MX1 – Mackenzie takes the win while Moss extends his lead
CDR Yamaha rider Billy Mackenzie has claimed the overall round win in the Monster MX1 class, at the fifth round of the 2014 Monster Energy MX Nationals.
After rain and wind threatened to make the Wanneroo round in Western Australia a particularly tricky event, the weather held out and a huge crowd gathered to watch the country’s best riders tackle the sandy track.
And it was Mackenzie’s consistency (first, second and fourth from his three races) that handed him his first overall win for the year.
Series leader Matt Moss (Team Motul Suzuki) and his brother Jake Moss (National Pump Monster Energy Kawasaki) finished the event in second and third overall respectively – each claiming important points in the overall series as it hit the halfway point.
KTM Motocross Race Team’s Kirk Gibbs and National Pump Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jake Moss finished in fourth and fifth overall.
In the opening moto, Mackenzie took the holeshot and raced to the lead from Matt Moss, Jake Moss, Ben Townley (Penrite Honda Racing) and Gibbs.
The group seemed to have settled into the top five, but on the final corner of the opening lap Jake Moss lost control of his bike and went down, forcing him back into 10th.
Mackenzie and Moss then proceeded to put a huge gap on the rest of the field, with Townley and Gibbs putting a break between themselves and fifth placed Kade Mosig (DPH Motorsport).
In what ended up being a 13-lap moto, it was the middle of the race that provided the most action.
On the fifth lap, Moss passed Mackenzie to get into first spot, Gibbs passed Townley to move into third and Jake Moss had clawed back into fifth spot.
However on the sixth lap, both Moss brothers ran into trouble – first Jake came off after trying to pass Gibbs and Townley, and them Matt came down forcing him into second and a long way off the leader.
In the end Mackenzie held on for the win with Matt Moss in second, Townley grabbing third, and Gibbs and Adam Monea in fourth and fifth respectively.
In the second MX1 moto, Mackenzie took the holeshot before Jake Moss whizzed past him to take the lead.
As the riders settled into position over the opening lap, it was Moss leading the way from Mackenzie, Monea, Gibbs, Matt Moss and Townley.
Jake Moss and Mackenzie pulled away from the rest of the field, and finished the race comfortably in first and second positions.
There was not much movement in the second race – Matt Moss dropped back to seventh before climbing back into fourth spot within two laps.
The reigning champion pushed hard at the finish line to edge past Monea but he was held out, meaning Monea took the podium finish in third with Moss having to settle for fourth
Gibbs rounded out the top-five ahead of Mosig, while Townley drifted back into ninth by the time the chequered flag was waved.
In the third and final moto, Mackenzie grabbed the holeshot but relinquished the lead soon after to both of the Moss brothers.
Series contender Monea went down at the third turn and was pushed back towards the rear of the field, as Jake and Matt Moss took a stranglehold on the race.
They finished the race in first and second place while Gibbs passed Mackenzie on the third lap and finished the race in third.
Mackenzie ended the race in fourth while privateer Jacob Wright claimed fifth spot.
Monea did well to ride through the field, and in passing three riders on the last lap of the race, ended the moto in eighth.
In the overall championship standings, Matt Moss has moved 22 points clear of his closest rival Gibbs, While Jake Moss has leapt into third place outright.
The series now takes a five-week break before round six, which takes place on 29 June in Swan Hill, Victoria.
MX1 Superpole:
- Jake Moss 1:43.413 (5 points)
- Adam Monea 1:43.634 (4 points)
- Matt Moss 1:44.773 (3 points)
- Kirk Gibbs 1:45.659 (2 points)
- Sam Martin 1:45.841 (1 points)
Series leader Matt Moss (Team Motul Suzuki) and his brother Jake Moss (National Pump Monster Energy Kawasaki) finished the event in second and third overall respectively – each claiming important points in the overall series as it hit the halfway point.
Round Results:
- Billy Mackenzie 95 (35, 32, 28)
- Matt Moss 92 (32, 28, 32)
- Jake Moss 91 (21, 35, 35)
- Kirk Gibbs 84 (28, 26, 30)
- Adam Monea 79 (26, 30, 23)
- Jacob Wright 69 (20, 23, 26)
- Ben Townley 68 (30, 23, 16)
- Sam Martin 66 (25, 20, 21)
- Hayden Mellross 57 (18, 17, 22)
- 1Jay Marmont 57 (19, 21, 17)
Overall MX1 Championship Standings:
- Matt Moss 389
- Kirk Gibbs 367
- Jake Moss 343
- Adam Monea 342
- Billy Mackenzie 337
- Kade Mosig 265
- Hayden Mellross 263
- Rhys Carter 256
- Jacob Wright 254
- Jay Marmont 253
MX2 – Ward takes MX2 honours at Wanneroo
Young 17 year-old privateer Caleb Ward has continued his great form from round four of the series, to take the round win in the Motul MX2 class at the 2014 Monster Energy MX Nationals in Western Australia.
The KTM supported rider managed two race wins and a third placing from his three races, to take a comprehensive victory on the day and move into seventh place in the outright championship.
Round four winner and SD3 Husqvarna rider Luke Arbon continues to build in confidence – his fourth, fifth and first place finishes taking him to second outright on the day.
Josh Cachia (Penrite Honda Racing) rounded out the top three (eighth, fourth and second), while Jay Wilson (Serco Yamaha) finished the round in fourth and Hamish Harwood (CMR Redbull KTM) in fifth.
Ward took the holeshot in the opening MX2 moto of the day, and despite pressure throughout the race from Harwood initially, and then Luke Clout (Serco Yamaha), he held on for the win.
Reigning red-plate holder Clout got off to a good start – moving into third place after the first corner and moving into second place past Harwood towards the end of the second lap.
While Clout pressed Ward throughout the second half of the moto, he had to settle for second place in the race, and Harwood rode well to finish in third.
It was the other title contenders who really raised eyebrows in the opening race
Brendan Harrison (Instant Security KTM) could only manage 14th place overall, while kiwi Kayne Lamont (Husqvarna Red Bull WIL Sport NZ Racing) struggled multiple times throughout the race and had to settle with an 18th placed finish.
In the second MX2 moto Ward again took the holeshot, but his lead didn’t last too long with Wilson moving to the front of the field at the second turn.
He was followed by Ward, Kale Makeham (Tunetech Reacing KTM), Clout and Cachia with Lamont back in 10th, Harrison in 14th and Harwood back in 16th.
On the second lap Clout took a nasty tumble and by the time he could recover, he joined the field back in 24th.
While he managed to finish the race in 18th, it might just be looked back on as a key moment in the MX2 championship race.
On the fourth lap Ward fought back into a lead which he never relinquished, giving him the perfect result from the opening two races – Wilson finished in third and Makeham crossed the line in third.
Cachia and Luke Arbon rounded out the top-five, with Harrison (eighth) and Harwood (11th) fighting hard to earn important overall points.
The nightmare round continued for Lamont who rolled across the finishing line in 23rd nursing a severely injured shoulder.
In the final moto of the day, Arbon claimed the holeshot and kept the lead for the entire race to claim a solid moto win.
Wilson jumped straight into second spot and looked like he would comfortably hold onto it before he came unstuck on the second last lap – forcing him back into eighth.
That mishap allowed a plucky Cachia to take second spot in the race, and round surprise packet Ward to claim another podium race finish.
Geran Stapleton (Raceline Pirelli Suzuki) and Husqvarna supported Nathan Crawford finished in fifth and sixth respectively.
In the overall championship standings Clout has had his lead whittled down to just 10 points, with Harwood, Harrison and Arbon all within striking distance of the series leader.
MX2 Round Results:
- Caleb Ward 100 (35, 35, 30)
- Luke Arbon 89 (28, 26, 35)
- Josh Cachia 82 (22, 28, 32)
- Jay Wilson 76 (21, 32, 23)
- Hamish Harwood 74 (30, 20, 24)
- Nathan Crawford 68 (18, 24, 26)
- Kale Makeham 66 (23, 30, 13)
- Luke Clout 65 (32, 13, 20)
- Nick Sutherland 62 (25, 15, 22)
- Brenden Harrison 61 (7, 23, 21)
MX2 Championship Standings:
- Luke Clout 326
- Hamish Harwood 316
- Brenden Harrison 296
- Luke Arbon 293
- Kayne Lamont 289
- Kale Makeham 287
- Caleb Ward 272
- Jay Wilson 269
- Ryan Marmont 234
- Wade Hunter 215
Sandgroper 85cc Invitational – The excitement, the experience, the opportunity and having some plain old fun.
That’s what the fifth round of the 2014 Monster Energy MX Nationals provided to 20 of Western Australia’s top KTM 85cc SX riders, who were chosen to compete in the 2014 Sandgroper Invitational.
The event was the brainchild of KTM Australia, designed to give riders between 12 – 16 years of age the opportunity to mix it amongst this country’s elite.
The riders were given two, ten-minute motos on the huge Wanneroo track, and it was clear that they soaked up and enjoyed every minute of it.
From a results point of view, Caleb Grothues won both and Tom West finished both races in second position – to finish the day in first and second place respectively.
Jacob Daniels and Mitchell Outram each recorded a third and fourth finish from their two races, with Daniels finishing on the podium thanks to a countback.
But the day wasn’t just about the results – it was about taking part on the big stage and the riders were beside themselves when asked how they felt about the day.
Matthew Marson – “My mum read out the email to me to say I had been picked and I was just jumping off the walls! It’s pretty cool – it’s awesome, with Kirk Gibbs just over there and all the other riders, it feels pretty good. It’s really good fun and a great experience as well – it has been great and I have really enjoyed it.”
Blake Helgeland – “I was really happy when I found out because I have never had the chance to ride big sand tracks so it’s great. It’s pretty hectic, the track is soft and hard to ride.”
Nathan Higgott – “It’s a really big opportunity – it is really good and we know we are very lucky to be out here.”
Jack Patchett – “You feel a lot better riding out there than state rounds and club runs – the track’s a lot faster.”
Ricky King – “ It’s pretty cool, it’s really good to be here – I feel like one of the pros.”
2014 Sandgroper Invitational – Results:
- Caleb Grothues 70 (35, 35)
- Tom West 64 (32, 32)
- Jacob Daniels 58 (28, 30)
- Mitchell Outram 58 (30, 28)
- Brady Gilmore 51 (25, 26)
- Kurt Oinn 51 (26, 25)
- Dale Doutch 48 (24, 24)
- Ben Sainsbury 45 (23, 22)
- Nathan Higgott 43 (22, 21)
- Blake Helgeland 41 (21, 20)
- Liam Dickson 39 (20, 19)
- Sam Baxter 36 (18, 18)
- Thomas May 34 (19, 15)
- Jack Patchett 33 (16, 17)
- Jacob Growcott 31 (15, 16)
- Matthew Marson 31 (17, 14)
- Ricky Davis 27 (14, 13)
- Bradley Woodhead 24 (12, 12)
- Ricky Kings 24 (13, 11)
- Austin Ridley 23 (23)
KTM Report
A week after his first career MX one round win, KTM motocross racing team rider Kirk Gibbs has finished fourth in yesterday’s fifth round of the Monster Energy MX Nationals series at Wanneroo on the northern edge of Perth.
On a day which saw championship contenders in both classes struggle to perform consistently well, Gibbs lost nine points to defending champion Matt Moss, and goes into the five-week championship break 22 points off the lead and 24 points ahead of third placed Jake Moss.
Rob Twyerould: “It was a solid day, we’re disappointed to lose points to the leader, so we are back where we were before Murray Bridge, really. But Kirk got through the day, limited his losses, and it was a great way to finish the day in his last Moto challenging Mossy for second. Starts didn’t help us – it was interesting, if you got to start, with a nice clear track, and clear vision, you could put 10 seconds into everyone, just because everyone else was facing the roost, and the real sticky sand. But the guys put in a huge effort, to prepare the bike between races, so was a big effort out of all the guys.”
Kirk Gibbs (KTM 450 SX-F) – “It wasn’t too bad to me today, I wanted to be on the box, but I can’t complain. The track was a bit different to what I expected today, it wasn’t as rough as I thought it was going to be, but it got real short sharp bumps. We’ll go down to Manjimup now, which I really enjoyed last year, and then we’ll have a rest and some recovery time for the body, and then get back into it.”
In MX2 Racing, KTM-mounted North Queensland teenager Caleb Ward stunned the class regulars with a demolition of the Wanneroo round. Ward jumped from 10th to 7th on the table with two wins and a third. On a day when several of the championship regulars struggled, CMR Red Bull Motorex KTM rider Hamish Harwood overcame his own difficulties to move into second place in the championship, and to within ten points of series leader Luke Clout. Instant Security KTM rider Brenden Harrison has moved into third in the series, after a gutsy two rounds in which he rode with a back injury, while Tune Tech KTM’s Kale Makeham has slipped to sixth.
Caleb Ward (KTM 250 SX) – “I’m super happy right now! I’ve been learning, and to finally put a consistent day together and just have a good fun day really is great. I got really good starts all day, so that really helped. And then just used my head when I was out there, dad was on the pit board just about every lap saying ‘calm down, be smooth’. So I did that because I knew a lot of people were going to make mistakes in the deep sand. In the beginning of the year I had a little video, where I said, I want to be top three, top five overall by the end of the year and may get a few wins, and there was a heap of people talking smack, and saying ‘do you know who’s in the class’ and all that, so I just kept quiet and did my own thing. I knew I had the speed, I just had to get it done, so I’ve finally done it.”
Hamish Harwood (KTM 250 SX) – “First race I was third, but after the first race, we decided to put a new clutch in it. But on the sighting lap it started slipping, and off the start, the bike just slipped and wouldn’t go anywhere. I made a loss of passes and ended up ninth, but got penalised back to 11th for making up too much time under a yellow flag. In the last race I had to pull my goggles off when I was about fifth. I faded back to seventh in Moto so it’s a good day championship-wise, but not a good day, race-wise. I feel I missed a good opportunity, to really make big points on the boys in front of me who were having bad days.”
Husqvarna Report
Husqvarna’s factory and factory support riders continued to move forward in the weekend’s fifth round of the Monster Energy MX Nationals series at Wanneroo North of Perth.
The factory team’s MX 1 entrant Brock Winston found the sand to his liking, posting his best finish of the championship so far, a sixth in the third and final moto of the day. After a ninth in the opening moto and running fifth in the second, he was on track for an outstanding result, when he had a problem with his chain and was forced to DNF, leaving him 14th on the day.
Round four MX2 winner, SD3 Husqvarna’s Luke Arbon continued his charge in MX2, winning the final moto to finish second on the day and move into fourth in the championship.
One of the clear MX2 championship favourites, Husqvarna’s Kayne Lamont saw his title aspirations take a detour, after a freak shoulder problem the night before the race left him struggling with a 19th place finish on the day.
Factory team rider Nick Sutherland carded his best result of the championship so far, a sixth place in the first moto and a ninth overall, despite a crash in the second race leaving him 16th.
Last start MXD double-winner Nathan Crawford utilised the weekend off to join the older boys in the MX2 category, and was nothing short of impressive, qualifying third fastest and finishing with a brilliant sixth on the day.
Craig Anderson – Husqvarna Motocross Racing Team Manager : “This race was a step forward for us. There were ups and downs, but the boys really put a big effort in. Brock qualified 10th, and in the first moto he was ninth. In the second moto he was running 8th and had a problem with the chain and DNFed. In the last race he was up to fifth and ended up getting sixth so he really would have been looking at his best result by a mile without that DNF. Nick finished sixth in the first race, which was his best moto finish too. In the second he was running 8th when he crashed and came from nearly last back to 16th. The last moto he finished ninth, which was solid.”
Luke Arbon (TC 250 – MX2) “I qualified pretty terrible, and in that first race I was fourth, I just needed to be a little more aggressive with my passes. Second moto was terrible, I got a bad start, and there was carnage going on everywhere and I ended up fifth, but wasn’t too happy with the way I rode. But I turned it around in the last moto, with the holeshot. I pulled a decent lead, which I was happy with, and got the victory. Now with a win last week, and with the win again last moto today, I want to get more wins on the board, and stay consistent, and hopefully that leads to a championship. We are only halfway through and anything can happen.”
Nick Sutherland (TC 250 – MX2) “Today was a step in the right direction. It was good to get sixth in the first, I rode fifth pretty well the whole way, but in the second I hit the back of Wade Hunter’s bike and went down, and then someone crashed on top of my bike, and it took me ages to get going. I was so far back, but I got through to 16th to give me a few points. The last one I finished eighth and had Harrison and Clout following me for the majority of the race, but I didn’t really push forward, I just had some bad lines I think. I only finished six points away from sixth on the day, so that second moto hurt me pretty bad.
Kayne Lamont (TC 250 – MX2) “I was getting down into bed the night before, and I leaned down on my elbow on my broken collarbone side, which jarred my armpit and my pec area. I was laying in bed rolling around in pain! I battled away with it all day, but in the second I had a crash which completely stuffed it. It’s weird that something stupid like that destroyed my day. The track was amazing, but I was in no condition to ride it. I’m fifth overall in the championship now, 37 off the lead, and 27 off second. It’s a bit of a kick in the guts for sure, but I’ve got to look past it – if it would have been Appin hard pack it would have been fine. We were doing some figures last night and we reckon I can chase it down. These next two rounds that are coming up are very similar to home.”
Yamaha Report
The form of CDR Yamaha’s Billy Mackenzie continues to rise as he took out his first round win of the 2014 season at round five of the MX Nationals, held in the deep sand of Wanneroo in WA.
Mackenzie had shown over the previous couple of rounds that he had the speed to match anyone in the class, it was just a matter of time before he put a good days racing together and claimed victory.
His plan of consistently good results across all three races contested in WA worked perfectly and he tamed the difficult, sandy conditions although he was unable to qualify for the top 5 Superpole event in the morning session.
Mackenzie took the overall win in the premier MX1 division with his 1-2-4 results for the day. His win in moto one clearly the highlight of his day as he took control right from the get go and was never headed. Race two saw him in a tight battle at the front of the field that landed him in second while moto three was all about closing out the victory and Mackenzie rode a smart race.
Mackenzie sits in fifth place in the championship as it reaches the halfway point but with momentum in his corner, he is looking to improve that position before the final round at Coolum
“It’s nice to finally get a round victory,” Mackenzie said. “I could feel it building over the last few rounds, starting at Wonthaggi, then Murray Bridge was better and now the win here.
“It’s a good way to go into the break, as we leave here positive, the team gets a reward for their work and I have a lot of motivation to keep the work up over the next few months. I need to improve on my fifth place in the championship and if I keep riding like I have been, I’m sure the results will continue.
“The bike is working awesome and the CDR Yamaha team have done a great job behind the scenes,” Mackenzie ends.
Jay Marmont rounded out his day in the sand of WA with a 10th place overall and maintains 10th in the MX1 championship. The gap between sixth and 10th is only 12 points and a good round will see Marmont jump several positions in the championship chasing.
