Australian SX Nationals 2004 - Round Four - Melbourne

Tonight the Supercross Nationals rolled in to Olympic Park Stadium in Melbourne where a healthy crowd had gathered to watch the action unfold. On the weather front, Melbourne provided a fine day followed by a pleasant evening, which is somewhat in stark contrast to the heat and humidity we have sweltered through thus far in the SEL promoted series.

Motorex KTM's Jay Marmont continued where he left off last week in Brisbane by going a full 1.5 seconds quicker than any other rider during the afternoon Pro-Open practice sessions. While that is impressive, it did not mean perhaps as much as it suggested. The traffic during the practice sessions was fairly thick, and this track is not the easiest to pass on. Jay only got a couple of clear laps in and it would be fair to say that some of the other fast boys would have got even less of a chance to put their head down for a fast time. And at the end of the day, practice counts for nothing as the battle doesn't commence until the heat races.

In the Pro-Lites practice sessions things were very tight with Mitch Hoad, Daniel Reardon, Jye Harvey, Daniel McCoy and Adam Cini all running a hot pace. This class definitely looks to be shaping up as the thriller this year. Daniel Reardon has surprised just about everybody by showing great consistency and speed to lead the Pro-Lites class on his privateer machine. The Brisbane boy showed that he has the package to possibly upset the factory boys for the title when he took a clear win at ANZ Stadium last weekend. That win would have lifted him another level in confidence which means from here on in he should only get even better.

The track is good and quite technical with a fairly long straight for a supercross track. But that straight is about the only part of the whole track where the riders are actually on the ground for more than around two seconds at a time. I lost count of the jumps, I can't count any higher than twenty, and with laps being run in under 45 seconds, that shows just how much of the lap is spent in the air. The dirt looks great quality and the track should hold up all night as it is clearly built to a much higher standard than we saw in Brisbane last week.

In the first Pro-Lite heat it was Daniel McCoy, Daniel Reardon and Jye Harvey out in front early on. McCoy had a small moment but held it together very well, Reardon was already trying to take avoiding action just in case McCoy hadn't managed to save it, and Reardon nearly went over the bars by himself. With each heat race only four laps and the winner going straight through to the semi final the pace was fairly hot. McCoy took the win from Reardon with Harvey taking the final podium spot. Next home was Cooper in fourth and Jono Porter in fifth.

Pro Lite Heat 1 - 1. McCoy - 2. Reardon - 3.Harvey

Cameron Sinclair got the holeshot in the second Pro-Lite semi but Mitch Hoad and Ryan Marmont quickly moved through to battle for the lead between themselves while Broomfield pushed Sinclair back to fourth. Sinclair came back at Broomfield though and took third spot back from the factory Kawasaki rider. Ryan Marmont looked to have the speed on Hoad early on but the Suzuki rider responded and pulled out a few bike lengths on Ryan to take a convincing win. Broomfield and Sinclair then had a coming together which cost them heaps of time but they still managed to come home in third and fourth.

Pro Lite Heat 2 - 1. Hoad - 2. R Marmont - 3. Broomfield

Next out were the junior development riders. Wade Thompson has clearly been a cut above the rest this year but the South Australian got a shocker of a start and was mid-pack early on in this race while Jake Moss streaked away out in front. Thompson got the better of Justin Carafa for second place early on the second lap and set about chasing Moss down to keep his undefeated record intact. Moss cased it on the final jump on the penultimate lap which allowed Thompson through. Moss then dumped it under the bridge which cost him some time but the Nowra lad still hung on to an impressive second place.

Juniors Race 1 - 1. Thompson - 2. J Moss - 3. Carafa

Danny Ham got away well in the first Pro Open heat but Jay Marmont quickly made his way through while Cameron Taylor also decided to join the fray. I can't believe how good these guys time their take offs and landings, they have more riding skills in their little finger than your average bike journo can muster on a good day. Marmont again the master of the whoops section but Taylor and Ham also impressive. Marmont took the win in the four lap heat by 2.6 seconds over Taylor with Ham a close third.

Pro Open Heat 1 - 1. J Marmont - 2. Taylor - 3. Ham

Troy Dorron and Cheyne Boyd both got away well with Robbie Marshall in pursuit when the second of the Pro Open heats got underway. Lee Ellis came down hard on the final jump section on the second lap but managed to walk away. Dorron had two seconds on Boyd as they got the last lap board and is looking extremely impressive here tonight. Dorron takes the win from Boyd with Marshall an excellent third and running with the factory duo.

Pro Open Heat 2 - 1. Dorron - 2. Boyd - 3. Marshall

Then it was on to the Pro Lite semis....