The fifth consecutive FIM Women’s Motocross World Championship (WMX) title was won on Dunlop tyres on Saturday, 23 October. New Zealander Courtney Duncan was crowned champion for the third time in as many years. Eddy Seel, event leader MXGP, Dunlop, said he is “proud of Dunlop’s track record in this increasingly competitive championship.”
Dunlop rider Romain Febvre scored his first Grand Prix win of the FIM Motocross World Championship season at Lommel, Belgium, on Sunday. The Frenchman shared the podium with fellow Dunlop rider Pauls Jonass, who placed third. Both riders tackled one of the championship’s toughest circuits on Dunlop’s Geomax tyres. Dunlop also continued its success in the FIM Women’s Motocross World Championship; Shana van der Vlist won the second round of the season, beating six-time champion Kiara Fontanesi to lead a Dunlop 1-2 result. The brand is by far the most successful tyre brand in WMX competition, having taken Fontanesi or Duncan to the championship win in eight of the nine last seasons.
Maxxis shares that its new MaxxCross MX-SM sand motocross tyre – a product “designed to offer the performance expected by professionals” – is now in stock. The tyre is distributed by Bickers in the UK.
Maxxis continued its 2019 MXGP progress in the 2020 season, with its MaxxCross range helping to deliver podiums in several European classifications. For the second consecutive year, a rider on MaxxCross tyres won the European 125cc Motocross Championship with Andrea Bonacorsi of Fantic Motor factory team after the title win in 2019 with Mattia Guadagnini. The manufacturer said that the newest addition to the MaxxCross range, the MX-SM sand tyre, had proven its performance alongside the championship-winning MX-ST, offering consistent high performance.
Mitas has extended the Terra Force-MX motocross competition tyre range, introduced at the beginning of 2019, to include junior sizes designed for motorcycles from 50cc to 85cc engine displacement. These additional sizes will be available from October.
The Bridgestone British Masters Battlecross Championship (Pro & Amateur MX1 MX2, plus all youth classes), Bridgestone Cup and Bob Lewis Memorial Trophy will all be on the line in a one-off, winner-takes-all event at Cusses Gorse near Salisbury in September. Covid-19 lockdown restrictions have seen the competitive racing season all but cancelled, but the one-off weekend in Wiltshire has been agreed to being the most effective way of crowning this year’s champions, meaning that one or two shocks might just be on the cards.
154 days since the last race at Valkenswaard, Netherlands, Glenn Coldenhoff restarted the FIM Motocross World Championship season off in winning form, taking victory with Dunlop tyres at Kegums, Latvia. The Dutch rider gave the new Standing Construct GasGas Factory Racing Team its maiden win on Sunday afternoon after a tense late-race battle in the second of two rounds in the MXGP of Latvia. Earlier in the day, Coldenhoff narrowly missed out on the Race 1 win by 1.9 seconds. Eddy Seel, MXGP event leader, Dunlop: “It was great to see MXGP return to action after a five-month break, and even better that Coldenhoff and GasGas took a memorable victory with Dunlop Geomax tyres. With four more races on the same track over the next week, our partner teams can fight for even more wins soon.”
Dunlop’s versatile Geomax MX-33 tyre has been selected as original equipment on every KTM and Husqvarna 2021 motocross range. The tyre has proven its race-winning performance in top-level motocross races around the world. Dunlop signed a three-year extension to its MXGP World Championship tyre partnership in February 2020.
Already a popular option with dirt bike riders across the pond, the road-legal Kenda Trakmaster motocross tyre range is now available in the UK through exclusive distributor Cambrian Tyres.
Bridgestone’s position within the motocross tyre segment has been strengthened by its selection by Britain’s most decorated rider of all time, who labelled the range as “amazing”. In what Bridgestone describes as a “huge breakthrough”, the brand will be fitted to all bikes at Dave Thorpe’s Honda Off-Road Centre as well as to each bike at his Honda Adventure Centre.
Bridgestone continues to grow its presence in motorcross, which the company describes as a motorsport market fuelled with “incredible potential.” Just five years ago, Bridgestone barely had a presence in the motocross tyre sector but has grown exponentially assume a significant share – which is expected to rise further in the years ahead.
Maxxis is offering visitors to its Motorcycle Live stand website the chance to win a Mattia Guadagnini replica Husqvarna TC 125, marking the maiden racing season of the brand’s MaxxCross MX-ST and MaxxEnduro tyres. Guadagnini clinched the 125c FIM Junior Motocross World Championship and the European Motocross Championship on the MX-ST, while Brad Freeman lifted the 2019 Enduro GP World Championship.
At its Motocross of Nations (MXoN) press conference, Dunlop revealed the latest Geomax range addition, the MX53. This will be part of the brand’s portfolio for the 2020 MXGP and Supercross seasons. The tyre sits between the ‘super-hard’ terrain MX71 and the highly versatile MX33 in Dunlop’s wide Geomax portfolio.
The 73rd Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations (MXoN) took place at Assen, which saw a home win for Team Netherlands. The MXoN rounded off the season by bringing together the top motocross riders from around the world to race for their country, rather than for rider and manufacturer honours. The event also features multiple tyre manufacturers, and Dunlop emerged from the weekend with five wins from seven races (including three qualifying races, a B-final and three heats of the final). Dunlop also unveiled its latest addition to the Geomax range during the event.
Already a major success in the United States with several factory level partnerships, Kenda Tyres is the latest tyre brand to enter the UK market. It’s wasted no time in partnering with some promising British talent – the P.F.K. Ling group, who, with 12 riders in its stable for 2019, operates one of the largest motocross and enduro teams in East Anglia.
Mitas
Bridgestone
Dunlop