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

Team Shift Motul Suzuki rider Danny Ham has continued to improve his results in the premier Pro Open class of the Australian SX Nats, posting his first podium finish of the series at the weekend's fourth round of the championship in Melbourne.

Ham finished third behind defending champion Jay Marmont and similarly-mounted Cheyne Boyd.

Ham was again fast all night, and used a win in his semi race to qualify for the four-rider Superpole contest, in which he qualified third-fastest for the night's main event.

As the gates dropped, Ham fired his powerful Suzuki RM250 away cleanly, but was shut down at the first turn as Marmont wheeled around the outside.

Slipping back to fourth, the experienced veteran diced with multiple Australian championship winner Troy Dorron, before relegating the Honda rider to fourth place around mid-race distance.

"That was a good result, but I want it to be better than third - I know I can do more," Danny Ham said.

"My race wasn't the cleanest and there were a lot of little mistakes that I shouldn't be making.

"I've still got to do a bit of work on my intensity, because I just couldn't run the pace for the full 20 laps."

With Ham building his speed and consistency, the Suzuki pilot is now positioned fifth in the SX Nats standings, a two-point gap to Taylor and Boyd leaving him well within striking distance of third overall, and just 14 points separating him from second placed Dorron.

The next race in the championship will see the SX Nats turn to indoor venues at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre in a fortnight's time, and the indoor arenas have traditionally been happy hunting grounds for Ham, a consummate supercross stylist.

"Over the last few years my best results have been on indoor tracks, and with six races left we're not even half way through the championship yet, so let's hope a few cards fall my way now and we'll see what we can do,"
said Ham.

The Pro Lites final in Melbourne saw Team Shift Motul Suzuki rider Mitch Hoad charge from behind for the second time in as many weeks, as he went down on the second corner on the opening lap.

The winner of round two of the championship in Townsville a fortnight ago, Hoad swept straight to the main event after winning his qualifier, but was forced to double jump on a line that converged with Ryan Marmont, the ensuing collision leaving him dead last.

"I had to try," Mitch Hoad said.

"Ryan had the line, but if I would have shut it down and rolled the double, someone would have jumped on me for sure!

"When I landed I went straight into him and got high-sided the other way.

"The bike was still running when I picked it up, but I'd twisted my levers and bars up, so it took me a lap to get my rhythm back.

"I got comfortable and put my head down though, and I still felt really good, so I began carving through."

Miraculously, Hoad pushed his Suzuki RM-Z250 four-stroke through to sixth place, as the race win went to Marmont from Paul Broomfield and Cody Cooper.

"At the moment there's no one consistently at the front so you never know who you're going to have to beat, so it's interesting," Hoad said.

"We put some hours into my bike last week and made good gains everywhere, I feel really comfortable over all the jumps and it's just really responsive everywhere."

"Our testing last week on the RM-Z250 was very successful," Team Shift Motul Suzuki Team Manager, Jay Foreman said.

"We've got even more power out of it and did some more work sorting out our race gearing, so we're really happy.

"Mitch proved how fast he's going on it in his qualifier - it's just a shame that he fell.

"I think if he would have got clear at the start he could have just run away with it."