Round two of the Monster Energy
SuperX series was held at WIN Stadium in Wollongong with Daniel McCoy and Matt
Moss ploughing their way through the tough conditions and taking the round wins
in Pro Open and Pro Lites respectively, the Under 19's class final was called
off.
The scene was set for a brilliant night of racing after the forecast rain held
off throughout the day and into the early evening giving the riders some great
conditions on the tight and unforgiving track during Qualifying and the heat
stages of the program.
In scenes reminiscent of round one in Melbourne , just a few minutes before
racing was due to restart after a scheduled break the clouds above gave way and
the stadium was quickly drenched in a sea of water, turning the track from a
pristine Supercross track into another muddy mess. To make matters worse
lightning started flashing over head as the storm got closer, meaning the
racing needed to be postponed until the storm had past.
After a meeting involving riders and team managers it was decided the finals
would go ahead for the Pro Open and Pro Lites classes with a change of format,
the Pro Lites class being changed from the triple header format to one ten lap
main event and the knockout format for the Pro Open class was also knocked on
the head with the race being changed to a single fifteen lap format.
Unfortunately for all the Under 19s riders and riders in the Junior Development
class their night was cut short as the delays in waiting for the weather to
pass, along with the disintegrated state of the track meant their finals were
cancelled for the evening.
With the changes to the formats made and the easing of the storm the Pro Lites
riders headed to the line for their ten lap main event. Matt Moss aboard his JDR Motorex KTM took the early lead and left
the field in his muddy wake going on to win the race by quite a margin over
Motul Pirelli Suzuki rider Steve Clark
who was able to show his true mud riding skills this weekend.
Behind the leading duo Brenden Harrison
made a late race move, passing American Import Gavin Faith to secure his second podium result in a row, while
Faith held on for forth position. Luke
Styke rounded out the top five while his Serco Yoshimura team mate Kirk Gibbs had another tough night in
the wet conditions finishing in twelfth position after an early fall.
Clarke would not mind seeing rain at every round.
Another championship
contender having a night he would rather forget was Monster Energy Kawasaki's Dean Ferris who after running near the
front of the field in the first couple of laps then crashed out through the
tough rhythm section and was forced to retire from the race.
For the Second round in a row it was Matt
Moss who was all smiles , extending his points lead in the championship and
is now on target to make up for last year's disappointment of missing out on
winning the championship.
"I came here tonight expecting a dry meet and again it started raining, I
thought to myself last week it rained and I won in the mud and I was full of
confidence," Moss said.
"I had first gate pick in the main event and I was able to get out to a
great start and sort of check out, I was able to hit all my marks. My bike felt
awesome out there, I have never actually felt that good on a bike ever in my
life." explained the JDR Motorex KTM rider before concluding by saying
"I am stoked to get the win here in pretty much my home town; all my
friends and family were out here watching. I am stoked to come out of here with
the Red plate and I don't ever want to give it up. I didn't give it up during
motocross and would love to keep it the whole way through this series and have
the number one plate that got taken away from me last year"
Steve Clarke was another rider who
was also happy when the heavens opened up; the British born rider enjoys the
wet tricky conditions and showed why with his second place effort for the
round.
"Tonight was good, I seen the rain coming in and started smiling, I do
enjoy riding in the mud and I know some of these boys struggle in the
mud." commented Clarke.
"I got out to a good start behind Mossy, he had a clear track and rode
great and gapped me a little, we then got into some lappers and I got the wrong
end with some of the lappers. I am still very happy with second overall on the
night and scoring some good points towards the championship as that is the main
goal.
Brendan Harrison continued his year
long form of consistent riding and although Harrison was happy to once again be
up on the podium he is looking to take two steps up on the podium and gain
himself a round victory in the coming events.
" I am happy to just get another mud race out of the way like last week
and again earn some solid points and be on the box for the second time,"
Harrison said.
"Hopefully the next round we can have a dry races, I'm looking forward to
a dry one. I want to get to the top step of the box but not by rushing it, I
will keep chipping away and finish off these last three rounds strong," he
cncluded.
Daniel McCoy
lead early then lead again when it counted
The Pro Open Class got
off to a hectic start with a pile up of riders in the first turn which included
third placed rider from round one Ryan
Marmont.
While the downed riders untangled themselves Daniel McCoy headed out with the early lead with Monster Energy
Kawasaki rider Billy Mackenzie hot
on his back wheel and quickly taking control of the race by passing McCoy and
leading the field through the first handful of laps and looked to be setting
himself up for the elusive SuperX round win he is chasing.
Wollongong would not be the place for Mackenzie's first race victory however as
a mistake saw the Kawasaki rider down in the mud with McCoy inheriting the lead
with Lawson Bopping right on his
back wheel.
It was not long before Bopping made his move for the lead in traffic,
unfortunately for Bopping he clipped bars while attempting the pass for the
lead and went down, handing McCoy a comfortable lead from Daniel Reardon.
Reardon was able to close in on McCoy in the closing stages after a couple of
small bobbles by McCoy. McCoy was able to keep a cool head and prevailed in the
sloppy conditions with Reardon coming in a close second.
In third place was a hard charging home town hero Jay Marmont who was caught up in a start straight incident that saw
him near last into the first turn and mid pack at the conclusion of lap one -
for the second week in a row. Following home Marmont in forth was Lawson Bopping who was able to pick
himself up out of the mud and charge all the way to the finish. Carlton Dry,
Thor Honda rider Todd Waters rounded
out the top five while round one winner Tye
Simmonds the point's leader coming into the round finished in sixth place.
The race win not only put Daniel McCoy on top of the proceedings for the night
but also on top of the championship points table due to the mixed results of
the top place getters from round one.
"It feels great to get the round win, it is not really the way I want to
win, I want to win in the dry, we have put in so much testing and training and it
is a little disappointing to have the first two rounds in the mud, but I am
definitely smiling after tonight and getting the win and coming out leading the
championship by one point" said McCoy.
"Tonight's race was tough, at one stage I thought it was going to be a
second place finish when Bopping went to make the pass on me, but he clipped my
bars and went down. From there I just concentrated on the track that was the
main thing, Hitting the triple became a bit sketchy with all the ruts so at the
end of the race I backed it down and went double, single and was able to hold
on for the win" explained the Suzuki rider.
"I now get to go into my home town race in Campbelltown with the Red
plate, and will be aiming to stay up front and on the pointy end all the way
through to the end of the series." McCoy concluded .
Motul , Pirelli Suzuki team Manger Jay
Forman was glad to see his Pro Open star on the top step of the box after
also witnessing his Pro Lites rider make it onto the box early in the evenings
program.
"Tonight result was great, last week was a good start with a fifth and a
Sixth place, tonight was obviously better and now we need to be
consistent," he said..
"Last week we finished with a lot of the top riders behind us so we had to
capitalise on that this week and we did it and are clawing our way back to the
top I hope. Hopefully we can have another good round next weekend and hopefully
it is a dry one, there is a lot of work to be done in one week after these
muddy races," he concluded.
Daniel Reardon was pleased to be back up where he belongs on the podium
after putting off season personal issues behind him and looks to be back in top
form in the early stages of the 2011 SuperX series.
"I am very relived after tonight's round, it has been a long time since I
have been on the podium, I have had some issues and things go wrong in my life
over the last year and a half. I have been able to work though them and had
myself sorted out in the lead up to SuperX," Reardon explained.
"I do not consider myself a mud specialist by any means but tonight it
felt natural to me, I was happy with the way I rode and I was able to catch up
in the points chase, It is such a short series and I really want to go for this
championship and I was able to make up points on every rider except for McCoy
tonight,
"Tonight was a big step in the right direction, we have three more rounds
left and I want to come out strong," he concluded.
After a tough opening night CDR Rockstar Yamaha's Jay Marmont was able to rebound at round two with a podium
performance and though he sits back in sixth position in the championship, he
is only a few points off the leader was please with the nights result.
"After last weekend then seeing the rain again coming down I thought not
again. It looked like it was going to be a repeat of round one, Reardon got a
good jump and came over on me and I clipped Ando's back wheel which shot me off
to the right." Explained Marmont
"I was dead last heading into the first turn, but was able to sneak
through the inside and came out mid pack before working my way through. I was
able to get up to third and fight for that position, it at least has given some
momentum my way and we will head to the next round next weekend and try to get
a win," he concluded.
Round 3 Of the Monster Energy SuperX series now moves down the road to
Campbelltown on Saturday the 5th of November.
RESULTS
OPEN top 10 results – Round 2
1. Dan McCoy ONE Racewear &
graphics
2. Daniel Reardon
3. JAY Marmont One graphics
4. Lawson Bopping ONE Racewear &
graphics
5. Todd Waters
6. Tye Simmonds
7. Michael Phillips
8. Craig Anderson
9. Billy Mackenzie ONE graphics
10. Jake Moss ONE Graphics
OPEN – Top 10 Championship standings
1. Dan McCoy
2. Tye Simmonds
3. Daniel Reardon
4. Billy Mackenzie
5. Jay Marmont
0 6. Ryan Marmont
0 7. Todd Waters
8. Michael Phillips
9. Cheyne Boyd
10. Jake Moss
LITES top 10 results – Round 2
1. Matt Moss
2. Steven Clarke ONE Racewear &
graphics
3. Brendan Harrison
4. Gavin Faith
5. Luke Styke
6. Luke Arbon
7. Adam Monea
8. Casey Turner
9. Matt Ryan
10. Keiron Hall
LITES – Top 10 Championship standings
1. Matt MOSS
2. Brendan HARRISON
3. Luke STYKE
4. Steven CLARKE
5. Adam MONEA
6. Gavin FAITH
7. Casey TURNER
8. Kirk GIBBS
9. Matt RYAN
10. Luke ARBON
UNDER 19stop ten results – Round 1 /
Championship standings
1. Errol WILLIS ONE Racewear
2. Joey SAVAGTY ONE Racewear
3. Matthew PHILLIPS
4. Corey LUCAS ONE Racewear
5. Geran STAPLETON
6. Jake WILLIAMS
7. Jay WILSON
8. Tristen CACHIA
9. Jarrad DAVIS
10. Kale MAKEHAM ONE Racewear
