The Weekly Dirt is coming at you once again with a premix-like ratio of everything off-road. Sit back, relax and enjoy.Random News:
As of late, there have currently been a ton of things going on in the world of off-road. Just in the last couple of weeks Chad Reed took a hard slam that did a significant amount of damage and Ryan Dungey had surgery to fix a broken collarbone; needles to say two supercross front-runners are now sidelined. The San Felipe 250 took place this past weekend and about half a dozen top guys crashed out of that race! Although, it is Mexico and that kind of stuff happens down there more than we would like. But hey! That’s why the toughest dudes go down there to dance with the devil.Early this year we launched a new weekly feature known as Mobile Magic. The name speaks for itself as these photos truly are magical, yet mobile at the same time. Take a look at some of our favorites:
Now you can get decal stickers for your lid! In this case we had a rather rough and slightly outdated Shoei freshened up with some Dirt DNA helmet stickers. If you take a massive digger, don’t just slap on a wrap of stickers… That is not the fix!
Every week we bring you the latest on what’s happening in the off-road world right here on www.dirtrider.com. If you haven’t seen our weekly show that we are now filming in our shop at the DR headquarters then you are, well, missing out!
Stay tuned to www.dirtrider.com and the pages of Dirt Rider magazine for a First Test on the 2012 WR450F. Meanwhile get a quick hit on the new blue beast right here http://bit.ly/wuQK1G. -Chris Green
The Grand National Cross-country Series (GNCC) kicked off yesterday (yeah, Tuesday… It’s sort of part of Speed Week in Florida) and 2009 series champ Paul Whibley came away with a close win over defending champ Charlie Mullins. And when I say close, I mean Mullins was rubbin’ Whibley’s rear tire when they crossed the finish line. It was a great race, with Whibley (Am Pro Yamaha) and Mullins (FMF/KTM) trading the lead throughout the seven-lap race. Whibley wasn’t the only New Zealander going fast at River Ranch as fellow Kiwi Rory Mead also challenged for the lead early in the race and eventually settled for third on a WMR Racing KTM. Mead spent the winter trying to find a way to come back to the U.S. to race the series and WMR finally stepped up and offered a ride… I’m sure those guys are plenty happy with Mead’s podium!
Photo by Shan Moore
Fourth went to Shenandoah Racing/Offroad Champions’s Thad DuVall, who was making his first GNCC start for Honda, while American Beta’s Chris Bach made it four different brands in the top five.RidePG.com/Genuine Dirt Racer/WP Racing USA’s Steward Baylor continues his string of great rides by winning the XC-2 class. Baylor turned some of the fastest times of the day, including among the top pros, and even finish third overall in adjusted time, behind Whibley and Mullins.Noticeably missing was the factory Suzuki team, which pulled the plug on it’s off-road effort for 2012. Also missing was Josh Strang, who was scheduled to ride on a RidePG/WP-backed KTM, but skipped the race due to not being fully recovered from the broken femur he suffered last fall.
Photo by Shan Moore
In the Women’s class, Maria Forsberg took the win in her first GNCC as a factory KTM rider. Forsberg beat our WMX star Sarah Whitmore, who took second on a borrowed Husaberg.The GNCC boys (and girls) have just four days to recover before returning to action in Georgia for round two of the series. -Shan MooreThat’ll conclude this week’s dose of off-road. Check back with us this time next week if you just can’t get enough!
