Motocross

MIDWEEK MOTO 2019 Week 15 – Back to Broadford

Author: Aaryn Minerds

Posted:

The man who was unstoppable at Wonthaggi, can he be caught at Broadford this Sunday?
DID YOU DUNGOG

The third and fourth rounds of the Yamaha Australian Off-Road Championships headed to Dungog on the weekend. Unfortunately, we have not been able to get to either of the opening two weekends of action to watch the nations best Off-Road racers show off their amazing speed and skills.

Luckily for all of us, 6HD is at each round capturing all the action, so check out the sweet highlights video below Ben has put together.



BACK TO BRAODFORD
How good was it not only to see Lawson Bopping back racing MXN, but leading the field!
The Pirelli MX Nationals head back to Broadford for the first time since 2016, with the track certain to look its best this weekend after a recent overhaul that seen ProTraxx Australia reverse the track and add a host of new features.

With no forecast of rain, this weekend could for the first time this season really showcase who is looking like a genuine championship threat across all classes.

WHO TO WATCH



The MX1 class seen several standout rides at Wonthaggi, and it is not an easy task to pick a single standout ride from the weekend.

It is hard to go past CDR Yamaha‰Ûªs Luke Clout, who despite two in race penalties, one of which cost him a moto win, still came through for his maiden round win, which is a great achievement for the second year premier class racer.

DPH‰Ûªs Husqvarna‰Ûªs Todd Waters ride in the second moto was nothing short of awesome, rebounding from a DNF three corners into the opening moto, Waters raced to his second moto win of the 2019 season.

KTM mounted Erki Kahro was outstanding in both motos. The Estonian chased down Bopping then lead until the final lap where, Clout made the pass, but due to Clout‰Ûªs penalty Kahro took the win in his first ever Aussie national!

CDR Yamaha‰Ûªs Kirk Gibbs somehow came away from the round in 4th position with two gritty rides through the pack. Add a coming together with Justin Rodbell in the opening moto as he charged his way forward into the mix and it is hard to look past Gibbs effort as one of the best rides for the weekend.

How about Lawson Bopping, apart from racing the occasional Supercross, due to a health issue Bopping has been all but missing from the national scene for a few years. Lining up on the Empire Motorsports KX450 of Dylan Long‰Ûªs Bopping grabbed the holeshot in the opening moto and ran away from the field, holding the lead for around 20 minutes of the moto before he was eventually running down by Kahro. It was an amazing ride for a ride that has a smooth, effortless style. He did not look like he was pushing hard yet just glided away from some of the best riders in the country.
Zak Small on his way to an impressive 7th overall in Wonthaggi
Both Charlie Creech and Zak Small‰Ûªs rides can‰Ûªt go un-noted, the duo finished the day in 6th and 7th respectively and both on 44 points. To be honest, I didn‰Ûªt really notice Small running that far up the front, mainly due to the thick black sand covering the majority of riders, but Creech caught my eye a couple of times. For two privateers to finish that far inside the top ten is a fantastic effort, and it will be well worth keeping track of the two this weekend at Broadford.

Creech after two rounds sits in 6th position in the championship, Small 8th joining Ravenhorst as three privateers inside the top ten in the MX1 standings.

Jayden Rykers could have easily finished the day in 4th overall with 4-5 results; however, a in race penalty dropped him to a 14-5 moto score. The guy has plenty of speed especially on a sandy track, don‰Ûªt be surprised if you see him stand on the podium at some point this year.

And don‰Ûªt worry we have not forgotten about the new points leader. Raceline KTM‰Ûªs Hayden Mellross was in fine form in both races at Wonthaggi. He got out of the blocks a little slowly in the opening moto, but in the final ten minutes was visually on a mission and worked his way up to third.

In the second moto, he was upfront right from the start, charging hard and latched on to the back wheel of Clout, moved into second and went charging after race leader Waters until a late race crash put an end to his charge.

Mellross was able to recover, finished on the second step of the podium for the second round in a row and takes a three-point championship lead and the red plate into Broadford.

Interesting note, out of three races so far in the MX1 class, only once has the rider who crossed the finish line first been awarded the win!
There is a reason Wilson Todd is running the #1, and now with the Red Plate he will be hard to stop again in 2019
CLEARLY THE BEST

While there were many standout rides in the MX1 class at Wonthaggi, there was a clear king of the track in the MX2 class with current MX2 champion Wilson Todd putting on a clinic last round out.

Aaron Tanti ran with Todd early in race one of the back to back races, while Cooper Pozniak showed he has a bright future in the second back to back race, while Jy Roberts once again was impressive.

THOUGHTS ARE WITH JY.
Our thoughts are with Jy Roberts along with family and friends.
Like most, we got word that Jy Roberts has suffered a nasty practice crash and in the process has suffered a head injury that has him in an induced coma in Hospital.

It is something that you never want to see happen to any rider, and our hearts and thoughts are with Jy, all his family and close friends in this time.

His Raceline KTM team posted the below release today regarding Jy's situation.

As many may have heard, Jy sustained a head injury during practice and is currently in John Hunter Hospital Newcastle.

Jy‰Ûªs family would like to thank all the people who have been showing amazing support to Jy in this tuff time.

‰ÛÏwe are sorry if we haven‰Ûªt taken your calls, we are solely focused on Jy at this time, we overwhelmed with the support and best wishes Jy is receiving, he is making progress every day and slowly responding to us, we will keep you updated via the team as more news comes to hand‰Û
Cooper Webb has the cards stacked in his favour with just three rounds remaining.
Red Bull KTM's Cooper Webb holds all the aces, but with three rounds remaining in the 2019 Monster Energy Supercross Championship still to run there is still plenty of action left to play out, and there is no way that either Webb's team-mate Marvin Musquin or Monster Energy Kawasaki's Eli Tomac are about to concede defeat.

Both riders are exactly 21 points behind Webb and have everything to play for.

It is fair to say, Webb has been outstanding this season and everything that could have gone his way at times has, it normally does for riders in championship years, he still needs another three weekends of everything going his way to seal the deal, it is going to be an exciting few weeks.

HELPING A TEAM-MATE





Now in the world of motorsport, it is not uncommon to see a rider or driver help a team-mate, but Alfredo Gomez has taken it to the limit and maybe beyond depending on your take to help Colton Haaker win the World Endurocross Championship.

With everything coming down to the final race of the year, KTM's Cody Webb needed to not only win the race but for Haaker to finish outside of the top three.

Webb did his part running away with the race win to finish the year out, Haaker, on the other hand, started to fall apart and with just corners to go was back in 5th position.

Webb's KTM's team-mate, Taddy Blazusiak done his part, finishing the race in second, but Gomez who was in third not only stopped in the final corner to ensure his team-mate would take the title, when seeing the rider in 4th coming through to take his position Gomez cut across the track, pinning Pol Tarres in a corner, allowing Haaker to pass both and cross the line to take the title

To add to the drama, Haaker crashed over the finish line, while Webb looked on in complete shock in what has just unfolded.

While for Gomez he was disqualified from the race.

Endurocross, the WWE of dirt bike racing!

AUSSIES ABROAD
Jed Beaton was one of man Aussies doing Australia proud on the world stage last weekend.
Jed Beaton - Racing the MX2 class at the 4th round of the World Motocross Championship at Trentino, Italy the Factory Husqvarna had a good showing as he continues his return from injury, carding 12-13 moto results for 12th overall and now sits 13th in the championship standings.

Mitch Evans - The Honda 114 Motorsports racer had a bit of a shocker during qualifying in the MX2 class on Sunday but was able to come through for 6-7 moto results to finish the round in 7th position, leaving him 8th in the championship standings.

Josh Strang - It was another 7th place finish for Josh Strang at the third round of the 2019 GNCC championship held at Steele Creek.

Tayla Jones - Tayla scored her second-round win in the GNCC Women's championship, just holding off Becca Sheets after a race where the two were never more than a couple of seconds apart. The win elevated Jones back to the stop of the championship standings by a single point.

Mackenzie Tricker - Tricker who crashed early in the race was caught out by lapped riders who race a shorter track than the pro women's class. Unfortunately for Tricker both Jones and Sheets were able to make it past the point the track joins before the slower riders arrived, leaving Tricker and the rest of the pro field with extra riders to deal with.

PRODUCT OF WEEK
Part of the latest drop from Seven MX and their 19.2 range. Head to Steve Cramer Products to view the full range.
SEVEN 19.2 ANNEX RACEWEAR

The Annex Jersey has a tailored athletic fit to reduce bunching and excess bulking allowing for maximum rider comfort. It's designed to give athletes unmatched energy-saving support by maintaining a cooler body temperature thanks to its plush moisture-wicking polyester material.

The Annex Pants durable polyester construction and top grain leather knee panels for maximised grip, along with an anti-slip waist closure system for a secure fit, are designed to give athletes unmatched comfort and support out on the track.

With all new designs and colourways for 2019, the Annex's non-fade sublimated graphics will allow you to stand out from your competition on the track.

JERSEY FEATURES
- Raglan sleeves with custom collar details.
- Tailored athletic fit to reduce bunching and excess bulking
- Plush moisture-wicking polyester material construction keeps you cool and dry
- Non-fade sublimated graphics

PANT FEATURES
- Durable, polyester material construction
- Air intake panels help to regulate body temperature
- Large wrap-around rear yoke stretch panel for unrivalled fit and support
- Anti-slip waist closure system for a secure fit and peace of mind on those core-ripping seat bounces
- Heat and abrasion-resistant top grain leather knee panels for added durability and grip

GLOVE FEATURES
- Sublimated, 4-way stretch material construction for resistance-free mobility and comfort
- Durable single-layered Clarino palm
- Plush airprene cuff with hook and loop closure for a secure fit
- Media stitch at thumb and index finger for easy mobile device navigation

6 Hours Deep
The Yamaha YZ250F is a great bike, not it is time to work on the rider!
On Sunday I finally got to do something I have not done for a number of months.

We loaded up our 2019 Yamaha YZ250F along with Jayden's YZ65 and headed to Gilman for a ride day. No gates, no racing, just cutting laps of the local track getting a good feel for our new bike.

It was a great day out, and I racked up another 1.5 hours of bike time and am very happy with the bike I have underneath me. For the most part, our YZ250F is still completely stock, with just a handful of parts coming across from our 450.

We are still running the original Bridgestone X20 tyres front and rear and thanks to Mcleod Accessories, will have a full range of Bridgestone tyres to play with throughout the year, from their X10 full sand paddle tyre, the X20 that comes standard on the YZ250F, a set of X30's that are aimed for loamy to harder surfaces and their full hard pack special in the X40.

I was wondering if the X10 would be useful to us, I thought about running it at Hattah, but as much sand as there is at Hattah, there are still a lot of sections of track that are dry and hard, especially if there has been no rain.

But with a round of the SAMX titles heading to Ceduna later this year, which is a pure beach sand track, we will certainly give it a run.
How sweet does that FMF pipe look! The FMF Gold Series Fatty along with a Powercore 2 has our YZ65 singing
While the YZ250F is super fresh, our YZ65 has done a few hours, how many exactly I am not sure! While Jayden is still young and new to the 65 class, he really is not working the bike anywhere near its full capabilities, but even so, we have a new piston kit on the way along with a few other things to give the bike that is about nine months into its life a freshen up.

One thing that did arrive prior to the weekend was a sweet looking FMF Gold Serie Fatty Pipe, along with their Powercore2 Silencer. The stock silencer was well due for a re-pack, so we thought it would be a good time to put a fresh system in place ready for the 2019 race season.

At some point in time, I will actually have to re-pack a silencer on the bike!

We are not about to stop this weekend with a Shane Metcalfe school heading to Gilman, both myself and Jayden will spend the day taking in all Shane can teach us. I know for certain there is more than a couple of things I need to work on.

A WEEK IN MOTION - A collection of video's and films from the past week

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