MotoOnline.com.au reflects on round six of the outdoors with an up-close perspective.

One of the greatest things about motocross and spectating is that you can get up close as some of the world’s best riders blitz past at full speed on any given Sunday at a national level.

What’s better, if you work in the industry as either a team member, media or event an event organiser, you get an even closer look at how the sport’s best get to work come race day.

To start with in this all-new Trackside column, which will see a mix of contributors put pen to paper during the year, I’ll be taking an insight into Coonabarabran’s round of the MX Nationals – i.e., how the riders looked, who was fast, who was not, what sections of the circuit stood out and who’s been doing their work when it comes to both fitness and testing.

The Goanna Tracks Complex had everybody talking in the lead-up to the event since it’s 2.9-kilometres in length, and by Saturday afternoon, Australia’s best seemed stoked on the track’s preparation and layout.

Wide turns, multiple sets of rolling whoops, graded dirt and a gnarly up and down hill section had everybody excited to see what was to come on Sunday once riders turned a wheel at race pace. All in all the Goanna Tracks Complex is a high-speed spectacle that you just have to admire. After all, the combo we just mentioned should result in great racing, right?

The racing didn’t disappoint either, with multiple winners stepping up on race day across all three categories. At times it looked like a drag race of sorts in the Lites as the top guys seemed to be wide open for much of the track, however the mix of a tight arena-style section did keep them on their technical toes.

Usually we see the top Lites guys equally as quick as the Open class contenders in qualifying, but at Coonabarabran Phil Nicoletti’s pole time was 3:06.282 – a total of 3.764 seconds off the pole pace of Kawasaki teammate Dean Ferris (3:02.518) in the Pro Open class.

Even more impressive in the 450s was the fact that Ferris, Billy Mackenzie, Jay Marmont and Josh Coppins were separated by just 1.522 seconds over the duration of three minutes per lap. Straight away it was obvious how important getting out of the gate would be in the races. That right there is exactly why they are the four favourites for the 2011 crown.

Once the motos started the gap between the 450s and 250s closed up to around two seconds in the opening moto, and Nicoletti’s best lap in the second Lites moto was actually quicker than the best lap of the second 450 moto set by Coppins.

What was even more interesting though was the fact that the Lites were at least three seconds a lap slower in the afternoon than what they were in their opening pair of motos.

Meanwhile, the Opens basically maintained their pace through motos two to four, albeit a couple of seconds off the pace of Mackenzie’s first moto performance.

At the end of the day though, lap times are essentially pointless apart from qualifying, because there are so many factors that go into gaining a strong result at the national level.

Visually though, you can see just how hard the Pro Open guys are pushing on every lap of every moto, especially the top guys. The fast sweeper leading onto the start straight made this especially obvious, as the podium contenders were on the gas through their compared to the guys who were spanning fifth through 10th.

Even down the spectacular hill at Goanna Tracks you could see the difference in commitment from the front-runners in all classes. That downhill could be compared to the likes of Mt St Helen at Glen Helen (not in its size, but in terms of being unique to the country) or even Bathurst’s Conrod Straight if you prefer to speak in domestic motorsport terms. It’s phenomenal.

The way that Marmont was attacking it was event more phenomenal, a sheer balance between accelerating at speed down the hill, before being able to brake hard enough at the bottom to make a tricky S-bend series of turns. Just how hard was it? Well the banners through that section at the bottom of the hill were busted before practice was over after a rider or two overcooked it.

Despite having so much track to play with in various sections, there weren’t a huge variety of lines that the riders were taking at any given moment. They changed during the day, but it’s rare in Aussie motocross to see multiple quality lines forming at once, because so often we see many making use of inside lines from early on in the day.

At one point during the Pro Lites practice there was this sweet rut the guys were taking, really carving through, until it fell away when one of the guys got a little sideways in it. All of a sudden on riders’ next laps, a turn that had seen great corner speed was now one of the most challenging on the track before the next rut set in.

Track preparation and maintenance throughout the day was crucial at Coonabarabran considering its length, and the club put on an inspiring performance that meant the circuit was ‘raceable’ all day long. This was assisted by the shade from trees in the tighter sections, while the open parts of the track did become much more hard-pack.

It was a point that round winner Marmont mentioned in his Race Recap interview right here on MotoOnline.com.au and a factor that he says could be improved upon by many other clubs around the country.

Bring on next year!

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