JONNY WALKER WINS EDDY EXTREME ENDURO CHAMPIONSHIP

Raptor Titanium sponsored rider Jonny Walker continued his success of the past few weeks by winning the British Eddy Extreme Enduro Championship as he held off fellow Raptor Titanium sponsored rider Graham Jarvis of D3 Husaberg in a thrilling final round at Enduroland, Adstone for the championship win.

Fresh back from success at Erzberg and Romaniacs and there was no time to rest for the Raptor Titanium sponsored KORR team, straight into the final round of the Eddy Extreme Championship and all eyes would be on the close battle between Raptor Titanium sponsored riders Jonny Walker and Graham Jarvis.

Jonny started the last round with a 2 point advantage and both riders are on top form at this moment.

The final of the 3 round championship at Enduroland in Adstone would be very
different from the previous rounds, the course a combination of a difficult very
slippy Enduro loop with cambers, wooded sections combined with a superb
outdoor Endurocross track made for a circuit of just over 3 minutes and great
racing in all classes. The format would be 2 x 20 minute races on the full
course followed by 2 x 10 minute races on the Endurocross track, all races to
carry full points for the championship.

Jonny started race 1 with a holeshot with his main rival Jarvis in hot pursuit. Still riding with a shoulder injury from Romaniancs Jonny was riding defensively and for several laps Jarvis kept the pressure on but in the last part of the race Jonny would open up a solid lead as he started to relax and find a good rhythm.

Race 2 would again see Jonny lead from the start but this time from lap one he
was more confident and you could see it in his riding, in the first lap he pulled
out a large gap on the rest of the field and nobody would get close to challenge
him and again he took the chequered flag.

Race 3 would be using only the Endurocross circuit, which is Jonny's domain
and he put on a masterful display with another start to finish win and with that enough points to deservedly win the 2012 British Eddy Extreme Enduro
Championship.

Race 4 was time to relax and have fun, again Jonny took the holeshot but Jarvis was in a much more determined mood and showed why he is such a difficult opponent, managing to pass Jonny and the pair for several laps pushed each other to entertain the crowd, eventually Jonny found a gap in the last couple of laps to take another win.

Results - Pro-Class, Adstone

1. Jonny Walker SHR KORR KTM 300 EXC - British Champion
2. Graham Jarvis Flight D3-Racing Husaberg 300 FE
3. Paul Bolton Eurotek KTM 300 EXC

BRITISH MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP REALLY HOTS UP AFTER ROUND 5 AT DESERTMARTIN AS RAPTOR TITANIUM SPONSORED RIDERS SWEEP THE FIELD ONCE AGAIN

After several days of torrential rain in the UK, the organizers seemed to have performed miracles on the former World GP venue sand-track at Desertmartin, Northern Ireland as the conditions on race day were perfect for racing.

MX2

The first MX2 race got off to a flyer as Raptor Titanium sponsored riders Elliot Banks-Browne of HM Plant KTM UK and Mel Pocock of Bike It Cosworth Monster Energy Yamaha, series points leaders and favourites to come out on top this season went straight into battle, dicing for the lead ahead of Samsung Yamaha men Steven Lenoir and local Irishman Graham Irwin. After a costly mistake from Pocock early in the race, Banks-Browne capitalized and went on to win, with Pocock managing to get back to 3rd place behind Irwin in 2nd.

Race 2 was a much closer start with the rest of the pack getting in the mix, however Pocock still managed to pull away early on with Banks-Browne getting caught in traffic early on and having ground to make up on his championship rival. In a thrilling climax, Banks-Browne had closed right in on Pocock and put in a pass on the second-to-last lap, but Pocock wasn't going to be denied after leading the entire race, and managed to claw back the lead in the final few corners and clinch the win in race 2, with Banks-Browne settling for 2nd.

The stage was set for another epic encounter in the final race, with Banks-Browne gaining the early advantage with the hole-shot and stretching a sizeable lead after only a few laps. The HM Plant KTM UK man looked uncatchable towards the end, but a slip meant he was thrown off right in the dying laps, handing the victory to Pocock who claimed the overall victory for the event, shrinking the standings points difference to just 8 points.


Raptor Titanium sponsored rider and overall winner at Desertmartin Mel Pocock


Raptor Titanium sponsored riders Elliot Banks-Browne and Mel Pocock do battle


MX2 Overall Result

1 Mel Pocock (Monster Energy Yamaha) 70
2 Elliott Banks-Browne (HM Plant KTM UK) 70
3 Steven Lenoir (Emberson Yamaha) 58
4 Graeme Irwin (Emberson Yamaha) 54
5 Stuart Edmonds (Tyco Suzuki) 49
6 Bryan MacKenzie (Rockstar KTM) 47
7 Neville Bradshaw (Evo-Tech Stevens Honda) 44
8 Nicolas Aubin (Buildbase Honda) 43
9 James Cottrell (DB Racing Honda) 37
10 Nathan Watson (PAR Honda) 34

MX2 Series Standings

1 Banks-Browne 294
2 Pocock 286
3 Lenoir 233
4 Bradshaw 227
5 MacKenzie 220
6 Irwin 200
7 Aubin 194
8 Edmonds 145
9 Jordan Booker 133
10 Cottrell 127
31 James Dunn 18


MX1

It was another totally dominant performance from rampant Raptor Titanium sponsored rider Kevin Strijbos of HM Plant KTM UK as he swept all three motos with ease and reclaimed the series red plate points lead. Desertmartin also saw an impressive return to form from Raptor Titanium sponsored rider and newly appointed Tyco TAS Suzuki local hero Martin Barr who took second overall with a 3-2-2 on the day with some fast and aggressive riding which signals his return to contention after a disappointing spell at LPE Kawasaki. KTM STR's Matiss Karro took another podium spot after a consistent day, taking 2-3-3 as he diced with Barr in all the races.


Dominant force at Round 5 Raptor Titanium sponsored rider Kevin Strijbos


Raptor Titanium sponsored riders Shaun Simpson and Gert Krestinov dice in the Desert


MX1 Overall result

1 Kevin Strijbos (HM Plant KTM UK) 75
2 Martin Barr (Tyco Suzuki) 64
3 Matiss Karro (STR KTM) 60
4 Gert Krestinov (MVR-D Honda) 50
5 Dorren Coutts (PAR Honda) 43
6 Kristian Whatley (PAR Honda) 41
7 Alex Snow (Oakleaf Kawasaki) 40
8 Ray Rowson (LPE Kawasaki) 40
9 Shaun Simpson (Monster Energy Yamaha) 38
10 Tony Craig (MOM Honda) 28

MX1 Series standings

1 Strijbos 313
2 Karro 308
3 Simpson 277
4 Krestinov 226
5 Sword 198
6 Barr 189
7 Whatley 186
8 Snow 159
9 Law 156
10 Coutts 137

ENDURO SPECIAL: RAPTOR TITANIUM SPONSORED RIDERS WIN BOTH ERZBERG RODEO AND RED BULL ROMANIACS EVENTS

The best possible result rang true for Raptor Titanium as the two toughest Enduro events of the year rolled round, firstly in Austria for the Erzberg Rodeo Enduro and then onto Romania for the Red Bull Romaniacs Enduro.

Erzberg

In what ended up as a 99.7% DNF rate in arguably the world's toughest Enduro, it was Raptor Titanium sponsored British ace Jonny Walker who prevailed around the notoriously difficult Erzberg Rodeo circuit, with fellow brits Dougie Lampkin in 2nd and Ben Hemingway in 3rd. Massive waves of riders totaling 1800 athletes lined up early in the weekend to try and make it through qualifying in the Iron Road Prologue. By Sunday, 500 top riders were selected to test their mettle in the Red Bull Hare Scramble. The final race was plagued by inclement weather with heavy fog and continuous rain turning the course into a veritable minefield of treacherous obstacles.

Of only 7 riders that finished the entire event, 5 of them were British. Unfortunately Raptor Titanium sponsored rider Graham Jarvis of D3 Husaberg and many's favourite to take the event was disqualified due to missing a check-point.

Another of our sponsored men was the last man to finish, but of the the seven riders out of 1800 starters that did finish it was a fantastic achievement for Raptor Titanium's Dan Hemingway.


Jonny Walker, 2012 Erzberg Enduro Champion



Erzberg Rodeo Red Bull Hare Scramble Results 2012

1. Jonny Walker (KTM)
2. Dougie Lampkin (Gas-Gas)
3. Ben Hemingway (KTM)
4. Paul Bolton (KTM)
5. Taichi Tanaka (KTM)
6. Lars Enöckl (KTM)
7. Dan Hemingway (KTM)


Romaniacs

After disappointment at Erzberg, a determined Graham Jarvis took no prisoners the following weeekend at the Romaniacs Enduro as he consistently put in the fastest times, remaining unchallenged throughout the event, on his own at the front under no pressure from the rest of the field.

2012 Erzberg Champion Jonny Walker came in 3rd place overall, becoming the youngest ever podium finisher for the event and cementing his reputation as the future man-to-beat in the sport.


Graham Jarvis, 2012 Red Bull Romaniacs Enduro Champion

Results Day Three

1 Graham Jarvis, Britain, Husaberg, 5:02.11

2 Chris Birch, New Zealand, KTM 5:19.26

3 Andreas Lettenbichler, Germany, Husqvarna, 5:27.05

4 Melcior Faja, Spain, KTM, 5:27.10

5 Xavier Galindo, Spain, Husberg, 5:28.05

6 Jonny Walker, Britain, KTM, 5:28.45

7 Ervin Kovacs, Romania, KTM, 5:46.29

8 Altus de Wet, South Africa, KTM 6.03.59

9 Darryl Curtis, South Africa, KTM 6:06.27

10 Harry Neumayer, Austria, KTM 6:14.27


Overall Standings after Day Three

1 Graham Jarvis, Britain, Husaberg, 13:43.14

2 Andreas Lettenbichler, Germany, Husqvarna, 14:28.33

3 Jonny Walker, Britain, KTM, 14:58.56

4 Chris Birch, New Zealand, KTM 15:05.52

5 Xavier Galindo, Spain, Husberg, 15:14.38

6 Melcior Faja, Spain, KTM, 15:47.05

7 Erwin Kovacs, Romania, KTM, 16:16.15

8 Darryl Curtis, South Africa, KTM 17:09.47

9 Altus de Wet, South Africa, KTM 17:20.33

10 Rienk Tuinstra, Netherlands, 17:30.34

DUNGEY SWEEPS BOTH MOTOS AGAIN AT ROUND 5 OF THE 2012 AMA MOTOCROSS, WITH RAPTOR TITANIUM SPONSORED RIDERS 2ND TO 8TH IN THE 250 LITES CLASS

A warm and sunny day greeted motocross enthusiasts as they streamed into Budds Creek for Round 5 of the 2012 AMA Motocross Championship.

250 Lites Class

Geico Honda and Raptor Titanium sponsored SX Champions Justin Barcia and Eli Tomac were on top in qualifying, with Raptor Titanium sponsored Ken Roczen of KTM Red Bull USA in third.

The first moto got off to flying start for Roczen as he seized the holeshot ahead of Barcia and the two started to pull away from the rest of the pack very early on. Pro Circuit Kawasaki and series points leader Blake Baggett sat in third, waiting to strike in one of his characteristic late charges towards the end. Behind Baggett were Tomac and Roczen's team-mate Marvin Musquin. On the 12th lap, Roczen had an awful run of luck and surrendered both the lead and second place to Barcia and Baggett and was forced to settle for third in the opening moto, with Barcia taking the victory and Baggett in 2nd. Musquin came in 4th, with Tomac in 5th.

Moto 2 saw former Raptor Titanium sponsored rider Ivan Tedesco grab the holeshot before quickly being passed by Roczen and Musquin before crashing out. Once again, however, Baggett sat not too far behind the action at the front and waited for the opportunity to pounce on the leader and claim victory, clinching the victory from a very hard-done-by Roczen who was held up by lapped traffic to settle for 2nd and Tomac came in 3rd.

250 Lites Results

1. Blake Baggett 2/1 KAW
2. Ken Roczen 3/2 KTM
3. Justin Barcia 1/5 HON
4. Eli Tomac 5/3 HON
5. Marvin Musquin 4/4 KTM
6. Jason Anderson 7/6 SUZ
7. Wil Hahn 6/7 HON
8. Jake Canada 13/8 HON
9. T Baker 12/10 HON
10. P Nicoletti 14/9 HON
11. Jessy Nelson HON
12. Blake Wharton SUZ
13. Gareth Swanepoel YAM
14. Ivan Tedesco KAW
15. Alex Martin HON
16. Malcolm Stewart KTM
17. Kyle Cunningham YAM
18. Hunter Hewitt SUZ
19. Dakota Tedder KAW
20. Kelian Rusk HON




450 Motocross Class

It was Raptor Titanium sponsored rider Ryan Dungey of KTM Red Bull USA's day to lose as he came to Budds Creek with two back-to-back overall wins in the previous rounds after the demise of a rampant James Stewart in the series.

The first moto saw factory Honda man Justin Brayton claim the holeshot, but Dungey soon moved into the lead and made it look easy as he controlled the race from that point onwards, with Raptor Titanium's Mike Alessi of Motoconcepts Suzuki in 3rand Ryan Sipes of Star Valli Yamaha in 7th.

Alessi took the holeshot in the second moto ahead of Pro Circuit Kawasaki's Broc Tickle who is making an impressive comeback from injury. Dungey soon got to grips with both of them though and raced easily to victory once again, remaining unchallenged by the rest of the field.




450 Motocross Results

1. Ryan Dungey 1/1 KTM
2. Broc Tickle 2/2 KAW
3. Mike Alessi 4/3 SUZ
4. Jake Weimer 3/4 KAW
5. Justin Brayton 5/8 HON
6. Brett Metcalfe 8/6 SUZ
7. Josh Grant 10/5 KAW
8. Davi Millsaps 9/7 YAM
9. Andrew Short 6/10 HON
10. Ryan Sipes 7/11 YAM
11. Kyle Chisholm KAW
12. Jimmy Albertson SUZ
13. Kyle Regal YAM
14. Michael Byrne SUZ
15. Matt Lemoine KAW
16. B Laninovich HON
17. Cole Thompson HON
18. Les Smith KTM
19. Ben Lamay YAM
20. Robert Marshall KTM



250 Lites Points

Blake Baggett 222
Justin Barcia 209
Eli Tomac 200
Ken Roczen 200
Marvin Musquin 153
Wil Hahn 130
Jason Anderson 106
Blake Wharton 102
Ivan Tedesco 99
K Cunningham 96
Jake Canada 95
Jessy Nelson 88
Travis Baker 82
Gareth Swanepoel 74
Alex Martin 55
Malcolm Stewart 48
Kyle Peters 45
Martin Davalos 40
Zach Freeberg 40
Hunter Hewitt 36

450 Motocross Points

Ryan Dungey 236
Mike Alessi 182
Jake Weimer 179
Andrew Short 154
Brett Metcalfe 142
Broc Tickle 134
James Stewart 116
Josh Grant 111
Nico Izzi 95
Justin Brayton 93
Ryan Sipes 86
Davi Millsaps 85
Kyle Chisholm 84
Michael Byrne 75
Matt Lemoine 56
Jimmy Albertson 46
Kyle Regal 39
Tommy Hahn 39
B Laninovich 37
Vince Friese 34

ROUND 8 OF THE FIM WORLD MX CHAMPIONSHIP GOES TO BELGIUM AND SEES HERLINGS AND SEARLE TRADE MOTO WINS AND CAIROLI SWEEPS BOTH MOTOS IN MX1

After 48 hours of torrential rain before race day on Sunday, qualifying saw the majority of the riders go absent as the thick, muddy conditions made the track not too dissimilar from the Beta Carrero, Brazil quagmire a few weeks before. The local Belgians Jeremy Van Horebeek from KTM Red Bull qualified top in MX2 and Clement Desalle from Rockstar Suzuki qualified first in MX1.

MX2

After plenty of hard work from the organizers overnight and some sunshine to dry out the track meant that conditions for racing were pretty much perfect on Sunday as the first MX2 race kicked off. Raptor Titanium sponsored Brit Tommy Searle of the Floride Monster Energy Kawasaki team got the holeshot, but was soon passed by a rampant Jeff Herlings from KTM Red Bull who looked to streak away early on, but Searle responded midway through the race and closed back on the Dutchman, but a few minor mistakes saw Herlings re-establish his lead and take the first win, with Herlings' team-mate Jeremy van Horebeek in 3rd, Searle's team-mate and fellow Raptor Titanium-sponsored rider Joel Roelants in 4th and Jake Nicholls of JM Nestaan KTM in 5th.

The second moto saw Searle establish a commanding early lead as Herlings fought his way up through the pack and allowed Searle to get away to take the second moto win, and with a 2-1 overall result meant Searle took the overall GP victory. Van Horebeek took another 3rd and Raptor Titanium's Arnaud Tonus from Bike It Cosworth Monster Energy Yamaha is coming back from injury very quickly indeed as he held off fellow Raptor Titanium sponsored rider Joel Roelants for 4th place, with Roelants finishing 5th.

Raptor Titanium sponsored riders Alessandro Lupino from the factory Husqvarna Ricci Racing squad and Mel Pocock, team-mate to Tonus from Cosworth Yamaha, got 9th and 10th respectively.

MX2 Results

1. Tommy Searle 2/1 KAW
2. Jeff Herlings 1/2 KTM
3. Jeremy Van Horebeek 3/3 KTM
4. Joel Roelants 4/5 KAW
5. Arnaud Tonus 7/4 YAM
6. Jordi Tixier KAW
7. Jake Nicholls KTM
8. Jose Butron KTM
9. Alessandro Lupino HUS
10. Mel Pocock YAM






MX1

It was all about KTM Red Bull's Antonio Cairoli who was on imperious form in the MX1 class as he sprinted into the lead early on in the first moto, almost two seconds a lap faster than anyone else meant he won comfortably ahead of Raptor Titanium sponsored rider Gautier Paulin of the Kawasaki Racing Team who almost executed the perfectly planned race as he put in his fastest laps right at the end to close the gap right up on Cairoli to pressure him, but couldn't clinch the win. A bit more of a challenge for Cairoli in the second race after a bad start for the Italian meant he had to work his way up through the pack, however his superior speed saw him scythe his way up into the lead by lap 8 and didn't look back from there, with no more challenges to his lead from then on he won by 11 seconds over Raptor Titanium's Christophe Pourcel of CP377 Monster Energy Kawasaki in 2nd place. Raptor Titanium sponsored riders Kevin Strijbos of HM Plant KTM UK got overall 4th place, KRT's Gautier Paulin got 5th, his team-mate Xavier Boog got 8th, with Christophe Pourcel's team-mate brother Sebastian Pourcel claiming overall 9th.

MX1 Results

1. Tony Cairoli 1/1 KTM
2. Clement Desalle 3/3 SUZ
3. Christophe Pourcel 5/2 KAW
4. Kevin Strijbos 4/4 KTM
5. Gautier Paulin 2/9 KAW
6. Ken De Dycker 10/6 KTM
7. Tanel Leok SUZ
8. Xavier Boog KAW
9. Sebastian Pourcel KAW
10. David Philippaerts YAM







MX2 Points

Jeffrey Herlings 364
Tommy Searle 340
J v Horebeek 308
Joel Roelants 238
Jordi Tixier 217
Jake Nicholls 204
Max Anstie 191
Alessandro Lupino 152
Jose Butron 150
Dylan Ferrandis 139

MX1 Points

Tony Cairoli 345
Clement Desalle 298
Christophe Pourcel 292
Gautier Paulin 289
Ken De Dycker 237
David Philippaerts 212
Xavier Boog 211
Kevin Strijbos 207
Rui Goncalves 169
Tanel Leok 168

DUNGEY ON A ROLL AFTER ROUND 4 OF THE 2012 AMA MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP, AND GEICO HONDA MEN BARCIA AND TOMAC HAVE A STORMER AS THEY CLAIM FIRST AND SECOND OVERALL, WITH TOMAC GETTING HIS SECOND OVERALL WIN OF THE LITES CHAMPIONSHIP SO FAR

The qualifying rounds at Round 4 of the 2012 AMA Motocross Championship from High Point, PA last weekend were surprising as an injured James Stewart struck right back by setting the fastest lap time in the 450 class, with both KTM Red Bull USA riders Ken Roczen and Marvin Musquin setting the pace in the 250 Lites class.

250 Lites Class

Raptor Titanium sponsored rider Justin Barcia of the Geico Honda squad was first out the blocks in the first 250 moto, with his team-mate Wil Hahn a close second, but not for long as the 2011/2012 SX East Lites Champion pulled a gap of about seven seconds on Hahn, looking very fast and comfortably went on to win the race ahead his team-mate Eli Tomac who made a late charge through the pack to grab 2nd place with Pro Circuit Kawasaki's Blake Baggett in 3rd.

It was Roczen who was first off the line round the first corner in the second 250 moto with Barcia and Baggett right on his tail. Baggett soon got past Barcia, and looked to do his usual late race win tactic like we have seen so often in the early races of this championship, before having an unsteady moment going off the track and having to rejoin the race in sixth place. With two laps to go Tomac had got around his team-mate Barcia and was pressuring Roczen for the lead. Setting a blistering lap time in the last lap meant Tomac squeezed by Roczen moments from the end to take a thrilling race win and the overall for the day!



250 Lites Results

1. Eli Tomac 2/1 HON
2. Justin Barcia 1/3 HON
3. Ken Roczen 5/2 KTM
4. B Baggett 3/5 KAW
5. M Musquin 6/4 KTM
6. Wil Hahn HON
7. Ivan Tedesco KAW
8. J Anderson SUZ
9. K Cunningham YAM
10. Jessy Nelson HON
11. Alex Martin HON
12. G Swanepoel YAM
13. Travis Baker HON
14. Kyle Peters YAM
15. Jake Canada HON
16. Dakota Tedder KAW
17. Matt Moss KTM
18. Hunter Hewitt SUZ
19. Blake Wharton SUZ
20. Zach Freeberg KTM


450 Motocross Class

The racing wasn't a classic in the 450 class, and without a resurgent James Stewart in old form seen in previous weeks it was all Raptor Titanium's Ryan Dungey of KTM Red Bull USA who took a 1-1 result on the day, winning both motos and extending his championship lead to 44 points over second place fellow Raptor Titanium sponsored rider Mike Alessi of Motoconcepts Suzuki.





450 Motocross Results

1. R Dungey 1/1 KTM
2. M Alessi 2/2 SUZ
3. J Weimer 3/3 KAW
4. A Short 4/8 HON
5. D Millsaps 9/4 YAM
6. B Metcalfe 7/5 SUZ
7. B Tickle 6/9 KAW
8. R Sipes 12/6 YAM
9. N Izzi 8/10 YAM
10. M Byrne 13/7 SUZ
11. J Brayton 11/13 HON
12. K Chisholm 14/12 KAW
13. J Stewart 5/39 SUZ
14. Vince Friese SUZ
15. Josh Grant KAW
16. Kyle Regal
17. J Albertson
18. Ben LaMay YAM
19. B Laninovich HON
20. M Lemoine KAW

250 Lites Points

Blake Baggett 175
Justin Barcia 168
Eli Tomac 164
Ken Roczen 158
Marvin Musquin 117
Wil Hahn 101
Blake Wharton 87
Ivan Tedesco 86
Kyle Cunningham 86
Jason Anderson 77
Jake Canada 74
Jessy Nelson 69
Travis Baker 62
Gareth Swanepoel 61
Alex Martin 43
Kyle Peters 42
Martin Davalos 40
Zach Freeberg 38
Malcolm Stewart 38
Hunter Hewitt 30

450 Motocross Points

Ryan Dungey 186
Mike Alessi 144
Jake Weimer 141
Andrew Short 128
James Stewart 116
Brett Metcalfe 114
Nico Izzi 95
Broc Tickle 90
Josh Grant 84
Kyle Chisholm 66
Justin Brayton 64
Michael Byrne 63
Ryan Sipes 62
Davi Millsaps 59
Matt Lemoine 45
Tommy Hahn 39
J Albertson 32
R Kiniry 31
Vince Friese 30
B Laninovich 29

FIRST WIN OF THE YEAR FOR DESALLE, WITH RAPTOR TITANIUM'S GAUTIER PAULIN SECOND ON THE PODIUM IN MX1, WITH TOMMY SEARLE GRABBING ANOTHER RACE WIN TO STAY IN CONTENTION WITH HERLINGS IN MX2 AT ROUND 7 OF THE WORLD MX GP CHAMPIONSHIP IN AGUEDA, PORTUGAL

Changeable weather conditions and the wide open championships in both MX1 and MX2 championships made for another fantastic weekend of racing at Round 7 of the FIM World MX GP season in Agueda, Portugal at the weekend.

MX2

Jeffrey Herlings of KTM Red Bull made it look business as usual in the qualifying race on the Saturday before race day on Sunday winning by 15 seconds over his championship rival Raptor Titanium sponsored rider Tommy Searle of Floride Pro Circuit Kawasaki.

Things seemed to be going the same way as Herlings sprinted off into the lead in the first moto on Sunday and didn't look back from there, winning over his team-mate Jeremy Van Horebeek by 25 seconds and taking a commanding grip on the day, extending his championship points lead. Bud Racing Kawasaki and Raptor Titanium sponsored rider Valentin Teillet got an impressive 5th place in the first race, with Bike It Cosworth Monster Energy Yamaha and Raptor Titanium sponsored rider Arnaud Tonus making a great comeback from injury with a 7th place.

The second race was much closer as the two main rivals of Herlings and Searle clashed for the lead, with the weather deteriorating both riders struggled to get the upper hand,. A controversial hold-up from Raptor Titanium sponsored rider Mel Pocock (who got an excellent 7th overall for the weekend himself) on Herlings saw Searle get the advantage to take the win and keep Herlings within striking distance in the championship.

MX2 Results

1. Jeffrey Herlings 1/2 KTM
2. Tommy Searle 3/1 KAW
3. J v Horebeek 2/6 KTM
4. Max Anstie 10/3 HON
5. Jake Nicholls KTM
6. Jordi Tixier KTM
7. M. Pocock YAM
8. R Febvre KTM
9. G Coldenhoff KTM
10. D Ferrandis KAW




MX1

The MX1 class was as close as ever as the increasingly dominant top four of Tony Cairoli, Clement Desalle and Raptor Titanium sponsored riders Christophe Pourcel of CP377 Kawasaki and Gautier Paulin of Kawasaki Racing Team battled at the front of the field on both races, Desalle gaining the advantage on the day for his first overall MX1 GP win of 2012.

Desalle of the Rockstar Energy Suzuki MX1 team took the first race by a convincing 6 seconds over 2nd place Christophe Pourcel, with Tony Cairoli in 3rd and Gautier Paulin in 4th.

The second MX1 moto saw Paulin and Cairoli take it right to the wire in one of the closest battles of the year so far as Paulin beat the Italian by one second over the finish line. Desalle got 3rd to secure the overall win for the day with a 1-3 result, beating Paulin just who got 4-1 overall for the day.

Paulin's team-mate and fellow Raptor Titanium sponsored rider Xavier Boog got a great 6th overall for the day and now sits 7th in the championship standings, just ahead of fellow Raptor Titanium sponsored rider Kevin Strijbos of HM Plant KTM UK who sits in a solid 8th position.

MX1 Results

1. Clement Desalle 1/3 SUZ
2. Gautier Paulin 4/1 KAW
3. Tony Cairoli 3/2 KTM
4. Christophe Pourcel 2/4 KAW
5. Ken De Dycker 5/5 KTM
6. Xavier Boog KAW
7. Rui Goncalves HON
8. Jonathan Barragan HON
9. T Leok SUZ
10. D Philippaerts KAW


MX2 Points

Jeffrey Herlings 317
Tommy Searle 293
J v Horebeek 268
Joel Roelants 204
Max Anstie 191
Jordi Tixier 187
Jake Nicholls 175
Al Lupino 129
Jose Butron 126
D Ferrandis 125

MX1 Points

Tony Cairoli 295
Clement Desalle 258
Gautier Paulin 255
Christophe Pourcel 254
Ken De Dycker 211
David Philippaerts 190
Xavier Boog 185
Kevin Strijbos 171
Rui Goncalves 156
Tanel Leok 142

The championship goes to Belgium next week for Round 8!

DUNGEY SEIZES POINTS LEAD AS JAMES STEWART HAS HUGE CRASH AT THUNDER VALLEY, AND RAPTOR TITANIUM SPONSORED RIDERS ON THE TOP STEP OF THE PODIUM AGAIN AS JUSTIN BARCIA TAKES OVERALL WIN IN 250 CLASS

Round 3 of the AMA Motocross Championship got underway at Thunder Valley, Colorado last weekend with Yoshimura Suzuki's James Stewart and Raptor Titanium's Ryan Dungey of KTM Red Bull USA having had some epic clashes so far, with Stewart coming out on top in the first two rounds with almost unraceable speed and technique to claim a perfect 100 points, reminiscent of his 2008 campaign where he won every single race of the season. Dungey has never been too far behind though and this time was determined to put a stop to Stewart's dominance, unfortunatley it wasn't to be in head-to-head racing as a disastrous mistake from Stewart in the opening 450 moto meant he injured his wrist and so logged two DNF's in both races, handing the points lead to Dungey and is now pegged back to third place in the points standings, uncertain of whether he will participate in the next round at High Point next week, tied with Raptor Titanium sponsored rider Mike Alessi of Motoconcepts Suzuki, with Monster Energy Kawasaki's Jake Weimar being promoted to second in the title hunt, just one point ahead of Stewart and Alessi.

450 Motocross Class

Dungey had a reasonable start in the first 450 race a few places behind James Stewart who took the hole-shot, then Tommy Hahn and Jake Weimar in third with Dungey in fourth. Because of Stewart's crash, Dungey's main rival was out of contention and the KTM Red Bull USA rider swept easily to victory with Weimar in 2nd, Stewart's Suzuki team-mate Brett Metcalfe in 3rd and then a string of Raptor Titanium riders with Mike Alessi in 4th, Nico Izzi of Star Valli Yamaha in 5th and his team-mate Ryan Sipes in 6th.

The second 450 moto was Dungey's to lose as it was confirmed James Stewart would not race, and the KTM Red Bull USA man grabbed the opportunity with both hands and cruised to victory in the second race, going 1-1 on the day, taking the red plate and a 35-point lead over next man Jake Weimar in the championship.


Raptor Titanium sponsored rider Ryan Dungey

450 Motocross Results

1. Ryan Dungey 1/1 KTM
2. Jake Weimer 2/4 KAW
3. Andrew Short 7/2 HON
4. Nico Izzi 5/5 YAM
5. Brett Metcalfe 3/10 SUZ
6. Mike Alessi 4/9 SUZ
7. Justin Brayton 9/6 HON
8. Michael Byrne 12/7 SUZ
9. B Laninovich 11/8 HON
10. K Chisholm 10/11 KAW
11. Broc Tickle KAW
12. Matt Lemoine KAW
13. Shane Sewell KTM
14. Josh Grant KAW
15. Ryan Sipes YAM
16. D Anderson KAW
17. Ben LaMay YAM
18. Vince Friese SUZ
19. Les Smith KTM
20. J Albertson SUZ


250 Lites Class

The 250 Lites Class was as aggressive and fast-paced as ever, with the elements contributing their own addition to the drama with thunder and lightning accompanying the feverish gate drop on the first race after a postponement due to the adverse weather conditions. After a while, the weather firmed up and the riders were able to race.

Raptor Titanium sponsored riders Justin Barcia and Ken Roczen were quickest off the mark round the first corner, with Roczen's team-mate and fellow Raptor Titanium sponsored rider Marvin Musquin in close third and Rockstar Suzuki and Raptor Titanium sponsored rider Blake Wharton in fourth. Roczen pushed Barcia right until the chequered flag, but couldn't find a way around the Geico Honda man, settling for 2nd place with Pro Circuit Kawasaki's Blake Baggett in 3rd, Raptor Titanium sponsored rider and last week's overall winner Eli Tomac in 4th ahead of a Raptor Titanium sponsored rider-packed top ten, with Musquin in 5th, Wharton in 6th, Jake Canada in 6th, Kyle Cunningham in 8th and Wil Hahn in 9th.

The second 250 Lites moto saw Barcia grab another holeshot of the day, seeming to excel in the tough conditions with a string of Raptor Titanium sponsored riders behind him once again off the gate with Roczen in second, Tomac in 4th, Musquin in 5th and Hart and Huntington Kawasaki and Raptor Titanium sponsored rider Ivan Tedesco in 6th having a great ride in his return season to the 250 class. It wasn't to be all Barcia's way again though as Blake Baggett had other ideas, lapping insanely fast lap times towards the midway point in the race (almost 3 seconds a lap faster than the next rider) and made it count, dispatching the East Lites SX and MX2 World champions' Barcia and Roczen with ease and moving into the lead. Soon after, Roczen asserted superior speed and technique over Barcia and passed the Geico Honda man into second place but there was no catching Baggett who took the win and overall 2nd, Barcia's 1-3 result good enough to see him onto the top step of the podium. Roczen's 2-2 result was good enough to get him 3rd on the podium once again and keeps him third in the title race, three points behind Barcia and still well in the title hunt.

250 Lites Results

1. Justin Barcia 1/2 HON
2. Blake Baggett 3/1 KAW
3. Ken Roczen 2/4 KTM
4. Eli Tomac 4/3 HON
5. M Musquin 5/5 KTM
6. M Stewart 8/6 KTM
7. Blake Wharton 6/9 SUZ
8. Wil Hahn 10/7 HON
9. K Cunningham YAM
10. Jake Canada 7/14 HON
11. Ivan Tedesco 14/8 KAW
12. G Swanepoel YAM
13. J Anderson SUZ
14. Travis Baker HON
15. Hunter Hewitt SUZ
16. Jessy Nelson HON
17. Alex Martin HON
18. Zach Freeberg KTM
19. Kyle Peters YAM
20. P Nicoletti HON


Raptor Titanium sponsored rider Justin Barcia


2012 Thunder Valley 250 Lites Podium

Raptor Titanium sponsored riders now sit 2nd to 10th place in the 250 Lites standings and are leading the 450 Motocross standings with Ryan Dungey holding the red plate!

450 Motocross Points

Ryan Dungey 136
Jake Weimer 101
James Stewart 100
Mike Alessi 100
Andrew Short 97
Brett Metcalfe 84
Josh Grant 73
Nico Izzi 71
Broc Tickle 63
Kyle Chisholm 50
Justin Brayton 46
Michael Byrne 41
Matt Lemoine 39
Tommy Hahn 39
Ryan Sipes 38
R Kiniry 31
Davi Millsaps 29
D Anderson 24
B Laninovich 23
J Albertson 23

250 Lites Points

Blake Baggett 139
Justin Barcia 123
Ken Roczen 120
Eli Tomac 117
Marvin Musquin 84
Blake Wharton 82
Wil Hahn 71
Kyle Cunningham 65
Jake Canada 62
Ivan Tedesco 61
Jason Anderson 54
Jessy Nelson 48
Travis Baker 43
Gareth Swanepoel 42
Martin Davalos 40
Malcolm Stewart 38
Zack Freeberg 35
Kyle Peters 27
Joey Peters 27
Hunter Hewitt 25

KTM RED BULL RIDERS TIGHTEN THEIR GRIP ON MX1 AND MX2 CHAMPIONSHIPS, BUT RAPTOR TITANIUM SPONSORED TEAMS NOT FAR BEHIND IN BOTH CLASSES

The sunshine was out in full force for the qualifying day at Round 6 of the FIM World MX GP Championship in St Jean D'Angely, France with Raptor Titanium sponsored riders Christophe Pourcel and Tommy Searle, both of Floride Pro Circuit Monster Energy Kawasaki, sweeping the qualifying races to take both MX1 and MX2 pole positions on race day on Sunday.

MX2

Tommy Searle had a nasty start out of the gate in the first moto, not getting the required jump to keep up with the nimble KTM's off the starting blocks and ended up down in mid-pack around the first corner, handing the initiative to his KTM Red Bull championship rivals Jeffrey Herlings and Jeremy Van Horebeek who slugged it out for the lead, with Herlings establishing early form and taking the win with Van Horebeek in 2nd. Searle managed to claw back a 3rd place finish to limit the damage from Herlings' win. Raptor Titanium sponsored rider and Searle's team-mate Joel Roelants came 4th, Bud Racing Kawasaki and Raptor Titanium sponsored rider Valentin Teillet grabbed an impressive 5th in front of his home crowd and Monster Energy Bike It Cosworth Yamaha's Arnaud Tonus on Raptor Titanium footpegs made a fantastic return to form taking 7th place after fighting of a surging Christophe Charlier for most of the race.

The second moto saw Searle learn from his mistake in race 1, and despite fast starts once again from the KTM's of Herlings, Van Horebeek and Jordi Tixier the KTM's could not detach from the main pack as easily and had to go bar-to-bar with the rest of the field. Searle seized the opportunity and sprinted into an early lead (passing fellow Raptor Titanium sponsored rider Arnaud Tonus who got the hole-shot) early in the race and went on to dominate to the chequered flag, with Herlings in 2nd to secure the overall victory for the GP with a 1-2 and Van Horebeek in 3rd to take third place overall with 2-3. Searle got the second step of the podium with 3-1 result for the day.

Tonus had a heart-in-mouth moment for Steve Dixon's Monster Energy Bike It Cosworth Yamaha team as he went down early in the second race and as he is already coming back from an injury that put an end to his world championship prospects, he was unfortuante to come away with 17th place, but most importantly did not exacerbate his existing injuries.

MX2 Results

1. Jeffrey Herlings 1/2 KTM
2. Tommy Searle 3/1 KAW
3. J v Horebeek 2/3 KTM
4. Joel Roelants KAW
5. Jordi Tixier KTM
6. Valentin Teillet KAW
7. Jake Nicholls KTM
8. Max Anstie HON
9. Petar Petrov SUZ
10. Romain Febvre KTM


Raptor Titanium sponsored rider Tommy Searle 2nd overall


The competition in the MX1 class was as fierce as ever as championship leader Tony Cairoli seemed unable to get to grips with track in the qualifying race as Raptor Titanium sponsored riders Christophe Pourcel and Gautier Paulin clinched 1st and 2nd to take first choice of the opening gate on race day.

MX1

It was a different story on race day as KTM's "unfair advantage" slogan rung true as Cairoli stormed into the lead in the first moto but Christophe Pourcel was hot on his heels in second place to set up a great battle. Pourcel trailed Cairoli for the first half of the race, thrilling the crowds, but eventually dropped of the KTM World Champion and it was Kawasaki Racing Team and Raptor Titanium's Gautier Paulin who had a resurgence towards the end after a bad start to challenge Cairoli. The Italian wasn't going to please the French crowd though and hung on for the win. Paulin settled for 2nd with Christophe Pourcel in 3rd.

The second race was a classic, with Cairoli repeating the first race with an unbeatable hole-shot to take the lead early on, however it was Monster Energy Yamaha's Stephen Frossard who challenged the Italian this time to give hope to the crowds of a French race win for the day, capitalizing on a mistake from Cairoli and taking the lead several laps into the race. Cairoli countered though with pressure of his own, and soon Frossard went down handing the lead back to Cairoli. Paulin got another awkward start in the mix at the beginning and was down in sixth place on the first lap, but was soon putting down the fastest lap times as he had been all weekend to get right back up to a challenging position for the lead. He eventually pushed himself too far, and a mistake cost him second place which saw Christophe Pourcel charge through and put some incredibly quick lap times around his home track to make a challenge of his own and tightened the gap right up between himself and Cairoli. It wasn't to be a French fairytale though as Cairoli kept his cool and showed why he's dominated for so many years now, taking the second race win and the overall victory to increase his championship points lead and keeps the red plate going into the GP of Portugal next weekend.

Raptor Titanium sponsored rider and Paulin's team-mate Xavier Boog got a fantastic 5th overall, and Christophe Pourcel's team-mate, brother and fellow Raptor Titanium sponsored rider Sebastian Pourcel got 8th overall, which was a great result for him in front of his home crowd. Raptor Titanium sponsored riders and British Championship rivals Kevin Strijbos of HM Plant KTM UK sits in 8th in the points standings, Shaun Simpson of Monster Energy Bike It Cosworth Yamaha sits in 12th and Mattis Karro of KTM STR Racing is in 14th place in the standings, representing British teams at the top level and users of our footpegs throughout the field.

Raptor Titanium sponsored British rider Jamie Law rode as a wild card entry for KTM STR Racing replacing the injured Nathan Parker and cemented fantastic 24th and 23rd places respectively, so a truly magnificent weekend for him.

MX1 Results

1. Tony Cairoli 1/1 KTM
2. Christophe Pourcel 3/2 KAW
3. Gautier Paulin 2/3 KAW
4. Clement Desalle 5/4 SUZ
5. Xavier Boog KAW
6. David Philippaerts YAM
7. Steven Frossard YAM
8. Sebastian Pourcel KAW
9. Ken De Dycker KTM
10. Rui Goncalves HON


Raptor Titanium sponsored riders Christophe Pourcel and Gautier Paulin


Raptor Titanium sponsored rider Gautier Paulin


Raptor Titanium sponsored rider Xavier Boog


Raptor Titanium sponsored rider Mattis Karro

MX2 Points

Jeffrey Herlings 270
Tommy Searle 248
J v Horebeek 231
Joel Roelants 188
Max Anstie 160
Jordi Tixier 159
Jake Nicholls 144
Alessandro Lupino 118
Jose Butron 110
Dylan Ferrandis 107

MX1 Points

Tony Cairoli 253
Christophe Pourcel 214
Clement Desalle 213
Gautier Paulin 212
Ken De Dycker 179
David Philippaerts 169
Xavier Boog 161
Kevin Strijbos 154
Rui Goncalves 134
Tanel Leok 121