The 2012 running of the Coonabarabran round of the Monster Energy MX Nationals will be remembered as the round that claimed Ben Townley’s season, denying him of a chance to race for Chad Reed’s TwoTwo Motorsports team in the AMA this year.

Townley was only confirmed to be racing at Goanna Tracks late in the lead-up to the race, still waiting on his visa to be finalised before moving back to America in a dream once in a lifetime opportunity with TwoTwo. The crash happened early in Saturday’s practice and the rest is history, with the 101 now enduring a lengthy road to recovery.

Ben’s form at Conondale a fortnight earlier had everyone agreeing that if he was to remain in Australia all year it’d be a waste of talent, because he was no doubt ready to run for podiums in the U.S. This MXN series is packed with international and Aussie talent, but he simply schooled them at round one.

It’s a sad turn of events and one I know affected the entire Carlton Dry Honda Thor Racing team all weekend at Coona. They went from the highest of highs at the opener to a very low low, in an incident that nobody could have predicted. BT’s now recovering in hospital after undergoing surgery and I speak for all of us here at MotoOnline when I wish him a speedy recovery.

With Townley out for at least four months after a painful injury, the news rolled in late yesterday afternoon that Billy Mackenzie has also been sidelined for a similar period due to ligament damage around the scaphoid region of his wrist.

Mackenzie was really quick at Goanna Tracks, but crashes ruined his day. I don’t think even he expected to be ruled out for so long upon further examinations with doctors this week. It’s a tough blow for him and one that will ultimately deny him a shot at the title in his third season of Aussie racing.

So with Townley out (and already planned to be departing), Mackenzie now injured as well, and Tye Simmonds vacating JDR/KTM to go the privateer route this year, we have a strange scenario of three factory teams fielding one 450 rider each on track.

In my opinion, these teams should have at least two bikes on track in the premier MX1 class, even if that does mean taking a punt on developing young Aussie talent. CDR Yamaha and Motul Pirelli Suzuki are doing it, so why not give it a shot if you’ve got the bikes and resources to do so.

In JDR’s defence, they were originally slated to only run two MX2 bikes for this year, but Ryan Marmont was drafted in late in the pre-season for the outdoors (he was originally scheduled to race AMA SX East Coast Lites). When he raced west instead, the team basically slotted him into the team where Simmonds was (albeit on a Lites bike).

Monster Energy Kawasaki is understood to be scouting talent as we speak. Cody Mackie is the logical choice for the seat, but he’s headed to film a Mad Max sequel overseas from what we hear, and will not be available for any outdoor rounds.

Instead, the team is looking to America for talent and with the AMA SX season just about done, chances are there will be some riders available who aren’t contracted for outdoors over there. It’d be good for our series no doubt, but there’s always the argument again that an Aussie should be on the bike.

Anyways, Josh Coppins has set himself up with a handy lead after two rounds following his big win at Coonabarabran in MX1. He’s a wiley veteran who knows what it takes to win and he wasn’t panicking early on at Coona when the fast young Aussies were setting the pace. Instead, he just did his thing and was there when it counted, motoring through the final 30-minute moto.

In our post-race interview with the Lizard on Monday, he said that the first two motos were too short at Coona. Due to the track’s length they were only five laps, which means passing opportunities are limited. It’s funny because after round one Townley said he felt the first two motos were too long when combined back-to-back, so I’d say it’s simply a matter of getting the mix right.

Personally I’m a big fan of the new formats from a spectator and media perspective. The shorter motos suit the young guns with exceptional speed in the opening laps, while the longer moto to finish means that fitness is vital – especially after doing two races earlier in the round. To me it just has a good feeling about it all and is far easier to follow than last year’s four-moto format.

What was incredibly at Coonabarabran was seeing Simmonds and Jake Moss earn podium results as privateers. Their families are right behind them and so are some key personal sponsors, but boy are they delivering. I can tell you right now, there are some team managers out there right now that would be kicking themselves for not stepping up in the silly season.

Moss was a class above the rest in the first two motos, winning from flag to flag basically and displaying both the speed and consistency to challenge for this title. He had a big crash in the final moto and had to settle for 16th, bumping him to third overall, but he can be proud with what he achieved at Goanna Tracks.

Jake mentioned that he made a silly mistake in the final moto, which was interesting to hear him admit that he didn’t quite get it right. If he can control himself both when he does and doesn’t get a good start then he’ll be there all season long. Don’t forget, he has stood on the AMA podium against the world’s best.

Jay Marmont was well improved at Coonabarabran, finally looking right at home on the Monster Energy Kawasaki. I’ve actually thought all along that he looks better on the KX than he did on the Yamaha, it’s just a matter of him piecing the puzzle together and proving to himself that the package is good enough.

Of course his knee is still recovering and should be near 100 percent at Wonthaggi, so by the time this season hits the halfway point, I expect he’ll have a round win or two on the board. He actually led early on in the final moto and faded back, which he said was basically because he was fighting the bike and got wore down (remember, he hasn’t been able to train to his ability since the injury).

One team that must be absolutely stoked right now is the Serco Yamaha Metal Mulisha Racing squad. With Luke Styke and Kirk Gibbs dominating right now, this might just be their year. It’s early on though and team owner Gavin Eales has reminded them of that, so we’re anxious to see how this pans out.

Styke is a machine right now, not wanting to let this opportunity slip. Remember he was on the GYTR team in 2010 and then was kind of let go by Yamaha, demoted back to privateer status in 2011. Late in the season he was called in to ride for Serco as a guest and he hasn’t looked back since. It’s a credit to him and to the team for inspiring him to make the most of his career.

A sign of Styke’s determination right now came on Instagram this morning, with a picture of him out riding in pouring rain. He said he did three 35-minute motos in those conditions, so when it rains sometime this season (and it will!) look for him to ‘shine’.

Ford Dale is the only guy right now that I can see challenging them consistently this year, but it had to be tough on him after watching Townley go down (he had spent a week in NZ with BT in the lead-up to Coonabarabran). He also had some bike troubles at round two, so this battle will be interesting come Wonthaggi.

In saying that, Kade Mosig had to take confidence from the weekend, and Errol Willis will definitely gain momentum in his rookie MX2 campaign. By next year I think he’ll be a serious title threat. By the way, Cheyne Boyd deserves props after displaying a good amount of speed on Sunday.

The rising stars in the MXD class have been great to watch this year, very evenly matched. We’ve see two brand new winners this year in the two Dylans – Long and Leary – and it’s great to see this talent emerge. Mitch Norris is also really settling in at Axis Motorsports Kawasaki, as is Jay Wilson at Motul Pirelli Suzuki. Joel Milesevic is just one more that can win any given race.

Goanna Tracks was phenomenal all weekend, with water poured into the track and the layout one of the best we’ve seen – even better than one year ago. The track suited scrubbing and aggressive riding, which is why we saw the likes of Lawson Bopping and Todd Waters so fast all weekend (even though race day didn’t go their way).

What we do need to see in Australia is better fan interaction. These guys need to be closer to the track and also have more access to infield sections, as Townley has previously mentioned. It’s not an easy task to do so, but some of the best viewing at Goanna is from the infield and that’s where the public need to be if they want to get up close and personal with these riders while they’re in action.

That’s all I have for today, but remember tomorrow that Steve Matthes will file his thoughts from an American perspective with all the latest from the U.S. There’s a lot going on over there at the minute and I’m sure that he’ll have his finger on the pulp.

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