MX Nationals

Nathan Crawford Dominates The MXD Class At The Bridge

Author: Aaryn Minerds

Posted:

Monday, May 19th, 2014

8:10 AM

Husqvarna backed privateer Nathan Crawford has launched himself into MXD title contention with a convincing 1-1 round result at round four of the 2014 Monster Energy MX Nationals at Murray Bridge on the Weekend.

The Queenslander moved to within eight points of new championship leader Egan Mastin after producing the most exciting finish to a MX Nationals race this season.

Mastin along with Crawford worked their way to the front of the field in the second half of the opening MXD race, with the duo pulling a small gap over the rest of the field.

Mastin looked as though he had the race under control until the final lap where Crawford put in a huge charge catching up to the Craig Anderson Racing Husqvarna riders back wheel with just a handful of corners to run. Crawford then took full advantage of a small bobble in the last corner by Mastin to sneak through for the by the smallest of margins.

Western Australian, Culley Yamaha backed rider Kyle Webster who impressed at the South Australian state titles just two weeks ago kept his good form going to finish the opening moto in third.

Nathan Crawford grabbed the holeshot in moto two and was never headed - Credit: Aaryn MInerds

In the second moto Crawford grab the holeshot and checked out taking a comfortable win.

He was followed home by KTM's Jack Simpson who bounced back from a tough opening moto that saw the championship leader coming into the round involved in a first turn pile up.

Webster once again finished in third position.

The day however belonged to Crawford who was pumped to go 1-1 after a below par performance by his standards at the previous round at Wonthaggi.

"I struggled at the last round so I came here to redeem myself," Crawford commented, "going 1-1 today really stamped my position of where I should be.

"I am glad to have gone 1-1 and hopefully I can back it up after the break and come back swinging.

While most of the MXD riders will skip this weekends upcoming round at Wanneroo with only the MX1 and MX2 riders in action, Crawford has taken up an offer as a wild card to race in the MX2 class, before taking his mid season break.

"I am going to race next weekend in WA in the Pro Lites class. After that I will be sticking to my program, not change anything up because it is obviously working for me."

Kyle Webster impressed with his 3-3 moto results for second overall - Credit: Aaryn MInerds

Websters 3-3 result for the round secured him his maiden podium result and has showed that he will be a rider to keep an eye on for the remainder of the season.

"My first race went well, though I got a little arm pump early," Webster explained, "I have always struggled with the first races.

"The second race I was feeling a bit better coming into it and it went really well, I am so happy with how it all turned out.

"I have to give a big thanks to Culley's Yamaha, what they are doing for me, coming back and fourth from Western Australia is unreal and I can't thank them enough.

"I want to give a huge thanks to the GYTR Yamaha guys for sorting my bike out yesterday, it was not going and they spent a lot of time working on it for me, that was unreal."

Egan Mastin had a bit of a mixed day, but will head into the next MXD round in eight weeks time with the championship leaders red plate - Credit: Aaryn MInerds

Rounding out the podium was new MXD points leader Mastin. After finishing second in the opening race, a bad start left him buried in the pack in moto2. A big push through the field left him in fifth for the moto and the championship lead by a single point.

"It was a bit of a disappointing day, in the first race I had some good speed at the start and then I just got to comfortable." Mastin stated. "In the last corner he [Crawford] caught me put on the pressure and I made a mistake and he got me.

"I got a bad start in the second race and came back to 5th so that was alright."

Jed Beaton battled through some pain to secure some very valuable championship points - Credit: Aaryn MInerds

Finishing fourth for the round was GYTR Yamaha's Jed Beaton who was still recovering from an operation after the Wonthaggi round. Early in the day it was unsure if Beaton would ride or not, but the Victorian toughed out the day picking up some very valuable championship points and now sits just three points from the points leader.

Rounding out the top five was Jack Simpson who dropped back to second in the points standings due to his crash in the first turn of the opening moto. Dylan Wilson finished the round in sixth overall on the back of his fourth place moto result in the opening race.

Aaron Tanti secured 7th overall, ahead of Jayden Rykers in 8th, Wilson Todd in 9th and Daniel Price who rounded out the top ten for the round.

Jack Simpson salvaged his day with an impressive ride through the field in moto one and a second place in moto 2 - Credit: Aaryn MInerds

MXD Round Results
1. Nathan Crawford - 70 Pts
2. Kyle Webster - 60 Pts
3. Egan Mastin - 58 Pts
4. Jed Beaton - 54 Pts
5. Jack Simpson - 53 Pts
6. Dylan Wilson - 52 Pts
7. Aaron Tanti - 50 Pts
8. Jayden Rykers - 46 Pts
9. Wilson Todd - 39 Pts
10. Daniel Price - 38 Pts
11. Brock McLeary - 38 Pts
12. Jett Anderson - 36 Pts
13. Zak Small - 35 Pts
14. James Alen - 34 Pts
15. Tyler Lange - 34 Pts
16. Robert Lovett - 32 Pts
17. Izak Maule - 31 Pts
18. Bailey Coxon - 30 Pts
19. Ty Pearce - 28 Pts
20. Aaron Hart - 23 Pts
21. Mathew McEntee - 18 Pts
22. Ty Lynch - 18 Pts
23. Trent Wheatley - 15 Pts
24. Jamie Harvey - 14 Pts
25. Jye Breed - 14 Pts
26. Jordan Waters - 11 Pts
27. Ryan Boyd - 8 Pts
28. Emma Milesevic - 7 Pts
29. Ryan Shadbolt - 3 Pts
30. Brodie Ravenhorst - 3 Pts

MXD Podium - Credit: Aaryn MInerds

MXD Championship Standings After Round 4 of 8:
1. Egan Mastin - 273 Pts
2. Jack Simpson - 272 Pts
3. Jed Beaton - 270 Pts
4. Nathan Crawford - 265 Pts
5. Wilson Todd - 209 Pts
6. Kyle Webster - 206 Pts
7. Jayden Rykers - 199 Pts
8. Aaron Tanti - 177 Pts
9. Brock McLeary - 176 Pts
10. Daniel Price - 155 Pts
11. Wayde Carter - 132 Pts
12. Dylan Wilson - 129 Pts
13. Jesse McNally - 128 Pts
14. Bailey Coxon - 121 Pts
15. Jett Anderson - 118 Pts
16. Ty Pearce - 113 Pts
17. Izak Maule - 112 Pts
18. Zak Small - 112 Pts
19. Blake Colleton - 106 Pts
20. Jarrod Kelly - 96 Pts