Australian SX Nationals 2004 - Round Four - Melbourne (Olympic Park)

An exciting and technical track made for an action packed night at round four of the 2004 Supercross Nationals at Melbourne’s Olympic Park. Practice saw some major get-offs as riders became accustom to the tricky lay-out, but all three SERCO Motorsport team riders settled in comfortably with Adam Cini the first to hop the triple.

Pro Lites Heat 1
Adam Cini was full of confidence, but could not get a start all night. He was dead last into the first turn, but set out to make amend. Another bingle meant he could only muster an 11th position. Daniel McCoy (CDR Yamaha) took the win and headed straight to the final, with Daniel Reardon (Whales Kawasaki) and Jye Harvey (No Fear Honda) in tow.

Junior Moto 1
With an un-blemished record in the series thus far, Wade ‘Junior’ Thompson made a shaky start to the night, 6th into the first turn behind some quick campaigners. By the second lap, Junior was up into second place, putting plenty of pressure on leader Jake Moss. His patience paid off when Moss bobbled before the second stutter pack. Junior ran away with the win in front of Jake Moss (Yamaha) and Justin Carafa (Yamaha).

Pro Open Heat 2
Robbie Marshall had been working solidly on his starts prior to this event, and the hard work paid off. By the time the pack sorted itself out at the fly-over, Marshall was in third place behind the in-form Troy Dorron (No Fear Honda) and Cheyne Boyd (Motorex KTM). There was plenty of action in the back of the pack, but the afore mentioned ran away with it without trading places.

Pro Lites Semi 1
Cini got another terrible start and was buried mid pack. He was moving through solidly but got tangled up with Simon Thompson. Unable to separate their bikes quickly both riders re-joined the race at the back of the pack. Unfortunately Cini had to retire on the very next lap due to technical difficulties with the bike, which meant he was un-able to get the chance to make the main event in the last chance qualifier and had to call it a night.

Junior Moto 2
The long start straight going into the tight first turn took its toll in most races, and this race was no exception. Junior took a soil sample and when he got going again, he was 10 seconds behind the leader in 5th. With the leaders riding a flawless race, Junior had to settle for third place behind Ford Dale (Griffin Yamaha) and Matt Moss (Yamaha). All good things must come to an end at some stage, and unfortunately Junior’s winning streak had to finish at 10 moto’s.

Pro Open Semi 2
Marshall got another terrific start, catapulting his SERCO YZ250 to the Holeshot. Cheyne Boyd took to the chase of Marshall, and tried to put a pass on Marshall entering the second stutter pack, but bobbled and hit his head on his handlebar cross-brace. This gave Marshall a little breathing room, and rode out the race very smoothly. Boyd made amends his mistake to take third place behind Craig Carmichael (Honda).

Super Pole
This was Marshall’s first super pole of the year (The winner of each heat and semi in the Open class qualify for the super pole, and race the clock to get the first pick of the gate. Marshall had a very quick time to beat, with Jay Marmont setting a 41.95. Next up was Danny Ham with a 42.16 and Troy Dorron with a 42.82. But it was Marshall that had the fastest lap time with a 41.92 with a very smooth run. This gave him the first pick of the gate for the main.

Junior Moto 3
In a carbon copy of the previous moto, Thompson went down in the first turn, but this time he was not as quick to get up. Riding aggressively, he worked his way back up to 7th place which gave him second place overall. Thompson still leads the championship with 117 points over Gianni Dalle-Molle (Kawasaki) on 82 and Jake Moss on 80.

Pro Lites Final
For the first time this year, Adam Cini did not qualify for the Pro Lites final, but Ryan Marmont (KTM) blitzed the field to run away with the win in front of Paul Broomfield (Kawasaki) and Cody Cooper (Honda).

Pro Open Final
Not getting the start he wanted, Robbie Marshall had to battle through the pack from 13th position. A small battle with Craig Carmichael (Honda) culminated in Marshall cleanly passing him and charging ahead. By the time he had worked his way up to 6th, the rest of the field had checked out. Marmont came away with the win in front of Danny Ham and Cameron Taylor.

The next event marks the half way point in the new series, which is gaining in momentum and popularity.