Ryan Villopoto - Life for a pro motocross racer can be pretty tough

I know a lot of people were speculating that I was going to retire, and to be honest, I considered it. Life for a pro motocross racer can be pretty tough—especially if you fall down a lot, lol. Did I want to have to climb back up that ladder? Get myself back into shape? I didn’t know if I wanted to tackle that all again. I’ve done that already twice—coming back from a fairly major injury. Even at this point right now its five months or so until the gate drops in Qatar… 

Once I was able to swallow that one and be like ‘okay, yeah let’s do it’, it is definitely something that is a work in progress. It’s funny because although Kawasaki is one company KMC, KME, and KHI are three separate entities. So we had to get everything correlated and running in the right direction… trying to get all the moving parts aligned. It’s taken some time.

Then there is my own physical aspect: It’s not just like coming off a season and taking two weeks off and then kind of getting back into it. You don’t lose much at all if you do it that way. Definitely the hill is a lot steeper the way I’m going about it.

There are a couple of things that make me nervous. Obviously traveling to different countries. Some of the counties are a maybe little bit sketchy, so there’s things I have to watch out for. Learning the tricks of the trade. And I have to learn them very quick, lol. It’s going to be making the mistake of eating an ice cube that was frozen from tap water, then you get sick—that’s the sort of stuff I will need to learn real quick. Not make a mistake in that area.

When it comes to the bike, the tracks—that’s all the stuff I am really good at. I have a good base coming from KMC. Our factory bike is one of the best. Kawasaki of Europe, they have a good bike as well. The great thing is that it’s going to be essentially the same bike—with a few different parts and set-up a little differently. I know how I like to ride my bike and have it set-up, so I plan on doing the same.

As far as the competition goes, I have raced the majority at des Nations, but that’s a hard race to gauge off. It’s kind of like Anaheim 1—not the best place to make assumptions. I feel like Tony Cairoli’s probably going to be one of my strongest competitors. You can’t not think he’s going to be the guy—he’s won eight years in a row! Then there’s other guys like Gautier Paulin and Steven Frossard. The Europeans are going to be tough. I think they will surprise me in areas and I will surprise them in areas.

We’re flying into Brussels on October 10 to meet the team, I’ve met a few of the guys already, and go see the race shop. The race shop is in Holland which is about 40 miles from where my friend and teammate Tyla Rattray lives—basically just outside of Lommel. He’s going to do some testing at Saint Jean. It’s where I last raced des Nations in ’11.

Most of all, I’m just trying to go over there and really enjoy this last year. This is a one-time deal. I am going to finish my career win or lose after this next season… But I’d love to win and leave on top. I’m not going to say it’s going to be easier or harder—it will for sure be different though.

View the original article here

Marissa Markelon victory on her New Haven Motorsport-backed Kawasaki

In the AMA Women's Motocross Championship (WMX) at KROC Raceway Park in Englishtown, New Jersey, over the weekend, held in conjunction with the 38th Annual Kawasaki Team Green Race of Champions Marissa Markelon took a huge win at round six.

Markelon went 1-1 over the course of the two motos on her New Haven Motorsport-backed Kawasaki, topping round-five winner Kylie Fasnacht in each of the two races.

Rain showers on Saturday left the Englishtown course a bit soggy during morning practice on Sunday. However, by the end of the day the track was rock-hard and dry, with plenty of deep ruts had hard-edged bumps for the riders to contend with.

In moto one, Markelon was third out for the gate, but the Connecticut rider was into the lead by turn two and pulling away, although playing it safe to a certain degree.

"I was a little nervous in that first race," said Markelon. "I didn't w
ant to make the same mistakes I made at the Baja Brawl, so I just wanted to make sure I kept it on two wheels and rode a steady race."

Markelon did indeed ride a steady race, and plenty fast enough to take the win over the hard-charging Fasnacht, who was still carrying momentum from her win in Michigan.

Honda rider Jacqueline Strong rounded out the first moto podium with a solid third, with Nicole Cutrera (Hon) and Shelby Rolen (Kaw) finishing fourth and fifth.

Fasnacht came out swinging in moto two, and led the first four laps of the race with Markelon in hot pursuit. On lap five, however, Fasnacht bobbled and then got cross-rutted in a deep rut, giving Markelon just the break she needed to take the lead.

From there, it was an easy ride to the finish for Markelon, who claimed her first win of the season with a 1-1 tally.

Fasnacht held on to take second, with Strong, Rolen and Cutrera rounding out the top five.
Motorcycle-Superstore/Yamaha's MacKenzie Tricker missed her second-straight race after suffering an injury to her elbow with a small tip over at a local race while in Australia. Tricker had surgery three-and-a-half weeks before the New Jersey race and just got her cast cut off the week before the race.

On the other hand, Markelon's win and early season consistency leaves her with a 43-point lead in the series standings with two rounds remaining, plus two throw-out rounds to be calculated.

"I'm feeling a different kind of pressure now that I have the points lead," said Markelon. "Things will be close after the throw out rounds are factored in and I just have to stay calm and ride steady at these last two races."

View the original article here

Yamaha multiyear extension contract with Star Racing

This year was a breakout year for the Yamalube/Star Racing/Yamaha team. The winning train left the station at the final Supercross round in Las Vegas and continued to roll as the team dominated the 2014 Outdoor Nationals, taking home 6 out of a possible 12 overall wins behind the powerhouse duo of Jeremy Martin and Cooper Webb, with Jeremy Martin wrapping up the title with 1 race to go, bringing home Star Racing their first AMA National championship.

Yamaha is also pleased to announce that Jeremy Martin, Cooper Webb and Anthony Rodriguez will all be returning having signed new agreements with Star Racing that will insure they will be racing YZ250Fs during the 2015 season. Joining the returning riders will be amateur standout Aaron Plessinger. Aaron’s final amateur race will be at the upcoming Monster Energy Cup, from there he will prepare for his pro debut sometime during the 2015 Supercross season.

“This year was simply amazing. I’ve dreamt about this moment for a long time and I knew with the people we have on the team and the bikes that Yamaha provides us this was going to happen. I’m very excited to see what 2015 and beyond holds for our team and I couldn’t be happier to continue our awesome relationship with Yamaha”, said Star Racing team owner Bobby Regan. “I’m so proud of everyone at Star Racing. We worked together and created a long term plan to develop riders from our Amateur motocross program and stuck with it. The results so far couldn’t have been any sweeter. Yamaha is very excited to see what 2015 holds with last year’s trio of Martin, Webb, and Rodriguez returning along with new rookie Plessinger.

View the original article here