Racer comments from Murray Bridge's fourth motocross round.
A selection of riders detail their day at Murray Bridge’s fourth round of the 2016 Motul MX Nationals. Team and privateer competitors can submit comments to [email protected] prior to the Wednesday after events for inclusion in the post-event Quotebook feature.
MX1
Kade Mosig (National Pump Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team) – 5th overall:
Today was tough because of the minimal preparation time, but my speed and fitness in that opening moto exceeded my expectations. All in all though, I’m really happy. My Kawasaki was awesome today and it’s good to show everyone I have the speed. I was a bit sore and weak in that second race, I didn’t get a great start and as soon as I found myself behind my teammate Matt, I just rode the moto out and focused on gaining some solid points.
Matt Moss (National Pump Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team) – 6th overall:
I was a bit disappointed with my results today, to be honest. It was just one of those days where I struggled with the track and my start in the first race wasn’t great. We’ll put some hard work in this week to turn it around and come back firing at Wanneroo next weekend.
Dan Reardon (CDR Yamaha) – 19th overall:
It was disappointing to not be able to see out the day and race both motos, but I trust the judgement of the RACESAFE team and elected to sit out race two. I just felt terrible after the first race and was probably lucky to be even able to see that one out. We have a tough round in the sand next week in Perth, so this week will be about trying to get my health back as quickly as possible as racing in the deep sand of WA will take plenty of strength and endurance.
Dean Ferris (CDR Yamaha) – 4th overall:
I had a tough day today and couldn’t really get comfortable on the track. It looks soft and loamy but you actually ride on a hard base and I just couldn’t settle on the track and produce my best.
Things are still close in the championship and there is a three way battle at the top at the moment, which is making things exciting. I think it will come down to the rider that makes the least mistakes and keeps putting good races together at each and every round.
Jessie Dobson (KTM Motocross Racing Team) – 21st overall:
Really happy to be back at the races, my bike was working great, but I wasn’t happy with the result. That first moto I just put myself in a bad position off the start with a bad gate pick and ended up out wide. The track was really one-lined today so I struggled to pass in that first one. I ended up tenth, which was something to build off, but it’s not where I belong. I was cooked by the end of that first one and walked away feeling like I was starting from square one again. But in the second I had a good start and I was sitting in seventh trying to push for sixth, but had a big crash and bent the bike. After that it wasn’t worth trying to race the bike in the shape it was in and possibly hurt myself on a rough track, so I pulled in. I want to get inside the top five, that’s where I want to be, and if I put myself in good positions, that’s where I belong.
Kirk Gibbs (KTM Motocross Racing Team) – 2nd overall:
It was a bit four-seasons-in-one-day in South Australia, but it was good to be back and see everyone. I’m happy as much about getting a race win as anything. It was pretty tight racing, in race one I got up into second, but a few little wrong line choices cost me, and I slipped back to fourth, which was pretty frustrating because I feel that with room to breathe I could have done a lot better. In the second I just plugged away, passing Ferris and passing Brett for the win. It was good close racing for the fans all day but every time you get close enough to make a pass you get a mouthful of roost or dirty goggles, and without many jumps on the track it was hard to find a place to rip a tear-off. The red plate is good, but a point in front is very tight – I’ve just got to keep plugging away.
Todd Waters (Wilson’s Coolair Motul Factory Suzuki) – 1st overall:
It feels awesome to finally get a round win here at Murray Bridge – we were close at Broadford but we got it done here today so I’m stoked. With a win in moto one, I just tried to ride a smart race in the second one – I knew that I just needed to get third to get the overall, so I did what I needed to do. All of the boys are riding very well so it’s nice to finally get a round victory under my belt, and now I’m just looking forward to getting in to some deep sand at Wanneroo next weekend. I’m not thinking about the championship too much at this point, I know I’m in a good position and we’ve tightened things up, but I’m focusing on just getting some race wins and taking it round by round.
Luke Wilson (Wilson’s Coolair Motul Factory Suzuki) – 14th overall:
I’m so pumped with how things played out today. Moto one didn’t go my way and I had a crash but in race two I got a good start and things just worked out and we ticked a huge goal off the list.
I’ve been chasing a top 10 not only this year, but for a long time, so to reach it is such an amazing feeling. With a top ten under my belt I just want to keep the ball rolling and I just can’t wait to get to the next round in WA.
Brett Metcalfe (SD3 Husqvarna) – 3rd overall:
I was heartbroken on Saturday, I think Luke’s injury took a big toll on everyone throughout the team, that was a tough one. He’s going to heal up and be okay but it was definitely a low for all of us. I knew it was going to be a battle here. Both of my boys have been sick so there hasn’t been much sleep lately. But it was a great day; we brought big improvements to the SD3 Husqvarna, and the FC450 was awesome today. I had a couple of issues in the first moto riding in the freight train up front; I lost a heap of tear-offs and ran out before halfway. The track was a bit one line in that race and I couldn’t see a damn thing so it was pretty hard to do much. We finished fifth but that wasn’t what we were hoping for. Second moto I got my first holeshot of the series which was awesome, but late in the moto I ran out of my personal fuel tank, but I knew that was probably going to come, with the week that I’ve had leading up with a bit of flu and stuff. I gave it all though and I’m happy to put the SD3 Husky third overall for the day. It’s good to leave the series on a good note, I thoroughly enjoyed the process. The whole SD3 team has been awesome to be around, the way we’ve gone about it I think we did a great job as a team to get to where I ended up here today. In this short time we’ve made great progress. I’m real happy and hopefully will be able to return another time and do some more racing.
Jay Wilson (Crankt Protein Honda Racing Team) – 22nd overall:
Round four was not what we were expecting, I hit a marker on the track in the second turn and it damaged my front brake caliper – I had no choice but to pull in because my brakes were locked on.
Due to the problems in the first race I was pretty limited with what I could do in the second one, so I just did the best I could and grabbed what points I was able to. I’m just looking forward to putting this round behind me and refocusing on my goals for Wanneroo next weekend.
Dylan Long (Crankt Protein Honda Racing Team) – 7th overall:
Round four has been pretty average for me to be honest, I fought as hard as I could to come back from a bad start in the first race, but with the depth of talent in the class, if you don’t get the start they just get away from you. In race two a small mistake cost me – I was running up the front and I just binned it meaning I had to fight back again to finish in seventh. We’re still inside the top ten in the championship standings, so we’ll just keep pushing forward and look toward round five in WA.
Jacob Wright (DPH Motorsport Yamaha) – 8th overall:
Overall it was a solid weekend for me. My riding has improved a lot from last round, which is a big positive. I’m looking forward to keeping the ball rolling in Perth this weekend.
MX2
Jake Moss (National Pump Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team) – 4th overall:
I’ve always struggled on tracks that aren’t necessarily rough, but are fast and rutted. Unfortunately, in that first race I felt alright, but had a small problem and had no back brake for 20 minutes. I still salvaged some good points and it felt good to run at the front of the second race, even if I didn’t feel 100 percent today. We’ll keep chipping away.
Jed Beaton (DPH Motorsport Yamaha) – 3rd overall:
Good weekend for me, lots of positives to take away. I had better starts, which helped.
Dylan Wills (Raceline Pirelli KTM) – 7th overall:
I’m pretty happy with the weekend, especially moto one. I got a decent start, but someone cart-wheeled going into turn one and his bike landed right in my way causing me to stop. I went over the finish line 17th on lap one and I felt my passes could’ve been a bit quicker than they were, but from what I’ve heard I wasn’t the only one struggling to pass on that track. I ended up pushing through to seventh and closing up onto the back of Jake Moss after being 17 seconds behind him, which I was happy with. The result on the weekend wasn’t exactly what I wanted, but I was happy to push through. I feel like my fitness is where it needs to be and my bike is great, just my intensity needs to be better, but equal sixth on the day is good and we made four spots in the championship!
Caleb Ward (KTM Motocross Racing Team) – 1st overall:
It was a really awesome day for me, it’s the first time I’ve gone 1-1 this year and I got the holeshot money as well. Pretty sweet. In moto one I ran wide and just sat in second for a while, pacing. I made a move on Crawford into the lead, and he kept me honest the whole race until like the second last lap when he dropped it. Then in the second I got another really good start and was sitting in third behind Crawford and Moss – the roost was really painful – but then I put in a bit of a sprint, pulled a bit of a gap on both of them and just maintained it and took it home. I made up 10 of the 30 points deficit in one round, so that was pretty good.
Jayden Rykers (Davey Motorsports KTM) – 8th overall:
That was my best qualifying today, got a top 10 gate pick. The first moto was good, the front guys were a little ahead and I could do my own thing and ride my race, then in the next one I got a bad start and found it really difficult to pass so that was disappointing, but what can you do? After a little bit of rain I struggled a bit on the slicker wet surfaces inside the berms. It meant that you couldn’t really leave the one quick line when you were following someone which made it hard to pass. For my first year I’m definitely happy to be in sixth position with a few guys right in front of me at this point, I’m definitely looking to make inside the top-five bracket.
Nathan Crawford (Husqvarna) – 2nd overall:
It was a good day, 3-2 for me. Felt like I rode really good all day and my starts were really good. I ended up holeshot in the first moto, and it was the first time I’ve been out front all year, so it was good to get up there and get a little taste. It took me a while to get going in the first moto Caleb ended up passing me and pulling away. I ended up catching him and I was sitting on his rear wheel with two laps to go, but I ended up tucking the front and going down but got going in time to finish third. I was running second behind Jake in the next one, when Caleb came past both of us. I got around Jake but ran out of time and got second overall. I’m one point away from the championship lead now so happy days!
Kyle Webster (CRF Honda Racing) – 14th overall:
It was a pretty disappointing day for me. I really struggled with my starts and making passes, and I didn’t feel like myself or was riding like I have been in the last couple of months. But I’m looking forward to getting back home to WA this week and getting back in the sand and racing the next round of the championship with lots of friends and family there.
Joel Wightman (CRF Honda Racing) – 9th overall:
The Murray Bridge round was a step in the right direction for me. Although my starts weren’t ideal, I fought hard and stayed on two wheels in both motos and made minimal mistakes, which put me ninth overall for the day, and keeps me in the hunt on the edge of the top ten in championship points. So I’m really looking forward to the trip to WA for the next round and getting amongst it in the deep sand at Waneroo next weekend.