Moss creates history with perfect Supercross season
Team Motul Suzuki’s Matt Moss created history at Brisbane Entertainment Centre last night, becoming the first rider to take a clean sweep of the Australian Supercross Championship SX1 class.
Moss won all five rounds of the series, securing back-to-back supercross titles and his fourth consecutive Australian title.
Despite securing the championship by just making the 20-lap final, the tight indoor track threatened to derail Moss’s plans of a clean sweep.
A first turn hustle dropped the defending champion down the order to ninth, but he worked his way forward and into the lead by Lap 14. Moss won the final race ahead of NP Monster Energy Kawasaki rider Adam Monea and Victorian privateer Sam Martin.
“I want to say thanks to the Brisbane fans for coming out tonight,” Moss said. “It’s been a great year and I can’t ask for any better than a clean-sweep.
“I got hit in the first corner, but then I could see the leaders so I put the hammer down and got going.
“People have questioned if I could win without the holeshot so tonight proved them all wrong which was pretty sweet.
“I am overwhelmed at the moment. Winning the way we did is a huge feat and it hasn’t really sunk in yet,” Moss continued
In the SX1 championship standings Adam Monea and Lawson Bopping rounded out the top three.
Penrite Honda rider Gavin Faith claimed his second SX2 title, a second place finish behind Boardstix Motorsports Taylor Potter on the tight indoor track securing him the 2014 crown.
The American, holeshot the final but went down on the opening lap. Faith pushed forward and worked his way back to second but ran out of time to challenge Potter for the win.
“I got out of shape a couple of times and went down on the first lap,” Faith said. “I’m super-pumped to wrap it up for Penrite Honda and for all the fans who came out tonight,” Faith said.
“Last year was pretty rough. I learnt a lot and bought it into this year and I feel like I rode a lot smarter this year
“I will head to Germany now to do the four-round German series before returning to the USA for the AMA Supercross Championship,” Faith added.
Potter’s win elevated him to second in the championship behind Faith with Kyle Peters (Wilson’s Jet Pilot Honda) third, giving Honda a clean sweep of the SX2 class.
KTM rider Dylan Wills secured both the SXD round and championship, while in the Junior Lites Jordan Hill took both round and championship spoils.
2014 Penrite Australian Supercross Championship SX1 Results – Rd 5 Brisbane, QLD
- Matt MOSS,
- Adam MONEA
- Sam MARTIN,
- Daniel McCOY,
- Jesse DOBSON,
- Josh CACHIA,
- Lawson BOPPING
- Kirk GIBBS
- Kade MOSIG,
- Robbie MARSHALL
- Kieren TISDALE
2014 Penrite Australian Supercross Championship SX1 standings (Top Ten)
- Matt MOSS 175,
- Adam MONEA 150
- Lawson BOPPING 142,
- Kirk GIBBS 137
- Jesse DOBSON 121,
- Josh CACHIA 113
- Kade MOSIG 111,
- Jay MARMONT 104,
- Justin CARAFA 94
- Chris CAMILLERI 81
2014 Penrite Australian Supercross Championship SX2 results – Rd 5 Brisbane, QLD
- Taylor POTTER,
- Gavin FAITH
- ,Hayden MELLROSS
- Dylan LONG
- Geran STAPLETON,
- Ryan MARMONT
- Jackson RICHARDSON,
- Kyle PETERS
- Luke WILSON
- Kale MAKEHAM,
2014 Penrite Australian Supercross Championship SX2 championship standings
- Gavin FAITH 167,
- Taylor POTTER 144
- Kyle PETERS 140,
- Hayden MELLROSS 137
- Kale MAKEHAM 125,
- Ryan MARMONT 118
- Brendan HARRISON 112
- Geran STAPLETON 103
- Luke WILSON 99
- ,Jackson RICHARDSON 96
2014 Penrite Australian Supercross Championship SXD results – Rd 5 Brisbane, QLD
- Dylan WILLS 102
- Tomas RAVENHORST 97
- Aaron TANTI 88
- Izak MAULE 84
- Jack SIMPSON 82
- Brock McLEARY 75
- Connor RICE 69
- Miles CLISSOLD 68
- Dylan WILSON 48
2014 Penrite Australian Supercross Championship SXD championship standings
- Dylan WILLS 475
- ,Jack SIMPSON 459
- ,Brock McLEARY 436
- Tomas RAVENHORST 431,
- Aaron TANTI 396
- Izak MAULE 388
- Trent WHEATLEY 290,
- Blake SOLA 119
- Tim O’BRIEN 118
- Connor RICE 69
- Miles CLISSOLD 68
- Dylan WILSON 48
2014 Penrite Australian Supercross ChampionshipJunior Lites results – Rd 5 Brisbane, QLD
- Jordan HILL 95,
- Kaleb BARHAM 94
- Lachlan HOLROYD 89
- Anthony REGINA 82,
- Travis SILK 77
- Jesse BISHOP 76
- Joel CIGLIANO 75
- Drew CIGLIANO 72
- Fraser HIGLETT 69,
- Jacob BUCKMAN 69
2014 Penrite Australian Supercross ChampionshipJunior Lites championship standings (Top Ten)
- Jordan HILL 503
- Lachlan HOLROYD 464
- Travis SILK 431,
- Drew CIGLIANO 375,
- Joel CIGLIANO 372,
- Dylan DUKES 352,
- Kaleb GROTHUES 158
- Bradley CAIN 144
- Kaleb BARHAM 94
- Jacob BUCKMAN 92
Penrite Honda Report
The Penrite Honda Racing team has ended the 2014 season in the best possible way, with Gavin Faith winning the Australian Supercross Championship SX2 title.
Faith, who finished second at the final round of the series at Brisbane Entertainment Centre on Saturday night, clinching the title by 23 points ahead of Taylor Potter.
The American rider boasts an impressive record in Australia. Since first coming out in 2011 Faith has finished within the top two of the SX2 championship each year.
Confirming he will return to Penrite Honda in 2015, Faith praised the team for an incredible supercross season.
“I’m super-pumped to wrap it up for Penrite Honda and for all the fans who came out tonight,” Faith said.“Last year was pretty rough for both myself and the team. I learnt a lot and bought it into this year. I felt like I rode a lot smarter this year.
“I will head to Germany now to do the four-round German series before returning the USA for the AMA Supercross Championship.
“This is a fantastic championship and I will definitely be back with the team next year,” Faith added.
Since coming under the management of Yarrive Konsky the Victoria based outfit has delivered Honda Motorcycles four national two-wheeled championships including the Australian Superbike Championship, 2012 MX Nationals Pro Lites Championship, 2012 Super-X Pro Lites Championship and the 2014 Australian SX2 Championship.
Despite an adverse year with rider injuries and setbacks, this championship victory defines the Penrite Honda teams dedication to the sport and their sponsors.
“It was a tough year with uncontrollable setbacks,” Team Owner Yarrive Konsky explained. “The riders are pushing so hard that injuries are inevitable. To win the supercross title is amazing and I can’t thank Penrite Oil, Honda and our army of sponsors enough for backing us and giving us what we need to win.
“Now the championship is finished we will debrief and evaluate all areas. It really has been rewarding finishing to the year.”
The Penrite Honda Team also said a racing farewell to stalwart Jay Marmont on the weekend.
The eight-time Australian Champion didn’t bow out the way he had hoped but said he thoroughly enjoyed his time with the team and acknowledged he would not be leaving the sport all together.
“That definitely wasn’t the way I wanted to bow out,” Marmont said. “It was an up and down night but that is just the way it goes.
“I had a ball racing this series, I was on the podium and it was great to see so much support for the championship.
“it is confirmed that I am retiring but I will not be leaving the sport all together,” Marmont concluded.
Marmont ended the season fifth in the SX1 Championship standings, both he and Ben Townley will join Penrite at the inaugural MOTO EXPO Melbourne on November 28-30.
Husqvarna Report
Husqvarna Motocross Racing Team racers Josh Cachia and Ryan Marmont have saved their best for last, both leap-frogging several championship positions at last night’s final round of the Australian Supercross Championship which took place inside the Boondall Entertainment Centre.
Both adapted well in the championship’s return to indoor racing and revelled under the bright lighting, with the team’s SX1 competitor Josh Cachia powering his nimble Husqvarna FC 350 to a season-best result of sixth in the premier class final.
The result elevated him from eighth to sixth in the championship while SX2 class competitor Ryan Marmont proved a poor qualifying can sometimes mean nothing at all, gaining a near-holeshot on the back of a Last Chance Qualifier entry and twelfth and final pick of the start date.
Marmont blasted his FC 250 into the lead several laps in and looked like going on to win the event, but tucked the front end over an unseen rock and crashed. He pushed on tenaciously however, and was rewarded with sixth in the final, which elevated him three championship positions.
Hard luck story of the evening went to Husqvarna support racer Luke Arbon, whose spectacular debut ride on his new FC 250 four-stroke yielded two heat wins and the fastest time in qualifying.
However it all amounted to nought as a heavy fall in the final left him with a head knock, a badly bruised hand and a trip to Race Safe.
Craig Anderson – Husqvarna Motocross Racing Team Manager: “I’m very very impressed with the weekend in Brisbane. They got good starts and were attacking the whole time. Doggy was a little bit tight at the start, but we gave him some advice to change up here and there, and come final time he had it all in the bag – he was going to win that no question. I was actually running down the stairs off the mechanic’s stand to get the Pirelli podium hat – that’s how much he was pulling away – and just as I got downstairs he crashed. Josh won a heat race straight up and I think that was a good confidence booster for him. He rode a smart race and got sixth place in the championships so that was awesome. I’m pumped with both the boys’ efforts in Brisbane, I know they did everything they could.”
Josh Cachia – FC 350 “It was good fun and a good result to end the Supercross season with. I got a third and a win in my heats, and was feeling very confident going into the final. I got a good start in the final, but over-jumped a triple and tweaked my wrist, so that kind held me back. I came into this round wanting to go up a couple of places in the championship, and that’s exactly what I’ve done so I’m pretty happy. My previous indoor experience was useful here, just dealing with the conditions that other riders might not have seen before, how the track is going to turn out, or what kind of lines you need to cover, you’ve got to tweak your riding style a little bit. Ando has been great. He’s only asked 110% of me, but he doesn’t care if I come last or whatever, and he’s been happy with me every round.”
Ryan “Doggy” Marmont – FC 250 “I was able to call on plenty of experience from over years of indoor races – I had a game plan, that was obviously to qualify good, ride good heats and get good results, earn a good gate pick on the inside for the main… Unfortunately, I didn’t do any of that. I got terrible starts, put myself in bad positions, had crashes in heats, ended up in the LCQ and got the last gate pick so it couldn’t have gone any worse! Then in the main, I just about pulled the holeshot from gate 12 – which was a neat enough trick on its own – got to the lead, and unfortunately just had a little slip up when I hit what I think was a rock on the way into a turn. I went down unexpectedly and so fast I didn’t even get to put my hands out. But I got back up, and rode a solid second half and I’m happy that I finished the season riding the way I wanted to ride, it’s just a shame it didn’t show in the results as much as it should have.”
Luke Arbon – FC 250 “I started off well and felt good on the new four stroke. We made a gearing change in practice and that made it awesome. In my heats I got two holeshots, two wins, and had the fastest times, so I felt really good going into the final. I was sitting third in the final, and got promoted to second behind Doggy when Faith crashed. But then I made a mistake in a rhythm section, hit my head on the handlebars and then couldn’t really see coming into a turn. I went over the berm and landed on the concrete on my hands. It was an awkward crash and I sort of crushed my hand and hit my head and shoulder pretty hard so I just walked off and got checked out by Race Safe, but I don’t think anything is broken, I’m just a little sore and tender.”
KTM Report
KTM’s Australian Supercross Championship competitors finished the national season on a high note when the series concluded at Brisbane’s Boondall entertainment Centre last night.
KTM Motocross Racing Team rider Kirk Gibbs was one of the form riders of the evening, transferring effortlessly through to the final after two demonstrative heat race wins.
Such is the fickle nature of indoor supercross though, that a crash in the main event prevented him from achieving the podium finish which seemed a foregone conclusion, and he was forced to accept seventh place in a race which was won by Matt Moss, from Adam Monea and Sam Martin.
His teammate Jesse Dobson was also in season best form on the evening, further exceeding the expectations of the team with his first top five main event finish.
The 17-year-old’s result moved him one step higher up the championship ladder to an incredible fifth-place in what was his first ever senior supercross championship.
Rob Twyerould – Team Manager: “The night started great for both guys, Gibbsy really worked out he starts and went through the heats undefeated, so that was fantastic. He was well-placed early, but just really couldn’t get the rhythm of the track early enough and made a few mistakes which left him a bit vulnerable and he got tangled up with another rider and got his boot caught in the back wheel. So he went down and lost a lot of ground. But he got back up in his last 10 laps were absolute fliers and he clawed back a few positions. So to come away with no injuries and finish with a pace in the heats and in that last 10 laps that proved he can actually ride that stuff very, very well, means now he can have that confidence and believe in himself.
“Jesse qualified through his heats and then did an awesome race to finish with his highest position and move up one more place to finish fifth in the championship. He well and truly exceeded his and my goals, so we were incredibly happy with him. It was a fantastic ride, even during the race he had a stall and just kept solid and passed a few guys in the last few laps to move into fifth place.
“I just want to thank everybody for their support this year, especially the mechanics Kyle, Jordan, Apro and Garry driving the truck, Johnny back in the workshop – it’s been an incredible year and they’ve all put in a huge effort. I really appreciate it.”
Kirk Gibbs – KTM 450 SX-F “The night started off pretty well and I got some good starts which is something I’ve been working on pretty hard. I got to heat wins and first gate pick for the final so that was pretty good. I got a good start in the final and was like third or fourth, but I made a little mistake, and Jesse got past me, and then he made a little mistake, and pulled up a little bit, and then Marmont got up the inside of me, put a move on and sort of put us both down, so it put a dampener on things, but I fought from there and I felt I had pretty good pace going, but it is what it is, we sort of knew it was going to happen if the opportunity was there, and unfortunately I was on the wrong end of it.
I’m really happy with the way I’m riding now and it’s good to be uninjured at the end of the professional season for the first time in about five years!”
Jesse Dobson KTM 450 SX-F “Well it was what I said, punt or be punted! I had to do a little bit of it, but I tried to be nice about it at the same time. I just scraped through for the main I think, and I got off to an okay start but it took me a bit to get into my groove, then about halfway through I started hitting my lines. Then I stalled it and it took me a bit to get the bike going when I was in third place, so that kind of set me back a little bit. I think I dropped back to seventh, but once I got the bike going I made it back up to fifth. So it was the best result yet, and every round we’ve been improving, so that’s what I’m happy about. I’m really happy about finishing fifth in the championship too, that’s awesome!”
In Pro Lites racing, round one winner and KTM Instant Security rider Brenden Harrison unfortunately suffered a broken leg in the SX2 final, which was won by Taylor Potter from Gavin Faith and Hayden Melross. BBF Motorsport KTM’s Dylan Long was the first of the KTM riders, while Tune-Tech KTM’s Kale Makeham took that honour overall, finishing fifth in the championship.
In SXD racing, 18-year-old Dylan Wills is the Australian SXD champion after the KTM Newcastle rider wrested the championship lead from Tune Tech KTM’s Jack Simpson by winning the night, from Thomas Ravenhorst and Aaron Tanti. Simpson finished with the runner-up spot with KTM Newcastle rider Brock McLeary in third.
Dylan Wills – KTM 250 SX “It was good to battle with the KTM boys, we dominated all championship so I’m super-stoked to see KTM doing well. It was good all year racing with Jack and Brock, I knew we could race cleanly and at a mature level so I was stoked to be able to race those guys, and come out on top.”
