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TRIUMPH DEAN FERRIS RAISES HIS ARMS AFTER WINNING THE THOR MX1 AUSTRALIAN MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP PHOTO // ASHENHURST
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Thor MX1 round ten results
DEAN FERRIS CROWNED MX1 CHAMPION
1) Todd Waters – 67 points 2) Dean Ferris – 67 points 3) Kirk Gibbs – 58 points 4) Kade Mosig – 54 points 5) Dylan Long – 49 points 6) Jay Wilson – 49 points 7) Hamish Harwood – 49 points 8) Luke Wilson – 42 points 9) James Alen – 39 points 10) Daniel Banks – 39 points
The CDR Yamaha rider has overcome a six point deficit to be awarded the 2016 title
Thor MX1 Championship
WORDS HAYDEN GREGORY PHOTOS DAMIEN ASHENHURST As the final round of Motul MX Nationals got underway, all eyes were on the premier class GoPro Superpole with much needed points up for grabs. As the fastest qualifier from Saturday, Dean Ferris decided to hit the track first and it paid dividends, clocking the fastest time and picking up three additional championship points. On the other end of the scale, Kirk Gibbs had a lap to forget, finishing fourth and missing out on the opportunity for crucial extra points. The margin between Gibbs and Ferris closed to three as the Thor MX1 class lined up behind the gates for moto one. In a dramatic few moments KTM’s Gibbs scored the holeshot before his main threat Ferris, quickly assumed the race lead. A lap later Gibbs slipped to third with Todd Waters entering the mix and placing huge pressure on Ferris out front. A few turns later and Waters had his man while Gibbs fell yet another place back at the mercy of American Kyle Peters. A huge spanner was thrown into the works when Feris was docked ten seconds for riding inside a marker but the Yamaha rider looked undeterred pressing forward to once again reclaim the lead from Waters. In the second half of the moto Ferris began to check out on the field leaving Waters, Peters and Gibbs to fight it out for minor placings. As the chequered flag waved Ferris was the new championship leader, followed by Waters in second, Peters in third and Gibbs back in fourth. The tides had suddenly changed with one final moto left in the season. Ferris now had a four point lead over Gibbs and spectators were set for an almighty showdown.
The second started in similar fashion to the first with Gibbs securing the MXStore holeshot ahead of Waters and Ferris. On lap three Ferris made a move on Waters placing his Yamaha in second place and in perfect position for the 2016 title. Out in front Gibbs began to feel the pressure with all three riders within striking distance of the lead. In an outstanding burst of speed Waters rounded both riders up in quick succession to lead the moto. It didn’t take long for Ferris to follow suit, making a huge move on Gibbs to all but wrap up the championship. Waters began to extend his lead over the final few laps but all eyes were on the CDR Yamaha rider Ferris, who crossed the line in second place to clinch the 2016 Thor MX1 Motocross Championship. “I’m so stoked to have gotten this championship. After Round 5 this year I knew it was going to be tough, but the whole team believed in me, and I believed in myself,” Ferris shared. “I’ve had a lot of speed on the track this year and I just needed to work out how to be consistent like Kirk Gibbs, and that’s what I did. I wasn’t outside the top two after Wanneroo.” “This is actually the first championship I’ve ever won. I’m 26, and honestly I thought I was going to do this eight years ago, but I didn’t. I’ve had some really good results over the years but this is the first title so I’m absolutely ecstatic.” Wilson Coolair Motul Factory Suzuki’s Todd Waters claimed round honours with a 2-1 scorecard ahead of Ferris and Gibbs. “This weekend was exactly how we wanted to finish the season, and I’ve been chasing rounds like this all year,” Waters said. “A lot of times this season I’ve had a good first moto but things haven’t played out so well in the second one, but today it was the other way round and did
1) Dean Ferris – 666 points 2) Kirk Gibbs – 660 points 3) Todd Waters – 647 points 4) Kade Mosig – 541 points 5) Dylan Long – 460 points 6) Jay Wilson – 417 points 7) Jacob Wright – 403 points 8) Matt Moss – 381 points 9) Michael Menchi– 376 points 10) Daniel Banks – 374 points
“ I ’M S O STO K ED TO HAVE GOTT E N T HI S CHA MPIO NS HIP. A F TE R R O UND 5 THIS YEA R I KNEW I T WAS G O ING TO BE TO U GH, BUT THE WHO LE TE A M BE LI EVED IN ME, A ND I B E LI EV E D IN MYS ELF!”
what we came here to do. “I actually ran out of tear offs in the second race, and I just thought to myself, “I have got to get out in front”, it just gave me that motivation to dig deep and I made it happen. “I just rode my best today and let whatever happen happen, which has paid off, and I’m just wrapped to finish with one final podium and third in the championship.” Heading into the final round with the red plate placed a target on Kirk Gibbs back and he knew he would be up for a fight in Coolum. Unfortunately for the KTM rider the day didn’t play out as he would
have liked and despite the disappointment he remained optimistic and ready to shift his focus to the supercross season. “Obviously I didn't want it to end that way but Dean and Todd probably rode a little bit better than I did today,” Gibbs said. “So, it is what it is and I'm really happy with how the year went. I was on the podium nine times out of ten, and it is unusual for that not to win you the championship, but then, everyone thought Dean and Todd were going to walk away with it this year, so it’s good that we were still fighting over the title until the last race. “Obviously there can only be one winner at the end
of the year, but still it’s hard with how much effort everybody’s put in. We would have loved to get the championship, and it was frustrating to have led this long and come up just short, but I think everyone realises that we put our heart and soul into it, we just weren't good enough this year. But we'll keep fighting, and we'll come back next year,” Gibbs finished. While many consider 666 to be the devils number, Dean Ferris would argue differently. The Yamaha rider finished the season with 666 points, Gibbs finished in second place on 660 points and Todd Waters picked up third on 647.
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Motul MX2 round ten results
BEATON CLINCHES MAIDEN MX2 TITLE
1) Jed Beaton – 67 2) Wilson Todd - 63 3) Caleb Ward – 62 4) Jayden Rykers – 58 5) Kyle Webster – 52 6) Hamish Harwood – 50 7) Geran Stapleton – 46 8) Joel Wightman – 43 9) Richie Evans – 43 10) Dean Porter – 42
DPH Motorsports Jed Beaton has won the final round of the 2016 250 Championship
Motul MX2 Championship
WORDS HAYDEN GREGORY PHOTOS DAMIEN ASHENHURST Coolum provided the perfect backdrop for the final two races of the series with Jed Beaton and Caleb Ward both in contention for the 2016 title. As was heavily reported during the week red plate holder Nathan Crawford would miss the finale after suffering a nasty training crash and would most likely drop to third place overall. As gates dropped in moto one, Davey Motorsport’s Jayden Rykers collected the MXStore holeshot before Beaton quickly worked his way into the race lead. Wilson Todd and Caleb Ward then also made their move on Rykers with the leading trio setting a turbulent speed out front. Beaton continued to hold off Todd in second place before pressure was eased on lap eight with the Serco rider going down and remounting in fourth place. Ward moved into second place and the battle was well and truly on for vital championship points. Despite numerous attempts Ward was unable to make the decisive pass and Beaton would score maximum points for the opening moto. The KTM rider scored second with Rykers crossing in third. As the final moto of the year got underway, Caleb Ward claimed a narrow lead ahead of Todd and Beaton. On the second lap Beaton brought the crowd to its feet as an exhilarating turn of pace saw him pass both riders to capture the lead. One lap later and pressure started to show for Ward as a small mistake cost him two positions and provided some much needed breathing room for Beaton. As the race went on positions remained relatively similar with Ward jumping back into third place and Beaton continuing to lead. With one lap left to race Todd provided some late entertainment for fans, cruising past Beaton to take the moto win. Ward would finish in third place despite a fast finishing Rykers in fourth.
A 1-2 result not only handed Jed Beaton round honours, but also the 2016 MX2 Championship title. “I’m so happy to get this title. I knew that I had put in the hard work during the off season, I kept getting better and better at every round, and then half way through the championship I improved my results a lot,” he said. “It’s a shame that Nathan (Crawford) was out because I would have loved to battle with him here at Coolum, but he deserves all the credit that he gets, and it’s been a good year going at it for the title. “The DPH Motorsports Yamaha team have put in 100 per cent this year, and it really is like a little family. They’re a bunch of good people, and we all work really hard so we definitely deserve this championship.” Wilson Todd claimed second for the Coolum finale with Ward rounding out the podium in third. Despite a courageous last round the KTM rider had to settle for second place in the championship. “It's pretty disappointing,” Ward shared. “I obviously wanted to win this year. But Jed rode like a champ today, obviously I kept him on his toes in the first one, I caught him a bit at the end but I couldn't get it done. “In the second I got the holeshot, but I made a bad line choice and he made an early pass on me. Then I fell and went back to third and got caught up with sand in my gloves which made it a bit slippery to hold on. I didn't want to do anything too crazy and hurt myself. “Second in the championship isn’t too bad but obviously I would have liked to have one. I had a bit of bad luck early in the championship at Broadford with some things that were out of mine and the team's control, and I've made a few mistakes along the way myself. It's a bit of a mix of feelings but overall second isn't too bad. We’ll learn from it, move on and not dwell on it too much, and look forward to bigger and better things.” Husqvarna’s Nathan Crawford wrapped up the year in third place despite being unable to contest the final round due to injury.
1) Jed Beaton – 630 2) Caleb Ward – 617 3) Nathan Crawford – 574 4) Jayden Rykers – 537 5) Wilson Todd – 507 6) Dylan Wills – 470 7) Hamish Harwood – 448 8) Joel Wightman – 426 9) Kyle Webster – 376 10) Dean Porter – 365
“ T HEY ’ R E A BUNCH O F GO O D P EO PLE, A ND WE A LL WO R K R E A LLY HA R D S O WE DE F I NI TELY D ES ERVE THIS CHA MPIO NS HIP. ”
Pirelli MXD round ten results 1) Wade Kirkland – 63 2) Cooper Pozniak – 61 3) Kaleb Barham – 60 4) Zak Small – 57 5) Connor Tierney – 52 6) Mitchell Evans – 50 7) Jordan Hill – 49 8) Dylan Wood – 48 9) Luke Abela – 45 10) Sam Pelz – 42 Pirelli MXD Championship
EVANS COLLECTS MXD CHAMPIONSHIP IN COOLUM WORDS HAYDEN GREGORY PHOTOS DAMIEN ASHENHURST The under 19 riders hit the motocross track for the final time in 2016 and it was Cooper Pozniak getting the pick of the starts scoring the MXStore holeshot ahead of Husqvarna’s Connor Tierney. A few turns later and chaos erupted with a number of riders colliding leaving a scramble for position. Raceline Pirelli KTM’s Wade Kirkland emerged the new race leader while red plate holder Evans remounted near the back of the pack. Kirkland began to stretch his lead from Pozniak in second and Justin Hart in third. By the halfway stage Connor Tierney managed to chase down Hart before Kirkland began to fade dropping right off the pace into third. With two laps remaining Tierney would go down rejoining the race in ninth place. Cooper Pozniak would cruise to the chequered flag followed by Zak
Small and Kaleb Barham. Kirkland was relegated to fourth while Evans made a huge charge home to crack the top ten. With one moto left to race the MXD championship was still wide open and Evans would need to put the woes of race one behind him if he wanted to secure the title. As gates dropped, Kaleb Barham scored the second MXStore holeshot before Tierney quickly moved into the lead. Kirkland also made his way past Barham as did Small, while Evans once again found himself fighting outside the top five. Kirkland continued to apply pressure on Tierney out front and on lap nine he finally had his man. In the closing stages Barham also made his move on Tierney moving into second place. The final chequered flag of the season had Kirkland out front, Barham second and Tierney third. In a much calculated and safe ride, Mitch Evans crossed the line in fourth place, taking with him the
1) Mitchell Evans – 536 2) Connor Tierney – 523 3) Cooper Pozniak – 510 4) Wade Kirkland – 509 5) Kaleb Barham – 454 6) Zak Small – 433 7) Jordan Hill – 431 8) Hugh McKay – 345 9) Levi McManus – 310 10) Lochie Latimer – 303
2016 MXD Championship title. “It hasn’t really sunk in yet that I’ve done it. This is a feeling I can’t describe,” Evans shared. “There’s a lot of work that goes in during the week and there’s a lot of things behind the scenes that people don’t see so it’s just a great feeling to see that finally pay off. “We had a pretty comfortable lead coming in to this round, but we had a tough first moto and I was actually scared I was going to lose this championship, but we came back, and honestly that last race was the longest 20 minutes of my life, but we got the job done and I couldn’t be happier.” Wade Kirkland won the final round with 63 points ahead of Pozniak (61) and Barham (60). The final championship tally would see Mitch Evans rise to the top on 536, Connor Tierney in second on 523 and Cooper Pozniak on the final step of the podium with 510 points, just one single point ahead of Kirkland in fourth.
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JESSICA MOORE STUNS FOR YMI AUSTRALIAN WOMEN’S MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP WORDS HAYDEN GREGORY IMAGE MXN IMAGES During qualifying Kawasaki’s Meghan Rutledge put her hand up as the woman to beat, posting the fastest time ahead of KTM’s Jessica Moore and defending champ DPH Motorsport’s Maddy Brown. In the opening moto, Steph Cutler scored the MXStore holeshot before Brown quickly moved into the race lead closely trailed by Rutledge. The pair began to pull away from the pack, setting off on an exciting battle for moto victory. Jessica Moore and Yamaha’s Emma Milesevic were the best of the rest following in second and third places respectively. On lap six, drama struck Rutledge while in the race lead, crashing in a turn and losing a number of positions. The incident allowed Brown to comfortably roll on for race victory with Moore claiming second ahead of Tayla Jones in third. Milesevic dropped to fourth while Sarah Guthrie rounded out the top five. Maddy Brown scored her second holeshot of the day in moto two, with Rutlegde once again mounting huge pressure on her rear wheel. The pair battled for a number of laps before colliding and causing a massive change to the running order. KTM’s Moore jumped into the race lead ahead of Milesevic and Jones. From that point on the positions would remain unchanged with Moore claiming moto two victory. A night of rest and the women returned on Sunday for two more championship motos. The third kicked off and Rutledge and Brown once again found themselves in a commanding position. The battle for third was heating up and Moore made a fantastic pass on Jones for the podium position. In a relatively uneventful moto, Rutledge would press on to claim her first win of the weekend ahead of Brown and Moore. The final race began with a holeshot to Moore before Milesevic moved to the front. Rutledge showed early speed to round up both girls while Moore fell to third. Brown found herself back in sixth position yet the defending champ was not ready to throw in the towel. The DPH Motorsport rider slowly worked her way through the field moving up into third place with a huge pass on Moore. In the closing stages, the standings looked all but confirmed before Brown amazingly slowed prematurely before the chequered flag. The amazing turn of events saw Moore miraculously make a pass into third right on the line as Brown cost herself back to back championship titles. Jessica Moore was awarded the 2016 Yamaha Motorcycle Insurance Australian Women’s Motocross Championship on 127 points. “I’m absolutely speechless. My whole life, I’ve lived in the shadows of those other girls and being from WA, we sort of get forgotten being so far over the other side of the country,” Moore shared. “It’s been four years since I’ve raced a Women’s National just because of injuries and stuff like that, so to take it out today is unbelievable. “The way we did it in that last race – I pumped up, and I was so far back, and I saw that Maddy shut off early and I just went for it and took it across the line. “If it wasn’t for a couple of guys and Jeff Leisk I wouldn’t have been racing this year so I’m so glad we did it, and I can’t thank them enough.” Maddy Brown claimed second for the weekend on 123 points while Meghan Rutledge landed on the final step of the podium on 119.
The 19 year old shone on both days of racing in Coolum to cause a massive boilover.
2016 YMI Australian Women’s Championship results: 1) Jessica Moore – 127 points 2) Maddy Brown – 123 points 3) Meghan Rutledge – 119 points 4) Emma Milesevic – 116 points 5) Tayla Jones – 114 points 6) Dannielle Foot – 100 points 7) Sarah Guthrie – 100 points 8) Jessica Gardiner – 91 points 9) Courtney Whyte-Dennis – 86 points 10) Chelsea Blakers – 79 points
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ROCZEN AND FORKNER TOP MOTOCROSS FINALE The twelfth and final round of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship has come to a fitting end in Indiana WORDS HAYDEN GREGORY
laps. In third Webb was having a close battle with teammate Martin before he
IMAGES SIMON CUDBY
eventually got his measure and scored some breathing room Lap nine provided drama with Forkner crashing while in the lead. As a result
Ken Roczen has finished the season on a high winning both motos despite already wrapping up the 450 championship last weekend. In the opening moto the RCH Soaring Eagle/Jimmy John's/Suzuki Factory rider claimed the holeshot in a dangerous sign for the rest of the field. Justin Barcia was able to keep Roczen in sight for a few laps before the champ began to pull away. In third place Marvin Musquin managed to hold his position up until the halfway point of the moto when Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac surged past. For the second half of the race positions would remain unchanged with
Plessinger shot to the front, going on to remain unchallenged for his first moto win of the season. Webb finished in second place while Forkner was able to recover for third. A 1-3 scorecard was enough for the rookie to be awarded round victory, the first of his career and no doubt the first of many. "In the first moto I told myself not to look back because then I start thinking too much. I didn't [look back] until late and figured there's got to be someone behind me, but I was surprised to see I was up 23 seconds according to my
Roczen claiming a wire to wire victory, his 19th moto win of the season ahead of
mechanic. From there I just put it in cruise control and focused on hitting my
Barcia and Tomac.
lines," said Forkner.
In his final race of a 16 year career, Andrew Short had a reason to celebrate claiming the holeshot in moto two, just ahead of Barcia and Tomac. A few
"In the second moto I got a good start but Aaron [Plessinger] got by me. I just
moments later Roczen joined the party and made quick work of the trio
tried to follow him and he messed up, so I got by. He got close to me so I knew
screaming to the front. Barcia moved into second while Musquin once again
I had to try and get some breathing room, and I ended up going down. I had to
rode into third position. In extremely similar circumstances Tomac was able
ride the rest of the moto basically with one eye because I got some sweat on
to run down Musquin just after the halfway point relegating the Frenchman to
the inside of my goggles. Cooper [Webb] ended up getting by me and I didn't
fourth.
really put up a fight. I just put it in cruise control because I was pretty sure I got
Roczen was incredible out in front leading every single lap of the weekend to
it [the overall]."
finish the series as undisputed champion for 2016. "It ended up being a beautiful day today. It was a little sloppy in the morning but the track dried out all day. I got two awesome starts and just put in a good
Aaron Plessinger claimed second for the national followed by Webb in third. The 2016 250 Motocross Championship finished with Webb out in front by
charge," said Roczen. "I went for another win because we wanted to finish the
73 points. Alex Martin claimed a career best result in second while Savatgy
season off strong and not slack off. It was really tough to stay motivated, but
clinched third a further 49 points back.
I knew we had another race this week. I ultimately knew I would come here mentally ready and I couldn't be happier to end the season this way and move on to the offseason feeling like we did everything we came here to do this summer." Justin Barcia rode his best round of the year to claim second (2-2) while Tomac rounded out the podium in third (3-3). In 250 racing, Austin Forkner got the pick of the starts in moto one claiming the holeshot ahead of Mitchell Oldenburg and Cooper Webb. The newly crowned champion moved up into second place a few laps later before tipping over in a corner and losing a number of positions. Forkner continued to pull away on the clear track while Webb began to claw back from outside the top ten. By lap nine Webb had made his way all the way back into fourth place before tipping over again while trying to make a pass on Martin. Rookie Forkner cruised to the second moto win of his career, 29 seconds ahead of Savatgy in second. Despite some late pressure from Webb, Martin was able to hold on for third. In the second moto, Forkner once again scored the holeshot before Aaron Plessinger quickly found his way into the lead. The duo began to pull away from the field swapping positions a number of times over the opening few
450 Class Championship Standings Ken Roczen, Suzuki - 584 Eli Tomac, Kawasaki - 498 Marvin Musquin, KTM - 401 Justin Barcia, Yamaha - 360 Phil Nicoletti, Yamaha - 229 Benny Bloss, KTM - 228 Christophe Pourcel, Husqvarna - 217 Weston Peick, Yamaha - 197 Andrew Short, KTM - 197 Fredrik Noren, Honda - 192
250 Class Championship Standings Cooper Webb, Yamaha - 495 Alex Martin, Yamaha - 422 Joey Savatgy, Kawasaki - 383 Austin Forkner, Kawasaki - 376 Aaron Plessinger, Yamaha - 351 Jeremy Martin, Yamaha - 321 Zach Osborne, Husqvarna - 312 Adam Cianciarulo, Kawasaki - 266 Arnaud Tonus, Kawasaki - 243 Mitchell Oldenburg, KTM - 237
YZ250 WE BUILD THE ULTIMATE TWO STROKE
LEGENDS SPEAK LEISK, GALL, DACK, GRABHAM, ROBERTS, BALLARD, BYRNE, CARROL
TYE SIMMONDS TAKES FLIGHT!
MOSS BROS ABSENCE SPECULATION GROWS
FERRIS GOES BACK TO BACK THE CDR RIDER CLOSES IN ON GIBBS
The 2016 Motul MX Nationals have come to a close with new riders crowned Australian Champions
GALLERY PHOTOGRAPHY DAMIEN ASHENHURST
COOLUM MOTOCROSS
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MOTO MANUAL MOTOCROSS TIP
MOTOCROSS TIP
LOAMY BERMS
WHEN YOU SEE A LOAMY BERM PUSHED UP ON THE OUTSIDE OF A TURN, IT’S HARD TO RESIST HEADING STRAIGHT AT IT AND DESTROYING IT. THAT MAY LOOK SWEET FOR A PHOTO BUT IT’S NOT THE BEST WAY TO USE IT
STORY SHANE BOOTH PHOTOGRAPHY HUSQVARNA
STAY LIGHT & LOW Remember, these berms haven’t been built — they’ve been pushed up by all the bikes getting on the gas and roosting that dirt into a pile. It’s loose and soft and you can blow straight through really easily; when that happens, you’ll most likely find yourself lying on the ground. The way to avoid that is to stay light through the turn, approach on the shallowest angle possible and flow with it. When you come in sharp and try turn off it sharply, you’re likely to push the front end through it or blow the back end through it with the throttle. Pick it up early and try to stay on it the whole way through. Another way to help avoid blowing through is to stay low on the berm and not get up high. If you’re lower there’s more dirt holding you; the higher you get, the thinner the berm gets and the more likely you are to blow through it.
LEAN WITH THE BIKE You can lean your body with the bike as the wheels have something holding them from sliding out. If you try to sit up on top of the bike too much you’ll struggle to keep down low on the berm; usually, you’ll find the bike tries to stand up and climb the berm, which isn’t what
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DIRT ACTION
you want. So try to trust the berm and lean in with the bike as you make the turn. Remember to keep your head forward over the handlebars, too — that will also help keep the front wheel where you want it and stop it climbing the berm.
READ THE CHANGING CONDITIONS This can be the best line on the track in one lap and put you on your head the next. These types of berms change with every bike that goes through them, so make sure you’re always looking and doing your best to read the changing conditions. The more bikes that go around it, the more it will push wide — at some point, probably too wide to be a good line. Sometimes when this happens you can change the way you use the berm by turning off the very beginning of it and cutting off the exit of the berm where it’s got too wide. Just be careful you don’t bury the front end when you do this. If you get it right, it’s a very effective way to get through a turn with lines that have all blown out wide. You don’t want to be the unlucky rider who’s on it when it finally gives way because it’s too blown out, so keep a close eye on it and change your line when you need to.
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FEATURE
AORC GALLERY
DUNGOG AORC s The best shots from roundlian nine and ten of the Austra Off-Road Championships
PHOTOS JOHN PEARSO
N