James StewartDue to re-injuring his wrist during a practice crash, Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing’s James Stewart will not compete at the Australian Supercross round set for November 28.Stewart, who was forced to miss the 2015 Supercross season due to penalty, returned to action at the Red Bull Straight Rhythm. JS7 dominated that race in early October, but suffered a setback after jamming his wrist at the Monster Energy Cup in Las Vegas. He underwent rehab, but further damaged his wrist once again during a practice crash.
Stewart will miss the Australian Supercross round, but the RM-Z450 pilot will still compete in the Bercy-Lille Supercross in France November 14-15.James Stewart says: “I’m bummed for all my fans and sponsors I won’t be able to make it to Australia. The best thing about being back racing has been experiencing all the fan support first hand. I was really looking forward to doing that in Australia but I have to look at the big picture and we’re two months from A1 and I need to show up there healthy and prepared.“The wrist is fine, at least as good as it can be. It’s just one of those things I can go months or years and its fine, but then that one wrong hit can set it back. I just needed to rest it a bit more before getting back at it. The important thing is I’ll be ready to race come January.”Mike Webb (Yoshimura Suzuki Team Manager) says: “We’re all disappointed James won’t be able to race in Australia. We were looking forward for him to get as many gate drops as possible before Anaheim but we just lost three weeks out of our program. We feel the amount of time the trip to Australia would consume would be too much at this point. He has a lot of training and testing of new parts to accomplish before we’re ready for A1 and right now we’re a bit behind.“After talking with James about where he’s at physically and where we’re at testing wise, we’ve decided that it’s best to keep him here and continue the program that that we know will have him ready for A1. Obviously James is disappointed in the decision not to race but he understands 100 percent that in order to be ready for A1, this is the best option.”Stewart is now training in Florida for Bercy Supercorss and the upcoming season of 2016 Monster Energy Supercorss, which begins in Anaheim, Calif., January 9.
KTM RC 390 and Gordon McCall of Quail Motorcycle Gathering
byMotos and Friends by Ultimate Motorcycle
Hello and welcome once again to Ultimate Motorcycling’s weekly Podcast—Motos and Friends.
This week’s Podcast is brought to you by Yamaha motorcycles. Discover how the YZF-R7 provides the perfect balance of rider comfort and true supersport performance by checking it out at YamahaMotorsports.com, or see it for yourself at your local dealer.
This week features Senior Editor Nic de Sena’s impressions of the new KTM RC 390. The entry-level KTM has always been an impressive motorcycle that has sold extremely well, however the factory has now taken the bike to another level, with top-spec features that are typically found on flagship machines. Clearly KTM has realized that even smaller engined machines should have high spec suspension, brakes and electronics packages. Nic tells us how well the new RC 390 is equipped, and what he thought of riding the smaller displacement rocket.
In the second segment I chat with automotive and motorcycle industry icon, Gordon McCall. Gordon is the Director of Motorsports at the Quail Lodge & Golf Club in Carmel Valley, California.
This weekend of Saturday May 14th sees the annual Quail Motorcycle Gathering re-start after its Covid-forced hiatus, and having attended every one of the previous Motorcycle Gatherings, personally I’m very happy that the event is back on the schedule. Gordon chats about the event and a little of what’s happening this year. It’s a great event and if you feel like a trip to the gorgeous Quail Lodge in Carmel Valley, you’ll get to meet Gordon, Roland Sands, and of course a large number of stunning motorcycles too.
From all of us at Ultimate Motorcycling, we hope you enjoy this episode!