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/517599
IN THE WIND P48 MXGP OF BRAZIL REPLACED WITH ITALY VENUE Y outhstream announced a change to the 2015 FIM Motocross World Champion- ship schedule—round 15 of the MXGP series will now take place in Mantova, Italy. The original event was slated to take place on August 16 in Trinidate, Brazil, but as the FIM states in its release, "the event has not been confirmed." In lieu of the South American venue, the 15 th stop of the world championship will now take place on August 23 in Mantova, Italy as the MXGP of Lombardia. The 18-round championship has completed seven rounds thus far, with the most recent event taking place in Matterly Basin, England. The champion- ship will conclude with round 18 in the United States, as the MXGP series will make its marked return to Glen Helen, California on September 20. Jean Turner COSTA MESA HOSTS SPEEDWAY NATIONAL OPENER T he AMA Speedway National Championship Series begins its 2015 campaign at the famous Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, California on Satur- day, May 30 with a 7:30 pm start time. For the third consecutive season, the series will utilize the same race format as the FIM Speedway Grand Prix Series, the world championship for speedway racing. A total of 16 riders plus two reserves will compete at each round of the series. Fourteen riders have already been seeded into round one, with the final two wild card and two reserve positions being decided with qualifying races at the start of the event. Current and five-time AMA Champion Billy Janniro leads the formidable rider list. Janniro dominated last year's AMA series, winning 27 of the 28 heats he competed in, with a disqualification for a starting infringement in his fifth race at Ventura being his only blemish. Janniro should not have it all his own way in 2015 however as the competition should be much tougher. Former World Cham- pion and fellow five-time AMA National Champion Billy Hamill returns to the series after sitting out in 2014. Last year's run- ner up, veteran Bart Bast, has already defeated Janniro in the first two events at Fast Fridays in Auburn, California and should not be discounted. Rising teen- age phenomenon's Max Ruml and Broc Nicol—both named on the 2015 Team USA Speedway World Cup squad—are poised to make a run at the championship this season. The seeded riders for Costa Mesa also include Buck Blair, Tommy Hedden, Charlie Ven- egas, Bryce Starks, Aaron Fox, Jason Ramirez, Tyson Talking- ton, Shawn McConnell and 16-year-old rookie Luke Becker. Leading the riders looking to earn a wild card at the start of the evening are Dillon Ruml and Gage Geist. Steve Evans PHOTOGRAPHY BY MICHAEL K. PHELPS/MSD PHOTOS Billy Janniro is prepared to defend his AMA Speedway National Championship at Costa Mesa Speedway on May 30.