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Horsham to host FIM World Junior Motocross Championship in 2018

Horsham to host FIM World Junior Motocross Championship in 2018

Motorcycling Australia (MA) has announced that the Horsham Motorcycle Club has won the right to host the FIM World Junior Motocross Championships (WJMX) in 2018.

The 2018 FIM World Junior Motocross Championship will be held over three days, with practice taking place on Friday, qualifying taking place on Saturday, and racing to occur on Sunday.

Countries from around the world select their best young up-and-coming riders to compete in individual classes and team events. The specific dates in 2018 are still yet to be finalised.

Horsham Motorcycle Club President Kenny Watts said hosting the event was a huge coup for the club and that it was looking forward to showcasing itself on the world stage.

“It’s the biggest junior motocross event that will ever be held in Australia, and we’re extremely excited to host it,” Watts said.

“It was a bit of a spur-of-the-moment call that I made at the 2013 Australian Junior Motocross Championship presentation night, in which I suggested it (the FIM World Junior Motocross Championships) was something we should put in for.

“The club decided to contact Motorcycling Australia and we got the ball rolling from there.”

Watts said the club was expecting hundreds of riders from across the globe to compete across the three classes (65cc, 85cc and 125cc), and would do everything possible to ensure it will be well prepared to host the world-class event.

“Horsham is already an established club with fairly impressive infrastructure, so a lot of the things we will require for the event are already in place,” Watts said.

“Since 2012 when we built this track, we’ve run 14 Australian national titles. We’ve done numerous rounds of the MX Nationals, we’ve run two Australian Women’s Motocross Championships there, plus sidecars and quad bikes; we just love running big events.

“We’ll do the right thing and we’ll go overseas and check out how other clubs are doing it in the meantime. We’ll be looking to emulate the good things and improve on the things that we think need to be improved on.”

MA CEO Dale Gilson said hosting an event such as the FIM World Junior Motocross Championship would be a massive boost to motorcycling in Australia.

“This is a magnificent result for the Horsham Motorcycling Club to be given the chance to host the FIM World Junior Motocross Championship, and I congratulate everyone involved with the process,” Gilson said.

“Landing an international event of this magnitude is not only fantastic for the Horsham community and for Victoria, but also for motorcycling in Australia overall.

“MA is always committed to showcasing events like the FIM World Junior Motocross Championship in Australia, and we will work together with the club and Motorcycling Victoria to deliver a truly wonderful event.”

Courtesy of Mcnews

Jason O’Halloran gets Moto2 call up to replace injured Mike Di Meglio

26-yearold Jason O’Halloran this week has received a call-up to the Moto2 ranks to replace the injured Mike Di Meglio in the Jir Team.

Now in this third season in the British Superbike Championship ranks with Samsung Honda, after first enjoying a stint with SMT Honda, the Wollongong rider has now been on the European stage for a number of years with a best result of British Superstock 1000 Championship runner-up last year.

Jason won the Australian Supersport Championship with Honda in 2007 and scored a highly creditable fourth place in the 2008 Australian Superbike Championship however his early move to the UK was hampered by a significant wrist injury that frustrated the early part of his career in Europe. This year he has been contesting the British Supersport Championship and scored fifth and third place finishes at Cadwell Park last weekend.

This weekend marks round 12 of the MotoGP World Championship at Silverstone, a track Jason has much experience at and thus is a good fit to slot straight into Moto2.

Jason O’Halloran – I’m really looking forward to the weekend. I race in the British Supersport championship with Samsung Honda so the Moto2 championship is a series I look up to and follow closely.

“It will be an honour and a privilege to be part of it. Silverstone is a circuit I know well and have had some good results there in the past.

“To be part of both the British Grand Prix experience and race with a very experienced team like JiR is going to be very special for me.

“It will be hard to predict any results just yet, as I’ve never even sat on a Moto2 machine, let alone ridden one, but I think coming from Supersport is probably easier than coming from the Superbike class. Either way, I’m coming to Silverstone this weekend off the back of two good results in British Supersport so my confidence is high and I’m looking forward to working with the team and learning the bike session by session.”

Jir Team Boss Gianluca Montiron – “With the hope of a speedy recovery of our main rider we decided to be present at the next races to honour the commitments with those who gave us their confidence and sponsorship.

“The healing time for the kind of injury that Mike has suffered requires patience and we are aware that he should return only when he will be at his 100% condition.

“Thanks to the friendliness of Team Samsung Honda UK, we will have Jason, a rider who knows the track well and the special English weather! We are all aware of how difficult a debut in a category which is hard-fought like Moto2 will be, furthermore this will be the first time for Jason riding a prototype machine, but we will provide all our know-how to ensure that he’ll enjoy himself and take this occasion as an opportunity to see up close the best riders of the world.”

Di Meglio suffered a compound fracture of the sacral bone and is out of action for at least 30 days and is undergoing treatment in France. His best result on the Jir machine was a seventh place in France, he has also finished outside the top 20 on a number of occasions this season, including in his last two competitive outings before his crash at Brno.

Redding’s Supermoto debut

On Saturday Scott Redding defended his lead in the Moto2 World Championship with a hard fought second place in Assen, while on Sunday he picked up his first points in the Belgian National Supermoto Championship.

After a race long duel with Pol Espargaro in the Moto2 Dutch TT at Assen, Redding parked his Kalex Moto2 bike and immediately headed south to Belgium, to compete in the inaugural Supermoto de Spa Francorchamps event.

The event, which was held in aid of a children’s cancer charity, pitched Redding against the regulars of the Belgian and Dutch Supermoto Championships, as well as other guest riders such as reigning Superstock Endurance World Champion, Grégory Fastré.

Bright sunshine, perfect track conditions and a big crowd, many fortified with copious amounts of Belgium’s finest beer, greeted Redding as he headed out for the 20-minute qualifying session, to the accompaniment of someone’s ’80s mix tape blasting out over the circuit PA.

“That was fun,” declared Redding, after the session. “It’s the first time I’ve ridden the Supermoto bike on a dirt section, which was interesting. Riding the dirt, and the big jump, was okay, but it was a bit sketchy coming off the dirt and back onto the tarmac. It was hard for me, as I ride with the knee down and need to take some lean angle but overall I was happy with the first session, which I finished in P9. Not bad when you see how fast some of these guys are!”

After the session Redding joined a group photo with all the competing riders and was presented with a race shirt by Marc Fraikin, multiple Belgian and Dutch Supermoto Champion who also races with the number 45.

It was Fraikin who took the win in the opening prestige class race, in which Redding collected three championship points and qualified for the second race aboard his Kawasaki KX450F. In the second outing, which was won by Jaimie van Sikkelerus, the Marc VDS rider improved again, picking up four more points and qualifying for the Superfinale.

The physical demands of a full race programme at Assen and then a qualifying session and two races at Spa, meant that Redding opted out of contesting the Superfinale, which was won by Kevin Novelli Vieillevoye.

“The racing was fun but also hard work, especially the dirt section. Riding the dirt on slicks and then hitting the asphalt sideways with dirt on the tyres was interesting, but mega fun! After racing in Assen yesterday and then doing two races and a qualifying session here at Spa today, I’m looking forward to a lie in tomorrow, as well as some rest ahead of the next Moto2 race at the Sachsenring. It’s been a great day here at Spa; everyone I’ve met has been fantastic and, hopefully, we’ve raised a fair bit of money for the children’s charity as well.”

“I’d like to say a big thank you to Joël Delsupexhe, the guys at AS Moto and the event organisers for the invitation and also for looking after me so well. Thanks also to Marc Fraikin for the shirt, it’s good to see there’s a fast rider behind the number 45 in Supermoto too! Finally I want to say get well soon to the Marc VDS Parts Coordinator, Patrick Kramer, who was going well in his race, until he had a bit of a moment on the jump and dislocated his shoulder,” concluded Redding.

Redding will stay on in Belgium for training, before heading to the Sachsenring next week for round eight of the FIM Moto2 World Championship, the final round before the traditional summer break.

 

Courtesy of Mcnews