Australian SX Nationals 2004 - Round Seven - Newcastle

Team Shift Motul Suzuki rider Danny Ham saved his best performance of the SX Nationals season (so far) for his home round, with a demonstrative win in the eighth round of the championship at Newcastle's Energy Australia Stadium.

Ham holeshot the 20-lap Open Pro class final from an unlikely outside gate position, and strung together a series of lightning fast laps on his Suzuki RM250 - including the night's fastest lap- to establish a buffer that no other rider would breach.

Even Australian Supercross champion Jay Marmont, who has won the last five SX Nationals races straight, was unable to run down the 25-year-old Suzuki rider from second place.

Marmont crossed the line second but was subsequently disqualified from the race for repeatedly cutting a corner at the end of the rhythm section, giving Troy Carroll and Cameron Taylor second and third on the night.

"This feels good… this feels really good," said Ham. "We've practised and practised getting out there hard and going for it right off the start and that strategy paid off for us tonight."

With the difficult roads that Ham took to the final however, it may have looked doubtful that anything was going to come together for the Team Shift Motul Suzuki rider.

"Through my heats and semis I really messed up. I knew I was fast all night but I fell in the heat when I was putting a pass on Jay and then I fell in the semi in the exact same corner - which really made me angry.

"I won the last chance qualifier but that still gave me a really bad pick of the gate, three from the outside, and I was sure I had no chance of getting a start out there.

"I watched a few races to see what was possible from the outside and I knew I had to go wide, and fortunately I got my first really good jump out of the gate all night, clicked a good solid third gear and pulled ahead to get the start and it worked.

"Carroll was right behind me, but I just did my own thing and rode my own race - I rode seven or eight really fast laps in a row and gapped out, then just got through the lappers as best I could.

"Jay made some ground on me, particularly on one lap when I couldn't jump the triple because of a lapper, but for the most part, they couldn't touch me.

"I've expected a win all year long. The championship's gone now, so I'll just look at it race by race and hopefully we can get the next one soon.

"Back in '97 when I got my first supercross win, it just seemed easier after that, so who knows. We go back to indoors next and my indoors have been going well for me this year."

In the Pro Lites class, 18-year-old AMA West Coast 125cc series rider Bobby Kiniry (filling in for injured Mitchell Hoad) almost gave the Team Shift Motul Suzuki a second podium for the evening after charging back from a disastrous start to finish fourth.

On his Suzuki RM125, Kiniry showed excellent pace on the night, and throughout his qualifying heats and semis was one of the fastest riders in the class, alongside compatriot Greg Schnell.

Schnell went on to win the final from Daniel McCoy and Daniel Reardon.

Kiniry won his semi from previous round winner Cody Cooper to earn a decent pick of the start gates, but didn't get the jump he was hoping for, and rounded the first corned near last place.

The Suzuki rider scythed aggressively through to fourth, but lost momentum with just a few laps to go when he was forced to run off the track to avoid a lapped rider.

"Well that was a lot more fun than Wollongong," said Kiniry, "the racing was very good, the people here are fast, the tracks are cool and my Suzuki was going great. I just wish I could have picked it up a little at the end. I kind of got stuck in the slower pace of the guy in front.

"I'm loving my stay here so far and I definitely want to come back - I'm having a ball!"

Team Manager Jay Foreman was thrilled for Danny Ham and his great result. "It's so good for Danny to get this one on the board, he's been working so hard to make it happen and it will be a bit easier for him now I think.

"As for Bobby, through practice he and Schnell were fastest, but with the 125 it's hard to pass the four-strokes. We've got a weekend off now to get ready for the Brisbane indoor."