Enduro is a sport that tests both rider and machine to the limits of endurance and skill over diverse terrain – from river crossings to valleys to high mountain peaks and beyond - a perfect proving ground for Husqvarna Motorcycles. With its offroad expertise and heritage, the brand remains focused on achieving success at the highest levels of two-wheeled motorsport.
Rally riding is one of the toughest and more extreme disciplines of motorcycle sport. Bold and adventurous competitors spend long hours on the bike in hostile terrain, negotiating the ground at speed while navigating their course. The most celebrated of the international events has to be the Dakar Rally held every January, a fearsome challenge for riders and machines and eagerly anticipated by sports fans globally.
Motorsport is a rather integral part of the Husqvarna brand's 120-year history and a driving factor in the continued development of its class-leading production motorcycles. Fans should expect to witness Husqvarna Motorcycles battling at the front in elite series like the FIM Motocross World Championship and the SuperMotocross World Championship (consisting of both AMA Supercross and Pro Motocross in the United States). Those series are the ultimate testing grounds for the competition machines that influence the brand's extensive range of production models.
The Moto3™ class was redefined from the old 125cc division in 2012, and for more than a decade has been the platform for MotoGP champions of tomorrow to hone their craft. Moto3 consists of tight technical constraints for the 250cc race machinery that hits top speeds of 240kmh and also an age bracket of 18 to 28 that tends to focus on emerging youth and talent.
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing pair Christian Craig and Malcolm Stewart claimed P8 and P9 overall as the AMA Pro Motocross Championship got back underway at Unadilla this weekend, competing with a distinctive Heritage livery at Round 9 of the 2024 season.
Craig qualified strongly in seventh position and then pushed hard on his way to ninth in Moto 1, before improving further and finishing eighth in the final outing. That consistency saw him claim eighth overall in challenging track conditions, currently ninth in the standings with two rounds left to run.
"Unadilla was good for us," Craig commented. "I qualified really good, sixth in the first session and seventh in the final one, so my speed was there. In Moto 1, I fought my way up to ninth and was in the battle, then second moto I made a few too many mistakes early and got shuffled back. All in all, riding was better, and my arm was in a better spot today – things are coming around."
450MX teammate Stewart directly trailed Craig on the overall charts with ninth place on his Husqvarna FC 450 Rockstar Edition. After qualifying in ninth, Stewart went 10-9 across the premier class motos on Saturday in a continuation of his rebuild, managing to overcome a crash from earlier in the day. He sits seventh in the points following Unadilla.
"I had a crash in practice and banged myself up a bit, and then the track was very technical in the motos," Stewart said. "We ended up ninth overall, which we'll take, and I'm looking forward to moving forward at these last couple."
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing 250 Class Class newcomer Casey Cochran's day was impacted by a crash in the final outing, unfortunately causing him to DNF the moto. Before then he qualified 11th and then repeated that same result in Moto 1, which put him 16th for the weekend, and has him ranked 12th in the series on the Husqvarna FC 250 Rockstar Edition.
"Today wasn't too bad and it was a decent first moto," Cochran reflected. "I was feeling good for the second moto, and was just outside of the top-five, but unfortunately had a crash and am pretty banged up."
Next Race: August 17 – Budds Creek, Maryland
Results 450MX Class – Unadilla National
1. Chase Sexton (USA), KTM
2. Hunter Lawrence (AUS), Honda
3. Aaron Plessinger (USA), KTM
8. Christian Craig (USA), Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing
9. Malcolm Stewart (USA), Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing
Standings 450MX Class 2024 after 9 of 11 rounds
1. Chase Sexton, 407 points
2. Hunter Lawrence, 379
3. Aaron Plessinger, 319
7. Malcolm Stewart, 238
9. Christian Craig, 188
11. Justin Barcia, 148
Results 250MX Class – Unadilla National
1. Levi Kitchen (USA), Kawasaki
2. Haiden Deegan (USA), Yamaha
3. Jalek Swoll (USA), Triumph
6. Pierce Brown (USA), GASGAS
9. Julien Beaumer (USA), KTM
10. Ryder DiFrancesco (USA), GASGAS
11. Tom Vialle (FRA), KTM
16. Casey Cochran (USA), Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing
Standings 250MX Class 2024 after 9 of 11 rounds
1. Haiden Deegan, 408 points
2. Levi Kitchen, 338
3. Tom Vialle, 327
7. Pierce Brown, 225
9. Ryder DiFrancesco, 204
11. Julien Beaumer, 174
12. Casey Cochran, 164
Husqvarna's historic legacy shone brightly at the 2024 MXGP of Sweden, where Lucas Coenen dominated both MX2 motos, securing his fourth 1-1 victory of the season.
