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The United States – led by Monster Energy’s Ryan Villopoto and Ivan Tedesco – were victorious this past weekend at UK’s Matterley Basin
CARLSBAD, Calif., (Sept. 25, 2006) – Monster Energy-backed athletes Ryan Villopoto and Ivan Tedesco, along with teammate James Stewart, captured the United States’ second-consecutive Motocross Des Nations title this past weekend at England’s Matterely Basin, topping second- place Belgium 15-22 in final team points standings.
And assisting the legendary motocross racer Roger DeCoster with USA’s coaching duties at the prestigious event was none other than Monster Energy’s Ricky Carmichael – the all-time winningest motocross racer and multi-time MXDN champion, who was sidelined due to a shoulder injury suffered at the final AMA Nationals race of the season at Glen Helen.
“I can’t tell you how happy I am for Ivan, James and Ryan right now,” said Carmichael. “And kind of relieved, too. We knew Belgium would be real strong with Stefan (Everts, the overall winner) and the guys stepped it up, put in consistent team-oriented races and we were able to bring the MXDN trophy back to the States again this year. I definitely wish I’d have been racing, but at the same time I’m pumped that Ivan could step in and help the United States win it.”
With Stewart posting 2-2 overall finishes behind Everts, Villopoto – racing his first Des Nations – dialed in his Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki KX250F and blazed to a 3-2 overall finish. Tedesco, racing a Suzuki RMZ450, held up his end of the deal as well, coming back from an injury that kept him on the sidelines for much of the
’06 Nationals season and put in two solid top ten finishes (6th and
9th) to help USA win the overall.
“Great going guys,” said Mark Hall, President of Monster Beverage Co. “All of us at Monster Energy headquarters couldn’t be more proud of your efforts. Now get out and enjoy your time off here before the start of the 2006-’07 supercross season – you all deserve it.”
Monster Energy supports the sport. Be it motocross, surf, skate, snow, BMX – name it – the athletes are rockin’ Monster Energy more than anything these days. Check out all the flavors – Original Monster Energy, Monster Lo-Carb, Monster Assault and the new Monster/ fruit juice hybrid called “Khaos.” RC, RV, Ivan & BT dig ‘em – so will you. On the ‘Net at www.monsterenergy.com.
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Doug Henry 2nd in first Supermoto race, Mark Burkhart 2nd in second race; Brandon Currie 3rd overall in Supermoto Lites class
CARLSBAD, Calif., (Sept. 25, 2006) – Monster Energy’s Doug Henry looked to have gained some ground on overall AMA Supermoto Championship series points leader Jeff Ward at Round Eight of the series at Elkhart Lake’s (Wisc.) Road America this past weekend, finishing ahead of Ward in the first of two races with a solid 2nd place finish in the opener.
Henry would come from behind in the second moto to catch up to Ward and mount a challenge for the lead, only to run into problems on lap
11 of the 18-lap race and wind up 13th overall. With the setback Henry now trails Ward by 32 points with two races remaining on the schedule (340-308).
“I had and opening and tried to take advantage of it, but ended up crashing on lap 11,” said Henry. “I managed to get my Yamaha going again, but by then it was too late.”
Though the standings don’t portray it, the fastest racer on the track last weekend was Henry’s Monster Energy/Graves Yamaha-backed teammate Mark Burkhart. The hyper-fast Ohioan clocked the fastest lap times in both motos, going 5-2 on the day. Burkhart is in 4th place in the overall Supermoto class standings, trailing Chris Fillmore for the finals podium spot by 26 points, 282-256.
Monster Energy/Graves Yamaha’s third entrant, Supermoto Lites class racer Brandon Currie would finish 3rd on the afternoon and now trails the overall leader (Cassidy Anderson) by 26 points, 197-171.
Next up for Henry, Burkhart, Currie and the Monster Energy/Graves Yamaha Supermoto team is Round Nine of the 2006 AMA Supermoto Championships at the Music City Motorplex in Nashville, Tenn., Oct.
14th.
Monster Energy supports the sport. Be it motocross, surf, skate, snow, BMX – name it – the athletes are rockin’ Monster Energy more than anything these days. Check out all the flavors – Original Monster Energy, Monster Lo-Carb, Monster Assault and the new Monster/ fruit juice hybrid called “Khaos.” Doug Henry, Mark Burkhart and Brandon Currie dig ‘em – so will you. On the ‘Net at www.monsterenergy.com.
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CARLSBAD, Calif., (Sept. 12, 2006) – Having already won the 2006 Toyota AMA Motocross Championship, Monster Energy’s Ricky Carmichael needed only to ride around at Glen Helen Raceway - the final round of the Nationals - wave to the southern California motocross fans and call it a weekend.
But that’s certainly not “RC,” as the greatest motocross racer of all times went for it on the rugged Glen Helen Raceway and wound up paying the price, going down on lap five after passing rival James Stewart for the lead and having to pull out of the race.
“Better this happened now than at Hangtown,” said Carmichael. “We’ll get things looked at, take some time to relax and see if I can’t make it back for the Des Nations.”
Next up for Carmichael – hopefully for the U.S. – is the Sept. 24th running of the Motocross Des Nations at Matterley Basin in England.
Monster Energy supports the sport. Be it motocross, surf, skate, snow, BMX – name it – the athletes are rockin’ Monster Energy more than anything these days. Check out all the flavors – Original Monster Energy, Monster Lo-Carb, Monster Assault and the new Monster/ fruit juice hybrid called “Khaos.” Ricky Carmichael digs ‘em – so will you. On the ‘Net at www.monsterenergy.com.
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CARLSBAD, Calif., (Sept. 12, 2006) – With a dominant 1-1 performance on the highly rugged Glen Helen Raceway (San Bernardino, Calif.) track, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto laid claim to the overall Lites class title of the 2006 Toyota AMA Motocross championship.
In both motos Villopoto came from behind, tracked, caught and passed rival Mike Alessi to put an exclamation point on his first-ever pro motocross title.
“Man, you can’t believe how happy I am,” said Villopoto. “This is something I’ve worked for my whole life. And to be able to share this with my family, friends and the great sponsors that backed me this year – including Monster – makes it a day I’ll never forget. And congrats to my teammate Ben Townley as well. Good to see him up on the podium.”
Villopoto came from behind in both motos to catch and pass Alessi (2-2), doing so on lap nine in the first moto (after an 8th place
start) and on lap four in the second moto. Villopoto topped Alessi by more than two seconds in both motos with the fastest overall lap times.
For Townley, who’s 3rd place finish was his first-ever podium at the Nationals (5th at RedBud being his only other race), Glen Helen would put a highlight on a highly anticipated season for the rookie racer from New Zealand. Townley benefited from great starts on his Kawasaki KX250F, pulling out in 4th and 3rd place after the opening laps of both motos and running with the leaders through out for a 3-3 moto finish – good enough for 3rd place overall.
Next up for Villopoto and Townley is the Sept. 24th running of the Motocross Des Nations at Matterley Basin in England.
Monster Energy supports the sport. Be it motocross, surf, skate, snow, BMX – name it – the athletes are rockin’ Monster Energy more than anything these days. Check out all the flavors – Original Monster Energy, Monster Lo-Carb, Monster Assault and the new Monster/ fruit juice hybrid called “Khaos.” All the boyz racing for Pro Circuit/Kawasaki dig ‘em – so will you. On the ‘Net at www.monsterenergy.com.
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CARLSBAD, Calif., (Sept. 15, 2006) - Monster Energy-backed SCORE off- road truck series racer Alan Pflueger was looking to improve upon his 4th place finish last year in Nevada`s Primm 300 - but an early race flat tire, compounded by several additional mechanical issues would relegate the high-powered trophy truck effort to 7th overall in this past weekend`s contest.
"The Primm was a tough character-building day for me, Mike (Emerson) and the whole Monster Energy/Pflueger Racing trophy truck team,"
said Pflueger. "We had a great start and took the lead early, only to run into trouble on the course. My team rarely gets to work on our truck race day and they for sure got their chance to shine during the Primm. And while we all want a perfect race and spot atop the podium, those times you remember as the `easy days.` It`s the tough days like we experienced this past weekend that build the true character of a team, and I feel the Monster Energy/Pflueger Racing trophy truck team is the BEST team in the desert."
Orchestrating the team effort from the sidelines was about as difficult this past weekend as driving the wounded truck as Monster Energy/Pflueger Racing`s John Hoffman explained.
"We started out on the first lap with a flat tire. Then, when we were looking for a place to pull of and fix it, we ended up high- centering the truck and broke a wheel," said Hoffman, team manager of the Monster Energy/Pfleuger Racing trophy truck.
Roughly two miles after the flat the Monster Energy truck would suffer another setback, this time a power steering belt would be the culprit. Forty-five minutes in the pits to change and Pflueger and the team were back on track and making up precious time.
"Things were going well, or at least we thought, then Alan radioed in that he needed to pit again," said Hoffman. "And this time we had to change two drive shafts."
With the action focused on the pits rather than on the course, fans attending the event got a chance to see the entire Monster Energy off- road program in action as they aggressively wrenched on the wounded trophy truck - sweat, greased clothing and bloodied knuckles signifying the effort of what it takes to keep on of these desert behemoths running as the great truck powered back out onto the course.
"The truck had taken a beating and this really showed how hard the Monster Energy off-road team works as a unit to make things right and keep Alan in the race," said Hoffman. "Despite the adversity we fought back hard and Alan was able to make it back in to the finish line - in complete darkness - despite losing an alternator and our headlights.
"Our 7th place overall finish does not tell the tale of how hard our team members worked this past weekend."
Added team navigator Mike Emerson, who had to direct Pflueger through the darkness - with no headlights - at the race`s end: "One of the toughest races I`ve ever been involved with in my 13 years of racing. The Primm course has been so demanding and physically rough, that it took a complete team effort to help Alan gain the every spot possible in order to pick up the valuable points that we need to gain the championship."
Currently the Monster Energy/Pflueger Racing Team is in contention for 3rd place only being one point away. The team is prepping for the next race to take advantage of the slim points difference between the top 3 overall.
Next up for the Monster Energy SCORE trophy truck program is the season finale - Baja to LaPaz - the Nov. 16-17 running of the Baja 1000. Last year Pflueger finished 2nd at the event and is looking to stand atop the podium this year.
"1050 miles down in Baja in November," says Pflueger. "Bring it on because I`ll have my Monster Energy army in tow the whole way!"
Monster Energy supports the sport. Be it off-road, motocross, surf, skate, snow, BMX - name it - the athletes are rockin` Monster Energy more than anything these days. Check out all the flavors - Original Monster Energy, Monster Lo-Carb, Monster Assault and the new Monster/fruit juice hybrid called "Khaos." Alan Pflueger digs `em - so will you. On the `Net at www.monsterenergy.com.
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