Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1207377
2020 HONDA CRF250RX R I D E R E V I E W P80 CRF250RX racer to make it more competitive. Engine updates give the bike more torque across the rpm range and dedicated ignition maps for each gear are now in play to keep the red rocket ripping. It has a new exhaust system, new air filter, new mapping, new transmission ratios and surface treatments, increased clutch integrity and chassis updates, as well. It even has a larger radia- tor this year. Yes, the 2020 CRF250RX is really, really new even though it was totally new about a year ago. Admittedly, the only legitimate review I can give of the little machine from Indiana is that it held up to nearly three hours of the worst non-stop competition abuse I could possibly put it through. It was very much a survival race—fighting for positions were more about battling for a slot in the only "good" lines around the root-laden and rutted course. Passing was attrition based. With the PHOENIX RACING HONDA Honda's official GNCC race team is run by Phoe- nix Racing Honda, which provided our race-base and bike setup at the Ironman GNCC for our first review of the 2020 Honda CRF250RX. Most well-known in ATV MX and Arenacross worlds (where they are 2019 champions in both with Joel Hetrick in ATV and Jace Owen in Kicker Arenacross), the Salisbury, North Carolina-based team is going full-steam into GNCC in 2020. Andrew Delong is their XC1 top dog with a storied XC2 win list, a National Enduro champion- ship and plenty of off-road credibility. Delong is coming into 2020 as healthy as he's been in a long time. His 2019 race season was a rebirth, of sorts, after a serious wrist injury in 2015. His consistency in the top-10 every round and seventh overall in the championship will have the Phoenix Racing Honda big rig on the main pit row in 2020. And that's all part of the plan according to team owner David Eller. Eller, a general contractor business owner, owns and manages the Phoenix Racing Honda program, and he knows it's going to take time to contend with the dominant European teams. But he's investing in people that know off-road, like longtime Johnny Campbell Racing technician Eric Siraton and the veteran racer, Delong. His goal is to bring in more XC2 racers and build them up through the system, as Delong keeps them in the top 10 in XC1. Soon enough, he thinks, they'll be winning races. He certainly seems like he's in it for the long haul. Andrew Delong will lead the Phoenix Honda Racing Team's effort in GNCC this year. …See!