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Moto News Weekly Wrap

March 13, 2018 – By Darren Smart

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Latest News

• Australian Supercross Champion Wins Daytona
• VORC Postponed
• Attard Wins Supermoto of Champions
• NZ and British Motocross Cancelled
• Hampshire and Decotis Injured During Daytona
• Bikebiz Supports Racing in NSW
• 2018 WAMX Season begins at Cosy Creek, Manjimup

Race Reports

• AMA Supercross Championships – Round 10 – Daytona
• GNCC – Round 2 – Florida
• AORC – Round 1 – Gympie
• Dutch Masters of Motocross – Round 1 – Markelo, Holland

Australian Supercross Champion Wins Daytona

2016 and 2017 Australian SX1 Champion Justin Brayton has won the 2018 Daytona Supercross and in doing so has put himself into third place in the Monster Energy 450SX Championship point’s standings.

While many of his competitors were holidaying back in the States, Brayton has spent the last two ‘off-seasons’ in Australia with team Honda clinching our most sought after supercross crown and that hard work has paid off with Brayton now holding TWO AMA Supercross records – the first being the oldest rider to wins a main event (Brayton is almost 34 years old) and the second coming on the back of this being Brayton’s 131^st main event before taking his first win.

VORC Postponed

The Warragul Motorcycle Club has announced the postponement of the opening two rounds of the Victorian Off-Road Championships after bushfires have inundated the property where the event was to be held – the timing for the rescheduled event will be announced as soon as possible.

Attard Wins Supermoto of Champions

The Supermoto of Champions is an annual Supermoto event at Carnell Raceway in Stanthorpe, the spiritual home of Supermoto in Australia.

Last weekend it was Ben Attard who took home a large hunk of the $4500 prizemoney with six wins from six races to take the overall in the Pro class ahead of Andrew McLeish and Corey Creed.

NZ and British Motocross Cancelled

The third round of the New Zealand Motocross Championship and the opening round of the British Motocross Championships were cancelled last weekend thanks to torrential rain in both provinces where the events were to be held. Bugga!

Hampshire and Decotis Injured During Daytona

RJ Hampshire and Jimmy Decotis hit the deck during the 250 main event at Daytona last weekend but thankfully positive news has emerged regarding the condition of Hampshire with the GEICO Honda rider taking to Instagram to provide an update.

RJ Hampshire

“Good news all around. No surgeries needed, a few fractures and small punctures/lacerations to the lungs but everything looks good. Gives me some time to rest up and be ready for the start of outdoors. Thanks for all the prayers and checking in. Your boys gonna be alright.”

Decotis on the other hand wrote on Instagram that he sustained a couple fractures in the L2 and L3 and some broken ribs before adding that he will see a specialist next week in Charlotte and will update everyone on his.

Jimmy Decotis

“Not the way I wanted to end my night. I had a big crash before the finish line. I’m thankful to be walking. Couple fractures in the L2 and L3 and some broken ribs. Back injuries are scary so I feel I’m truly blessed with the outcome. Thank you so much @ichorsportsmedicine, Doc Bodner and everyone at the medical unit. You guys are the true heroes of this sport and it’s so awesome to see a friendly face when you are laid up on the ground. I’m extremely bummed right now, I love racing my dirt bike and these next few weeks will be tough. I’m going to see a specialist on Tuesday when I arrive back in Charlotte. I will update everyone on my return as I learn more…thank you @jamieroutley93 and my whole fam for being there for me and the whole @jgrmxteam and sponsors. The Rippa will be back don’t you worry….”

Bikebiz Supports Racing in NSW

Motorcycling NSW has announced that NSW based motorcycle dealer and online parts and accessories retailer Bikebiz has signed on as the major naming rights sponsor for the 2018 King Of MX State Title series with their entire support package directly increasing the prize pool for junior riders significantly.

Based in the Parramatta, Bikebiz not only represent multiple manufacturers including Yamaha, Honda, Kawasaki, BMW, Triumph and Aprilia but also one of Australia’s longest running online stores (www.bikebiz.com.au) servicing all corners of the country with parts and accessories to suit all riders.

Mark Condon – Bikebiz

“We’ve always been huge supporters of racing in NSW and nationally, so the opportunity to link up with MNSW and be the main sponsor for this exciting new rebirth of the NSW MX Titles is a fantastic fit for Bikebiz. We’re very pleased to be adding substantially to the already impressive prize pool, and we love the idea that every cent of our sponsorship will go straight to the riders.”

A family run business, Bikebiz and it’s staff are no strangers to racing with many of the Condon family well known in road racing circles at the highest level is Australia while many employee’s are also heavily involved in racing directly at all levels both state based and nationally.

King of MX NSW State Titles

Racers need to enter one of the six qualifier events (see schedule below) where the top five or six finishers in each class earn their Golden Ticket to the final. Once a rider has qualified, they can still ride the other qualifier events but they can’t win another Golden Ticket, so that gives even more riders a chance to qualify. At the final, State Title Champions will be decided over three motos for each class, and some will also earn a spot in the King of MX feature race.

• Qualifier 1 March 3-4 Sydney Region (Clarence)
• Qualifier 2 March 10-11 South Coast (Nowra)
• Qualifier 3 March 17-18 Hunter (Cessnock)
• Qualifier 4 April 21-22 Riverina (Young)
• Qualifier 5 May 5-6 Central West (Dubbo)
• Qualifier 6 May 12-13 North Coast (Moree)
• FINAL June Long Weekend 9-10-11 Goanna Tracks Coonabarabran

2018 WAMX Season begins at Cosy Creek, Manjimup

It has been six long months since the Make Smoking History WAMX State Motocross Championships Series wrapped up, and the waiting is almost over with the double header season opener heading to Cosy Creek, Manjimup, a four hour drive south of Perth on the Easter Weekend of March 31st and April 1st 2018.

With the Juniors on Saturday kicking off the two day blockbuster hosted by the Manjimup Junior and Senior Motocross Club., this is Followed by Senior Riders hitting the track on Sunday.

50cc Auto Class

2017 Champ Seth Shackleton will no doubt shine in the opening round yet there have been plenty of riders making huge improvements. Sonny Pellicano, Declan McGhee, Indy Radcliffe, Deegan King and Chantz Napier are only a few to mention, but they will be worthy of a podium given the depth of this class and with some riders from the southern regions of the state entering there is an opportunity for an upset.

65cc Classes

With a long off season this has been plenty of training going on around our state so don’t discount any of our little big riders – Seth Shackleton, Kayden Minear, Deacon Paice, Kai McGinty, Seth Clark, Tate Paganini and Harrison Tapper are sure to put in solid races in this opening round.

85/150cc Classes

You will see familiar names now stepping up into the larger class and no doubt the battles will certainly be exciting to watch with Dylan Walsh, Deacon Paice, Seth Clark, Cobey Brown to name just a few whilst in the older age group it will be a red hot class to watch the action. Seth Manuel, Conan Forrester, Brock Flynn and Camball McMahon will take the racing to the next level.

Quad Limited and Competition Classes

With a new racing format for the smaller quads which sees the Limited and Competition Quads racing together but scored separately it will be interesting to see who will making the racing action in this class, Keenan Murphy, Nichole McDonnell, Brayden Porter and Harlee Young are among the talented riders to possibly get behind the gates.

100/125 Classes

Familiar names will pop out in these classes and the racing will be fast and furious – watch out for Corben Weinert; Conan Forrester; Seth Manuel; Cody Richards; Taine Kings and Regan Duffy.

Quads Up 250 Competition Class

There will be plenty of moving and shaking in this class with Jae Dowsett, Flynn Burton and Joshua McQuade trying to hold off the new blood of Brooke Hall and Amira Schmid, it will provide for some seriously fast paced action and hopefully some more newcomers to this class will keep the spectators eyes glued to the track.

125/250 Class

With Tahlia O’Hare and Mat Fabry moving into the senior ranks, Joe Di Guilio, Jacob Daniels, Taj Barnsby are a few riders who will be out to make their opening round count right to the end.

With some riders looking at their last season in Juniors, you can be guaranteed that the opening round at Manjimup will be a cracker!

Seniors

The Senior Classes will hit the gates in their opening motos on Sunday and with some riders shifting classes, sparks are going to fly and the noise will be huge.

Veterans/Masters Championships

For 2018 there will be two Championships on the line and it will be interesting to see who lines up for each of these classes. There will be familiar names of Trevor Unstead, Rex Brown, Paul Smithson, Mick Jones but watch out for James Craig and Scott Petricevich.

Brutum Logistics Quad Championship

Current WA champ Chris Bosnakis will be there but so will Blake Croonen, Shaun Woodhead, Daniel Soltoggio. Luke Gaisford is back for the 2018 season, so there will be battle royales out on the famous Manjimup Track.

Cullys Yamaha Women’s Championship

With the Women’s Championship being given 6 rounds in 2018, these ladies will be out to make their mark. With Manjimup also hosting the Australian Women’s Championships later in the year, keep your eyes trackside. Tahlia O’Hare will be making her debut at Manjimup and will be going head to head with the Bagnall sisters, Lily Kent, Charlie Blee and Tayla Cryne. With good numbers already entering, Manjimup will be ready for them.

Planet Honda MX1Championship Class

Multiple champ, crowd favourite and champion Dean Porter retired at the end of the 2017 season and MX2 Champs David Birch and Josh Adams have declared their run for the MX1 crown. The MX1 class is bursting with talent, determination and some familiar faces returning to action with Tyson Whincup, Paul Humberston, Chris Ruttico, Michael Mahon, and Brett Norton so the action will be fast, furious, loud and high flying.

Motul/Pirelli MX2 Championship Class

Anticipation is in the air and the #1 plate is the carrot. With David Birch & Josh Adams moving into MX1, young guns Mitchell Outram and Kurt Oinn are ready to pounce. However with rookie Mat Fabry now joining the big boys, there will be dirt flying. This class also have many seasoned riders who will not let them have it all their own way. Keep your eyes on the track for Dylan Sexton, Daniel Pajewski, Austin Ridley to name a couple.

This Easter – Get ready to see the season rip into life at Cosy Creek, Manjimup

Smarty’s Race Reports

AMA Supercross Championships – Round 10 – Daytona

Honda’s Justin Brayton and KTM’s Jordan Smith have won the 450SX and 250SX main events respectively at one of the toughest Daytona Supercross events in recent history with championship contenders Jason Anderson and Zach Osborne not making it onto the podium.

450SX Report

Two time Australian Supercross Champion Justin Brayton put himself into the record books by winning the Daytona Monster Energy AMA Supercross at Daytona International Speedway for his first victory in Supercross competition.

The 33-year-old became the oldest rider to win a main event after he held off two-time defending Daytona champion Eli Tomac (Kawasaki) by 4.450 seconds after Eli dramatically charged back to a runner-up finish despite a first-lap accident that sent him to the rear of the field while Cooper Webb of finished third on a Yamaha.

Justin Brayton

“I usually struggle so bad at Daytona, like, I come to get a top 10 but today I just felt great, I cannot believe it. I’m a Supercross winner. I’m in the record books, at freaking Daytona. Are you kidding me?”

Tomac was attempting to become the fourth rider to win the DAYTONA Monster Energy Supercross three consecutive times.

Eli Tomac

“I never gave up, I did what I could but Justin was riding great, so congrats to him. When you’re that far back all you can do is charge forward. And I was just like ‘let’s get to this podium.’”

Championship leader Jason Anderson had a tough night after a tuff block bounced off Marvin Musquin and popped out right in front of him shortly after the start of his heat race. He remounted in the back of the pack, but worked his way through the riders to finish ninth and transfer to the 450 Main Event.

Anderson was mid-pack at the start of the Main and came out of the first lap in 14^th and just as he was making ground he came together with Vince Freise and hit the deck again before rallying back to a credible 7^th place and to hold a 40 point lead in the championship.

Jason Anderson

“I had great qualifying sessions, I fell down in the heat race after getting hit with a tuff block, but came back to ninth to qualify for the Main. I didn’t have the best gate pick in the Main, but I made my way through the pack and ended up falling down. I was able to finish seventh. My points are still good, so I’m just going to move onto next week and keep the train rolling.”

450SX Class Results

1. Justin Brayton, Mint Hill, N.C., Honda
2. Eli Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Kawasaki
3. Cooper Webb, Newport, N.C., Yamaha
4. Christian Craig, Orange, Calif., Honda
5. Marvin Musquin, Clermont, Fla., KTM
6. Weston Peick, Menifee, Calif., Suzuki
7. Jason Anderson, Rio Rancho, N.M., Husqvarna
8. Dean Wilson, Clermont, Fla., Husqvarna
9. Blake Baggett, Grand Terrance, Calif., KTM
10. Broc Tickle, Holly, Mich., KTM
    …12. Chad Reed, NSW, Australia

450SX Class Championship Standings:

1. Jason Anderson (223)
2. Marvin Musquin (183)
3. Justin Brayton (170)
4. Blake Baggett (164)
5. Eli Tomac (160)
6. Weston Peick (153)
7. Cooper Webb (146)
8. Broc Tickle (131)
9. Cole Seely (124)
10. Justin Barcia (113)
    …16. Chad Reed (81)

250SX Report

Jordon Smith took a wire-to-wire win the 250SX main aboard his KTM ahead of Jeremy Martin, Austin Forkner and Zach Osborne who had to come from almost last as the pack exited the first corner.

Jordon Smith

“It was a crazy race to win at Daytona – there’s no better place to win, I got to do a burnout by the chequered flag and that’s just amazing to be able to check that off my list.”

Martin had his best result of the year with second place and despite charging to the rear of the Smith-Martin freight train Forkner couldn’t close in for a pass but to walk away being tied in the points made it a satisfying night for the Kawasaki pilot.

Zach Osborne was top-three at the start of his heat, navigated his way into the lead before the end of the first lap and held strong to take the win but he started in the back of the pack in the Main after getting caught on the inside of the braking area and worked hard to charge into the eighth-place spot before the end of the second lap before ending the race in fourth position to be tied for the lead in 250SX East points standings with arc h rival Forkner while Smith sits just 8 points further back.

Zach Osborne

“It was a decent weekend, I started in the back of the pack in the Main, but came all the way up to fourth which is great. I was really close to the top-three but I just ran out of time. I’m just going to keep plugging away.”

Eastern Regional 250SX Class Results

1. Jordon Smith, Belmont, N.C., KTM
2. Jeremy Martin, Millville, Minn., Honda
3. Austin Forkner, Richards, Mo., Kawasaki
4. Zach Osborne, Abingdon, Va., Husqvarna
5. Martin Davalos, Clermont, Fla., Kawasaki
6. Kyle Peters, Greensboro, N.C., Suzuki
7. Sean Cantrell, Murrieta, Calif., KTM
8. Brandon Hartranft, Brick, N.J., Yamaha
9. Ramyller Alves, Coconut Creek, Fla., Yamaha
10. Luke Renzland, Hewitt, N.J., Yamaha

 Eastern Regional 250SX Class Championship Standings

1. Austin Forkner (89)
2. Zach Osborne (89)
3. Jordon Smith (81)
4. Jeremy Martin (70)
5. RJ Hampshire (57)
6. Luke Renzland (55)
7. Colt Nichols (54)
8. Martin Davalos (52)
9. Kyle Peters (51)
10. James Decotis (47)

GNCC – Round 2 – Florida

The AMSOIL Grand National Cross Country (GNCC) continued last Sunday with the 4th Annual Moose Racing Wild Boar GNCC and it was Kailub Russell who came away with his second consecutive win of the 2018 season, and his third win in the state of Florida.

When the green flag flew it was Kaven Benoit who came away with the holeshot ahead of Josh Strang but it was Steward Baylor Jr. who took over the lead after heading into the woods. S. Baylor battled through the first couple laps, and held onto the lead until the fourth lap, where K. Russell would eventually takeover until the chequered flag came out.

Strang got off to an excellent start, and held onto the second place position for the first three out of six laps. Strang ultimately finished sixth at the end of the three-hour race after battling with the flu and the deep field of XC1 Open Pro riders.

Thad Duvall once again proved that he has what it takes to run at the front of the pack. Duvall fought back from a mid-pack start, occasionally contending for the third and fourth position finishes. Duvall ended up rounding out the podium at the Moose Racing Wild Boar GNCC.

Starting off just inside the top 10 overall was Trevor Bollinger. Bollinger steadily moved up throughout the race, battling for a podium position at one point, but would finish off this Sunday afternoon’s three hour race podium with a fourth place finish. Layne Michael had a decent Sunday afternoon in Florida. Michael came around the track on lap one in 10th place, but soon found himself battling for a top five position. The Husqvarna rider crossed the line in the fifth place position.

 XC2

After an impressive start to the 2018 season, Ben Kelley earned his first-ever XC2 250 Pro class win. Kelley and Josh Toth battled back and forth all afternoon, but it would be Kelley who prevailed coming through the last couple miles.

Coastal Racing Husqvarna’s Pascal Rauchenecker held down the third place position throughout the three-hour long race in Florida. Rauchenecker has finished third place at the Big Buck and Wild Boar GNCC races, and looks to be a rider to keep an eye on in the future rounds. Teammate, Craig Delong ran third for the first part of the day, but would fall to Rauchenecker at the halfway point.

WXC

When the WXC riders came through the finish area after lap one it was Aussie Tayla Jones followed by Becca Sheets and Rachel Gutish in third. Jones, Sheets and Gutish would remain in the top three positions throughout the five lap race, and Jones would earn her second win the season.

The 2018 AMSOIL Grand National Cross Country Series resumes in one week March 17 and 18, in Washington, Georgia with The Maxxis General GNCC.

Round 2 of 13 – Sunday, March 11
XC1 Open Pro Event Results

1. Kailub Russell (KTM)
2. Steward Baylor Jr (KTM)
3. Thad Duvall (HQV)
4. Trevor Bollinger (HON)
5. Layne Michael (HQV)
6. Josh Strang (HQV)
7. Ricky Russell (YAM)
8. Grant Baylor (KTM)
9. Cory Buttrick (HQV)
10. Jesse Groemm (KTM)

Overall National Championship Standings

1. Kailub Russell (60)
2. Steward Baylor Jr (46)
3. Thad Duvall (46)
4. Trevor Bollinger (33)
5. Ben Kelley (32)
6. Josh Toth (31)
7. Josh Strang (28)
8. Layne Michael (27)
9. Pascal Rauchenecker (25)
10. Austin Lee (20)

XC2 250 Pro Event Results

1. Ben Kelley (KTM)
2. Josh Toth (KTM)
3. Pascal Rauchenecker (HQV)
4. Craig Delong (HQV)
5. Austin Lee (HON)
6. Mike Witkowski (BET)
7. Brendan Riordan (YAM)
8. Liam Draper (HQV)
9. Zack Hayes (KTM)
10. Trevor Barrett (YAM)

XC2 250 Pro Series Standings

1. Ben Kelley (55)
2. Josh Toth (55)
3. Pascal Rauchnecker (42)
4. Austin Lee (34)
5. Craig Delong (34)
6. Liam Draper (25)
7. Trevor Barrett 24)
8. Zack Hayes (20)
9. Ryder Lafferty (16)
10. Mike Witkowski (15)

AORC – Round 1 – Gympie

The Queensland country town of Gympie hosted the opening two rounds of the Yamaha Australian Off-Road Championship (AORC) and it was Daniel Milner (E3), Daniel Sanders (E2), Luke Styke (E1) and Michael Driscoll (EJ) who won both rounds in their respective classes.

Milner posted the fastest time overall on Saturday but Sanders put down the fastest time on Sunday while Luke Styke’s move from professional motocross to the off-road scene has been an instant success with the Yamaha rider winning the E1 class in his first national outing.

Daniel Milner

“Where we’re at is a good thing and the results this weekend were positive. To win outright on Saturday was awesome and then to get second Sunday was also a close result, so I’m pretty happy with it knowing that we can still improve from here.”

Luke Styke

“It was good weekend result wise and I really enjoyed the weekend! It was all new to me and I’m still learning a lot of things, even the simple stuff like how the day runs, but it was a fun weekend and I guess I couldn’t have asked for more. Thanks to Yamaha and the Active8 team for a great weekend to start my off-road career and look forward to building on things from here.”

It was also a great start to the season for bLu cRU assist racer, Michael Driscoll. Driscoll took command of the EJ (under19) class winning both days comfortably and proving to have top 10 outright speed. Driscoll is the current EJ champion and made the perfect start to retaining his number one plate for 2018.

Michael Driscoll

“The weekend was pretty good for me and it’s always nice to get the class win on both days. Being my second year in the EJ class, I really now need to look towards comparing my times and racing with the guys in E1 as that is the next step in my career. I have to keep pushing myself and not rest with doing enough to win this class as if I want to prove that I can match it with the professionals, then I have to do times equal to them, so that’s my goal for the coming rounds.”

Jemma Wilson (Womens), Ben Grabham (Vets), Geoff Ballard (Masters), Korey McMachon (J4), Will Riordan (J3) and Angus Riordan (J2) lead their respective classes as the championship heads to Hedley in Victoria over the weekend of May 5-6 for Rounds 3 and 4 of the 2018 AORC.

See the full report here: Milner, Sanders & Styke sweep 2018 AORC at Gympie

E3 Standings

1. Daniel MILNER 50
2. Broc GRABHAM 38
3. Kane Hall 37
4. Andrew WILKSCH 36
5. Lachlan STANFORD 35
6. Thomas MASON 32
7. Jamie ROBINS 29
8. Jesse LAWTON 29
9. Adam GILES 24
10. James SKEHAN 20

E2 Standings

1. Daniel SANDERS 50
2. Joshua GREEN 44
3. Lyndon SNODGRASS 40
4. Stefan GRANQUIST 36
5. Riley GRAHAM 31
6. Christopher HOLLIS 31
7. Matt MURRY 28
8. Brent DEAN 25
9. Sean HOLMES 25
10. Daniel COLLINS 21

E1 Standings

1. Luke STYKE 50
2. Jack SIMPSON 44
3. Nicolas TOMLINSON 36
4. Jeremy CARPENTIER 36
5. Fraser HIGLETT 32
6. Tomas RAVENHORST 31
7. Baylee DAVIES 28
8. Brad HARDAKER 27
9. Peter-Daniel ALLAN 25
10. Andrew JANKE 23

EJ Standings

1. Michael DRISCOLL 50
2. Joshua BRIERLEY 44
3. Corey HAMMOND 40
4. Harry TEED 32
5. Lachlan ALLAN 32
6. Mitchell BRIERLEY 30
7. Luke ALLAN 27
8. Cooper SHEIDOW 24
9. Ashden GRAMLICK 23
10. Riley NANCARROW 22

Women’s Standings

1. Jemma WILSON 50
2. Emelie KARLSSON 42
3. Jessica GARDINER 42
4. Sophie COLDICUTT 36
5. Tamara GRAY 30
6. Danielle FOOT 29
7. Ebony NIELSEN 28
8. Emi RUPRECHT 25
9. Tegan HALL 25
10. Avril GILL 22

Vets Standings

1. Ben GRABHAM 50
2. Richard CHIBNALL 44
3. Jade GARTLAN 40
4. Peter RUDD 34
5. Steven NEWMAN 30
6. Ryan TEGGART 27
7. Michael BURGESS 27
8. Sean SMITH 25
9. Daniel SAWTELL 23
10. Philip CHILLEMI 18

Masters Standings

1. Geoff BALLARD 47
2. John BAKER 47
3. Ian JENNER 38
4. Hamish GUY 38
5. Craig TREASURE 31
6. Michael WIDDISON 29
7. Robert DAY 27
8. Rob MYSTEK 27
9. Gordon MCQUEEN 23
10. Andrew DENNETT 21

Dutch Masters of Motocross – Round 1 – Markelo, Holland

Jeffrey Herlings and Thomas Kjer Olsen have won the MX1 and MX2 classes respectively at the opening round of the Dutch Masters of Motocross held in Markelo, Holland last Sunday.

Herlings and his factory KTM won both MX1 motos convincingly to take the overall ahead of the Husqvarna duo of Gautier Paulin and Max Anstie while their MX2 teammate Kjer Olsen got the overall ahead of Jed Beaton and Davy Pootjes.

MXGP Overall

1. Jeffrey Herlings – 50
2. Gautier Paulin – 44
3. Max Anstie – 40
4. Romain Febvre – 36
5. Shaun Simpson – 31
6. Glenn Coldenhoff – 31
7. Kevin Strijbos – 27
8. Filip Bengtsson – 25
9. Sven van der Mierden – 22
10. Maxime Desprey – 21

MX2 Overall

1. Thomas Kjer Olsen – 50
2. Jed Beaton – 40
3. Davy Pootjes – 35
4. Jago Geerts – 35
5. Vsevolod Brylyakov – 30
6. Ruben Fernandez-Garcia – 29
7. Martin Barr – 22
8. Calvin Vlaanderen – 22
9. Marshal Weltin – 21
10. Roan van de Moosdik – 20

Mountain Man Motocross – Echo Valley – Toowoomba

In front of a class field and a full grid of Pro riders Dean Ferris has been crowned the 2018 Mountain Man of Motocross after winning four action packed motos at Toowoomba’s iconic Echo Valley facility last weekend.

On a perfectly groomed track Ferris battled Kirk Gibbs, Mitch Evans and Kade Mosig in the three back-to-back 15 minute motos but in the final 30 minute moto Ferris got away to a 35 second win to take the overall ahead of Kirk Gibbs and an impressive Evans who was having his first ride on the KTM450SX-F.

With 60 plus riders entering the Mountain Man class, Sunday morning’s qualifying session had to be broken into two groups and it was Serco Yamaha’s Nathan Crawford who stunned the crowd when he clocked the fastest time ahead of Ferris before being the first 250 home in the Mountain Man class in fourth place ahead of Kaleb Barham and Wilson Todd.

Ferris celebrated his win with his daughter, “Pretty stoked to be your 2018 Mountain Man. Awesome day, four holeshots, four wins. Special moment with my daughter Myah.”

There were a myriad of support classes that supplied sensational racing over the two days and the winner list included Ash Martin (Vets 35 and Over), Peter Boyle (Vets 45 and Over), David Mattock (Sidecars), Garry Coughran (Pre 1985), Connor List (Pre 1990), Jack Paterson (Pre 1995/EVO/Pre75), Tom Paterson (Pre 1978), Dylan Vivian (Junior Mountain Man), Ashley Norman (125cc Cup), Chelsea Carter (WMX) and Ryan Alexanderson (Mini-Lites).

As a footnote, 42 years ago Peter Boyle won the 1976 Mountain Man ahead of the best riders Australia and New Zealand could offer and at 60 plus years of age the motocross legend can still hammer a motocross track and to win the Over 45 Vet class ahead of a field of younger hard chargers, including myself, shows the natural ability of this man. Hats off to PB!

2018 Mountain Man Overall

1. Dean Ferris
2. Kirk Gibbs
3. Mitch Evans
4. Nathan Crawford
5. Kaleb Barham
6. Wilson Todd
7. Jacob Wright
8. Jay Wilson
9. Ritchie Evans
10. Ricky Latimer
11. Joel Evans
12. Caleb Ward     –
13. Cody Dyce
14. Jake Williams
15. Kade Mosig