Welcome to the Weekly Dirt, the place to go each week to get the lowdown skinny on the off-road scene. This week we have a mixed bag of news from various sources, so buckle up your Leatt and let's get down to business!

Welcome to the Weekly Dirt, the place to go each week to feed your off-road habit. This week, we start in Oakland, California, where James Stewart made a huge statement by taking his first Supercross win of the year. Then we travel all the way across the country to Sumter, South Carolina, where the national enduro series kicked off in a big way. So get your ticket punched and hold on.

Here's a piece from What Really Happened by Scott Hoffman:

There's really just one update left about my Dakar Racing experience, but it's a biggy- I finished the 2012 Dakar!

Welcome to the Weekly Dirt, the place to go each week to get your off-road fix. With three Supercross rounds in the books, it's starting to look like we've got a race on our hands. Three winners in three rounds is a great sign, not to mention three bike manufacturers on top of the podium as well: Kawasaki, KTM and now Honda. In the meantime, off-road racing kicked off this week, as well, with Hare Scrambles in the east and Hare and Hound in the west. Meanwhile, the opening round of the Rekluse/AMA National Enduro series is this coming Sunday in Sumter, South Carolina. So get ready for the Dirt, there's a lot to cover.

Here's a piece from What Really Happened by Scott Hoffman:

So here we go again, the 2012 Extreme Enduro season kicked off with the Tough One in the UK. Where exactly in the UK? Let's just say about 70 miles southwest of Manchester. The name of the place is sort of unpronouncable for anybody living more than 200 miles away: Nantmawr Quarry.

For this week's addition of the 'Dirt, Scott Hoffman takes you inside what turned out to be a historic night of racing in Arizona.

But first, we check in with Chris Green to see what he was doing over at the Husky HQs...

We finally caught up with Ned in the pits just before the last day of the rally on Saturday, January 14th. Ned had finished the day and was obviously optimistic about his chances of accomplishing his goal of seeing the checkered flag in Lima, Peru. After hours and hours on the bike, the friendly Coloradan gave us a few days’ worth of recap for your reading pleasure. Enjoy the latest from Neduro!

Dear Trail Voter,

The Dirt Rider guys and gals walked the pits at Anaheim 1 in full force. Each of us snapping photos left and right with our high end expensive cameras as well as our cool mobile phones. There are apps these days that allow you to mess with saturation, clarity and different types of filters as well as give the photo an HDR or oldschool effect, all from that electronic device that sits in your pocket. Well, that just names a few of the features that we were playing with. Here is a gallery strictly shot from our iPhones at the first round of Supercross.

Okay, kiddos. Anaheim is on the books and there's plenty to talk about, for sure. How many of you lost the office pool by betting on someone other than Ryan Villopoto this past weekend? Well, there's lots more racing to go, but first, here's a little bit about A1, new testing, retirements and freebees. Get ready for the Dirt.

January 10th, Dakar Stage 9
I’m just about to go eat dinner but I wanted to give a call in with an update before I head to dinner. Today’s theme was Highs and Lows. At the beginning of the day the navigation was very tricky and I nailed it and I’m told by Nate over at ADVrider that I was in as high as 35th position during the day when the navigation went extremely well for me. After that there was another really high speed section where I haven’t been pushing it too much, as you probably know. I slipped back a bit in the standings there but was still feeling really good and holding my own. Then I came to the river crossing.

January 8th, 2012: Rest Day
While I’m certainly glad I got a lot of rest and had a day off it is definitely strange to have a day in the middle of this event where I don’t ride my bike. I am in such a schedule of eating, dressing, riding, eating, sleeping, etc. that having a day where I just throw out the biggest activity of my day and replace it with “resting” threw me a little. The biggest thing that affects me, I think, is that when I’m riding, I’m perfectly fine—I know that I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing and I’m having fun. But when I’m not riding, I’m sort of dreading getting back on the bike. It’s definitely threw me out of my rhythm.

Stuck in your lazy boy recliner, economy has you tied down or you're just too dang far away to witness the opening round of the 2012 Monster Energy Supercross series at Anaheim Stadium live and in person? Don't sweat, we've got you covered with all the things behind the scenes that you had to be there for. Head on over to Motocross.com to see What Really Happened at A1, click the image below or visit to take you there http://www.motocross.com/features/what-really-happened-a1-2012/.

January 3rd, 2012: Dakar Stage 3
Ned didn't have cell or satellite phone coverage at the end of day three so this update is from Ned's call in after day four. Day three was, in some ways, very similar to the fourth stage in that we did a lot riverbeds and some canyons (although it was dry all day).

Kawasaki held a pep rally to introduce 2012 Supercross / Motocross and Off-Road race teams at their headquarters in Irvine, California. Each year, the company invites staff, friends & family of Kawasaki and the media to meet and greet the riders that will pilot the green machines. Monster Energy Kawasaki welcomed Ryan Villopoto and Jake Weimer back to the factory rig with Dan Fahie as team manager. Mitch Payton's Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki will host Dean Wilson, Blake Baggett, Darryn Durham and Tyla Rattray under their tent as well as their first 450 rider on the team, Broc Tickle. In the off-road division, team manager Jason Smigel will guide Destry Abbott, Justin Soule, Taylor Robert and newcomer Bobby Garrison into the WORCS, AMA Hare & Hound and AMA EnduroCross series.

After a New Year’s Weekend he’ll not soon forget, Ned Suesse is finally making a lifelong dream become a reality. Ned has been pounding South American soil aboard his custom-built KTM 530 EXC participating in the notoriously brutal Dakar Rally since the first day of 2012. Here is a quick recap of his first few days aboard his www.neduro.com emblazoned bike.

It's a new year and we are all still here (despite what the Mayans may say), so we are continuing the Weekly Dirt in full force. If your New Year's resolution is to get out and spend more time riding, then you are definitely at the right place. Sit back with your new iPad or whatever cool gadgets you got for Christmas and enjoy you're serving of dirt for the week!

Quinn Cody Crash: http://www.rtve.es/alacarta/videos/dakar/espectacular-caida-dakar/1286688/

This week, the DR staff is scattered across the country celebrating the holidays and wolfing down calories. The office is officially closed, but there are still some good tidbits of info floating around out there...

Hello, my name is Ned Suesse and I’m racing a motorcycle in the 2012 Dakar rally that starts January 1. Keep watching this space, because my plan is to file updates each evening straight from the bivouac where we camp at night. Never heard of a bivouac? Not surprising. It’s a French word for pit/basecamp/ and where I’ll spend each night in a tent, before getting up the next day to ride again.

Welcome to the Weekly Dirt, the place to go to stay connected to the off-road world. Just three more days till Christmas, and the Dirt Rider staff is anxiously awaiting the arrival of Santa, because we’ve all been extra nice this year. In the meantime, here’s the latest from around the world in off-road news.

If you live or ride in California then you'd better take action because the dirt you ride on is systematically getting pulled out from underneath you and the biggest tug just took place. I don't care of it is a motorcycle, a jeep, a snow machine or a quad, in fact of you drive your Subaru down a dirt road to go hike a trail, the implications of Governor Jerry Brown terminating the term of the OHV Commission's Deputy Director, Daphne Green will have a negative impact that cannot be measured. This is a highly political move and stems from environmental pressure due solely to the great job Director Green was doing.