Yamaha Racing win opening round of 2009 Monster Energy Super X Series

Yamaha Racing win opening round of 2009 Monster Energy Super X Series Yamaha’s factory racing teams have made the best possible start to the 2009 Monster Energy Super X series with riders featuring on both the Super X Open and Super X Lites podiums at the season opener at Launceston’s Aurora Stadium tonight. CDR Rockstar Yamaha rider Jay Marmont caused the upset of the night, taking the coveted overall victory in the highly-competitive Open class with two second-place race finishes. Teammate Cheyne Boyd was equally as impressive, finishing third behind his teammate in both of the 10-lap races that made up the final. In the Lites category, JDR Motorsport/MX RAD rider Ryan Marmont finished second overall ahead of Serco Yamaha’s US import Kyle Cunningham who was third on his Australian debut. Yamaha’s teams will only have one week to ready themselves for the second round of the series which will be held at Geelong’s Skilled Stadium on Saturday October 24.. Super X Open Report CDR Rockstar Yamaha’s Jay Marmont took overall honours at tonight’s opening round of the 2009 Super X series at Launceston’s Aurora Stadium. Marmont picked up where he left off after dominating the Pro Open motocross season and remains the only rider to ever have taken a round victory off Chad Reed since the inception of Super X last year. It was a perfect night for the NSW-based rider, which saw him win his heat race and take the top gate pick. Marmont got away to two clean, fast starts and held steady in second across both 10-lap races in the double header format final. He was excited to open his season account with a round win and said consistency had been the key to his results. “I was tired towards the end of the final race and didn’t do the triple-triple which probably cost me the win, however, I knew I had the overall and that was my focus,” said Marmont. “It was the perfect night. On paper obviously all the pressure was on Chad, we just had to go out and get good starts and stay out of trouble then let the race come to us - and that’s exactly what happened. “With the 10-lap sprint there is a fair bit of mayhem, but both Cheyne and I stuck to our game plan and it paid off. “To come out and get two solid results and the overall is a fantastic way to open the season for CDR Rockstar Yamaha and shows what a force the YZ450F will be,” he finished. Teammate Cheyne Boyd was pleased with a fourth place overall finish and said his bike had been working particularly well. “My starts were good, I felt comfortable and relaxed on the bike and to be honest, that is the best I have ever felt riding Supercross,” said Boyd. “I was consistent in all my races and my results are a reflection of that. To finish third in both races is great,” concluded Boyd. The factory Yamaha pairing sit 1st and 4th at the conclusion of round 1. The second round of competition will take place next weekend at Geelong’s Skilled Stadium, the home event for Craig Dack’s squad. Top Ten Results – Monster Energy Super X Double Header Final 1 Jay MARMONT, Yamaha, 19-19 TOTAL 38 2 Daniel REARDON, Honda, 20-17 TOTAL 37 3 Chad REED, Kawasaki, 16-20 TOTAL 36 4 Cheyne BOYD, Yamaha, 18-18 TOTAL 36 5 Tye SIMMONDS, KTM, 15-16, TOTAL 31 6 Cody MACKIE, Kawasaki, 17-12 TOTAL 29 7 Daniel McCOY, KTM, 13-14 TOTAL 27 8 Craig ANDERSON, Kawasaki, 14-14 TOTAL 28 9 Michael ADDISON, Honda, 12-13 TOTAL 25 10 Cameron TAYLOR, Suzuki, 10-11 TOTAL 21 Monster Energy Super X OPEN championship standings 1 Jay MARMONT, Yamaha, 25 2 Daniel REARDON, Honda, 22 3 Chad REED, Kawasaki, 20 4 Cheyne BOYD, Yamaha, 18 5 Tye SIMMONDS, KTM, 16 6 Cody MACKIE, Kawasaki, 15 7 Daniel McCOY, KTM, 14 8 Craig ANDERSON, Kawasaki, 13 9 Michael ADDISON, Honda, 12 10 Cameron TAYLOR, Suzuki, 11 Super X Lites Report Serco Yamaha’s US import Kyle Cunningham has impressed in his Australian debut, claiming third spot on the Super X Lites podium at the opening round of Super X at Launceston’s Aurora Stadium tonight. With Mitch Hoad sidelined due to an arm injury, Cunningham was seconded by the Brisbane based team to partner Serco Yamaha regular Kirk Gibbs for the first three rounds of the Super X Lites Championship. While Cunningham cruised through his heat race to line-up for the two, eight lap races teammate Gibbs crashed and was forced to race the last chance qualifier (LCQ). Cunningham didn’t get the best of starts in the opening race but fought on and finished fifth in front of Gibbs. He got a much better start in the second race and with one lap to go was challenging race leader Matt Moss for the lead. “I had a good heat race but got a really bad start in the first moto,” Cunningham explained. “In the second race I had a great battle with Matt (Moss) but made a little mistake and had to settle for second. To be anywhere on the podium for the first round is still a very good result. “I am getting used to the bike more-and-more and having another week under my belt will give me even more confidence going into the next round,” he said. Despite enduring a horror heat race and then the LCQ Kirk Gibbs enjoyed two solid consistent races to sixth place and currently sits fifth in the championship. “I had a pretty average start to the event,” Gibbs explained. “I stalled the bike off the start in my heat, then went down and DNF’d so I had to go to LCQ. “My starts were average as I had a really bad gate pick but I rode consistently to finish sixth in the first race after a little battle with my new teammate. “I got caught up in the first corner madness during the second race and really had to put my head down but I still managed to get back to sixth. Overall it was good to get two consistent races under my belt and I am sitting fifth overall in the championship,” he added. Top Ten Results – Lites Double Header Final 1 Matt MOSS, Suzuki, 20-20, TOTAL 40 2 Ryan MARMONT, Yamaha, 18-18, TOTAL 36 3 Kyle CUNNINGHAM, Yamaha, 16-19, TOTAL 35 4 Lawson BOPPING, Suzuki, 17-17, TOTAL 34 5 Kirk GIBBS, Yamaha, 15-15, TOTAL 30 6 Adam MONEA, Suzuki, 19-11, TOTAL 30 7 Brendan HARRISON, Yamaha, 12-13, TOTAL 25 8 Mitch AUSTIN, KTM, 10-12, TOTAL 22 9 Danny ANDERSON, KTM, 5-14, TOTAL 19 10 Shaun WILLIAMSON, Honda, 9-10, TOTAL 19 Monster Energy Super X Lites championship standings 1 Matt MOSS, Suzuki, 25 2 Ryan MARMONT, Yamaha, 22 3 Kyle CUNNINGHAM, Yamaha, 20 4 Lawson BOPPING, Suzuki, 18 5 Kirk GIBBS, Yamaha, 16 6 Adam MONEA, Suzuki, 15 7 Brendan HARRISON, Yamaha, 14 8 Mitch AUSTIN, KTM, 13 9 Danny ANDERSON, KTM, 12 10 Shaun WILLIAMSON, Honda, 11 --  Reed Report Chad Reed third in a dramatic debut for Monster Energy Reigning AMA Motocross Champion Chad Reed has thrilled fans at the opening round of the 2009 Monster Energy Super X Series at Launceston's Aurora Stadium, with a sensational fightback to finish third on the podium after a horror crash in his heat race almost forced him out of contention. The proud Australian, who debuted his brand new Monster Energy-backed Kawasaki KX450F, is back on home soil to compete in the series he co-created and despite only having limited riding time on the bike before tonight’s event demonstrated to the 8000-strong crowd why he has twice been crowned World Supercross Champion with two incredible races from the back of the pack. Reed was the quickest man on track during practice and the top ten shootout but crashed heavily on the opening lap of his heat race forcing him to sidelines with extensive damage to the bike and substantial bruising and swelling to his elbow. Determined not to let down his passionate Tasmanian fans down, Reed was back on the bike for the last chance qualifier (LCQ) which he won comfortably. Due to his ride in the LCQ, Reed was allocated the second-last gate pick and forced to start both races from the same gate. He showed his class as the gates dropped, fighting back from 16th to finish 5th in the first 10-lap final. Reed rode to victory from 11th in the second and final 10-lapper of the evening. "Considering all the weather conditions and what we started with at the beginning of the week the track was very good,” said Reed. "It was a rough night for me- I had had to go to last chance and come from the back from both races. "Someone hit me from behind in the heat race and came down on top of my elbow which put me out of the heat. "It was extremely painful during both races - every bump it hurt so I had to be a bit cautious. “I tried to be careful and not do anything silly but on the last lap I saw an opportunity to challenge for the race lead and I had to take it; I ended up winning the last race which was pretty cool,” he finished. Reed finished the opening round in third place, scoring 20 points. Monster Energy’s Adrian Hunter said the Super X series was world-class and a very important way of connecting athletes to the brand. “The Monster Energy series in the US is extremely important to us and with Australia moving to be more like it the Super X series here is also very important,” he said. “We are extremely excited that Chad is now a Monster Energy-supported athlete; he is an icon in the US and we are looking to mirror that image here in Australia. “We look forward to a very successful relationship between Monster Energy, Super X and Chad Reed moving well into the future,” he said. The next round of Monster Energy Super X will be held at Geelong’s Skilled Stadium next Saturday.

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