News 31 Oct 2016

Wills edges closer to SX2 top five for Raceline Pirelli KTM at Wayville

Raceline Pirelli KTM press release:

Raceline Pirelli KTM’s Dylan Wills has wrapped up the third round of the 2016 Australian Supercross Championship at Wayville in Adelaide just one position shy of the SX2 top five, after a successful outing in front of a packed crowd last night.

With Wills making significant progress throughout the team’s last appearance at Toowoomba, the KTM rider headed to the round high on confidence, translating that into a top result during last night’s main event.

The two-man Raceline Pirelli KTM team of Jesse Madden and Wills got to a slow start at round three, taking 13th and 15th positions in qualifying yesterday afternoon. But when the first heat race kicked off, both riders headed out together and raced to 6th and 7th positions respectively. In the SX2 main event, Wills recovered from being squashed out of the first turn, making a significant number of passes to cross the finish line in an impressive 6th place. Unfortunately for Madden, the SX2 final was one to forget after going down at the mid-way point in the race, the KTM rider forced to return to the pits and registering a DNF.

Dylan Wills – SX2 (6th Overall)

“This round wasn’t too bad actually – we probably started off a bit slow and I struggled in the whoops a bit at the beginning, but we had a relatively good heat race after that,” Wills shared.

“My teammate Jesse and I were right up there in third and fourth in the heat, and we actually came together and I took us both down which was my fault, but we recovered and got 6th and 7th which was not too bad.

“In the main I got shoved back in the first turn, but I just rode smart, put in 15 consistent laps and ended up 6th. It’s a step in the right direction – those top three guys are really fast at the moment so I’m setting realistic goals and chasing them down. So we’ll just keep pushing forward every weekend.”

Jesse Madden – SX2 (DNF)

“I was feeling quite good at the start of the day. We worked on a few things after practice and qualifying and I got a lot more comfortable on the bike which was positive,” Madden shared.

“I had a good heat race and then I just made a stupid little mistake in the main event while I was in about 10th and landed on my head, so I had to pull in at about the halfway mark unfortunately.

“I feel like I’m riding quite well at the moment so a DNF is obviously disappointing, but we’ll go home and work on a few things, head to Melbourne freshened up, and see how we go there.”

Chris Woods – Raceline Pirelli KTM Team Manager

“It wasn’t a bad weekend for us – It was a shame that Jesse went down in the main because he’s been riding very well recently, but it was fantastic to see Dylan up near that top five in what is a very talent rich SX2 class,” Woods shared.

“We started the day off a little slow, but as the boys got to know the track, and settle in they just got better and better which was great to see.

“With back to back weekends now until the end of the season, it’s really important that both riders are healthy which they both are – so fingers crossed we can keep making progress and finish these last three races of the year strong.”

Raceline Pirelli KTM will now prepare for Round 4 of the 2016 Australian Supercross Championship being held in Melbourne in Victoria on Saturday November 5, 2016.

To follow Raceline Pirelli KTM’s progress this year, like ‘Raceline’ on Facebook or follow @raceline_motosport on Instagram. To learn more about Raceline and their products, head to www.raceline.com.au

For further information on the 2016 Australian Supercross Championship, head to www.ma.org.au

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