MXGP Mag #14 November 2014

#14_NOVEMBER 2014

The Next Level: 2015 FIM Motocross

Special Feature

World Championship Calendar

Wings for Life

n a Ry o t o p o l l i V A ch

e n e c s f o e g an

RACING CATCH UP

RIDER OF THE MONTH Ryan Villopoto

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INDEX

COOL SHOT

MONSTER GIRLS

HALL OF FAME Jean Michel Bayle

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 #14 November 2014 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 Dear MXGP Friends, I would like to tell you about something that happened a long time ago. In 1986 when I was 26 years old, I had the honor to organize the Motocross of Nations in Maggiora, at that time I was already the promoter of the Motocross Grand Prix of Italy 125cc, 250cc and 500cc, and of the Italian Championships.

Following the Nations in Maggiora I was so impressed and taken by this event, especially by the confrontation between the 3 American stars and the World Champions that I said to myself that I must do something to make this happen more often and not only once a year. And after a lot of thinking, I had an idea -which I believe still today could be fantastic- the idea was to organize the Masters of Motocross during the ‘off season’ (October to December) when the American and World Championships were finished and all the top riders from the 2 continents were free. We started the series in 1988 and thanks to the good friendship between Ricky Johnson and

Giuseppe Luongo President of Youthstream Group I, he helped me contact all the other top American riders. That series was an unbelievable success, it was a dream for all the Motocross fans; Ricky Johnson, Jeff Ward, Johnny O’mara, Jeff Stanton, Ron Lechien, Jean-Michel Bayle, Mike Larocco, Donny Schmit, Danny Laporte, Alessandro Puzar, Eric Geboers, John Van Den Berk, Pekka Vekhonen, Georges Jobé the young Stefan Everts and many others raced together in the same class for 6 events on Motocross and Supercross tracks. It was absolutely fantastic. At that time the Masters of Motocross was the only Motocross/Supercross events broadcasted live on television.

In a short time those events became the best in the world, and at every event you could see the Motocross World Champions against the Supercross World Champions, America vs the rest of the world!

I told you this story because since that moment I have always had in mind and worked to make this happen again.

After Torsten Hallmann and other Champions went to the United States much earlier on bringing the culture of Motocross there, the Motocross in USA and especially the Supercross developed a lot bringing the US riders to the top of the charts when they won their first Motocross of Nations event in 1981. And since that moment all Motocross fans want to see MXGP riders and US riders race together because there are so many theories; some see the GP riders faster and others see the American riders faster, but everyone wants to see them race together.

And now, thanks to the brave decision of a great Champion, Ryan Villopoto, this will happen every weekend. When you have such great champions on the starting gate like Antony Cairoli, Ryan Villopoto, Gautier Paulin, Jeremy Van Horebeek, Clement Desalle, Maximilian Nagl and many others, it will be difficult to foresee who will win, but one thing we can foresee is great racing!

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COOL SHOTS

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I

I

HOLESHOT

If you’ve got it….

In the grand scheme of an MXGP weekend things that racers say in pre race interviews are normally not the most insightful or heartfelt comments. It could be that there are too many unknowns to make any sort of sure prediction about how they are going to try, or they still want to keep close to their chests any plans as to how they might tackle the course during the race, or that they are harbouring some niggling injury or slight illness that they don’t want to reveal in case it gives the competition

even the slightest psychological advantage.

into turn one, or the one who can turn tightest, it’s not the man who rides the wide berm In reality it’s more that when 30 to carry the most speed that riders all barrel out of the gate takes it, nor the man who shifts and into a 45, 90 or 180 degree smoothest or judges the gearturn there is no plan in the world ing the best, it’s not even the that can apply, except one “I’ll one who leads by 2 bike lengths try to get a good start and we down the start straight that can will see what happens.” lay claim to a holeshot point. It’s the man who does all of those The holeshot is not won in a things almost perfectly each and single moment, it’s not won by every time that can be called the the man who gets the perfect holeshot king. reaction time on the gate, nor by the man with the ideal inside line After 34 race starts in each

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class our two kings of 2014 are Jose Butrón and Antonio Cairoli.

Both on KTMs with the Austrian manufacturers finest factory engines slotted into their machines and both with some blistering speed and start line mental focus.

MX2 was the closest one to call for the whole season as Butrón, Herlings and in the second half of the year Jordi Tixer all shared the spoils of turn one between them, ultimately it was Butrón that lead the standings for the longest time and at the most important time as he finished 4 points clear of the Red Bull KTM duo who dead heated for second place. For Butrón overall it was not the year he wanted, his overall race pace was lacking but thanks to his phenomenal starting prowess he was able to boost his results throughout the year and make something out of a difficult championship.

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In MXGP for the first 2 rounds in Qatar and Thailand no single rider managed to gain control over the start line contest, with single points going to riders up and down the gate, then it all changed in Brazil as Gautier Paulin served notice that the Monster Energy Kawasaki was now on form by taking maximum points in both races, and then backing it up one race later with two more points at Arco di Trento.

It looked as though with his bike and mind dialled in Paulin would be a tough man to beat on the run to turn one in 2014 but then Cairoli seemed to find his mojo. Valkenswaard was his Valhalla and sand his elixir, two stunning holeshots that gapped the pack would pave the way for a year of starting dominance that will be hard to repeat. 13 points would be Cairoli’s final total, a statistic that surely helped him on his way to his 8th Motocross World Championship title, and it should serve as a wake

up call for his rivals. If you want to win in this sport you need to be at the front from the start in every moto, there is too much strength in depth to have an off day and still hope to pull something out of the bag from outside the top 7 or 10 riders off the line. You can be sure that the winter will see riders from every team putting in the hours honing their reactions and race instincts to be at the front at the start every time in their pursuit of championship glory.

Next year José Butrón will move up to MXGP on a 350cc KTM and who knows perhaps we will see that bike, a starting missile in the hands of many an MXGP rider, taking the start line challenge to Cairoli in 2015, what is for sure is that our two Fox hole shot champions in 2014 have certainly both got a special something when it comes to putting it all together and making the perfect start.

RACING CATCH UP

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THE NEXT LEVEL:

2015 FIM MOTOCROSS WORLD

Following the radicalness that was MXGP 2014, the battlefields selected to host the 2015 FIM Motocross World Championship have been confirmed.

In what is expected to be a groundbreaking year of MXGP racing, both premier classes MXGP and MX2 will voyage to sixteen different countries where they will contest eighteen rounds of pure motocross madness. Covering every terrain the world has to offer, from the deepest of sands to the hardest of clays, as well as spanning out to four of the worlds’ seven continents, Asia, South America, Europe and North America, MXGP 2015 is without a doubt taking motocross to the next level.

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All set to commence at dusk on Saturday February 28th, the desert of Qatar will host the season opener in Losail for the third year in succession. Like previous years, the championship will kick off in spectacular style with the first allocations of championship points being raced for on Saturday during a night program. With improvements to the lighting systems, MXGP of Qatar will be bigger, brighter and better than ever, which only sets the tone for what can be expected from the rest of the season.

Remaining in the Asian continent, the first of the four continents to grace the MXGP calendar, the second round of the championship heads for

Thailand where the riders will be faced with the first of the unknowns for 2015. Travelling to the central province of Nakhonchaisri, a district already well known for its massive motorsport complex, a brand new circuit will be constructed. While so far there is not a lot of information on the circuit itself as it is still a work in progress, what we can expect is hot weather and of course some epic racing.

Another work in progress and level playing field is the circuit that will be shaped in Neuquen, Argentina. It has been exactly twenty years since the FIM Motocross World Championship took place on Argentinian soil with the last world championship

gate drop being back in 1995.

With the competition looking likely to be fiercer than ever, you can bet your boots the return to Europe is going to raise hell. Typically tranquil and serene, the breathtaking location in Arco di Trento, Italy, will host the very first European round and round four of the complete championship. The compact venue is expected to be filled to gills with MXGP fanatics, especially as Italy is home to our very own eight-time FIM Motocross World Champion Antonio Cairoli. Other

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burning questions will also be answered that weekend, as it will be the first chance for the European fans to witness the phenomenal speed and skill of one of America’s finest, Ryan Villopoto. Not to mention the enormously long list of other potential race winners such as Jeremy Van Horebeek, Kevin Strijbos, Clement Desalle, Gautier Paulin, Max Nagl, Tommy Searle, Shaun Simpson and that’s only to name a few.

tic crowd. It does come as no surprise. Who doesn’t get a kick out of watching the complete and utter raw speed and impressiveness of ‘The Bullet’ on that sort of terrain?

After a slight hiatus and then a successful return to the calendar in 2014, the track known to spur on huge whips and flat scrubs, Talavera de la Reina, Spain, is back in for round six, while the track proved to be most popular Also adding to the buildup that among the riders, Matterley naturally occurs upon hitting Basin in the United Kingdom, European shores is the first will host MXGP round seven. of the highly anticipated sand 1988 was the last time ‘Vilraces. Valkenswaard, The Netherlands, home to the two- lar sous Ecot’ hosted a round time FIM MX2 World Champion of the FIM Motocross World Championship. Nestled in the Jeffrey Herlings, always ateast of France close to the tracts a huge and enthusias-

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Swiss boarder, the typical French style circuit will be named ‘home GP’ to an array of championship threats.

France itself has one of the deepest pools of talent in our sport with riders such as Gautier Paulin, Steven Frossard, Jordi Tixier, Dylan Ferrandis, Romain Febvre and Christophe Charlier all flying the flag for the vertically striped blue, white and red.

Meanwhile with the track being a stone throw away from Switzerland, MX2’s Swiss stars Valentin Guillod and Jeremy Seewer will also be able to claim MXGP’s eighth round as their own too.

Known to draw in enormous crowds as two of the most popular stops on the calen-

dar, the golden oldies both known for their epic editions of the FIM Motocross of Nations, Maggiora, Italy, and Teutschenthal, Germany, will host rounds nine and ten. While a solid calendar fixture in the form of Uddevalla, Sweden, will host round eleven before heading back to the playground that hosted this years’ Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations, Kegums, Latvia.

From the rock hard blue groove clay of Loket to the brutally unforgiving sand of Lommel, the all-rounders are given their chance to shine at rounds thirteen and fourteen before packing their bags ready to be wooed by the masses of adoring fans in

Trindade, Brazil.

As MXGP’s final European round of the FIM Motocross World Championship, round sixteen will take place in Assen, The Netherlands, on a freshly built circuit designed and constructed by our very own in-house track builder, which will leave the final two rounds to wrap up overseas in Mexico and the USA. After a fantastic effort this year in terms of promotion, MXGP of Mexico returns to León for 2015’s semi-finale, while the circuit famous for its massive inclines and declines and over all ‘wide openess’, Glen Helen in the USA will wrap up what will have been an amazing eighteen rounds of 2015 FIM Mo-

tocross World Championship action.

Thereafter, only one event remains. The event every motocross enthusiast awaits, the Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations. 2015 will be the 69th running of the event and it will take place, ten years exactly since their last edition, in Ernée, France.

An insanely electric atmosphere is to be expected, especially with Team France as the defending champions, an abundance of crazy French fans are sure to be going absolutely bonkers. With that said, MXoN 2015 is definitely an event not to be missed. In fact the best advice that could ever be given to an MXoN fan for this event in particular is ‘book now’ and be there!

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FIM Motocross World Championship

2015 calendar

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MILLION Almost 2millon views on MXGP-TV.com, MXGP LIVE web platform

2014 Season MXGP-TV insights: views: 1.935.467 >108% than in 2013 unique users: 904.483 124% than in 2013 visitors from: 200 countries It’s been 4 years now when Youthstream has given motocross fans from all over the world a chance to watch every MXGP, MX2, WMX and EMX rounds LIVE on www.MXGP-TV.com.

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MXGP SOCIAL

TWITTER, FACEB IN THE WORLD OF #MXGP

JustusMirth ‬ ‬‬ Nothing makes me happier then when the best athletic trainers in the world say motocross is the most physically demanding sport in the world dy1anwal5h‬ ‬‬ I HAVE TO go to a round of the @mxgp next year! It’s my last chance to see @ ryan_villopoto2 ride!‪ ChiltonCraig @mxgp @ryan_villopoto2 @ MonsterEnergy@Kawasaki_Racing gives me goose bumps noin that he is in the mxgp 2015 braaaaaaaap‬‬ Benoit_306 ‬‬ ‬‬ Haven’t seen @ryan_villopoto2 post so many videos in one day, he seems super happy Next @mxgp season is going to be awesome MotorAus Congrats @Ferriswheel111 who secured a ride with Wilvo Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing for 2015 @ mxgp! ‬

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‫@‏‬NikkiLeighScott ‬ The best crashes of @mxgp 2014 - @valentinguillod & @StevenFrossard you guys face planted too many times this year!‬ 24MX_Honda ‬‬‬‬‬ Make sure to see this guy live @mxgp next season: @ charlierchris23 is a natural!!! #CRFstyle

PQubeGames‬‬‬ ‪#MXGP for PS4 is out now!

More tracks, more riders, more mud! ‬

Thanks to your support and loyalty on MXGP’s social media networks, the love for motocross is spreading like wild fire!

If you don’t already like us on Facebook, click here to do so for the freshest, most up to the minute MXGP content in the world.

You cannot miss this video! We have put all the most spectacular crashes of the MXGP 2014 to 4 minutes. Click here to watch it

BOOK, INSTAGRAM, YOUTUBE Tag your #MXGPselfie to win gift voucher on MXGPSTORE.com!

@PaulsJOnass141 Great evening with the boss @s72forever. #MXGP

@antoniocairoli Grandi emozioni stasera in sala per la Prima del film! #MXGP #TonyCairoliTheMovie

@ryanvillopoto Just taking a little stroll through Europe! #Chasingthedream #MXGP @ tylarattray

@jorditixier Good practice on the white track. Feel better and better each time I ride with my new bike! #MXGP #Kawasaki #monsterenergy

@GautierPaulin Enjoying the simple life. #GoPro #MXGP

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RIDER OF THE MONTH

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A change of scene For years we have seen Motocross World champions pack their bags after successful years travelling the globe to put down roots in US soil and take a run at a Supercross or outdoor motocross title, Chad Reed, Ben Townley, Marvin Musquin and Ken Roczen to name some of the fastest. Before that era of westerly migration their came another, one where those who had ridden and won in the USA chose to move to a European base and take on the World Championship, riders like Danny Laporte, Trampas Parker, Donny Schmidt and Bobby Moore all won races and sometimes titles throughout the 80’s and 90’s. And it is to that era that we hark back to now as Ryan Villopoto, the current and 3 time 450cc Supercross champion, takes his own swing at winning the top prize in outdoor motocross, the MXGP title.

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SPECIAL FEATURE

The question that every motocross fan around the world has asked since the official announcement came is why? Why leave the comfort and security of the US system to risk damaging an impeccable legacy?

Some say it’s maybe a desire to travel the world, others that the tightly packed schedule of Supercross and outdoors was too intense to sustain at the level to which Villopoto pushes himself, others still proffer the argument that he really wanted to try a new challenge. But with thoughts of retirement at just 26 it’s hard to argue against the fact that he was reaching the limit of what he could be expected to endure in the pursuit of a 30 race USA schedule.

MXGP Mag had the opportunity to talk with those who saw the deal develop from the inside, including Villopoto himself and this is the story of how one of the biggest ever moves

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in Motocross now is starting to play out.

Let’s start with the practicalities and from a rider’s perspective that means where to live.

Ryan Villopoto My wife and I have been looking but have yet to nail down a specific spot. We need to figure out all the time frames and weather for riding and etc before we can.

For the team the practicalities mean getting the technical side 100% in place, for example the European based KRT team have historically used Kayaba suspension and the USA team have always run Showa, so at the recent shakedown in France both suspension partners were present.

Francois Lemariey – Monster energy Kawasaki Team Manager

The 450 KXF has a great chassis; both brands are already working on the KX450 -F with

KYB in Europe and Showa in USA and Japan. It shows that both are fitting well on the Kawasaki. Nothing is confirmed yet, we have to consider many things for this type of major change if that happen. I know we were satisfied with KYB stuff from the last years. Our job is to check all the details to get the best bikes on the GP tracks.

For Kawasaki itself it means that it is time to re-evaluate some of its budgets and decisions as from both a marketing and commercial viewpoint they have got one shot to get this right. So how does Kawasaki, along with the major sponsors involved, plan on getting the most bang for its buck?

Steve Guttridge - Kawasaki European racing manager

We are going to have to re-prioritise our marketing time and resources somewhat to really capitalise on RV coming to MXGP’s! We will need to

increase our work to promote this well in all areas of our marketing and especially in markets that we, Kawasaki Motors Europe, didn’t consider before such as in the USA. That answer really puts the whole move into perspective, that though this may have been a decision that revolved around 1 man, the wider ripples from that single stone have and will continue to spread and affect countless people around the industry, not least the two Monster Energy Kawasaki riders from last year, both of whom are off to pastures new in 2015.

Steve Guttridge

We would have been very happy to keep our current crop of riders but it’s a fast moving World in MXGP and things changed very quickly over the summer until now… so we moved.

As of mid October things have really started to shift into gear,

Tyla Rattray, Villopto’s new team mate, was the first to dip his toe into the green European waters aboard the KX450–F and shortly afterwards the word came that Ryan himself had the all clear to begin to ride. A windy hillside in France is a little different to what he is used to at this time of year but for Villopoto it might be quite nice to break up the rhythm a bit.

Villopoto

It is quite a bit different for sure, but it’s a good different.

Doing the same thing over and over can get boring and it’s tough to find the fun in it, seems like more of a grind. This is like a brand new shiny motorcycle you can wait to throw your leg over!

With the teams testing schedule getting underway the onus at first has fallen to Rattray to start finding the best base settings whilst Ryan has begun his acclimatisation to the new team environment.

Villopoto It is a huge change when you

switch to a whole new team not to mention a foreign one. But the KRT guys are awesome; they truly love this whole racing thing and have already made me feel at home. I think is it going to be an epic 12-month adventure.

Lemariey

To welcome a new rider it’s always matter of time to get to know each other, to get all the details on rider position, special tricks.... we did save a lot of time by getting some info from KMC (Kawasaki US) who know our two riders really well, that did permit us to get ready all of the bikes before the riders jump on to ride.

Technically wise it’s going to be interesting to see how the team set up will work. The Monster Energy Kawasaki squad are a very professional but also a very French team and have generally always had at least one French rider on the team

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SPECIAL FEATURE

for at least the last 6 years.

So how will the set up change with the new look rider line up especially on Villopoto’s side?

Giuseppe Luongo

As promoter of the series, it is great satisfaction to have the recognition of the most famous SX rider come and compete in Guttridge our series after all the hard Obviously he’s bringing his work done over a long time to wife Kristen but he will also promote our sport. As a fan of bring his US practice meMotocross (which in my heart chanic “Tanner” with him for I still am), I think it’s absoluteoverall help day to day and ly wonderful because I have as a help at races, too. Apart dreamed to have the confrontafrom that he’s definitely start- tion between the MXGP riders ing afresh with the European and top American riders since Kawasaki Racing Team and so the beginning of my career when I organized the Masters far he’s loving it! of MX, and now we will have it for 18 consecutive events! It’s Another man who is loving simply great! the situation is Youthstream president Giuseppe Luongo, a man who for many years has Now perhaps the speculation made no secret of his desire and bench racing may finally to attract top American based end once and for all, the eternal question of who is the best is riders to the MXGP World Championship, for him it is about to asked directly to the really a confirmation that the only men who can answer it, the hard work and effort to grow riders. Not that that will make the series has begun to pay any difference until the gate off. drops in Qatar in 4 months time, until then all bets are off and

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opinion will remain the only fact as fans and media alike speculate as to the possible outcomes. In a way we have come back to the original question, the unanswerable why. Why did Villopoto decide to take a leap of faith when no one really thought he would? Well to try and answer that we asked the man himself who was the first person to actually say “What about riding in MXGP?” Villopoto

Actually, two years ago (when I had my knee done the last time), we were at dinner with Stefan Everts and my wife jokingly said we were going to race the MXGP series in 2015. I never thought it would actually happen....

Photos: Kawasaki Motors Europe

MONSTER GIRLS

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Wings for Life: st to soar after ten

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till aiming years

SPECIAL FEATURE

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Walk around the MXGP paddock at almost any time of the racing season and there is an extremely good chance of finding a majority of athletes nursing aches, pains, bruises or worse. Injury is the cruellest part of the sport but something that is ever-present.

This summer – on the bright morning of Saturday, June 14th to be exact – motocross plunged into one of those dark moments that subsequently forces reflection and introspection. When Joel Roelants landed awkwardly and crashed on the landing of the double jump after the first corner of the Maggiora race-track in Italy it caused

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scenes of anguish and concern. The resulting spinal fractures that turned the Belgian’s life upside down at the age of 25 also evoked a searing period of emotional, physical and mental stress and turbulence for the Roelant’s family. Five months on and Joel is still battling and adjusting to the repercussions of the operations on his back but is tackling his predicament with typical resilience.

Roelants’ turmoil is something that has been suffered by other athletes and their families in varying degrees too frequently over the years.

The burning frustration at the sheer finality of spinal

injuries and intense personal experiences with his brother and son is what moved former motocross world champion and Rally event winner Heinz Kinigadner to set the wheels in motion for Wings for Life back in 2004. Together with friend and Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz, ‘Kini’ centred the purpose of Wings for Life around a relentless drive for funding and support for international medical and scientific studies and work searching for cures and solutions for spinal damage.

Thanks to Red Bull’s omnipresence in virtually all strands of motorsport, Wings for Life has been able to

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reach some exemplary global ambassadors not only in Formula One and racing but also Diving, Skiing and Sailing as well as tap into a wide scene in order to spread its valuable message. Since the mid-‘00s Wings for Life has become a welcome part of the MXGP establishment where Kinigadner is a frequent visitor, Pit Beirer one of its staunchest supporters and the all-conquering Red Bull KTM team intrinsically linked to the efforts and profile of the foundation.

‘WfL’ estimate that around a quarter of a million traumatic spinal injuries are suffered each year and in the decade of their existence have provided backing to over 110 international stud-

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ies and research projects at renowned universities and institutes. Their mantra has been: ‘not if but when a cure will be found’. They rely on a staff roster of around fifteen people with ten specialists on a scientific advisory board.

Wings for Life hasn’t rested solely on Kinigadner and KTM’s reach into international motorsports however and their organisation of the first ever World Run this summer saw 164 nations pounding the pavement at the same time on six continents and in 34 locations. The competition uses a unique format with a ‘catcher car’ determining the distance and time each participant lasts. Almost 40,000 people laced up their trainers and raised three million eu-

ros by hitting the better part of 531,000km. It was a massive international undertaking and the scheme expands for 2015 with the date of May 3rd pencilled-in for runners from Australia to the USA. Their goal has not been solely to generate cash that doctors and experts need to keep active experiments that can last years and even decades (and every euro is re-invested as Red Bull picks up all Wings for Life’s administrative costs), but also to raise awareness to the plight. At the end of October the BBC lent coverage of a story concerning collaboration between surgeons in Poland and scientists in the UK to help Darek Fidyka regain voluntary move-

ments in his limbs following a ground-breaking procedure.

Wings for Life did not fund this project but were the first people that many wanted to contact in the wake of Fidyka’s seemingly amazing initial steps to recovery. “Wings for Life is very pleased to hear about the promising research project and the improvement of health for the patient,” read the statement they issued on their website.

“So far, the team treated one patient using this combinatorial approach. As Professor Raisman and Doctor Tabakow point out themselves, the successful experimental therapy now needs to be proven and confirmed in a clinical trial with a larger number of patients.”

It is exciting to think that the foresight of a set of experts and the potential resources of Wings for Life combining within this particular field of research could lead to some genuine gains against the devastation of back injury.

“It gives us all a lot of motivation and hope…and a kick for going onwards,” Kinigadner commented. “We knew about the work of Dr Tabakow and Professor Raisman’s work and there are experiments going on with this type of cell treatment but in a different way and it seems they have found some success. We will be meeting with them in the next few weeks because it seems they need some funding around the ten million pound mark to start

a larger trial with ten patients.”

“We cannot ask too much and it can be too complicated with some risk,” he continues. “We have to minimise this as much as possible but at the same time try not to slow the process down. Normally it could take between eight-ten years to have the patients treated and then assessed and we want to try and go against this time frame.”

“There is also a good project called the ‘Big Idea’ through the Christophe & Dana Reeve Foundation that promises a lot through epidural stimulation research,” he adds. “So overall I am really excited about these two projects and I hope between three and

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five years we might be able to see more success. One of things Wings for Life has been pushing for is results to go into clinical trials and I hope we can make it happen soon.”

The human spine is such a complicated and crucial part of the body and it means the slightest solid progression in terms of recuperation is not easy to find.

“We have the three elements; the nerves, the membrane around the spine and the liquid that is the conduit for every nerve, and they are not self-healing so you have to influence each of them,” reveals KTM Motorsport Director Pit Beirer, a fantastically aggressive and committed Grand Prix racer until his unfortunate accident at

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Sevlievo in Bulgaria in 2003 that left him with a broken T6 vertebrae. “They can be healed and even nervegrowth is possible now but to cut a spine and put it all together in a mix that starts to work again is not a level we have reached yet. I think little breakthroughs have been made along the way and the role of Wings for Life has been to fill a void. We cannot talk about a time frame and say if it will be in one year or ten years but if we don’t keep the pressure on and work hard then it will never happen.”

“The work these guys are doing in the laboratory is not sexy, it is the opposite to the glamour of racing,” he continues. “They can find one detail in a batch of a million and they are really happy to

have made a step. But you cannot fire out a press release each time because it is still not the final solution. Our job – together with Heinz, who is the strongest animal in that whole project – is to keep everybody motivated because there has been so many years of work for such small steps and in racing we are not used to that! We are familiar with working hard and making big steps.”

Beirer’s accident was a massive shock to the MXGP establishment as well as all the people at KTM for whom the German was representing at the time. For Kinigadner it was heavy news that was almost immediately followed by similar devastation to his son Hannes. The tall Austrian’s life changed that day in July…but if there is any shred

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“I’m very happy with the recent developments because for the last two years I’ve been quite frustrated,” he goes on. “Wings for Life is now ten years old and every year we just had the same process for basic research. I’m not stupid enough to ignore the fact that we need that research and the results to move forwards, but I was also hoping for some new ideas and it looks like those are “I had to learn and I had to un- coming through with projects derstand and I had to accept,” that are backed by very strong he says. “I know that one day - scientists, guys that are solor pretty soon - there will be a id and proven experts in their field.” cure for spinal cord injury. You don’t know how much it will do “’Wings’ will keep on workfor the ones who have already been in a wheelchair for a long ing,” he concludes. “It is great that we can look to something time, like my brother, but our like MXGP and the support of mission is clear and I hope we Youthstream that is there every will reach it in the next few year with a donation and also years, hopefully not too long. of positivity to emerge from the injuries and wreckage to his family and friends then the fire to start Wings for Life was the better part of the legacy.

“Sometimes when I am trying to really ‘go in’ and understand what it is like to be paralysed and be unable to feel, I have to stop myself because I start crying. It is almost impossible to understand,” Kini admits.

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that publicity and presence on the podiums and the website.

It has been really helpful and I have to say a big thanks.”

Like Pit, like Joel and Marc Ristori, Hannes and other passionate riders and followers of motocross affected by spinal injury, Wings for Life endures… and despite the tough times with slow or little evolution in the quest for a cure the foundation continues work with a regimented positive outlook.

Text: Adam Wheeler Pictures: Wings for Life and KTM

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MXGP Academy What’s on the horizon

“It’s not just a sport. It’s a lifestyle.” You’ve heard the statement before. A statement which most riders from beginners right through to professionals can relate to.

Whether the commitment you consciously or subconsciously give derives from the rush, the desire to win, great friendships, family ties or something else, your approach in terms of how you train and act as a rider, not only at the track but during

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your day to day life, can make all the difference between being a ‘Joe Average’ or a champion.

So what can you do to be a champion? Good question! That’s where the MXGP Academy is here to help.

The MXGP Academy is a motocross training school, camp and program that offers advanced on-the-bike, technical, physical and mental training. The program is

designed and tested by the champions of today to sculpt the champions of tomorrow by implementing a structured training program that is proven to work. While the winter camps, which take place in the sunny south of Spain from December through to March are open to people of all ages, the on-season MXGP Academy program, from March through to September, is targeted at promising young talents between

MXGP ACADEMY

the ages of eight and fifteen.

While the next couple of months are a little quiet for the ‘Academy’, the project developers are at the round table juggling ideas about. So far it can be said some exciting things are on the horizon for 2015 as the MXGP Academy looks to join forces with the local federations. Consistency makes all the difference, and with the assistance of local federations the plan of attack is to teach local trainers the MXGP Academy method so the young hopefuls can regularly train Academy style. As

the soon to be ‘MXGP Academy qualified’ trainers are taught, they will be graded in tiers based on the amount of MXGP Academy training they have done.

Meanwhile, with a year of experience now tucked under the belt, the MXGP Academy’s on-season ‘Masterclass’ will continue in 2015. As they did this year, the local up and comers will be given the ultimate MXGP experience. At each round of the FIM Motocross World Championship, a small group of specially selected local talents will have

the unique opportunity to tear up the actual MXGP circuit.

Off-the-bike insight will included a tour of the entire MXGP paddock, some media advice and a look in at one of the factory teams.

With more and more ideas continuously being thrown in the pipeline, keep checking back on the next issues of MXGP Mag, or for more information on how you can train harder, smarter and safer, or to sign up for one of the MXGP-Academy winter camps, e-mail secretariat@ mxgp-academy.com

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HALL OF FAME

Jean Michel Bayle

the precursor

There is little doubt that he had spent his entire career racing off-road, Jean Michel Bayle would have one of the all time best Motocross World Championship scorecards. Yet the Frenchman, a double FIM World Champion and a three time AMA champion, was never one to rest on his laurels and constantly chose the toughest path to search out new challenges for his remarkable skills. As soon as he felt his job was done in Europe, he crossed the Atlantic to win in the USA, when that goal was chalked off the list he took the unprecedented step into road racing where he rode factory bikes for some of the legendary teams in the sport.

the success of the enigmatic Frenchman. Perhaps it was his innate feel on the bike, a feel that helped him to win both the 125cc and 250cc Motocross World Championship titles and both Supercross and AMA 250cc and 500cc national titles in one year in 1991, or his desire to innovate in his riding that meant he could make the move to the tarmac with more success than riders who had grown up on the asphalt. Pole position in the both 250cc

and 500cc Grand Prix classes and a sting of top 10 finishes aboard the fire breathing 500cc machines of the 1990s in nothing to sniff at and it means that he still draws a crowd in both the MXGP and road race paddocks today.

Born the 1st of April 1969, Jean Michel Bayle got his first bike when he turned four, in spite of the fact that nobody in his family was a motorcycle fan. 6 years later he jumped onto a motocross

There are not many riders that have jumped successfully from off road to asphalt, or indeed moved in the opposite direction, and none with

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bike but he hurt his knee after ten minutes and had to keep it in a plaster cast for six weeks, hardly a star studded start. However, the young rider was never one to back away from a challenge and two years later he was rewarded with his first French title and impressed everyone as he won 24 heats of that years Minivert Series!

On his 80 KX he continued to display great potential in the 1984 campaign as he beat all comers in the Kawasaki Trophy even though his rivals were mainly racing on 125cc machines! Always fully dedicated to his passion Jean Michel never missed an opportunity to watch videos or read magazines about the generations American riders

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and events, until in 1985, for the first time in his career, he raced against American riders in the famous Paris Bercy Supercross, and it was then that he knew that his future would eventually take him across the pond to the USA.

he was back to train in the US and it was then that he started building his future with the help of former 250cc World Champion Danny Laporte and Pro Circuit’s owner Mitch Payton. Riding a Pro Circuit Honda he collected his first Supercross podium in Miami, Coming to the 125cc GP’s in a second place behind Rick 1986, he only needed three Johnson, and later claimed a seasons to get the world title; fantastic win in Gainesville for 24th in 1986 and 3rd in 1987, the opening round of the 250cc and the winner of the 1988 Motocross series. That was as title over Dave Strijbos in the far as he went that year as he last GP of the campaign he had the challenge of the 250cc beat the might of the Duthcman World Championship class to and the Cagiva factory on his take care of. He returned to privately run Honda.

Europe but missed the first GP of the season as he broke his In 1987 he had his first taste arm while practicing. It wasn’t of America as he raced the enough to stop him claiming Motocross of Nations at Unhis second world title for Honadilla as a part of the French da before he upped sticks and team. Fourteen months later, moved to the US with the full

support of Roger De Coster, then the off road manager of American Honda. He maintained the pattern that he had established in Grand Prix of one full year to learn and the second to win. With just a handful of supercross races to his name in 1989 to test the water, he was back full time for 1990 where he finished runner up and the following year he won the Supercross title. That 1991 season was a truly incredible year as Bayle became the first and only rider to ever claim three crowns as he added both the 250cc motocross title and the 500cc motocross title to his tally.

He could of and perhaps

should have had a long and profitable career in the US, but JMB had other plans and during the 1992 season he convinced Honda and some of his long term partners to give him a chance to move into road racing. When he raced the French 250cc GP at Magny Cours he proved his determination for his new challenge and the decision was made to move permanently to road racing for the 1993 campaign. Bayle spent 3 seasons in the 250cc class – with an 8th position in the 94 series on a factory Aprilia his best result – before he moved to the 500cc class with Yamaha and the legendary Kenny Roberts run factory team. A stunning pole position at the Czech Grand Prix was

the highlight of both the year and possibly his road race career as 1996 would prove to be his best season. In 1997 he followed Roberts into the unknown as the team took on the radical technical challenge of a 3 cylinder machine, and though the bike had potential it was fragile and rarely completed a full race distance. Improvements came in 1998 but a heavy concussion after a highspeed crash took the wind out of Bayle’s sails and effectively ended his GP career.

The final chapter of his racing life came in the incredibly tough and mentally demanding scene of endurance race where he had marked success, winning the two most prestigious

races of the series the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Bol d’Or. After coming to a few MXGPs in the last two seasons, Bayle will be following the entire series in 2015 and he remains a shining example for many people. It’s always surprising to see young kids waiting for an autograph of a rider who stopped racing more than ten years ago. And yet to this day whenever he jumps it’s easy to see why he remains an idol of many, with that silky smooth riding style that so effortlessly mastered the toughest challenges of the sport.

Text and Photos by P. Haudiquert

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1982: French 80cc Minivert Champion 1986: 4th in the 125cc French Motocross Championship 1987: 3rd in the 125cc FIM Motocross World Championship, French 125cc Motocross Champion, French 250cc Supercross Champion 1988: 125cc FIM Motocross World Champion, French 125cc Motocross Champion, French 250cc Supercross Champion 1989: 250cc FIM Motocross World Champion 1990: 2nd in the AMA 250cc Supercross Championship 1991: AMA 250cc Supercross Champion, AMA 250cc Motocross Champion, AMA 500cc Motocross Champion 1992: 3rd in the AMA 250cc Supercross Championship 1993: 22nd in the FIM 250cc Road Race World Championship 1994: 8th in the FIM 250cc Road Race World Championship 1995: 15th in the FIM 250cc Road Race World Championship 1996: 9th in the FIM 500cc Road Race World Championship 1997: 18th in the FIM 500cc Road Race World Championship 2000: Winner of the 8th hours of Estoril, Endurance World Championship 2002: Winner of the Bol d’Or and winner of the 24 hours of Le Mans, Endurance World Championship 2003: Winner of the Bol d’Or and 2nd at the 24 hours of Le Mans, Endurance World Championship

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MXGP ACADEMY

Tony Cairoli

The Movie-Premiere

With eight Motocross World Championship titles to his name the legendary Tony Cairoli is one of the all-time great riders in the sport and a man whose story truly needed to be immortalized on film. In the safe hands of two Dutch film producers Jean-Paul Maas and Nick Janssen, who released their first motocross documentary ‘Living for the Weekend’ last year, Tony Cairoli - The Movie is making a big splash across

Europe in November.

premiere in Eindhoven.

The tour began with the premiere, fittingly on Cairoli’s home soil of Patti in Sicily On the 24th of October. It was the beginning of a whirlwind few days as 24 hours later the film screened to a full house in Rome, before jetting off to one of the spiritual homes of motocross, and the home of Cairoli’s long term girlfriend Jill Cox, Holland, for it’s northern European

Hundreds of cheering fans formed a fitting welcome for Cairoli as he joined his close family and friends as well as long term sponsors and lucky fans for an exclusive dinner before the Eindhoven premiere where the films producers Jean-Paul and Nick gave the VIPs and insight into what it took to make a film about Tony’s unique life story.

Then it was onto the red car-

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pet and into the packed thou- emas in 7 different countries sand seat cinema to watch his (Italy, The Netherlands, Belstory unfold. gium, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, Austria). The next With archive footage from premieres are on the 8th of Tony’s long career in the MoNovember in Milan, the 13th of tocross World Championship November in Madrid and Porto forming the basis for the tale and on the 16th November in the film is mixed with spectac- Salzburg. ular racing footage from the present to produce an eduFor tickets and more inforcational, inspiring and often mation about the screenings emotional story that grabbed go to www.tc222themovie.com the attention of fans and fam- where you can also find out ily alike as the true scale of about the upcoming download Cairoli’s journey into greatreleases on iTunes and Google ness was revealed play in both Italian and English with subtitles in 17 languages This is just the beginning of and how to buy the DVD from the tour so don’t miss your the 15th of December. chance to watch the motocross movie event of the year. Text: LFTW Tony Cairoli the Movie will be Photos: S.Taglioni, C. Lenzo displayed in 125 different cin- and LFTW

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PADDOCK TALKS

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Paddock Talks 01/ Alessandro Lupino together with Assomotor for 2015 Season. 02/ Jeffrey Herlings and KTM together until 2017. 03/ Jeremy Van Horebeek, Clement Desalle and Ken De Dycker were exclusively invited to the king’s castle in Laeken, Belgium, where King Philippe, King of Belgium, offered a warm greeting and shook the hands of the MXoN stars in credit of their great success. 04/The FFM, and the top French motocross riders, the FIM Motocross World Champion Jordi Tixier and the Motocross of Nations winners, Gautier Paulin, Steven Frossard and Dylan Ferrandis, have all been honored by the French Ministry of Youth and Sports. 05/ Youthstream’s President, Giuseppe Luongo, and President of Glen Helen Raceway, Inc, Bud Feldkamp, met in Rome to finalize the agreement for the organization of the 2015 and 2016 Monster Energy FIM MXGP of USA and the 2017 Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations in Glen Helen.

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Paddock Talks 06/ Antonio Cairoli celebrated his 8th World Title in his home town of Patty, Sicily, with his family and friends. 07/Youthstream was present at the 25th anniversary of the Sportel, the most prestigious media convention for all sport related television and media. 08/MX2 World Champion Jordi Tixier visited the Milestone’s stand at the Paris Games Week. 09/Hot news have recently reached us of Ryan Villopoto coming to race in MXGP in 2015 season. What does 8 times champion, Antonio Cairoli have to say about this?

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QUESTIONS TO THE EDITOR

QUESTIONS TO THE EDITOR Hello, What are new developments of the MXGP Video Game on PS4?

Thanks, Louise Brownie Hi Louise, The PS4 version of the game has a number of improvements starting from the new lightening environmental system, improved 3D model, new tracks, more detailed models of motorcycles, etc. Please find more information and the PS4 trailer here: http://ow.ly/ DnEpU All the best, Youthstream Hello MXGP, Do you guys stream online LIVE events? I am from the USA, and with Villopoto coming over, I would like to still be able to watch. Can this be done online?

Thanks, Christian Dundee Dear Christian Thanks for your message.

You can follow the 2015 MXGP Season LIVE on www.MXGP-TV.com. Enjoy, and best luck to your favourite rider.

Regards Youthstream

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Hello MXGP, Do you know where I can find the EMX calendar for 2015?

Thanks, Jens Olsson Dear Jens, The 2015 European Motocross Championship calendar is now officially placed on MXGP.com. You can also find the official press release here: http://ow.ly/ DnFEV Best Regards Youthstream Hi MXGP, I am from Spain, and want to know where I can buy MXGP Video Game PS4?

Thanks, Rodrigo Barosso Dear Rodrigo, Thanks for reaching us.

In Spain, you can buy the game online on such websites as Amazon, Game Stop, Xtra Life. For more information about the game, please visit the official website: www.mxgpvideogame.com Best Regards Youthstream

Hi MXGP, IWhere can I see MXGP and MX2 entry lists for the 2015 races?

Thanks, Drew Plummer – Australia Dear Drew, Teams and riders registration hasn’t finished yet for 2015. As soon as we have the final permanent lists, we will send the official press release. Stay tuned for any news on www.mxgp. com.

Best Regards Youthstream

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