Gibbs wins in Queensland but Moss in Pole position heading into final round
KTM Motocross Race Team’s Kirk Gibbs has taken round honours in the Monster MX1 class at round nine of the 2014 Monster Energy MX Nationals at Gladstone in Queensland.
Gibbs chalked up a second and a third from his two motos to finish one point ahead of CDR Yamaha rider Billy Mackenzie (fifth and first) and another point clear of Adam Monea (National Pump Monster Energy Kawasaki) and Jacob Wright (CDR Yamaha).
But despite the win, Gibbs was only able to shave three points from Team Motul Suzuki Matt Moss’ championship lead.
In the exciting Go Pro Superpole fastest lap shootout, the big guns of Moss and Kirk had to settle for fourth and fifth place in the top-five.
It was Wright who backed up his Superpole win at Raymond Terrace in round eight, clocking the fastest lap time with at 2:08.411 to take the maximum points on offer and take first pick of the start gates.
In the opening race of the day, Moss shot out in front to take the holsehot, before Mackenzie zipped past to take the race lead.
Wright also got an ideal start, and while he was third heading into the opening corner, the young 19-year old shot through to move into second shortly after.
It was a great opening lap for Mackenzie, but his lead didn’t last long – just after passing the finishing line he was overtaken in front of the mechanics area by Wright, and within the next two laps he was also passed by Gibbs and Moss.
Wright then showed his local crowd why he is billed as one of the top young talents in the MX Nationals paddock – putting a clear gap between himself and Gibbs who was in second.
Gibbs was also working hard, and before long he had created a significant gap of his own from third placed Moss.
Mackenzie appeared to be struggling in fourth and was forced to work hard by Monea and Kade Mosig (DPH Yamaha).
Jake Moss was having problems in the race and found himself back in 21st position at one stage, before moving up into 16th by the halfway mark.
On the 10th lap Monea made a pass on Mackenzie and moved into fourth, while Wright had the tricky task of weaving through lapped riders with 10 minutes still remaining.
From that point on though, the top-five positions remained as they were with Wright claiming top spot on the podium from Gibbs and Moss.
Monea finished in fourth from Mackenzie, while DPH Yamaha pilots Mosig and Sam Martin battled their way to sixth and seventh respectively.
Jake Moss finished the moto in 12th.
In the second race it was Mackenzie who again shot into a lead on the opening lap, after a great burst of speed gave him the holeshot.
Mackenzie was closely followed by Gibbs, race one winner Wright and Monea – the Kawasaki rider moving into third on the opening lap.
Wright’s fairytale day had it’s first glitch on the opening lap when he fell back to 10th spot, while Jake Moss, Jay Marmont (CDR Yamaha) and Matt Moss settled into fourth, fifth and sixth.
Matt Moss passed Marmont on the second lap to move into fifth and after three laps, the top five riders were all two seconds apart.
Gibbs and Monea exchanged positions several times throughout the next few laps, jostling for second position and giving the crowd one of the best individual battles of the day.
Monea eventually pulled away from Gibbs and headed for Mackenzie while Matt Moss passed brother Jake on lap five and zeroed in on his main rival Gibbs in third.
By the 20-minute mark of the 30-minute moto, the gap between Matt and Jake in fourth and fifth was out to over 15 seconds.
Up front, Mackenzie rode the perfect race and was never really challenged – taking out the race win in emphatic fashion.
Gibbs chipped away at Monea over the last few laps of the race, and made a huge play for second spot on the final few corners.
It looked like the KTM pilot would pass flying over the jump heading into the last turn, but as they reached the line it was Monea who managed to hold on for second place – Gibbs having to settle for third.
Matt Moss finished the race in fifth position while brother Jake finished in sixth.
In the overall championship standings, Matt Moss is 37 points ahead of Gibbs heading into the final round at Coolum.
Mackenzie is a further 44 points behind in third.
The final round of the 2014 Monster Energy MX Nationals takes place in Coolum on 30 -31 August.
MX1 Superpole:
- Jacob Wright – 2:08.411 (5 points)
- Jake Moss – 2:09.875 (4 points)
- Adam Monea – 2:10.213 (3 points)
- Matt Moss – 2:23.806 (2 points)
- Kirk Gibbs – 2:33.546 (1 point)
MX1 Round Results:
- Kirk Gibbs 62 (32, 30)
- Billy Mackenzie 61 (26, 35)
- Adam Monea 60 (28, 32)
- Jacob Wright 60 (35, 25)
- Matt Moss 58 (30, 28)
- Hayden Mellross 46Â (23, 23)
- Jake Moss 45 (19, 26)
- Sam Martin 45 (24, 21)
- Jesse Dobson 44 (22, 22)
- Brock Winston 40 (20, 20)
MX1 Overall Championship Standings:
- Matt Moss 713
- Kirk Gibbs 676
- Billy Mackenzie 632
- Adam Monea 615
- Jake Moss 528
- Jacob Wright 525
- Kade Mosig 500
- Hayden Mellross 472
- Sam Martin 436
- Brock Winston 415
Clout puts one hand on MX2 Championship trophy
SD3 Husqvarna rider Luke Arbon has claimed his third outright win for the year, taking out the Motul MX2 class at the ninth round of the 2014 Monster Energy MX Nationals at Gladstone in Queensland.
In perfect conditions in the sunny state, Arbon managed a third placing and a race win from his two motos, to finish the round five points ahead of CMR Redbull KTM’s Hamish Dobbyn (second and fourth) in second.
Serco Yamaha’s Jay Wilson (first and seventh) finished in third, while teammate Luke Clout and Tunetech Racing KTM Australia’s Kale Makeham finished the round in fourth and fifth place respectively.
In the opening moto of the day, it was Arbon who shot to the front to claim the holeshot ahead of Penrite Honda Racing’s Josh Cachia.
As they settled though the opening few laps, it was Arbon ahead of Cachia, with Wilson in third and Kawasaki rider Takeshi Katsuya in fourth.
Series leader Clout had a disappointing start, finding himself middle of the pack in 10th position while his main rival in the series Hamish Harwood (CMR Redbull KTM) fared only slightly better, settling into seventh.
Arbon soon set about extending his lead, and throughout the early stages looked like the rider that everyone would have to beat.
But 30 minutes is a long time in racing, and behind him Cachia, Katsuya and Wilson fought fiercely to in a tight, exhilarating display of racing.
Wilson passed Cachia on lap four to move into second and distance himself from the other riders as he put a fair gap between the Honda rider, Katsuya and Dobbyn.
On lap six Katsuya went down, and despite coming back into the race in 14th position, was forced to retire just one lap later.
On lap seven after a battle with a back marker, Arbon relinquished his lead to Wilson and the Yamaha rider commanded the race from that point in.
Cachia dropped back to fourth on the 10th lap, and despite a great effort to climb into fifth position, a mistake from Clout just before the finish line on lap 10 pushed him back into sixth.
Another mistake soon after pushed Clout back into seventh, but importantly he managed to keep his bike in front of Harwood.
While Wilson went on to extend his lead and take control of the race, the battle between Arbon and Dobbyn for second spot intensified.
It took a few laps for Dobbyn to seize the opportunity he was after – picking the perfect time on lap 13 to pass Arbon, moving into second spot and claiming that result when the chequered flag was raised.
Arbon finished the race in third, while Cachia went down with a couple of laps remaining leaving him in ninth for the moto, with Makeham and Clout finishing in fourth and fifth respectively.
Arbon claimed his second holeshot for the day when he raced off the start and into a comfortable lead in the second race.
As the dust settled, Clout moved from sixth at the first corner into second position, and the two front-runners pulled away from Harwood, Dobbyn, Makeham and Cachia.
The question being asked was whether or not Arbon could overcome the arm-pump that saw him lose postion in the opening race, and throughout the first half of the race he showed no signs of letting up.
Clout didn’t push too hard knowing how important a good race would be in the overall championship scheme of things, and while the gap increased between the first two riders, the gap was even bigger to Harwood in third.
Harwood was locked in a big battle with Makeham for third spot and after five laps there was only a second between the two while Dobbyn and Cachia were battling behind them.
On lap seven, Makeham moved his way into third, and as Harwood dropped back to sixth, he was also passed by Dobbyn and Cachia.
At the front, Clout was slowly chipping away at Arbon’s lead, and while the championship leader did make some ground in the second half of the race, it was Arbon who finished out on top.
Clout claimed second, Makeham streaked clear to take third, while Dobbyn and Cachia finished in fourth and fifth respectively.
Race one winner Wilson finished the race in seventh, while Harwood finished back in eighth.
MX2 CLASS:Â Round Results:
- Luke Arbon 65 (30,35)
- Hamish Dobbyn 60 (32, 28)
- Jay Wilson 59 (35, 24)
- Luke Clout 58 (26, 32)
- Kale Makeham 58 (28, 30)
- Caleb Ward 51 (25, 26)
- Josh Cachia 47 (22, 25)
- Hamish Harwood 47 (24, 23)
- Dylan Long 42 (20, 22)
- Joel Evans 41 (21, 20)
MX2 Championship Standings:
- Luke Clout 606
- Luke Arbon 574
- Hamish Harwood 567
- Kale Makeham 543
- Jay Wilson 537
- Caleb Ward 492
- Brenden Harrison 464
- Kayne Lamont 395
- Errol Willis 395
- Josh Cachia 310
Wilson Todd wins Gladstone MXD | Mastin makes his championship move
GYTR Yamaha rider Wilson Todd completed the perfect day out at Gladstone in Queensland, winning both of his races in the Pirelli MXD class to take the outright win at round nine of the 2014 Monster Energy MX Nationals.
Todd rode the conditions perfectly to record two race wins and finish the day eight points clear of Berry Sweet Husqvarna rider Egan Mastin (second and third from his two races).
KTM privateer Jayden Rykers finished the day in third place recording third and fourth place finishes from his two motos.
Practice and qualifying threw up the first drama in the tightly contested class, with privateer Jack Simpson rolling his ankle, an unable to post a qualifying time – relegating him to the last pick of the gates.
Husqvarna privateer Nathan Crawford and Mastin posted the top-two fastest qualifying times, setting themselves up for a mouth-watering.
At the first corner of the opening race it was Dylan Wilson (Raceline Pirelli Suzuki) who took the holeshot from a fast-starting Simpson who rocketed into second.
Soon after Crawford showed why he is a top title contender passing Simpson and then storming by Wilson to take the lead, with Mastin also making his way up the field and into third.
On lap two the unthinkable happened to Crawford, and with his Husqvarna machine suffering mechanical problems he was eventually forced to retire from the race and register a DNF.
Mastin made his move shortly after and took the lead from Wilson, while Todd moved into third.
The top three were all within two bike lengths of each other going into lap four, and shortly after Todd passed Wilson into second place.
On the turn immediately after the finish on lap seven, Wilson dropped his Suzuki and was relegated back to fourth behind Rykers.
With three minutes remaining in the moto, Todd placed incredible pressure up front on Mastin and shortly after made the pass to take the lead.
It was a lead he never surrendered taking out the race in first place ahead of Mastin, Rykers and Wilson, while Simpson’s fifth placing was important in the context of the overall championship series.
In the second moto it was privateer Brock McLeary who got the surprise holeshot, but he soon surrendered the lead as Mastin, Todd and Crawford came through to try and take control of the race.
Kyle Webster (GYTR Yamaha) moved into fourth, privateer Aaron Tanti settled in fifth while Simpson rounded out the top-six.
Mastin and Todd were neck and neck throughout the whole first lap, while Crawford just held off behind the pair – content to see how the jostle for first place played out.
On the third lap Mastin slipped back to third and Todd moved to the lead, while Crawford moved into second and took the challenge right up to the back of Todd’s rear tyre.
With only a few laps to go, Webster – filling in on the GYTR Yamaha team in place of the injured Jed Beaton, overbalance at the second last turn on the track and was relegated back to 14th.
Tanti was an unfortunate victim of arm-pump on the day, and over the closing laps drifted back to finish in seventh.
In the end, Todd held onto his lead to record his second race win for the day, while Crawford snuck home in second, Mastin held onto third, with Rykers and Simpson finishing in fourth and fifth respectively.
In the overall championship results, Mastin has moved into the series lead and holds a 30-point lead over Simpson heading into the final round.
Crawford is a further 15 points behind in third.
MXD CLASS:Â Â Round Results:
- Wilson Todd 70 (35, 35)
- Egan Mastin 62 (32, 30)
- Jayden Rykers 58 (30, 28)
- Jack Simpson 52 (26, 26)
- Zac Small 47 (25, 22)
- Dylan Wilson 47 (28, 19)
- Brock McLeary 45 Â (22, 23)
- Aaron Tanti 44 (20, 24)
- Jett Anderson 43 (18, 25)
- Bailey Coxon 43 (23, 20)
MXD Overall Championship Standings:
- Egan Mastin 513
- Jack Simpson 483
- Nathan Crawford 468
- Jed Beaton 459
- Wilson Todd 444
- Jayden Rykers 395
- Aaron Tanti 386
- Brock McLeary 354
- Kyle Webster 343
- Â Jett Anderson 263
