Australian SX Nationals 2004 - Round Six - Wollongong

It was a night of extreme frustration for the CDR/Boost Mobile/Yamaha team after a day of constant rain turned the man-made Supercross circuit at Wollongong’s WIN stadium into a sticky mud bath last night.

All three riders struggled with the conditions as their bikes became increasingly difficult to handle once they gained the extra ten to fifteen kilograms in weight due to the mud they collected as they raced around the waterlogged track.

Troy Carroll, returning from a serious back injury finished the Pro Open final fourth with a near faultless ride despite being only 80% fit.

Carroll dazzled the brave Wollongong crowd with a strong display of form, leading his heat race by more than three seconds for most of the 10 minute race.

Carroll faltered in the whoops and fell but regained to finish the heat in fifth position, enough to put him straight through to the main event final.

“I felt great out there tonight despite the conditions,” said Carroll. “I really feel like I am back.

“That heat race was great, I got a pretty good start and took the lead by the time we turned the second corner.

“I was pulling out quite a respectable lead when I got a bit unbalanced in whoops section and the extra weight of the bike saw me off.

‘I was lucky to get going again and finish fifth which was enough to advance me straight to the final,” said Carroll.

“My visibility in the final was terrible and I ended up having to take my goggles off about three minutes into the race.

“I was challenging Boydie (Cheyne Boyd) when a big bit of muddy dirt hit in my left eye and made it hard for me to keep the pressure up to him,” Carroll added.

Carroll’s team-mates Cameron Taylor and Daniel McCoy were not so fortunate, both riders became victims of the extremely slippery circuit and were forced to fight it out at the back of the pack.

Not only did Cameron Taylor have the mud to contend with in his heat race but also a stray raincoat that was dropped on the start line found its way to wrap around the back wheel of his bike, where it remained for the duration of the race.

With the raincoat firmly entrenched around his back wheel Taylor struggled for manoeuvrability as he carefully guided his YZ250 through the puddles of water that formed around the circuit to finish his heat third.

By the time Taylor came out for the Pro Open final the circuit had turned into a quagmire and a fall early on in the race saw him have to fight hard to come from last to finish eighth.

“My start in the final was terrible,” said Taylor “Then I came off and had to fight my way through the field which was impossible in those circumstances.

“Those conditions were amazing, I have never ridden in a Supercross event that wet before.

Pro Lites contender Daniel McCoy also made it through to the final after finishing fourth in his heat race.

McCoy struggled off the startline in the Pro Lites final and was one of many to become unseated on the steep Schick Extreme Flyover.

“I was coming onto the Schick Extreme Flyover and couldn’t see exactly where Ryan (Marmont) and Greg (Schnell) went down because my goggles were really muddy,” said McCoy.

“I had contact with Greg’s bike and fell.

“It turned to disaster from there I couldn’t restart my bike and I ended up two laps down so I didn’t have much chance of making up positions."