Team Motul Suzuki press release:

Team Motul Suzuki riders Matt Moss and Kale Makeham are both on the mend after a tough outing at the inaugural AUS-X Open held in Sydney on Saturday the 28th and 29th of November

Matt Moss entered Saturday’s event which doubled as the fifth round of the 2015 Australian Supercross Championship sitting second in the series standings.

Moss fired his number one plated Suzuki RM-Z450 to the top of the time sheets in both practice and qualifying, before taking it to Chad Reed and the rest of the field in his heat race, beating the former AMA Supercross champion with a faultless ride from start to finish.

When Saturday nights main event got underway things took a turn for the worse for Moss when an early race crash left him at the rear of the field. Though able to re-join the race quickly, a second crash left the reigning supercross champion in the hands of Racesafe with his night over and championship hopes dashed.

Suffering a heavily corked leg and a big head knock Moss was forced to sit out the second day of racing action in Sydney on Sunday, but is hopeful of a return to action at the final of the 2015 championship this Saturday night in Victoria.

“The day could not have gotten off to a better start, we were the fastest in practice and qualifying and I was feeling great.” Moss commented.

“The heat race win in front of that massive crowd was an amazing feeling and at that point I knew if everything went to plan we could take the win later in the night when it counted.”

“Obviously things didn’t go to plan in the main event, that second crash left me pretty beat up and unable to continue.

“I banged my head pretty bad, but that is feeling all right now. The leg is still very sore at the moment, I will have physio every day this week and will hopefully be ready to race on Saturday.”

“The championship is out of reach for us now, but it would be great to finish my time with the team with a round win and we are still in a position to finish second in overall. There is still a lot to race for at the last round.” Moss added.

Team-mate Kale Makeham had his most positive round of the series on Saturday evening.

Still riding with the pain of an ankle injury suffered at round one, Makeham qualified in 12th position before finishing 5th in his heat race forcing him into the semi final round of racing.

A solid ride in his semi had the Victorian crossing the line in 3rd position, sending him to the nights main event where he posted a series best result with an eighth place finish.

Makeham’s weekend was cut short early on Sunday when he re-aggravated his ankle during practice leaving him to join his Suzuki team-mate on the sidelines.

“What a great event that was,” Makeham said at the conclusion of the AUS-X Open. “It felt great to finally come away with a solid night of racing and race in front of a sold out crowd.

“This season has certainly been a struggle with my ankle, but to come away with an eighth place finish on Saturday was a positive step forward.

“Another big bonus for the weekend was having RC (Ricky Carmichael) pitted in with us all weekend, to be have the opportunity to see how he goes about things and to listen to him talk between races was a great experience.”

With just a short six day turn around from the Sydney event until the series finale this Saturday night, the team is focused being on the start line when the gates drop at Knights Stadium.

“That was one of those weekends where things didn’t pan out they way we had hoped, but that is racing sometimes,” Team Motul Suzuki team manager Jay Foreman commented.

“Matt once again showed that he is a world class rider with his pace early in the day and his heat race win on Saturday.

“Things didn’t go his way in the main event and that second crashed knocked him around quite a bit and he had no choice but to sit out Sunday’s event.

“I was good to see Kale make it through Saturday and come away with a solid result.

“Both riders will have treatment during the week with the aim of lining up next weekend for the final round.

“As for the event, the whole weekend was fantastic and the racing especially the 450 main event on Sunday was brilliant to watch. It was just a shame that Matt was not able to be out there, adding him to the mix up front would have made the racing even better again.” Foreman concluded.

Catch Team Motul Suzuki in action this coming Saturday night, the 5th of December when the Sixth and final round of the 2015 Australian Supercross Championship heads to Knight Stadium in Victoria.

For further information on Team Motul Suzuki visit www.suzukimotorcycles.com.au. Like Suzuki Motorcycles Australia on Facebook; Also follow @suzukiaustralia and @suzuki_mx_aus on Instagram.