CRF Honda Racing press release:

After the traditional mid-season break, hostilities resumed last Sunday (July 3) in the Motul MX Nationals with the staging of the military appreciation sixth round of the Australian championship at Nowra on the NSW south coast.

Under bright blue skies, CRF Honda Racing team riders Kyle Webster and Joel Wightman took to the track aboard their Pirelli-shod CRF250R thumpers, confident that recent strong performances would hold them in good stead as they battled a quality field of MX2 championship combatants.

At round five in WA a month ago Webster, won a MX Nationals championship moto and backed up the next week with third at the annual Manjimup 15,000 on a 450, while Wightman recently clinched the Pro Lites class of the NSW East Coast MX series, so both riders hit the Nowra race with strong form on the board.

But when all was said and done after a testing round at the popular Nowra venue, round six delivered mixed fortunes for the CRF Honda Racing team mates.

Wightman kicked off race day with a “PB” in Qualifying, firing his CRF to tenth fastest time, admitting that Qualifying: “Is not usually my strong suit, however I have been improving my speed of late and am glad to see the work in that area paying off.”

Come race time, Wightman’s starts were not ideal, but putting his head down, the NSW Hunter Valley young gun went hard at it, with satisfying results.

“That first moto I just charged as hard as I could all race long,” Wightman explained, “and that delivered me another personal best for the Championship with a sixth place finish in the race, but the big positive for me was my lap times were heaps closer to the leaders, which is really encouraging.”

In the second moto, Wightman again pushed his way toward the pointy end of the pack, finishing the moto in eighth place.

“So 6/8 placings gave me seventh overall for the round,” Wightman explains, “which has helped me slide up to tenth overall in the Championship, and I’m pretty happy about that.

“The next round is at Conondale in a fortnight’s time and I’m looking forward to maintaining the momentum to keep working my way forward in the Championship standings.”

As for Webster, his aspirations for the Nowra event were pretty much dashed when he came down with a flu virus on the Saturday.

“The flu just knocked me around so bad,” Webster explains, “and left me feeling so weak and tired on Sunday. It was that bad, I could hardly even hold on come the mid-point of each moto.”
Nevertheless, Webster soldiered on, bringing his Honda home in 16th and 11th places in the Championship races, giving him 12th overall for the round.

Webster’s gritty rides mean he has maintained his sixth overall ranking in the MX2 Championship standings, and is keen to put the virus behind him and come back fighting as the Championship heads north to the warmer climate of Queensland’s sunshine coast hinterland for the next round in a fortnight’s time.

With their race commitments complete at Nowra, the CRF Honda Racing team however stayed on at the NSW south coast circuit for the following day’s special Motocross of Nations fundraising event, where members of the public had a once in a lifetime opportunity to ride the Championship track as it stood after the MX Nationals event, and to gain coaching tips and advice from some of the sport’s leading pro racers and former legends.

Organised by CRF Honda Racing team manager Mark Luksich, all proceeds from the MXON fundraiser ride day will go toward assisting Australia’s team contest this year’s Motocross of Nations world teams championship being staged at the famed Maggiora track in Italy on September 24/25.

Meanwhile CRF Honda Racing will now focus on its next national competition outing, which comes at round seven of the MX Nationals at the Conondale circuit in Queensland on July 17.