Inside dirt issue 15

INTERVIEW WITH HUNTER LAWRENCE

RIDERS TIPS THE SWITCH UP TO SUPERCROSS

pg. 38

pg. 22

INTERVIEW AMERICA VS AUSTRALIA

AORC AND ISDE EVENT RECAPS

pg. 58

pg. 166

JED BEATON GAINS CONTROLL OF THE RED PLATE IN MX2 After a dominating performance at broadford and some bad luck from our early series leader Caleb Ward, Jed Beaton has grabbed the red plate with no sign of letting it go. Can he go all the way? pg. 110

THE NEW KID

ON THE BLOCK

AFTER WINNING HIS FIRST EVER MXN RACE KYLE PETERS IS HOT PROPERTY FOR ANY AUSSIE TEAM. WE CHECK IN WITH HIM PAGE 30

SUPERCROSS O F F R OA D

INCLUDING

AJMX EVENT RECAP

ISSUE 15 26.10.2016

Todd Waters

Wilsons Cool Air Motul Suzuki Team

MX Nationals When it was announced that Todd Waters was returning from Europe to race the Australian MX Nationals, there was a shudder heard throughout the pits. Todd’s raw speed and technical approach to his racing craft is what puts him at a level above most. Combining Todd’s talent with the technical know-how from his mechanic Jason, there is nothing left to chance. And when it came down to engine performance and protection, they both demanded Motul 300V.

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MAGIC MOMENT Hayden Melross gained the red plate after round 2 and had the crowd join in on the celebrations.

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MAGIC MOMENT Going into supercross a lot of people underestimated Dean Ferris including himself, after the completion of the first two round you can confidently say he is in contention for round wins in the second half of the season.

FLIP YOUR PHONE HORIZONTAL TO VIEW THE FULL IMAGE

FEATURES

It’s been a couple of months between issues, and lucky for you readers that means the latest edition of Inside Dirt has more than 100 pages of motorcycling content covering the biggest championships from around the country.

Since our last mag dropped, we’ve wrapped up the 2016 Motul MX Nationals, saw this year’s Yamaha AORC come to a spectacular finish, held another Australian Junior Motocross Championship, an ATV National Championship, and kick started the 2016 Australian Supercross series – so as you can imagine, there’s plenty to talk about!

With most off road disciplines wrapping up in the last two months, Australia has crowned a huge number of brand new Australian Champions, and showcased to the world just how talented our Aussie riders are, which we’ll share with you throughout the next couple of hundred pages.

As well as all of the racing coverage, in this issue we have some special pieces from our regular contributors, including rider’s tip’s, one on one interviews, news from overseas, and more.

So, time to get reading!

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The Switch up to SX - Riders tips

30

Plug Chop with Kyle Peters

38

Interview with Hunter Lawrence

50

Interview with SX round 2 winners

58

America vs Australia

60

Hit and Miss

SUPERCROSS 78

Round 1 - SX1/SX2 Race Recap

88

Round 2 - SX1/SX2 Race Recap

100 MotoOnline Off track Gallery 106 Team Round 2 Race Recaps

JUNIOR MX 136 Junior Riders Tips 144 AJMX Event Recap

OFFROAD 166 AORC Championship winners 174 ISDE Aussie team race recap 180 ISDE Women team race recap

ID ISSUE #15

ON PAGE 30: Kyle Peters hit the Australian scene hard this season and now has many teams chasing him. We sit down and talk about his experience thus far

180

ON PAGE 38: We speak with newly signed Suzuki World MXGP rider Hunter Lawrence and see how he is doing in Europe.

174 ON PAGE 136: AJMX is the largest Junior championship in Australia. So we highlight those riders that excelled in their respective classes.

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TA K E T O T H E U N K N O W N

BEHIND THE GATES Time flies when you’re having fun! Since Coolum’s final round we’ve been very busy working on the 2017 Motul MX Nationals Championship series which is shaping up very well, and on top of that, we’ve been taking some time to attend motorcycling events all over the country, because after all, we’re all just mad bike fans!

Most will have seen that we announced recently that the series will continue as ten rounds for 2017, and now that we’ve told you dates and states, we’re looking forward to announcing a couple of new venues too which is very exciting for our fans, teams, sponsors,

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and of course our stars of the show, the riders!

Recently I had the opportunity to attend the Australian Junior Motocross Championship in South Australia to get to know some of our future riders. Now, despite the weather being horrendous that week in Renmark, I was very pleased to see the fantastic depth of talent coming through the junior ranks. It was also very encouraging to see what great rider numbers there currently are within the Australian juniors – the sport a few years back went through a bit of a slump in terms of competitors, but from what I’ve seen it’s looking very healthy, and we

cannot wait to welcome all of the fresh senior riders to our series next year.

The top Juniors at Renmark all showed great speed, and from what we have witnessed, the 2017 MXD category is going to be a tough class. I was lucky enough to sit and chat with many of the families who made the trek to S.A for the week-long event which I always enjoy, and it’s great to see so many mums and dads turning out to the races to support their kids! We are also looking forward to having you as part of our MX Nationals family in the future.

As part of the Motul MX National’s support for junior racing, we will also be

“TOP JUNIORS AT RENMARK ALL SHOWED GREAT SPEED, AND FROM WHAT WE HAVE WITNESSED, THE 2017 MXD CATEGORY IS GOING TO BE A TOUGH CLASS.” _________ KEVIN WILLIAMS HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO ATTEND THE AJMX TO GET TO KNOW SOME OF THE FUTURE STARS

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making some announcements shortly regarding the support classes for the 2017 Championship. One thing we can tell you is that there will be new classes, and more rounds for each of them, which will provide a fantastic opportunity for the youngsters of our sport to get their feet wet, and see how things operate at the top of the sport before making the switch to full time professional level racing.

With two rounds of Supercross now completed, and four rounds remaining, it’s been great to see our Motul MX Nationals MX1 Champion Dean Ferris doing so well.

For a guy who has previously labelled himself as a ‘motocross only’ sort of athlete, there’s no two ways about it, this

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kid from Kyogle can race the man made tracks too!

Now one thing I’m very excited about is that if the rumors are correct, we could very well be seeing a couple of our riders from the Motul MX2 class this season picking up rides in Europe for 2017.

The Motul MX Nationals has become a bit of a breeding ground for those hoping to step on the world stage which we are very proud of. And if these fellas are in fact heading over to contest the MXGP next year, we wish them all well and will be watching them and cheering them on from Australia!

Just touching on International success, I’d like to congratulate this

“THE LAST FEW MONTHS HAVE BEEN MASSIVE FOR AUSTRALIAN MOTORCYCLING, AND WE’VE COVERED IT ALL INSIDE!” Australian Team who competed at this year’s ISDE in Spain, and a very special mention to the Women who made it four world titles in a row and KTM’s Daniel Sanders for collecting the win in the E3 category!

Also, a huge congratulations to Matthew Phillips on recently wrapping up the Enduro World Championship.

Now for some words on the latest edition of Inside Dirt! We have some great content in this issue, including coverage from the Aussie Juniors, the first two rounds of Supercross, updated championship standings, unreal feature articles with international superstars and more.

The last few months have been massive for Australian motorcycling, and we’ve covered it all inside! So get reading, we can’t wait to hear what you think of the latest Inside Dirt Mag.

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SWITCH IT UP SUPERCROSS RIDERS TIPS

Hi everyone and welcome to the first addition of the “Riders Tips” articles for the Australian Supercross series! I’m excited as I’m sure you all are, to see a change up in the racing environment and see Australia’s elite athletes take to the tight confines of Supercross racing.

The obvious question on a lot of people’s minds and it is one I am asked quite frequently; How does a rider change up his training routine for competing in the Supercross season as opposed to the MX Nationals Motocross season?

To answer that question we need to firstly break down what Supercoss requires from competitors. The tracks are tight, with much shorter lap times than your average Motocross track. The only flat piece of real estate on an sx track is the start straight, the rest of the circuit is full of jumps, rhythms and whoops. The majority of corners are banked berms to maximise corner speed and intensity of racing. Finally, you are racing twenty other riders all looking to block pass you

Story By: Joe Stevens

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any opportunity they can get, on a track that constantly changes and breaks down throughout the evening as racing progresses, meaning that 65ft triple or quad rhythm section might not be jumpable on your line every lap‌ are you scared yet?

All this while maintaining an anaerobic plus heart rate zone from durations ranging from 8-15 minutes and even close to twenty minutes at some venues for the 450 class main events.

The most important thing for Supercross in my opinion is bike time. Solely because SX is a game of precision, timing and rhythm. Riders need to land in the precise point of each rhythm section with the correct revs every lap to ensure they make it over the obstacles safely and also with enough speed to be competitive on race day. Bike time, feeling confident with your skills and set up are essential for the confidence needed to compete in Supercross.

An average day at the practise track will consist of a warm up followed by skills work on cornering, whoops or obstacles and sprint laps. This can be in the form of single laps, sprint sections, or starts to varying lap pyramids to achieve intensity and speed training at the same time.

Alternatively another training day at the sx track will involve a replica race day following a warm up, including a race length heat and main event simulation to get the riders bodies and minds used to the demands of a SX

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“The most important thing for Supercross is bike time. Solely because SX is a game of precision, timing and rhythm�

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race day and ensure their concentration and endurance throughout the series.

In the gym riders will use the downtime between the finish of the MX Nationals series and the start of Supercross to introduce a more intense style of fitness training. Between interval and maximal output training sessions, riders will endeavour to have their body systems

capable and efficient at functioning in a max HR zone for a prolonged period of time without compromising performance and concentration. This however is a delicate balancing act as the riders have just completed a ten round MX Nationals season, so the risk of fatigue and sickness is a real threat to the upcoming Supercross season.

“Managing a transition period of intense fitness training into Supercross track time and gym training structured around recovery and core strength is key to rider longevity in such a demanding sport as Supercross�

Once the riders are riding three to five days per week they are averaging well over 250 laps per week of pounding their bodies on every jump and maxing out their Heart Rate. To add further intensity gym sessions into their schedule is a guaranteed mistake that will lead to fatigue and a rider with no spark or enthusiasm on the bike.

After the first two rounds it is obvious to see which Australian riders have been managing their programs will between the transition of MX Nationals into Superceoss and whichriders have

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been caught off guard by the intensity and demanding nature of Supercross racing.

However with the series being six rounds, I think by round three we will see all the riders shake off the cobwebs, nerves and riding tight in favour of relaxing and ultimately having faith in their training program and mid-week routine to show their potential for the remainder of the supercross championship!

Story by Joe Stevens

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TA R G E T K Y L E P E T E R S The quiet achiever, and the kid who gets Aussie humour better than any American we’ve ever met. Kyle Peters has slid flawlessly in to life on Australian shores, and when it comes to racing here, its no surprise as to why he’s the hottest property in the pits - already having raced for two factory teams here since arriving.

But with Motocross and Supercross being so big in America, we’ve always

wondered what exactly keeps drawing Peters back. Is it the laid back life style, the weather, the tracks, or simply just the level of racing here in Oz?

Misty Walton sat down for a one on one chat with the kid in his 20’s from North Carolina to find out exactly why he keeps coming back to Australia, and whether or not there’s a chance racing here could become a lot more permanent.

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KP110

You’ve been some what of a revelation since arriving in Australia. No one really expected you to come out and win a race at Toowoomba – did you expect that from your first 450 race here?

Ahh yeah I was expecting to come over and win, that was the goal and I knew my fitness was good enough and I knew my speed was there as well so it wasn’t a surprise to me at all. It’s what I’ve been training so hard for, and I’m hoping that I’ll be able to do the same thing when we get to round three of the Supercross at Adelaide.

People here obviously knew your name from winning the Junior Australian titles in 2009, and racing with the Wilson MX team back in 2014, but you’ve had a decent amount of success in America, so what was the appeal in coming back to Australia this year?

Well really it was just something fresh and new. I was having trouble finding something, well a decent ride for the outdoors in America, so when I got the call from Troy Carroll to come over I jumped right on it. It was going to be fun and be a nice little vacation in Australia, where I could also do some racing so it was a pretty easy decision. But it’s 32

actually turned out to be a really great opportunity for me, and it’s opened some people’s eyes, and instead of being here for three weeks, I’ve been here for three months.

Initially when you came over, it was only for the last two rounds of Motocross with Kawasaki, but here you are now racing Supercross for Factory KTM. Was that at all something you had thought about doing when you came over?

Yeah it’s something I had in my mind, where if I rode well enough that perhaps I would be picked up for one of the Supercross deals, and that’s actually why I stayed a week longer after Coolum, just to see what could happen. Unfortunately for Kirk Gibbs he got injured and that then opened up a spot for me at KTM, and I’m very grateful to have been given the opportunity.

What’s so special about Australia?

It’s just the people, everyone has been amazing to me over here and every team I’ve been on has been unreal. This country is so friendly and so helpful, and the entire Williams family we are very close with, so any time I can come over and see everyone, I jump at it.

Your dad is also out here now supporting you, has that helped a lot having your own family around too?

Yeah definitely. He’s a big help to my program, he’s been coming with me riding, and helping me with things like training to what I need to be doing on the bike so having him here is awesome.

Having family around is so important so it’s been great having him here so far.

What are the main differences between racing here and in the US? The main difference is just the tracks. It’s hard to explain what is actually different, but they’re just two completely different worlds really. I’m still sort of getting used to that whole aspect of it, but I’m getting in a lot more seat time since my crash at Jimboomba, I feel a lot more comfortable on the bike, and I’ve been putting plenty

of hours in on it, so I think the results are going to start showing as well.

Well how do the Australian Supercross tracks shape up compared to American tracks then?

They’re just completely different. The past two races have been really good tracks, and from when I came out in 2014, it’s 100 times better so it’s been really good so far. The tracks have been pretty technical, and the last one at Toowoomba was good because it was a lot more like back at home. Just the way they shape up is a lot different – they don’t get anywhere near as many ruts, and they’re pretty hard pack, but I’ve never raced anything so slippery. I’m not sure if it’s just the moisture coming up at the end of the night but it’s definitely something I gotta get used to!

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You’ve obviously stayed in Australia a lot longer than you initially thought you were going to – what’s the plan once Supercross is finished here?

I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately actually, and knowing Kevin Williams and what he does with the MX Nationals, I would really like to spend a full season here and just experience it, see if I can get some wins and do something different.

Back home, it’s a bit of a struggle right now in terms of rides – there’s not many of them left, so the goal is to stay here for next year, but as of right now it’s still all up in the air.

If you don’t find anything here in Australia for next year, will you race the American Supercross in 2017?

Yeah, if I don’t have a ride here for next year I’ll race the Supercross. Either on a satellite team or as a privateer.

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Is it relatively easy for a Privateer to race the Supercross in America as opposed to the outdoors?

Yeah Supercross is a lot easier as a privateer. You can pick which coast you do, either West coast or East coast and they’re all not super far away – you can drive to most of them, so that aspect of things makes it easier as a privateer.

Do you think that racing in Australia is a good option for riders who are still at a highly competitive level in the US, but perhaps can’t find the right ride over there?

For sure. There are still amazing guys racing in Australia who are very fast who could go to the US and win and do just as well, just the depth of the field isn’t quite as big as back at home. But there’s way more opportunities in Australia for people without rides that’s for sure.

What would be your biggest piece of advice for an Aussie hoping to make something of themselves in the US? The main this is always just to work hard, everything is a bit different in the US from here. It’s not a super big culture change but it is a bit, and you just need to put in the work. As long as you put in the work the results will come.

Thanks heaps for the chat Kyle, good luck with the rest of the season.

No problems, thank you

MW

xx

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FEATURED

HUNTER LAWRENCE Hunter Lawrence. It’s become a well high profile riders, to race the World known name within the racing fraternity, Championship series in Europe. and it seems after recent events it will Hunter, was signed with Monster only get bigger. Both Hunter and his Energy CLS Team Green Kawasaki for brother Jett simply dominated his debut year in the EMX250 whilst in juniors in Australia, class, while Jett was offered THE and following impressive the opportunity to also AUSTRALIAN performances at the race at selected 85cc TALENT IS FIM World Junior races across Europe LOCKED IN TO Championships, were with the team.

TWO YEARS both offered the But it was Hunter who WITH TEAM opportunity to head captured the attention SUZUKI WORLD over to Europe to follow of not only the Australian MX2 their racing dreams. fans, but the European

Yep, that’s right – the crowd when he showed the entire Lawrence family bid farewell world just what he was capable of. to their home on the Sunshine Coast in Hunter earned his fair share of podiums, 2015, making the life changing decision and was well within contention for the to say goodbye to Australia, and to follow EMX250 Championship in what was his in the paths of those such as Chad Reed, debut season.

Andrew McFarlane and many other However, during round eight of

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the MXGP in Spain, Lawrence injured his knee, which then forced him out of the European Championship, and the difficult decision was made to focus on the MX2 bigger picture and have the knee operated on, ending his season well and truly prematurely.

Surprisingly, despite initially signing a multi-year deal with the Monster Energy CLS Kawasaki Team, following a successful surgery, Hunter has recently debuted new team colours. Yellow.

With Stefan Everts at the helm, and teammates in Jeremy Seewer, Bas Vaessen, and Arminas Jasikonis, the Australian talent is locked in to two years with Team Suzuki World MX2, and will 40

make his debut in the MX2 class in 2017 with the team.

As well as Hunter donning new colours, brother Jett has also jumped ship, and will join the team from 2017, slated for the European Championship.

HUNTER LAWRANCE COULD BE THE ANSWER TO THAT LONG LASTING QUESTION. WHO IS THE NEXT CHAD REED?

INTERVIEW So, fast forward a few months, and it seems that Lawrence’s decision has paid off, so we sat down with the cheeky Aussie late one Friday night to find out where things are at, how he got there, and whether or not he thinks an MX2 World Championship is achievable within the next two years..

Firstly, how’s things over in Europe right now, you’re just about to come in to winter, and we know it can be difficult to get training in over there when it’s cold!

Things are going well – switching to the new team they’ve made it as easy as possible with the bike switch and everything so far, so it’s been really good.

It’s also been great to get some time on the bike before the winter fully rolls in. It’s definitely not easy to train in winter, so I think it’s better to do your sand training in the winter because when the summer comes around it’s a lot easier. You really need to have the right clothing though, if you don’t have the right clothing you just freeze and you end up hating life, but when you’re nice and organised it’s not too bad actually.

closer to the team, and the workshop. It makes things like going to and from the track easier and just washing bikes a lot quicker. We aren’t allowed to wash bikes at our house over here like in Aussie. We have to go to a carwash, but not every car wash lets you. One of the teams had to buy a washing area which was like 15 grand or something, and it all has to be approved, so it’s pretty different to home.

Most people assumed that you were going to be locked in to your deal with Kawasaki for a good portion of your career, and then just before MXoN, it was announced that you’d signed with Suzuki, how did that all happen?

Long story (laughs). In March I was practicing at Lommel and Harry Everts came up and spoke to us, and just sort of asked what we were doing next year, and Where are you based at the moment? at that point we were still with Kawasaki We’re actually just about to move to so we didn’t think too much of it. Then Belgium, and we’ll be based there from he spoke to me again at Teutschenthal next month. It will just allow us to be and said that Suzuki were very interested.

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“When someone like those guys speak, you listen” Hunter Lawrence shaking hands with new team manager Stefan Everts

Then I think two rounds later, Stefan spoke to me and then we realised it was pretty serious, so here we are now, signed for the next two years which is pretty cool actually.

Jett has also made the switch over to Suzuki, was that part of your negotiations?

It’s just a lot easier if Jett and I are on the same brand for us as a family. Jett is obviously an ex Junior World Champion though so it wasn’t as if they were signing a swapper (laughs). Jett is the same age as Liam, Stefan’s son, so it will be good for those two to train together and it gives him a friend too. It is also great for Suzuki to have a young guy like Jett coming through the ranks and they also have Liam coming through too – so it’s a good chance for Suzuki to develop the program for the younger kids too.

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Having the opportunity to work with someone like Stefan Everts is pretty special, what’s he been like to work with so far?

It’s been really good. Him and Harry, between the pair of them they have 15 World Titles, so it’s really cool to hear every bit of information. When someone like those guys speak, you try and listen as much as you can, and you remember every little bit of it. They have so much advice and it’s been really helpful. The way Stefan runs a team is how a factory team should be run, it’s very professional. It’s also a very family orientated environment the Suzuki workshop – everyone is so friendly and gets along so well and we all eat lunch together at the same time every day which is nice. It’s a solid work environment too, which only positive can come out of.

Do most of the riders in Europe speak a lot of English in the MXGP Paddock?

Yeah English is the most spoken language.

What has it been like racing on European tracks in comparison to Aussie tracks?

The difference in the tracks over here I’d say is how difficult they are. When you stand back and look at things, and you realise what you come from in Australia, there’s quite a few dangerous things over here, but that’s just how we race! The tracks in Europe are definitely world level tracks, where as in Australia there’s a few circuits where you can really only go to What’s it like having Jeremy Seewer, a certain speed. There’s jumps here in Bas Vaessen, and Arminas Jasikonis as Europe where a 250 is flat out to make it, teammates? where as in Australia, an 85 could pretty Myself and Jeremy have hung out a bit much clear a lot of the jumps. and gone riding a few times and stuff, and we also went to the Intermot at Cologne “I think if Motorcycling in Germany recently for the launch of Australia were to go to all the new Suzuki road bikes, so that was really cool getting to hang out with him of the tracks on the MXGP there. He’s a nice guy, we get along calendar over here they’d awesome and he’s funny so I’m excited be having kittens, but it’s to have him around. Bas, I’ve met a few times throughout the year when we were just normal here.” racing each other but I haven’t spent as much time with him. At the moment he’s been in the US, training and riding and Like if there’s a massive tree beside a track he comes back in a week or two. Then in Europe they just put a bit of padding Arminas the MX1 rider, he’s really cool too. around it and say ‘that’s no dramas, just We have known each other from about don’t hit the tree’. In France, there’s an old half way through this year, so I’m excited race track and you come down a hill, and to hang out some more and spend some at the top of the berm there’s all wooden more time together. It’s a good team pallets and that’s just to stop you from environment and we all get along really going over the top of it, so you learn things well. really quick, and realise that’s just normal.

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What’s your involvement with Ken Roczen’s father?

That’s also a bit of a long story. It was through my race mechanic from this year with Kawi – he’s Kenny’s stepdad, and he introduced me to Heiko, Kenny’s Dad. I was taken out to Heiko’s to ride one day, it’s sort of like a ‘Ride Park’, they have a track and you can pay to ride. We sort of spent a few days with each other and I helped a bit around the farm also. I liked it because it reminded me of home, just doing things around the farm, and it was cool – we sort of clicked straight away and he wanted to help me, so we went just from him being my fitness trainer to getting closer and closer and now it’s really good – he’s sort 44

of like my European family now. I never would have thought coming over here that I was going to be such good mates with Kenny’s dad, but it’s pretty cool.

Will you continue to work with Heiko in 2017?

Yeah we’re still going to stay working together for 2017, and we’re already working together now. I’m happy with that and I think the program we had this year I noticed a big difference on the bike – I noticed a change in my fitness and also my confidence on the bike, so I’d like to keep that going in to MX2. It’s a very important year.

“Would be cool to have a lot more Aussies over here. It would be like back in the old days when the King brothers and Josh Coppins, Ben Townley, Chad Reed, Brett Metcalfe and Byrner were here.”

Do you miss home?

Yeah I do a bit. More so, when I’m in Holland and Belgium, because the weather is so different. It’s never really sunny for two or so weeks at a time, it’s always rainy or cloudy. It’s not bad for the tracks, it’s actually really good for them, but I miss the hot weather and just getting Vitamin D from the sun! It sounds funny, but when you don’t have it, you feel like you’re missing something in your body. Dean Ferris, and Todd Waters would be able to tell you about it. But it’s cool in Germany with Heiko because it’s on a farm in the middle of no where in a small town, so the weather is a bit closer home – it’s 30 degrees on a hot day in the summer, so it’s a lot more normal.

There’s talk of Caleb Ward and Jed Beaton racing in Europe in 2017. Do you think your success has helped to open doors for more Australian’s?

I don’t know about my success this year, but I guess when I left Australia we were all sort of the same speed I suppose you could say. It’s no secret that they’ve been watching and probably thought if Hunter can do it, there’s no reason we can’t. It

would be cool to have a lot more Aussies over here. It would be a bit more like back in the old days when the King brothers and Josh Coppins, Ben Townley, Chad Reed, Brett Metcalfe and Byrner were over here. It will be nice to have a few more accents that I can recognise in the pits that’s for sure.

And what would be the advice you would give to those guys who are hoping to make a career for themselves over there?

Don’t bring your Australian jackets because they just don’t last in the cold over here.

What’s the hardest thing about being over in Europe?

No meat pies (laughs) – But I don’t know honestly. We came here with the mentality that this is what we’re doing.

We believe that if you come here thinking we’ll just come for a few years and see what happens then it’s not going to do you any good. You have to come here and say ‘this is our life now, and this is what we do’, which I think has helped us out a lot. We have no dramas living here, 45

the mental side of things is a really big thing, and we’ve had the right attitude from the beginning. Yeah, we miss home and I miss going to the practice track with the Yamaha boys, and getting subway on the way, but this is what we do now, and Europe was a decision that we wanted to make work.

What’s the best part?

For sure the Motocross. We came here for one reason, and one reason only. And I think it’s the best decision we ever made.

The MXGP over here is unbelievable.

There’s so much support from the fans, and just the whole sport. There are so many practice tracks around in Holland and Belgium. Back at home, we only had three to four tracks within two hours that we knew of, where as here we have five tracks under an hour away! It’s the same everywhere. But the coolest thing in Europe is that most people know Motocross. Townspeople, people at the gym, ask why we’re here and as soon as you say motocross they say things like ‘Ohhhh you know Jeffery Herlings’, where as if you ask someone in Australia who Dean Ferris or Kirk Gibbs is, they probably just wouldn’t know. As you see with the MXoN, and even the GP’s it’s something

you have to experience first hand. My first MXGP at Valkenswaard was really an eye opener. In awful rainy, crap weather, there were so many people there and it was just crazy to see!

Do you think a World Championship is achievable within the next two years?

Obviously that’s something that we all want. I want it more than anything. I think next year, I need to not put a certain result in my head – Just go to each weekend, do the work, put in 110 per cent effort, and the result is the result. I think that’s what held me up a little bit this year after the German round and when I finally did go 1,1, I started thinking I could do it. The training program we had, and the time we had on the bike during the week, I was going away not wanting anything else than a perfect result. So I was going to the races thinking I could win on the weekend. I think when you have a bit of bad start, or something goes wrong it’s hard not to automatically go ‘crap, crap, crap’ I need to be up the front, but if we can stay smart, do the work, wherever we finish we finish. It’s my rookie year in the MX2 class and it’s not a nine or ten round season, it’s a twenty round championship so we have to focus on the bigger picture.

“People at the gym, ask why we’re here and as soon as you say motocross they say things like ‘Ohhhh you know Jeffery Herlings’”

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So with 2017 being your rookie year in the MX2 class, how wrapped are you that Jeffery Herlings has moved up to MX1?

It’s funny, my first ever Dutch Championship race in Europe I raced against Jeffery, and it was the first race in the sand I’d ever done over here – if you’ve seen him race in the sand you’ll know how crazy that is.

In the first moto I was so happy because when I finished he hadn’t lapped me. I got like ninth I think in a 30 min, plus two lap moto, but there were a lot of MX2 guys there and Jeffery didn’t lap me so honestly it felt like a win! In the second moto he lapped me, but he lapped up to third so I thought ‘fair enough’ (laughs).

Well good luck for next year Hunter, the whole of Australia is going to be cheering for you!

Thanks heaps, chat soon!

Interview by Misty Walton 47

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MOTOCROSS

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ENDURO

ENDURO

COMPETITION

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BREAKING NEWS | RACE COVERAGE | BIKE TESTING | LATEST PRODUCTS /motoonline

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ROUND 2

RACE RECAP SX1 and SX2 main event victors share their thoughts on round two.

JUSTIN BRAYTON

JACKSON RICHARDSON

SX1 WINNER

SX2 WINNER

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Championship headed back to Queensland where Justin Brayton (Honda Genuine Racing) claimed his second consecutive win, while Jackson Richardson (Serco Yamaha) captured his first victory of the season.

MotoOnline.com.au caught up with the main event victors post-race to gather their thoughts on the night.

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JUSTIN BRAYTON // ROUND 2 // SX1 WINNER

Justin Brayton, your second consecutive win tonight, you must be pleased.

I’m super happy to win the first two, I’ve been feeling good and it’s awesome to be over here. I’m really excited to be able to stay here now and not go back to the US, so I’m going to enjoy some time with the family and get in a routine of sleeping a little bit better, and also my training routine by getting back to doing a few days a week on the motorcycle to try and get in a groove to feel better for the 20 lappers. I’m stoked to get the win tonight, the track was very difficult and I just had to be very patient, especially after the start I had. I think I was 10th off the start which made it hard on me, but I’m happy to get it done.

It was quite a challenging circuit tonight, what are your thoughts on it?

It was a very challenging circuit from the whoops to the dragon-back, and there was also a really long rhythm section that you had to get every lap. It was very challenging, but like I said, I’m just happy to get the overall win at the first two, and to now get into a routine and enjoy it. I’m excited to be here, everyone in Australia has really been a pleasure to work with so far, they’ve been really nice to my family and myself, so that’s pretty cool. The races have been great and the promoters are awesome, so I’m excited for the last few.

In the main event tonight, you had to work your way through the field. How was that compared to the previous round where you were at the front and took off from there?

It was difficult, for sure. There weren’t too many passing places other than if a guy made a mistake, because we’re all doing the same thing. We were all making so many mistakes, and once we got into lappers it was really difficult because we had to roll some sections with guys down. I just kept telling myself to be patient, hit this section good lap by lap and section by section – it paid off, I got into the lead and had a pretty good gap, so I just cruised for the last five or six laps and really just tried to stay up and be consistent.

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Do you think that heading back to the US between rounds to do further testing was beneficial for tonight?

I think so, I really had a solid week back there in California. I had to go back to North Carolina for a wedding, so we were travelling a lot. I’m excited to be in one place for a while to now be able to get on a good sleeping schedule and get back into routine with my training, and start logging some more laps during the week.

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JACKSON RICHARDSON // ROUND 2 // SX2 WINNER

Jackson Richardson, first place tonight, you would have to be over the moon with that result.

Yeah man, I’m definitely over the moon. It was good, I was lucky to get the opportunity with Serco Yamaha this year, so it’s good to pay the team back with a win. They obviously saw something in me and I was able to take full advantage of the opportunity and get the win tonight. I put in a big couple of weeks because I didn’t have much time on the bike at the first round, so it was good to come out here and see that all of the practice has paid off. I put in a lot of hard weeks up there, so it’s good to come away with this result, I’m stoked.

So obviously the four-week was beneficial for you in getting the win this weekend?

Yeah definitely, the track was really tricky tonight with big rhythms, a tough set of whoops and the soil as well – one corner you would have traction, the next it would be really slick. I mainly had to be patient, I tried to hit the rhythms every lap and be consistent – you couldn’t over-ride the track, it bit some world class riders tonight. So yeah, I just kept it consistent and was lucky enough to come away with the win.

The track is definitely a talking point tonight with its technicality, would you like to see a track of this calibre at the following rounds?

I mean, yeah, I might be biased because I got the win tonight. The big thing about these tracks is that it separates the really fast and technical guys from the rest of the pack – you see a lot of bike skill come into play, especially with the soil tonight – you needed good throttle control, but you needed to get on it to make the big rhythms. I would like to see more tracks like this, there was some gnarly stuff out there, like the dragons back before the finish – every time I came up to that thing I like ‘oh no!’. In the end, it ended up being really good, so I was definitely a fan of the track tonight.

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We have a couple of weeks until Adelaide, is there anything in particular that you need to work on?

I just have to put in a lot of bike time, it’s good to get the win and everything, but I wasn’t happy with some of the stuff I did out there. I mainly need to work on my corner speed and stuff, so I’ll be working on that a lot in the next two weeks for sure.

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R A C E L I N E . C O M . A U

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CHRIS ALLDREDGE

VS

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S V A C I R AME TRALIA AUS

WE ASK CRANKT PROTEIN HONDA RACING TEAM MATES CHRIS ALLDREDGE (CA) AND JAY WILSON (JW) SOME RANDOM QUESTIONS AND SEE HOW THEY REACT.

Trump or Clinton?

CA: Trump, because his policies are actually going to work.

JW: Clinton. Because it will annoy my housemate Chris Alldredge.

Blondes or Brunette?

CA: Blonde.

JW: Brunettes – especially because my Fiancé is a blonde so she’ll hate that answer.

FEATURED

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Dream car?

CA: A Ford GT 40.

JW: A Hyundai iload, and I’ve already got one, so I’m doing pretty well in life.

Sports person you’d most like to have dinner with?

CA: Marshawn Lynch, he was the running back for the Seattle Seahawks. His story is that he came from nothing, worked hard for what he wants, and he’s made an insanely successful career for himself, so I’d like to have dinner with him and pick his brain about how he got to where he is.

JW: It’s a hard choice between Michael Phelps and Johnathon Thurston.

Michael has experienced so much success, and continues to do so even in his thirties. I’d love to know what motivates him, and how disciplined he’s had to be to get to where he is. JT is such an awesome role model, and he’s probably one of the best players that the NRL has ever seen. When the chips are down, he never gives up, and I love that quality, especially in an athlete.

Motocross or Supercross?

CA: Motocross, because you have to be a gnarly mother f*ker.

JW: Supercross. I feel like you have to 60

be a lot more of a technical rider to enjoy Supercross, and I really admire those guys who can excel at it.

Australia or America?

CA: I have to go with America. I can’t help it, I even got excited when they played our national anthem at the Speedway the other night.

JW: I love living in Australia, but I’d like to race in America.

Favourite sport after motorcycling?

CA: Snow mobiling. We actually do a lot of it back at home.

JW: Probably cycling. I bought a new television this year, just so I could stay up every night to watch the Tour de France in bed.

Pet hate?

CA: When somebody uses their phone too much.

JW: Misty being on her phone.

Instagram or Facebook?

CA: Facebook, because there’s a lot more you can do on there.

JW: Instagram, it’s cooler.

Favourite person on Snapchat?

CA: Jay Wilson.

JW: Brooke Evers. I’m dead after this interview.

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FEATU RED

HIT& MISS MotoOnline.com.au pulls out the microscope and dissects some of the surprises, standouts, shockers and disappointments from round two of the 2016 Australian Supercross Championship at Toowoomba in Queensland.

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HIT. THE HIGHS FROM ROUND 2 OF THE 2016 AUSTRALIAN SUPERCROSS

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IT WAS GOOD TO REPAY EVERYONE WITH A WIN AND CAN’T WAIT TO RACE AGAIN IN ADELAIDE - JACKSON RICHARDSON

Justin Brayton: The Honda Genuine Racing SX1 contender notched up his second consecutive win of the 2016 Australian Supercross Championship in Toowoomba. Thanks to another impressive performance consisting of a heat race and 20-lap main event victory, the American import continues to lead the premier class points chase with a perfect points score ahead of CDR Yamaha’s Dean Ferris.

Wil Hahn: After claiming a fifth place finish at Jimboomba’s season opening round, NationalPump Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Wil Hahn went back to work during the four-week break and came out swinging in Toowoomba. The American SX1 rider landed himself a second place finish in Friday night’s main event and claims he

has not felt this good on the bike for quite some time. With this newfound comfort and confidence, Hahn will be a rider to watch when the series arrives at Wayville in South Australia.

Jackson Richardson: With minimal time on the bike before round one, Serco Yamaha’s Jackson Richardson left the event with a fourth place finish under his belt. It was clear the Queenslander had used the break to his advantage in Toowoomba as he hit the track sharper, faster and ready to do damage in the SX2 category. After kicking off the night with a heat race win, Richardson then went on to claim a comfortable and impressive victory in the main event.

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MISS. THE LOWS OF ROUND 2 OF THE 2016 AUSTRALIAN SUPERCROSS

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Gavin Faith: Penrite Honda’s Gavin Faith entered the Toowoomba event as the SX2 series leader after a strong showing at Jimboomba’s opening round – he was the man to beat at round two. After claiming a heat race victory and gaining the early main event lead, all looked to be going to plan for the American before disaster struck. Faith went down hard and saw himself go a number of laps down in the process, a huge hit to the multi-time champion’s 2016 title campaign. Faith now sits sixth in points with four rounds remaining as DPH Motorsport Yamaha’s Hayden Mellross gains control of the title chase.

perform as the defending SX2 champion.

Setting the fastest lap during his heat race, it would seem the American had returned to his regular form, that was until a huge crash in the whoops saw him out of the heat race and subsequently out of the entire event. Decotis now finds himself in 14th place in points after two rounds of racing, not the ideal situation for the title favourite and defending champion.

Dan Reardon: The defending champion found himself in an unfamiliar situation during Toowoomba’s main event – he was being lapped by the lead group. Reardon was yet another victim of the tough and technical whoops that took down multiple riders during the night, and after hitting his head in the process, it was straight into damage control mode for the CDR Yamaha rider following the incident.

Following his Toowoomba mishap, the Queenslander now sits fourth overall in standings, 20 points behind series leader Justin Brayton.

Jimmy Decotis: Following a sub-par showing at Jimboomba’s opening round, Honda Genuine Racing’s Jimmy Decotis entered Toowoomba with immense pressure to

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SUPERCROSS ROUND 1 & 2 OF THE AUSTRALIAN SUPERCROSS IS IN THE BOOKS, WE REFLECT ON THE CHAMPIONSHIP THUS FAR.

SX1 1

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R1 - JIMBOOMBA Brayton opens Australian Supercross with SX1 Jimboomba win Honda Genuine Racing’s Justin Brayton delivered on debut with the team at Jimboomba X Stadium in the SX1 main event, taking victory and the points lead to open the 2016 Australian Supercross Championship.

Brayton was pressured all the way by new MX Nationals champion Dean Ferris, the CDR Yamaha rider starring on

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his way to second and ahead of teammate, defending champion Dan Reardon.

At the end of the 20-lap duration Brayton was 3.612s ahead of Ferris and 11.866s in front of Reardon, while the top five was filled by another former MXGP rider Todd Waters (Wilson Coolair Motul Suzuki) and another American in Wil Hahn.

Behind Hahn for sixth was National

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Pump Monster Energy Kawasaki teammate Kade Mosig, with Luke Wilson a lap down, Marmont upon return, Jay Wilson and Enticknap completing the top 10. It was an unfortunate end to the night for Kyle Peters (KTM Motocross Racing Team), crashing out of the main.

RESULTS 1 10 Justin BRAYTON 25 2 111 Dean FERRIS 22 3 1 Daniel REARDON 20 4 47 Todd WATERS 18 5 66 Wil HAHN 16 6 8 Kade MOSIG 15 7 15 Luke WILSON 14 8 2 Jay MARMONT 13 9 6 Jay WILSON 12 10 722 Adam ENTICKNAP 11

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“THE GOAL TONIGHT WASN’T ABOUT WINNING THE RACE BUT GETTING A GOOD RESULT, GETTING 20 RACING LAPS UNDER MY BELT AND CONTINUING TO BUILD SPEED AND FITNESS” - DANIEL REARDON

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R1 - JIMBOOMBA Faith opens Australian Supercross with SX2 Jimboomba win The opening SX2 main event of the season was won by Penrite Honda’s Gavin Faith, controlling the race from the front and signifying that he will be a true threat for the number one plate upon return to the class.

Reigning US Arenacross champion Faith eventually won by 2.118s ahead of Hayden Mellross (DPH Motorsport

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Yamaha), with Serco Yamaha’s Wade Hunter getting the better of new teammate Jackson Richardson for the final spot on the podium.

Hunter and Richardson worked their way forward to position in the 15-lap final, while returning duo Geran Stapleton (Honda) and Josh Cachia (Penrite Honda) were impressively fifth and sixth despite

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some initial confusion with the timing system.

Defending champion Jimmy Decotis (Honda Genuine Racing) was seventh at race’s end, while the top 10 was completed by Woods, class newcomer Jordan Hill (Yamalube Yamaha) and Joel Wightman (CRF Honda Racing)Hill and Wightman.

RESULTS 1 7 2 45 3 23 4 57 5 14 6 10 7 1 8 15 9 88 10 30 84

Gavin FAITH 25 Hayden MELLROSS 22 Wade HUNTER 20 Jackson RICHARDSON 18 Geran STAPLETON 16 Joshua CACHIA 15 Jimmy DECOTIS 14 Lewis WOODS 13 Jordan HILL 12 Joel WIGHTMAN 11

“IT’S NICE TO BE BACK ON THE PODIUM, WITH A BETTER START, I THINK I CAN RUN WITH THE TWO BOYS AHEAD OF ME BUT I JUST GAVE THEM TOO MUCH HEAD START TONIGHT” - WADE HUNTER

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SX1 1

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R2 - TOOWOOMBA Brayton extends advantage in SX1 Australian Supercross American Justin Brayton captured a second-consecutive 2016 Australian Supercross Championship victory at a windy Toowoomba Showgrounds on Friday night, in another commanding performance from the Honda Genuine Racing rider.

Brayton worked his way to the front of the field in the mid-stages of the race

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and took control from there, crossing the finish at the end of 20 laps with a 2.073s buffer over countryman Wil Hahn (National Pump Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team).

It was another spectacular showing from MX Nationals champion Dean Ferris (CDR Yamaha) as top Australian in third, getting the better of another US rider in

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Justin BRAYTON Wil HAHN Dean FERRIS Kyle PETERS Jay MARMONT Kade MOSIG Adam ENTICKNAP Jay WILSON Luke WILSON Lawson BOPPING

Kyle Peters (KTM Motocross Racing Team, who led the race briefly at one stage.

Out of retirement, Jay Marmont ride his privateer MXR&D-supported Husqvarna to a fine fifth-place finish, from Kade Mosig (National Pump Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team), Adam Enticknap (Honda Genuine Racing), Jay Wilson (Crankt Protein Honda Racing), Luke Wilson (Wilsons Coolair Motul Suzuki) and Lawson Bopping (DPH Motorsport Yamaha).

Defending champion Dan Reardon’s (CDR Yamaha) title chances took a hit when he crashed while circulating inside the top five during the closing laps, bumping him back to P11 in a frustrating finish to his round.

The early stages of the final were led by Todd Waters (Wilsons Coolair Motul Suzuki), who won his heat race earlier in the night, however he crashed out of the lead and then again, unfortunately putting him out of the race altogether.

Two wins in a row sees Brayton increase his points lead to eight over Ferris, who has been on the podium at both rounds to date, with Hahn climbing to third, a further four points in arrears. Reardon has been demoted to fourth and tied with Mosig, a full 20 points back from the red plate.

“I FEEL STRONGER AND I HAVEN’T REALLY FELT THAT COMFORTABLE ON THE BIKE FOR A COUPLE OF YEARS NOW, SO IT’S NICE TO GET THAT FEELING.” - WILL HAHN

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SX1 STANDINGS Australian Supercross Championship

R1

92

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SX2 1

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R2 - TOOWOOMBA Richardson races to dramatic SX2 final win for Serco Yamaha.

Serco Yamaha’s new recruit Jackson Richardson took out the SX2 main event, maintaining his advantage over runnerup Hayden Mellross (DPH Motorsport Yamaha) for a 4.234s victory at the end of 15 laps.

Richardson took charge when early leader Gavin Faith (Penrite Honda) crashed out of contention heavily on lap

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one and was never headed, keeping the in-form fellow US-based Mellross at bay, while Honda-mounted local privateer Geran Stapleton completed the podium.

It was almost a YZ250F sweep of the rostrum as Wade Hunter (Serco Yamaha) recovered from a fall of his own for fourth, followed by Joel Wightman (CRF Honda Racing), who was initially

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RESULTS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

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Jackson RICHARDSON Hayden MELLROSS Geran STAPLETON Wade HUNTER Joel WIGHTMAN Nathan CRAWFORD Dylan WILLS Wilson TODD Jordan HILL Lewis WOODS

registered further down the order in timing and scoring.

Nathan Crawford (Husqvarna) made a positive return to racing in sixth, the top 10 completed by Dylan Wills (Raceline Pirelli KTM), Wilson Todd (Serco Yamaha) in his first ride of the year, Jordan Hill (Yamalube Yamaha Racing) and Lewis Woods (KTM).

With Faith finishing five laps down in 20th and defending champion Jimmy Decotis (Honda Genuine Racing) bowing out of his heat, the championship’s blown wideopen after just two rounds of the season – Mellross the new red plate holder in the series by a single point over Richardson.

The 2016 Australian Supercross Championship will now take a weekend off before resuming for round three on Saturday, 29 October, at Adelaide Showgrounds in South Australia, which will mark the halfway point of the season.

““I’M PUMPED TO GET THE WIN TONIGHT, I WASN’T EVEN PLANNING ON RACING SUPERCROSS THIS YEAR AND THEN THIS OPPORTUNITY CAME UP” - JACKSON RICHARDSON

SX2 97

SX2 STANDINGS Australian Supercross Championship

R1

98

R2

12-13 NOV

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k : Craig Dac R E G A N A F NER / M aha YZ450 TEAM OW m a Y : S E IK B S WON: 37 IP H S N IO P CHAM

#111

FERRIS #111 DEAN Class: SX1 Age: 25 W : Kyogle NS Hometown zer Aiden Melt Mechanic: heel111 IG: @ferrisw

#1

REARDON #1 DANIEL Class: SX1 Age: 30 t : Gold Coas Hometown man Mike Land Mechanic: ardon122 IG: @danre

FERRIS FLIES TO ANOTHER SUPERCROSS PODIUM

CDR Yamaha’s Dean Ferris has landed on the podium for the second round in a row after finishing third at round two of the Australian Supercross Championships, held at the Toowoomba Showgrounds on Friday Night.

Despite dividing his time between supercross and recently representing Australia at the Motocross Of Nations, Ferris has shown some impressive supercross skills in his first two outings and the technical track in Toowoomba proved round one was no fluke and that the 26 year old Kyogle resident is a serious championship contender.

He started the day strongly qualifying in fourth place, just .5 of a second off the leaders pace. He kept the momentum going with a second place finish in his heat and was confident of a good performance in the all-important 20 lap SX1 (450cc) main event.

The opening five laps of the final saw some intense racing with riders swapping positions, making small mistakes and getting into heated battles as they jostled for positions. Ferris slotted into fourth early on behind Todd Waters and US duo of Kyle Peters and Wil Hahn. Waters went down moving Ferris to third before another US import, Justin Brayton, capitalized on a mistake from Ferris.

Come the half way point, the main players made their move. Brayton sliced to the lead, followed

by Hahn. Ferris made his move on Peters and set off after the US pair and shadowed them for the next eight laps. While he piled the pressure on and closed the gap considerably, Ferris was never close enough to make a pass and was forced to settle for third place.

“I’m pretty happy with how things went tonight,” Ferris stated after the event. “The track was tough and the strong winds just added to that so doing perfect laps wasn’t possible. You just had to be strong.

“I tried to get onto the back of Wil but he rode the last half of the race really well while I made a few mistakes when I was in a position to make things happen.

FACEBOOK: /cdryamaha

“All up it’s still great to be on the podium and make it two rounds in a row. Thank you to the CDR Yamaha team for the effort and support and together we are working to get a win at one of these things before the year is out,” Ferris ends.

It wasn’t such a great night for team mate and current Australian Supercross Champion, Dan Reardon. Reardon quietly worked his way through the heats and progressed into the final with ease. He positioned himself well in the early laps of the main event in fifth place and right in among the freight train at the front of the pack.

Unfortunately, just past the half way point, Reardon got loose in the whoops and then struggled to control his bike as he entered the following right hand turn. He couldn’t correct the bike and he fell heavily and took some time getting the wind back into his lungs and regaining his composure.

To his credit, he got back on the bike and rejoined the race. He showed plenty of courage and managed to fight back to 11th place in what was a tough night for the reigning champ.

“I’m not really sure what happened there, but I hear Todd Waters did the same thing just a few laps earlier,” Reardon explains. “We carry a fair bit of speed through the whoops and into that corner so when it goes wrong, it’s a pretty hard hit.

“I’m pretty sore at the moment but will get onto any aches and pains early in the week to ensure I’m good to go for the Adelaide round in two weeks,” Reardon ends.

Ferris and Reardon sit in second and fifth in the championship respectively and with four more rounds to come, there is sure to be plenty of movement at the top of the championship leader board.

Both riders will now prepare for the Adelaide round on October 29 at the Showgrounds in the heart of the city.

INSTAGRAM: @cdryamaha

s : Gavin Eale R E G A N A F NER / M aha YZ250 TEAM OW m a Y : S E IK B IPS WON: 4 H S N IO P M CHA

TODD #2 WILSON Class: SX2 Age: 18 LD Atherton, Q : n w to e m Ho nes Peter Rabjo : ic n a h c e M todd2 IG: @wilson

#2

HUNTER #23 WADE Class: SX2 Age: 21 D : Cairns, QL n w to e m o H ppa Andrew Sto : ic n a h c e M hunter IG: @wade RDSON ON RICHA S K C A J 7 5 # Class: SX2 1 2 : e g A D : Cairns, QL n w to e m o H ho IG: @jatzric

#57 #23

RICHARDSON ROARS FOR SERCO YAMAHA

Jackson Richardson scored his first win of the 2016 Australian Supercross Championship with a dominant victory at round two of the championship, held at the Toowoomba Showgrounds on Friday Night.

On board his Serco Yamaha YZ250F and competing in the SX2 category, Richardson was in good form on the night as he won his heat race and then went on to win the main after after snatching the lead on the opening lap. He cleared out to a three second lead over his team mate Wade Hunter, before Hunter fell and left Richardson all alone out front.

From there, he clicked off consistently good laps to win by four seconds over Hayden Mellross in second and Geran Stapleton in third.

“I’m pumped to get the win tonight,” Richardson said from the podium. “I wasn’t even planning on racing supercross this year and then this opportunity came up with Serco Yamaha very late but I’m glad we were able to make it happen.

“I haven’t been on the Yamaha long but the team have made me feel very comfortable right away and the bike is awesome. It was good to repay everyone with a win and can’t wait to race again in Adelaide in a couple of weeks’ time,” Richardson ends.

Wade Hunter finished the night in fourth place but will rue costly mistakes he made throughout the night. He crashed several times in his heat race and again fell in second place in the final on the technical and challenging Toowoomba circuit but was still able to lock down a solid position on the night that has him well placed in the championship after the opening two rounds.

“Even though it caught me out a few times, I really liked the track tonight as it was tough to ride

FACEBOOK: /SercoYamaha

and kept you on your toes. The opening few laps were awesome with myself and Jackson out front but I got pretty loose on lap five and went down.

“I only lost a couple of spots and was able to get back to fourth and not far behind third at the end.

“So all up, not a bad night but I want to be back on the podium at Adelaide,” Hunter said.

It was a full house under the Serco truck with Wilson Todd returning to action after injuring his hand four weeks ago. This was the first time Todd had raced a supercross event since 2014 and although not back to 100% yet, he still managed to get through the race safely and post a top ten result in a very competitive field.

Todd finished eighth on the night and admitted he was a little rusty but the track time did him a world of good.

“Eighth isn’t great but it’s a start and I got through without any more injuries. My hand still hurts on some of the harder landings but we have another two weeks before the next round and it will continue to improve.

“It was also good just be on a race track. You can ride a practice track as often as you like but racing is where it’s at and I feel you gain more from being in a race environment so it was good to experience that again,” Todd explains.

Round three of the Australian Supercross Championship now heads for the Adelaide Showgrounds on October 29. The race for the SX2 championship is well and truly on and the Serco Yamaha team are hitting good form at just the right time

INSTAGRAM: @sercoyamaha

p cott Bisho S : R E G A N F TEAM MA AHA YZ250 M A Y : S E BIK IPS WON: 4 H S N IO P M CHA

#43

EVANS #43 MITCH Class: SX2 Age: 17 D : Cairns, QL Hometown y Cory Hillsle Mechanic: evans43 IG: @mitch

#88

N HILL #88 JORDA Class: SX2 Age: 17 D : Noosa, QL Hometown Mike Ward Mechanic: hill88 IG: @jordan

HILL CONTINUES GOOD FORM AT ASX

Yamalube Yamaha Racings’ Jordan Hill continued his solid start to the 2016 Australian Supercross Championship with another top 10 performance in the SX2 division at round two of the championship held at Toowoomba on the weekend.

Hill started off struggling to come to terms with the difficult track and couldn’t manage a fast line through some of the long combination jump sections.

He was losing considerable time on those sections of the track and qualified in 16th place and left with plenty of work to do.

But he went to the start line determined to turn his day around and pulled a great start to lead the field on the opening lap of his heat race. He dropped slowly back to fifth place but still a comfortable position to qualify for the 15 lap main event.

When the gates dropped in the main, Hill was left floundering on the start as he was tangled in several bikes as they jostled for position going into the first turn. He managed to keep it up right and settled into a good pace on the opening laps.

He chipped away at the riders in front of him and moved into ninth place with a handful of laps remaining. A position where he would stay until the end of the race.

His two top 10 results at the opening two round have left him in seventh place for the championship and looking forward to the rest of the series.

“I’m a little disappointed with my riding on the weekend,” Hill commented. “I didn’t attack some of the sections of the track like I should have and it could

FACEBOOK: /GYTRYamaha

have made a massive difference to my result.

“I improved my lap times by around three seconds from qualifying to the final so that’s a positive and my corner speed was good, but I just have to find a way to jump through the combination sections quicker and I’m sure I can finish inside the top five,” Hill ends.

The night was over before it started for team mate, Mitch Evans. During the opening practice section, Evans miscued a tricky section and landed short causing a heavy impact on his hands and wrist.

He immediately pulled to the side of the track and sort medical attention.

It was later confirmed that he had indeed cracked his radius and will be sidelined for the rest of the series. It was a bitter blow for Evans and the team.

“Since I have returned from Europe, I have been working hard at home preparing for Supercross so I’m so disappointed this happened. I was trying to jump from the Dragons back to the table top after it when the front wheel dropped and plowed into the up face of the next jump. I didn’t even crash but I knew I had damaged my wrist.

“That’s game over for me this year but I will be back next year. Thank you to the Yamalube Yamaha Racing team for their support this season, they are an awesome team and have played a huge part in my results this year,” Evans said.

At this stage, the team are unsure if they will enlist another rider to finish out the championship.

INSTAGRAM: @yamalube_yamaha_racing

n yle Blunde K : R E G A N TEAM MA M 250 SX-F T K , F X S 0 45 BIKES: KTM S WON: 20 IP H S N IO P CHAM

#110

PETERS #110 KYLE Class: SX1 Age: 24 C USA ensboro, N re G : n w to Home an Jess Forem Mechanic: eters IG: @kylep

#414

E DOBSON #414 JESS Class: SX1 Age: 19 QLD : Brisbane, Hometown Jordan Yeo Mechanic: obson414 IG: @jessed

PETERS FOURTH IN TOOWOOMBA

KTM Motocross Racing Team rider Kyle Peters has taken his first big bag of points in the 2016 SX1 championship, finishing fourth in last night’s second round of the Australian Supercross championship in Toowoomba West of Brisbane.

Filling in for injured Australian Motocross Vice

Kyle Peters (KTM 450 SX-F) – “I struggled all night on the track and wasn’t quite in my groove, but I came out of there safe and with a fourth-place finish – I’ll take it. I’m not happy with it, I definitely want to get on the podium, and get a win before the season is over. Just not a lot of time on the bike, but the whole

Champion Kirk Gibbs, 23-year-old American Kyle Peters twice led the main event on his KTM 450 SXF, but didn’t quite have the pace to withstand the challenges of eventual winner, Justin Brayton, who led home Wil Hahn and Dean Ferris.

The highly technical track claimed many scalps over the course of the evening, among them Peter’s teammate, Sunshine Coast 19-year-old Jesse Dobson, who was jumped upon in his heat race.

Stuck with the last kick of the start date, Dobson got caught in first corner melee and went down, but showed excellent speed as he made his way back to the pack, until a heavy crash late in the race left him to circulate for points.

team was awesome and the bike was fantastic, I was just personally struggling with a few things and it hurt me in the long run. The whoops and the Dragon Back were the two places I was struggling with, they were really slippery and I just wasn’t committing enough coming in. It wasn’t really working out for me but I know I’ve got to work on and going to have a really big two weeks and come out swinging for round three.”

Kyle Blunden, KTM Motocross Racing Team Manager – “It was a good night for us. To have Kyle leading the main event twice demonstrated where we were really strong, and where we have some weaknesses. In that regard, it has given Kyle and the team some things to work towards. Overall, having Kyle finished in fourth and for Jesse, unfortunately his result didn’t show the speed and the potential that he’s got; you look at his lap times and he’s definitely capable of being a top five guy, he just needs to be able to put 20 laps together and stay off the ground.”

FACEBOOK: /KTMAustralia

Jesse Dobson (KTM 450 SX-F) – “We showed glimpses that we can be right up there but it was a bit of a domino effect with a few things. I qualified not too bad, but then in the heat I was trying to settle in second or third, when in the first rhythm I got landed on which put me down in the turn and bent my bike up.

I was coughing up blood, so I went and got checked out in case I’d bruised my lungs, but they said it was just my tongue bleeding and I was fine to ride, so that was okay. I got the last gate pick and had a first turn crash. I felt like I was riding really well, I passed some good guys and got back into 10th. But through the long rhythm lane I spun up off one of the ‘offs’ and cased, which threw me down really hard. From there it was that bent up that I had to stand everywhere and roll around everywhere. It was tough to swallow.”

INSTAGRAM: @ktm.australia

Tisdale GER: Chris A N A M M A TE 250SX-F BIKES: KTM

#64

WILLS #64 DYLAN Class: SX2 Age: 20 W : Como, NS Hometown es Josh Smail Mechanic: wills64 IG: @dylan

#J05

E MADDEN #J05 JESS Class: SX2 Age: 19 , QLD udgeeraba M : n w to e Hom m Dylan Pilgri Mechanic: aj05 IG: @jessem

WILLS AND MADDEN SHOWCASE CONSISTENCY FOR RACELINE PIRELLI KTM Raceline Pirelli KTM’s SX2 riders Dylan Wills and Jesse Madden have left one of the most technical rounds of Supercross that Australia has seen in years with impressive results, after an action packed Friday night at Round 2 of the Australian Supercross Championship at Toowoomba yesterday.

With Wills having solid preparation leading in to the round, and Madden having just recently rejoined the team, both KTM 250SXF riders were feeling confident ahead of the second instalment of the series, and despite the track catching out some of the most talented riders in the country last night, both Wills and Madden raced to consistent results.

For Wills, round two was a fresh opportunity to put the Jimboomba result behind him, and when his bike hit the track that’s exactly what he did.

After qualifying in ninth position, Wills raced to an outstanding 3rd place in his heat race and then followed that result up with 7th in the 15 lap main, rewarding the team with a result just outside the SX2 top five.

For Madden, Toowoomba marked the first opportunity for the young Queenslander to jump on board a KTM four-stroke this season. And despite only have just over a week on the bike, Madden qualified in 18th, took fifth in his heat race and wrapped up the night’s events with an 11th place finish in the main.

Dylan Wills – SX2 – 7th Overall “I’m feeling pretty good about this round – I’m not entirely happy with the full 15 lap main, but I’m pleased to get through this weekend injury free. The track itself was pretty crazy and we managed to get 7th overall,” Wills shared.

“The result isn’t exactly where I want to be, and I know I can be better but it’s just a matter of time – we’re building every time we go racing.

“The bike was awesome, and I’m feeling good in

FACEBOOK: /raceline.liquid.technology

myself at the moment. I saw a lot of people go down this weekend, especially guys who are in the hunt for the championship, so to leave Toowoomba with a pretty good result and to finish healthy, we’re happy.”

Jesse Madden – SX2 – 11th Overall “I’m feeling good after this round. I got off to a pretty bad start but I was quite surprised with where I was sitting for most of the main event,” Madden shared.

“I managed to make a few passes, and the goal was just to get through each lap nice and clean for the full 15 laps.

“I started doing most of the sections in qualifying, and given that it’s my first race out on the four stroke, and I haven’t had a whole heap of time on the bike, I’m stoked to finish off the round just outside the top ten for the Raceline team.”

Chris Woods – Raceline Pirelli KTM Team Manager “It’s been a pretty positive weekend for us. The track at Toowoomba really tested a lot of riders, and just putting in 15 clean, solid laps is an achievement so we’re very pleased with both of the boy’s results,” Woods shared.

“Dylan took some great steps in the right direction this weekend. He finished third in his heat race, and was nice and consistent in the main event which was the goal for this round – especially with the track being so technical.

“With Jesse, we didn’t put any pressure on him as we knew that he had only just recently jumped on the four stroke, but to finish 11th in the SX2 class at a track like that was fantastic.

“The whole team contributed in making this round a successful one, and we’re very happy to be heading in to the half way point in the series with two healthy riders.”

INSTAGRAM: @raceline_motosport

ll : Troy Carro R E G A N A 0F TEAM M asaki KX45 w a K : S E BIK IPS WON: 1 H S N IO P M CHA

#8

OSIG #8 KADE M Class: SX1 Age: 26 le, VIC : Pearceda Hometown Ben Dutton Mechanic: 8 IG: @mosig

#66

AHN #66 WIL H Class: SX2 Age: 27 as ecatur, Tex D : n w to e Hom ale Paul Teasd Mechanic: n_ IG: @wilhah

HAHN PUTS NATIONAL PUMP MONSTER ENERGY KAWASAKI RACING TEAM ON TOOWOOMBA PODIUM

National Pump Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team’s Wil Hahn finished second in Toowoomba’s second round of the 2016 Australian Supercross Championship in Queensland on Friday night.

The popular American was near flawless on

National Pump Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team teammate Kade Mosig powered through what was a challenging second round of the season for the current national supercross number two, winding up sixth in the final aboard his KX450F.

his way to the runner-up in the premier class SX1 main event, capitalising on work carried out between rounds one and two on-board the KX450F as he settles into Australian competition.

Hahn was second in the opening practice session of the afternoon on the technical Toowoomba circuit and maintained that form from there, qualifying third, finishing second in his heat race and then also in a hard-fought 20-lap main event.

“The team worked really hard to improve after round one and we did a good job together during the break,” Hahn reflected. “Not only that, but I worked on my fitness pretty hard, so I’m really happy with this result for everybody.

“I feel stronger and I haven’t really felt that comfortable on the bike for a couple of years now, so it’s nice to get that feeling. The track really related to those back home, but something really clicked for me in that heat race and I’m excited.

“Honestly, those last five laps the track was done, because it was really windy, it was really slick and it was who made the least mistakes – we were all making them. It was a matter of minimising them and trying to be as strong as you can.”

For Mosig, the Toowoomba round started off as a difficult one with 10th in practice, but he became progressively better from there to go ninth in qualifying, fourth in his heat race despite a crash and sixth in the talent-packed main event.

“I struggled a little bit all day,” Mosig commented. “I’ve had a really big week [personally] and it’s really not an excuse, but I did everything I could. I just wanted to stay safe in the main event – guys were going down everywhere and it was gnarly.

“It was one of the better tracks in terms of the technicality of it, but I just struggled and wanted to get through the night. That was all I could do. Still, it was good for Australian supercross and sixth was an okay result for me in the end.”

Round three of the 2016 season will take place at the Adelaide Showground in South Australia on Saturday, 29 October, where Hahn and Mosig will be sure to factor yet again in the race for this year’s Australian Supercross Championship.

FACEBOOK: /KawasakiAustraliaMXRacingTeam

INSTAGRAM: @npe_monsterenergy_kawasaki

sqvarna BIKES: Hu

FC250

RD N CRAWFO A H T A N 9 9 #1 Class: SX2 Age: 18 : Brisbane Hometown n199 IG: @_natha

#199

EY NOR TIERN N O C 0 1 6 # Class: SX2 Age: 18 , WA : Kalgoorlie n w to e m o H l_ct7 IG: @therea RMONT #2 JAY MA Class: SX1 3 3 : e g A , QLD : Bundaberg n w to e m o H ont_ IG: @marm

#2

#610

HUSQVARNA’S MARMONT FIFTH IN A CHALLENGING TOOWOOMBA

Multi-time Australian Motocross Champion Jay Marmont has improved his position in the rankings of the Australian Supercross championship after an impressive fifth-place finish at the second round of the championship in Toowoomba, west of Brisbane.

The respected veteran kicked off his supercross comeback with a hardfought eighth place in the series opener a month ago, and looks to have the cards stacked against him when he fell ill a few days ago.

However, the cream always rises to the top, and when the time came, the Husqvarna FC450 rider metered out 20 smooth laps on a super-technical track to finish the event fifth overall behind Americans Justin Brayton and Wil Hahn, with Dean Ferris the first of the Aussies in third.

In the SX2 category, Nathan Crawford made his return from internal injuries suffered in preparation for the MX Nationals finale, on a track that was claiming more than its fair share of scalps.

The Husqvarna FC250 rider was determined for a solid showing though, and put together an impressive sixth place on the night in an SX2 race won

by Jackson Richardson from Hayden Mellross and Geran Stapleton.

Jay Marmont – “It was an up-and-down day to be honest, I was pretty excited going into it, knowing that the track was quite technical, I thought that that would really suit me. One of the rhythm straights caught me off guard in practice and I just tagged one of the offs which sent me flying. I crashed pretty hard and from there didn’t qualify the best. I’ve been sick this week and had hot and cold flushes going into the main but when the gate dropped, I don’t know, I just took off and found myself in a good rhythm and overtook Brayton and Wil Hahn. I was right behind Reardon there, and Hahn and Brayton got me back but I managed to tag onto the back of them and got dragged along pretty well with that front pack. I just rode myself into a comfortable pace and got my 20 laps done, and ended up with a top five, so for me, with how I was feeling at the start of the day, top five is a good result, and puts us in a pretty decent spot in the championship.”

Connor Tierney faced extra handicaps in what was only his second ever supercross debut; nursing torn pectoral muscles from midweek training, he battled to 17th. SD3 Husqvarna rider Kaleb Barham was forced to withdraw from the event when the effects of flu became severe.

In the Junior Lites category, a second-Moto fall and DNF spoiled Riley Dukes’ evening, in which he won the first and third races on his Husqvarna FC 250.

The solid points haul has, however, elevated Dukes to within six points of the Australian championship lead with four rounds get to run.

of sorted out by the night show. I had a little crash on the last lap of my heat race so I got fourth, but I got a ticket straight to the main which was good. I got the holeshot, and then just tried to do 15 of my own laps.

I probably could have gotten fifth but just made a couple of little mistakes. I’m pretty happy with that for my first race back, I haven’t had a lot of experience on Supercross, so sixth isn’t bad, I’d say I fulfilled my goals for the first round back, but Adelaide I will be looking for a little more, that’s for sure.”

Nathan Crawford – “I’ve been injured so to come back to Supercross was great, I’ve definitely been excited. The track was super gnarly, I thought it was full AMA-spec. I felt a little tight as you would in your first race back. I found it a little hard to flow but I kind

FACEBOOK: /HusqvarnaMotorcyclesAUS

INSTAGRAM: @Husqvarna.aus

ip Harrison P : R E G A N TEAM MA a CRF450R d n o H : S E BIK

#6

SON #6 JAY WIL Class: SX1 Age: 21 W n Innes, NS le G : n w to Home Daryl Fenn Mechanic: son_6 IG: @jaywil

#A

E ALLDREDG #A CHRIS Class: SX1 Age: 20 tte, Oregon u B ll e w o P : Hometown g rge Rawlin o e G : ic n a h Mec lldredge35 IG: @chrisa

WILSON TAKES EIGHTH OVERALL FOR CRANKT PROTEIN HONDA RACING AT TOOWOOMBA

Crankt Protein Honda Racing Team’s Jay Wilson has solidified his position in the SX1 top ten class, on arguably the toughest track that Australia has seen in close to a decade, at Round 2 of the Australian Supercross Championship in Toowoomba on Saturday night.

With most riders averaging a 55 second lap time on the highly technical circuit, riders had their work cut out for them in both their eight lap heat races and 20 lap main event, but Wilson rose to the occasion, ensuring Factory Honda was well represented inside the talent packed SX1 top ten.

Following qualifying, Wilson raced to an impressive fifth place in his heat, seeing him progress straight through to the evening’s main event. Once the night show kicked off, Wilson recovered from a tough start and fought his way from the rear of the pack to a healthy eighth position.

“Last night was not too bad for me. Heading in to the round, I was actually carrying an ankle injury that I sustained while training, but I was able to push through it on a very technical track and the team all worked super hard throughout the night to make sure I was as comfortable as possible,” Wilson shared.

“Being a track with a number of on, off sections, and a really spread out whoops section, the main goal of the night was to hit everything perfectly and minimise mistakes, which we did, and my Honda felt the best it’s ever felt.

FACEBOOK: /TeamHondaRacing1

“Towards the end of the main event I was in quite a bit of pain which forced me to drop a couple of positions, but I’m confident that with two more weeks of training up our sleeves that we’ll be well and truly inside that top five by Adelaide.”

Despite American Chris Alldredge making his Australian Supercross and 450cc debut for the team at round two, a spectacular crash through the whoops section in his heat race while running in third position unfortunately ruled him out of the main event. However, Alldredge was able to remain at Toowoomba to support his teammate Wilson from the sidelines, and will return to Victoria for some tests on his shoulder this Monday.

“I’m obviously disappointed. In my heat race I was feeling really comfortable in third, and especially with only a couple of days on the bike, and never having raced a 450 before, I was feeling confident that we were going to have a great main event,” Alldredge shared.

“Unfortunately the whoops section caught out a lot of people on Saturday night and I was one of them.

“At this stage, we aren’t entirely sure of what is happening with my shoulder, so I’ll go and get it all checked out on Monday, and if I’m able to, I’ll definitely be on the line in South Australia in two weeks.”

INSTAGRAM: @teamhondaracing

y rrive Konsk a Y : R E G A TEAM MAN & CRF250R R 0 5 4 F R C nda BIKES: Ho

#10

BRAYTON #10 JUSTIN Class: SX1 a Age: 32 Dodge, Iow rt o F : n w Hometo rayton IG: @justinb P ENTICKNA #722 ADAM Class: SX1 Age: 26 rnia poc, Califo m o L : n w to Home 2 IG: @the72 ECOTIS #1 JIMMY D Class: SX2 etts Age: 25 Massachus , y d o b a e P : Hometown decotis IG: @jimmy

#1

#722

HONDA’S JUSTIN BRAYTON REMAINS UNDEFEATED IN THE AUSTRALIAN SUPERCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP

Honda Genuine Racing Team rider Justin Brayton continued to assert himself as a dominant force in the race for the 450 title. His second win from as many starts, Brayton once again showed that he is a class act.

The American veteran asserted himself with a heat win, before going on to take out the main event.

The win required an undisputable demonstration of experience, maturity and determination on the technically difficult Toowoomba track. Ultimately, Brayton was able to fend off challenges from fellow compatriot Wil Hahn and Australia’s leading riders.

“I needed to be patient. I hit neutral off the line and went around the first corner in ninth or tenth.

From there I knew I had to stay composed. I just picked parts of the track where I could make clean passes and I took my time. The track was awesome at the beginning of the day, but it dried out quickly and became super technical”.

Despite the bad start, Brayton was content to pace himself and make calculated passes, eventually taking the lead. Ultimately, he was excited to take the win and is looking forward to Round Three in Adelaide.

“It was a hard race to make as many passes as I did stick, but I am really happy. We have won all heat races and finals and I want to continue this form coming into Adelaide. We have some more work to do with the bike between rounds- the tracks back home are a little different because of the moisture in them.

I am confident we can improve everywhere, which includes my fitness.”

Teammate Adam Enticknap improved considerably from the first round, taking seventh in the final. Although the likable American Racer and Hip Hop artist was satisfied with the improvement, he wasn’t entirely content with it. Consequently, he aims

to push even harder between rounds in an effort to get inside the top five.

“It was so much better and I felt a lot more comfortable on the bike. I still have a long way to go to before I will be happy with my speed, but I see the result as a positive and a step in the right direction.”

The teams sole 250 entrant, Jimmy Decotis had a dreadful night that was cut short way too early.

Whilst challenging for the lead in his heat race, the reigning champion crashed hard through the whoops and was unable to continue. To compound matters, following the crash the medical team deemed him unfit to race in the last chance qualifier, ending his chance of a comeback.

Although Decotis was obviously disappointed, he was thankful that there were no serious injuries and values the decision to put safety first.

“Firstly, I am thankful I was wearing a Shoei helmet and I am also grateful for the fantastic work of the medical team. I need to remain positive that I haven’t seriously hurt myself. It’s disappointing, as I was the fastest rider on the track and I felt really good in practice and qualifying. I need to take those positives into the next round and remain focused.

There are still plenty of races to be won”.

Team Manager Steve Powell was noticeably concerned by Jimmy Decotis’s crash, but maintained a positive mindset following a roller coaster weekend.

“Justin did an amazing job! Adam rode really well and clearly showed improvement. Overall, I am extremely happy Jimmy didn’t get seriously hurt, as it was a nasty crash. I didn’t know what to expect as he laid there on the track, so I was relieved to find out he will be OK. We will regroup now and focus on Round Three.”

y rrive Konsk a Y : R E G A TEAM MAN F250R BIKES: CR

#7

FAITH #7 GAVIN Class: SX2 a Age: 24 Dodge, Iow rt o F : n w to Home ith IG: @gavinfa

#10

CACHIA #10 JOSH Class: SX2 Age: 24 IC : Kilmore, V Hometown hia10 IG: @joshca

PENRITE HONDA RELINQUISHES CHAMPIONSHIP LEAD AT ROUND TWO OF THE AUSTRALIAN SUPERCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP

Penrite Honda riders, Gavin Faith and Josh Cachia had a less than memorable experience in Toowoomba at Round Two of the Australian Supercross Championship.

With Faith coming into the second round as the series leader, his second consecutive heat race win sent out a clear message- he was the guy to beat.

Faith went into the main feeling confident and looked set for another solid performance, before crashing whilst in the lead on the challenging Toowoomba track. In his haste to re-join the melee, Faith made a critical error which saw the Iowa rider credited with a DNF. The result relegates Faith back to sixth place in the championship.

“I sprinted hard- maybe too hard. I am really disappointed because I gave the win away tonight.

Now I have to regroup and focus on performing at my absolute best for the next four rounds. I simply can’t afford another mistake and although I have put a lot of pressure on myself, I will do my best to ensure the best possible results for myself and my team.”

The Toowoomba round was also a night to forget for Josh Cachia. The event got off to a bad start for Cachia when he was taken out in the first heat. Always a tough competitor, Cachia lined up for the LCQ a little worse for wear, but ready to get the job done. However, a heavy crash in the last chance qualifier ended his chances of making the night program, which was disappointing for both himself and the Toowoomba fans.

“Being taken out in the first turn of the heat race hurt- I hit my chest hard as was ridden over while I was down.

I came back in the LCQ and went over the bars in the whoops. I just need to put this round behind me and focus on the next four rounds”.

Assistant team manager Daniel Kersnovske had an understandably difficult weekend, but remains positive that the team can claw back enough points over the next four rounds to be genuine title contenders.

“It was a tough weekend, really tough. Gavin was riding extremely well and the mistake he made could cost both himself and the team dearly. We just need regroup and race for wins now. Although we can’t afford another mistake, additional pressure from management won’t create a positive team atmosphere. I know Gavin is highly capable of producing the results we need and I have no doubt we are still in the championship hunt. It’s really unfortunate that Josh had a trying weekend too. We know how good he is, so we will all work together to ensure we are 100 percent prepared to make up lost ground at Round Three.”

h ark Luksic M : R E G A N MA T: Glen Bell N E M P O L E RIDER DEV a CRF250R d n o H : S E BIK

#30

IGHTMAN #30 JOEL W Class: MX2 Age: 19 NSW ndonbrook le G : n w to Home an Ian Wightm Mechanic: htman IG: @joelwig

#96

ebster #96 Kyle W Class: MX2 Age: 19 A anneroo W W : n w to e Hom Mick Lillis Mechanic: ebster IG: @kylew

WIGHTMAN PUSHES INTO TOP FIVE CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

Round two of the 2016 Australian Supercross Championship fired into life on Friday night (October 14) at Toowoomba Showgrounds in the Darling Downs region of south-east Queensland and saw CRF Honda Racing riders Joel Wightman and Kyle Webster experience a night of mixed fortunes aboard their HRC backed Honda CRF250R thumpers.

For Wightman, the Toowoomba event was a strong one, the young gun from the NSW Hunter Valley putting in one of his best performances of the year by using a boomer start in the SX2 Final and then put in fast and consistent laps all the way to the chequered flag to finish in fifth place.

Meanwhile Webster kicked off his night in great style, snaring second place in his Heat race behind Jackson Richardson (Serco Yamaha), but then was caught up in a first turn scramble in the Final that eventually saw him fight his way back to a 12th place finish.

On a cold night, competitors faced a spectacular and technical track layout at the Toowoomba venue, which featured testing rhythm sections and jump combinations that gave little respite through the entire lap.

“It was one of the coolest supercross tracks I had ever seen, and I enjoyed racing on it,” explained Wightman. “A few of the big rhythm sections were really challenging, so I knew if I could hit my marks every lap, then I was in for a good race.”

Throwing off the effects of a touch of the flu from earlier in the week, Wightman put in a fourth place finish in his Heat race and then steeled himself for an all-out effort in the Final.

“I got a great start in the Final and came out of the first turn in third place, which really helped to set me up for the race,” said Wightman.

FACEBOOK: /crfhondaracing

“But then in the opening laps I made a little mistake on the dragon’s back and took a detour beside the finish line jump, which allowed a couple of guys to pass me.

“After that though, it was all good and I just rode fast and consistent laps all the way to the finish and took home fifth place.

“A couple of other guys had rough nights, so after two consistent results in the opening two rounds (Note: Wightman placed tenth at round one at Jimboomba last month) I am fifth in the SX2 Championship, which I’m stoked with as we gear up for the next round in Adelaide in a fortnight’s time.”

For Webster, the Toowoomba track was a technical one, and the West Australian ace admitted some parts of the circuit took some taming in the early practice sessions.

“But I managed to get the track sorted by the time the Heats came around,” explained Webster, who promptly delivered a great second place finish in his Heat behind Richardson, who would later go on to win the SX2 Final from Hayden Mellross (Yamaha) and Geran Stapleton (Honda).

“Then in the Final I got an awesome jump out of the gate,” Webster continued, “but in the first turn I just got bumped around and wound up rejoining the race in last place. All I could do from there was put my head down and try and salvage some points and I eventually came home in 12th place.

“Not the result I wanted, but overall I was happy with the way I was riding,” Webster concluded.

INSTAGRAM: @crfhondaracing

er vin Crutch e K , n o s il le W y AGER: Nea son Corne a J : IC N A TEAM MAN H F HEAD MEC ki RMZ450 u z u S : S E BIK

#47

WATERS #47 TODD Class: MX1 Age: 25 D : Cairns, QL Hometown Mechanic: aters47 IG: @toddw

#15

WILSON #15 LUKE Class: MX1 Age: 26 QLD old Coast, G : n w to e Hom Mechanic: wilson15 IG: @__luke

WATERS AND WILSON RIDE THE ROUND TWO HIGHS AND LOWS AT TOOWOOMBA Wilson Coolair Motul Factory Suzuki riders Todd Waters and Luke Wilson have managed to get through round two of the 2016 Australian Supercross Championship unscathed, despite a difficult outing at Toowoomba last night.

The technical and lengthy circuit proved to be tricky for a number of riders yesterday evening, and when Waters and Wilson hit the track, both riders were dealt with their fair share of highs and lows.

Waters started off round two in spectacular fashion qualifying in second position, then when the night show kicked off, Waters took the second heat win setting himself up as the man to beat in the 20 lap main event. And when gates dropped in the main, Waters once again was quick off the start and before long had increased his lead to close to eight seconds. But in the later stages of the race, Waters went down in the whoops section forcing the Queenslander to DNF.

Wilson who finished inside the top ten at the last round at Jimboomba, experienced ups and downs at round two at Toowoomba. After qualifying in 14th position, Wilson unfortunately crashed out of his heat race, but when the main event commenced, Wilson proved that consistency was key, putting in clean laps to wrap up the evening in 9th overall.

“In the main, I pretty much just went lap for lap by myself, stayed consistent and it paid off. To finish inside the top ten and get some solid points for the team is good, and now I’m just looking forward to getting to round three.”

Todd Waters – SX1 – DNF “We’ve been working hard during the week – our speed was good, and we managed to get the win in the heat race which was a good start to the night,” Waters explained.

“When we got in to the main, I got a good start and I pulled about an eight second lead on the field and next minute I knew I was on my head.

“I’m not really sure what happened, I was in control and riding a good race but it wasn’t our night. I had felt fast through that section all night, but it bit me and sometimes that’s just what happens.”

Wilson Coolair Motul Factory Suzuki will now begin preparations for round three of the 2016 Australian Supercross Championships being held in Adelaide in South Australia, on Saturday October 29.

Luke Wilson – SX1 – 9th Overall “This round was tough. I don’t feel that I rode that well, but I wanted to ride smart and just put clean laps down which we did,” Wilson shared.

“I had a crash in my heat race and I corked my leg really bad which was giving me a bit of trouble, but we managed to get through.

FACEBOOK: /wilsonmxaus

INSTAGRAM: @wilsonscoolairmotulsuzuki

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136

RIDERS TIPS JUNIOR NATIONALS A few weeks ago I was in the thick of one of the largest annual Motorcycle events to take place annually in Australia, the 2016 KTM Australia Junior Motocross Championships. 600 plus families made the journey across this great land to congregate at the Riverland Junior Motorcyle club in Renmark, South Australia for a weeklong event of racing, family fun and young riders chasing their dreams to become champions.

Arriving to a fast, loamy and varied track of natural terrain hills, rolling and square edged bumps and some tricky rhythm jump sequences, the riders had their work cut out for them. Combining the soft sand of Renmark with some of the heaviest downpours and storms in recent memory, the

track changed all week and left the riders and families having to endure everything from power outs to flooded tracks and pit tents, delayed and cancelled days of racing and surprisingly after the bad weather cleared‌ some of the best racing seen at junior nationals in years.

I want to take you all through what I feel are some of the major differences are for the junior riders attending this event in comparison to what they are used to racing week in and out. Understanding these factors can often make the difference between a rider achieving their goals or struggling under the added perceived pressure riders and their crews put on themselves.

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1. IT’S A WEEK OF RACING! That’s right this event is a long and drawn out affair! As much as every junior racer is bouncing off the walls like a kid at a McDonalds ball pen after a sugar snack at the thought of racing his dirtbike for an entire week… well, the reality can be a little different. This is because of the very strict time schedule and sheer number of races that the organizers have to get through in a week. So junior racers who are used to riding 2-3 classes on a local race weekend and getting a few races per hour throughout the day will now only get to ride once to twice in an entire day!

No warm ups, no second chances, if the track is watered and you are first up at 8am, or if the track is blown out rough and dusty at 4.30pm with low sun light... well tough, because that’s the cards you are dealt and it’s the same for everyone! The riders who excel at junior nationals have the ability to be consistent in all riding conditions and variables thrown at them.

My advice would be not to freak out if your first few junior nationals campaigns do not go to plan, it takes a few years to learn how to race at full intensity after sitting around all day and as they say you can’t buy experience. Only going through the hard yards will get you to the next level.

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2. THERE ARE A LOT OF FAST RIDERS YOU’VE PROBABLY NEVER HEARD OF! When a rider rolls onto the line at his local regional or state race, as much as it is a bad habit, he or she often has a pre conceived idea of the riders they can beat, or who they expect to be passed by. It’s human nature and a part of racing and the confidence that comes with it. However, for the first few days of qualifiers and even finals at the junior nationals, riders are competing against riders from other sides of the country who are thousands of KM’s apart and will have never raced each other. So often that rider next to you on the line will have no clue who you are, how many races you’ve won or how many Instagram followers you have. It’s every man for himself to establish a new order of authority and confidence out on the race track in a short time frame. I can’t emphasize enough how young riders need to block out all of the distractions regarding the hype of other interstate riders and simply race the track and nail their starts to their full potential. By doing this, the hype and other riders are irrelevant and a rider will finish where he or she is capable of.

I can’t e mph enoug asize young h how need riders t out al o block l distra of the regar ctions d hype o ing the inters f other tate ri de rs

3. STARTS!

5. STARTS!

Following on from that last point.. starts are key! Very rarely do local regional and state level races have full gates and if they do, they are not full of riders who are capable of holeshots and great starts. With the best riders from all over the nation and overseas attending, there are 40 riders on that gate who deserve to be there and can nail a start on any given day! Being consistently in the top ten, five or three into the first corner in EVERY MOTO, depending on your race goals, will almost guarantee you start each moto with great track position and avoid the carnage behind you as younger and inexperienced junior riders can often experience on the first laps of big races.

Over the years I have seen it all from championship level riders crashing a BMX and not being able to compete, to staying up too late for nights on end at the caravan park and riding terribly by their own standards, there’s even the riders who are chasing the cute girl from interstate and forget they are there to even race dirtbikes! But in all seriousness there are a lot of distractions at this huge scale of an event and for junior riders distractions means excitement, stimulation and ultimately taking focus away from the job they are there to do!

So parents, manage your kids time wisely.

Let them enjoy their time away from the track but have them on a bed time, eating and resting schedule that allows them to be a part of the festivities but also have enough energy to ride to their full potential every day when the gate drops!

4. INJURIES AND RECOVERY Ever crashed on a Sunday racing and woke up Monday morning sore to go to school?

Every junior racer has experienced this.

However now, that crash you had on Monday is still sore on Thursday and you’ve raced all week on the injury. As I said earlier, this event waits for nobody and to survive the week a rider will need to keep crashes / injuries to a minimum an focus on keeping hydrated, eating good nutritious food and sleeping every night to be ready to perform when the gate drops at junior nationals every day!

140

I love attending the junior nationals every year and witnessing the upcoming talent in Australian motocross shine! The graduating class of 125 and 250 riders into the MXD U19’s class for 2017 is one of the fastest we have witnessed in recent memory and it was amazing to see all these kids go at it one last time before progressing to the pro ranks!

See you all next year for Hosrham in 2017!

Story By Joe Stevens

C O

A C H I N G

WITH JOE STEVENS AND #TEAMMAD PRIVATE TUITION AND GROUP COACHING / SCHOOL HOLIDAY CAMPS. ALL LEVELS OF RIDERS CATERED FOR: PRO RACERS TO BEGINNER RIDERS. CONTACT JOE STEVENS P: 0404059168 E: JOE@MADSPTC.COM

RENMARK

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2016 AJMX RENMARK EVENT RECAP

STORY BY - MOTOONLINE.COM.AU 145

AJMX

TAJ MARSHALL 250cc 15 years Champion Victoria’s Taj Marshall claimed the 250cc 15 years title, making it his second consecutive Australian championship aboard the 250. A pair of second place finishes and a moto victory were enough to award him the overall, while New South Welshman Riley Dukes and fellow Victorian Cody Dyce completed the podium in second and third respectively.

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RESULTS 128-150cc/200-250cc 15 years

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AJMX

CODY DYCE 125cc 15 years Champion Dyce would go onto wrap up the 125cc 15 years championship convincingly, going 2-1-1 over the threemoto finals format. Western Australia’s Caleb Grothues secured second with a race win next to his name, while Morgan Fogarty claimed third.

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RESULTS 128-150cc 15 years

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AJMX

MASON SEMMENS 250cc 13-u15 years Champion & 125cc 13-u15 years Champion With no qualifying races, the younger age group 250cc category (13-u15 years) contested five final races over the course of the week. It was a podium dominated by KTM riders, led by Mason Semmens (Victoria), Rhys Budd (New South Wales) and Regan Duffy (Western Australia). All three riders would also finish in identical positions in the 125cc 13-u15 years class.

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128-150cc 13-u15 years

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AJMX

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BAILEY MALKIEWICZ 85cc 14-u16 years Champion Queensland’s Bailey Malkiewicz (14-u16 years), Estonia’s Meiko Vettik (12-u14 years) and New South Welshman Blake Fox (9-u12 years) were awarded championships in their respective 85cc categories, while the female classes were dominated by Western Australia’s Tahlia O’Hare, who concluded the week by wrapping up both the 85cc and Lites championships.

152

RESULTS 8 5 - 1 5 0 c c 1 4 - u 1 6 Ye a r s

153

AJMX MEIKO VETTIK 85cc 12-u14 years Champion

BLAKE FOX 85cc 9-u12 years Champion

154

RESULTS 8 5 - 1 5 0 c c 1 2 - u 1 4 Ye a r s

8 5 - 1 5 0 c c 9 - u 1 2 Ye a r s

155

AJMX

ZACHARY WATSON 65cc 11 years Champion The 65cc classes were won by Queensland’s Zachary Watson (11 years), Noah Smerdon (9-u11 years) and Western Australia’s Kayden Minear (7-u9 years), who also managed to take out the 50cc 7-u9 years category after capturing all three moto wins.

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AJMX NOAH SMERDON 85cc 9-u11 years Champion

KAYDEN MINEAR 65cc 7-u9 years & 50cc 7-u9 years Champion

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RESULTS 6 5 c c 9 - u 1 1 Ye a r s

6 5 c c 7 - u 9 Ye a r s

5 0 c c 7 - u 9 Ye a r s

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AJMX

TAHLIA O’HARE Female Lites Champion & Female 85cc Champion The female classes were dominated by Western Australia’s Tahlia O’Hare, who concluded the week by wrapping up both the 85cc and Lites championships.

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OFF ROAD WE LOOK BACK ON THE AORC CHAMPIONSHIP AND THE ISDE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

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COMPLETE DOMINANCE FOR KTM IN AORC CHAMPIONSHIP KTM has proven the superiority of its competition motorcycles with complete dominance in the three Pro classes of the Australian Off Road Championship at the year’s season finale at Penshurst, Victoria.

The KTM Enduro Racing Team’s unstoppable ace Daniel ‘Chucky’ Sanders defied atrocious weather conditions to lead a KTM 1-2 of Australia’s premier off-road racing title, as he won it for the first time in his career.

The excitable Victorian added two more round wins to his season tally, taking it to 10 as he convincingly wrapped up Saturday’s round ahead of Husqvarna’s Lyndon Snodgrass and KTM’s Jack Simpson, with the outright podium an identical one on Sunday.

166

So complete has been Sanders’ synergy with the KTM 300 EXC that he has only dropped two round wins all season long, after he struck an unseen object and injured his leg at the South Australian stop on the tour at Murray Bridge. The fact that his teammate Tye Simmonds won one of those two races on his KTM 450 EXC gave an KTM 11 from 12 stranglehold of AORC outright wins for the year.

Simmonds himself was on the march towards a brilliant runner-up place in the championship, in what was only the Bourke, NSW, rider’s second year of AORC racing.

He also wrapped the E2 class, with a class third and a win at Penshurst.

The occasion of the finale was made even more joyous for the Orange men

“It’s a bit of a surreal feeling to have tied the record out here for the most wins. I’m pumped, and just glad the whole program we put together went to plan, we podiumed in the truck and then won the bike leg. It’s been an amazing weekend. The poor old truck copped a beating this week, we flipped it on Friday when a part broke, but the boys fixed it and got it going again, and we’re pumped. A lot of people doubted what we were doing, so I’m just glad that we came away with good results.

I had a point to prove. I wanted to race the car, and there was a bit of a fire burning in my belly to get the job done on the bike. That was the best repayment that we could do for everybody that has jumped on board the truck project, and everybody that helped with the bike. I’m not scared of failure, I like to put myself out there on the edge, and set myself challenges.

Sometimes it doesn’t happen, you can’t succeed all the time, but I didn’t want to let anybody down here, so I just held that thing on the stop all the way down to prove I was capable of doing the car and then doing faster times than I ever have on the bike.”

167

thanks to the achievements of another Victorian, E1 class rookie and former motocross pro Jack Simpson.

Simpson put the E1 category beyond doubt with a stunning pair of rides for the weekend, using his KTM 250 SX-F to win the class and take his first AORC outright podium on Saturday, then doing it all again on Sunday.

In the Transmoto Under 19 category, Nic Tomlinson finished with 3,2 results for the weekend to salvage second place in the championship despite missing a round due to an ankle injury.

Young KTM factory support race at Ben Kearns was also in the points over the weekend, winning the class on Saturday or finishing sixth on Sunday, to be fourth overall in the championship.

AORC Outright Final Points: 1. Daniel Sanders KTM 282, 2. Tye Simmonds KTM 226, 3. Chris Hollis 190, 4. Lachlan Stanford 177, 5. Beau Ralston 176, 6. Jack Simpson KTM 175, 7. Broc Grabham 147, 8. Glenn Kearney 140, 9. Riley Graham 113, 10. Tom McCormack 112 Championship E3 Top 3: 1. Daniel Sanders KTM 292, 2. Lachlan Stanford 248, 3. Lyndon Snodgrass 228.

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AORC

RESULTS

Championship E2 Top 3: 1. Tye Simmonds KTM 276, 2. Chris Hollis 246, 3. Broc Grabham 221 Championship Top 3: 1. Jack Simpson KTM 278, 2. Glenn Kearney 249, 3. Riley Graham 225

Transmoto u19 Top 3: 1. Wil Ruprecht 253, 2. Nic Tomlinson KTM 222, 3. Fraser Higlett 222,

E3

E3 & OUTRIGHT WINNER

DANIEL SANDERS “I didn’t dominate this quite the way I had planned to; we were just chasing set up a bit early on. With this ‘17 we hadn’t had a sloppy race with it yet so we were finding things out about set up as we went and trying different things just to see what it would do. It was very slick and I didn’t have as much confidence in myself as I probably should have. I had a couple of early crashes so I tried to just keep it up right and push as hard as I could at the end. My mate Lyndon Snodgrass was going good so I was battling with him - it was just like training at home!

Everything was sorted today though and I went back to putting 16 seconds on the boys

every test so, the confidence was good.

This year’s been great, it would have been good to get the clean sweep, but that injury screwed me up. We sort of proved that we are the fastest everywhere though, so now it’s time to move on to bigger and better things.

We’ve got the 6-days coming up so it will be cool to go over there and chase it up with the big boys and see how we go. I’ve worked real hard to chase my dreams, so I’m not stopping now. When I say I want to do something I’ll put everything into it and be prepared to sacrifice a lot of things to get where I want to be.”

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E2

E2 WINNER

TYE SIMMONDS “Not too bad here, we were poking along okay. We were lucky enough to have a few points up the sleeve to make it easier to wrap up the second outright. I didn’t ride the best but we got the championship wrapped up so for me it’s happy days!

Yesterday I had nothing for the boys early on, I straight up got smoked. But we got it together a little bit and were able to protect that lead from Hollis.

Today was a bit better. I won the class for E2, and was a little bit closer to the boys up front.

170

I’m happy with this season. I started slow and was terrible, but we salvaged points and we got through it, that was the main thing. Obviously the last few rounds were more my style of tracks, but we worked hard on this so it’s good to see the rewards.

It’s awesome to see KTM go 1-2 as well, Chucky has worked his arse off too, so he definitely deserves it.

I just want to thank the whole KTM team for their effort and help, and my personal sponsors and all the fans who follow what we do.”

E1

E1 WINNER

JACK SIMPSON “I’ve been going after that number one plate all year, and now finally the weight’s off the shoulders and I can relax. That will never ever get taken off me; it’s in the history books. I came into this round with a little of a buffer in the E1 class, and I had no expectation for the outright position. I was just aiming to win E1. But I finished first in my class and third outright the first day, and had a bit of good luck as well, because Riley Graham and Scott Keegan both lost their chains and DNFed or were way out of the picture. Glenn Kearney had a couple of big crashes and was down in 14th or 15th, so all I had to do was just stick to what I

was doing, and come in on Saturday with the number one in the E1 class, and third outright which was my first ever outright podium.

Today was basically a carbon copy.

Still had no idea about the outright situation, but by winning the class and finishing on the podium outright I made up 35 points on Stanford and Ralston and was two points short of finishing fourth - so that was a good thing.

My plan this year was to come in, learn the ropes of the sport and have no expectations. Just target the rounds and the championship will take care of itself.”

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ISDE 174

CHUCKY SANDERS BACK TO BACK E3 WORLD CHAMPION! WHILST AUSSIE TEAM HAS PROBLEMS

He may have dominated this year’s AORC

at the event, less than eighteen seconds

and just defended the ISDE E3 World

behind American Taylor Robert and more

Championship he won a year ago, but the

than 46 seconds ahead of Spaniard Josep

KTM Enduro Racing Team’s irrepressible

Garcia.

young ace Daniel ‘Chucky’ Sanders has just

“This track probably wasn’t as suited to me

started his to-do list for 2017.

as it could have been, but it’s good to learn

Sanders powered his KTM 300 EXC

where you’re not fast, so you can go back

Six Days to victory in the International Six-

home and make yourself stronger. The

Day Enduro E3 category for the second

fastest rider in all conditions won – I’ll come

consecutive year, and improved upon last

back next year and definitely be going for the

year’s fourth position outright to finish a

win.”

brilliant second overall.

For Chucky Sanders however, the

Trophy Team defend its World Champions

elation of the moment is shared with the

title evaporated on the first day when Josh

realisation that a new goal has appeared

Strang was ruled out with a leg injury,

brightly on his radar – to win the ‘Olympics of

followed closely by Daniel Milner on Day

enduro’ next year.

Two, and the unfortunate green-and-golds

tumbled to last place among the nations.

“It feels pretty good winning E3 for

Sanders’ chance of helping the Aussie

a second time,” said Sanders, “but I was

shattered I didn’t win the overall.”

Josh,” says Sanders, “we sort of waited and

no one said he finished that test, so we were

Sanders was the second-fastest rider

“We knew straight away that we’d lost

175

2017 KTM 350 EXC back in August, Sanders demonstrated

the

model’s

outstanding

competitiveness at the highest levels.

“The Six-Day model that I ran is built

strong, and we added a few other bits on just to make it my set up, with a disc guard and my bars and whatever. But it was pretty much set up ready to go so I just checked everything over, but I was comfortable on it straight away, and I knew that if I had a clear run it could be right up the pointy end.

“The Six-Day is tough, so you’ve

definitely got to be fit, and smart with the maintenance. It’s not just tyres. We had some big hits and drop-offs this year, so the spokes were coming loose. We just had to stay on top of all the maintenance just to make sure. expecting something bad. It was a bit of a bummer and obviously it dropped the mood a little bit, but from then on you know it’s all individual results, so I was keen to see what the week would bring.”

The ISDE’s wide-open competition is

matched only by the enthusiasm behind its famous after party, as the world’s best to bike racers expend any remaining energy socialising with counterparts from all corners of the globe.

“I really like catching up with all of the

six-day riders from all over the world - I get along with a few, and riding with everyone on the trail is always good fun. We spent the last night partying and running amok with all the boys in the town. It was a good night and I enjoyed it.”

After becoming one of the first riders

in the world to win a national championship round (and then another three) on the new 176

“I’ve come a long way since last year’s

six-day. I’ve finally started riding the way I want to without making those mistakes in tests, and carrying all that speed. It’s just confidence and some strength. Obviously the skill I’ve worked on for ages - the longer you ride, the better you can get. I feel like it’s finally clicked, this whole year I’ve felt good on the bike, and to sit at the pointy end through the whole six days in every test was great. Even when I had a bad one I wasn’t way back.“So I really want to win one. 100%.”

KTM young guns featured prominently

in Australia’s largely rookie World Junior Team effort, with AORC E1 Champion Jack Simpson and U19 standout Nic Tomlinson joining Tom McCormack as the Aussies made their way to sixth overall behind Sweden, USA, & Italy.

Tomlinson rode his 2016 KTM 300 EXC to 16th in E3 classification in his first ever ISDE, while Simpson was 17th in E1 on a KTM250EXC-F in his first appearance on the world stage.

“I didn’t know what to expect,” said level of riding - at an AORC, if you were 20

Tomlinson,

“but

the

atmosphere

was

seconds behind Chucky when he won a

massive, just crazy, I was blown away. I was

special test you’d be 15th but here at the

wigging myself out over thinking everything,

ISDE, finishing 20 seconds behind Chucky

and it affected my performance, but I just

put you about 100th. It’s a big difference!

stepped back a bit and looked at it and

went ‘wow, this is cool’. I was just trying to

into next year’s one, knowing where I stand a

“It will help my self-confidence coming

take in as much of it as I could, and learn as little bit, and hopefully I will be able to build much as I could.”

on that.“I really loved the final moto, that was

Tomlinson was taken aback by the cool. I had so much fun and just let my hair

depth of talent on display, but is determined

down. I got the worst start ever, but got back

to return next year and make his best up to 13th out of a full 40-gate grid from a performance. “I just didn’t realise the high dead-last start. “I felt I did half decent there.”

177

PART

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CAMS approved bolt on Roll Cage

PART

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Front Nudge Bar

$389.00

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$4,500.00

Windscreen Mud Shields

$225.00

- Unpainted

$3,900.00

Front A-Arm Guards

$199.00

Aluminum Roof - CAMS Approved

$280.00

Front Nose Bash Plate

$205.00

Driver Seat Frame

$210.00

Rear Bash Plate

$215.00

Passenger Seat Frame

$189.00

Main Underbody Skid Plate

$779.00

Driver Seat Rails

$155.00

Nerf Bars/Side Rails

$480.00

Passenger Seat Rails

$155.00

Safety/Competition Sticker Kits

$17.00

CAMS Approved Tow Loop

$45.00

Dust/Brake Light, Isolator Switch & Wiring Loom

$315.00

Roof Race Number Plate

$35.00

1kg Fire Extinguisher

$45.00

VELO Race Seats

From $799.00

Window Side Net (one side)

$55.00

Velo 6pt Magnum Hans Harness

$299.00

Window Side Net Fitting Kit

$55.00

Side Mount Mirrors (Flat or Convex)

$85.00

4 IN A ROW GIRLS CONTINUE WORLD ISDE DOMINATION

For the fourth year in succession, The Australian Women’s ISDE team has won the world championship after six grueling days of competition in Spain.

The all Yamaha WR250F mounted trio of Tayla Jones, Jemma Wilson and Jessica Gardiner, named the ‘Yamaha bLU cRU Women’s Trophy Team’ created their own little piece of history as they achieved the teams’ fourth International Six Day Enduro (ISDE) victory after the sixth and final day of competition wrapped up yesterday.

The team was led by Tayla Jones who charged to another outstanding individual result taking third in the Women’s category and consolidated her position as one of the world’s best female off road racers.

She was ably backed up by Jemma Wilson and Jessica Gardiner who both finished inside the top 20 and enable the 180

team to claim the victory ahead of the Spanish and German teams.

“I’m stoked we have won the ISDE again and the feeling is as good as the first time we won it four years ago,” Jones said excitedly. “There were some tough days with plenty of different conditions throughout the event but Jemma, Jess and myself were able to ride strong until the end and get the win.

“I struggled a bit in the mud on day four and dropped from second to third so that is something I will have to work on but as a team I’m pumped with what we did and it’s amazing to stand on the podium with these girls again and represent Australia so thank you to all our friends, supporters and sponsors,” Jones ends.

On hand to witness the girls’ historic fourth consecutive victory was Yamaha’s

181

Motorsport Manager, Ray Howard who was delighted with the result.

“Yamaha Australia congratulate Tayla, Jemma and Jessica on an amazing result to capture their fourth ISDE championship. They all did a great job in not only racing the event but are great ambassadors for Yamaha and Australia and thoroughly deserve their success after the work and dedication each of them have for racing.

“Things didn’t go as planned for our Yamaha mounted male riders but they will bounce back for 2017 where we again aim to win more individual and team honours,” Howard states.

As Howard mentioned, Yamaha’s lead male rider and former world number 2, Daniel Milner, had a disastrous event when he detailed a chain early in the event 182

causing his front sprocket to break and end his ISDE campaign. Milner was gutted at his unfortunate luck but desperate to make amends in 2017.

“I love the ISDE and have done well here in the past but it just wasn’t my year this year. It looks like I have hit something which has then caused the bottom chain guide to bend and then derail the chain.

As the chain come off, it broke the front sprocket and I couldn’t finish the day so that was my ISDE over right there,” Milner said.

Tom McCormack also flew the Yamaha flag in the E2 class as well as the Australian Junior Trophy team. McCormack claimed 12th in the E2 class on board his Yamaha WR450F while the Australian Junior Trophy team came home in fifth place.

183