Australian SX Nationals 2004 - Round Seven - Newcastle

Motorex KTM rider Jay Marmont went from an awesome high two weeks ago when he took a convincing win in front of his home crowd in Wollongong, to a very deep low last weekend in Newcastle. After putting in a stellar ride to score a second place finish, he was then disqualified from the results by race officials.

This was a hard blow for Jay and the Motorex KTM squad as they watched Jay recover from a poor start in the Pro Open final, to then brilliantly work his way up to second place by race end.

After catching and passing first Cheyne Boyd and then Yamaha’s Troy Carroll to take second place, Jay was gutted to have that hard earned result taken away from him.

Jay, “I didn’t think I was doing the wrong thing at all but the officials I guess had to respond to the opposition teams protesting.

“It is not even as though I was really gaining any significant advantage and I don’t think there is much doubt I would have scored second place no matter what line I was taking through that section of the track. So to lose all my points from this round is extremely tough to take.

“I have never been disqualified and lost points like that before in my life, so for it to happen now at this stage of my career just had me in shock, I couldn’t believe it.

“I had a hotel in Newcastle to go to but I just went and got my things and drove home to clear my head.

“I guess from here we just have to get on with it, then go to Brisbane where I am confident we can take another win.”

Cheyne Boyd showed dominating form in his heat race before putting a huge amount of aggression in to an excellent Superpole lap.

Boyd got away third in the Pro Open final and held that position for four laps before Jay Marmont pushed him back to fourth place. Boyd continued to run strongly throughout the race until a last lap fall cost him another spot on the track. But due to Jay’s disqualification he was then promoted back up a spot to fourth place, but he expected more.

Boyd, “My first race tonight was perfect and Superpole went well but I just don’t know what happened in that final.

“I got a good start but unfortunately somebody bumped me from behind heading in to the first turn, this pushed me way wide which meant Ham and Carroll could just nip up the inside, I just couldn’t move forward from there.

“My bike was running well, no excuses there, I just had a bad end to the night. Practice and the heat race couldn’t have been better, my start to the final was good but that is just the way it goes.

“I just have to head home now and regroup, my speed is fine and my fitness is good but I just have to get it to come together in a final.”

Boyd was particularly disappointed in his last lap fall, “Another rider went down and I hesitated then nosed it in the last jump section, which sent me over the bars which put me down another place on the track.”

Nonetheless Boyd has managed to close within two points of second place in the championship, while Jay still leads the series with 115 points over Troy Dorron on 98 points.

Ryan Marmont led the Pro Lites Championship heading in to this round and managed to retain that lead in Newcastle. His brilliant earlier performances in the series had given him enough of a gap to hold on to the points lead, even after a somewhat lacklustre performance in Newcastle.

Ryan went down on the first lap and was pushed back to 12th place before working his way up to a 7th place finish.

Ryan, “I couldn’t get it together tonight and really didn’t attack the track enough. I got a really bad start in the final, then when I came around to the triple two riders were down and I had to slide around them, this meant I went sideways up the ramp and launched off towards the infield.

“I definitely want to put this one behind for sure. We have next weekend off so I will train my butt off all week and aim to come out strong for the next round.”

KTM could take some heart from the Pro Lite event at Newcastle though as Red Bull KTM’s Greg Schnell got the better of Camden’s Daniel McCoy to take the round win. Schnell is a regular in the American Supercross Championship and was invited to ride in Australia after regular Red Bull KTM rider Danny Anderson suffered an early season injury.

Motorex KTM Team Manager Rob Twyerould remained philosophical after Jay’s disqualification.

Rob Twyerould, “There are highs and lows in racing and tonight is obviously a low. Jay honestly believed he was doing the right thing, he didn’t touch any track markings or anything, but unfortunately he was cutting a jump off, which the officials deemed as ‘course cutting’.

“Jay was riding very fast and again proved his fitness, to have it all taken away in the end is obviously very disappointing. But we have to live with that decision, and at least Jay still has a reasonable lead in the championship.

“Overall it was a fairly disappointing night, Ryan didn’t click all night and struggled. Boydy had the pace all night but then faded in the final. I think the boys have got a bit of homework to do before the next round.

“We will use the misfortunes of this round to drive us forward with more motivation heading in to the remaining two rounds of the series.”