HQVA press release:

Husqvarna Australia factory backed riders have started this year’s Australian MX Nationals championship with promising signs at the series opener at Horsham in Victoria.In the Premier MX1 class, just-turned-18-year-old Jesse Dobson overcame a couple of falls in the opening moto to register 12th and 10th place finishes in his national debut for Husqvarna.

The Sunshine Coast ace and his Husqvarna FC 450 will now enter the second round of the series in a three-way tie for ninth place overall, with Craig Anderson Racing rider Aaron Tanti a very impressive 14th overall after 17 – 13 scores.

In his first official showing in a very hotly contested MX2 category, Nathan Crawford (5-6) led the way for Husqvarna in fifth overall, while Luke Arbon’s injury-affected off-season contributed to a slow start for the South Australian (by his standards) with 11-7 finishes for ninth on the day.

Disappointing though it was for the national number three who suffered a back injury during last year’s Australian Supercross championship, Arbon’s start was still eight positions better than at the same time last year!

Yet another Husqvarna-mounted debutante, Craig Anderson-managed Connor Tierney scored a 10th place on the day which was anything but indicative of his speed.The lightning-quick Western Australian set the fastest lap time while leading the opening moto, before arm pump sent him fading backwards through the field.

Jesse Dobson – MX1: “Equal ninth on the day, but it was an eventful day that’s for sure. The first one we just had a bad start and ended up going down twice, and I just made my way back through the pack. But then I kind hit of a brick wall and lost my mojo halfway through the moto and Makeham ended up getting me on the last lap. In the second one I had a first lap crash behind Monier, so after that I just tried to relax and put some clean laps down and I ended up making my way back to tenth. It is not the result that I wanted but it’s something to build on, and if we eliminate mistakes the speed and fitness is there to be a top guy.”

Luke Arbon – MX2 “Last year I was like 17th overall in the first round of the series, so I’m eight or nine spots better off than I was then, and I came close to winning the championship then so I think I just need to keep my chin up, keep working hard these next two weeks and come out swinging at round two. The bike was great, I holeshotted the last moto so it shows the bike is fast enough to get the job done, I’ve just got a little bit of work to do with my suspension setup on rough tracks, but I definitely enjoyed riding it and hopefully we can show what it’s got at Appin.”

Connor Tierney – MXD “I didn’t have the best of days, but there were some good points to take away with the bad. The first moto I was second off the start, and when Mitchell crashed I led for two laps and set the fastest lap time for the day. But then I faded and dropped all the way back to 10th. I think I pushed a little bit too hard early on and gripped the bars too tight with nerves and my arms pumped up. The ruts didn’t help; I’ve never seen anything like that in my life. You can’t even practise that! I planned to go a little bit easier in that second moto, but it was red-flagged. I know I have the speed to be up the front, I just need to work on a couple of things to be up there. The bike was unbeatable, it pulled great starts and worked fantastic.”

For more information on Husqvarna motorcycles visit www.husqvarna-motorcycles.com.