JUNE 2015
Hands of a builder, page 10 CONTENTS 4 THE AMAZING JOURNEY OF CAREY HART 6 DUNLOP RIDERS RULE IN GNCC 8 RUSSELL RIPS IN AMA NATIONAL ENDURO 10 VICTORY RACES TO THE CLOUDS 20 CHANGING FORTUNES AT ROAD ATLANTA & VIR 32 DOUG POLEN RIDES DUNLOP TIRES LAP OF HONOR AT VIR 34 DUNLOP SWEEPS HANGTOWN AMA MOTOCROSS OPENER 46 BUCKET LIST 48 THE CHAMPIONS 74 SUPERCROSS 2015 82 UPCOMING EVENTS ON THE COVER: Josh Hayes scored an historic 50th Superbike win at VIR. Photo: Brian Happy 50th Nelson Dunlop has gone social, so join the conversation on our Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest pages, and check out our latest videos on the Dunlop YouTube channel. @RideDunlop 2 Dunlop Download magazine is published for Dunlop Motorcycle Tires by Vreeke & Associates. www.vreeke.com 2 3
THE AMAZING JOURNEY OF CAREY HART Dunlop-sponsored Carey Hart is one of the most iconic characters in our sport. A top privateer motocross racer, Hart became a household name among extreme athletes and fans for landing the world s first backflip at the televised Gravity Games in 2000 in front of millions of viewers. Still an active freestyle rider decades after that defining moment, Hart went on to become a successful entrepreneur with a string of tattoo parlors, his own reality show, the Hart and Huntington clothing company and a nightclub in the Las Vegas Hard Rock; most recently he became the co-owner with Ricky Carmichael of RCH Suzuki Racing. New fame came when he married rock star Pink, and along with it the need for some peace and quiet. CHECK OUT THIS VIDEO OF HART S AMAZING JOURNEY 4 5
DUNLOP RIDERS RULE IN GNCC After five rounds in the 13-round 2015 AMA AMSOIL Grand National Cross Country Series, one trend became clear, there s still plenty of racing ahead, and anything can happen. However, one trend is clear: If you want to climb the podium, riding on Dunlop tires is a great way to get there. Dunlop-sponsored Kailub Russell is riding his Factory FMF KTM in the premier XC1 Pro Class, and as 2014 champ he s on a tear to keep that number-one plate on his bike can you say five for five? Russell is absolutely perfect on the year with every win to his name for 150 points. And that s saying a lot, considering just how grueling these three-hour-long GNCC events are. Meanwhile, second place in the standings with 118 points is another Dunlop rider: Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing s Josh Strang. After nailing down four consecutive runner-up finishes he had to settle for a fourth-place finish at round 5, the Limestone 100 in Springville, IN. Russell s Limestone win didn t come easily, as rainfall the day before made for challenging track conditions. Shortly after the start, he collided with another rider, went down and restarted dead last. It was a tough day straight from the start, Russell said after the race. The track was slick and a lot worse than I had anticipated, but it got better and better. It took me a good bit to catch the leaders, but it was one of those days you wanted someone in front of you. That last lap I knew I needed to minimize mistakes and ride well, and I was able to do that. This latest victory also serves as a career milestone; it elevated Russell s GNCC total wins to 27, surpassing legendary 1980s racer Ed Lojak for third place on the list of all-time winners. 6 7
RUSSELL RIPS IN AMA NATIONAL ENDURO Dunlop-shod factory KTM rider Kailub Russell enjoys full control of the 2015 AMA National Enduro Series after the fifth of 10 rounds finished up in Park Hills, MO. In fact, three of the top five riders in the points standings were Dunlop-sponsored, including Russell in the points lead, KTM teammate Russell Bobbitt in third and Andrew DeLong on a Husqvarna in fifth. There is scarcely a greater test of a rider, bike and tires than an enduro, which requires racers and their equipment to generate mistake-free speed under wide variations in terrain over six special tests. In the most recent event, the Lead Belt National Enduro, Russell scored his first overall win of the year in particularly tough conditions that included slippery woods sections and plenty of water crossings. In doing so, the KTM rider mastered the course perfectly, winning four of the six tests along the way and finishing second in the other two. At the finish, Russell had clawed out an advantage of 1 minute and 37 seconds over the second-place rider. The 10-month-long series revs up again in Upton, WY, on June 14. 8 9
VICTORY RACES TO THE CLOUDS Victory Motorcycles and Roland Sands Design have joined forces to conquer Pikes Peak with a machine built by Sands and his RSD staff and powered by a prototype engine from Victory. We caught Sands mid-build and asked him what it was all about. 10 RSD SPONSORED BY DUNLOP 11
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MY HEART HAS ALWAYS BEEN ON THE RACETRACK SO THIS IS A PERFECT WAY TO GET BACK INTO RACING WITH FACTORY SUPPORT DOING WHAT I DO TODAY DESIGNING ONE-OFF MOTORCYCLES. DD: What was the genesis of this project? RS: Victory is looking to establish a high-performance brand. The obvious way to do that is through racing and building high-performance products. They re doing it with drag racing and now by taking on Pikes Peak with RSD and a prototype product. Why did Victory take this on? They wanna go fast. A prototype engine is a huge deal. What do you think of that level of commitment? It s a huge amount of effort from a lot of people and it shows Polaris is committed to the Victory brand. With Indian coming on board it took a lot of attention initially and Victory was in the shadows, so I see them working to reestablish the brand while attempting to separate it from Indian. This motor is a big step in that direction. The guys who have been working on the project, Alex Opperman in particular, have been doing this project predominately off the clock, so they really believe in what we re doing. What s the most important at Pikes Peak in terms of the bike? What s most important is to make Cycle World s Don Canet, who s riding the bike, comfortable. Of course it s got to be lightweight and fast and handle well. Those are all things we re working towards daily. This project is really insane because we are building a racing motorcycle in two months from scratch on a tight budget, so every decision is critical. Fingers-crossed it works as good as we hope it does. 14 15
WE GET THE SATISFACTION OF BUILDING A ONE-OFF RACING MOTORCYCLE WITH A BEAUTIFUL AND RADICAL ONE-OFF MOTOR FROM VICTORY FOR AMERICA S GREATEST ROAD RACE. Is Pikes Peak becoming our Isle of Man? It s about as close as we get here in the States. There are other hill climb races, but Pikes is the longest running and the most grand. What does your bike have that other entries don t? I m not sure what else is coming. But I would venture to say it will be the only ground-up, hand-built-in-the-usofa prototype motorcycle running up the hill. What does this project mean to you personally and RSD? My heart has always been on the racetrack, so this is a perfect way to get back into racing with factory support doing what I do today designing one-off motorcycles. And this bike being designed specifically for Pikes Peak is timed nicely with RSD going in a more high-performance direction. So it s the right move and an interesting story as well. What do you get out of this? We get the satisfaction of building a one-off racing motorcycle with a beautiful and radical one-off motor from Victory for America s greatest road race. What does Victory get out of this? They get race cred, the tie-in with RSD and a strong marketing message that touches both the racing and custom world with what will hopefully be a successful Pikes campaign and a beautiful finished product. But I think both those things ring true for both RSD and Victory. We want the same things out of this. It s a really good collaboration. Motor just showed up...got to go! 16 17
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CHANGING FORTUNES AT ROAD ATLANTA & VIR 20 RIDERS SPONSORED BY DUNLOP 21
CAMERONBEAUBIER 22 23
It was probably one of the lowest points of my career, said Yoshimura Suzuki Superbike rider Roger Lee Hayden after the MotoAmerica race weekend at Road Atlanta. Hayden set pole for the April 19 event his first of the year but with both races run in wet, at times very wet conditions, keeping a hugehorsepower motorcycle rubber down was a challenge. Unfortunately, Hayden crashed out of both Superbike races held at Atlanta. Other riders who pulled out impressive results at the dreary Road Atlanta event were Joe Roberts who won both Superstock 600 races on his Meen Yamaha, Josh Day who won the Superstock 1000 contests after being a last-minute replacement to the Yamalube/Westby Superstock effort, and Superbike rookie Jake Lewis who finished on the podium twice in his first rain race on the Yoshimura Suzuki Superbike. Riders who were able to stay aboard and upright in the tricky conditions capitalized all weekend long. Yamaha Superbike rider Cameron Beaubier did his first ever Superbike double, winning both races at Atlanta. He departed the red Georgia clay with a 30-point lead in the championship. I struggled a lot in the wet in the few outings we had last year. To get two wins in the wet, sketchy conditions today was good for my confidence. In the first race Josh [Hayes] and Roger [Hayden] were riding really good and it was a bummer to see Roger Lee go down. I put my head down and started clicking off laps. I just kept going, kept going. I had a good feel in the wet. I didn t want to throw it down, but I just kept clicking off laps. Even Beaubier was shocked when Hayden pulled away and also when he eventually crashed out. Oh, man, he s gone, I thought, said the California rider. I was struggling a little bit with grip. I saw Rog crash, then I saw Josh [Hayes] crash. It was a bummer. I want to race those guys to the finish. I just kept trucking along. The biggest news on Saturday was the return of former Superbike champion Josh Herrin to the winner s circle in the U.S. Herrin, riding a Meen Motorsports R6, won Saturday s Supersport race by.482 of a second. On Sunday it was Herrin s rival Garrett Gerloff who took home the top middleweight prize. Lewis said, I was always a good rain rider, but I was having a tough time getting used to it on the 1000. My parents talked to me and told me they had confidence in me and reminded me I was good in wet conditions. I woke up Sunday morning and decided to push harder and it paid off. I got a lot of my confidence back racing in these conditions, and it feels great to be on the podium. Hopefully I can keep it up as the season goes on. In practice and qualifying there was a sound on the track not heard in some time in U.S. national racing a Ducati Superbike, and one lapping very quickly. Young racer Huntley Nash took a week off college to enter the Road Atlanta MotoAmerica event on the LTD Ducati. Atlanta is his home track, and friends and family were on hand to see him qualify fourth in the wet. A crash and mechanical gremlins killed his dream of a podium finish in Superbike at Atlanta, but Nash was back in action at VIR, and always threatening. The pendulum swung the other way at Virginia International Raceway (VIR) in mid-may. Yamaha s Hayes rebounded hard to win both of VIR s Superbike races, scoring his 50th and 51st career AMA Superbike wins. Roger Hayden performed a minor miracle by finishing second in VIR s second Superbike race. As the series hits June, Beaubier leads Hayes 131 to 115 in the MotoAmerica Superbike championship points tally. ROGER LEEHAYDEN 24 25
JAKELEWIS GARRETTGERLOFF 26 27
JOEROBERTS JOSHHERRIN 28 29
50 WINS Josh Hayes made history at VIR. He became only the second rider in the 39-year history of AMA Superbike racing to win 50 Superbike races. The first rider to achieve the magical milestone was Mat Mladin. Hayes followed up his historic win with another victory on the second day of the VIR double-header, bringing his total to 51 wins all of them on Dunlop tires. 30 31
DOUG POLEN RIDES DUNLOP TIRES LAP OF HONOR AT VIR Doug Polen rode the Dunlop Tires Lap of Honor at the MotoAmerica race at Virginia International Raceway (VIR), led the fan ride, signed autographs and presented the Superbike trophies on Sunday. Polen came up through the amateur ranks, winning races across the country before turning pro. He competed in AMA races before focusing on the World Superbike Championship, which he dominated in both 1991 and 1992 on a Fast By Ferracci Ducati. In the 1991 title chase, he set fastest lap at 13 different tracks, a single-season record that remains to this day. The following year, he not only won the World Superbike Championship, he also competed in enough rounds of the AMA Superbike Championship to finish third. In 1993, he was back in the U.S. full time and won the AMA Superbike Championship. Two years later, he won the prestigious Suzuka 8 Hours with teammate Aaron Slight on Honda s RC45. In 1997, he set his sights on the World Endurance Championship and won it two years in a row. Polen won extensively on Dunlop tires, and he was known as one of the best development riders in the paddock. He worked closely with Dunlop to develop race tires throughout his professional career. 32 33
DUNLOP SWEEPS HANGTOWN AMA PRO MOTOCROSS OPENER If you weren t on Dunlop tires, you weren t on the podium. That s how clear the advantages of the Geomax MX32 and MX52 were for Dunlop-sponsored riders at the season-opening 2015 AMA Pro Motocross Championship in Sacramento, CA, on Saturday, May 16. But that s not too much of a surprise since the last four champions in both the 450 and 250 AMA Pro Motocross series got there on Dunlop tires. Dunlop has won nearly two-thirds of all AMA Motocross and Supercross titles since 1972. The longest-running event on the AMA Pro MX calendar, the annual Hangtown Motocross Classic is eagerly awaited as the start of the outdoor season. In the 250 MX class, Star Racing/Yamaha s defending champion Jeremy Martin went 2-1 to edge out Red Bull/KTM Factory Racing rival Marvin Musquin (1-2 motos) for the overall win, with Team Dunlop alumni Chris Alldredge (5-3) likewise on the box on his Pro Circuit Kawasaki. Rock River Powersports/Yamahamounted Alex Martin (6-4) and Star Racing/Yamaha s Anthony Rodriguez (7-6) rounded out the top five all on Dunlop Geomax tires. Then in the premier 450 class, Factory Connection/Honda s Eli Tomac simply ripped the field apart, dominating the Prairie City SVRA s famous loam with breathtaking efficiency. He won the first moto by 22 seconds and the second by an astounding 1 minute and 31 seconds, leading all 33 race laps in the process. Red Bull/KTM Factory s Ryan Dungey turned in robust 2-2 motos for second overall, and Jason Anderson (3-7) grabbed third overall in his 450 MX debut for Rockstar Energy/Husqvarna. 34 35
ELITOMAC 36 37
RYANDUNGEY 38 39
JEREMYMARTIN 40 41
MARVINMUSQUIN 42 43
CHRISALLDREDGE JASONANDERSON 44 45
BUCKET LIST WSBK CHAMP BAYLISS TO RACE AMA PRO FLAT TRACK MILES One of the most storied names in motorcycle racing history is returning to the grid so he can cross a few items off his own bucket list. Three-time World Superbike champion and MotoGP race winner Troy Bayliss has signed a deal to race all of the AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National Mile races in the summer of 2015. Bayliss will race a Ducati for Lloyd Brothers Motorsports, starting at the iconic Springfield Mile. A lifelong dirt track racer, Bayliss has been a fan of the sport but never raced flat track in the U.S. where it originated. Dirt riding and flat track racing are where I cut my teeth as a junior, said Bayliss. Everything I learned on the dirt helped me through my career in road racing, and to find myself back where it all started takes me to my roots. To race the Grand Nationals will be a challenge, but to compete with the Lloyd Brothers on the Ducati had to be done. Flat track is on the up here in Australia. We have run the Troy Bayliss Classic for the past three years, and mixing it up with Henry Wiles, Jared Mees and Sammy Halbert has been great. I really look forward to my time in the U.S. of A. Bayliss will race a Ducati strongly resembling the firm s new Scrambler model. His teammate on the Italian machines will be Johnny Lewis. Bayliss will use his signature number 21, and the machines will be painted yellow and white when he rolls his booming twin out for practice. Bayliss is no knob-level stranger to the U.S. dirt track scene he has trained and raced with Yamaha rider JD Beach in Kentucky, and has long wanted to enter a Mile. He feels that the cerebral and precise method of attack required on the Miles will play into his strengths as a rider. There s nothing in the world like racing on the clay miles. Dirt track is generally regarded as the oldest form of motorcycle racing in the world; dirt track racing predates the AMA, and even Harley-Davidson. In the very early days of two-wheeled sport, motorcycle racing basically started as dirt track, then moved to board tracks, and then back to dusty mile bullrings that once littered the country. And it is primal: Speeds top 130 mph before riders throw bikes sideways for the first turn. When Bayliss checks his first mile dirt track off his bucket list, he ll be on Dunlop tires for the first time since he raced the AMA Superbike series in 2000. Dunlop s Sportmax DT3 is the official tire of AMA Pro Flat Track. Made in Buffalo, NY, the DT3 was developed by guys like Jake Johnson, Brad Baker, JD Beach, Bryan Smith, Hayden Gillim and Kenny Coolbeth. Bayliss has raced on legendary racetracks from Phillip Island in his home country of Australia, to Laguna Seca in California, to Donington Park in England. Now the former MotoGP race winner will turn a wheel at another less paved but no less legendary circuit: the Springfield Mile. Legend has it the fastest riders at Springfield never let off the throttle. 46 47
THE CHAMPIONS The list of riders who have won AMA Pro Supercross and Motocross Championships includes virtually every legend in the sport. Name a rider who left an indelible mark on the record books, and chances are Dunlop tires carried him there. From 1973 when Gary Jones won the 250 National Motocross Championship on Dunlops to 2015 when Dunlop-sponsored riders swept all the Supercross titles for the fifth year in a row, Dunlop riders have won an astounding 136 SX and MX championships, more than all the other tire companies combined. Some of the greats broke records and scored multiple titles in multiple classes: Jeremy McGrath, Jeff Stanton, Ricky Johnson, Jeff Ward, Ricky Carmichael, Broc Glover, Ryan Villopoto, Doug Henry, David Bailey, Bob Hannah, Ryan Dungey the list is seemingly endless. RICKYJOHNSON 48 49
RYANVILLOPOTO 50 51
BROCGLOVER JEREMYMCGRATH TRAVISPASTRANA 52 53
RICKYCARMICHAEL 54 55
BOBHANNAH JEAN-MICHELBAYLE JEREMYMARTIN 56 57
DAVIDBAILEY JASONANDERSON WILHAHN MARKBARNETT 58 59
DONNIEHANSEN TREYCANARD DOUGHENRY 60 61
GARYJONES GREGALBERTYN BLAKEBAGGETT STEVELAMSON JUSTINBOGLE 62 63
MICKYDYMOND JUSTINBARCIA JEFFWARD 64 65
JEFFSTATON JEFFEMIG ELITOMAC JAKEWEIMER 66 67
BROCTICKLE TYDAVIS JOHNNYO MARA CHRISTOPHEPOURCEL MIKEKIEDROWSKI 68 69
CHADREED KENROCZEN 70 71
RYANDUNGEY 72 73
SUPERCROSS 2015 Tight and exciting racing with loads of brand parity marked the AMA Supercross season for 2015, giving fans all around the country plenty to cheer about. Inevitably and inexorably, the top riders in each class 450 SX, 250 SX West and 250 SX East charged their way to the head of the standings to decide all three championships prior to season s end. For jobs well done, our congratulations go out to Dunlop-sponsored Ryan Dungey, Cooper Webb and Marvin Musquin in their respective championship-winning efforts. While these early coronations eliminated some of the suspense leading into the season finale in Las Vegas, there was still a huge crowd for the East/West Shootout, which pitted the best of the 250 East racers against the top 250 West riders in head-to-head competition. To nobody s surprise, that final night in Las Vegas proved a sure bet for brilliant racing, with Musquin defeating all comers in the Shootout to claim top gun honors among all 250 riders. Meanwhile, Dungey capped off a great year with his eighth win of the season a career-best accomplishment to close out the long, wearying 450 series. With that, Supercross 2015 is now history, with more head-to-head drama coming up quickly for the outdoor Motocross season. 74 75
DUNLOP NOW HAS 136 CHAMPIONSHIPS IN AMA PRO SUPERCROSS AND MOTOCROSS, MORE THAN ALL THE OTHER TIRE COMPANIES COMBINED RYANDUNGEY Hard to believe, but KTM s Ryan Dungey didn t win a SX race in 2015 until round 5. But by season s end he had racked up eight wins in all, in a dominating display of speed and consistency. 76 77
DUNLOP RIDERS HAVE WON EVERY SUPERCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP FOR FIVE YEARS IN A ROW ON GEOMAX MX32- AND MX52-PATTERNED TIRES MARVINMUSQUIN Following an injury-plagued 2014, Marvin Musquin more than made up for lost time by cranking out an early championship for Red Bull/KTM Factory Racing in the 250 SX East series. 78 79
COOPERWEBB Yamaha s Cooper Webb started out hot and stayed hot in 250 SX West racing. By the close of round 7 he had racked up five wins to amass a commanding points lead and nail down his first AMA Supercross title. 80 81
UPCOMING EVENTS June 6 AMA Motocross Round 4 Muddy Creek Raceway Blountville, TN June 20 AMA Pro Flat Track Round 5 Hagerstown Speedway Hagerstown, MD June 27 AMA Pro Flat Track Round 6 Allen County Fairgrounds Lima, OH July 17-19 MotoAmerica Round 7 Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Monterey, CA June 6-7 GNCC Round 8 Sunday Creek Raceway Millfield, OH June 20-21 GNCC Round 9 Snowshoe Mountain Resort Snowshoe, WV July 4 AMA Pro Flat Track Round 7 Du Quoin State Fairgrounds Du Quoin, IL July 18 AMA Motocross Round 8 Spring Creek MX Park Millville, MN June 12-14 MotoAmerica Round 5 Barber Motorsports Park Birmingham, AL June 26-28 MotoAmerica Round 6 Miller Motorsports Park Tooele, UT July 4 AMA Motocross Round 7 RedBud MX Buchanan, MI July 25 AMA Motocross Round 9 Washougal MX Park Washougal, WA June 13 AMA Motocross Round 5 High Point Raceway Mt. Morris, PA June 27 AMA Motocross Round 6 Budds Creek Motocross Mechanicsville, MD July 11 AMA Pro Flat Track Round 8 Indiana State Fairgrounds Indianapolis, IN August 8 AMA Motocross Round 10 Unadilla MX New Berlin, NY 2015 Dunlop P. O. Box 1109, Buffalo, New York 14240-1109 1-800-845-8378 dunlopmotorcycle.com