GEICO Honda's Hahn fractures hip, will miss 3-6 weeks of 2012 Supercross Season

Bad luck reared its head and bit GEICO Honda's Wil Hahn for the second consecutive year.

Following a 2011 beset by injury, Hahn will now miss three to six weeks of the 2012 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Lites West season after fracturing his right hip during training on Wednesday at the Honda practice facility in Corona, Calif.

"I'm just shocked, numbed," Hahn said. "I was training this week at the Honda track and things were going great. I went over a step up, landed awkwardly, fell over and landed hard on my right side. I felt sore when I got up. I went to the doctor and X-rays showed something was wrong. I went to a specialist on Thursday and he said my hip was cracked. Now I have to sit again. I can't believe it. I'm not even bummed. I'm beyond that."

Source: http://www.supercross.com/news/geico-hondas-hahn-fractures-hip-will-miss-3-6-weeks-of-2012-supercross-season

Julien Bill Pierre Karsmakers Vladimir Kavinov Mike Kiedrowski

Cody Cooper is New Zealand Supercross Champion

There were a ton of thrills, plenty of spills but no real surprises when the New Zealand Supercross Championships wrapped up at Taupo on Saturday afternoon. It was former New Zealand Motocross of Nations team riders Scott Columb, Cody Cooper and Josh Coppins who battled most at the front of the pack.

Queenstown?s Columb completed the job he started when he dominated round one of the three-round series near Timaru just over two weeks ago, securing the MX2 supercross title with another solid performance at Taupo on Saturday and showing he will certainly be a contender when the motocross nationals kick off in South Canterbury on February 12.

Columb didn?t win the day at Taupo ? that honour instead going to fellow Suzuki star Rhys Carter, of Mount Maunganui ? but Columb?s 3-1-2 results at Taupo were enough to give him a whopping 18-point championship-winning margin over visiting Australian Geran Stapleton (Honda), while Carter had to settle for third overall in the Backflips Clothing-sponsored championship.

That the 28-year-old Columb should dominate the series as he did was something of a surprise considering he had been off the race scene, sidelined with injury, for nearly two years.

?I?m back, that?s for sure,? beamed Columb afterwards.

?I?m getting into shape now for the motocross nationals. I?m not quite ready for that yet, but I hope to be 100% before February.?

It was a similar display of supremacy from fellow Suzuki star Cooper, the Mount Maunganui man now adding the MX1 supercross crown to the MX1 motocross crown he collected last year.

Cooper won seven of the nine MX1 races in this year?s supercross nationals, beaten only by Christchurch Honda rider Justin McDonald (in the second of three races at Timaru?s opening round) and by Motueka Yamaha rider Coppins (in the third race at Nelson?s round two).

Cooper finished the series a massive 24 points clear of McDonald, with Gisborne Yamaha rider Matt Hunt coming through to snatch third overall with a solid performance at Saturday?s final round.

Junior 250cc class points leader Josh May (Honda), of Timaru, had a scare when he managed only seventh in his opening race at Taupo, but then the 16-year-old cruised to his first national title when he rebounded with 1-2 results in the next two outings.

That gave him a final winning margin of seven points over a hard-charging Josh Bartosh (Honda), the Wellington rider winning the Taupo event in this class with impressive 1-3-1 results.

Hamilton?s Josiah Natzke rode an 85cc Yamaha bored out to 103cc and, despite racing this small two-stroke against the 250cc four-strokes of all the other riders in that class, he nailed down third spot overall.

Natzke also raced an 85cc version of the same bike to clean sweep all nine races in the junior lites class, winning comfortably ahead of fellow Yamaha riders Kyle Hartley, of Winton, and Blake James, of Broomfield.

Credit: Words and photo by Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com

Source: http://www.mxlarge.com/news/5966-cody-cooper-is-new-zealand-supercross-champion

Gautier Paulin David Philippaerts Mickael Pichon Jim Pomeroy

Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series - 2012 Season Opening Press Conference

Angel Stadium of Anaheim

Angel Stadium, Anaheim CA hosted the opening press conference of the most prestigious off-road motorcycle series in the world: the AMA Supercross Series, officially know as the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series, an FIM World Championship.

The 17 events series travels all across the USA, with a stop in Canada as well. The three main championships include: the premiere Supercross class championship, along with the West and East Regional SX championships, which will be decided at the series finale at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas on the first Saturday of May.

Source: http://www.supercross.com/features/monster-energy-ama-supercross-series-2012-season-opening-press-conference

Warren Reid Pierre Renet Marc de Reuver Michele Rinaldi

Circle Cycle Internal Combustion Engine

Circle Cycle orbital, non-reciprocating internal combustion engine

Circle Cycle orbital, non-reciprocating internal combustion engine

We haven't looked at any new internal combustion engines for a while and I just spotted this one, the Circle Cycle engine. It's described as an orbital, non-reciprocating internal combustion engine, having pistons and cylinders and able to run on a variety of combustible liquids or gasses. It has no engine block, no crankshaft or connecting rods, no separate flywheel, no intake or exhaust valves, no water pump and no radiator or any of the hardware usually associated with these items.

Circle Cycle Engine - operational prototype

Circle Cycle Engine - operational prototype

The engine uses direct injection of fuel into the center of the combustion chamber and it can be configured to run as either spark ignition or diesel. Potential applications, according to the website, are pretty much what you would expect, which is anything you would use any other internal combustion engine for.

The company has been developing the engine for five years and believes it is at the stage where it can be taken to the next step, which is design and production for specific applications, so they are looking to sell or license the patent or enter into a joint venture with someone who can carry it forward.

The only part of the design I question is the gearing necessary to keep the cylinders and pistons in alignment while the large geared wheels are turning. Any hiccup in operation or broken tooth on one of the gears could result in catastrophic failure, but they may have addressed that somewhere in the design and it may be more apparent if we were to see the actual engine up close.

There are a lot of photos, drawings and animations on the site plus a great deal more explanation of the concept. Is it better, more efficient or in some way an improvement on what we already have? I can't say, but it's pretty ingenious and cool to watch in operation, just the sort of thing any gearhead should enjoy.

Link: Circle Cycle

Animation and videos below:

Animation to show the process.

Prototype hand cranked in slow motion.

Prototype running on propane.


Source: http://thekneeslider.com/archives/2012/01/13/circle-cycle-internal-combustion-engine/

Donnie Hansen Torlief Hansen Marcus Hansson Doug Henry

2012 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series, an FIM World Championship officially underway - Anaheim Recap, Phoenix Preview

As the series heads into round two at Phoenix, Arizona?s Chase Field, potential title contenders have already begun to establish themselves. At Anaheim I, Monster Energy Kawasaki?s Ryan Villopoto walked away with the season kickoff win in the Supercross Class, while Cole Seely captured the Supercross Lites victory for Lucas Oil / Troy Lee Designs / Honda.

Stats and data below courtesy Feld Motor Sports

Villopoto was clearly the fastest rider on the track, and was the only rider during the main to lay down lap times under 1:01. When the checkered flag waved, Ryan was more than 12 seconds ahead of second place finisher Chad Reed of TwoTwo Motorsports/Honda. But the fight for second was the best skirmish of the night. JGR/Toyota/Yamaha?s James Stewart got a mid pack start and was forced to work his way up, while Villopoto, Reed, and Red Bull/KTM?s Ryan Dungey began up front.

Stewart was eventually able to make his way up to Dungey in third, and that?s when things got interesting. The two riders battled back and forth, forcing each other into various mistakes, but Reed made an error on his own, allowing Dungey and Stewart to close the gap. Just as Stewart was gaining on Reed, the JGR rider made yet another mistake, and landed on top of a tuff block in an on/off section, resulting in a crash.

Source: http://www.supercross.com/news/2012-monster-energy-ama-supercross-series-an-fim-world-championship-officially-underway-anaheim-recap-phoenix-preview

Mike Bell John van den Berk Marnicq Bervoets Fritz Betzlbacher

SCORE Laughlin 1997-2004

Video

SCORE Laughlin 1997-2004

SCORE Laughlin 1997-2004

January 13, 2012 by  
Filed under Featured, News, Video

Take a look back at some of my favorite moments from the SCORE Laughlin race back in 1997 to 2004. All footage was pulled from Dezert People 1-3.

Source: http://www.race-dezert.com/home/score-laughlin-1997-2004-27192.html

Torlief Hansen Marcus Hansson Doug Henry Broc Hepler

Chris Blose Phoenix SX After Party

$1.41 AN ISSUE + FREE GIFT

ON THE COVER: Geico Honda?s Justin Bogle made the trek from Oklahoma to race the 2011 TransWorld SLAM, and it paid off big time. Not only did he yield his first professional win, but he also scored the cover of the December issue. It seemed fitting that we capture his self-proclaimed patented "Granny Smith Apple Turndown" whip for his inaugural cover shot. A little old mixed with a little new. cover photo: Brendan Lutes

Source: http://motocross.transworld.net/1000121270/news/chris-blose-phoenix-sx-after-party/

Victor Leloup Aigar Leok Tanel Leok Billy Liles

Phoenix Morning Report

Monster Energy Supercross has hit Phoenix, and we have a much more technical track than last week at Anaheim. The track features three rhythm lanes and one other tricky jump section, and the whoops are pretty deep. No lap times are available yet since only free (untimed practice) has taken place, but it once again looks like this will be a longer lap, similar to Anaheim. Also, the dirt is very soft and tacky here, but it will dry out by the night show?it always does?and teams will have to chase their setup to match it.

One of the trickier sections actually looks very routine. After the first turn the riders hit some rollers and then a triple-double before a 180 right hand bowl turn. Then comes a relatively simple rhythm section leading to the traditional 65-foot triple. However, the riders are building so much speed through that rhythm lane that it?s very difficult to not overjump the triple, and riders are slammed down hard and having a tough time stopping for the corner. After that it?s a roller, a small double and an on-off before the next big triple.

The track also features a wall jump (which forces the riders to single and slow down) and the face of it is made of sand. Watch out for the roost over there.

Timed practice is coming up, follow us on twitter @racerxonline for instant updates.

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Phoenix track
Weege pic

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Source: http://www.racerxonline.com/2012/01/14/phoenix-morning-report

Heikki Mikkola Auguste Mingels Marty Moates Guennady Moisseev