QUICK LINKS LEAD BELT NATIONAL ENDURO 120 HANGTOWN MX CLASSIC TOTALLY TOMAC!

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1 QUICK LINKS LEAD BELT NATIONAL ENDURO 120 HANGTOWN MX CLASSIC TOTALLY TOMAC!

2 VOL. 52 ISSUE 20 MAY 19, 2015 LE MANS MOTOGP LORENZO DOMINATES VIR MOTOAMERICA HAYES CLEANS UP INTERVIEW THE OTHER AMERICAN: THOMAS COVINGTON

3 M JOSH HAYES/YZF -R1 JAKE GAGNE/YZF -R1 Finish Position: 1st Rider: Josh Hayes Bike: YZF-R1 Team: Monster Energy/Graves/Yamaha Class: MotoAmerica Superbike Location: VIRginia International Raceway, Alton, Virginia Race Stats: Hayes aboard his YZF-R1 claims his 50th and 51st career Superbike wins and 72nd AMA win overall. Ro picks up his 4th win in six starts in the 2nd race for the Superstock 1000 class and captures the champio Sportbike Track Time s Taylor Knapp who claims his 1st pro career win in race #1. Wheels in Motion/Moto wins Supersport race #1 with Yamalube/Y.E.S./Graves/Yamaha s JD Beach finishing 2nd and teammate G then in race 2 Beach took the win followed by Gerloff and Herrin, to cap off two straight R6 podium swee FOR CURRENT RACE RESULTS OR TO FIND THE NEAREST DEALER, VISIT YAMAHAMOTORSPORTS.COM Professional rider depicted on a closed course Yamah

4 OTOAMER1CA SWEEP. JOSH HAYES LEADS ALL 50 LAPS FOR A WIRE-TO-WIRE SWEEP OF MOTOAMERICA SUPERBIKE RACES AT VIRGINIA INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY. TAYLOR KNAPP/YZF -R1 JOSH HERRIN/YZF -R6 JD BEACH/YZF -R6 Four-time AMA Superbike Champ Josh adrace Factory/Yamaha s Jake Gagne nship lead by six over TOBC racing/ Sport.com/Meen Yamaha s Josh Herrin arrett Gerloff taking 3rd; ps! a Motor Corporation, U.S.A. All rights reserved.

5 INTERVIEW MX2 RACER THOMAS COVINGTON P68 Meet Thomas Covington America s young up-and-coming rider in the World Motocross Championship. RYAN VILLOPOTO ISN T THE ONLY AMERICAN CARRYING THE BANNER IN THE MOTOCROSS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP THE UNKNOWN AMERICAN

6 VOL. 52 ISSUE 20 MAY 19, 2015 P69 STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY SHAN MOORE Americans have renewed interest in the FIM Motocross World Championship, mainly driven by multi-time AMA Champion Ryan Villopoto s big move to MXGP for Villlopoto s not the only reason to tune into GPs, there s another American to cheer for in the MX2 class Thomas Covington. Born and raised in Alabama, Covington is one of the young up-andcoming riders to keep an eye on. The 19-year old has been a little under the radar on the U.S. scene. That probably has a lot to do with the fact that he made the unorthodox move straight from Amateur ranks to the World Championship.

7 INTERVIEW MX2 RACER THOMAS COVINGTON P70 I THINK AS FAR AS OUTDOORS GO THE EUROPEANS HAVE PROVEN THEMSELVES TO BE THE TOP GUYS HERE RECENTLY. BUT I THINK IF THE TOP EUROPEAN GUYS WENT TO THE U.S. THEY D ALSO STRUGGLE A LITTLE BIT, JUST LIKE RV [VILLOPOTO] IS HERE. Originally, Covington was set to follow the natural progression from Team Green to Pro Circuit, signing a deal with PC founder Mitch Payton that would have had him racing stateside. But what began as a warm-up for outdoors racing select MX2 rounds in 2013 turned into a full-time gig in 14 that Covington couldn t turn down. We caught up with Covington at the previous round in Spain to learn a little bit more about America s other GP racer, his decision to race in the World Championship and his plans for the future. Tell us what makes a guy go from Loretta Lynn s straight to World Motocross GP? I came over in 2013 after racing Loretta Lynn s. I got the opportunity to come over here and race the European 250 class at Matterley Basin. I did really well and I thought it was really cool and all, the whole deal. I ended up getting a deal with Mitch Payton in the U.S. to race outdoors and Supercross there. I did the first three GPs just to sort of warm up for the outdoors in the U.S. So I went to Qatar and got a really good finish there third in my first ever pro race. I did really well at the next two also. The team s over here in Europe, they were pretty interested in keeping me over here the rest of the season. I really like the traveling and everything and seeing all the

8 VOL. 52 ISSUE 20 MAY 19, 2015 P71 More at home with the conditions at the flyaway races, Covington s struggled a bit in the European rounds, trying to acclimate to the less groomed tracks. Covington chose to hit the world scene instead of the more comfortable choice of racing stateside in the National Championships. cool places. CLS [Kawasaki] offered me a good deal. I just felt like it was something I couldn t pass up, traveling the world at such an early age and getting the experience of a lifetime. If I keep doing well I can always come back to the U.S. That s pretty much how it went. Not too many guys your age get that opportunity. And most of them can t handle the travel and the food. How do you do it? I m based in Holland there and I live with my practice mechanic. For sure it s tough. I can t say it s just been all easy and fun the whole time. I ve wanted to come home quite a bit. But I managed to stick it out and just keep going. I m happy I did so far. For sure the travel and everything, it gets old. The food s not so great at some places. I think it s just making me tougher, not only with my racing, but just as a life

9 INTERVIEW MX2 RACER THOMAS COVINGTON P72 experience and everything. Just try to make the best of it. I get pretty homesick, but I m pretty used to it over here now. I know how things go. I can really focus on the racing now other than just the food, like, what am I going to eat? I m not really overwhelmed by all the traveling anymore. I m just more focused on doing my job. Where is home? Home for me is in Southern California. I was born and raised in Alabama and then the last five years I ve lived in California. This year, as far as travel, it seems like it was a pretty brutal start to the season. Qatar and then Thailand and then Argentina; that had to be rough. For me actually I love the flyaway races, when we go way off. It s pretty cool. Everyone flies in and we re there for like five or six days and we get to do some sightseeing. I just like the whole atmosphere around the flyaway races. I tend to do well at those. Qatar went well. I was second in the qualifying race and then just had a couple crashes in the heats or I would have been top five there. Got a fourth overall in Thailand and a fourth in Argentina. It s been a great start to the season, just got to get it figured out in Europe and get the ball rolling here and I ll be good to go. What do you feel like are your strengths and what are your weaknesses? And why do you feel like you ve done well at the flyaways? I think at the flyaways the tracks are always a lot better. It s more like American style. The first three races they were just a little bit wider, fast tracks. They don t get as bumpy as these ones in Europe. These tracks in Europe get so rough because there s like five or six classes with the European 250 and everything and they don t touch the track the whole weekend. It gets really hammered by the second moto. At the flyaways normally it s just MX2 and MXGP with us. So the track stays pretty fresh and they tend to prep it more. And that s just what I grew up racing on. Here in Europe the tracks are really tough. That s something I m having to get used to. Were you surprised at how well you did in MX2? Right out of amateurs? Yeah, Qatar was my first ever professional race. So to get a third place there, I was blown away. I was working hard for sure. I was working with Johnny O Mara at the time. I kind of expected to be in the top five, just with my speed and with Johnny working with me. We thought we d have a good shot at it. To get third was awesome. I just struggled to stay with it the rest of the season last year. I guess just getting used to everything, living here and all that. It was a lot to take in. Do you think you coming over here will kind of open the door for more Americans? I don t know how it got a bad The son of Mitch Covington Monster Energy s Vice President of Sports Marketing motorsports is a family affair.

10 VOL. 52 ISSUE 20 MAY 19, 2015 P73 COMING OVER HERE FOR AN AMERICAN IT S LIKE, THE WAY OF LIFE IS SO EASY BACK HOME. WE RE SPOILED FOR SURE. HERE IT S JUST TOUGH, BEING AWAY FROM HOME FOR SO LONG.

11 INTERVIEW MX2 RACER THOMAS COVINGTON rap, but it was like no Americans wanted to come over. Coming over here for an American it s like, the way of life is so easy back home. We re spoiled for sure. Here it s just tough, being away from home for so long. Last week before this race I got so homesick I had to go home for a week. I just flew back in yesterday. It s pretty tough and then when the results don t come also, it just makes it that much worse. These guys over here, they re no joke. They re a lot better than a lot of people give them credit. I think a lot of people are finding that out now with Villopoto. These guys are the real deal over here. They re good. But I think with me coming over here it kind of opens some amateur kids eyes as another option. Hopefully in the future some guys will come over. I feel like we need an American over here representing a little bit. Do you think Villopoto coming over and getting eighth and ninth and stuff has kind of opened some American s eyes and made them realize that we re not the dominant nation that we think we are? I think in certain aspects. It s so much different the racing. Here, like I said, the tracks get so rough and rutted and they don t prep it as much. It s a lot more technical and slow speed kind of. There it s wide open and really intense the outdoors. So it s just a different style of riding. Now that Covington has a year under his belt in MX2, he s looking to return to the podium. P74 And also in the U.S. we ve got Supercross. So they don t really even have an off-season; they re just constantly going, going, going. I think as far as outdoors go the Europeans have proven themselves to be the top guys here recently. But I think if the top European guys went to the U.S. they d also struggle a little bit, just like RV [Villopoto] is here. It s just completely different. It s really hard to compare the riders because it s so much different. Tell me how this year has gone for you. This year has gone really well. We ve improved the bike a lot with the team here. So the starts have been a lot better. Pretty much overall everything s been good. I feel a little bit more at home and just more comfortable. Hopefully I can keep it up there in the top five and get some solid points. My goal is to be in the top five in points at the end of the year. So are you staying in Holland because the team s based there? Yeah, the team s right down the road Also because it s in the sand. Coming from America we don t have anything like that. It s new for me. I m about 30 minutes from Lommel. I go there a lot. Just trying to get used to riding in the sand. It makes you a lot stronger too because it s so rough and bumpy all the time. Have you gotten used to the fans and how crazy the fans are at different tracks? Yeah, that s awesome. I love the atmosphere at the GPs.

12 VOL. 52 ISSUE 20 MAY 19, 2015 P75 IT S HARD FOR ME NOT TO WANT TO GO BACK AND DO THAT [RACE IN THE U.S.]. BUT AT THE SAME TIME I VE GOT A PRETTY SWEET DEAL GOING HERE. JUST KIND OF PLAYING IT BY EAR. Argentina seemed like it was really crazy That s one thing that drew me into the GPs was the atmosphere the fans, and everything. It s awesome. They re so into it. Even when I m having a bad weekend they re still like, you ll get him next weekend. They re really positive. They re awesome. Do you have kind of a plan mapped out for the next few years? Or are you just playing it by ear? I change my mind quite a bit. I d like to go back home and race Supercross and all that because that s what I ve grown up dreaming about since I was five years old racing Supercross and the outdoors in the U.S. It s hard for me not to want to go back and do that. But at the same time I ve got a pretty sweet deal going here. Just kind of playing it by ear. See how the rest of the season goes and then make the decision. So you really love the GP scene and stuff, huh? I do. I love the racing and everything. The one thing I d rather live at home. I wish I could go home every week. But I do love the racing and everything here What do you feel are your strong points and what do you think are your weak points? My strong point is probably that I m just pretty relaxed. I don t get too crazy and crash a lot. Just more smooth and not get too crazy out there. And my starts have been strong this year, so hopefully I can keep that up. Pretty much just got to keep my starts up. My weaknesses are probably when the tracks get really rough and blown out at the end of the second moto is when I tend to struggle a little bit. Have you built up a fan base yet? You go to a different country and the fans are going, there s the young American? Yeah. I like to think I do. I ve got a lot of fans just because I m American. Americans have built up that name because we ve been the best for so long. So I d like to think I have quite a few fans over here now, but also a lot of people back in the U.S. who maybe never even heard of me before racing amateurs there. They tune into the GPs and see how I m doing, which is cool to see. I was at Enduro two weeks ago and everybody on Saturday, all the mechanics had their phones out and they were looking at the GP qualifying and stuff. So I think what you and Villopoto have done for the sport over here was bring more attention to it back home. For sure. Especially with Ryan coming over here, it s like it brought life back to the GPs. Put the spotlight on them a little bit. That s cool to see. The championship, it s for sure tough. It s hard. I think it deserves quite a bit of respect. It s cool to see it getting some more attention. CN

13 IN THE WIND P48 NAMBOTIN, MEO, PHILLIPS TOP PORTUGUESE WORLD ENDURO The FIM World Enduro Championship carried on with the third stop of the series in Gouveia, Portugal. The first day of the GP of Portugal saw new winners in all three classes as Eero Remes, Alex Salvini and Matthew Phillips celebrated victories in the E1, E2 and E3 classes, respectively. Sunday saw Nambotin and Meo rebounding to top the podium in the E1 and E2 classes while Phillips celebrated a double victory in the E3 class. It was a memorable weekend for Team Honda as Alex Salvini rode to an outstanding victory on Saturday, capturing the E2 win by six tenths of a second ahead of Antoine Meo. Salvini celebrated another podium finish on Sunday, finishing third behind Meo and Pela Renet to take an important step forward in the championship. Meo remains in control of the E2 class, however, and the KTM Factory Rider used a 2-1 tally to top the weekend. I m very happy about Saturday s victory, although I have to say it was a tough race until the end, said Itali Salvini. On Sunday I started good but then I made a disastrous third round with some mistakes, losing four seconds in the extreme test and 11 in the cross one. These two small errors cost me the race and also the second place that was within my reach. I tried to push harder in the last two special tests, but unfortunately it was not enough. Salvini was narrowly edged out by defending champion Pela Renet, who took the runner-up position by only three tenths of a second. It was a really tough race, Renet said. There were so many rocks during each lap that there was no place to relax. It was really hard going both on and off the special tests. It was hard to know if you had to use the ruts or the soft, dusty berms on the outsides of the corners. It s been a real enduro. Factory KTM E1-class star Christophe Nambotin injured his Christophe Nambotin overcame a knee injury to top the E1 class on Sunday, and extend his lead in the championship. knee on Friday evening during the KTM Super Test, but he fought through the pain all weekend to card a 2-1 finish in the small-bike class. Although TM rider Eero Remes celebrated the E1 win on Saturday, Nambotin protected his lead in the championship by winning nine out of 11 tests on Sunday. I just wanted to forget about the pain on Saturday, said Nambotin. I went on the attack and that paid off. I had a really good feeling in the Enduro test and this helped me to widen the gap to the others. Nambotin also credited his strong finish to his trainer and the support from the team. Without this, I wouldn t have been able to tackle such a PHOTOGRAPHY BY FUTURE 7 MEDIA

14 VOL. 52 ISSUE 20 MAY 19, 2015 P49 tough day like this, Nambotin added. In the E3 class, Factory KTM s Phillips was on point. The Australian rider swept the open class in Portugal, and succeeded in cutting into Mathias Bellino s points lead. Bellino who scored a double victory at the previous round carded a somewhat disappointing 2-4 finish, but the Bel-Ray Husqvarna Factory rider still holds a four-point lead over Sherco s Matti Seistola in the E3 championship. Phillips is another eight points back in third. I didn t get the results that I hoped for but it s certainly not been a disaster, Bellino said. I got some cramps on day one, also made a few mistakes and didn t have enough speed in the motocross test. Day two was really disappointing. I don t really know what happened, but to miss out on a podium result on the final test is hard. But the championship goes on and there is a lot more racing to be done. Factory KTM s Laia Sanz once again dominated the Enduro Women s class with a perfect 1-1 sweep of the weekend. In the Junior ranks, Jamie McCanney held on to the lead with a 2-2 finish, although it was Beta riders Giacomo Redondi and Steve Holcombe who split wins at the GP of Portugal. Jean Turner Laia Sanz once again dominated the Enduro Women s class. WHIBLEY CROWNED The New Zealand National Cross Country Championship title came down to the wire at the final round of the series between Paul Whibley and Adrian Smith. Whibley, the twotime GNCC Champion and sixtime OMA Champion, managed to pull off a win at the finale, and earn the title after a somewhat tumultuous race. I got off to a good start, taking the holeshot and leading the way around the 23-km [14.3-mile] loop, Whibley said. It was hard to pull away on the fresh track and at one point we all bunched up as we had to push through a mob of sheep. Mid-lap while leading, I missed some arrows and went the wrong way, dropping back to about 15th. I could see Adrian [Smith] in the lead group so I knew I had to make quick work of the guys between me and him. I pushed hard and took plenty of chances in the mostly open farmland. Somehow I clawed my way forward and retook the lead before the end of the first lap. From that point on, Whibley remained in control of the race. He suffered a crash on a slick grassy downhill on the second lap, but the Yamaha Freedom Moto rider was able to re-mount his YZ450F before the secondplace rider closed in. Smith gave it everything he had to catch Whibley, but was forced to retire early from the race after suffering mechanical issues. Despite the DNF, Smith still carded the runner-up finish in the championship. Last time my name was on this trophy was 2002, Whibley commented. Long time between NZ titles, but it s good to be back. Jean Turner