Marty headed to Broadford last weekend to check out the MX Nationals
Words by Marty Thompson – Images by Cameron White
Difficult conditions greeted the riders in all classes on the first Sunday morning of May, as the third round of the Motul MX Nationals played out at the Broadford State Motorcycle complex.
Saturday the track looked fairly dusty and hard packed, but with heavy downpours before the start of the day, the track condition changed completely, turning the Broadford track into a single line only option for most, and the rest of the track a bog hole of sloppy mud. Any other line afforded little traction and even the main line most riders chose proved difficult to obtain any drive off the turns and along the straights.
The holeshot became an absolute must if the riders wanted to maintain some vision as the goggles of those behind had tear off after tear off removed in attempts to maintain a vague idea of where on the track they were. Tough conditions indeed.
Qualifying was omitted in an attempt to preserve what little was left of the track after morning practice, thus gate positions were determined from championship standings.
Despite the freezing temperatures and consistent wind and rain, the crowd was not deterred in any way judging by the amount of bodies lined up four deep along the spectator fence. All there to get a good look at some of Australia’s best motocross riders competing at the elite level of the sport in Australia. The amount of people who braved the atrocious conditions to come was a genuine surprise. Getting a spot on the fence to view the racing was a job in itself, often having to walk around to the opposite side of the track in order to gain a clear view of the action.
In addition to the huge crowd, the officials and volunteers, from the gate right through to the track marshals and canteen staff, all stood staunch, maintaining station to ensure the meeting was extremely well run. Â Not only was the racing brilliant, but the meeting ran flawlessly for the entire day. It is a credit to the MX Nationals organisers how the day panned out considering the dreadful conditions. One thing for sure, there were no quitters amongst the staff running the event.
Despite not running the qualifying and Superpole sessions in order to save the track, the day always had something going on to ensure the crowd had plenty to occupy their time, with numerous trade displays from sponsors and associated businesses showing their products off to the budding motocross enthusiasts. As well, a walk around the pits revealed some of Australian racing’s most professional teams with the most immaculately prepared bikes, dripping with unobtanium parts and amazing graphics.
MX1
Although not winning either of the two races on Sunday, KTM mounted rider Kirk Gibbs a pair of second place finishes gave him the overall round win for the day. It seems that the 2015 champion is still in the hunt this year, despite still not standing on the top step of the podium so far in his title defence.
In the first race, Suzuki rider Todd Waters checked out for a 24-second win over Gibbs, who fought it out with Matt Moss who took the final podium place. Dean Ferris on his Yamaha was a further 27-seconds behind in 4th, closely followed by Kawasaki mounted Kade Mosig and Huqvarn’as Brett Metcalfe rounding out the top six. Metcalfe appeared to struggle to get the Husqvarna to hook up on the sloppy surfac,e and with passing riders made difficult due to the singular line available, it was almost processional.
For the second race, it was Yamaha’s Dean Ferris who took a commanding lead, ending the race over 12-seconds ahead of the consistent Kirk Gibbs on his KTM. Matt Moss and his Kawasaki battled hard for 3rd place, just pipping the Suzuki of Todd waters by a second, which in the brown sludge was a mighty effort.
Dylan long’s Honda was 5th place and Brett Metcalfe again ended the moto in 6th still looking to loose ground off the turns as the Husky still refused to hook up as well as the other bikes.
Overall Round Results
1 1 MX1 Kirk Gibbs 64
2 111 MX1 Dean Ferris 63
3 47 MX1 Todd Waters 63
4 102 MX1 Matt Moss 60
5 24 MX1 Brett Metcalfe 50
6 117 MX1 Dylan Long 47
7 122 MX1 Daniel Reardon 47
8 6 MX1 Jay Wilson 47
9 37 MX1 Jacob Wright 42
10 52 MX2 James Alen 39
MX2
Jed Beaton appeared to have the greasy Broadford track completely sussed out for the entire day, with two dominant victories in the MX2 class. He was simply in a different league to the remainder of the field on his Yamaha. Kyle Webster, Jake Moss and Luke Arbon managed to fill the remaining spots on the podium across the two races. But no one could come close to Beaton’s speed on Sunday. He was simply mind blowing with a massive gap in the first race and a still sizeable gap in the 2nd race. For the rest, it was a scrap for second place onwards over the two races.
Caleb Ward and his KTM had a rather costly round, relinquishing the lead in the championship after a mechanical issue forced him out of the first race, then 15th place in the 2nd race further eroded his championship position.
Jed Beaton and his Yamaha completely decimated the field in the first race of the MX2’s, greeting the chequered flag almost 50-seconds ahead of second placed Honda rider Kyle Webster, who just edged out Jake Moss’ Kawasaki for the final podium spot.
Husqvarna’s Nathan Crawford was barely a second behind Moss in 4th, with a 300second gap then back to the two KTM’s of WA veteran Dean Porter and Dylan Wills.
The second race again saw Beaton disappear into the distance and cruising around for a 19-second victory over 2nd placed Luke Arbon who managed to ring the neck of his FC250 Husqvarna to stay four-seconds in front of CRF250 Honda mounted Kyle Webster.
There was a further four-second gap back to Yamaha’s Wade Hunter. Then came Crawford, Todd and Moss, with the aforementioned Caleb Ward in a disappointing 15th place.
MX2 Overall results
1 12 MX2 Jed Beaton 70
2 96 MX2 Kyle Webster 62
3 54 MX2 Luke Arbon 55
4 199 MX2 Nathan Crawford 54
5 6 MX2 Jake Moss 54
6 64 MX2 Dylan Wills 47
7 23 MX2 Wade Hunter 46
8 2 MX2 Wilson Todd 46
9 153 MX2 Hamish Harwood 43
10 86 MX2 Richie Evans 43
