MXGP #76 December 2019

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MXGP MAG Chief Editor: Marionna Leiva Photos: Youthstream YOUTHSTREAM Media World Trade Center II Rte de Pré-Bois 29 1215 Geneva 15 Airport Switzerland

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L A I R O T I D E

Giuseppe Luongo President of Youthstream Group

Dear MXGP Friends,

Last Sunday in Monaco there were 2 important events for our sport; the annual organizers’ meeting was held in the morning and in the evening there was the FIM Awards with the Prize Giving of all the FIM World Championships.

The large majority of 2020 MXGP organizers and the MXoN organizer were present at the organizers’ meeting. As always, the general feeling of the meeting was very positive and the atmosphere very good, there is a genuine osmosis between Youthstream and the organizers. This meeting is very important as it’s the only time during the year where all organizers can be all together with Youthstream and FIM and without the stress of having to hold an event. Novelties for the next season can be presented and explained, and new organizers have the chance to feel a part of the big MXGP family. This occasion is used to see what improvements can be made

EVERYONE WAS DELIGHTED WITH THE IMPRESSIVE GROWTH MXGP HAS SEEN IN THE LAST 10 YEARS AND ARE ALL COMMITTED TO CONTINUE IN THIS DIRECTION. and to put the experiences of everybody together and to see how various problems can be tackled during the organization of an event.

It’s an excellent and unique occasion to have everyone together and to be able to listen to the different ideas and projects, and to continue

to introduce ideas on how to develop MXGP keeping in mind the new challenges such as new technology, the environment and the general promotion and evolution of our sport. The goal to continue to develop Motocross worldwide attracting more youth and women to our sport is an important challenge which we have to continue to invest into and push for the future. Everyone was delighted with the impressive growth MXGP has seen in the last 10 years and are all committed to continue in this direction.

The Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations returns to France, Ernée in 2020, and the FFM and the Motoclub of Ernée confirm they are ready to host the greatest off-road

sport in the world as they have invested in the infrastructure to welcome the huge amount of fans that will come to the event in all weather conditions.

The FFM and the Motoclub of Ernée together with FIM and Youthstream have a long-term partnership and big experience for these types of organizations and we are all very confident for a successful event, so we will be waiting for you all at Ernée on the last weekend of September 2020 for the best event in the history of Motocross.

Another issue discussed at this meeting was the expansion of the MXGP Calendar, to bring it through to the end of October like other motorsports (MotoGP goes through until

the middle of November and F1 until beginning of December).

This would permit more space between the Grand Prix events giving more time to the riders to recover before the next event, it would also optimize the travel for everyone and last but not least MXGP would be present in the media for 1 month more.

If this can be reached there is an option of bringing the Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations earlier to possibly the first weekend of September guaranteeing better weather conditions for all.

There are many ideas and options, now these will be discussed with all the partners and all together we will take the best decision.

The FIM Awards in the evening of Sunday was where all the World Champions of all the FIM disciplines were presented with their FIM World Championship medals. All the FIM Motocross World Champions were present and the evening was exceptionally organized by the FIM giving great credit to all the World Champions and all the guests. The MXGP organizers were invited to enjoy all together this fantastic FIM Awards.

Now we are approaching the end of the year and it’s time to enjoy time with the family and friends, and we wish you a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year full of good health, love, happiness, success, prosperity and a lot of MXGP!

S T O H S L COO

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T ? ’ E T R R C A E T S S E T H C T E F S ’ R T E A P ‘ WH E H T D N I BEH 17

The importance of the start simply cannot be overestimated. Mitchell Harrison, an American rider that joined the MX2 series during the season and will be back for more in 2020 with BUD Racing, drew an interesting comparison between starts in the World Championship and in his native AMA series back in the States:

IN THE FIM MOTOCROSS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, THE ABILITY TO GET OUT OF THE GATE FAST IS ARGUABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT SKILL FOR THE RIDERS TO MASTER. NAIL THE START AND RIDERS CAN EXPECT TO ENJOY THEMSELVES AT THE FRONT OF THE PACK, FIGHTING FOR A PLACE ON THE PODIUM. GET IT WRONG THOUGH, AND YOU’RE SET FOR 30 MINUTES PLUS 2 LAPS OF SLOGGING YOUR WAY THROUGH THE ROOST, KNOWING THAT YOUR CHANCES OF MIXING IT WITH THE BIG BOYS UP FRONT ARE BUT A FADING HOPE.

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“The main difference in racing between here and back in the States, is that it seems like the start is more of a crucial point to the race. If I get a bad start here, it’s hard to get back into the top-15, whereas in America you can definitely get back in the top-10.”

So, the start is of utmost importance to anyone looking to make their mark on the world championship. But how

do the very best get out of the gate so well?

We took a bit of time during the season to ask the main contenders for the annual Fox Holeshot Award just what it takes to be an ace out of the gate on a regular basis. 9-time world champion Antonio Cairoli is a master out of the gate. The Sicilian won the Fox Holeshot Award for MXGP in both 2017 and 2018, and in 2019 did it again despite only taking part in the opening 9 of 18 rounds in this year’s championship before dislocating his shoulder in Latvia. Taking 8 holeshots in 18 races to finish just one ahead of newly crowned MXGP champion Tim Gajser.

Unsurprisingly, the Red Bull KTM rider believes there are no shortcuts for those looking to shine at the start; “The secret to get a very good start of course is practice. You need to practice a lot. Reaction is the key. It’s a mix of things. Reaction and focus

on the gate. Position on the bike, and position of yourself. The bike needs to be powerful to stay in front, but mostly it’s a mix of a lot of things.”

That mix of things needed some closer attention though, so we looked around the paddock and ran into F&H Racing’s Henry Jacobi. What did the German, who will be moving up to MXGP next season with SM Action Yamaha, have to say?

“Sorry, I don’t know. I don’t do good starts. Can you tell me maybe?

Because you will ask other riders.”

That answer a little tongue in cheek perhaps. Yes, Jacobi did spend a lot of his season hacking through the pack after relatively poor starts, often finding himself behind team-mate Adam Sterry in the early part of races.

But his own efforts in the practice area did pay off in the end, resulting in his one and only Fox Holeshot of the year in the 2nd race in Semarang.

But Henry was right. We needed to ask other riders, and the next port of call was Jeremy Seewer. The

Factory Yamaha rider always seemed to be there or thereabouts over the holeshot line in 2019, and did end up with 5 black plates this season: “Everybody wants to get a holeshot and be up front. Especially in MXGP where it’s often about centimetres to get the holeshot or not. Once the 15 second board turns to 5 your focus needs to be 100% on the movement of the gate.”

The focus on what happens before the gate drops is interesting. With up to 40 other bikes alongside you, and thousands of spectators staring, concentration can be difficult.

Evgeny Bobryshev had his 2019 campaign torpedoed by a persistent wrist problem, and then a broken leg, but still found time to share some pearls of hard-earned wisdom: “You need really good concentration.

I think you need to train that. Also, a good position and feeling with the bike, and a good balance with your body. Your body has to automatically know what to do.”

Fortunately, the genial Russian will be back for more in 2020 with PAR Homes RFX Racing Husqvarna, 19

hoping to use his knowhow to bare for his first ever season on European machinery.

So, with concentration and focus sorted what to do when the gate drops? Here’s 2015 MXGP champion Romain Febvre, who has swapped blue for green next season; “Just to have a good reaction first when the gate drops. To have the perfect clutch-slide on the bike, so that the engine can stay at a good RPM all the time.”

Mitch Harrison then takes us a little further along the start straight; “Just to have the front wheel a little bit above the ground. Not too much throttle at the beginning of the gate.

But really get that weight to the back wheel outside the gate, and put down as much power as you can.”

Having launched out of the gate the rider is then faced with a maelstrom of machinery and man, all competing for that perfect line into and out of the first corner. Hoping to leave the pack trailing in their roost.

But what’s it like being in the blood and thunder of the most important seconds of the race? Jeremy Seewer did his best to explain: “It’s hard to describe. There’s a lot of feeling and instinct involved. Because you have riders next to you. They can disturb you, or cross your line, or not. A lot is happening, so you need to be open to everything, and still be in your own bubble. This is hard to reach, and that’s why it’s not easy to get holeshots.”

It may not be easy, but there is one man who has made the incredibly difficult appear easier than anyone else over the last couple of seasons.

Antonio Cairoli may have retained the Fox Holeshot title in MXGP, having also taken 19 out of 40 holeshots in 2018, but in MX2 one man has been handing out a holeshot masterclass on a regular basis.

When we asked F&H Racing’s Adam Sterry to describe to the perfect start, the Welshman’s initial reaction was to ask; “Is Prado here? He’s the guy you need to ask about the perfect start.

I think I need to lose 15 kilos to beat him off the start.”

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Jorge Prado, AKA Mr Holeshot, edged Pauls Jonass to the Fox award in his first full season in MX2 in 2017, and then took a stunning 26 out of 40 holeshots on his way to a first world title the following year. The Spaniard then incredibly upped that strike rate this season, taking 23 out of 34 as he eased to a record 213-point championship winning margin over Thomas Kjer Olsen. By comparison, the Dane only managed one, and routinely found that Prado was away and clear by the time he’d recovered from a relatively slow start and worked his way through the chasing pack to 2nd.

When we asked the 18-year-old phenomenon the secret to his success out of the gate, he decided to keep his cards close to his chest; “Starts are very important in motocross, and for sure is one of my strongest points. I’m very happy with my starts. Always at the front. It’s not easy. You need to be very focused, and do every single movement very precisely. It’s tough to explain, but you have to have it inside you.”

Prado perhaps understandably refraining from divulging his full box of tricks. His mix of incredible reactions, balance, and technique proving unbeatable out of the gate over the last 3 years in MX2. However, the Red Bull KTM rider will be faced with a very different challenge in 2020 after deciding to move up to MXGP for next season.

That means the Fox Holeshot winners from both MX2 and MXGP for the last 3 seasons will be under the same awning next year at Red Bull KTM Factory Racing. Cairoli and Prado, the master and the apprentice, going head to head out of the gate.

Of course, MXGP is full of fantastic exponents of the art of the start, but none of them have been able to live with Cairoli out of the gate in recent years. Can Prado finally break his domination?

2020 looks like being a year full intrigue, and that first gate drop at the MXGP of Great Britain on the 1st of March will only be the start of it.

WATCH THE VIDEO

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MONSTER ENERGY FIM MOTOCROSS OF NATIONS

RESULTS

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MXGP INSTAGRAM STARTED IN 2013 900,000 FOLLOWERS 5,400 POSTS 900 POSTED IN 2019 ALONE 8,400,000 LIKES 20,000 COMMENTS #MXGP HASHTAG USED OVER 495,000

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TOP COUNTRIES USA ITALY INDONESIA FRANCE BRAZIL

STAY TUNED FOR MORE TO COME IN 2020! #MXGP

L A I C O S P G X M The 52-minute season review features this year’s best moments, from intense race battles, to hard fought victories, unfortunate crashes and the crowning of the 2019 FIM Motocross World Champions and Monster Energy FIM MXoN:

@insta_pamx Throw đ&#x;”™ to @mxgp Indonesia with @ monsterenergygirls đ&#x;’š What incredible memories I have of that trip! • @jhonaries5 #mxgp #mxgpindonesia #mxgppangkalpinang #mxgp2018 #grasstrack_ id #powertrack2019 @rigamatteo Con la leggenda del Motocross, 9 volte campione del mondo, Antonio Cairoli đ&#x;?†đ&#x;’Şđ&#x;?ťonMXON#perfectweathe r#mxgp2019đ&#x;?

Relive some of the funniest moments from the 2019 FIM Motocross World Championship season!

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The 2020 FIM Motocross World Championship season is behind the corner.

Watch our new teaser

@amanda_raith One more dream achieved #teamnl are the 2019 FIM Motocross Nations Champions @jannujk My 12th Motocross of Nations is done! Quite a veteranđ&#x;˜ With this rainy and muddy weather Team Estonia @priit221 @tanelleok @harrikullas151 ended up 4th! Unreal

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In WMX, a new name was added to that list as Courtney Duncan swept aside her rivals to realise her own dream of becoming world champion, and she did it in style as well. MXGP Magazine caught up with the 2019 FIM Women’s Motocross World Champion to talk about her journey to the top and how it wasn’t always plain sailing.

AS BIRDS GO IT’S A WELL-KNOWN FACT THAT THE KIWI CANNOT FLY BUT IN MOTOCROSS TERMS, THE OPPOSITE IS TRUE. YOU ONLY HAVE TO GRACE THE RECORD BOOKS TO SEE THE TALENTED FEW THAT HAVE EITHER WON GP’S OR BECOME WORLD CHAMPION; RIDERS SUCH AS SHAYNE AND DARRYL KING, JOSH COPPINS AND BEN TOWNLEY ALL PLACED INSIDE THE TOP THREE IN THE OVERALL STANDINGS DURING THEIR CAREERS, BUT ONLY TOWNLEY AND SHAYNE KING WERE ABLE TO SAY THEY STRUCK GOLD.

Growing up as a kid in Dunedin, on the South Island in New Zealand, is about as far removed as you could be as a motocross wannabe, but for Courtney Duncan it’s all she wanted to do. She received her first dirt bike aged 7 and despite her tiny CRF50 being significantly slower than the KTM 50’s she was up against, she managed to outperform her rivals at the first 37

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attempt. Local race wins turned into regional wins and before long, national wins ensured she grabbed the headlines, not least because she was a girl going up against the boys. She even had a spell in the USA, and at the Ponca City amateur national in 2011 she placed 3rd behind Cooper Webb and Darian Sanayei.

However, her speed and determination, coupled with her willingness to succeed no matter what, soon started to have dire consequences and as a result, injuries were never too far away.

By the time Duncan had moved up to the 125cc/MX2 class in New Zealand she was proving to be a real force to be reckoned with. With women’s racing gaining ground on both sides of the Atlantic, Duncan first tried her hand in the USA and after winning the opening round of the Women’s AMA championship at Hangtown in 2013, the Kiwi Girl was forced to miss the rest of the series due to a broken left wrist.

By the time she graced us with her presence in WMX in 2016, her reputation for being possibly the fastest female rider in the world did not go unnoticed, and by the time she left the opening round in Qatar, she did so with the championship leader’s red plate in hand after an emphatic doublerace victory.

Another race win next time out at Valkenswaard saw her head to Germany for round three with a 7 point lead over Livia Lancelot, and just as it looked she was on for another race win, BOOM! Disaster struck again, this time after clipping a photographer as she crested a blind summit. Despite a broken ankle, Duncan finished the race in 12th but would not line up for race two. Her championship was over. After sitting out the next two rounds, she bounced back to win the final two rounds on her way to 5th in the championship, a result that neither she or anybody expected after such a promising start.

Fast forward to Turkey, September 7th 2019. Duncan wins Race One

to secure her first world title and in her post race interview she alluded to that first season: ‘In 2016 I came out and won my first WMX race and I expected big things out of myself and everyone around me did also. I just had to take my time and learn from all these mistakes and failures. When we felt like quitting, we kept going and here we are, world champion!’

With a little reflection some four years on, she followed that up with this: ‘At that time everything was going perfect, or to plan as you would say, and there wasn’t a whole lot I could do wrong; it started so great with the 1-1 in Qatar, and I was leading the championship, leading that race in Germany actually and then I hit that photographer, so that put a dent into the season. At the time it felt like my life had been torn from me because here you are, you’re a rookie and you had this goal to be world champion and I thought at the time it was happening that year (2016) and yeah, it was devastating. But at the same time it was my first year, so I was kind of like, well I’ll definitely get it next year (2017) but then obviously that wasn’t the case.’ Despite missing two GP’s, Duncan still won more races and overalls than anyone else during that campaign, but it was only good enough for 5th in the overall standings.

TAKE TWO When Duncan returned the following year, 2017, she was no longer the class rookie but by now her rivals had upped their own games; or so it seemed. The same four riders were doing all the winning as the previous year; Fontanesi, Lancelot, Duncan and Van De Ven and as championship campaigns go, this one will go down as the closest ever. Once again, the ‘151’ won the opening round, this time in the mud of Indonesia and despite placing 2nd to Fontanesi at Trentino, Round Two, Duncan still held the series lead by 6 points over the Italian.

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Three struck again and as the New Zealander battled the lead with Van De Ven at Ernée in Race One, the two riders collided over a tabletop, leaving the points leader on the ground. Unable to start her bike after picking herself up, Duncan failed to score, something that wold come back to haunt her later in the year. She left France 3rd in the championship, just seven points adrift of the new red plate holder, Fontanesi.

After Loket, Round Four, Duncan was back in control to lead the series by three points from Fontanesi, but after Assen there was another championship leader in the form of Nancy Van De Ven, who also won her home GP; the Dutch girl gained twelve points on Duncan in the sand and as the series headed to the final round at Villars sous Ecot in France, just five points separated the top four riders.

The weekend was a mudder, and Villars is full of hills so there was always going to be some drama along the way, even if it didn’t directly involve the title candidates.

But it did, and the ‘151’ was caught up in it once more. Duncan started in 3rd but by half distance had eased past Van De Ven and Fontanesi and pretty quickly established a sizeable lead. As the rain continued to fall, the circuit began to deteriorate and with bikes and bodies strewn across one of the steep climbs, Duncan struggled to find a way through the carnage, and tipped over as she neared the summit.

As she struggled on the hill, refusing any outside assistance in the process, her 30 second lead evaporated. To make matters worse, the officials opened up a new route which Duncan’s main rivals took advantage of, and when the race was declared over, Duncan was credited in 6th. More points lost.

She rebounded to win the final race but it wasn’t enough for the title, which went to Fontanesi. Lancelot rounded out 2nd overall, Duncan in 3rd and Van De Ven 4th, with the four riders separated by just two points. Three years on, it seems this loss was easier to deal with than the previous one, as Duncan recalls: 41

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‘Actually, that whole 2017 season was really difficult for me, I struggled all year long; it wasn’t just that race in France. You could go back further and see pretty similar situations where I made mistakes, so naturally I was really disappointed, especially how they switched the decision. One minute I was champion so it was all good and then they reversed the decision so that was pretty hard. But I was also carrying an injury and there were other things going on in my life at the time as well, so I just kind of took that one on the chin and planned to come out and win the next year.’

Was she trying too hard to win the championship, maybe rushing a little too much to get the job done and the mistakes were perhaps as a result of that?

‘100% - with me, especially growing up, everything happened really quick, and I just wanted to be the best tomorrow; I was never really super patient with my racing and everything in general, I wanted to do things really fast and grow up really fast; obviously there were a number of times where I got caught out by being rushed, so that was a prime example of that year (2017) I think, looking back at it, I had some big crashes and you know, maybe I lost some concentration, maybe the focus was on winning and going straight to the outcome of wanting to win that race without actually thinking through the process of how to win. You know, just things like that you gain experience and knowledge through those times and I feel they’ve helped me to get to where I am right now.’

THIRD TIME UNLUCKY …

Back on the trail for another attempt in 2018, the Kiwi Girl was determined to make this year her year, and after a sixth place finish in the first race of the year at Trentino, Duncan went on a mini win-streak, taking the following five race wins in a row, and after a brace of second places at Ottobiano, Lombardia, the ‘151’ suddenly found herself with a

twenty-one point lead with two rounds to go. Everything was back on track, but when a fill-in race in France went wrong during the three-month break between rounds, the demons made another unwelcome return. A collision with an MX2 rider at the event left her with a badly broken foot and there was real concern as to whether she would even be able to line up at Assen to defend her points lead, and when it came down to it, the answer was a heart breaking ‘NO!’ Another title had gone begging for the third consecutive year, something which is not lost on Duncan, who felt this was the most painful of situations to have to deal with.

Was this the most difficult loss she had to encounter?

‘Yes, that one for sure, no doubt about it! 2018 was the toughest. So, 2017 I made quite a few mistakes and when I came back home to New Zealand, I got my knee fixed, had a number of operations and I really thought about that year a lot and I feel like even though my speed and stuff like that wasn’t really good in 2018, I feel like I did work on my consistency and was being a little bit more patient; and I think we can go back and look at results up until the injury, they were pretty consistent that year, and I had a 21 point lead or whatever I had, going in with two more rounds to go. I felt like I had one hand on the trophy that year, so that one was … man, that one took me to some dark places, I was miserable. It was just hard. One or two times you can battle through that adversity, but three times?

Yeah, that one knocked me a little bit.’

Mentally and physically destroyed, the knock-on effects can be quite significant too, as she points out: ‘People stop believing, they really do. No-one wants to hire someone that’s always injured, unfortunately that’s been my case over the past few years so, although everyone knew I was fast and had the speed, they probably doubted, in fact I know they doubted whether I had what it took to win a championship, 43

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so all of that sort stuff weigh’s on you; things become a little bit more difficult but I’m thankful we pushed through that.’

RISKING IT ALL At the end of 2018 it appeared as though Courtney Duncan had disappeared off the radar and where her rivals were posting the occasional ride stories on the social media accounts, nothing was coming out of New Zealand, particularly from a health check at the very least. Was this a case of ‘people stop believing’ as she just pointed out? Maybe, maybe not, but no matter what, whilst trying to get herself back to a healthy place, the ‘phone didn’t ring, the calls for a ride never materialised, she’d parted ways with her team and things were genuinely looking a bit bleak to say the least. When the call did eventually come, it wasn’t the one she was expecting and it certainly came out of the blue, and it was about a possible deal with Bike It DRT Kawasaki. To turn it down she risked not having the kind of deal that she needed to compete for that elusive title, or worse still, be without a ride altogether. To accept the deal meant giving up what she knew for the last decade, and that was something that took some thought, but it also meant she would be back in the game: ‘Moving to Kawasaki was a bit of a risk but I’d been with my previous brand for 10 years so it felt like family there, and it was hard to leave but at the same time I needed to. I was stuck in a rut; honestly, I was in a deep, dark spot, I felt like my life had been ripped apart, after not being able to win that championship last year with having a big lead, so I needed to make a change. The opportunity with Kawasaki came along and I’m so grateful we made that decision and yes, it was a bit of a risk from both sides but man, it paid off!’

It all sounds very easy, doesn’t it? However, the reality was very different:

‘I hurt my foot the 2nd of July 2018 and then I had one ride in between that where I re-hurt it at the end of August, start of September (to see if Assen was possible), and then I didn’t get on a bike again until the end of January 2019. It was a long time (7 months) and that’s not easy for anyone to come back after that long, especially how I felt like I’d been in that roll of going five months (on the bike) and four months off for the past three years up until that point; you never really get back to a position where you’re back to normal, back to full fitness, back to full speed and confidence and stuff like that. I think that takes time.’ By the time she was able to turn her first laps in seven months, the new season was less than two months away.

NINE FROM TEN By now we know that Courtney Duncan claimed her first WMX world championship but it was probably the way in which she won it that caught everybody’s attention. With little time on the bike prior to the first GP at Valkenswaard, she was still bale to pull a race win out of the bag at the first time of asking. This however, was followed by a spectacular crash that she was lucky to walk away from, but more importantly, continue in the race and pick up vital points. From then on, the Flying Kiwi never lost a race and as we pointed out at the top of the piece, she was able to clinch the title in the first race in Turkey at the final round, with a small group of family and friends who’d travelled from New Zealand to witness it all and join in with the celebrations. In the post-race interview, she highlighted that Portugal was a real turning point in the season, especially after that first round in Holland: ‘For Valkenswaard I hadn’t had enough bike time at all, I knew I was under prepared, I’d barely been with the team and I was on the backfoot big time but at the same time I knew that Portugal was another six weeks later so it wasn’t anything to get caught up 45

year and I was glad I was able to get the win for everyone.’

on, it wasn’t a gauge for the rest of the season; as long as I got out of there relatively smoothly. I got solid points that weekend, I was happy with where we were at; thankful that I walked away from that big crash in Race Two, and I had a really positive mindset going into Portugal. I’d put a big shift in back home training-wise because I knew I was behind and I knew I had time to make up and I think I was able to show that.’

‘I’ve proven that over the past few years that it’s not over ‘til it’s over but I had a really different mindset especially as I started to build up my lead, I became a lot more confident and felt a lot more relaxed. Even going into Turkey, it was all positive vibes, I was confident nothing was gonna go 46

wrong, I continued to keep doing what I was doing and not worry about the championship as such, and it was cool to wrap it up with a win and with a race to go.’

With the title finally in her pocket Duncan is enjoying being back home in New Zealand, just ticking over with some riding here and there, until she re-boots her programme for 2020 but whether it’s now or in twenty years from now there’s no doubt she had a blast this season, especially with the Bike It DRT Kawasaki Team: ‘It was pretty chilled and laid back and they let me have a pretty big say which was cool, like to be able to come home between GP’s, to spend a bit of time training here.

That was really important for me and I’m grateful that I had that opportunity. And the guys, they were all good value as well. We had so much fun at the races, I had really good people around me this

As for the folks back home, Duncan acknowledges what she has achieved, but more importantly, what it means to them as well and it’s certainly kept her on her toes having to deal with the various media opportunities and school visits she has attended since her return home: ‘I guess any big win, winning a championship comes with a lot of media and exposure and stuff like that, especially in New Zealand and here in Dunedin where I’m from; we don’t really get world champions, at all, so it’s pretty special for the city and for the country. A lot of these people have been following me since the beginning, since the start of my career and through all the tough times as well so it was cool to see them all so stoked. That meant a lot to me; it’s been a busy time but it’s been fun as well.’

E L R A U I T C A E E SP F

S R E S I S N D A R G A R O L W O A R P A G M C I X F E M T D 0 N 202 TING AN IN MO D E E E D M CLU CON

The meeting is the perfect opportunity for the organisers to come together and share their thoughts and valuable feedback in order to ensure that each year MXGP continues to improve and grow in quality.

DURING THE FIRST WEEKEND OF DECEMBER, THE ANNUAL MXGP ORGANISERS MEETING TOOK PLACE AT THE BEAUTIFUL MONTE CARLO BAY HOTEL IN MONTE CARLO. ORGANISERS OF THE 2020 MXGP EVENTS GATHERED FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD IN ORDER TO PREPARE FOR A WONDERFUL SEASON OF RACING AHEAD.

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Youthstream’s Director of Communications and Marketing Services, Marionna Leiva, opened the annual event by introducing the officials which included Youthstream President Mr. Giuseppe Luongo, Youthstream CEO David Luongo, Youthstream COO

Daniele Rizzi, Youthstream Directors Nikos Gounaris and Didier Henriod, as well as the representatives from the FIM, FIM/CMS Director Antonio Alia Portela, Race Director Ingo Partsch, FIM MX Technical Director Andy Summers and Director of the International Medical Commission, FIM Medical Director David McManus.

Organisers of the 2020 MXGP rounds of Indonesia, China, Great Britain, Maggiora, Trentino, Portugal, Finland, Belgium, Imola, Sweden, Russia and Turkey were present along with the organiser of the

Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations which will take place in Ernée, France to learn about the novelties and the guidelines given by Youthstream for the preparation of the 2020 season.

Youthstream President, Giuseppe Luongo welcomed everyone to the meeting, expressing his gratitude for the great partnership with the organisers saying: “It feels like yesterday that we were all in Andorra for this meeting. And it feels like this year has flown by, the 2019 season was a great one, and I would like to thank all of you because, as I always say, the cooperation with local organiser is one of the main keys to the success of the event and what they give to this

fantastic sport is the reason why we have reached the level that we are at today. We know the very hard work that Organizers do to ensure the high standards and deliver excellent results.

Thank you very much, we are very happy that you are all here and I am sure that the we will all have a great season together as the 2020 FIM Motocross World Championship is bound to be one of the best ever with the best riders in the world competing for the world titles”.

FIM/CMS Director Antonio Alia Portela also thanked everyone for a fantastic season by saying: “I wish to welcome everybody on behalf of the FIM to this important annual meeting.

As Giuseppe Luongo said, the cooperation with Youthstream, the FIM and the local organizers 51

is the base to ensure that the level of the sport and MXGP is always rising and it is up to all of us together to make sure that what we showcase to the world is at the highest standard.

I hope that you are up to the challenge for next season because from the FIM side and Youthstream we are ready to go for it”.

The presentation stage of the meeting was hosted

by Youthstream’s Director of Communications and Marketing Services, Marionna Leiva who introduced the key departments of MXGP. This included the organisers, racetrack crew, TV, Marketing and Media among others.

Each department highlighted the work that they carry out along with important points which included, paddock requirements, circuit preparation, infrastructure for the medical centre, TV and Media, Marketing and more.

Then it was time to introduce the new 2020 FIM Motocross World Championship venues, which introduced some longtime favourites as well as some new faces, including the MXGP of Finland, as well as the great and much anticipated comeback of Maggiora Park and

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of course the host of the 2020 Monster Energy FIM Motocorss of Nations which will be held at the spectacular Ernèe circuit in September of next year.

Then the FIM Race Director Ingo Partsch and FIM MX Technical Director Andy Summers as well as the FIM Medical Director David McManus took the microphone to speak on behalf of the FIM to overview some important points on the work carried out by the FIM onsite at each event. They stressed the fact that standards are really high, and cooperation among Youthstream, the FIM and the Organizers is the key.

The meeting was concluded with an official presentation from our ticketing partner Platinum Group, followed by the official 2020 MXGP teaser video, which marked the start of the countdown to the new season.

Then it was time for an evening of celebrations, as the party headed to the Salle des Etoile in Monaco for the 2019 FIM Awards to celebrate our 2019 Champions who received their official FIM Medals. The event started off with the red carpet parade, followed by a

gourmet dinner and the annual prize giving ceremony where FIM President Jorge Viegas welcomed the hundreds of people invited to this fantastic event. Those in attendance included the MXGP World Champion Tim Gajser, MX2 World Champion Jorge Prado, 125cc Junior World Champion, Mattia Guadagnini as well as the 85cc Junior World Champion Valerio Lata. Also being celebrated was the Women’s Motocross World Champion, Courtney Duncan among other champions in motorcycle sport.

It was a great evening, as athletes, their family and friends as well as the organisers and officials from all motorcycle disciplines, from all over the world came together to celebrate the incredible achievements of these talented individuals.

With the meeting concluded and the Champions celebrated, we can officially close the 2019 MXGP season and declare the 2020 season OPEN! Now the hard work begins.

WATCH THE VIDEO

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E L R A U I T C A E E SP F

THE MAN WITH THE HEALING HANDS

THE FIM MOTOCROSS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP IS THE TOP OF THE TREE AS FAR AS RIDING A DIRT BIKE IS CONCERNED. BUT WORLD CLASS ATHLETES NEED WORLD CLASS CARE TO KEEP ON TOP OF THEIR GAME, AND SINCE 2014 THIERRY SARASYN HAS BEEN DOING EXACTLY THAT. HAVING PERSONALLY HEADED THE INITIATIVE THAT BOUGHT A MOBILE PHYSIOTHERAPY CENTRE TO THE MXGP PADDOCK, THE BENEFITS OF WHICH HAVE BEEN FELT BY ALL WITH THE RIDERS’ BEST INTERESTS AT HEART.

fact there are 4 parties working together.”

We’ve been lucky enough to sit down with Thierry for a bit of a chat about how his mobile Physio Centre came into being in the first place, what he and his team of physiotherapists can actually do for the riders in the everchanging world of physiotherapy, and the importance of good bracing for riders of all standards: “I’m actually responsible for the MXGP Physio Centre. That’s my occupation during the season.

I mainly work with a team of physiotherapists and we make sure that all the riders stay in good shape. Or if they’re not in shape, we can help them as well as we can. We do that through

working with the Medical Centre, as we’re based in one unit.

Basically, if a rider has an injury, we can diagnose them in the Medical Centre and see if there is anything that can be done. If there’s a fracture, then they go to the hospital. If there’s anything else, we try to treat them. Try to help them get on the bike, and if not, we keep them as safe as possible so they can maybe ride the week afterwards.”

“We have a different chief doctor at every GP, who is specifically from that country. Then we have the team of the mobile Medical and Physio centre, which is actually one unit. We work closely together. There’s a radiologist at every GP that’s brought in by the medical centre, we also bring in the physiotherapists and there’s also an FIM doctor involved who checks everything. So, in

“In the physio centre we are a team of 3 that try to go to as many races as possible; that’s myself and 2 other physios - Annick Dellaert and Matthias Van Daele.

In the mobile Medical Centre, Louis Ramel and his family and the team have been unbelievable.

A Physio Centre needs a home, and he just provided that for us back in 2014, and never asked for anything in return. We can just be there in the medical unit, and it’s been an honour to work with this man.”

Loyal Partners The opportunity to open up a Physio Centre came about through Thierry’s links with knee brace manufacturer Donjoy, and their support of now 9-time world champion Antonio Cairoli, who’s had more than his own fair share of knee problems over the years: 55

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“It all started through Donjoy, the sponsor of Antonio Cairoli’s knee braces. They started going to the GPs to make sure that Tony had whatever he wanted. After a couple of years, we felt that there was a big need for professional care of these riders because many of them have all the best materials on their bike, and the best gear, but on a physical level they’re not always as prepared as could or should be.”

“Donjoy then partnered up and we started the MXGP Physio Centre in 2014 trying to help riders. It’s been 5 years now, and Donjoy has been with us all the way. It’s been a great way of helping younger riders. Top level teams sometimes bring their own physiotherapists, and that’s a good thing because it’s a professional sport and they need professional guidance, but there’s also a lot of lower categories such as EMX, or just riders that aren’t with top teams, they don’t have a physiotherapists caring for them and they sometimes also lack good advice on their training, and that’s the part where I come in especially.”

“I have a degree in Physical Education and I used to be a motocross rider, so I understand very well what physical demands the riders are under. How they should train, and how good training helps to avoid injuries.

We actually have a very good team for preventing injuries, and when they do get injured, we can help them out with what I would definitely call world class physiotherapy. They really are the best in the business.”

Thierry’s own interest in motocross comes from a childhood in which he reached the heady heights of Junior National champion in Belgium.

A promising career in dirt was in the offing, but combining riding with education proved to be too much of a strain. An instinct to help prevent injuries, rather than be injured, came to the fore:

“I still try to keep riding. Strangely enough, everyone says that motocross and off-road riding is a high impact sport, and that is true. But if I don’t ride, as I get older my body just gets stuck and I feel stiff. I have to keep riding for myself, and I really enjoy it.

The only thing is that with the way that motocross has evolved in every way, you cannot really do it as a hobby anymore. If you look at the top level, and the tracks they have at GPs, they’re so physically demanding that those riders really need the best care in every way. The best training, the best bikes, but also the best possible physiotherapy.”

“I have a small media company that has evolved in previous years and is not so small now.

We have different websites that are not even mainly focused on motocross. Apart from that I keep busy working with a lot of the motocross importers in Belgium and Holland on different levels.

It’s through those contacts that we ran into the people from Bridgestone who have been supporting us through the last year. Bridgestone is very much into safety and responsible motorcycle riding. So, they hooked up with the Physio Centre and gave us the possibility to work even better with the physiotherapists that we have.”

“We keep bringing in new technologies because of that.

For example, one of the latest developments in physiotherapy is needling to release knots in the muscles. We will be doing that from next year onwards, just to keep the riders as safe as we can. We also have a Cryosauna, which has been quite popular with riders when it’s a hot race. It works amazingly on the recovery of the riders. We’ve been doing local recovery for years with compacts and electronic muscle stimulation, and it’s a device we use to sponsor some professional cycling teams. We work with Mark Cavendish, for example, and people like that. The cryosauna is in the Medical Centre, and it goes down to about 170°C. It takes 57

2 or 3 minutes and you come out of there feeling like a new person. It’s a very expensive thing though, due to the gas that has to go in there.”

“The Medical Centre and Physio Centre are free of charge. So, nobody ever has to pay when they come to us. The cryosauna is the only thing that costs a little bit of money, I believe around 40 euros. But when you look at the effect it can have on recovery, and what recovery can do for you after a heavy Saturday, I think it’s one of the important devices. Top-notch cutting edge equipment. I think it’s one of the few mobile cryosaunas in the world. At the same time, I believe that in the Medical Centre they have the only mobile scanner in Europe. Even MotoGP doesn’t have that.”

“The fact that we could work with both Donjoy and Bridgestone this year gave us the possibility to work at the highest level. Because at a ‘mobile’ Physio Centre the word says it all, everything needs to be mobile. All the equipment we have has to be mobile. If you walk in there you might think it’s just a bunch of small machines. But actually, it’s more high-tech than the machines you see in a classical Physio or Medical Centre, because it has to be compact in order to be transported. That’s what we’ve been focusing on. Getting the Physio Centre better and working at a higher level every year.”

While globetrotting with MXGP Thierry meets many riders and their teams and families, and it’s these interactions that keep he and his team coming back for more year after year: “It’s a funny thing. When you look at a motocross rider, everyone thinks they’re cool guys and nothing can touch them. Maybe they’re considered macho. But when we treat them, either in the Physio or Medical Centres, they’re so grateful and thankful. They’re just one big motocross family, every one of them. We treat over 200 patients every year, and over

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the years that we’ve been doing that maybe one or two came in that had a wrong attitude. But 99.9% are just nice people and very grateful. It gives a lot of satisfaction doing that, and that’s also why we keep doing it.”

“MXGP succeeds in keeping a very good balance between being professional on one side, but being human on the other.

There’s a lot of other sports where I feel that balance is off.”

Earning trust Since its MXGP inception in 2014, word has quickly spread about the benefits of a top notch Physiotherapy Centre, with more and more riders also coming to rely on Thierry’s team for training and how better to avoid the injuries that will always be part and parcel of the sport: “Initially, we started out with Donjoy to make it about more than supporting a rider and supporting the sport. The thing we did back then was just physio treatment with everything we had. But now we feel that riders also very much appreciate our advice, and they come to us when they need some advice, or when they’re in doubt about an injury.

It’s a very important role that’s we started to work on. I think that preventing is better than treating an injury, and that’s what we’re doing more and more.”

“You feel that the riders have trust in us, and in me. Sometimes we work with our fixed team of physiotherapists, but in countries where Donjoy is very active they also send their therapists.

So not all races have the same physiotherapists, although I’m at almost every race. The riders have a lot of confidence in me.

Sometimes I get calls in the off season asking what would be the right treatment for a certain injury. That proves to me that we’re on the right path. Not just treating injuries, but also trying to prevent them.”

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Over the years it’s not only the facilities that have been improved, but the staff have also moved with the times. Thierry believes his team bring the very best in physiotherapeutic care to the riders, when and where they need it. That’s a level of care that is getting better and better by the year: “The main improvement has been the team of physiotherapists getting even better than they were. I’m very happy to be able to work with really good physiotherapists that have a good mix between experience, which is what Annick Delleart brings to the table, and what Matthias brings. Matthias Van Daele is a rather young physiotherapist, but he’s been specialising in a lot of different domains, and you can see that physiotherapy in itself has evolved since we studied it a long time ago. We try to bring in modern techniques of helping people. It really makes a difference.”

“For example, the Chattanooga Tape we use, or Chatt-Tape as it’s called, it’s the coloured tape that you see on a lot of athletes, and everybody wonders how it works.

But you need to specialise in it. It supports your muscles. It’s one of the things, along with electronic muscle stimulation, that we can do to help riders immediately. To help them get back on the bike while helping the injury get better and maybe helping them ride in the 2nd race if they crashed in the first one. It’s immediate assistance, and we’re getting better at that.”

“You can also see that physiotherapy equipment has evolved. The safety equipment has evolved. I was proud to have Doctor Chris Leatt visit us at Lommel this year, because he and his company Leatt are very much involved with the riders through their neck braces, and stuff like that. I was proud to have him over to visit the Physio and Medical Centre. It’s what we’ve always done with Donjoy too. We’ve been able to advise the riders on

good braces to wear during their races.”

“The thing that amazes me is that sometimes riders will go so far to just be able to do that next race.

You just know it’s not going to work, but sometimes we have the Chatt-Tape and even stronger tape, and they will get everything done, and you know this is not going to work. I admire them for trying, and I know that the doctor will not let them ride if they’re not able to. Being able to ride is one thing, but being able to go out there and win the race is something else. Sometimes there’s almost an innocent belief in thinking that this is going to make such a difference that they’ll still be able to win this race. But the body has its limits, even with the best diagnosis in the Medical Centre, and the best care in the Physio Centre, there’s a limit to what the body can do. It’s almost touching sometimes how the riders keep believing in it.”

“They’re so tough. Their mental strength sometimes helps them overcome pain and limitations that a normal person wouldn’t be able to overcome. Of course, sometimes it’s not possible, but they always believe in it. They’re so motivated, and grateful. The riders are symbols for their team, or sometimes their whole family.

If you help a rider, you’re also helping their team or family, and that’s a very good feeling.”

Brace yourself Currently, there are no rules and regulations telling the riders to wear either knee braces or neck braces in MXGP. The benefit of good bracing is a subject that Thierry feels very strongly about.

However, much as he’d like to see all riders wearing the best possible protection every time they sling their leg over the saddle, he knows that making such things compulsory would be almost impossible to police:

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“There’s a big difference between making something compulsory and advising it, especially in motocross. Coming back to Leatt and the neck brace they developed, and also the development they did in other types of bracing.

That is supported by medical knowledge, just like the Donjoy knee braces, which are supported by orthopaedic knowledge.”

“I know that Cairoli had knee injuries wearing the braces, but you can only imagine how bad those injuries would have been if he hadn’t worn them. Tony himself has said many times that people don’t get on a bike without a helmet, but he wouldn’t get on a bike without his Donjoys either.

Top riders stating how important bracing is, are just as important as advising young riders as we are.

Perhaps even more important.”

“It’s the same thing with neck braces. Some people will say that they were wearing a neck brace and they still hurt their back or neck, but I can easily name 10 riders that would have had worse injuries if they didn’t have a neck brace. If you ask me if a neck brace should be compulsory, I would tell you this. A neck brace is just as important as a helmet, you can quote me on that.”

“When you look at knee injuries, they are a real hazard for a rider’s career. They can get so bad, and just keep popping up again.

Prevention is better than any cure.

I remember seeing, back in 2013, (former WMX champion) Livia Lancelot where she crashed at the start. She had a Donjoy on her knee, and I know that if she hadn’t had it on, her knee would have been so badly hurt. Sure, she had an injury, but it wasn’t as bad as it would have been. Every good knee brace will do that for you.”

“It’s important for riders, especially top riders, to set a good example.

You see a lot of the top guys now, such as Tim Gajser and Jeffrey Herlings, wearing neck braces and young riders look up to them. They have a big role in making younger riders aware. They’re the idols.

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the manufacturers seem to be moving in the right direction:

Everybody looks up to them.

When I rode, I looked up to David Bailey (a Californian rider that won 3 AMA titles in the mid-80’s) and tried to wear the clothing he had. Nowadays you can be sure that young kids have these guys’ posters in their rooms. Nothing has changed in that respect.”

Never say never The equipment available to motocross riders is evolving all the time. Despite taking the occasional wrong turn, 64

“What’s important now is that I see the bigger names in the sport really think about the way that they do their boots and knee braces, and the way they’re constructed. So that there’s still room to absorb the impact.

For example, Sidi are about to bring out a boot that’s about 250 grams lighter. But they’ve also considered flexibility of the boot to a certain level. They work with Cairoli, who by now is also an expert on knee braces.”

“If you look at top riders, and the way they’re training now, I don’t think they train harder than they used to. A lot of the top athletes in the 80s were animals, just like they are now. But now I

think they are training smarter through good professional advice from trainers and physiotherapists. If you put those together, the advisory role of professionals towards the riders, and the better equipment, you come to a higher level of safety. The helmets have gotten safer, too.”

Thierry Sarasyn and his team continue to go from strength to strength, and will once again bring world class physiotherapy to the best riders on the planet in the new year: “We’re looking forward to the season. We have the same professional team ready, and I can’t wait to be at the first race at the MXGP of Great Britain on the 1st of March.”

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L L A H

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E M A F F O

BROC ‘GOLDEN BOY’ GLOVER EVEN IF HE RACED MAINLY IN THE USA, BROC GLOVER IS ONE OF THE MOST PROLIFIC ATHLETES IN THE MX HISTORY. WINNING SIX AMA MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIPS IN ALL CLASSES, A RECORD WHICH STAYS DURING 20 YEARS, HE ALSO WON SEVERAL US GRAND PRIX AND WAS THREE TIMES MEMBER OF THE US WINNING TEAM AT THE TROPHY AND MOTOCROSS OF NATIONS. HE ENDED HIS CAREER IN EUROPE, RACING THE 250CC GP’S IN 1989.

Born on 16th May 1960 in San Diego, Broc was a busy teenager playing baseball and football when he got a little bike as present. His family were big fans of motorcycles, and when his older brother started racing, Broc had more interest in Motocross and entered his first race when he turned thirteen. It took him a few more years to join the Pro’s, but after some successful races, he entered the AMA nationals just a week after he turned sixteen.

In his first race as a Pro he confirmed his potential as he was running second at Red Bud, until his chain fell off the bike! Later in the season Broc won his first moto at Houston and ended fifth of the series, results that helped him sign his first contract with Yamaha in 1977.

His first season as factory rider was a great one, as Broc won his first US title in the 125cc class; it was the first one of a long and unusual series, as he won again the championship in 1978 and 1979! He had a first Grand Prix experience in 1978 when he dominated the USGP in Lexington, and then became a

regular contender at the American round of the World Championship.

In 1980 Broc lost the 125cc title and decided to move to the 500cc class in 1981 and was immediately successful, winning his fourth title within five seasons! He also won the famous Trans AMA, but he wasn’t as successful when he moved to the 250cc class, so in 1983 went back on a 500cc and he experience what it might have been his best ever season. For the first time Broc finished on the podium of the Supercross series, and he also dominated the 500cc Motocross championship and joined for the first time the US Team at the Nations. Broc won one heat at the Trophy of Nations in Sverepec and at the Motocross of Nations in Angreau, becoming the best individual US rider.

Runner up in the 1984 AMA Motocross championship and winner of the USGP in Carlsbad, Broc was called in September to replace injured David Bailey in the US team at the Trophy of Nations. It was another exciting experience for Broc, who finished twice runner up behind teammate Jeff Ward to secure another overall win for 67

team USA. 1985 was another great season for Broc, who got his best overall result in Supercross – runner up only two points behind Ward – and won another 500cc motocross title to secure his sixth national title! It was the last successful season for Broc who injured his wrist towards the end of the campaign and spent nearly one year to recover.

He was again in good shape when he broke his leg and spent most of his time in hospital and re-education centres. In 1988 was back in the top five of both the SX and MX championship when he announced his retirement from Pro racing at the end of the season but finally came back racing in Europe when KTM hired him to enter the 250cc World Championship. Broc has always declared himself a super fan of the Motocross World Championship, and although he wasn’t that successful, he enjoyed his last racing experience at the Grand Prix and ended his career with a moto win during the last Grand Prix of the season!

After his retirement Broc has remained very active in the sport and visits regularly the Motocross of Nations, as he has been Dunlop’s senior manager of Off Road in the USA for several years.

Text & Photos: P. Haudiquert

2001: 1976: 5th in the US 125 Motocross championship 1977:

US 125 Motocross champion (Yamaha)

1978:

US 125 Motocross champion (Yamaha)

13th in the 125 Motocross World Championship.

Winner of 1 GP

1979:

US 125 Motocross champion (Yamaha)

16th in the 125 Motocross World Championship

1980: 2nd in the US 125 Motocross championship (Yamaha)

4th in the US 250 Supercross championship

1981:

US 500 Motocross champion (Yamaha)

8th in the US 250 Supercross championship

1982: 3rd in the US 250 Motocross championship (Yamaha)

5th in the US 250 Supercross championship

1983:

US 500 Motocross champion (Yamaha)

3rd in the US 250 Supercross championship

15th in the 500 Motocross World Championship

Winner at the Motocross of Nations with team USA

Winner at the Trophy of Nations with team USA

1984: 2nd in the US 500 Motocross championship (Yamaha)

17th in the 500 Motocross World Championship.

Winner of 1 GP

Winner at the Trophy of Nations with team USA

1985:

US 500 Motocross champion (Yamaha)

2nd in the US 25O Supercross championship

1988: 5th in the US 250 Motocross championship (Yamaha)

4th in the US 250 Supercross championship

1989: 8th in the 250 Motocross World Championship (KTM)

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S K L A T K C O D PAD 2

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8 3

4

6 5

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1

The 6-time WMX World Champion, Kiara Fontanesi welcomed the very beautiful baby Skyler to the world!

Congratulations Kiara & Devin!

2 Thomas Covington is making a comeback to MXGP with his brand-new team, Gebben Van Venrooy Racing.

3 HRC riders from all over the world gathered at EICMA 2019 as the manufacturer announced their plans for 2020. Tim Gajser and his new teammate Mitch Evans joined Marc Marquez, Toni Bou and others for the occasion.

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4 Standing Construct change colour for 2020 as the team will now become Standing Construct GasGas Factory Racing.

5 TC4Wheels in full swing this off-season as Tony Cairoli finished another fourwheel event and this time it was the Rally Tuscan Rewind, the last top of the Rally Italian Championship, where he finished in the top 10!

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6 Clement Desalle off-season preparation for the 2020 World Championship is ON! 7 NEW TEAM ALERT! Jacky Martens forms new Honda JM Racing Team for 2020. Racing for the team next season will be Benoit Paturel and Julien Lieber.

8 World Champions, Jorge Prado and Antonio Cairoli send fans wild at EICMA 2019!

9 Mitch Evans joined by some fast company for his training together with Alpinestars’ Sylvain Le Gad – Andrea Dovizioso and Danilo Petrucci!

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10 Valentin Guillod will return to racing in the MXGP class as he signs with Honda SR Motoblouz for 2020!

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STEVE RAMON 2003 FACTORY KTM 125

STEVE RAMON FIRST ENTERED THE FIM MOTOCROSS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP IN 1997 WHERE HE FINISHED 28TH OVERALL IN THE 125CC CLASS. THE FOLLOWING YEAR HE IMPROVED TWO PLACES BEFORE PROGRESSING RAPIDLY TO 6TH IN 1999, A YEAR WHICH ALSO CULMINATED WITH HIS FIRST RACE WIN AND FIRST PODIUM APPEARANCE.

Eleventh in the year 2000 was followed up with 2nd overall in 2001 but after five years racing with Kawasaki equipment, the tall Belgian switched to the Champ KTM Team where he again placed 2nd overall in 2002. However, in his final year in the 125cc class Steve Ramon won the title and it’s his 2003 KTM 125 that we will feature in this issue of MXGP Magazine.

When we think of KTM and the factory race team as it is today it is a pretty impressive set up to say the least, but it wasn’t always so corporate with both MX2 and MXGP operating as one. In 2003, Champ KTM was considered

as the factory 125cc team and it was run by Kees van der Ven, a former racer with 18 GP wins across all three classes (125cc, 250cc and 500cc). He was 2nd overall in the 250cc class in 1980, before placing 3rd overall on five occasions between 1981 and 1987. As a team owner, he experienced his first world title with Grant Langston in 2000 in the 125cc class but he would only have to wait three more years before his team would win again.

Steve Ramon moved from the Jan De Groot Kawasaki team in 2002 to join the Champ KTM team having just placed 2nd overall in the 125cc class and if he was looking for improvements, then he found them. He may have still placed 2nd overall in the championship and finished with the same

number of podiums, but the difference was that in 2002 he added three race wins to his tally; back then of course, GP’s were run under a one race format, so a race win was also classed as a GP win.

Going into the 2003 season Ramon was considered as the favourite to lift the title and when the gate dropped for the season opener, 5th at Bellpuig, Spain, was not what he or the team were after, but a win next time out at Valkenswaard saw him rocket to the top of the championship table, and from there he was never headed, although there would be no more wins from the next ten rounds. But, before we go any further, let’s take a look at the bike in a bit more detail.

As a newcomer to the team in 2002, Ramon was more than used to the set-up of his machine and there were no 73

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significant changes to the 2003 bike other than a bit of fine tuning to the suspension and carburation settings. The chassis and swingarm were standard items and apart from the standard clutch, that is pretty much where the ‘off-the-shelf’ parts list ended.

The engine was a full factory unit straight out of Austria and came equipped with sandcast aluminium cases, not only for strength but also because the intake valve was at a straighter angle compared to standard. The cylinder head was provided by VHM and if any further engine modifications were required then the team were at liberty to add their own touch, on the basis that KTM were aware of the situation.

This would be via a post-event race report which was sent back to Austria every Monday. But in 2003, there were little or no such modifications required.

The bore and stroke were 54.0mm x 54.5mm, the reed block was factory and the carburettor was a 39mm Keihin PWK, which also came standard at that time. The team ran a factory spec piston for better reliability and the 6-speed gearbox gave the riders different options when it came to the start.

The clutch was hydraulic. The exhaust system was provided by DOMA and the CDI was factory.

As for the radiators, only the left side was bigger because on the right side there was not enough space due to the shape of the exhaust pipe.

As for the suspension, factory triple clamps housed the ‘special’ WP front fork; we say special because the diameter was 52mm and came with a bigger axle.

As for the rear, the new linkage was still a few years away and so all KTM’s still ran with the PDS system, where the shock was directly attached to the swingarm.

Haan wheels were married to Excel rims and the brakes were factory Brembo, complete with a larger 260mm disc at the front and a 240mm disc at the rear.

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To help keep the weight as low as possible, there were a multitude of titanium parts, from inside the engine to the usual nuts and bolts, and the only carbon fibre that was on display was the skid plate, so you only got to see that if it was dry and/or there were a lot of jumps! But it still did what it was supposed to.

There were four riders on the team in 2003 with Ben Townley, Erik Eggens and Marc De Reuver, all going for the same goal as Ramon, and from that side at least, all bikes were the same spec in terms of engine set-up, they all had the same power curve, which was ‘really good off the bottom and strong all the way through and with a really wide power curve for a 2-stroke’ according to the chief mechanic, Harry Nolte.

As for the power output, the 76

bike produced somewhere in the region of 40-41 bhp which for a 125cc in 2003 was pretty impressive. The only things that were different between the riders’ bikes was how they tailored the bike to suit them, whether it be different gearing, gearbox, jetting or suspension set-up.

The season itself was run over twelve rounds and it really was a season of two halves for Ramon. The first half was a little inconsistent, if you can call 5-14-2-6-2 inconsistent, but if he was to win the title, he needed to up his game due to the addition of Stefan Everts joining the championship from Round Four. Maybe that was the shot in the arm that Ramon needed because he went and delivered five podiums from the next five races. After placing 8th at the penultimate round at Loket, Ramon only needed an 18th from the final round at Ernée to secure the title, and when he

crossed the line in 5th, Ramon was home and dry. As far as weekends go, it doesn’t get any better than winning a world title, but if there was another weekend that stood out for the team then it had to be Round Two at Valkenswaard where the Champ KTM Team rounded out the first four places in the race.

Impressive!

That Ernée weekend has always been remembered as the round where Everts won all three races in the same day, in three different classes, but the 14th September 2003 will also be remembered for something else as well. It was the day that Steve Ramon became the last ever 125cc world champion and with it, the last ever 2-stroke world champion as well. It truly was the end of an era, because from 2004 there was no longer a 125cc or 250cc 2-stroke class; instead the dawn of the new era that is MXGP and MX2 was about to begin.

S N R O O I T T I S E ED E U QO TH T ❝

Hello, where can I purchase tickets for Maggiora?

Marija

❞

Hi Marija , ! Thanks for your message.

You can now purchase tickets for the MXGP in Maggiora on our website. Here is the direct link for the tickets Regards MXGP

❝

Where can I find pictures from your events?

James

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Hi James , we have a photo gallery on our website www.mxgp.com where you can find photos from each GP. Regards MXGP

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❝

Hi, if I pay to watch the races live in 2020, can I also watch them after the event is finished?

Bobby

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Dear Bobby, yes! The great thing with the MXGP-TV subscription is that you can watch ALL of the races next season LIVE and OnDemand, so if you miss the race live, you can always catch up after or re-watch your favourite races.

Best Regards MXGP

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Hello. I want to buy my partner and son tickets to the MXGP in Matterley for Christmas, but I wanted to know what is included in the VIP Gold Skybox pass?.

Natalie

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Hi Natalie thanks for getting in touch! The VIP GOLD SKYBOX pass offers the ultimate MXGP experience.

It includes: Access to the venue, the MXGP paddock where all the riders and teams are based.

It also allows you to enjoy our VIP Gold Skybox Restaurant for breakfast and lunch on Saturday and Sunday, as well as exclusive access to the Skybox Terrace located behind the starting gate. You will also receive a VIP parking too!

Good luck. We hope to see you and your family at Matterley Basin!

Thanks MXGP

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Hello where can I find the 2020 season calendar?

Fabio

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Hi Fabio the full calendar is available on mxgp.com below the countdown clock.

MXGP

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