Marc Willers, the Speed Factory Team's Elite man, has four wins and a second out of six ABA races held. He'd likely have at least one more podium spot if he hadn't pulled his foot in a semi-main in Reno. Even with that, he missed making the main by 0.004 seconds. Marc was killing it that weekend and could easily have taken the double.
His first double on U.S. soil, however, would have to wait until last weekend in Oldsmar, Florida, where Marc had a perfect double. In several post-race interviews he was asked what's he's done differently this year to be off to such a powerful start. His answer, every time: "The only thing different this year is the new Speed bike." Those are his words, not ours. Needless to say, we were super stoked to hear him say it.
Factory Intense's Rusty Nesvig is nearly undefeated this season in Junior Elite as well as 16X. Rusty, by the way, started riding the new Sinz Elite XXX cranks and Sinz Elite rims in Oldsmar. His team mate Sean Gaines also has had a great season so far, with a perfect weekend in 14X in Reno.
Besides Willers' perfect double, in Oldsmar, the rest of Factory Speed has had a good showing, with Felicia Stancil making her debut on her new Speed bikes. With wins in 15 Girls, 15-16 Girls Cruiser and a 2nd in Junior Devo Girls, Felicia helped the team take 3rd in the Factory Trophy race on Saturday. The four-person Factory Speed Team had 192 points behind Team Crupi with 193 and Rennen-Intense with 197.
On the bad-news front, Arielle Martin broke her hand in a crash in Sunday's Main in Oldsmar. Fortunately, the brake is minor and she can continue to train. If all goes well, she'll be back on the race track at the ABA WInternationals in Arizona. Reigning ABA Elite Women's champion Dominique Daniels, who starts her second season on a Speed frame and a full complement of VSI products, is undefeated so far, with three doubles. Dom is one pro taking full advantage of the Pro Contingency Program powered by VSI. To date, she has earned more than $2,100 in contingency money, which pretty much doubles what she has earned in Elite Women purse payouts.
Rennen-Intense, lead by A Pro Alex Anthony (Speed), 17-18X Austin Loebe (Intense), 19-27X Max Egdorf (Intense) and 36-40X Shawn DiPrete (Speed 20"/Intense 24"), doubled in Factory Team again in Oldsmar. While J&R-Speed doubled again in Team Trophy.
In points, Marc Willers currently leads the ABA Elite Men with 1,376 points followed by Kyle Bennett with 752 and Corben Sharrah with 646. In A Pro, after leader Tommy Zula, are three Speed riders, Factory Speed's Fernie Jacquez, Logan Collins and Alex Anthony. Dominique Daniels leads the Elite Women with 1,509 points.
Intense BMX, Speed, Sinz Elite and THE also have had big success internationally. The Intense/Sinz Elite/THE-sponsored Australian Cycling Elite High Performance BMX team of Caroline Buchanan, Lauren Reynolds, Rachel Bracken and Brian Kirkham have been racking up wins Down Under with the women finishing 1-2-3 on more than a f
ew occasions. Also in Australia, Team HRVfitness/Speed has been picking up wins on their new M-Series frames, including three No. 1 plates at the Southern Australia State Championships. Speed-sponsored Mariana Pajon picked up a double win at the UCI Cat. 5/4 in Cordoba, Argentina. Mariana started riding a Speed mid-2010 and will again this year. The rest of her Colombian National Teammates will ride Intense frames equipped with a wide range of VSI products.
In other sponsorship news, VSI, through THE is the official number plate of the UCI through the 2012 Olympics in London. All riders in UCI Supercross races through 2012, including the London Olympic Games, will run THE plates and numbers. VSI also signed a three-year deal as a major sponsor of the ABA with Intense BMX, Speed, Sinz Elite, THE and ITS. And Intense renewed its deal as the sponsor of the USA Cycling Jr. Development Camps at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, California.
After doing a BMX 'zine for ten years (1987 - 1996) FATBMX made it on the internet. The year was 1998. Here to stay.