News 22 Apr 2014

Queensland victory a vital boost for Husqvarna's Sutherland

Husqvarna Motocross Racing Team MX2 rider makes gains at Coolum.

Image: Jeff Crow.

Image: Jeff Crow.

Victory in the MX2 Queensland Motocross Championship round at Coolum last weekend have come as a major boost for Husqvarna Motocross Racing Team’s Nick Sutherland ahead of round three of the Monster Energy MX Nationals.

Sutherland rode his TC 250 to three moto victories across the weekend at Coolum, ultimately winning the title ahead of Brenden Harrison and Jed Beaton.

“I wasn’t expecting this; there were a whole lot of good MX2 and U19 guys there like Brenden Harrison, Jed Beaton, Nato Crawford and Wade Hunter,” Sutherland explained. “I’m not a known sand rider, so to go there and do so well when I’m not super confident really helped with the confidence.

“Mud and sand have been my downfall in the past, but I just made a change to the way I was riding and worked the bumps a lot better. The good thing for both me and Brock [Winston] is that it wasn’t just a one-off, we continued it over three days.

“You won’t find a track much tougher than that either – it got repaired every night, and then destroyed again in the first Moto each day. It was pretty brutal. I didn’t get one holeshot for the whole event, I copped all the roost and the bad lines and wasn’t wearing out, just feeling good the whole time.

“It was good to chase those guys down and pass them, and now I know that I can do that every weekend. Wonthaggi next weekend will be bumpy too apparently, so hopefully we can get good starts and get away.”

While Sutherland won the MX2 overall, Brock Winston topped MX1 in a glorious weekend for the new-look Husqvarna effort (click here for a Race Recap interview with Winston).

Also over Easter at Dubbo in New South Wales, Egan Mastin was unstoppable on his TC 250, winning both the Pro Lites and Under 19 categories at the first round of the NSW titles at Morris Park.

Thousands of kilometres to the west at the Kalgoorlie Motorcycle Club track, the team’s youngest member Connor Tierney was busy dominating all six Junior 125cc and 250F races at the first round of the Western Australian Motocross Championship and sealing what was the perfect weekend for the team.

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