Vital MX Features

First Look: Gaerne SG12 Boots

Thu, 08 May 2008 00:51:17 -0000

Click any image for a larger version.

Gaerne's SG10 has been the flagship boot in their line for quite a while, but they're well on the way to the public launch of its successor, the SG12. We got at the new version out in Las Vegas, where quite a few of the Gaerne-sponsored riders were racing with the new boot for the first time.

There's plenty of additional plastic on the SG12, and the pro riders that we talked to are big fans of the new design, for its light weight, gripping capabilities, protection, and looks.

Gaerne's Bob Rathkamp provided some of the details about what makes it different from previous versions. "It's basically a refinement of the previous boot (the SG10), and the grip guard on the inside is larger, lighter, and designed to be smooth so that it doesn't hook the bike. It also has a smaller toe box and is lighter."

The ankle pivot has also been redesigned, which was something that Lites East Supercross Champion, Trey Canard, was excited about. "I like that the pivot isn't right on my anle bone, so it's not putting pressure on it." Trey also mentioned that he thought it was slightly harder to break in, but he felt that it was for the better. Besides the repositioned pivot, the SG12 also features a dual pivot system, with a stop built into it like you get with a knee brace. That should help reduce some pressure on your ankles from especially hard landings.

Like the SG10, the new SG12 has a carbon shank in the sole to help protect your feet. The dual durometer Vibram sole is a new design, and is replaceable. Up top, there's a new gaitor that's designed to help keep dirt out of the boot.

According to Ryan Dungey, "It's definitely a little lighter. Gripping the bike is a lot easier, too. It molds to your bike better, as far as really getting in there and getting a good tight grip on your bike. The first day out of the box, breaking in isn't even an issue."

Ryan Dungey took the win in the Dave Coombs Sr. East/West Shootout.

Gaerne's still working on tooling (each set of tooling covers two boot sizes), so it'll still be a while before they're available. Look for them this Fall. Cost? They hadn't worked out pricing yet, but with their Italian manufacturing, and the way the dollar is valued compared to the Euro, they'll definitely be on the pricey side. We know plenty of riders who swear by the SG10s thanks to its comfort and protective qualities, so we're looking forward to getting our hands on a pair of these to test.

www.gaerne.com

What do you think? If you’re a Vital MX member (membership is free), you can leave a comment below, or talk about it in the Vital MX Forums.

2008 Monster Energy Supercross Awards

Tue, 06 May 2008 17:19:36 -0000

Click the following link for a 31-photo gallery from the 2008 Monster Energy Supercross Awards Banquet.

Hoisting the AMA number one plate, Chad Reed said, “This is what it’s all about. Stepping away from mom and dad at 18, packing two suitcases and chasing a dream. That’s to get this thing.”

Then lifting the $100,00 championship check, he added, “This thing means shit. Honestly, that brings so much drama to your life. I’d take this thing (the plate) any day, and go back to Australia and live happily ever after.”

The scene was the Sunday night following the last round of the 2008 Monster Energy Supercross season. The riders, teams and sponsors that make up the traveling circus were at the Planet Hollywood Theatre for the Performing Arts Monster Energy Supercross Awards, and Chad was speaking to the assembled crowd. “Man, four years later, and here we are again. It’s been a rough trip between titles, that’s for sure. It doesn’t get any easier to talk up here in front of the lights. I don’t know why, but talking in front of your peers is tough.”

There’s something about being on the podium as a champion that seems to bring out the emotion in the riders every year. It was no different with Chad, particularly when he was talking about his parents, who were in attendance. “Everyone gets up here and thanks their mom and dad. Man, you guys don’t know what it feels like to have your mom and dad there every weekend, and have their support. I’m so proud to be here this weekend…and I hate crying.”

The 17 weekends of racing, along with the preparation for it, make for a pretty intense experience, and the ’08 season wasn’t an easy one for Chad. “I’ve been through a pretty rough season. There’s a lot of wins, and a lot of ups and downs, at the race, away from the race, and nobody knows what’s been going on behind the scenes.”

Among his thanks to sponsors and friends, he mentioned a conversation with his L&M Team Manager, Larry Brooks. “I looked Larry in the eyes when he said he wanted to win a Supercross Championship, and I said, ‘I can do it.’ I truly never gave up that I couldn’t win this thing back. I’ve had some tough competitors over the time with RC and James. It was a real shame to see James get hurt this year. I felt like I was ready. I felt like Yamaha brought a motorcycle to the table that was competitive enough to win this year.”

“It’s contract time, and you guys have made it something special. I really hope that I can stick around and come back next year and run that number…I shouldn’t say number one, I don’t know if I’m going to run it. But the red background, and run it proud.”

“This has been a neat experience. Hopefully we can continue this far more than these two years.”

After some of the verbal volleys that he and Kevin Windham had exchanged late in the season, Chad offered this. “Man, K-Dub, you stepped it up this year. I think you said it best. We kind of gained some enemies along the way, but it’s all said and done, and I respect you a lot as a competitor and as a person. I’ve never underestimated as far as what you could do on a motorcycle, and you definitely proved that you had what it took to win races this year. You made my job harder at times when I wanted it to be easy.”

For his part, K-Dub also offered congratulations to his title rival. “Chad and I, we went at it this year. It was fun, and looking back on it, it was an incredible season.” Motioning to Chad, he said, “I gave you my all, man, so you deserve it. Congratulations on the Championships, both the East, and the West…wherever the West is. Apparently, the Lites West Champion, was nowhere to be found.

Chad also mentioned the speedy West Coast winner, who in addition to his championship trophy would have picked up an additional award as Entertainer of the Year. “That’s J-Law. I love that about him. It changes up our sport. Everyone’s so straight and kind of boring. He puts some color in the sport and I can respect that. He’s true to who he is.”

Reed also had some congratulations for Trey Canard, the Lites East champ. “Trey, awesome job. You knocked off a champ who killed it last year. Not only in his own championships, but in his nation’s in the Motocross of Nations. That’s pretty cool.”

The entire list of winners on the night looked like this.

AMA Recognition: Rob Dingman
FIM Recognition: John Gallagher
Team Manager of the Year: Forest Butler
Transport Driver of the Year: Brian Swead
100% Award: Thomas Hahn
Entertainer of the Year: Jason Lawrence
Team of the Year: Honda
Rising Star: Ryan Dungey
Western Regional AMA Supercross Lites class Champion: Jason Lawrence
Eastern Regional AMA Supercross Lites class Champion: Trey Canard
AMA Supercross Champion: Chad Reed
Mechanic of the Year: Oscar Wirdeman
Dave Coombs Sr. East/West Shootout Champion: Ryan Dungey
Rookie of the Year: Josh Hill
Top Privateer Award: Paul Carpenter
Lifetime Achievement: Selvaraj Narayana

To see more from the night (along with more of the award recipients) you can click the link at the top of this article to check out the full photo gallery.

What do you think? If you’re a Vital MX member (membership is free), you can leave a comment below, or talk about it in the Vital MX Forums.

Monster Energy Supercross: Las Vegas

Sun, 04 May 2008 16:53:01 -0000

Click the following link for a 39-photo gallery of Supercross race action from Las Vegas.

You can also click the following link for a 36-photo gallery from Saturday's pre-race action in the pits, as well as timed qualifying.

Don't forget, if you're a Vital MX member, you can comment on any of the photos in the gallery. Not a member? Join now! It's fast and free.

Chad Reed put a stamp on the final race of the 2008 Monster Energy Supercross season in Las Vegas, coming from behind to win the main event. In the process he passed his closest championship rival, Kevin Windham, at the three-quarter mark of the race and cruised to the checkered flag.

Reed (L&M Racing / San Manuel Band of Mission Indians / Yamaha) totaled nine wins on the season, and finished 13 points ahead of Windham (Geico Powersports Honda), who had four wins of his own, and kept Reed from clinching early by finishing in the top five every round this season.

The other big battle for position in the Supercross class was between Honda Red Bull Racing teammates Andrew Short and Davi Millsaps, who were separated by a point for third overall on the season. Davi had grabbed the holeshot and lead the main event for three laps, but Windham eventually worked his way by, and a lap later Davi spun out on the track, giving up a couple handfuls of positions. He eventually finished fifth, and that, combined with Andrew Short’s third overall on the night, gave Shorty the edge he needed to wrap up third overall in his first full season on the 450.

The Final Supercross point standings look like this:

1. Chad Reed 365
2. Kevin Windham 352
3. Andrew Short 281
4. Davi Millsaps 278
5. Josh Hill 228
6. Timmy Ferry 218
7. Nate Ramsey 173
8. David Vuillemin 169
9. Nick Wey 159
10. Paul Carpenter 145

With his 12th-place finish, Paul Carpenter (Team Atomic) clinched the Top Privateer award over Heath Voss (WWR).

In the Lites class, the top 20 from the East and West series’ were competing in the Dave Coombs Sr. East/West Shootout, which actually became a shootout between the second-place finishers in each region. Ryan Villopoto (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki), and Ryan Dungey (Rockstar Makita Suzuki) were clearly the two fastest riders on the night, and while Villopoto lead for 14 of the 15 laps in the main event, it was Dungey who reeled him in, making a last-lap pass to take the East/West Shootout bragging rights for the second year in a row, along with the Toyota truck that went to the winner.

To see extended coverage from the night, be sure to check out the Photo Gallery (see the link above).

Monster Energy Supercross Results
Las Vegas, NV

Supercross Lites Heat 1
1. Austin Stroupe
2. Ryan Dungey
3. Jason Lawrence
4. Brett Metcalfe
5. Robert Kiniry
6. Broc Hepler
7. Wil Hahn
8. Matt Lemoine
9. Justin Keeney

Supercross Lites Heat 2
1. Ryan Villopoto
2. Trey Canard
3. Matt Goerke
4. Nico Izzi
5. Ryan Morais
6. Ben Coisy
7. Ryan Sipes
8. Tyler Bowers
9. Kyle Chisholm

Supercross Heat 1
1. Davi Millsaps
2. Andrew Short
3. Charles Summey
4. Nick Wey
5. Robbie Reynard
6. David Vuillemin
7. Paul Carpenter
8. Kelly Smith
9. Kevin Johnson

Supercross Heat 2
1. Kevin Windham
2. Chad Reed
3. Timmy Ferry
4. Travis Preston
5. Heath Voss
6. Jason Thomas
7. Tyler Bright
8. Josh Hansen
9. Eric Sorby

Supercross Lites LCQ
1. Justin Brayton
2. Matt Boni
3. Kyle Cunningham
4. Dan Reardon

Supercross LCQ
1. Josh Hill
2. Ryan Clark

Supercross Lites Main Event
1. Ryan Dungey (Suzuki)
2. Ryan Villopoto (Kawasaki)
3. Trey Canard (Honda)
4. Dan Reardon (Honda)
5. Ryan Morais (Yamaha)
6. Justin Brayton (KTM)
7. Brett Metcalfe (Kawasaki)
8. Kyle Chisholm (Kawasaki)
9. Broc Hepler (Yamaha)
10. Austin Stroupe (Kawasaki)
11. Matt Lemoine (Yamaha)
12. Robert Kiniry (Honda)
13. Wil Hahn (Yamaha)
14. Justin Keeney (Honda)
15. Nico Izzi (Suzuki)
16. Kyle Cunningham (Honda)
17. Tyler Bowers (Yamaha)
18. Matt Boni (Honda)
19. Ryan Sipes (KTM)
20. Ben Coisy (Honda)
21. Matt Goerke (KTM)
22. Jason Lawrence (Yamaha)

Supercross Main Event
1. Chad Reed (Yamaha)
2. Kevin Windham (Honda)
3. Andrew Short (Honda)
4. Josh Hill (Yamaha)
5. Davi Millsaps (Honda)
6. Nick Wey (Honda)
7. Charles Summey (Yamaha)
8. Travis Preston (Kawasaki)
9. Timmy Ferry (Kawasaki)
10. David Vuillemin (Suzuki)
11. Heath Voss (Honda)
12. Paul Carpenter (Honda)
13. Jason Thomas (Honda)
14. Kelly Smith (Kawasaki)
15. Ryan Clark (Honda)
16. Kevin Johnson (Yamaha)
17. Tyler Bright (Honda)
18. Josh Hansen (Honda)
19. Robbie Reynard (Suzuki)
20. Eric Sorby (Honda)

What do you think? If you’re a Vital MX member (membership is free), you can leave a comment below, or talk about it in the Vital MX Forums.

Vital MX Pit Bits: Las Vegas 2008

Sun, 04 May 2008 01:58:33 -0000

Click the following link for the latest news, along with a 36-photo gallery covering Saturday's pre-race action in the pits from the Las Vegas Supercross.

Vital MX Pit Bits: Vegas Press Day

Fri, 02 May 2008 22:08:58 -0000

Click the following link for the latest news, along with a 22-photo gallery covering Friday's pre-race Press Day action from the Las Vegas Supercross.

Friday in Las Vegas featured the usual pre-race press conference with the top three riders in the Supercross championship chase (Davi Millsaps, Kevin Windham and Chad Reed), as well as the Lites East and West Champs. (Canard and Lawrence.)

Following the Q&A, the riders took to the track for some photos, and you can see the results in the photo gallery. Vegas is always a somewhat unusual track (with its hardpack and flattrack section that exits the stadium), but we will say that the starts should prove to be very interesting. It's extremely fast...faster than we've seen in any Supercross track.

Be sure to check back tomorrow for our usual Pit Bits, as well as full race coverage on Saturday night.

First Look, MXoN: Sixty Years and a Day DVD

Fri, 02 May 2008 10:09:34 -0000

Want to cut to the chase? You need a copy of this DVD.

Even if it only featured the 60-year history of the Motocross of Nations, it’d be worth checking out. The vintage motocross footage is amazing, and among the best looks we’ve seen at the formative days of the sport. It features good stuff with Gunnar Lindstrom, Roger DeCoster, and some of the great teams of the past, like England and Belgium. Then you blend in some of the history at the MXoN, and the participation of Team USA’s first efforts (and later winning efforts), and you really start to get an appreciation for the event, and why it’s as important as it is in the annual calendar.

Then we get to last Fall’s MXoN at Budds Creek, and there are enough stories to make the purchase worthwhile all over again. Ryan Villopoto’s amazing performances with two moto wins on his 250F. Ricky Carmichael’s last race and charge through the pack in the first moto, as well as Tim Ferry’s inspired second moto ride. Wrap it all up in the same stellar production quality that you get from Troy Adamitis and The Great Outdoors gang, and you’ve got an hour and 11 minutes of great action that you can watch repeatedly.

What: MXoN: Sixty Years and a Day
Damage To Your Wallet: $24.95
Get It: At your local dealer, or at www.nofearmx.com

Monster Energy Supercross: Seattle

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 13:10:08 -0000

Click the following link for a 36-photo gallery of Supercross race action from the Seattle Supercross.

You can also click the following link for a 30-photo gallery from Saturday's pre-race action in the pits, as well as timed qualifying.

Don't forget, if you're a Vital MX member, you can comment on any of the photos in the gallery. Not a member? Join now! It's fast and free.

The second-to-last round of the 2008 Monster Energy Supercross series in Seattle provided plenty of drama in both the Lites and the Supercross classes.

In the Lites main, we finally saw a resolution of the battle between Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey and Boost Mobile Yamaha of Troy’s Jason Lawrence for supremacy in the Lites West Regional series. Dungey took the win, and while he trimmed half of the six-point lead that Lawrence had heading into the night’s action, Lawrence grabbed his first AMA Pro title.

After the race, Lawrence said…well, not much. The party started early, and we doubt that any of the media actually got a chance to talk to him.

In the Supercross class, Chad Reed (L&M Racing / San Manuel Band of Mission Indians / Yamaha) had a 13-point lead over Torco Racing Fuels Honda’s Kevin Windham. That lead appeared to be in serious jeopardy shortly after the drop of the gate, as Reed went down in the first turn, and had to start from the tail of the field while Windham took off with the lead. Windham later tangled with a Tuff Blok, and the cover from it got stuck in his rear wheel. While K-Dub stopped to extract it, Honda Red Bull Racing’s Andrew Short took over the lead, which he held for the next 15 laps.

Watching both Reed and Windham work their way to the front of the pack was amazing. Windham moved back into the lead with three laps to go, and Reed passed Short on the last lap to grab second.

Reed’s once-sizable lead has now been trimmed to only ten points, and the season finale is next weekend in Las Vegas. We'll have more quotes from the top riders in Seattle later, but in the meantime, be sure to check out the photo gallery (see the links above) for much more from Seattle.

Monster Energy Supercross Results
Seattle, WA

Supercross Lites Heat 1
1. Ryan Dungey
2. Brett Metcalfe
3. Justin Brayton
4. Broc Hepler
5. Zach Osborne
6. Chris Blose
7. Tommy Hahn
8. Eric McCrummen
9. Justin Keeney

Supercross Lites Heat 2
1. Dan Reardon
2. Jason Lawrence
3. Austin Stroupe
4. Robert Kiniry
5. Matt Lemoine
6. Wil Hahn
7. Gavin Gracyk
8. Adam Chatfield
9. Shaun Skinner

Supercross Heat 1
1. Kevin Windham
2. Davi Millsaps
3. Josh Grant
4. Timmy Ferry
5. Tyler Bright
6. Jason Thomas
7. Josh Demuth
8. Charles Summey
9. Ryan Clark

Supercross Heat 2
Chad Reed
1. Andrew Short
2. Travis Preston
3. Nick Wey
4. Josh Hill
5. Jeff Gibson
6. Bryan Johnson
7. Heath Voss
8. Manuel Rivas Gomez

Supercross Lites LCQ
1. Kyle Beaton
2. Michael Willard
3. Kyle Cunningham
4. Carlos Gonzalez

Supercross LCQ
1. Dusty Klatt
2. Chris Gosselaar

Supercross Lites Main Event
1. Ryan Dungey (Suzuki)
2. Jason Lawrence (Yamaha)
3. Broc Hepler (Yamaha)
4. Austin Stroupe (Kawasaki)
5. Tommy Hahn (Kawasaki)
6. Justin Brayton (KTM)
7. Brett Metcalfe (Kawasaki)
8. Kyle Cunningham (Honda)
9. Michael Willard (Honda)
10. Justin Keeney (Honda)
11. Chris Blose (Suzuki)
12. Adam Chatfield (Suzuki)
13. Shaun Skinner (Honda)
14. Gavin Gracyk (Honda)
15. Zach Osborne (Yamaha)
16. Matt Lemoine (Yamaha)
17. Wil Hahn (Yamaha)
18. Kyle Beaton (Yamaha)
19. Carlos Gonzalez (KTM)
20. Robert Kiniry (Honda)
21. Eric McCrummen (Honda)
22. Dan Reardon (Honda)

Supercross Main Event
1. Kevin Windham (Honda)
2. Chad Reed (Yamaha)
3. Andrew Short (Honda)
4. Davi Millsaps (Honda)
5. Timmy Ferry (Kawasaki)
6. Josh Grant (Honda)
7. Josh Hill (Yamaha)
8. Nick Wey (KTM)
9. David Vuillemin (Suzuki)
10. Heath Voss (Honda)
11. Charles Summey (Yamaha)
12. Ryan Clark (Honda)
13. Jeff Gibson (Kawasaki)
14. Jason Thomas (Honda)
15. Manuel Rivas Gomez (Kawasaki)
16. Chris Gosselaar (Honda)
17. Tyler Bright (Honda)
18. Travis Preston (Kawasaki)
19. Dusty Klatt (Kawasaki)
20. Bryan Johnson (Honda)
21. Josh Demuth (Honda)

What do you think? If you’re a Vital MX member (membership is free), you can leave a comment below, or talk about it in the Vital MX Forums.

Vital MX Pit Bits: Seattle

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 09:31:36 -0000

Click the following link for the latest news, along with a 30-photo gallery covering Saturday's pre-race action in the pits from the Seattle Supercross.

Rather than the mud that the riders are usually greeted with in Seattle, the track is actually rather dusty for this afternoon’s practice sessions. The day is sunny and cool, and the track conditions include lots of rocks…everything from marble size to small bowling balls. That should make conditions extremely interesting for tonight’s racing.

Before the night is over, we'll have answers to the final piece of the puzzle in the Lites West title chase between Ryan Dungey and Jason Lawrence. (Lawrence leads that one by six points, heading into tonight.) We'll also get a bit clearer picture on the Supercross championship title chase between Chad Reed and Kevin Windham, where Reed has a 13-point advantage.

Be sure to check back later for full race coverage from Seattle.

What do you think? If you’re a Vital MX member (membership is free), you can leave a comment below, or talk about it in the Vital MX Forums.

Checking in With Kevin Windham

Sat, 26 Apr 2008 03:03:06 -0000

It's getting down to the end of the 2008 Monster Energy Supercross Series, and things are getting a little tense. While L&M Racing / San Manuel Band of Mission Indians / Yamaha's Chad Reed still has a 13-point lead, that's less than half of what he had earlier in the season. Despite Chad's hard crash two weeks ago in Detroit, and gusty performances over the last two weeks, he's shown that he has a lot of fight left in him.

Last week's winner, Torco Racing Fuels Honda's Kevin Windham, is Chad's closest pursuer and he one with the best shot at taking the title away from the speedy Aussie. But since Detroit, when Kevin took exception to some of Chad's post-race comments (the two had a close moment while Windham was lapping Reed), things have been a bit more tense between the two tital rivals. You can check out some of K-Dub's post-St. Louis comments by clicking the link above.

Who'll take the title? Well, like we always say, there's a reason that they run all the races, and we'll know after next weekend's final race in Las Vegas. But between now and then, stay tuned for webcast coverage on supercrossonline.com, TV coverage on Speed, and our usual race coverage here on Vital MX.

The Big Picture: St. Louis 2008

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 21:56:56 -0000

The Lites East Regional title wrapped up last weekend with Trey Canard grabbing the 1E plate after a wide open battle with Ryan Villopoto, and in the big-bore class it's anything but wrapped up between Chad Reed and Kevin Windham. Here are a few of our favorites from last weekend in St. Louis.

Click the dimensions (1400 x 1050 or 1440 x 900) next to each photo to open the large image in the aspect ratio that work best for your monitor. After the window pops up with the large image, you can right click to save it as your desktop image (PC), or Control-click to set it as your desktop (Mac).

	Kevin Windham 1400 x 1050 1440 x 900
	Davi Millsaps 1400 x 1050 1440 x 900
	Trey Canard, and Ryan Villopoto 1400 x 1050 1440 x 900
	Trey Canard and Crew Podium Celebration 1400 x 1050 1440 x 900
	Tommy Hahn 1400 x 1050 1440 x 900
	Chad Reed 1400 x 1050 1440 x 900
	Nate Ramsey 1400 x 1050 1440 x 900
	Dan Reardon 1400 x 1050 1440 x 900