THE ULTIMATE COMBINATION
Versatile, powerful and proven by some of the most respected off-road champions in the world, like seven-time GNCC XC1 Pro Champion Kailub Russell, the KTM 350 XC-F combines competition-crushing power inside of a nimble, all-terrain chassis for the ultimate READY TO RACE weapon.
Photo:
S. Cudby
The Big Picture
AND GAM IN YOUR FACE
Kailub Russell was focused and fast at the Kenda Full Gas Sprint Enduro in Gaston, South Carolina where he came away with the win.
PHOTO BY SHAN MOORE
The Big Picture
AND
GAM
PHOTO COURTESY GAS GAS BLAST OFF
Gas Gas factory rider Jorge Casales had a rough night at round five of the 2020 FIM X-Trial Series in Bilbao, Spain, but still came away with a respectable sixth place finish.
The Big Picture
AND GAM
AUSSIE, AUSSIE, AUSSIE
Aussie Lyndon Snodgrass came away with fourth overall and first in the Pro2 class on his Team Babbitt’s Online/Monster Energy/Team Green Kawasaki.
PHOTO BY SHAN MOORE
The Big Picture
AND
GAM
Repsol Honda’s Toni Bou shows no signs of slowing down, having now won all five rounds of the 2020 FIM X-Trial Series, the latest coming at round five in Bilbao, Spain.
PHOTO COURTESY HONDA
SPOT LIGHT
The Big Picture
AND GAM
Toni Bou stretches out to keep traction on the rear wheel while climbing an obstacle at the Blibao, Spain round of the FIM X-Trial Series.
PHOTO COURTESY HONDA
BOU-DATIOUS
CHAMPIONS RIDE KENDA.
Kenda welcomes Cody Webb and FactoryONE Sherco to the Kenda team.
Looking forward to an exciting 2020 race season with Webb and the entire the powerhouse FactoryONE Sherco team.
THE LOOP
News and Culture From The World Of Trials, Offroad and Extreme Racing
THE BIG 50 TRIALS CUP
EL TRIAL DE ESPAÑA 2020: 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF SOCAL’S BEST
2020 marks the 50th running of this perennial favorite, El Trial de España. Held on April 18, 2020, the event will feature America’s best professional riders, negotiating mind-bending world caliber obstacles. For the spectator, there is no other sport where one can witness such extreme feats of skill at so close a range.
El Trial de España has been the preeminent West Coast trial, hosted by the clubs of the SCTA. We welcome you to join us for this epic Spring Classic, and be a part of the American motorcycling history.
There is MORE! Happens so that the world-famous UTE Cup turns 50 this year too. Thus SCTA and RMTA partnered on The Big 50 Cup.
And MORE YET! El Trial is also Round 1 of The California State Championship 2020. And Round 2 of Conquer The West Series 2020.
Since its inception in 1970, the El Trial de España has become known among the
feet up crowd as the largest non-National event of the year. With the exception of 1990, the event has never missed a beat and continues to attract the nation’s best trials riders. Envisioned and created by Fred Belair, the event has immensely helped promote trials in the United States.
Speaking of help: El Trial de España is also the SoCal’s largest Fundraiser for Trial Des Nation USA Team. Every year we feature a gigantic raffle with all sorts of moto-goodies. Raffle tickets are available for purchase at sign up desk. When you purchase your raffle ticket, whether you win or not, you are contributing to a good thing: the very possibility for an American World Champion.
EVENT ONLINE SIGN UP WILL OPEN ON MARCH 1, 2020.
COMPETITION ENTRY FEES - March 1 - 31:
$40/Riders 18+. FREE/PRO & Minors under 18.
COMPETITION ENTRY FEES - April 1 - 18:
$50/Rider, online or at the event.
EVENT PROGRAM:
SIGN UP: 8 AM
RIDERS MEETING: 9.15 AM
EVENT START: 9.30 AM
SWEEP: 1.30 PM
PRO EXHIBITION: 3 PM
AWARDS CEREMONY: 7 PM
RAFFLE: 8 PM
VENUE INFO:
• Location/Map: Motoventures, Cahuilla, CA
• Camping: dry-camping Friday to Monday, $10/night/vehicle, cash on site at sign up desk. Location is flat and large, perfect for big rigs. Porta-potties on location provided.
• Lodging: available in Temecula, about 30 mins drive from the pits
• Catering: available from 12 - 8 pm. Mexican/$10/plate. Food tix for purchase at the sign up desk.
• Water/Gas/Food/Fire Wood/Ice/Beverage: available at Cahuilla Casino gas station/convenience store (stocked pretty good). 3 mins drive from the pits. Paved road. Easy access.
• Cell phone coverage: excellent for all major carriers n
EX SCHEDULE ANNOUNCED
AMA ENDUROCROSS SCHEDULES FIVE EVENTS FOR 2020
The 2020 AMA EnduroCross championship series was recently announced and it will include five events kicking off on August 22, 2020 in Prescott Valley, Arizona. The second event will take place in September with the date and location still being finalized. On October 3rd the series will make a first ever visit to the state of Texas, with an event in Amarillo. The penultimate round will take place in Denver, Colorado on October 10th and the series will conclude in Boise, Idaho, on November 7th.
Rockstar Husqvarna’s Colton Haaker wrapped up his third AMA EnduroCross championship in 2019 and will be back to defend his title. Meanwhile, Cody Webb, who also has three AMA EnduroCross championships will be back on a Sherco after missing the 2019 season due to a knee injury.
KTM will have their title hopes resting with Trystan Hart, the young Canadian that has been on the verge of breaking up the dominant duo of Haaker and Webb on his RPM KTM. Taddy Blazusiak, the five-time EnduroCross champion may also be back in hopes of earning a sixth title.
The series will again include the Super EnduroCross (Pro), Amateur/Intermediate, Vet 35+ and Women’s classes in 2020. Within the Super EnduroCross class, the Junior championship will recognize riders that are 21 years of age and under (Rider must be 21 or under at the final event of the season).
2020 AMA EnduroCross Series Schedule *
August 22, 2020 | Prescott Valley, Arizona | Findlay Toyota Center
September TBD | Location TBD |
October 3, 2020 | Amarillo, Texas | Amarillo National Center
October 10, 2020 | Denver, Colorado | National Western Complex
November 7, 2020 | Boise, Idaho | Ford Idaho Center
*Subject to change.
www.endurocross.com www.facebook.com/EnduroCrossSeries
www.instagram.com/enduro_cross
TREVOR BOLLINGER TALKS ABOUT HIS KNEE INJURY
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Team rider Trevor Bollinger injured his knee while competing in the opening round of the Kenda AMA National Enduro Series in South Carolina, suffering a torn ACL and meniscus in his left leg when he went down in the third test. Depite the injury, Bollinger soldiered on to an amazing fifth overall finish.
In a phone converstation about two weeks after the injury, Bollinger told us he was going in for surgery the following week.
Bollinger told us that this will be the fourth time he’s had this knee operated on, and the third operation to repair the ACL.
“I knew it was pretty bad when it happened,” said Bollinger. “It was a rear slick section and I just caught a root and my foot was laready planted and when I caught the root the bike slid out and my handlebar caught my leg and my knee just buckled.”
Bollinger told us that at that time they were still weighing their options as far as what kind of surgery he would be having.
“In all three of the ACL operations before they used a cadaver to repair it,” said Bollinger..
Bollinger estimated he will be out of action from six to nine months.
Photos Courtesy Husqvarna
The FactoryONE Sherco race team is full speed ahead for the GNCC and NEPG seasons with GNCC dominating brothers Steward and Grant Baylor. The Baylor brothers will be shredding the competition on the Sherco 300 SEF Factory and 450 SEF Factory race machines.
The 2020 Sherco enduro line up is built to dominate even the toughest enduro races. From KYB suspension, to full Akrapovic exhaust system, Galfer rotors and pads, AXP skid plate and Excel rims, these are just some of the high-performance additions to the race-proven Sherco machines for 2020. Visit us online to find a local dealer.
300 SEF FACTORY
450 SEF FACTORY
SPEED RUNS
Steward Baylor, 2019 NEPG Champion
Grant Baylor, Multi-time GNCC XC2Champion
STORIES FROM THE ROAD: GOD BLESS AMERICA!
I had a lot of time to think on my twoweek trip to South Carolina and I think I’ve learned a lot about myself and about people in general over the past few years. About 15 years ago, I took my youngest son, Dillon, on assignment with me to Germany to cover a Motocross GP.
When we landed in Berlin Tegel Airport a few of the gates were under construction, so they parked us on the tarmac and pushed an extremely tall and rather intimidatingly steep ladder for us to deplane. When we were all on board a cramped shuttle full of people of all nationalities, I hear a British woman exclaim, “Oh my God, look!” as she pointed to the top of the stairs. There, frozen in fear at the top of the stairs, was an elderly Indian woman in tradition Indian or Hindu dress with a long dress and covering over her head and face. She was afraid to go down the stairs After about two or three minutes, she was still there, frozen at the top of the stairs, while the airline workers stood around watching at the bottom (I won’t mention the airline). Finally, I told Dillon to hold my backpack and I got off the shuttle and climbed the steep stairs, never making eye contact. When I got to the top, I extended my elbow, as you would when escorting a date to the prom. Neither of us said a word or made eye contact, and I escorted to her to the bottom and she released her grip, still not saying a word or making contact, which I totally understood, not knowing anything about her traditions or religion. After we got on the shuttle, I heard the British lady say, “It took an American to help the poor lady!” I didn’t think much about it at the time, but looking back now, I have never been more-proud to be an American than I did on that day. And to this day, when some good fortune comes my way, I think “There’s my little Hindu lady looking over me!” I just wish I had been as considerate other times in my life. God Bless America! - Shan Moore
Beta Factory Off-Road Tour
Beta is excited to offer you the opportunity of test riding the most current Beta models includ-ing; RR Off Road, RR-S Street-Legal Off Road, RR Race Editions, and select Evo Trials models. There will be roughly 15 models to choose from at each event. Reserve your spot and enjoy the experience of a lifetime. Space is very limited so Sign up today by clicking on the provided link, or go to www.betausa.com/ demo-tour
Location Information:
2-22-20 ____ BUCKEYE, AZ _____ (ARIZONA CYCLE PARK) Still time to sign up for this one!!!
3-14-20____ BUNNELL, FL _____ (DAYTONA DIRT RIDERS CLUB)
3-21-20 ____ CELESTE, TX _____ (BADLANDS MOTORCROSS PARK)
4-4-20 ____ ODESSA, WA _____ (STUMPJUMPERS 50TH ANNUAL DESERT 100)
5-2-20 ____ RENO, NV _____ (WILD WEST MOTORSPORTS PARK - IRC TIRE ENDUROFEST EVENT/ NEVEDA EXTREME OFF-ROAD CHAMPIONSHIP)
Dates/Locations are subject to change/cancellation. You must bring a current driver license or ID, a Helmet, Motorcycle riding boots, Goggles, Rid-ing pants, jersey, & gloves.
SMAGE RIDING TECHNIQUE PAT
FOR THE NEXT YEAR, 11-TIME US MOTOTRIALS CHAMPION PAT SMAGE WILL BE BRINGING US MONTHLY RIDING TIPS DESIGNED TO MAKE YOU A BETTER RIDER. AND WHO DOESN’T WANT TO BE A BETTER RIDER? WHETHER YOU’RE A TRIALS RIDER OR AN OFFROAD ENTHUSIAST, WE’RE CERTAIN YOU’LL BENEFIT FROM PAT’S TIPS, SO SIT BACK AND TAKE IT ALL IN. BE SAFE AND DON’T FORGET TO PRACTICE WITH A BUDDY!
2020 CLICE ZONE JERSEY AND PANTS
Jersey Sug. Retail: $46.99
Pants Sug. Retail: $129.99
Website: www.trialstoreusa.com
Contact: 941-404-0757
Trial Store USA is offering Clice’s new line of Zone Trial gear, featuring the 2020 Clice Zone Jersey (SKU: C.2535), and the 2020 Clice Zone Pants (C.3535).
The 2020 Clice Zone Jersey is a breathable, microfiber fabric, V-neck trials jersey. Available in blue, red, black. Sizes range from XXS – 4XL and the price is only $46.99.
Meanwhile, the Clice Zone Pants are classic and professional trials pants, made of a combination of very hard-wearing, semi-elastic polyester fabric and nylon AT supports. Outer zipped pocket. Multi-adjustable belt. Highest quality in fabric and construction. Available in blue, red, black. Sizes range from 26-44 with a price of $129.99.
Jersey link : https://www.trialstoreusa.com/2020-zone-trials-jersey/
Pant link : https://www.trialstoreusa.com/2020-zone-trials-pants/
You can order online at: https://www.trialstoreusa.com/ or call 941-404-0757.
PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT
Enduro Engineering Sherco Radiator Guards
Max Sug. Retail: $219.95
Part number: 12-9010
Fitment: Sherco
Website: www.EnduroEng.com
Enduro Engineering is offering a new radiator guard for current Sherco off-road models. Like all EE products, the guards are made in the USA and of the highest quality and protect the front of your radiator from an impact or flying debris. Also increases side impact protection.
Made from 6061 aluminum, these are stand alone guards, no with brace needed, and easy installation.
Black anodized for a factory look and easy clean up.
All mounting hardware is included.
The FX and TX cross-country model range offers purpose-built motorcycles with ultra-modern components like electric start to get the rider off the line faster and a Map Select switch to put the power to the ground. Performance-focused innovations were implemented to ensure power accessibility and agility to stay ahead of the competition.
Photo: F. Lackner
HUSQVARNA MOTORCYCLES LAUNCH FUNCTIONAL
NEW RANGE OF HIGH-QUALITY MOTOCROSS AND ENDURO GEAR
Husqvarna Motorcycles are pleased to announce the availability of the new Functional Clothing Offroad 2020 Collection – a complete range of premium quality gear and protective equipment for both adults and kids.
Designed and manufactured to meet the unique challenges of offroad riding, the new clothing line ensures motocross, enduro as well as supermoto racers and riders are fully prepared for their next ride. All products deliver high levels of comfort, protection and durability and are packed with innovative technical features.
Moto 9 Flex Railed Helmet
Made by Bell Helmets, the Moto 9 Flex Railed Helmet is race-tested and built around a lightweight composite carbon shell. It features an exclusive Magnefusion Emergency Removal System, a fully ventilated EPS-lined chin area and Quick-FlipTM peak screws for fast adjustability. Its X-Static interior lining is removable and washable.
Racecraft+ Goggles
Professional motocross goggles that deliver performance and style, the Racecraft+ Goggles by 100% are packed full of technical features. From the four-layer moisture wicking fleece foam to the anti-fog and anti-scratch lens it’s a goggle that delivers the very best fit, protection and looks.
FUNCTIONAL CLOTHING OFFROAD 2020 COLLECTION
Railed Shirt Pro
An ultra-lightweight performance shirt that features a striking three-colour design, the Railed Shirt Pro delivers a racer inspired fit due to its longer back section and shorter front. Allowing effortless ease of movement, mesh panels ensure optimum ventilation while fade-proof sublimation printing safeguards long-lasting style.
Railed Pants
Featuring an eye-catching asymmetrical design, the Railed Pants are built to offer an ultralightweight, premium fit. A bold blue/grey/yellow colourway ensures a stylish look, while perforated ventilation zones guarantee optimised cooling. Heatproof and abrasion-resistant leather knee reinforcements and taped seams ensure high levels of durability.
iTrack Railed Gloves
With a bold, yellow and blue colourway the iTrack Railed Gloves by 100% are as visually striking as they are comfortable and light. Proudly displaying the Husqvarna Motorcycles logo, they feature perforated palms, silicone print for increased grip and neoprene cuffs for quick and secure fitment.
Origin Collection
Included in the Functional Clothing Offroad 2020 Collection are the new Origin Shirt, Origin Pants and iTrack Origin Gloves. Manufactured using high-quality materials and constructed to ensure durability, this small collection features subtle, honest design that is reminiscent of Husqvarna Motorcycles’ heritage. Styled to have a yesteryear look, the light-weight performance MX shirt, pants and gloves offer optimum ventilation zones, foam paddings and many more features that guarantee maximum comfort while riding.
For further details on pricing and availability, please refer to your national Husqvarna Motorcycles subsidiary or importer. Availability of individual items may differ from country to country.
The new Functional Clothing Offroad 2020 Collection will be available at all authorised Husqvarna Motorcycles dealers from mid-February onwards. n
KAILUB RUSSELL
2020 KENDA FULL GAS SPRINT ENDURO SERIES ROUND 1
FEBRUARY 8-9, 2020 GASTON, SOUTH CAROLINA KAILUB RUSSELL KICKS OFF SPRINT SERIES WITH BIG WIN IN GASTON
RICKY RUSSELL
FMF/KTM Factory Racing’s Kailub Russell drew first blood in the 2020 Kenda Full Gas Sprint Enduro Series with a decisive victory at the opening round at the GTR Complex in Gaston, South Carolina. Nearly 500 riders competed in the racce, making it the biggest in the history of the series.
Kailub celebrated his 30th birthday on Saturday after topping the time charts by nearly a minute over Coastal Racing Husqvarna’s Ricky Russell, while Team Babbitt’s Online/Monster Energy/Kawasaki Team Green’s Josh Strang finished third.
Kailub backed up that performance on Sunday by winning five of six tests for the overall victory.
“I felt pretty decent and I was pretty happy with where I was on the track and physically,” said Kailub. “Everything was kind of flowing and I was not trying overly hard to put in the times that I was putting in. So that was a plus. We made a bunch of changes throughout the weekend with the bike, playing around with it. Just trying to figure out which direction to go when the track gets a certain kind of condition. We went back and forth and made a bunch of changes and everything seemed to work pretty well all around for the most part. It was a really solid weekend of tuning and testing and having good results, too.”
On Saturday, Kailub won four of the five tests, finishing second in test three when he dropped his front wheel in a hole and went down. Am Pro Yamaha’s Layne Michael took advantage of the situation to nip Kailub by about 1.5 seconds at the finish for the test win.
Kailub took Saturday’s win by 6.3 seconds over Coastal Racing Husqvarna’s Ricky Russell, who went
LAYNE MICHAEL
6-2-6-3-2 in the five tests. His worst two scores (two sixths) came in the Cross Test.
“I usually struggle in the Cross Tests, they’re just different. I think it’s a European-type thing, but I think going to Six Days last year helped me,” said Ricky Russell, who switched to Coastal Racing Husqvarna during the off-season. “I normally don’t do the sprint races and when I do I tend to over-ride the tests and struggle a bit. I’m on a new bike and I’m gradually getting used to it, so I’m hoping for good things this year. I’m pretty stoked about today because I’ve never done well at these things.”
Strang rounded out Saturday’s top three, about 4.5 seconds behind Ricky Russell, while Layne Michael, Coastal Racing Husqvarna’s Craig DeLong, Tely Energy Racing KTM’s Liam Draper and Team Babbitt’s Online/Monster Energy/Kawasaki Team Green’s Jordan Ashburn finished out the top seven.
On Sunday, Kailub showed he meant business by winning the opening test by nearly eight seconds over Ricky Russell. Draper turned in one of his best performances of the weekend for third.
For the rest of the day, Strang, Michael and Ricky Russell battled over second, while Kailub dominated out front.
In the final test, with the race well in hand, Kailub finished second to a hard-charging Michael, who grabbed his second test win of the weekend.
Kailub, of course, took the overall, with Ricky Russell edging Michael by 5.3 seconds for the runner-up slot.
Ricky was a last-minute entry and, in fact, debated about even racing at all as late as Friday afternoon.
Michael might have had a better shot at second had he not wrapped his brake pedal around his foot peg on Saturday, which cost him a lot of time.
“Yesterday was going pretty good,” said Michael. “I stayed pretty mistake-free all day, just kind of started off slow. I was picking up speed as the day went and I felt really good and then in the last test I didn’t know what happened. I just kind of went against the bank and then I was on the ground. I was pretty confused because I didn’t feel like I did anything wrong, but after looking at the track I saw there was just a little hidden stump kind of in the track, or where we banked off and it just happened to grab my foot peg and broke the brake tip off. Then it actually bent the rest of the pedal that was left on top of my foot peg, so I couldn’t even have my foot hardly on the peg and it cost me a lot of time.”
Michael made up for the incident by winning a test each day to salvage third.
Strang was frustrated with fourth in the Pro division (fifth overall). The 2018 series champ had look as though he would finish second on Saturday, but test five had to be thrown out for the Pro class due to a banner that got taken down, which dropped him to third.
“It was a bit disappointing,” said Strang. “I think I might have finished third if we had that test in. I struggled a little bit all weekend, but other than that, it’s good to be back racing. The track got really rough this weekend, so I think compared to last year it was maybe rougher. The sand was a little wetter than normal and it created some more bumps. But it was good. For the most part I felt decent, but not as good as I feel like I should have. But it’s all right.”
Draper, last year’s Pro2 champion, was fifth in the Pro class.
“I started off rough,” said the New Zealander. “Day one, test one I crashed. It just put me back, but today I rode good. I was happy with that. Mixing it up with the top boys. I’m up in the XC1 now so it’s no joke, really. You got some fast boys out there. Hopefully round two goes better.”
DeLong had several good tests, but a few rough ones to go along with it and finished sixth in the Pro class and eighth overall.
Ashburn rounded out the top seven in the Pro division.
Team Babbitt’s Online/Monster Energy/Kawasaki Team Green’s Lyndon Snodgrass, from Australila, won the Pro2 division on a by 7.4 seconds over Trail Jesters KTM’s Johnny Girroir. Snodgrass was also good for fourth overall, beating his teammate Strang by about seven seconds.
Snodgrass won every test on Saturday except for the final Enduro test, which was won by Girroir.
On Sunday, Snodgrass and Girroir went back and forth, with Snodgrass taking the overall thanks to his strong performance on Saturday.
“Johnny beat me by a few seconds today, but we’ve got the overall for the weekend, so that’s pretty cool,” said Snodgrass. “I’ve enjoyed myself out here. We finished up with no injuries or nothing, so that’s good as well.”
Third went to former Pro motocrosser from Pennsylvania, Ben Nelko, on a Seven Sixty Motorsports Husqvarna.
The ProAm class went to local boy Cole Mattison. The KTM rider topped Georgia’s Josh Lee by 1.57 seconds with Pennsylvania rider Neil Enman finishing third.
“I took a digger on the first cross test, but other than that I just tried to hold my lead and bring it in home with the win,” said Mattison.
Despite getting stuck in a mudhole on Saturday and losing considerable time, Rockstar Husqvarna Lan Mills XC rider Tayla Jones beat out BABS Racing/Maxxis/ Fly Yamaha’s Becca Sheets by nearly 15 seconds for the win in the Women’s Pro class. On Sunday, Jones won every test.
“The tracks are super rough, but overall I had a lot of fun,” said Jones. “The first race of the season went really well, so I can’t really complain. Saturday, I ended up getting stuck in a mud hole and lost like a minute thirty, so I had to come back from that. So that kind of sucked and put me behind going into the last couple tests, but I ended up making up the time. I won yesterday and today, so I’m pretty stoked.”
New Zealand’s Rachel Archer was third on an Am Pro Yamaha, while Beta USA’s Rachel Gutish finished fourth and Canada’s Shelby Turner was fifth.
OVERALL RESULTS
1. Kailub Russell (KTM)
2. Ricky Russell (Hsq)
3. Layne Michael (Yam)
4. Lyndon Snodgrass (Kaw)
5. Josh Strang (Kaw)
6. Johnny Girroir (KTM)
7. Liam Draper (KTM)
8. Craig DeLong (Hsq)
9. Ben Nelko (Hsq)
10. Jordan Ashbrun (Kaw)
JOSH STRANG
CRAIG DELONG
BEN NELKO: ENTER SANDMAN
Pro motocrosser turn off-roader, Ben Nelko, came away with a respectable ninth overall the Pro 2 division. Coming from Pennsylvania, the Seven Sixty Motorsports Husqvarna more used to rocks than he was to the South Carolina sand.
“I think I rode pretty good, actually,” said Nelko. “I’m not really a sand rider but I was work. That was probably one of the roughest races I’ve ever done. There was holes like out there and just some crazy ruts. My JDP Suspension was good through it all. We did and got it all done. “
DELONG’S DAY
Coastal Racing Husqvarna’s Craig DeLong turned in some brilliant rides, but the Pennsylvania rider had just enough rough tests to drop him to eighth overall.
overall and third in Husqvarna rider told us he is able to make it like four feet deep did a lot of testing
“I was kind of in the mix for a podium for most of Saturday until the end. I kind of fell apart,” said DeLong. “Today I was just struggling. I tried to make some adjustments to try to make it better as the track got rougher, but it didn’t seem to work out in the beginning of the day. I had a decent test halfway through but then in the woods test I struggled the most. I’m not sure if it was me or the bike or just a combination, but I just couldn’t seem to find the speed that everyone else was riding with. Just got to go back and try to figure some things out on this 350. My main priority is the 250 on the GNCC so I’ve been kind of riding that more. Try to figure some stuff out. Maybe get a little more comfortable on it in the tighter woods where it gets really rough and see if I can pick up some stuff.
“It was a little sketchy out there, but it’s the same for everybody. When you’re pushing that hard to win the test or try to go hard, anything gets a little hairy. Like I said, I think it’s the same for everybody. However you get comfortable with it is what you got to do. It is what it is.”
GTR DEBRIEF:
Ricky Russell talks Sprint Racing...
RICKY RUSSELL
Coastal Racing Husqvarna’s Ricky Russell showed up at the opening round of the Kenda Full Gas Sprint Enduro Series at GTR Complex in Gaston, South Carolina, not even knowing if he would compete in the event. At the very last minute, Ricky signed up and came away with a very impressive runner-up finish. We spoke to the Washington-born rider, who signed with Coastal Racing Husqvarna during the off-season, about the race and about his plans going forward.
You told us Friday that you didn’t know if you were going to race. I wasn’t sure because I don’t usually do these and I’m not really chasing the series, but I might now. We’ll see. I’m going to talk to Timmy (Weigandt, Rockstar Husqvarna Team Manager) and see if maybe Husqvarna wants to help me go to these or not. I ended up second. I’ll take it. Kailub was off in his world of his own, checked out, killing it. Everyone else was really tight racing, so it was good fun. I was able to make up for the beginning of the first day where I kind of lost a lot of time. I was able to make it up towards the end of the day. Just stayed right there, consistent all day today. Second place.
You had a good battle with Layne Michael. Me, Layne, and Josh Strang were all within ten seconds of each other. It was tight racing. They’d get me on the Cross test, and then I’d get them a little bit on the Enduro test. We’d go back and forth. Then Layne ripped the last Enduro and actually beat Kailub by like five seconds. I was right there with Kailub. So he caught up, but we still had a good little buffer going into there.
Did you surprise yourself?
A little bit. Like I said, I’m on the new bike. We were kind of just doing it to test and try to make some changes. We made slight changes from the beginning of day one and it showed at the end of day one. Then we just ran it the same all day today and ran pretty consistent. n
GTR DEBRIEF:
Layne Michael... flying new colors
LAYNE MICHAEL
Layne Michael was one of a handful of riders making a switch to a new team during the off-season, with Layne going to Yamaha to race for Randy Hawkin’s Am Pro Yamaha team and factory mechanic Cory MacDonald. In his first big race of the season, the North Carolina rider finished third overall in the Kenda Full Gas Sprint Enduro Series opener in Gaston, South Carolina. But, most impressively, Layne was the only rider other than Kailub Russell to win a test, posting the fastest time in two of the tests. Layne might have finished second, but an issue with his brake pedal cost him a lot of time.
Saturday was going pretty good. I stayed pretty mistake-free all day. I was picking up as the day went and I was feeling really good in the last test. Then, I didn’t know what happened. I just kind of went against the bank and then I was on the ground. I was pretty confused because I didn’t feel like I did anything wrong, but after looking at the track I saw there was just a little hidden stump kind of in the track, or where we banked off and it just happened to grab my foot peg and broke the brake tip off. Then it actually bent the rest of the pedal that was left on top of my foot peg, so I couldn’t even have my foot hardly on the peg. I lost quite a bit of time, probably twenty seconds or so. It’s racing. I was pretty frustrated and bummed out. Kind of thought I threw the weekend away.
Then today, same thing. Kind of started off a little slow and then kind of picked up some momentum. Unfortunately I had another little fall in the Enduro test on the second time through. Was pretty frustrated with that. That last test I knew I had three seconds to make up on Strang. I just kind of hung it out a little bit. We were able to get the job done and end up third for the day and third overall for the weekend as well, actually. It was good. First debut on the blue machine. It was kind of a good boost to momentum for sure. I was riding really good. It was a super rough track. My speed is good. Obviously I wasn’t consistently fast to run with Kailub, but I had a couple flashes where I was there. Just use this as a confidence booster heading into the first GNCC and just keep working hard. Obviously it’s paying off. Just minimize the little mistakes and we’ll be good. n
LIAM DRAPER
PHOTOS BY SHAN MOORE
KAILUB RUSSELL TALKS
TALKS RETIREMENT
A lot of people are surprised about your plans to retire after ths year. You still have a lot of racing in you. Why the decision?
I’ve still got a full year. I’m still racing after that. I’m not fully done, but it’s coming. I’m done with GNCC after this year. That’s kind of the main focus that I’ve had for ten plus years now. I just feel like it’s time. I’m not getting any younger. I’m getting older. I’ve told everybody when I made the decision. I’ve been mitigating risks. It’s a tough sport. It’s not sustainable. I’m not going to be able to do it forever. So what’s one more championship? What’s one more year? What’s one more race win? That’s kind of how I look at it. It’s not sustainable. I’m not going to be able to do it for forever. I’ve had a good run and a great career. I want to give myself one more year and try to go out on top and call it a career for GNCC. For the following year in ’21, I still want to race and be relevant. Try to go after Six Days one more time and get that done and put more focus on it and do some other races around the country and around the world. There’s some events that I’d like to do. Just kind of bucket list stuff, in a way. With riding GNCC and being so focused on that, there’s a lot of events that I never had the opportunity to go do. That’s kind of where I’m at.
We’ve heard that you bought some new property. Do you want to talk about any camps or anything in the future that you might be planning?
Yeah. I’ve got some things going on for after racing. It’s still in the very beginning stages. I’m kind of starting it now so I can transition into it. I can’t really get into any of it yet. But there’s going to be some camps and stuff. The ideal thing is create a business that’s going to be sustainable for the future, and also to still be relevant in the sport and continue. We’re going to try to continue to work with KTM with the off-road team, along those lines. It will be cool. Once we get everything ironed out, we’ll be able to talk more about it. It’s still in the beginning stages. I’m kind of going to be transitioning into it in ’21. But there’s still a lot of racing left before that.
Are you a little bit scared or a little bit nervous about retiring and thinking, “Oh, my gosh. I’m not going to be able to keep myself busy enough. This is all I’ve done my whole life?”
No. I’m relatively pretty calm. I’ve got less stress now than thinking about it, because there’s an end in sight. Before there was never an end. It’s always a grind, always looking ahead, years ahead and what you’re going to do, trying to plan and map out stuff. Now that there’s an end in sight, it’s a little bit more of a stress-free environment. Like, let’s focus and do what we need to do now. There’s an ending to it. It’s not this never-ending process where you win and win and win, and people just except you to keep winning. It’s like I’ve got nothing left to prove, but any time I lose it’s like, “What happened to Kailub? Why didn’t he win?” So now that there’s an ending in sight and I’ll no longer have to be the guy to win, the pressure is lifted and there’s a little bit less stress. I’m excited for my last year. I’m still focused and motivated. I feel I’m in a really good spot. I’m finally healthy coming into the start of the year. I feel good about it. I like where I’m at. I’m comfortable in life right now. I just want to focus on this year and try to stay healthy and try to get another championship.
You’re always the hardest on yourself. Do you think you’ll be able to enjoy this year a lot more?
It’s going to depend on how we start out and how it plays out. It’s definitely going to be tough. It’s getting harder every year. I’m going to make sure I take a moment to enjoy it a little bit more. Kind of savor the flavor a little bit. n
MAX GERSTON
TO THE MAX ON EXTREME
With his signature cowboy hat, Max Gerston is one of the most popular riders on the EnduroCross circuit. For 2020, the Beta USA rider will be putting a little more focus on Hard Enduro than he has in the past, racing the full AMA Extreme Enduro Series, in addition to the AMA EnduroCross series. In fact, when we spoke to Max, he was in Pe-ru for an extreme race called El Inka.
So, just about every extreme enduro has a different format. What format does El Inka use?
It has a prologue, which is like an EnduroCross race. That’s on Thursday. Then Friday is the main race. It’ll probably be a four-hour race out in the mountains and we navi-gate by GPS. There’s a bronze, silver, and gold loop. So that will be a big, long race - an 80-mile race probably. Then on Saturday there is a two-and-ahalf-hour hare scramble. So, it’s going to be a lot of racing.
How much practice have you had with the GPS riding?
I’ve had quite a bit of practice. I’ve been getting ready for King of Motos a whole bunch, so I should be good on GPS.
Are you leaning more towards the extreme stuff this year than EnduroCross, and hare and hound?
I would say that I’m focusing on them equally. Extreme enduro season starts up a lot sooner than EnduroCross. I’ll start training for EnduroCross pretty soon here. When I get back to
Arizona I plan on getting my track all built up and ready. So, at this point I’m just kind of doing some extreme enduro racing. This opportunity just kind of came up, so I figured I would take it. I’m not doing hare scrambles this year. I’m just doing ex-treme enduro and EnduroCross.
You won the AMA Hare Scramble championship last year, so why did you decide not to do those?
Well, that’s my second hare scramble title. I felt like it was taking away from me doing better at extreme enduros and EnduroCross and those are my real goals. So, I wanted to race less, because I raced so much last year. I wanted to race less and focus better on specific races and actually be able to break down my schedule in a very structured way so that I didn’t have to be running all over the place just playing catch-up the whole time.
Are you contracted with Beta USA to ride the extremes and ride the EnduroCross? Or do they just let you ride what you want?
I’m contracted with Beta. I’m contracted to race east and west extreme enduros, and also the EnduroCross series. Races like this one in Peru, I have to get approved to race them. I can’t just go to them. They have to allow me to go.
Did you ship a bike down there or did the local Beta importer help you out?
The Beta importer helped me out. That’s the only reason I could go, is because he of-fered to pay my way and get me a bike and everything else. Even if it cost me just a ti-ny bit, this was quite the experience.
How do you train? Endurocross is a sprint, and extreme enduro, some of them are six hours. So how do you train for the different disciplines?
I have a trainer so I talk to him a lot. Basically, what we do, at this time of the year since a lot of it is all extreme enduros, we’ll do a ton of endurance training right now. The good thing about endurance training is endurance basically serves as a foundation for being able to stack intensity on top of it. If you don’t have a strong endurance base, then when you stack intensity on top of it, you can’t sustain it. So, it actually works out conveniently so I can kind of get it all in. But once I get closer to the EnduroCross year, or actually as soon as I get back, he’s got me planned to start doing some intensity training. Start bringing up that intensity so I can get my heart rate used to it.
Some of the extreme races to me, and even like watching Romaniacs on TV, looks sort of masochistic. Do you actually enjoy some of that stuff? Or is it just the challenge? What is it about extreme racing that everybody’s into?
I don’t know. For me, what I like about it is it’s almost just like a very barbaric way of racing. You just send a bunch of gnarly guys out into the woods together, and the last guy standing wins. So, you kind of take the speed factor away a little bit, but then you add in these other factors like toughness, mental toughness, endurance, the ability to read terrain… I’ve been trail riding and exploring my whole life so now it’s like, I get to use all the skills that I had built up that I was just doing naturally and for fun. So, for me, it’s just a good fit for who I am as a rider. I like exploring. I love adventuring. Basically, this is exploring and adventuring and racing in one, for me.
You made an east coast National Enduro last year. Is there any chance that you’ll do any east coast racing at all this year?
I’m doing the east coast extreme enduros, but I probably won’t do any regular enduros. They just had me do that just because I happened to be in town.
In what areas do you think you’re a better rider now than you were last year? Was there anything that you set a goal?
That’s a good question. In fact, coming into the winter I had two main goals and it was to get more fit, and it was to build my skills in an extreme enduro setting. If you can get up a hill clean and not have to push your bike up, you can save ten, twenty, thirty minutes at a time. So, technique on gnarly hill climbs and trials sections was a big one. So, I’ve been working a ton on my fitness and technical riding skills. So, underneath that, you have a ton of trials riding and just a ton of extreme enduro.
Do you set up trials sections there in your backyard?
I don’t have anything in my backyard right now. I have a couple free places less than thirty minutes away that I go to all the time. I actually do that with Taylor Robert quite a bit, so that’s good.
What about Mike Damm? He used to be a really good trials rider. You ever ride with him?
Yeah. I call him Coach. We ride together all the time.
Through the winter when you’re working on your core, do you go to the gym, or is it all bicycle or running or riding?
It’s all of those things. Usually it’s about two days of gym work a week. Sometimes a stretching class on top of that. Then in addition to the gym, it’s a lot of mountain biking. In fact, I just bought a gravel bike so I’m going to be doing more long endurance days on the gravel bike. Running here and there. We don’t do too much running because ankles and knees and all that. But I do like running. Actually, I hate it, but because I hate it, I like it. So, I try to run every once in a while, but it’s mainly just a ton of moun-tain biking and heart rate zone training, and gym work. Then on top of that just tons of riding. I’ve been doing all kinds of riding. Everything from corner tracks to extreme en-duro rides. A lot of extreme enduro rides.
Is there any event that you’ve never ridden that is on your bucket list?
This one that I’m at right now in Peru is actually one of those. I’d really like to go do Romaniacs. I think that would be good just because of how grueling it is. I’m not a big giver-upper and I think that that would play into my hand. I have the ability to focus for a long period of time, when I need too. The rest of the time I can’t, but when I’m riding and racing I can. I think because of that I could do well just because the endurance aspect. There’s so many factors of that race. It’s insane. For some reason Romaniacs sounds like a good idea to me. n
RACHEL’S BELIEVE A column by Rachel Gutish
I’m a very competitive person, and I have always loved games and competitions. Even the ones I’m really bad at, like basketball and golf and complicated board games and motocross racing. So, for this issue, I thought we could all play a little game I invented called Rachel’s Believe it or Not. Here’s how it works: I will tell you two stories from my past, and then I will fabricate one complete and total lie. It’s up to all of you to guess which one of the outlandish tales is false.
The people who guess correctly get that warm fuzzy glow of superiority that comes from win-ning. If you guess correctly AND can also tell Shan and I a story that is true but as equally im-plausible as mine were, I will send you a nice note and pair of old mismatched gloves or a smashed left radiator or something similar since I can’t afford real prizes.
BELIEVE IT OR NOT
Story Number One: I earned my first ISDE medal in Italy when I was seventeen. Obviously, I was over the moon and wanted to celebrate. Unfortunately, my teammates on the women’s team had not had a great week. They were grouchy and went to bed, which was problematic for since my parents forbade me from going out alone in a foreign country. Since celebrating is more fun when you all speak the same language, that limited my options to either the Canadi-ans or Australians. Now, the Australians are way too wild for my taste, and I happened to be good friends with one of the Canadian riders. We had a good time that night in Sardinia, walk-ing around the downtown area of the city where all the teams were staying, with the blue of my Team USA jacket sticking out like a sore thumb in a sea of red maple leaves.
The only problem came as the night was winding down. I had noticed all the beautiful stone facades and embellishments on the buildings – very different from what you see in Indiana! As someone who also loves to climb things, I noticed how all of that stonework could make excel-lent hand-and-footholds. I mentioned this to one of the Canadian riders and he told me there was no way I could climb up a building, fancy stonework or not. Now my honor was on the line, and I felt like I had to prove him wrong.
The building in question was the hotel booked by the FIM, where all the ISDE officials were staying, and I thought it would be funny to climb up to their second-floor balcony, plus I could prove the guy wrong. I kicked off my sandals at the base of the building and used the notches cut into the corner of the building to pull myself up to the top. I slid over the railing onto the balcony, waved at all the Canadians below, then swung myself over the railing again and began to climb down. I got to the bottom, sat down to put my sandals back on then saw a polished shoe uncomfortably close to me. My eyes crept upward, and I saw that shoe was connected to a pair of uniform pants which was connected to an angry looking Italian policeman.
He and his partner started speaking to the crowd, and finally a woman came over and began to talk to me, explaining that the cops did not speak English and she had volunteered to translate for us. She then asked me if I realized that the
building I had been hanging off the side of just moments before was a Sardinian government. The color drained out of my face and I said “no – I thought it was the hotel where the ISDE officials were staying.” She relayed this to the cops and then told me that they wanted to know where my parents were, as the city had a curfew for unaccompanied minors. At this moment, the Canadian team manager and the mom of one of the riders swooped in and pretended to be my parents. They apologized profusely “We are so sorry! We had a very good week, passions were high … she just took the celebration a little too far.” I would like to take a minute at this point to note that I am still decked out in my Team USA gear, the Canadians are still covered in maple leaves and our accents sound nothing alike. The cops turned to each other and began conversing among themselves. They say something to the translator, give us a stern look and walk back to their squad car. The women then turned back to us and said that the cops told her that because they didn’t want to create an interna-tional incident, no harm had been done, and I wasn’t a terrorist (which was what they had been worried about when they first saw me scaling their government building), they would let me go with a verbal warning and a promise that my “parents” would take me back to the hotel IMMEDIATELY.
We all gave a collective sigh of relief (except for the handful of Canadians who had been laugh-ing their heads off at the whole time). The translator then added – I don’t think they intended for me to tell you this, but they definitely know these people are not your parents and the only reason you got off the hook tonight was because they’re at the end of their shift and didn’t want to fill out the paperwork.
Story Number Two: For those of you that don’t know, I was a decent collegiate pole vaulter. I wasn’t Division I material, but I was at one time ranked in the top 30 in the country at the Divi-sion III level. My track coaches had a very uneasy relationship with my racing. They knew if they tried to make me quit or badmouthed it too much, I’d just stop vaulting and they would lose an easy twenty points every meet. Well, most meets. There were plenty I had to miss for races, and many others that I showed up to bleary and exhausted from driving. I loved vaulting and even to this day I miss it, but racing was always the most important thing in my life.
There were also some concerns about the college sports amateurism rule because I was a technically professional athlete, just in a different sport. The athletic director was suffering though a lot of paperwork and arguing with the NCAA to make it possible for me to vault and made it clear that if I hurt myself racing and didn’t get to compete, he wasn’t going to keep putting in this much effort on my behalf.
Of course, knowing my luck and the dangers of our sport, me getting hurt racing was a very re-al possibility. And sure enough, the weekend before one of our important conference meets, I hit my foot on a stump in the final test of the Rad Dad Enduro. I limped my way to the finish, and my first emotion after being mad at myself for blowing the race was panic over what the AD was going to say. I pulled off my boot back at the van and sure enough, two of my toes in-stantly started to swell. My big toe had taken such an impact that it was split open like a grape somebody stepped on and was about the same color as one too. Even before I found out for sure that those two toes were broken (and would require two external pins) I knew there was no way I could compete.
The whole drive home, sitting in the passenger seat with my foot elevated, I racked my brain trying to come up with a solution. Then it hit me – the AD only said he wouldn’t keep lobbying on my behalf if I got hurt RACING… not if I hurt myself competing for DePauw in the pole vault. I decided I didn’t want to implicate my coaches in my scheme, and figured since the meet was on Tuesday, I would just tell them I was sick and hide in my dorm room all day Monday.
I got to our locker room at the last possible minute, so it was less likely that I would be seen. I had borrowed a pair of running spikes from a friendly (read: someone who would keep quiet) teammate with feet two sizes bigger than mine. I wedged the swollen and disfigured foot into the right spike, then stuffed a wadded up sock into the left so it would fit. I chewed up a lefto-ver hydrocodone from when I had my wisdom teeth out and steeled myself for something real-ly unpleasant.
I walked out, trying very hard not to limp. Or have a grimace of pain on my face. I think I held my breath all the way from the locker room to the pole vault runway. I grabbed my pole off the cart as my coaches came over, chewing me out for being late and warning me that I only had about three minutes left remining for warmup jumps. I gripped the pole tightly, trying not to show any sign of pain. With a deep breath, I took off and did a six-step run toward the mat, successfully choking back a scream all three times my bad foot connected with the ground.
Obviously, I wasn’t running very fast, and I allowed the pole to throw me back down towards the runway, landing with my bad foot first. I let out a totally legitimate roar of pain and the trainers all came running. The athletic director never knew the difference, and after my foot healed, I went on to win our conference championship during outdoor season. Sometimes suf-fering through pain is worth it.
Story Number Three: When I was a kid, I used to race the OMAs. I would say from the time I was twelve to maybe fourteen. The promoter, Bill Gusse, and I had a bit of a love-hate rela-tionship. If you don’t know Bill, imagine a crochety old man whose greatest pleasure was mak-ing courses so difficult than nobody liked to ride them and then listening happily while people complained about it. There was one time he sent us through a mudhole so horrible at the Moose Run that I got stuck, and then the quad that was trying to pull me out got stuck, and the course worker and I had to walk back and get a third quad equipped with a better winch to ex-tract ourselves.
I think because he was so old and set in his ways, he struggled to understand that a little girl could enjoy riding motorcycles and be good at it. On the starting line of the youth race, he would always address us with “Alright boys, here’s how the course is going to be today”. And I would always wave at him until he noticed me. Then he would say “Oh, hi Rachel”, immediate-ly ignore me and start over again with “Now alright boys….”
But for about half a season though, I accidently became Bill’s favorite person in the whole world. He was very lax about classes and entries, so the last year I rode his series he would let me race in the youth race and then ride my supermini in the adult C class right after. At one of the races there was a really big, steep and root-covered downhill in the adult race. When I got to it, there was a cluster of C riders sitting at the top who refused to go down it. Bill was sit-ting at the bottom on his quad laughing at them. I stopped for a second, looked at the hill, shut off my bike and slowly eased myself over the lip. When I got to the bottom, he asked me what I thought of it and I said, “Mr. Gusse that was so cool! You need to put things like that in our kid’s race too.” Then I started my bike and finished the race, not thinking much of it.
As I was changing after the race, I heard Bill on the loudspeaker announcing “Rachel Gutish, will you please report to sign-up. We need to talk to you right now. I was worried, so I got dressed as fast as I could and ran right over. When I skidded to a stop in front of the trailer, I saw Bill standing in a crowd of angry
men, who all appeared to be yelling about the course and demanding their money back. Of course, the sound of complaining C riders brought him great joy, but the idea of them asking for their money was somehow deeply offensive and filled him with great rage. He waved me over and asked me what I thought of the big hill on the course. I said it was scary at first but then it was really fun. Then he asked me what I said to him at the bottom of the hill. I said that I wished he would put things like that on the kids course too, and then he told me I could go.
As I was walking away, I heard him saying to the C riders “Now you’re telling me that hill was too dangerous for a bunch of big tough men like you. But a little girl rode down it, then at the bottom told me I should let all the other youth riders ride down it too? Are you nuts?” After that, Bill loved me for not only giving him a way to mock and demean the other riders but also for embarrassing them into not asking for a refund. I could tell he liked me now because after that day, whenever he did the youth race meeting he would say “Alright boys and Rachel, here’s how the course is gonna be today …”
I blew all my goodwill with Bill at the end-of-season awards banquet that year though. I was up on stage getting my award for winning the Supermini class and he asked me if I was doing his series next year. I said no, we were going to do EnduroCross and GNCC instead. He told me that EnduroCross was stupid. I responded that he was just jealous he hadn’t thought of it first. The entire crowd immediately started laughing, Bill stood there for a few seconds trying to process what had just happened then yelled at the crowd to knock it off, handed me my trophy and shuffled me and the other kids off the stage. I don’t know if he still would have said “Al-right boys and Rachel” or not, because by the time I came back to do another OMA I was an adult and his son had taken over the series.
Happy guessing and good luck!
GOOD OLD TIMES BLOG DIRT TRACK AND HILL CLIMB
BY KENNETH OLAUSSON
PHOTOS: HUSqvARNA
By the end of the 1920s, Husqvarna intensified their racing efforts. They hired ace engineer Folke Mannerstedt, who developed magnificent machines. There were the ultimate factory bikes, but then there were also motorcycles for sale to the average racing fan, for dirt track and hill climb. My father was one of them and bought a Husky 350DT in the early 1930s. Here is his story.
Dirt track and hill climb racing were popular sports during the 1920s – a trend that continued during the 1930s. With their newly able engineer Folke Mannerstedt as chief designer, a fresh strategy was introduced that gained both sales and publicity. Not only would Husqvarna take part in Grand Prix events in the future, but they should also market all-round machines to the public race fans. This resulted in privateers being able to achieve a competitive bike for a relatively mod-
est price. These machines were attractively priced by the factory in order to make some profit, which would help enhance covering the expensive costs in the racebudget. But in the end, their racing activities were a way of promoting sales of the ordinary Husqvarna street motorcycles.
Man’s interest in striving for speed and comparing his efforts to those of his competitors is an old quality. You gather some riders, find a suitable venue and then go for a fight. The fastest man is the hero of the day. Grand Prix racing was rare and expensive in those days, but the interest in motorcycle racing in all forms became great in Sweden. My father, Tore Olausson, had an eye for bikes at an early age and started to race as a teenager. In the yearly result sheets of 1929, Tore was the eighth best rider in the country. Gunnar Kalén, the winning big star from Malmö, would later be Husqvarna’s leading light during the early parts of the 30s and had 19 victories while Tore counted six wins, two second places and three third positions after his successful year. Being proud, Tore looked for more and around 1933, to the delight of his mother Bothilda, he bought a 350cc Husqvarna Dirt Track model.
The Husqvarna “Special Racer” was developed with a British 491cc JAP engine and came in 1930. A year later, Mannerstedt had improved this 4-stroke power source, which now had the Husky logo on the side-cover and a displacement of 497cc and came equipped with a steering-damper. From having a performance of around 10 HP, Mannerstedt trebled the output to an impressive 33 HP at 6,000 rpm and this new machine had a weight of approximately 150 kg. The 350cc was easier to market, as the factory already had a homemade pie of this volume. When mister Mannerstedt had done his magic work, the newcomer was launched at 1,500 kronor – a fair price that most race-riders could afford. This small beast received the nickname “Poor man’s racer” although it was a competitive bike. It now had a sprint engine, developed from the earlier Husqvarna model 30TV from 1930 and the output ran at 25 HP at 6,500 rpm. Between 1930 and 1932, some 50 units were sold of these two whirlwind wonders.
Then, there was a second generation of machines, which were improved by being lighter and faster. Parts made of aluminium and magnesium saved weight and new front forks as well as better frames made the DT models flexible racers. Both expert and novice riders cherished these new machines, which were launched in 1933 for the 350cc and 500cc classes. Our colour photos show a potent top-valve 350DT with aluminium cylinder-head, shorter wheelbase and a steeper front fork angle. “This four-speed engine runs on methanol and is more or less a unique machine today as there are few left of the top-valve 350DT from 1933”, says owner Ove Johansson at the MC-Collection museum.
All in all, research showed that Husqvarna merely churned out some 25 units plus a few extra engines of the 350DT and 500DT models. So, the contribution to the factory business was meagre, to say the least. As the Huskvarna-based factory decided to abandon racing in 1935, Mannerstedt decided to leave Husqvarna and moved to Stockholm. Together with engineer and friend Gunnar Hagström, they made a third generation of this single-cylinder engine. It was now called SRM for Swedish Racing Motor and after extensive development after World War II, the final products were ready for sale in 1948. The new 350DT and 500DT models were based on the bigger cylinder capacity but could also be delivered as a 350 racer. About 30 units were delivered in 1948 after ace rider Eje Sandin participated in the Solvalla 1000-metre competition in style. This Stockholm event was held in the autumn of 1947 and became the inaugural race for SRM. A few years later, Gunnar Hagström produced another five units, that were now labelled HRM for Hagström Racing Motor. After 1951, the project died, only to reappear later on –again with the Husqvarna logo on the petrol tank. But that is another story.
So, how about my father’s Husqvarna achievements then? Well, the greatest victory of his career was at the “Lyckåsbacken” on a slippery track where rain fell before the 2 o’clock start. Tore ousted the competition, won his class and set the fastest time of the day at 32.9 seconds. The win on this 575-metre hill climb track gave him a handshake and an impressive trophy given by the baroness Piper at the Lyckås castle near Ystad.
Happiness was a Husqvarna machine in the golden Good Old Days! n
• A versatile trials or trail bike (with the addition of a removable seat)
• The T-18 Dragonfly is an adult electric trials bike featuring a real hydraulic clutch
• A 5 speed gearbox provides the best match of engine power to terrain requirements
• M4 39mm Aluminum AIR FORKS
• Special Ohlins shock direct to swing arm (Linkless suspension)
• 3 hr quick change battery
• Weighs in at 132 pounds
TRIALS TRAINING CENTER TRIALS TRAINING CENTER
2020 Schedule
February 23: CTC Fun Trial
(Following STRA Banquet on February 22)
March 28-29: Bicycle Event
April 4-5: Trials Training Days
April 18-19: Spring Splash Trial (STRA)
May 30-32: Southern 4WD Meet and Greet
June 29-July 1: Family Camp
July 2-4: East Coast Youth Nationals & Women’s Open
July 3: TDN Fundraiser Gate Trial
July 5-9: Invitational Teen Camp
August 14-16: 10th Annual Kenda TKO
September TBA: ITSA Vintage Trial National
October 17-18: 28th Annual 58K Fall Trial (STRA)
November 8: Bicycle Event
December 6: Toy Trial - CTC Winter Series Round 1
THEWORLD’S LEADING YOUTH ELECTRIC TRIALS
MOTORCYCLES
Globallyrecognisedas the bestbeginnermotorcycles forchildren todevelopand improvetheirskillsand confidence.Beingelectricthey have nohotparts,require no gas andare virtuallysilent whichmeansriderscanuse themeverydayinplacesother bikescannotgo...
TRS Motorcycles
TRS ONE RR
ADAM RAGA RACING
USA DEALERS
Dirt Riders West - Mike Carlton, 800.467.0604, Scottsdale, AZ
Lewisport USA - Adrian & Mandy Lewis, 209.785.6878, Copperopolis, CA
Balance Trials Supply - Bill Haskell - 720.207.7715 - Erie, CO
Trial Store USA - Alex Niederer - 941.404.0757 - Bradenton, FL
Aloha Trials - Clayton Oshita, 808.822.2706, Kapaa, HI
Northwest Cycle - Ron Rivenburgh, 815.344.7780, McHenry, IL
Jack’s Cycles - Stuart Preston, 207.337.1274, South Berwick, ME
Competition Wheels - James McKenzie, 704.906.3238, Concord, NC
HVC Cycle - Brad Obidowski, 402.817.4795, Lincoln, NE
Miller Ranch Trials - Aaron & Andy Miller 607.765.8362 Corning, NY
Torne Mountain Trial - Jon France, 914.490.0637, Hillburn, NY
Adroit Engineering - Jon Rentschler, 440.668.3207, Chardon, OH
Gran Prix Cycle - Gary & Robyn Byers, 541.926.3139, Albany, OR
MotoMex - Danny Aguirre, 214.912.9005, Dallas, TX
Skagit Powersports - Gary Lawver, 360.757.7999, Burlington, WA
TTC - Charlie Roberts, 423.942.8688, Sequatchie, TN
BOU BEST IN BILBAO
2020 FIM X-TRIAL ROUND 6 FEBRUARY 15, 2020 BLIBAO, SPAIN
PHOTOS COUTESY HONDA AND GAS GAS
TONI BOU
Toni Bou remained undefeated in the 2020 FIM X-Trial Series after taking the win in Bilbao, Spain, his fifth victory in a row, extending his lead in the championship in the process. The Repsol Honda rider got off to a slow start in Bilbao, however, taking eight points in the opening stage, four more than his arch-rival Adam Raga. Even so, he still successfully qualified for the second phase.
Bou made the second round with a better precision, dropping 12 points in the 5 zones, riding against fellow countryman Jorge Casales and Frenchman Benoit Bincaz. Casales was the first rider through each of the five sections, dropping maximum marks in each section. Meanwhile, Bou was clearly the class of this trio, his 12 points transferring him into the final.
In the final, Bou faced Raga in a great great battle that has been very tight. In the end, Bou was a bit more precise through the most demanding areas, giving him the win with with 9 penalties against the 12 of Raga. With this triumph, Bou is the leader of the World Championship, with 35-point advantage.
For the sixth race of the X-Trial World Championship, where Toni Bou will arrive with the possibility of winning a new world title, we will have to wait more than a month, since it will be held on March 21 at Wiener Neustadt, in Austria.
“It was a really demanding X-Trial right to the end and that makes this fifth victory of the season even sweeter,” said Bou. “In the Final I probably took too many risks in some sections so I ended up suffering more than I needed to. But this season has been really competitive; Adam is riding really well, so this victory is really important as it leaves me in a great position to fight for the title.”
JORGE CASALES
RESULTS: X-TRIAL BILBAO, SPAIN
1. Toni Bou, Montesa/Spain, (9 – Final)
2. Adam Raga, TRS/Spain, (13 – Final)
3. Benoit Bincaz, Beta/France, (2 – Runners-up final)
4. Jeroni Fajardo, Sherco/Spain, (3 – Runners-up final
5. Gabriel Marcelli, Montesa/Spain, (17 – Round 2)
6. Jorge Casales, GasGas/Spain, (25 – Round 2)
7. Miquel Gelabert, Vertigo/Spain, (15 – Round 1)
8. Tony Martyn, TRS/Great Britain, (25 – Round 1)
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
1. Toni Bou, Montesa/Spain, 100 points
2. Adam Raga, TRS/Spain, 75
3. Jeroni Fajardo, Sherco/Spain 34
4. Benoit Bincaz, Beta/France, 28
5. Jorge Casales, GasGas/Spain, 28
6. Miquel Gelabert, Vertigo/Spain 22
7. Jaime Busto, Vertigo/Spain, 28
8. Gabriel Marcelli, Montesa/Spain
TONI BOU
MADDIE!
LIKE BERNIE SCHREIBER DID IN THE LATE 70’S, MADELEINE HOOVER HAS DECIDED THAT THE ONLY WAY TO BE THE BEST IS TO COMPETE AGAINST THE BEST. THE DEFENDING US WOMEN’S CHAMP TALKS ABOUT COMPETING IN THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS.
PHOTOS BY PEP SEGALES AND SHAN MOORE
For the past few years, GasGas USA’s Maddie Hoover has logged a lot of miles, traveling from North Carolina to Europe to compete in the World Trials Championships. Not to mention all the miles she travels just to get to the US MotoTrials events.
Following in Bernie Schreiber’s footsteps, Maddie has decided that the only way to be the best in the world is to practice with and compete against the best in the world. This plan certainly worked for Bernie, as he became the 1979 World Trials Champion, and it has definitely helped Maddie. The multi-time US Women’s Pro Champion finished an amazing ninth in last year’s FIM Women’s World Championship.
In February, we got in touch with Maddie while she was in Spain, to see how preparations are going for the 2020 season.
So tell us what you’ve been doing in Spain. Are you practicing with other riders to get ready for the season?
So I have been in Spain now for about 5 weeks so far practicing and prepping for the 2020 season. I have been living with two other TrialGP Women Riders from Norway. We have been training on and off the bike together everyday for the upcoming season!
What series are you going to ride this year?
Will you be able to ride the US MotoTrials?
So, this year I’m competing in three series;
the US Championship, European Championship, and the World Championship. Fortunately none of the events this year conflict and I will be able to make every round! Additionally, I will be riding the El Trial de Espana and will make as many of the US SuperTrials as possible! For sure a busy year to come!
From watching your videos, it looks like you’ve made a really big jump in ability. What is the biggest lesson you’ve learned over there. Thank you! I have been working extremely hard on my mental game when it comes to positivity and “can do attitude” which I think is bringing my level up big time. We have been working with coach that trains many trials riders here in Spain for the physical side and its definitely giving me strength and confidence on the bike. Also of course riding everyday with better riders and just being fully in the lifestyle has changed the game! What riders are helping you and who are you practicing with?
My roommates while over here are Erika Melchior and Ingveig Hakonson, top two in Norway and both extremely competitive in the TrialGP. Adam Raga has been extremely kind in helping us with finding minders to use for practice and introducing us to trainers that want to help improve us off the bike. We have been riding many times a week with the local Spanish girls; Berta Abellan, Neus Murcia, and Leire Rodriguez who have been extremely welcoming and a blast to be with! The English have all come over for a couple weeks here and there so we’ve been riding with Emma a bit and some of the guys! Theres so many riders from all around the
world in Spain now so it’s been like a World Championship practice area everyday!
How do riders practice over there? Do they make a practice section and everyone riders it, or just everyone picks out an obstacle and go for it?
Each day is a little different! Depending on the day we set a variety of no-stop, stopped, technical, flowy, long, and short sections that help us improve multiple skills at once. Most of the nations now have gone back to or still have “stopped” trials so it’s just important to practice this style as it is to practice “no-stop.” As for going for obstacles, usually someone will check out a big step or something cool and it starts an immediate line ready to try! Its competitive but also everyone is giving tips and laughing at trainings which makes being out here so fun!
Who do you stay with over there and where?
We’ve been living in Vic, Spain. It is extremely central for most of the riding locations so that cuts any drive time down and there are 10’s of areas within 15 minutes of us. Not having to go far everyday is a big bonus because it shortens the day making more time for off the bike work or leisure. This being such good location, there are 20 plus competitive riders that live in the area
. Have you been able to sightsee any incredible places or had some interesting adventures?
Everyday is sightseeing! Spain is such a beautiful country and the more times I am here the more I appreciate it! Not a lot of time for adventures but we have a great time going into Barcelona once and awhile, driving to practice areas around the mountain range “Montserrat”, beautiful running trails near by and hon-
estly 3 girls in one house is an adventure everyday no matter what we do!
How much tougher is the competition in Spain and Europe in general than we have here in America?
I think the competitiveness of Europe and America (stopped trial) is similar in a sense that the obstacles and the sections are close in style. They definitely have an edge over us because many of them ride full time and with a minder/coach every single day. Also, they are much closer so to practice with someone to push you is not hard. I believe we’re tough enough to compete with them it just takes a big effort to throw yourself in and not be afraid to try new things.
What is the biggest difference in events in Spain and events in America?
A big difference is that they format the Spanish Championships to be extremely similar to the World Championship. They have a qualification and section walk on Saturday, tight time limits, long sections, live update results, and a serious completive atmosphere. I personally believe the Spanish are so dominant in trials due to the federation putting on events to push their riders and make them as prepared as possible to ride European or World Championships.
From what you’ve learned, what things would you advise young riders over here to work on?
I think its important early to have young riders become comfortable with being in control of the bike when riding but most importantly while failing. Its not as scary to try difficult things and to crash if you have a plan on how to save yourself. Learning how to fall with a minder is extremely important as well. How to give the bike away during failure, how to land when jumping down, how to not send the bike, and other little things that will make a young rider less nervous to improve. The goal is to get a zero and go up but trials is extremely mental so the safer you are in the head the quicker the confidence and riding will improve. Another skill that will bring up the level of any young rider quickly is being comfortable on the back wheel. Whether thats holding pressure over an obstacle or rear wheel hopping, I think it’s a key to progressing most skills as they get better. I would say that any skill is important as the next and to keep practicing a variety no matter what, but I often think the “crashing” is overlooked as a skill! Lastly, remembering the goal is fun but also to better yourself at an amazing sport!
Thanks Maddie, we all can’t wait to watch you ride this year. n
MADDIE HOOVER
THE YOUTH ELECTRIC
OSET BIKES TO INTRODUCE HUNDREADS OF KIDS
Today there are hundreds of schemes designed to try and get kids more active. But how many of them are sustainable and can measure success year on year?
OSET Electric Bikes believes kids need a passion for sport – whatever sport they choose. In a bid to introduce more kids to motorcycles and the sport of trials riding, which is the art of riding over obstacles without putting your feet down, they launched the first OSET Cup ten years ago. It attracted eight kids. Fast forward a decade and 2020 will see over a dozen OSET Cups across the UK attracting upwards of 800 children.
REVOLUTION
TO MOTORCYCLES AND TRIALS
Ian Smith, founder and CEO of OSET Bikes, said:
“The lifeblood of any sport is its youth. Ten years ago, OSET Bikes ran its first ever OSET Cup in Yorkshire. This year we will support events from Scotland to Cornwall, Yorkshire to Cheshire. through the Midlands and down to the South East with well over 100 individual events taking place. The key is to make it fun, so kids want to get outside and ride their bikes.
“Experiencing riding a motorcycle in real life is infinitely better than watching someone else do it on a screen or pressing the X-box buttons to make a character
ride a bike through a stream!”
Each OSET Cup is designed to suit all levels of ability. For those completely new to the sport and looking for a fun event to ride to those who have been riding a few years and are looking for the next challenge, each event will have a course to suit every level, age and ability.
Ian added:
“The world is catching up with OSET as it turns to electric power. Our electric motorcycles provide instant, linear power which is ideal for kids as they learn to control their machines. The ability to turn the power, speed and response dials up and down to suit rider ability means riding a motorcycle has never been safer, or as much fun!
“And because trials is the art of control, technique and balance, you can ride your bike in the back garden using a few cones to set out a route, a couple of pallets and perhaps some rocks and you have your own trials course!”
Neighbours won’t be offended as electric bikes are virtually silent.
Ian finished with:
“We have to say a huge thank you to all the amazing organisers and parents who make the OSET cups possible. Their hard work, dedication and the fact they give up their free time is what makes the OSET cups such a success story!”
Anyone new to trials you can simply turn up on the day and the organisers of each event will help you sign on. You will need to join the ACU (cost £12) and your local club for the year (around £15 - £20) and then you pay for each event you ride, again which will cost around £15 per event. Every rider must wear a crash helmet, long sleeves, gloves and boots to be allowed to ride. All details of events across the UK can be found at OSETs website, www.osetbikes.com, and more events are being added to all the time. Will you try something new this year? Try trials - it’s seriously good fun! www.osetbikes.com
2020 US MOTOTRIALS
April 25-26 Wilseyville, CA
June 13-14 LIttle Hocking, OH
Huly 25-26 Kingman, AZ
Oct 3-4 Scottsboro, AL
www.mototrials.com
2020 SUPER TRIAL SERIES
May 15-16 Luckenback, TX
July TBA VMD, OH
Aug TBA Sturgis Rally, SD
Oct 16-17 Luckenback, TX
2020 EL TRIAL DE ESPANA
April 18-19 Cahullia, CA
2020 UTE CUP
Aug 15-16 TBA, CO
2020 EAST YOUTH AND WOMENS OPEN
July 3-4-5 Sequatchie, TN
2020 WEST YOUTH AND WOMENS OPEN
Aug 1-2-3 TBA
2020 FIM TRIAL GP
May 23-24 Czech Republic
June 5-7 Japan
June 20-21 Andorra
July 4-5 Italy
July 10-12 Great Britain
Aug 29-30 France
Sept 5-6 Spain
Sept 12-13 Gouveia
www.trialgp.com
2020 FIM WORLD X-TRIAL
Nov16
Reunion Island, Nov 23 Rennes, France
Jan 19 Budapest,
Feb 2 Barcelona, Feb 15 Bilbao, Spain
March 21 Neustadt,
April 25 Andorra la
2020 KENDA AMA NATIONAL
Feb 2 Sumter, SC
Mar 22 Turkey, TX
April 26 Forest Hill,
June 7 Greensboro,
June 21 Huntersville, July 26 Cross Fork, Aug 23 Chandlersville, Sept 20 Prk Hill, MO
Oct 4 Mathews, Nov 1 Stanton, AL www.nationalenduro.com
2020 KENDA FULL GAS SPRINT
Feb 8-9 Gaston,
Feb 29-March 1 Garfield, March 28-29 Henderson, May 9-10 Union, May 23-24 Glen June 13-14 Bristol, July 18-19 Fairmount Aug 8-9 Young www.sprintenduro.com
2020 FIM WORLD ENDURO
April 17-19 Marco de April 24-26 TBA, Spain
Island, France
France
Budapest, Hungary
Barcelona, Spain
Spain
Austria
la VellA, Andorra
ENDURO
Hill, LA
Greensboro, GA
Huntersville, MN
Fork, PA
Chandlersville, OH MO
SPRINT ENDURO
Gaston, SC
Garfield, GA
Henderson, NC
Union, SC
Glen Daniel, WV
Bristol, VA
Fairmount City, PA
Young Harris, GA
June 5-7
June 12-14
July 17-19
July 24-26
Sept 18-20
Oct 16-18
2020
Cavaneses, Portugal
Spain
Spoleto, Italy
Hungaroring, Hungary
Saaremaa, Estonia
Skovde Estonia
Requista, France
Zschopau, Germany
WESS ENDURO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
May 8-10
May 21-23
June 10-14
June TBA
July 21-25
Aug 15-16
Extreme XL Lagares, Portugal
Trefle Lorerien, France
Erzbergrodeo, Austria
Red Bull Megawatt, Poland
Red Bull Romaniacs, Romania
Tennessee Kncokout, Tennessee
Sept TBA Hawkstone Park, UK
Oct TBC Hixpania, Spain
www. iRideWESS.com
2020 FIM ISDE
TBA
Lombardy, Italy
2020 FIM SUPER ENDURO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Jan 4
Riesa, Germany
Jan 18 La Coruna, Spain
Feb 1
Budapest, Hungary
Mar 14 Lodz, Poland
2020 WORCS
Jan 24-26
Feb 21-23
Mar 20-22
April 17-19
May 1-3
May 39-31
July 17-19
Sept 18-20
Oct 16-18
Primm, NV
Taft, CA
Havasu, AZ
Blythe, CA
Las Vegas, NV
Cahullia, CA
Prineville, OR
Glen Helen, CA
TBD