A selection of riders detail their day at Conondale’s seventh 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) – 4th overall:
I always enjoy coming to Conondale and today was a decent day in challenging conditions. It would’ve been nice to have finished on the podium, but I’m happy to come out of the weekend with a good haul of points and will look to keep building on it as the series enters the home stretch.

Kirk Gibbs (KTM Motocross Racing Team) – 3rd overall:
It was up and down today. Third in SuperPole was okay, then in the first moto I didn’t get the greatest start. I got into fourth, and kept trying to make passes on Mosig but every time we got into lappers the lapper would let him through and not me. I caught right back up and the same thing happened again, this lapper didn’t see me and turned into me and took me down. It was really frustrating. The second race went a lot better, I was feeling good in second behind Ferris, and was just about to make a push when I had a little off. He got away by 10 seconds, and I chipped that back to four by the end but it was too late. I’ve lost a lot of points over the last two rounds, but all in all with the knee injury and not getting to ride much in the last two weeks, it’s not a bad result, but I need to get back into those race wins.

Todd Waters (Wilson’s Coolair Motul Factory Suzuki) – 2nd overall:
I felt good today, I like Conondale a lot and I ride the mud well too. I was stoked with the win in the first race, but in race two I went down which probably cost me the overall today. I knew when I crashed I had about 50 seconds between myself and Mosig to make up, and I just couldn’t believe that I was in that position, but we got back to third which was really positive. In the two days before Round 7, Jay Foreman and I did a lot of testing with the suspension, and earlier in the week I also did some testing with Jason Corney and it’s really paid off today. We’ve made some really positive changes to the bike, and that really gives you a lot more confidence – so today was a solid result, and now I’m just looking forward to Shepparton.

Luke Wilson (Wilson’s Coolair Motul Factory Suzuki) – 9th overall:
It was a pretty good day for me – I got a 10th and a 9th which I was happy with. I struggled a little bit fitness wise, but it’s good when you know what the problem is, and we’ve got something to work on ahead of Round 8. I got 9th overall for the day, so I’m inside the top ten which is what I’ve been working towards. I usually don’t like the mud but it all seemed to work out for me here. I got some good starts today too which made my job a bit easier. I’m not usually a big fan of Conondale but we’re happy that we got through it, and we’ve come away with a really good result.

Dylan Long (Crankt Protein Honda Racing Team) – 6th overall:
It was a bit of a tough day today. I was really happy to get in to GoPro Superpole again, but I crashed on my hot lap and that forced me to have to settle for fifth gate pick. In race one I got the hole shot and even though I’m carrying an injury I felt really good, but the track caught me out a little, and I hit some slippery stuff which cost me positions. In the second one, I just tried to keep it consistent and ride smart which we did. I’m glad to get through this weekend especially being a mud race, and now I’m just looking forward to Round 8 which will be at my home track at Shepparton.

Jay Wilson (Crankt Protein Honda Racing Team) – 7th overall:
It wasn’t a bad day for me. I’m not entirely happy with where I finished, but fifth in moto one was definitely a step in the right direction. Every race that we’re out there we are taking steps forward, and we are also taking positives from every round, so even though it doesn’t show on paper, we’re making the right improvements every weekend. The past eight weeks have been tough because I’m playing catch up and trying to get my wrist back to 100 per cent. It’s going to take some time, so I’m just doing my best every round and making sure I finish as many races as possible.

Jacob Wright (DPH Motorsport Yamaha) – 5th overall:
Fifth overall at Conondale which is my best result for the season so I’m pumped. Looking forward to being strong at the last three rounds of the Championship.

Dean Ferris (CDR Yamaha) – 1st overall:
I have always liked racing here at Conondale but it’s never been as tough or challenging as it was today. It was a real riders’ track and it separated the riders because of how tough it was. Getting the win was important and after the win at Nowra I focused on consolidating my position and not just be a one round or one race wonder. We still have a long way to go and the last three tracks are good tracks that will continue to challenge us so I look forward to racing them. Thank you to the CDR Yamaha team as the conditions made it their jobs difficult but they did a great job as always.

MX2

Jed Beaton (DPH Motorsport Yamaha) – 1st overall:
Pretty good day for me. I kept it fun because the track was very technical once it dried out. I’m looking forward to round 8.

Dylan Wills (Raceline Pirelli KTM) – 6th overall:
Connondale was pretty good for me, I got two holeshots again which was pretty crazy. Moto 1 was going good, I was running in second but unfortunately hit a big square edge bump and got a flat rear tyre with about 4 laps to go and ended up finishing 9th, that was tough to cop on the chin but that’s racing and stuff like that happens from time to time. Moto 2 I was sitting third and had a little tip over about halfway which put me back to 6th, that was disappointing, but the fact that we are there battling now with the boys gives me confidence! We are right there now, it’s all just a matter of me putting it together now and that’s it, we will get there, the bike is awesome the team is awesome and we are having fun going racing.

Caleb Ward (KTM Motocross Racing Team) – 4th overall:
I had a rough one. I had a bad start in the first moto, came through, and got filled in real bad on the first lap. I was trying to wipe my goggles to get a bit of vision but it didn’t work so I ended up having to throw them. I got roosted pretty bad for a couple of laps so I ended up coming in for some freshies, and after my pitstop, went back out there and made a few passes, and got up to third. I was really surprised about that, I thought I was a lot further back than that. In the second I got another terrible start and probably should have been a bit meaner; I was getting held up so much by the riders in front of me but with only one dry line, the only way I was going to move forward quickly was to smash into guys. I didn’t want to put myself on the ground either, so it was frustrating. Fourth overall normally wouldn’t have been too bad, but with how close the championship is, I want to win.

Jayden Rykers (Davey Motorsports KTM) – 3rd overall:
We had a fair bit of rain the day before and the track was fairly sloppy, so whatever lines formed up in qualifying and practice became the main line for the whole day. The day came down to getting really good starts, then basically maintaining that position for the race because there weren’t really too many passing opportunities unless the guy in front of you made a mistake and ran off the track. My first start was probably outside the top 10, and I picked a few off to finish sixth. I was in the top three off the line in the second, got up into second on the first lap and that’s where I stayed. Championship-wise I lost points on the front to guys, but gained one point on third and probably 35-40 points on fifth. So, we haven’t moved anywhere, just firmed up our position a little bit.

Nathan Crawford (Husqvarna) – 2nd overall:
Treacherous conditions today, but we still came out of it pretty good. A bad start in the last moto cost me a little bit, but I’m still in a good position for the last three rounds, so I’m not complaining too much there. 1–4 is not too bad. Due to environmental considerations, we are not allowed to run tear-offs, so, vision was a struggle. Scott puts together a good Roll-Off system, but the amount of mud out there still made it hard to see. So, a few battles today, but we made the best that we could of it.