News 14 Oct 2016

Racefeed: 2016 AUS Supercross Rd2 Toowoomba

Post-race updates direct from throughout the second round.

Follow all the action direct from Toowoomba Showgrounds’ second round of the 2016 Australian Supercross Championship. MotoOnline.com.au will update this feature directly following each session as they happen throughout the round.

Image: Jeremy Hammer (Foremost Media).

Image: Jeremy Hammer (Foremost Media).

SX2 practice one:
The first session on track this afternoon at the mammoth Toowoomba circuit was SX2 and defending champion Jimmy Decotis showed he will be a factor tonight, topping the charts by 0.705s over Hayden Mellross and Wade Hunter. Down the order further than anticipated at the close of the opening laps was points leader Gavin Faith, in ninth so far. The second session is coming right up.

SX2 practice two:
The second SX2 outing wasn’t as quick as the first, but it was Dylan Wills who led the way ahead of an in-form Kyle Webster, Tomas Ravenhorst and Nathan Crawford, who is returning from injury this weekend. First time out on the Raceline Pirelli KTM, Jesse Madden completed the top five.

SX1 practice one:
It was the Americans who led the way in the first SX1 session of the round, as points leader Justin Brayton debuted the red plate, posting the fastest lap at 52.298s ahead of countryman Wil Hahn, who was the lone other rider in the 52s. Todd Waters made a late improvement to third, edging out reigning champion Dan Reardon, while another US rider in Kyle Peters was fifth.

SX1 practice two:
The second session was led by young Aussie Jesse Dobson, his time quick enough to place him inside the top five in the earlier session, while American Chris Alldredge made his first appearance with Crankt Protein Honda Racing for P2. The time of Alldredge puts him ninth overall so far on combined times, one spot ahead of Lawson Bopping in the session – still yet to reach 100 percent health after missing much of the outdoors.

SX2 qualifying one:
Over-watering of the track caused a significant delay to the first SX2 qualifying session, but once finally on track it was Hayden Mellross who topped the charts with a 54.350s laptime, leading Wade Hunter, Jimmy Decotis, Jackson Richardson and Gavin Faith, who was improved this time out. The technicalities of the track and depth of the field is resulting in some surprise results, which should lead to great racing when the gates drop later on tonight.

SX2 qualifying two:
It was Nathan Crawford who topped the second SX2 session, his 56.572s clear of Kyle Webster and practice pace-setter Dylan Wills – the three of the separated by less than half a second. The fastest lap of Crawford put him sixth overall, which is a good result in his first race since the Toowoomba national in August. The top five in the session was rounded out by Kaleb Barham and Tomas Ravenhorst.

SX1 qualifying one:
The opening SX1 qualifier was once again led by red plate holder Justin Brayton, the only rider in the 52s bracket with a 52.861s laptime. He was 0.362s faster than Todd Waters, once again showing strong form in supercross, while Wil Hahn completed the top three. The times tightened up in qualifying, as Dean Ferris in fourth and Dan Reardon in fifth were also within a second of the pole-time. Kyle Peters was solid in sixth, while seventh saw the best yet of Adam Enticknap, leading a number of local factory riders so far.

SX1 qualifying two:
DPH Motorsport’s Lawson Bopping improved in the second SX1 qualifier to put his YZ450F on top, posting a ultra-fast 53.362s laptime to place him fifth on combined times. Just a couple of tenths behind him was Dobson, while US import Chris Alldredge was a couple of seconds back in position three. His time puts him in 13th overall so far, on debut in Australia.

SX2 heat one:
Points leader Gavin Faith picked up right where he left off following round one, winning the opening heat of the night ahead of Hayden Mellross and Dylan Wills. It was the late crash of defending champion Jimmy Decotis that took much of the attention though, going down in the whoops after posting the quickest lap of the race and registering a DNF. Joel Wightman and Jordan Hill completed the top five.

SX2 heat two:
Heat two was dominated by Serco Yamaha’s Jackson Richardson, the AMA regular comfortably winning from Kyle Webster and Tomas Ravenhorst. Fourth was Nathan Crawford, despite a fall during the seven laps, while Jesse Madden was fifth. Richardson’s teammates Wilson Todd (sixth) and Wade Hunter (eighth) also went down in the race. Not finishing this heat was Josh Cachia or Connor Tierney after they went down in the first turn.

SX1 heat one:
Red plate holder Justin Brayton continued his dominance in the opening eight-lap 450 heat, winning over countryman Wil Hahn and Lawson Bopping, who was over 40 seconds behind by race’s end. Fourth was Kade Mosig after he tangled with Jesse Dobson on the opening lap, while Boyd Hocking was fifth. Chris Alldredge was another crasher, going down heavily in the whoops toward the end of the race and being unable to finish.

SX1 heat two:
It was Team Australia’s Motocross of Nations representatives Todd Waters and Dean Ferris who went 1-2 in the second SX1 heat of the night, leading home American Kyle Peters, number one plate holder Dan Reardon and Jay Wilson, while former multi-time champion Jay Marmont crossed the line sixth.

SX2 LCQ:
With an need for an SX1 last chance qualifier, it was straight onto SX2, where Victorian privateer Geran Stapleton rebounded from a difficult heat to tranfer via a win, trailed by Connor Tierney, James Brown and Brody Cassidy. Kaleb Barham and Josh Cachia were non-finishers, the latter having a horror LCQ as he went down and then stalled during the five laps.

SX2 final:
Serco Yamaha’s Jackson Richardson has won the SX2 main event, maintaining his advantage over runner-up Hayden Mellross (DPH Motorsport Yamaha) for a 4.234s victory at the end of 15 laps. Richardson took charge when early leader Gavin Faith (Penrite Honda) crashed out of contention heavily on lap one and was never headed, keeping the in-form fellow US-based Mellross at bay, while Honda-mounted local privateer Geran Stapleton completed the podium. It was almost a YZ250F sweep of the rostrum as Wade Hunter (Serco Yamaha) recovered from a fall of his own for fourth, followed by Joel Wightman (CRF Honda Racing), who was initially registered further down the order in timing and scoring. Nathan Crawford (Husqvarna) made a positive return to racing in sixth, the top 10 completed by Dylan Wills (Raceline Pirelli KTM), Wilson Todd (Serco Yamaha) in his first ride of the year, Jordan Hill (Yamalube Yamaha Racing) and Lewis Woods (KTM). With Faith finishing five laps down in 20th and defending champion Jimmy Decotis (Honda Genuine Racing) bowing out of his heat, the championship’s blown wide open after just two rounds of the season. Full results to come.

SX1 final:
American Justin Brayton captured a second-consecutive 2016 Australian Supercross Championship victory at Toowoomba Showgrounds in another commanding performance from the Honda Genuine Racing rider. Brayton worked his way to the front of the field in the mid-stages and took control from there, crossing the finish at the end of 20 laps with a 2.073s buffer over countryman Wil Hahn (National Pump Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing). It was another spectacular showing from MX Nationals champion Dean Ferris (CDR Yamaha) as top Australian in third, getting the better of another US rider in Kyle Peters (KTM Motocross Racing Team, who led the race at one stage. Out of retirement, Jay Marmont ride his privateer MXR&D-supported Husqvarna to a fine fifth-place finish, from Kade Mosig (National Pump Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team), Adam Enticknap (Honda Genuine Racing), Jay Wilson (Crankt Protein Honda Racing), Luke Wilson (Wilsons Coolair Motul Suzuki) and Lawson Bopping (DPH Motorsport Yamaha). Defending champion Dan Reardon’s (CDR Yamaha) title chances took a hit when he crashed in the closing laps, bumping him back to P11. The early stages of the final were led by Todd Waters (Wilsons Coolair Motul Suzuki), however he crashed out of the lead and then again, unfortunately putting him out of the race altogether.

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