Monster Energy Kawasaki rider Adam Monea put in a consistent effort to claim overall honours in the MX1 class at round three of the 2014 Monster Energy MX Nationals.
Beautiful weather and a large crowd of spectators witnessed some fantastic racing in the Monster MX1 class, where the top three riders all finished the day on 60 points.
However on a countback, it was Monea who claimed the round win (third and third from his two races) ahead of Team Motul Suzuki’ Matt Moss (second and fourth) and KTM Motocross Race Team’s Kirk Gibbs (first and sixth).
In the opening MX1 moto, it was a familiar sight with Jake Moss (National Pump Monster Energy Kawasaki) and Matt Moss both streaming to the front from the start gate.
It was Jake who managed to take the holeshot, before being passed by brother Matt just a few corners later.
However on the second lap, Jake Moss went over his bars at the back section of the track, pushing him down to 20th – he finished the race in 17th overall.
CDR Yamaha rider Billy Mackenzie rode up into second place, before he lost control of his handlebars on lap seven and was forced back into seventh position.
At that point the race settled down with Matt Moss leading the way from Monea, Gibbs and Kade Mosig (DPH Motorsport).
It was the first time that Moss had really looked challenged in 2014 when out in front, and the racing was tight for the next seven laps.
That was when the action really heated up.
On lap 15, Monea passed Moss to claim the lead, and two jumps later Gibbs passed Moss relegating the reigning champion to third spot.
But just as Monea’s consistent riding looked like it would pay off, he crashed into a lapped rider and dropped back to third position – where he eventually finished.
Gibbs held on to claim the race win from Moss, with Mosig finishing in fourth and Suzuki privateer Hayden Mellross claiming fifth.
While race one proved to be unpredictable, race two ended up being even moreso.
In the second moto, Mackenzie began the race on the pace taking out the holeshot, and control over the rest of the field.
He shot clear of Matt Moss, Jake Moss, Cody Cooper (Penrite Honda Racing) and Rhys Carter (Team Motul Suzuki) and lead from start to finish to claim the race win.
The surprise of the moto was witnessing the seeming invincibility of Matt Moss challenged, and the Suzuki leader drifted from second spot to fourth by the end of the race.
He was passed by Jake Moss and Cooper on the third lap of the moto but could not peg them back – younger brother Jake finishing the race in second.
In third place for the moto was Monea, who after a bad start found himself in ninth place and battling mid-field.
But a tenacious effort from the Kawasaki rider saw him claw his way to third by the end of the 30-minute moto, doing enough to take the overall honours on the day.
In the overall championship standings, Matt Moss actually increased his championship lead from Gibbs to be 22 points clear, with Monea a further 14 points behind in third.
MX1 CLASS: Round Results:
- Adam Monea 60 (30, 30)
- Matt Moss 60 (32, 28)
- Kirk Gibbs 60 (35, 25)
- Billy Mackenzie 56 (21, 35)
- Kade Mosig 49 (28, 21)
- Rhys Carter 48 (25, 23)
- Jake Moss 46 (14, 32)
- Cody Cooper 45 (19, 26)
- Hayden Mellross 45 (26, 19)
- Sam Martin 44 (22, 22)
Overall MX1 Championship Standings:
- Matt Moss 238
- Kirk Gibbs 216
- Adam Monea 202
- Jake Moss 186
- Billy Mackenzie 181
- Kade Mosig 169
- Rhys Carter 168
- Hayden Mellross 159
- Jay Marmont 156
- Jacob Wright 142
Husqvarna Red Bull WIL Sport NZ Racing rider Kayne Lamont has had a great day at the third round of the 2014 Monster Energy MX Nationals, taking outright honours in the Motul MX2 class.
The New Zealander proved that his opening round victory at Broadford was no fluke, registering second and first placings from his two races to take the outright honours.
Serco Yamaha rider Luke Clout added a fifth placing in the second moto to his opening race win, to take second place overall for the round.
Hamish Harwood (CMR Redbull KTM) finished the round in third place overall after a consistent fourth and second from his two races.
In the opening MX2 moto on the day, it was Raceline Pirelli Suzuki rider Geran Stapleton who shot to the front to claim the holeshot on his comeback from injury.
Stapleton strapped himself in and was looking good to complete a fairytale comeback, however disaster struck the Suzuki rider on the last lap of the moto.
An unfortunate crash halfway through the final lap relegated him to third place, allowing Clout and Lamont to stream through and take the moto win and second place respectively.
It was a great ride from series leader Clout who finished the opening lap in eighth position, and managed to negotiate his way up the field throughout the race.
By lap seven of the 17 lap race, Clout had pushed up into third and was patient in his quest to take the race win, grabbing the lead on the last lap to claim the win.
Lamont finished in third after some great mid-race battles with Harwood who finished fourth and Wade Hunter taking his KTM to fifth.
Series contender Kale Makeham (Tunetech Racing KTM Australia) was left to rue a poor start that had him back in 14th after the opening lap, however he did manage to climb back to ninth outright for the race.
In the second race of the class, Lamont dominated from start to end – taking the holeshot and opening a lead that no one was able to reign in.
Harwood managed a clean start and despite his best efforts to catch his Kiwi counterpart, he had to settle for second place.
The battle for third to fifth placings was far more competitive with SD3 Husqvarna rider Luke Arbon working hard to keep Errol Willis (Axis Motorsports), Daniel Banks (KTM) and Clout at bay.
Arbon did well and managed to finish third in the race, while Willis finished in fourth.
Despite finishing the opening lap in seventh place, Clout clawed his way back into fifth by the time the checkered flag was raised, which could be important for the final points tally come the end of the year.
In the overall championship standings, Clout maintained a handy break from his nearest rival – still 13 points clear of round-winner Lamont.
Harwood remains in touch with the leaders a further two points behind Lamont and sitting in third outright.
MX2 CLASS: Round Results:
- Kayne Lamont 67 (32, 35)
- Luke Clout 61 (35, 26)
- Hamish Harwood 60 (28, 32)
- Luke Arbon 51 (21, 30)
- Errol Willis 51 (23, 38)
- Brenden Harrison 50 (25, 25)
- Kale Makeham 46 (22, 24)
- Jay Wilson 45 (24, 21)
- Geran Stapleton 44 (30, 14)
- Jake Emanualli 42 (19, 23)
MX2 Championship Standings:
- Luke Clout 207
- Kayne Lamont 194
- Hamish Harwood 192
- Brenden Harrison 180
- Kale Makeham 167
- Jay Wilson 149
- Errol Willis 140
- Wade Hunter 140
- Luke Arbon 137
- Ryan Marmont 135
Bolton KTM Motorcycles rider Jack Simpson has claimed third round honours and taken the overall championship lead in the Pirelli MXD class of the 2014 Monster Energy MX Nationals.
A hard fought day of action at Wonthaggi saw Simpson (first and second from his two races) take a seven point round win from GYTR Yamaha’s Jed Beaton (sixth and first) and Husqvarna Australia’s Egan Mastin (second and fourth).
In the first MXD race of the day, GYTR Yamaha rider Wilson Todd shot out to a handy lead claiming the holeshot, before going down midway through the opening lap.
That left title contenders Simpson, Beaton and Mastin to vie for the lead, with all three riders keen to earn maximum points.
Just one lap later, Beaton suffered the same fate as his GYTR teammate and he came unstuck in the whoops in what looked to be a serious crash.
However Beaton got back on the bike, and put in a stunning performance throughout the remainder of the race to save face by finishing in sixth position.
Up the front of the field, Simpson and Mastin were having a hard fought battle, with Mastin claiming the race lead on lap five.
It was a tight struggle between the pair for most of the race – the duo treating the crowd to a great display of tough, tight racing.
On the last lap with only three corners to go, Mastin had a momentary lapse of concentration and ran off the track, allowing Simpson to fly past and take the race win.
Mastin finished in second place with Wayde Carter (Motorex KTM) ending the race in third, Todd finishing in fourth and Yamaha rider Kyle Webster in fifth.
In the second race, Beaton cruised into an early lead from Todd, Webster and Simpson – but despite all efforts from the rest of the field, the local hero cruised to and easy moto win.
Simpson worked hard to get into second place on lap five – a position he never surrendered, and it was enough to give him round honours.
Wayde Carter was trying hard to add to his third place from the opening moto however he cut a section of the track in the second race and the KTM rider incurred a 10-second penalty which dropped him back into sixth.
It was Webster who rounded out the podium in moto two, with Mastin finishing in fourth and Nathan Crawford (Husqvarna) finishing in fifth.
Only four points separates the top three riders in the overall standings of the MXD class, with Simpson three points ahead of Beaton and Mastin one point further behind.
MXD CLASS: Round Results:
- Jack Simpson 67 (35, 32)
- Jed Beaton 60 (25, 35)
- Egan Mastin 60 (32, 28)
- Kyle Webster 56 (26, 30)
- Wayde Carter 55 (30, 25)
- Nathan Crawford 50 (24, 26)
- Jayden Rykers 47 (23, 24)
- Wilson Todd 45 (28, 17)
- Dylan Wilson 43 (21, 22)
- Robert Lovett 42 (22, 20)
MXD Overall Championship Standings:
- Jack Simpson 219
- Jed Beaton 216
- Egan Mastin 215
- Nathan Crawford 195
- Wilson Todd 170
- Jayden Rykers 153
- Kyle Webster 146
- Brock McLeary 138
- Wayde Carter 132
- Jesse McNally 128
Husqvarna Report
Husqvarna’s factory and factory support riders gained another impressive haul of podiums and points as the third round of the Monster Energy MX Nationals series took place at Wonthaggi in Victoria.
Husqvarna’s newly-crowned Queensland MX1 champion Brock Winston braved the pain and limitation of cracked ribs suffered at last weekend’s title-winning event, to card his best finish yet, a seventh in the first Moto.
MX2 big gun Kayne Lamont made it two wins from three with 2, 1 scores on the day, to move back into second place in the championship, and take six points out of the lead of Luke Clout, who was second on the day with KTM’s Hamish Harwood third
Nick Sutherland crashed hard in the first MX2 moto, but battled to 13th in the second.
MX Development category riders Egan Mastin and Nathan Crawford were third and sixth on the day, respectively, and sit third and fourth in the U19 championship after three rounds.
Craig Anderson – Husqvarna Motocross Racing Team Manager : “Some tough performances today, Brock got his best result of the season despite having to deal with a fair bit of pain from his ribs. Nick was running 10th until he hit a kicker on an upramp and had a massive crash which broke his front wheel and bent his subframe. He toughed it out in the second race though, even though he could barely hold his arm up toward the end from the crash impact.
Egan rode real well in the first moto and was unlucky not to get the win, but he still has a real good position in the championship if he can maintain consistency.”
Brock Winston (FC 450 – MX1): “I cracked my ribs in that second last race at Coolum last weekend, and on the start line for Race 1 I told my mechanic that I didn’t think I’d be able to finish. But I put everything into it and was actually fifth for most of the race before running off the track and ending up seventh. Without being able to use those muscles in your torso I really couldn’t hold myself forward or breathe properly and the harder I’d get on the gas the worse it would be. I could only manage 13th in the second Moto, and I have to be happy with that for today.”
Kayne Lamont (TC 250 – MX2): “I qualified fourth which I was reasonably happy with, and after starting about eighth in the first moto I struggled in the early laps, before battling with Clout for most of the moto. The race leader crashed on the last lap which put me up to second in the two corners to go and I nearly got through. In the second I was into the lead by the second turn, but they put so much water on the track it was like ice, so I had to struggle to stay upright. I had to be calm and make my lines, and I managed to do that and run away with the win. I loved the track, the jumps remind me of home. I’m feeling pretty much back to normal now so hopefully next round will be a good one as well.”
Egan Mastin: (TC 250 – MXD) “I’m pretty disappointed with how today went but still to come away with third is alright. In that first one I was leading, but I went off the track over a jump and Simpson got me with only two corners to go. In the second one I went from seventh through to fifth but stayed there. I think I’m six or seven behind in the championship now – I’m definitely going to be working hard in the next couple of weeks so I can come out swinging at Murray Bridge.”
KTM Report
His third solid points haul of the championship including his first moto win of the year gave KTM Motocross Racing Team rider Kirk Gibbs a stake in a rare, three-way tie as the third round of the Monster Energy MX Nationals series unfolded at Wonthaggi in Victoria.
After qualifying fastest and taking third in Super Pole, Gibbs got the best of a full-on MX1 slugfest to win the opening moto ahead of defending champion Matt Moss and Adam Monea.
Coming back from a poor start in the second moto to finish sixth left the South Australian with 60 points, along with Monea and Moss, who were awarded first and second (respectively) on the day, courtesy of higher final Moto positions.
After three of ten rounds, Gibbs has executed the textbook definition of a solid start, and sits second in the MX Nats championship, 22 points in arrears of Matt Moss.
Rob Twyerould: “That first race today was brilliant. It didn’t matter who won, it was just a fantastic race with a freight train of guys going fast for the first 15 minutes. When a few guys started to have problems Monea and Gibbs both made their move, and then Gibbsy had a fantastic line through the whoops that he used to take the lead. Moss made a push at the end, but Kirk held strong and it was great for him to get that win. In the second one Monea and Gibbsy both started outside the top 10 and Kirk struggled to get his rhythm before coming through well. He caught Coops in the last few moments and if he could have got him, he would have won the day by a point. Overall though, we only lost two points in the championship through Super Pole, so it was a real solid weekend’s racing and Kirk is proving to be one of the top dogs, so I’m very happy.”
Kirk Gibbs (KTM 450 SX-F) – “The win was good but I’m pretty disappointed about the second moto. I just didn’t ride very well – didn’t have the good lines and struggled a bit. In that first race I rode smart, and it pretty much came to me as I made my way through, but in the second one it took me 15 minutes to get going and by that time there was too big a gap to catch Cody and get the overall. But I’ve got to take the positives; to get a moto win is great and my speed is good, over the last few years I’ve been a little inconsistent, so to be sitting with three podiums from three rounds is a good thing.”
In MX2 Racing, Hamish Harwood took his second MX2 podium in three rounds, finishing third on the day behind fellow New Zealander Kayne Lamont and Luke Clout. Instant Security KTM rider Brenden Harrison and Tune Tech KTM’s Kale Makeham were sixth and seventh on the day and currently hold fourth and fifth in the championship.
Hamish Harwood (KTM 250 SX) – “I’ve been working really hard on the starts and I got two good ones today – it’s amazing what that does for you! I loved the track; it got rough and gnarly today and it quite suited me. I’m just really trying to make every round count and not have a bad one so I can keep working forwards. Now I’m just looking forward to the rest of the sand tracks and working hard on my fitness. The main thing is to stay consistent and up front in every round. I’m rapped at how I’m going this year, I was hoping to be top five by this stage and work forward so to have two podiums already is fantastic.”
In MXD racing Bolton’s KTM-mounted Jack Simpson’s second straight round win has moved him into the lead of the hotly-contested MX Development championship. The Victorian took round honours ahead of Jed Beaton and Egan Mastin and now holds a hair’s-breadth lead of just three points as the Under 19’s really begin to wind it up.
Serco Yamaha Report
Serco Yamaha’s Luke Clout continues to carry the point’s leaders red plate after another good performance at round three of the MX Nationals held at the Wonthaggi Circuit, in Victoria.
Clout carries a 13 point lead in the MX2 championship after three rounds and finished second for the day at Wonthaggi with 1-5 results in the two point scoring motos.
Clout started the day out strongly and posted the second fastest lap time in qualifying on the fast and loamy track. Race one saw him just inside the top 10 on the opening laps but he relentlessly picked off the riders in front of him until he hit the lead in the closing laps to take an impressive race win.
Moto two didn’t pan out as expected and Clout was fighting his way forward from a mid pack start. He wasn’t able to find the same speed as moto one and could only manage a fifth come race end.
“Qualifying and moto one went well. I was able to generate good speed and make the passes when I needed to. I just had it in my mind to pass whoever was in front of me without thinking about my position in the race and I managed to pull off the win.
“Race two and I just couldn’t get the same flow going. I was getting frustrated and think I was almost trying too hard and as a result not flowing and making mistakes.
“But second for the day is good and I keep the red plate. I want to work on making my second motos better, so that’s my goal for round for is to put two motos together of fast and consistent racing,” Clout signs off
Teammate Jay Wilson was in a fast freight train of riders in both his motos with riders jockeying for position the entire 30 minutes in both races. He took a seventh in moto one but the top 10 in the field were a close knit bunch and Wilson could see the leader from his position on the track.
An average start in race two had Wilson working hard to stay in touch with the lead pack. He clawed his way forward to finish in 10th place at race end and his combined 7-10 finishes gave him eighth overall for the round
He now sits in sixth place in the championship after three rounds.
“I felt like I was riding pretty well and there were a heap of riders that were pretty evenly matched so making passes and charging forward was hard work,” Wilson explains. “I mistimed my start in race two and was way back and as they had watered the track during the break, it was more difficult to get by the other guys.”
