the red plate out of his reach for a little while yet.

In the last 3 Grand prix Pauls Jonass has gone 2nd, 3rd, 2nd and taken moto results on both hardpack and sand. Right now no one except Anstie has shown his level of versatility and consistency and with 4 rounds remaining split evenly between the two main surface types it is suddenly hard to look past the Latvian MX2 rookie when searching for a serious contender for the 2015 MX2 title. But with 46 points separating 7 riders, and 200 up for grabs this one is going to go right down to the wire.

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FIM Motocross World Championship

Standings MXGP CHAMP. STANDINGS

MX2 CHAMP. STANDINGS

1. R. Febvre (FRA,YAM), 547 points 2. G. Paulin (FRA, HON) ), 463 p.

3. E. Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 423 p.

4. A.Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 416 p.

5. M. Nagl (GER, HUS), 360 p.

6. S. Simpson (GBR,KTM), 356 p.

7. C. Desalle (BEL, SUZ), 331 p.

8.J. VanHorebeek (BEL, YAM)324 p.

9. G. Coldenhoff(NED, SUZ) , 290 p.

10. K. Strijbos (BEL, SUZ), 287 p.

1. P. Jonass (LAT, KTM) ,433 points 2. T. Gajser (SLO, HON), 429 p.

3. J.Herlings (NED, KTM), 423 p.

4. V. Guillod (SUI, YAM), 408 p.

5. J. Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 395 p.

6. J. Tixier (FRA, KAW), 393 p.

7. M. Anstie (GBR, KAW), 387 p.

8. J. Lieber (BEL, YAM), 340 p.

9. P. Petrov (BUL, KAW), 262 p.

10. P. Paturel (FRA, YAM), 259.

MXGP MANUFACTUERS 1. Yamaha 2. KTM 3. Suzuki 4. Honda 5. Husqvarna 6. Kawasaki 7. TM

555 points 547 points 545 points 529 points 517 points 334 points 93 points

MX2 MANUFACTUERS 1. KTM 2. Kawasaki 3. Yamaha 4. Honda 5. Suzuki 6. Husqvarna 7. TM

613 points 583 points 495 points 470 points 395 points 348 points 67 points

MXGP Instagram Insights

2.3MLikes 100.2KFollowers 28

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MXGP SOCIAL

TWITTER, FACEB IN THE WORLD OF #MXGP @James_Bailey‬ On my way to @mxgp #lommel.

This is rapidly becoming one of my favourite motorsport championships.

@muddyryder ‬ @mxgp @lisaleylandTV awsome coverage from belgium those r the crazyist guys on the planet. Doing a mx taster day friday cant wait. @rosstherealdeal Catching up on this weekends @mxgp congrats @ MaxAnstie & @shaunsimpson24 on the victories P.S that quad jump was sick Shaun @hagonshocker @mxgp Fantastic showing and they say MX is dead in the UK?!! Still very much alive and kicking @samlowes11‬ ‬‬ awesome weekend @mxgp great to see the Brits doing well!! Lommel looked hard work I will definitely stick to tarmac! Thanks a lot @monster energy @thecouchracer @SamLowes11 @mxgp @ tommysearle100 Good to see guys from different disciplines of motorcycling supporting each other. They’re all Racers

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@bd560_1988 @mxgp @RFebvre461 LONG time Yamaha fan! Good stuff!

Hope to see you all racing in the USA at Glen Helen this year #mxgp @GlenHelenRacing You can WIN some awesome prizes this year by participating in the GET, ATHENA Photo Competition.

All you have to do to go into the draw to win one of three sweet prizes is: 1.Find any ATHENA or GET Logo at any round of MXGP this year.

2.Take a photo of it.

3.Upload it to the Athena GET Photo Competition app on MXGP’s Facebook page with the hashtag #MXGP #Athenalive.

Logo’s can be found on the rider’s gear, on the bikes, on the team trucks, and around the paddock of MXGP on various other banners and advertising panels.

The prizes up for grabs are: •Two VIP passes to any 2016 MXGP round of your choice •Go Pro prize pack •Ogio Prize The picture VOTED the best, will win.

Sound easy enough? Find an Athena or GET logo, snap a pic and upload it to Facebook.

Click HERE To go to the competition page.

How epic was Pauls Jonass crash at the MXGP of Sweden. He was lucky to walk away unscathed and now leads the MX2 world championship:

Shaun Simpson’s crash on his way to his first ever perfect weekend and first MXGP win of the season:

BOOK, INSTAGRAM, YOUTUBE

@onemotionmx @mxgp this is exactly how deep#ilostmydaughter

@foxheadeurope @GautierPaulin just killed it with those quads at @ mxgp of #Belgium

@troycorser11 The winning bike @mxgp Congratulation to the whole team for the success ... Good luck for rest of season

@tagheuer The @mxgp of Czech Republic is live! Watch dirt fly #OfficialTimekeeper #DontCrackUnderPressure

@mylessaunders71 Such a good weekend in#Lommel for the @mxgp, was definitely the best GP I have ever been to!

Especially with 4 Brits all going 1-1

IN THE WORLD OF #MXGP 31

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Un-four-gettable

This year’s battle for WMX supremacy between the former WMX World Champion, Team One One Four’s Livia Lancelot, and the defending three times world champion Yamaha MXFontaracing’s Kiara Fontanesi will go down in history as one of the greatest championship battles that never happened.

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For the last three year’s Fontanesi has dominated women’s motocross. She won the title unchallenged in 2012 and 2013 and although it was a little harder for her last year, she managed to win again for her third in a row. Lancelot, on the other hand, has spent the last few years plagued with injury but nevertheless still managed to walk away from 2014 with the number three championship plate.

This year, both riders lined up fit and healthy and right from the first gate drop in Qatar, it was obvious the 2015 FIM Women’s Motocross World Championship was going to be a two horse race. Throughout the season the duo split round wins, if it wasn’t Lancelot on top it was Fontanesi and vice versa. Both riders took five race wins each, while Fontanesi took three overall round wins to Lancelot’s two. Each of the blindingly fast ladies also had a round to forget.

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Fontanesi binned through her own error at the round of Great Britain, while Lancelot was extremely unlucky at her home round in France where Francesca Norcera fell right in front of her on a wide open section of the track and she ploughed right into her and went over the bars.

Heading into the sixth and final round at the circuit of Loket in the Czech Republic only two points separated the protagonists in what was set to be a tense match up for the 2015 WMX crown. Right before they had even been out on track for the first time at the final round, we caught up with each of these mega talented female motocross stars to see how they were feeling.

MXGP Mag: It’s the final round, there are only two points in it! How are you feeling?

Lancelot: I am feeling good,

all of the injuries from Villars Sous Ecot are completely over so I am back to100% and I am feeling good. For me it is just one more round and that’s it.

Fontanesi: I feel really good.

When they say work hard pays off, it is really like that, I believe that. I think I am well prepared.

MXGP Mag: And what about the track? Do you like it here?

Lancelot: Yeah I like the track.

Of course it is slippery and not the best track in the championship, but I like it. I rode well here last year and my bike is good and we worked a lot on these kind of conditions, so it will be okay.

Fontanesi: In my head, I like the track. For sure it’s not my favourite track, the ground is really hard and it’s not technical so everyone is quite fast but I was training a lot on this type of track so I think I

am ready to race on this kind of track. Last year it was the same, I was thinking this track is not my favourite but in the end I won the title here.

MXGP Mag: What do you think to your season so far?

Lancelot: My season started good in Qatar. In Thailand I had a few crashes and wasn’t feeling too good on the track, I was fast but I crashed in practice on Saturday really hard and hit my head and then I was feeling not really good, and then I crashed again in the race. I was not comfortable on the track, I felt I could make some mistakes and I did actually, so Thailand was not the best. After we had England. I was definitely feeling good in England. I like the track, there are a lot of big jumps and big ruts, it’s the kind of track that I like and I won both motos so it was good. After we arrived in

France and I did a great moto.

I started really bad and I came back, I was just focusing on myself, I was feeling good with the bike and on the track. I wanted to do good for the fans and give them the best I could and actually I came up with the first position on the last corner so it was kind of crazy.

It was a really good moto. The second race I had a really bad start again and I could feel it was not the same as the day before. The track was different, it was much more slippery and the lines were really weird and I couldn’t pass like I could in the first moto. I was more safe in saying “okay if you can come back second it’s okay, just go for a podium and don’t risk too much.” Finally, even thinking this way I had such a big crash with Francesca Nocera. I couldn’t do anything.

She fell down just in front of me. She went over the bars and then the bike was just flipping and I couldn’t focus on

anything but the bike. I managed to just escape the bike but then she was there and I really couldn’t do anything but crash straight into her and I crashed really hard. It could have been worse. I broke two ribs so it was really hard for me to accept getting injured like this. It was not my fault. If you crash on your own and it’s your own mistake you need to learn from this, but like this, there is nothing to learn, it was out of my hands. When I arrived in Teutschenthal, I hadn’t ridden a lot and I was not even sure that I would be able to ride fast. I was scared because I didn’t know what to expect, I didn’t want someone like Nancy Van de Ven or Steffi Laier to put points between me & Kiara. I was pretty stressed about it but I finished two times second and not that far behind Kiara so I was really happy about it. The pain was still there but really not much, I cannot say that it was from

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the pain that I was second, it thoughts going into the final was just from not being able to round? ride for three weeks and I was really missing riding.

Lancelot: I just want to focus and not do anything stupid. I Fontanesi: It has been good. have done well for the whole I think I am fitter and more year and I will just do the prepared in everyway than I same. was one year ago. This year I wouldn’t change anything.

Fontanesi: I know how to I have given 100% in every handle this situation, to race, every practice sesbattle for the title at the last sion from January to now. I round. My head is stronger thought this year would be than ever. easier because I feel better, but in the end you cannot MXGP Mag: Are you nervous at know before it happens. I all? crashed really bad in England and I thought that after I Lancelot: Of course, I have finished 16th in England the pressure; we are talking about championship was gone. a world title! But it is exactly the But I never gave up, I know same as in Qatar for the first anything could happen and I round of the year and also the stayed focused on what I had same in France for my home to do. race, but in a way I need that pressure to push me a little bit.

MXGP Mag: With only two I’m not going crazy, I am just points in it, what are your taking it good way.

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Fontanesi: I am not nervous at all. Everyone around me is probably feeling the pressure a lot more than me but I am so relaxed, I’ve never felt so relaxed. If it works out, I win. If it doesn’t, then for me I feel like I still win because I did everything I could and I will fight to the end.

MXGP Mag: And if you win?

Lancelot: Of course I’m not going to be happy if I finish second, I don’t work to be second but also I worked really hard for it and if I don’t get it, I don’t have any regrets. So if it doesn’t work out, she was stronger than me and that’s it. I will start to work again for next year and we will see.

Fontanesi: If I win, I have another title, but if I lose, I still have three titles in my pocket, which is more than I ever

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dreamed of even when I was younger. If I win this title, it will be really special because no body has won four titles before.

With both of these uber quick chicks feeling extremely relaxed and confident, the paddock was ready for a nail-biting finale.

Fontanesi set the pace in timed training, a whopping three seconds faster than anyone else, but it was Lancelot who took the advantage in race one with her second place finish compared to Fontanesi’s third, both behind the surprise find of the year, Nancy Van De Ven. There was four points in it for the girls as they entered the waiting zone for what was expected to be one of the most intense races in WMX histo-

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ry, but instead of the climactic final moto that was so hotly anticipated, Fontanesi was able cruise home for her fourth consecutive WMX world title after Lancelot’s bike suffered a mechanical failure on the sighting lap and heartbreakingly forced her out of the race.

“I never expected I could win the championship like this,” Fontanesi said, “but I never stopped believing I could do it.

I knew I could win because the speed was there and when you are almost three seconds faster than anyone else on this track then it means you can make the difference. She said, “In the end Livia broke the bike and I only had to handle the race easily to win the fourth title.”

“I still cannot believe it, I am

really happy and I’m the first female racer to win four titles in a row. This is really good and we are working well with the team. I have taken Pole at every round so I have been faster than the others and this is good and we are working in a good way. I am looking forward to next year.”

It may not have been the final that the riders of fans had hoped for, but it was a season to remember, these two women have once again raised the bar in the Women’s Motocross World Championship and they will both be back for more in 2016, to reignite their ongoing feud at the head of their sport.

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Physiotherapy as prevention rather a cure is a mantra that rings true in so many professional sports around the world. It’s a vital idea that matches that old English saying of the 5 Ps; Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance.

Yet for a long time the idea, that physiotherapy was a necessary part of a training plan, sat unused on the fring-

es of professional motocross, a sport that requires a body with the durability of a rugby player and the lungs and cardio of a 10,000 meter runner.

4 years ago Donjoy launched their own way of increasing riders awareness of what correct physio intervention can do for the riders with the Donjoy Physio centre, but it wasn’t until its reinvention in 2014 as an inclusive part of

the mobile medical centre that its real benefits were realized in the paddock. A totally free service that aims to serve the MXGP paddock as a whole the Donjoy Physiotherapy centre is run by Thiery Sarasyn, a man whose passion for preventative and progressive physical education for motocross is both infectious and engaging.

MXGP Mag: Thierry, for a long

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time and for a lot of people physiotherapy was something you used as a part of injury recovery, but it seems times have changed and so has physiotherapy, now prevention seems to be the buzzword.

Thierry Sarasyn: “Actually it was the slogan we started out with when we entered motocross with Donjoy “Prevention is better than any cure,” so basically we try to avoid injuries, that’s what we do. We started out doing that with just the knee braces but as we are a medical orthopedic company that entered into sports we thought there was so much more we could do.

So that’s why after 4 years of supporting Tony Cairoli we started with the physio centre as an extra and it turned out that is was very useful because we’ve been looking at injuries, old injuries, new injuries and we see that a lot

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of riders are really competing without any good medical or physiotherapy guidance.

They have good trainers on a sports level but taking care of their body and preventing or treating injuries so they can perform better is something that still has a lot of work open for it.”

MXGP Mag: When you mention prevention it relies a lot on knowing the athlete and understanding what they are doing, but with this form of data acquisition motocross is a bit behind the times, especially when the athlete is actually riding the bike, so is it hard to quantitatively measure the strains that are placed on joints and the body during a moto and training rides?

Sarasyn: “It is, but not for everyone. I see that a lot of top riders compete on a bit of a higher level also because

their physical guidance is on a higher level. I see many athletes going to the Olympic training centre and other training centres like the Red Bull training centre and the follow up on those athletes is very accurate and very complete. I think a guy like Cairoli has a lot of data on his own body, whereas with Compex, one of our other brands we are also in cycling and we see there that every rider in every team, no matter on what level, is followed up quite correctly and quite completely, whereas in motocross there is still a big difference between top riders and riders on a bit of a lower level. So what we are also trying to do is bring a bit of awareness to younger riders, just taking better care of their body, taking more professional care of how they train, heartbeat ratios, muscle strengths, recovery time and what we are trying to do now, especially here, is teach

them that they can recover actively between the races.

MXGP Mag: Active recovery is another buzzword but something that is now much more commonplace in professional sports. It seems like it might be quite hard to say to a rider “Ok you’ve done your 30 minute moto, now sit on your push bike on rollers and spin for another 30 minutes before the next one, trust me it will help”.

Sarasyn: “Well people are always very hesitant so we need to convince people to try it out but it’s easier to try this out than put them on a push bike for half an hour between the heats because they think that’s even harder, because here they do active recovery for the muscle but the muscle doesn’t get stressed form any activity. They are just on the

massage table and getting a relaxing recovery treatment, so people that do it, like Guillod and Paulin, they are all really happy about it but it’s new to them, like when the push bikes were new 10 years ago. I remember the first time I saw it when Yves De Maria was sitting on one 10 or 15 years ago and thinking “What is he doing?” but like everything in preparation and sports training this has evolved. We have had compression socks, after compression socks we have ice baths, now the Medical Centre has a cryo centre which the riders do in the evening on Saturday. So part of this Centre is not just about treating injuries, it’s also about recovery and training more efficiently and responsibly.

MXGP Mag: How then does Motocross compare with a

sport like cycling specifically in terms of how recovery during and after training is viewed?

Sarasyn: “We have been supporting the Omega Pharma cycling team for a long time and when those guys finish the race they get on the bus to go to the hotel room and they put on the Compex, so we are trying to teach the guys here now that if they have a very rough race then between the races they can have the same Compex treatment that the professional riders get for recovery.

MXGP Mag: Can you explain what exactly Compex is and what it does?

Sarasyn: “Compex is our brand and it works on the muscle, it’s electronic muscle stimulation. We use it a

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lot here in the physio centre for pain relief in injuries but it also has a very important feature in doing recovery sessions, so locally on the legs and on the arms we can make the blood circulate 7 times more than it does normally, taking away Lactic acid 7 times faster. So if you are really feeling cramped up or if the muscles stiffen up at the end of a heat then instead of doing nothing we try to educate riders in effective active recovery. We have Compex that does it locally straight to the muscle that is tired, very fixed on that part, so it’s evolving. Even the Compex’s that we were using 2 years ago are not up to date on that level. Now we have machines that scan your personal muscle tension and give the exact current for your muscle to train on your level, so

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it goes very fast and the big advantage, as it was with the braces, is that we come from a medical background, so with the knee brace that was braced on a medical brace so we know the support is superior and what we do with Compex is the same, we get the medical feedback, we have surgeons working with us so we get that feedback and we are evolving constantly and it’s actually a big difference to be able to use that background and put it into sports.”

Sarasyn: “We get the feedback from the medical part and since we have been working with top riders like Tony Cairoli, Steven Frossard, Rui Gonçalves, Livia Lancelot, they are all using the braces and we get their remarks. Rui is an incredible guy for that, he makes a fac-

tory thing out of everything, 5 years ago the braces used to tear up the pants but now they don’t because of the feedback. It wasn’t a problem on a medical level because we had the patients with no motocross pants on! So we have improved on that part with a lot of feedback from the riders. The Compex is just a machine, we have a very complete set of equipment here, ultrasound, shockwave, everything you would get in a centre, but they are just machines so we try to motivate the riders to ride responsibly.

I think if we can make their muscles ready for a bike, sometimes we see them and their body is prepared very well on the upper side and then their legs are very shaky and then we get knee injuries so we try to really advise them on how to train and how

to work. Physiotherapy is not only about treating injuries it’s about preventing them and healing to train better.

MXGP Mag: So education is vital but what has the uptake been like and the reception in the paddock for the services that you at Donjoy are providing?

Sarasyn: “Not every rider knows about it yet but we see that we have a lot more riders now, perhaps 15 to 20 riders per day. What has happened lately is that they get injured in the week and they come here on Saturday morning, so instead of going to a regular physiotherapist they put their trust in this. We are happy to see people having injuries treated here that they didn’t get at the GP, so they are building the trust and we relay support that. If I look at the entry list then right now

I think we have treated 30 to 40% of the riders, some riders cannot be treated because if we have any doubt we get the support from the medical centre and they do the X-Rays and the echography, and based on that diagnosis we will do a treatment. This is why working together with the medical centre is such a perfect match, people know if they come they will get a good diagnosis and good treatment. We have no rule on who we treat, race staff, marshals, or even members of the public who might have a problem, we are open to helping everyone.”

MXGP Mag: It’s a very complete service that you guys have and it’s worth repeating that it’s free and there for the benefit of the paddock as a whole, so on that side has the increased usage changed how you and your staff organise the centre?

Sarasyn: “We started this last year and it took us about half a year before we could really judge what this centre had to be like to be well equipped .We use a lot of ice machines but we also brought in the shockwave for deep massage and in the beginning we were thinking about what we should do.

We had some braces to help people and a good physiotherapist, but now we know specifically for motocross which devices we need, and the latest is kinesio tape. So mostly after treatment you will see people walk out with coloured tapes on them and the help stays literally on their body.”

MXGP Mag: Once again, a few years ago coloured tape was a sign of injury, now it’s a sign of prevention and common sense as people have learned more about it.

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Sarasyn: “It’s just about everything because a lot of it depends on kinesio tape, Annick Dellaert our excellent physiotherapist is fully trained in using it. It even depends on which direction you put it, if you put it from the insertion to the origin or the other way round it will either stimulate your muscle or relax it so you can do it to feel better on a bike and to feel more powerful but also for a muscle that is stressed and has to be relaxed, it depends where you put the tape, how you put it, how you cut it, how much stress you put on it, it’s like a whole science.”

MXGP Mag: So now you are more established, what is the panned progression for the service, where do you see the treatment and education going?

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Sarasyn: “What I would like to see, if we were to sit here and talk again next year, I would like to see that there are 4 or 5 people in the centre, not for injuries but for recovery, for any kind of support in their training. That’s also part of a physio centre, the awareness we are building I hope it will still grow. We have come a very long way since we first started it last year, people are getting to know it but we would like people to be more responsible on their bodies, a body is a very precise instrument and motocross riders are not all on the same level yet as professional cyclists and we would like to raise that awareness and be part of helping in that.

So if you ask me what I want here next year, I would like some more riders coming here without injuries but helping them to perform better and

on a higher level, because of recovery, because of physical preparation as even the warm up they can do partly here, there is a lot of professional equipment, there is the knowledge that Donjoy and Compex have with athletes. I would like them to come by more often and in bigger numbers.

As motocross evolves, be it the bikes, the tracks, the suspension and how fast you can hit the obstacles on the track then the athletes have to evolve with it and with the help of the Donjoy Physio Centre they have a route, no matter who the rider, to achieving higher levels of physical performance that will allow them to keep pace with technology and continue to push the physical and mental boundaries of the sport.

MONSTER GIRLS

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MONSTER GIRLS

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This year’s Motocross of Nations will be a special one, a very special one. Not only will we be in France at ErnÊe with a French team formed of the men now sitting 1st and 2nd in the MXGP title chase, plus a 2 time World Champion in Marvin Musquin, we will have them running 1,2 and 3 as the defending Nations champions. To add some extra fuel to the fire 2015 marks the tenth anniversary of the

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Ernée anniversary

rebirth of the Motocross of Nations as the number 1 event on the motocross calendar at the Ernée circuit on a day that many will never forget.

Anti Pyrhonen – Team Finland – 11th overall “I think motocross overall in that moment it started to grow and there especially at that motocross of nations it started to grow and the

people really wanted to see it live, to see the Americans, the French, the Belgians and Germans. That was I think when it turned into the new era of motocross, and Youthstream was involved in that time and they started to invest in TV and marketing as well.”

The mention of the 2005 event sent Pyrhonen back in time and he visibly sparkled

as he recalled the memories of that eventful weekend in Ernée.

“That was for me to be honest the first massive motocross event, the biggest one I have ever seen before.

There were so many people there and the atmosphere was just unbelievable and the place was so packed.”

Statistics put the attendance for the event at 30,000 peo-

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ple, but as everyone knows, the fans at the Motocross of Nations are not in a normal frame of mind, their national fervor means that each man, woman or child there does the cheering of two people!

This year organisers have set a capacity of 40,000 and if history is anything to go by the noise will be deafening.

David Philippaerts – Team Italy - 13th overall – 4th in race 2 “I remember the people were so strong outside the track, so much cheering when we fought, and there were so many people.”

One reason for the event’s success was the return of a full strength Team USA, in the form of Ivan Tedesco, Kevin Windham and Ricky Carmichael at the peak of his powers. For a young Philippaerts it was an eye opening experience:

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“2005 for me was the best experience, I was a young rider on the 450cc in the open class and I raced very good because in one race I finished 5th in front of many good riders and I battled a lot with Kevin Windham, for me Windham was a king then, and the Nations in Ernée was unbelievable because in France this sport is the top, and for me it was the first real big event, I think there I became a big guy.”

What can we look forward to on the 26th and 27th of September this year then? Well if 40,000 people do come, which is surely a no brainer then the hillside amphitheater that is Ernée will quite literally surge to the roar of a sea of people, and each and every one will have a near uninterrupted view of the entire circuit and a track that will be primed to within an inch of its life after two

weeks of painstaking preparation by the track crew and watering from the built in watering system.

The venues facilities will also be second to none with a press room big enough to fit the hundreds of journalists who are there to bring all the inside gossip, a huge commercial village to stock up on all the latest MX goodies and to try and bag a Nations Bargain. There will also be the epic teams presentation at the super sized Monster Energy Rig where the riders will be grilled in front of fans on their hopes and expectations for the races, plus there are sure to be signing sessions galore so get your MX memorabilia ready!

There really is nothing like being at a Motocross of Nations and the 2015 edition in Ernée will be one for the age, that is guaranteed!

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MXGP ACADEMY

Jam packed Junior action

For most young kids, riding started in the back yard with a little PW50 or something of that ilk. Scrap wood made for good jumps, while learning to rail ruts became far more important than growing vegetables, which is why gardens soon turned into figure eights.

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Eventually Mum wanted her vegetable garden back and Dad was sick of his spades, shovels and rakes disappearing. They had planted a seed in their kid’s minds when they handed them those little dirt bikes and the only way for it to bloom was with water and sun, which for kids with dirt bikes was racing.

Local races soon led to national races and national races led to international races and before they knew it, their houses had been over-run by trophies and medals. For the world’s most talented kids and the ones that aspire to be the next Antonio Cairoli or Jeffrey Herlings, there is one race they target, the FIM Junior Motocross World Championship.

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It’s the event that typically determines the next great champions and has played a part in the rise of some of our sports biggest stars.

Names such as Jeffrey Herlings, Ken Roczen, Ryan Villopoto and Eli Tomac have all claimed Junior world titles in their early stages of their careers and from there they have gone on to take the senior world by storm.

This year the FIM Junior Motocross World Championship was hotter than ever which is great use of a pun since the event was held for the first time in the history of the championship in El Molar, which is a small town 39km north of the Spanish capital Madrid, and temperatures

were cracking the thermometers at a stifling 40 degrees Celsius.

Adding to the heat was the epic racing that went down, especially in the premier Junior 125cc class where Kemea Yamaha Yamalube’s Maxime Renaux and KTM Factory Juniors Conrad Mewse went bar to bar right to the final wave of the checkered flag. Both Renaux and Mewse were already proven talents before embarking on the battle of world championship glory as Renaux was at that time the leader of the European 125cc Championship while Mewse is the 2013 Junior 85cc World Champion. The duo were blindingly fast in Spain weekend, a step above the rest and the level

of maturity they displayed as young riders was impressive as the speed they were riding at, and the bar-to-bar battle will be forever remembered.

So how did the races go? When the gates fell for moto one it was the youngest rider in the class and one of the next biggest names in motocross, KTM Factory Junior rider Jorge Prado who got off to a killer start and claimed the first Fox Holeshot.

Prado was pushed wide and at the end of lap one it was the Frenchman and EMX125 red plate holder Maxime Renaux leading the way. Spaniard Ruben Fernandez, onboard an unusual green KTM, flew the flag high for his home nation but couldn’t make the pass stick. Eventually Conrad Mewse emerged as a challeng-

er after messing up his start.

The Brit had blazed through the field from miles back and in doing so had set the fastest time of the race. With two laps to go Mewse challenged for the lead but after charging so hard the entire moto he could only put the squeeze on Renaux and had to settle for second. Fernandez finished third while France’s Steven Rubini and Australia’s Hunter Lawrence rounded out the top five.

Richard Sikyna from Slovakia blitzed him for the early lead. Mewse responded almost immediately but didn’t get a chance to enjoy his time up front as the race one winner Maxime Renaux was already on him.

Without wasting anytime Renaux put the pass on Mewse but it was clear Mewse wasn’t going to go down without a fight and responded immediately. In a demonstration of motocross at its finest, Renaux While the first race was pretand Mewse went bar to bar, ty epic, it had nothing on the not only for the race win, but other-worldliness of race two the 2015 Junior 125cc world when Conrad Mewse paid more title. attention to the gate drop and peeled off a Fox Holeshot.

The race went down to the Mewse was expected to run wire, and was hands down one away with it after cutting an of the best races the Junior exceptional pace all weekend 125cc World Championship has but instead was passed earever seen, but in the end it ly on as surprise contender was Maxime Renaux who held

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on ever so tightly for the race win and the champions gold plate.

Meanwhile in the shadow of that awesome battle, Sikyna rode home in a lonely third while Australian Hunter Lawrence crossed the line in an unchallenged fourth with the group B top qualifier Mathys Boisrame rounded out the top five.

The Junior 85cc class had a rippled pool of talent of young riders all unafraid to lay it on the line. Italy’s Mattia Capuzzo took the early advantage in race one with his claim of the Fox Holeshot ahead of France’s Thibault Benistan, who wasted no time in taking the lead. On the opening lap,

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the top qualifier Bud Racing Kawasaki Monster Energy’s Brian Moreau was all over Benistan but a slip up on lap two saw him drop back to third.

The decision to attack or defend was a hard one to make for the top three, Benistan, HSF Logistic Motorsports Raivo Dankers and Moreau as they all took turns leading the race. Eventually, Moreau got his lines sorted and in one fell swoop went from third to first.

Initially Moreau dropped the hammer and checked out, but ended up throwing away his hard earned advantage with a late race high side. Dankers then inherited the lead and gapped everyone for the first

race win.

Stabilo Kawasaki MX Team’s Basitan Boegh Damm put in an impressive charge for second ahead of Austria’s Rene Hoffer. Moreau salvaged fourth despite snapping his rear fender when he crashed out of the lead while Benistan rounded out the top five.

In the second race, which took place in the middle of the day, it was a sure thing that the heat and humidity wasn’t going to phase the super talented youngsters who wanted the Junior 85cc crown as they fought all the way to the finish.

Stabilo Kawasaki MX Team’s Brian Van Der Klij took the final Fox Holeshot and led the opening lap before being dropped

back by the Czech Republic’s Petr Polak who was riding at a blindingly quick pace.

Polak laid down an early charge while race one winner Raivo Dankers closed the gap on his fellow countryman Van Der Klij.

In a battle for second and for the pride of The Netherlands, Dankers and Van Der Klij went head to head for a lap before Dankers made the pass stick in an outright uphill drag.

A few laps later, both Netherlanders were dropped back as the top qualifier Brian Moreau clocked a bunch of fast laps and blitzed pass them with ease. With four minutes plus two laps to go, Moreau opened fire on the race leader Polak and ran away for what turned out to be an easy race win. Polak, who was only tenth in race one, rode impressively for second ahead of Dankers and

Boegh Damm while Holland’s Rick energy and enthusiasm no amount Elzinger was gifted fifth after the of money can buy. holeshotter, Van der Klij, stacked it with two laps to go.

The kids are tiny but their confidence is huge and the big jumps At the end of weekend which saw didn’t phase them one bit, they so much young talent revealed, just hit them wide open. Some it was Maxime Renaux, Conrad of the kids were even scrubbing Mewse and Hunter Lawrence and it was ridiculous to see just who made up the podium of the how good the little guys are these Junior 125cc and are the ones to days. watch as the next break out stars.

Meanwhile in the Junior 85cc, What may have seemed like the European EMX65 and EMX85 longest start straight in the world Champion Raivo Dankers topped for most of the 65’s was the the box ahead of the blistering perfect distance for Spain’s own fast Brian Moreau. Bastian Boegh Raul Sanchez who was oozing Dam rounded out the top three. adrenaline at the start of race one and took the holeshot and European Open 65cc early race lead. Unfortunately, the freshly watered track caught the The European Open 65cc is norlittle Spaniard out which saw him mally the first outing on the world drop back to sixteenth when he stage for the exceptional talent crashed on an uphill drag. that is yet to grow beyond the smallest 2-stroke machine. Big Holland’s little ripper Kay Karssehelmets, little bikes and the type of makers took full advantage of the

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lead gifted to him and knuckled down right away to the leader’s task while France’s Florian Miot tried to keep up. Although he put in a good effort, Miot couldn’t quite match the pace of Karssemakers and ended up exerting too much energy, which allowed the top qualifier, Hungary’s Adam Kovacs to close in. At the half way mark Kovacs dropped the hammer on Miot and took over second, where he stayed for the rest of the race.

victory ahead of Kovacs, Vetrovsky, Miot and Vopilov.

In race two, speedy little Dutchman Kay Karssemakers sealed the deal on his European Open 65cc title mission when he claimed the Fox Holeshot and controlled the final race from start to finish.

While that sounded smooth sailing for the youngster it was not that easy as the pole position man Adam Kovacs was on him Meanwhile, it wasn’t over for from the gate drop. Kovacs put Miot who soon had company in a good effort but as the wind in the form of Czech Republics picked up he fell off balance and Radek Vertovsky and Russia’s looped out into the infield. The Matvey Vopilov. A missed line late small Hungarian managed to in the race saw Miot drop back to re-enter the track instantly, but fourth as Vetrovsky capitalized on lost second position to Radek his error.

Vetrovsky.

Although he was handed second, Karssemakers took a convincing take nothing away from Vetro-

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vsky, he was ripping in race two and pushed Karrsemakers all the way to the finish. Kovacs managed to regroup and rode smart for third while Spain’s Adria Monne Viles and Florian Miot rounded out the top five.

A double victory for Holland’s Kay Karssemakers crowned him the European Open 65cc champion ahead of Hungarian Adam Kovacs and Czech Republic’s Petr Vetrovsky.

After a weekend of epic racing with fully stacked line-ups we look forward to seeing what next year will bring with the worlds fastest juniors set to take place in Orlyonok, Russia.

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HALL OF FAME

Georges Jobe: The Racing Entrepreneur

Belgium has given our sport a lot of great champions, men who have dominated the World Championship over several decades. In the 80’s Georges Jobe was one of the most vibrant and determined riders on the track in his claiming of five world titles and near misses in a few others. He was always a real fighter but he lost his last and most difficult fight, the fight against illness.

From the day he was born on the 6th of January 1960, Jobe was always in a hurry and he always looked one step ahead to the next challenge and the next goal. His record began when he became the youngest ever Motocross World Champion upon claiming his first world title in 1980, in a cruel

twist he is also one of the youngest champions to leave our world as he was only 51 when he succumbed in his long battle against long illness.

Belgium in the 1970’s was motocross mad, with the sport ranking as the number 1 for fans and Georges Jobe put himself right in front of the public as he walked in the footsteps of his older brother to start his career. As soon as he started he was already a man in a hurry, needing just one campaign to learn how to win the World Championship. After his debut seventh overall in the 250cc series in 1979 he joined the Suzuki factory team and dominated all his rivals in 1980 to become, at 19 years of age, the youngest

ever World Champion in the sport.

This season was one of the best in his career, as a few weeks after being crowned he, along with the Belgian team, claimed the overall win at the Trophy (250cc) and Motocross (500cc) of Nations!

Georges was on a winning roll, but the next two seasons were harder than expected due to injuries; he twice lost the title by just a few points. Two was the gap in 1982 as he lost out to Neil Hudson and it grew to thirteen in 1983 as Danny Laporte took the title to the USA. Jobe’s last campaign in the 250cc class was a winning one, as he beat Laporte in 1983 to collect his second title before moving up to the main class, that of the

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infamous 500cc beasts. It was a tough moment as Suzuki officially retired from racing leaving him without a factory ride, while Honda had already a strong line up with four factory riders (Malherbe, Thorpe, Geboers and Vromans). Georges had no other option than to build, along with some partners, his own private team and convinced Kawasaki to provide him some technical support. It was a ‘David against Goliath’ story, but with his determination and talent the Belgian fought for the title until the last heat and finished as runner up to André Malherbe, bringing a piece of green in the mix amongst the

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tunity of staying in this class to get more wins and titles, Georges decided to drop down to the 125cc Despite being the winner of three GP’s in his first ever 500cc season class in 1988. The logic was simple, and seemingly setting himself up for he wanted to realise his dream, the a title run, Georges struggled with dream of becoming the first ever three class World Champion! injuries and mechanical failures over the next two years. That tough The move was a big risk as he was time ended on a high note in the 1986 season as he won three of the turning 28 and racing on a private Honda against young kids such as last four rounds of the series.

Jean Michel Bayle, John Van Den Berk and Dave Strijbos who were Staying as a privateer, with the on-going support of sponsors who all equipped with factory bikes! loved his determination and racing spirit, Georges switched to Honda Unfortunately the odds were not in his favour and he never succeeded for 1987 and finally got the 500cc in his dream to all three titles, but title that he wanted so much. And with his head held high he returned yet, when he seemed to have the to the 500cc class. Back in the bigworld at his feet with the opporfive red Honda boys!

gest class he won a handful of GP’s and significantly two more titles, in 1991 and 1992, to remain the #4 in the history of our sport with a total of five titles (equal to Roger De Coster, Eric Geboers and Joel Smets), behind Stefan Everts (10), Antonio Cairoli (8) and Joel Robert (6).

When he finally retired in 1994, Georges stayed involved in the racing world and had always new ideas; he was the first one to bring International MX events to Qatar, where he twice organised a pre season race, and also built a GP track in Spa Francorchamps, home of several rounds of the World Championship. Team manager of the MX1 KTM Factory team in 2006, he had a big injury one year later, while riding with friends in the desert near Dubai. Half para-

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lysed, he entered a long fight and finally recovered several years later. Just before he fully recovered his mobility, something doctors thought he would never do, he was diagnosed with skin cancer, and later leukaemia forced him to spend far too long in and out of hospital. For Jobe, it was another challenge to be faced but this one

was too much for him to take and he finally succumbed to the disease in December 2012, at just 51 years of age. He will always be remembered as treasured as one of the giants of the Motocross World Championship.

Text and photos: Pascal Haudiquert

1979: 7th in the 250 Motocross World Championship 1980: 250 Motocross World Champion, Winner of the Motocross of Nations and the Trophy of Nations 1981: 2nd in the 250 World Championship 1982: 2nd in the 250 World Championship 1983: 250 Motocross World Champion 1984: 2nd in the 500 World Championship 1985: 4th in the 500 World Championship 1986: 4th in the 500 World Championship 1987: 500 Motocross World Champion 1988: 10th in the 125 World Championship 1989: 6th in the 500 World Championship 1990: 14th in the 500 World Championship 1991: 500 Motocross World Champion 1992: 500 Motocross World Champion Winner of thirty GP’s (18 in the 500 class and 12 in the 250 class)

PADDOCK TALKS

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Paddock Talks 01/Hands up if you’re ready for an MXGP party!

02/ Lisa Leyland catches up with Moto2 star Sam Lowes on the start of MX2 at the MXGP of Belgium.

03/The legend Jeff Emig rolled up in Sweden to launch the 2016 range of SHIFT MX gear.

04/Bang Bang! Team HRC’s Gautier Paulin shoots freebies out to his fans at the MXGP of Sweden.

05/Troy Corser switches Tarmac for bit of dirt at the MXGP of Belgium.

06/SHIFT MX ride club in Sweden was epic!

07/The future of our sport take part in the MXGP Academy.

08/Ryan Villopoto breaks the silence on the MXGP of Belgium Studio Show

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Paddock Talks 09/We are going back to Switzerland in 2016!

10/Russia signs on to host the 2016 FIM Junior Motocross World Championship.

11/Tim Gajser inked a 5-year deal with Honda.

12/An injured Tony Cairoli still came out to see his fans at the GoPro stand in Lommel.

13/This dude is a hero! Former MXGP star Joel Roelants

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QUESTIONS TO THE EDITOR

QUESTIONS TO THE EDITOR Hi MXGP team, Where can we find the timetable?

Thanks, Harrry Hello Harrry, YThanks for contacting us! You can find the timetable on www. mxgp.com and if you follow mxgp on social media you will find a special post every weekend with the timetable.

All the best, MXGP Hello MXGP, What time do the gates open to the general public?

Thanks, James Dear James, TThe gates open approximately 30 minutes or 1 hour before the first session of the day.

Regards MXGP

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Hi MXGP What is the song they play on the start line?

Thanks, Rachel Hi Rachel, Lately all the organizers play a different song, but in the past the one that was always played was “Sandstorm.�

Regards MXGP Hi MXGP Can I buy MXGP T-shirts at the race?

Thanks, Bradley Hi Bradley, Yes we have an MXGP Store at every round of MXGP. You can buy our merchandise in the paddock or online at www.mxgp-store. com Regards MXGP

Hi MXGP Is there anywhere I can watch the post race interviews from the European Championship?

Thanks, Dieter Hello Dieter, You can follow all the post race interviews from the European championship, as well as all the replays of all the races on www.mxgp-tv. com.

Best Regards MXGP

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