Racer comments from Coolum's 10th motocross round.
A selection of riders detail their day at Coolum’s 10th 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) – fourth overall:
It was a tough day today – the track was brutal. I really enjoy riding in the sand and I came into today wanting that podium that I didn’t achieve, but it’s still been a really enjoyable and positive series with the team and aboard the KX450F. A big thank you too all of our supporters and everybody who has been behind me this season. Now it’s time to focus on the Australian Supercross Championship and I’m really feeling confident that it will be a strong end to the year for National Pump Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team.
Kyle Peters (National Pump Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team) – 14th overall:
It was a good day racing. I struggled in the beginning, but I overcame it in the first moto where I started charging at the end to finish third and that was a great result in my first race at Coolum. I had a bit of an issue in the second moto, but hey, things can happen to people sometimes. It’s been a great trip with the National Pump Monster Energy Kawasaki team, [team manager] Troy Carrol and his family – I hope to be back one day and I’m really thankful.
Kirk Gibbs (KTM Motocross Racing Team) – third overall:
Obviously I didn’t want it to end that way but Dean and Todd probably rode a little bit better than I did today. So, it is what it is and I’m really happy with how the year went. I was on the podium nine times out of ten, and it is unusual for that not to win you the championship, but then, everyone thought Dean and Todd were going to walk away with it this year, so it’s good that we were still fighting over the title until the last race. Obviously there can only be one winner at the end of the year, but still it’s hard with how much effort everybody’s put in. We would have loved to get the championship, and it was frustrating to have led this long and come up just short, but I think everyone realises that we put our heart and soul into it, we just weren’t good enough this year. But we’ll keep fighting, and we’ll come back next year.
Todd Waters (Wilson’s Coolair Motul Factory Suzuki) – first overall:
This weekend was exactly how we wanted to finish the season, and I’ve been chasing rounds like this all year. A lot of times this season I’ve had a good first moto but things haven’t played out so well in the second one, but today it was the other way round and did what we came here to do. I actually ran out of tear offs in the second race, and I just thought to myself, “I have got to get out in front”, it just gave me that motivation to dig deep and I made it happen. I just rode my best today and let whatever happen happen, which has paid off, and I’m just wrapped to finish with one final podium and third in the championship.
Luke Wilson (Wilson’s Coolair Motul Factory Suzuki) – eighth overall:
I’m pumped with how today went. I didn’t ride exactly how I wanted to and I was really tired in both motos, but I finished in 8th overall and that’s the best I’ve ever done. I’m happy to have finished the season on a high which is exactly what we planned to do this weekend, so hopefully I can carry that over in to Supercross. I’m really happy for Todd as well, he finished on the best note possible today, and for myself, I think I missed six races this year, so if I didn’t miss those I think we would have wrapped up the year well and truly inside that top ten, so I’m happy.
Dylan Long (Crankt Protein Honda Racing) – fifth overall:
I’m pretty happy with how the last round went. We had a little bit of bad luck in Superpole and the first moto, but we recovered and found our way back to decent positions. Obviously we’re a new team, and we learnt a lot this year, but to finish fifth in the championship, especially when the class is so stacked, is a solid achievement. The team have been really supportive this season and I’m very thankful for their support. We got some great results, we’re not too far away from podiums, and it’s been a successful year.
Jay Wilson (Crankt Protein Honda Racing) – sixth overall:
To finish the season with a decent result is exactly what we were hoping to do, and we managed to pull that off yesterday. Being my rookie season, this year was about finding my feet and working out where I fit into the MX1 class, and the team as well as the people around me have all continued to support me all season. I’m not entirely happy with 6th in the championship, I have high expectations of myself and I wanted to reward the team for their hard work – but what I am excited about is 2017. After learning so much, and going through plenty of highs and lows, as a team and rider we are in a good position to go forward together, and challenge for the championship in the future.
Dean Ferris (CDR Yamaha) – second overall:
It’s been a long, hard road for me to achieve this and I have worked every day of my life to win this championship. The sacrifices my family, girlfriend and people around me take to win the MX Nationals all seem worthwhile now and this is no doubt the highlight of my career. Thank you to the amazing people at Yamaha and especially CDR Yamaha. When Craig and I discussed this deal late last year, I promised him a championship and he promised me the best equipment and team in the pits and we both delivered so that is extremely satisfying. This is the best bike I have ridden in my career and thank you to my mechanic Aiden, Brad, Gary and Mike for the effort and energy they put in. I love working with the team. I also want to thank everyone in the Kyogle community who support me. It’s a small region but the entire town get behind me and encourage me and I appreciate their support. Guy Andrews has also been a huge part of my program and working with him over the past four years has really shaped my career so he has played a huge part in my success so too have my personal sponsors, Blue Dolphin and SCOTT.
After that crash in the final race at Wanneroo in round five, I was able to take some time to sort some things out, think about the way I race and make the changes I thought were necessary to be a smarter rider. Since that round, I have finished in the top two every race and have now gone onto win the championship.Racing with Todd and Kirk has also been unreal and I congratulate both of them. We are all the same age and have raced together for years and at the start of the year, it would be the three of us standing on the podium at the end, we just need the 10 rounds to work out the order. They are good guys and they push me to be a better rider.
MX2
Dylan Wills (Raceline Pirelli KTM) – 11th overall:
This weekend was ok, I’ve always sort of struggled with these kind of tracks, and today is probably one of the best results I’ve had at Coolum so we’ll take that as a positive. I struggled to get out of the gates this weekend, and got hit in the first turn in moto two, but I was making moves, and then I had a little crash in that second race so it took me a while to get going. It’s been a crazy year for me. If you look at my results from the outside it’s a positive because I’ve moved forward from last year, but I’m not where I want to be.Sixth is not where I want to be finishing so we’ll head in to Supercross and give that a red hot go.
Kyle Webster (CRF Honda Racing) – fifth overall:
Overall, it was a good day but it could have been better if I hadn’t been put over a berm on the first lap of the first moto! That left me dead last, but I just put my head down and went for it and was pretty happy to get back up to fifth place by the finish. In the second moto I got an average start and once again made it back up to fifth, which was okay, I guess. But it was a tough event, and the Coolum track gets gnarly, that’s for sure.
Joel Wightman (CRF Honda Racing) – eighth overall:
Qualifying just wasn’t what I was aiming for, I just felt a bit off and didn’t gel with the track or the bike. But we changed a few settings and worked hard to get more comfortable for race day, and in the warm up on Sunday morning it was clear we had made a step in the right direction. In moto one I got an average start, but managed to push my way up to 12th by the end of the race, which was okay. In the second moto I got my best start of the year but in the bar banging on the first lap I got shuffled back to eighth. But I rode well for the whole moto and pushed my way back up to seventh, which gave me eighth overall for the final round. Overall that gave me eighth in the Championship which is an improvement on 13th last year and I am happy to be progressing.
Caleb Ward (KTM Motocross Racing Team) – third overall:
It’s pretty disappointing, I obviously wanted to win this year. But Jed rode like a champ today, obviously I kept him on his toes in the first one, I caught him a bit at the end but I couldn’t get it done. In the second I got the holeshot, but I made a bad line choice and he made an early pass on me. Then I fell and went back to third and got caught up with sand in my gloves which made it a bit slippery to hold on. I didn’t want to do anything too crazy and hurt myself. Second in the championship isn’t too bad but obviously I would have liked to have one. I had a bit of bad luck early in the championship at Broadford with some things that were out of mine and the team’s control, and I’ve made a few mistakes along the way myself. It’s a bit of a mix of feelings but overall second isn’t too bad. We’ll learn from it, move on and not dwell on it too much, and look forward to bigger and better things.
Jayden Rykers (Davey Motorsports KTM) – fourth overall:
I am a little bit disappointed that we didn’t podium today, but looking back at how the season’s gone so far, it’s been a pretty good year. For the level of competition, I’m pretty happy to walk away with fourth in the first year in the class. It basically came down to the start in the last Moto and I nearly tipped it over in the second corner, so I had to play a little bit of catch up and started reeling Wardy in, and was within a wheel length of his back tyre on the last lap, so that kept us off the podium. But I can’t complain; 3-4, just another consistent day, and all in all a pretty good year. Being able to race with those top guys and battle them, particularly in my first year, was great.
Wilson Todd (Serco Yamaha) – second overall:
I really wanted to finish with a round win. I feel like I have been riding well in the second half of the series but things have kept me from the podium lately so it’s good to just get it done and get a good result for myself and the team. The track was tough today as it got super rough and deep in spots which made it difficult to race. This year I have been able to learn a lot and watch how some of the best riders ride and train from close hand. There is no doubt hanging out with fast and dedicated riders pulls you along and this year I have been able to do that and it’s been a huge help. Supercross is next and I’m pretty pumped about that because I missed last years’ championship because of injury so I can’t wait to get some jumps happening.