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Motocross

Matt Moss and Luke Styke unbeatable at Swan Hill

Hamish Harwood moves in on MXD Championship title

Author: Aaryn Minerds

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All three championship red plate holders heading into round eight of the 2013 Monster Energy MX Nationals left the Swan Hill venue in Victoria with a bigger points buffer after a fantastic day of racing under clear blue skies.

MX1 points leader, Motul Pirelli Suzuki's Matt Moss who obtained the red plate in the big bike class at the previous round at Hervey Bay in Queensland, increased his championship lead from two points at the start of day to a handy little eleven point lead by days end with a dominate display of riding.

M.Moss kicked started the mornings proceedings in perfect fashion, setting a qualifying lap two and a half seconds faster than anyone else in the MX1 class and lead the fastest five riders into the all important GoPro Superpole session. Moss then went on to score the maximum five points on offer by also setting the fastest time in his one lap dash.

Finishing .7 of second behind Moss in Superpole was Motorex KTM's Kirk Gibbs. Motul Pirelli Suzuki's Cody Cooper who set the third fastest time, with Waters in fourth and local Victorian rider Sam Martin who after qualifying fourth fastest on his DPH Motorspots backed Suzuki in regular qualifying, rounded out the top five at the conclusion of Superpole.

When the gates dropped on the open MX1 moto for the day it was Matt Moss who shot out to the lead grabbing the Suzuki holeshot and quickly set about opening up a small gap from chasing riders, Waters and CDR Yamaha's Billy Mackenzie.

Things then turned pear shaped for M.Moss with a crash seeing him regulated back to third place behind Waters and Mackenzie. Moss then put in a hard charge first making his way around Mackenzie before setting his sights on Waters. With just a handful of laps remaining in the race, M.Moss caught Waters with the two riders once again racing at close quarters and like the previous eventually made contact with each other.

M.Moss eventually made a move for the lead stick and despite some more bar banging action between the two riders, crossed the line ahead of Waters before the two riders continued their race long battle off the track as they exchanged a few words regarding the on track contact.
Sam Martin - Credit: Aaryn Minerds
Behind the leading duo, Gibbs won a race long duel with Mackenzie to claim third place just ahead of the Scotsman, while Sam Martin backed up his qualifying performance finishing in 5th spot, though he did benefit from Monster Energy Kawasaki's Adam Monea's late race exit as he was forced to retire late in the second moto with bike issues.

Carlton Dry Honda MX's South African rider Gareth Swanepoel finished in sixth while Berry Sweet / Lucas Oil / Yamaha racer, Cheyne Boyd showed that the team has been working hard since their opening race together just two weeks ago racing to a fine seventh place moto finish.

Much like moto one, moto two saw M.Moss shoot out to the holeshot, however this time he was unchallenged going on to win the race by a comfortable margin, giving him a clean sweep for the round on his way to increasing his championship lead by nine points.

Behind Moss, Waters once again finished second, though he had his work cut out for him after a bad start left to him to chase down Mackenzie then his own team mate in Gibbs, with Waters only making the move in to second place with just over a lap remaining in the second moto.

Mackenzie scored a pair of fourth place finishes on the day with a fouth place finish in moto two, while Swanepoel rounded out the top five in the second moto.

The day and red plate in the MX1 class belonged to M.Moss who was delighted with his round win.

"It is good to get the win to carry some momentum in to the final rounds with the red plate," Moss commented on the podium.

"It was actually exciting at the start of the year to watch Todd dominate, we are both out here going for our first open championship and things are getting a little heated but that is part of racing. I am sure if I was not out there Todd would not be enjoying it.

"It is good to battle with him and I know it is going to come down to the wire with both of us going for our first championship, I am looking forward to battling against him to the end of it." Moss added.
Todd Waters - Credit: Aaryn Minerds
Despite finishing second to Moss and losing a little ground in the championship standings with just two rounds remaining, Waters took a lot of positives away from the day as re continues to build back to full fitness after suffering a few injuries throughout 2013.

‰ÛÏWe're getting there, a second today helps build my confidence and I‰Ûªm looking forward to battling out the rest of the season with Mossy." Waters commented at the end of the day. "I was pretty happy with that last moto, I‰Ûªve still got a few things to clean up but we're building and I enjoyed today.

"I was able to keep the championship alive by getting some good points and I get another two weeks of solid training now to come back with. We've got the two Queensland tracks to go and I‰Ûªve had a fair bit of riding on both.

"I‰Ûªm lucky to have people like Rob, Ryan, my girlfriend Jules and Mum and Dad behind me making my day by day easier.‰Û
Kirk Gibbs - Credit: Aaryn Minerds
Rounding out the podium was Waters team mate Kirk Gibbs who finished only two points behind second place due to his strong performance once again in the Superpole session.

‰ÛÏI had a great day." Gibbs enthused. "Any day you can get on the podium in this class is a great day.

"I‰Ûªve been training my butt off and this is where I want to be. I love it. I had two good starts today and in the first Billy passed me early and gapped me but I closed in and sat behind him and when he made a mistake with a couple of laps to go, I got by and took third.

"In the second race I got a good start behind Moss. He slowly pulled away but I felt comfortable. I held Todd off for as long as could but he got past with ten to go.‰Û
Luke Styke - Credit: Aaryn Minerds
Luke Styke once again gave his Serco Yamaha race team a round win with another dominating display that now sees him in a position to wrap up the 2013 MX2 championship at the conclusion of the first moto at Toowoomba with a race win in two weeks time.

The rider who has won an astonishing seven of the eight rounds to date, narrowly laid down the fastest lap in qualifying, though at less than one tenth of a second faster the Privateer KTM rider Kale Makeham and only three tenths faster than another KTM privateer in Dylan Long things were shaping up for a good day of racing in the MX2 class.

Makeham rocketed out to a big holeshot at the start of the MX2 first moto, before the race was red flagged due to a gate malfunction. Not to be fazed by the situation, Makeham repeated the performance on the re-start again rounded the first turn with the race lead and set about holding off the chasing Styke and Long.

Makeham was able to hold of Styke for a couple of laps, before the 2012 MX2 championship runner up moved to the lead and slowly edged away from the field. Behind the leading pair Long was looking comfortable in third before a front end wash out left him back in seventh place, elevating Choice Motorsports KTM rider Brock Winston to third.

The top three positions did not change for the remainder of the race, with Styke going on to secure a comfortable win ahead of Makeham with a big gap back to Winston in 3rd. Raceline Suzuki's Ryan Marmont once again put in a solid ride working his way up to fourth place my the end of the moto, with Choice Motorsports KTM rider and New Zealand MXoN representative Kayne Lamont rounding out the top five.

Long worked his way back to sixth place at the end of the moto after his early race crash.
Kale Makeham - Credit: Aaryn Minerds
At the start of Moto two it was Makeham who was once again the first rider across the holeshot stripe, however it was Styke who rounded the opening set of corners with the race lead and looked as though he was about to check out once again, while Long once again sat in third early in the race.

Makeham was not going to let Styke run away in moto two as the Victorian rider put his head down, closing back up to Styke's rear wheel after a small gap had formed in the opening few laps. Things then took a turn for the worse for Makeham suffering a puncture to his front tyre while challenging for the race lead, leaving Styke to race to his second moto win for the day an another round win.

Despite a clearly deflated front tyre Makeham never gave up, though he did have to concede placed to Long, Winston and Kiwi Rhys Carter in the dying laps of moto two as he was forced to continually slow his pace.

At the end of the day Styke claimed a clear round win ahead of Brock Winston who edged out Makeham by two points for second place on the day, with Dylan Long unlucky to miss out on his first podium finish for the year one point further back in 4th. Ryan Marmont rounded out the top five.

"I had to start smiling around the pits today, a few people were getting a little worried after I went one-one last round and still looked a little angry." said a smiling Styke at the end of the day. "I think that is what separated me from everyone else, even when I go 1-1 I am still searching on the track looking to get better and better and that is the way I want to be.

"Today was great, the track was awesome, it was one of the deepest tracks I have ever ridden. Overall the club put a great race on today with some good moisture in the dirt. The concrete start was difficult but it was the same for everyone and overall the day was great," Styke added.

Styke will carry a 103 point lead in to Toowoomba, where a win in moto one would be enough to secure the 2013 MX2 title with three moto's to spare.
Brock Winston - Credit: Aaryn Minerds
Finishing second on the day in the MX2 class was Brock Winston who made the most of his opportunities for to secure to third place moto finishes and once again step up on to the podium in 2013.

"At the moment it is just about building my confidence back up again and getting some half decent starts to help get myself back up here again," Winston stated on the podium. "I have been working on my starts hard and it is paying off.

"Makeham and Styke are running a really good pace and I do struggle to run their pace at times, I just have to keep plugging away at it and ill be happy.

"The track today the way it was if you pushed to hard you would lose time, you had to be really careful and patient the whole time and it did make it tricky," Winston concluded.

For AJ Motorcycles / Tunetech backed Kale Makeham it was a case of what could have been as he once again come agonisingly close to claiming his first overall round win.

"It sucked to get a flat in that moto but in the big scheme of things I still brought it home for a lot of points in my aim of finishing second overall." Makeham stated.

"I was having so much fun at the start of that second race there, It was the first time I was able to get aggressive and sort of push Styke and see where I am at. That was fun but unfortunately I wheelied into a hole and thought to myself If I don;t get a flat tyre from that I would be surprised.

"From there the tyre went down and in the last five laps I was struggling just to keep the bike up going in to corners. It was probably the hardest moto physically I have ever had to do. I coming in to corners and trying to steer the thing in to ruts.

"Mentally and physically it was pretty challenging, but we kept going, we never gave up. I really want to get the runner up in this championship, I have worked hard and I think it would be a good way to top this season off." Makeham concluded.

MXD
Hamish Harwood - Credit: Aaryn Minerds
In the MXD class for riders under the age of 19, New Zealander Hamish Harwood took another step toward winning the 2013 title when he backed up his dominating qualifying performance to work his way through from a top five start to win the opening MXD moto of the day.

The Kiwi patiently tracked down and passed the riders in front of him and in the closing laps of the race made his way around Jake Emanuelli for the race win. Emanuelli held off a fast finishing Jay Wilson for second place. Jack Simpson who currently sits second in the points standings finished the opening moto in fourth with Corey James rounding out the top five.

Two other riders who had impressive races after a first turn crash were Jesse Dobson who worked his way from last place to eighth with some amazing speed that would come to the fore in moto two. Joel Dinsdale who was also down in the first turn crash worked his way back to a top ten finish also.

In Moto two it was Dobson who powered his way to the race win, finishing ahead of Jay Wilson and Hamish Harwood, while Jack Simpson once again finished in fourth. Joel Wightman rounded out the top five.

At the end of the day it was Harwood who claimed the round win by just three points over Wilson, while Dobson secured the final step of the podium thanks to his win in the second moto.

Harwood will carry a 37 point lead over Jack Simpson into round nine in two weeks time and could possibly wrap up the championship with a round to spare. Jay Wilson sits third in the championship a further sixteen points behind Simpson.

In the rounds support class it was Aaron Bonfadini who secured the round win in the Amateur cup ahead of Tim O'Brien and Brandon Johnson.

To check out a Gallery of the days racing action from Swan Hill CLICK HERE

Round nine of the 2013 Monster Energy MX Nationals will take place on the 25th of August in Toowoomba Queensland with the final round being held the following weekend in Coolum Queensland with two big days of racing.
Matt Moss - Credit: Aaryn Minerds
MX1 Overall Round 8 Results:
1. Matt Moss Suzuki 75 Pts
2. Todd Waters KTM 66 Pts
3. Kirk Gibbs KTM 64 Pts
4. Billy Mackenzie Yamaha 56 Pts
5. Gareth Swanepoel Honda 51 Pts
6. Jay Marmont Kawasaki 47 Pts
7. Cody Cooper Suzuki 47 Pts
8. Cheyne Boyd Yamaha 46 Pts
9. Jake Moss Suzuki 45 Pts
10. Sam Martin Suzuki 45 Pts
11. Lawson Bopping Yamaha 42 Pts
12. Jacob Wright Honda 40 Pts
13. Gosling Dylan Yamaha 36 Pts
14. James Booth Elliott Suzuki 35 Pts
15. Jory Hancock Yamaha 32 Pts
16. James Brown Suzuki 15 Pts
17. Adam Monea Kawasaki 0 Pts

MX1 Championship Standings after round 8 of 10:
1. Matt Moss Suzuki 511 Pts
2. Todd Waters KTM 500 Pts
3. Billy Mackenzie Yamaha 461 Pts
4. Cody Cooper Suzuki 429 Pts
5. Lawson Bopping Yamaha 407 Pts
6. Kirk Gibbs KTM 407 Pts
7. Jake Moss Suzuki 388 Pts
8. Jay Marmont Kawasaki 333 Pts
9. Adam Monea Kawasaki 323 Pts
10. Tye Simmonds Yamaha 273 Pts
11. Sam Martin Suzuki 252 Pts
12. James Booth Elliott Suzuki 250 Pts
13. Cody Mackie Kawasaki 226 Pts
14. Jacob Wright Honda 216 Pts
15. Daniel McCoy Honda 209 Pts
16. Cheyne Boyd Honda, Yamaha 149 Pts
17. Robbie Marshall Yamaha 143 Pts
18. Kieran Tisdale Suzuki 137 Pts
19. Gareth Swanepoel Honda 134 Pts
20. Ford Dale Honda 133 Pts
Luke Styke - Credit: Aaryn Minerds
MX2 Overall Round 8 Results:
1. Luke Styke Yamaha 70 Pts
2. Brock Winston KTM 60 Pts
3. Kale Makeham KTM 58 Pts
4. Dylan Long KTM 57 Pts
5. Ryan Marmont Suzuki 52 Pts
6. Rhys Carter Suzuki 51 Pts
7. Kayne Lamont KTM 51 Pts
8. Geran Stapleton Suzuki 45 Pts
9. TAKESHI KATSUYA Honda 44 Pts
10. Beau Ralston Yamaha 44 Pts
11. Daniel Banks KTM 38 Pts
12. Peter Boyle Honda 37 Pts
13. Wade Hunter Suzuki 35 Pts
14. Daniel McEntee KTM 33 Pts
15. John Prutti Kawasaki 32 Pts
16. Joel Green Kawasaki 30 Pts
17. Luke Wilson Kawasaki 29 Pts
18. Tristen Cachia Honda 25 Pts
19. Mitch Norris Yamaha 17 Pts

MX1 Championship Standings after round 8 of 10
1. Luke Styke Yamaha 543 Pts
2. Kale Makeham KTM 440 Pts
3. Brock Winston KTM 414 Pts
4. Ryan Marmont Suzuki 349 Pts
5. Geran Stapleton Suzuki 349 Pts
6. Dylan Long KTM 331 Pts
7. TAKESHI KATSUYA Honda 324 Pts
8. Rhys Carter Suzuki 306 Pts
9. Josh Cachia Honda 305 Pts
10. Kayne Lamont KTM 298 Pts
11. Luke Clout Yamaha 285 Pts
12. Wade Hunter Suzuki 271 Pts
13. Tristen Cachia Honda 227 Pts
14. Kade Mosig Kawasaki 197 Pts
15. John Prutti Kawasaki 192 Pts
16. Daniel McEntee KTM 185 Pts
17. Luke Wilson Kawasaki 178 Pts
18. Beau Ralston Yamaha 167 Pts
19. Matt Ryan Honda 160 Pts
20. Kieran Scheele Honda 117 Pts

MX1 Overall Round 8 Results:
1. Hamish Harwood KTM 65 Pts
2. Jay Wilson Yamaha 62 Pts
3. Jesse Dobson Kawasaki 58 Pts
4. Jack Simpson KTM 56 Pts
5. Joel Wightman Yamaha 50 Pts
6. Jake Emanuelli Yamaha 50 Pts
7. Dylan Wills Suzuki 48 Pts
8. Corey James Yamaha 48 Pts
9. Joel Dinsdale Yamaha 45 Pts
10. Nathan Trigg KTM 43 Pts
11. Tomas Ravenhorst KTM 38 Pts
12. Nathan Denny KTM 38 Pts
13. Elijah Wiese Kawasaki 36 Pts
14. Dakota Court KTM 35 Pts
15. Logan Blackburn Yamaha 32 Pts
16. Bailey Coxon Yamaha 31 Pts
17. Jordan Bissaker Yamaha 30 Pts
18. Mitchell Nichols KTM 27 Pts
19. Izak Maule Yamaha 23 Pts
20. Sam Davie Kawasaki 22 Pts

MX1 Championship Standings after round 8 of 10:
1. Hamish Harwood KTM 372 Pts
2. Jack Simpson KTM 335 Pts
3. Jay Wilson Yamaha 319 Pts
4. Jesse Dobson Kawasaki 302 Pts
5. Joel Dinsdale Yamaha 301 Pts
6. Corey James Yamaha 276 Pts
7. Joel Wightman Yamaha 271 Pts
8. Logan Blackburn Yamaha 237 Pts
9. Jake Emanuelli Yamaha 230 Pts
10. Dakota Court KTM 192 Pts
11. Tomas Ravenhorst KTM 183 Pts
12. Nick Scott Honda 176 Pts
13. Evans Suzuki 138 Pts
14. Jesse McNally KTM 118 Pts
15. Jordan Bissaker Yamaha 113 Pts
16. Dylan Wills Suzuki 112 Pts
17. Jesse Madden Yamaha 109 Pts
18. Mitchell Nichols KTM 108 Pts
19. Bailey Coxon Yamaha 108 Pts
20. Meghan Rutledge Kawasaki 105 Pts

Top Image: Matt Moss scored a maximum 75 points at Swan Hill and will carry a 11 point championship lead into the final two rounds of the year
Credit: Aaryn Minerds

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