Competitors arrived at the South Coast Motocross Club’s Old Noarlunga circuit today for the final races that would decide who were the winners and losers in the 2003 Honda Australia Junior Motocross Nationals.

The young competitors still seem fairly relaxed as they prepared for their final showdown but the pressure was showing on many of the assembled throng of assembled parents, aunts and uncles biting their fingernails on the sidelines.

Justin Carafa (Yamaha-VIC) got the holeshot in the penultimate 125cc final for the 15 year olds and led them around the first lap with Mitchell Simpson (Husqvarna-NSW) right on his tail, Ford Dale also close behind. Wade Thompson (KTM-SA) had a couple of unfortunate crashes during Friday’s first final but was keen to make amends in this second final and quickly made his way towards the front group. But as they came around to start lap three Carafa had built a small lead over Simpson who was now being attacked from behind by Wade Thompson. Kawasaki star Toby Price once again had a poor start but then built up speed to regain some places. The lead Kawasaki rider in this race however was Josh Strang (NSW) who was running fourth at half race distance and starting to close on Ford Dale. Also coming in to the hunt was HRA rider Bronte Holland (SA) who had a poor start but had worked his way past Strang for fourth position on the next lap. Wade Thompson then started to claw back time on race leader Justin Carafa and looked to be a serious threat for the win. Mitchell Simpson had some problems and lost a lot of places after a stellar first couple of laps. Thompson got the lead on the penultimate lap, relegating Carafa to second place. Bronte Holland was coming on strong though and had got the better of Ford Dale for third place and immediately started closing ground on Carafa and Thompson. Holland took second place from Carafa in the closing stages of the penultimate lap but Wade Thompson had built an insurmountable lead out in front. Thompson took a strong win with Holland coming home second with Justin Carafa rounding out the podium. Ford Dale scored fourth place from Josh Strang with a frustrated Toby Price having to settle for sixth place.

One of the stars of this meeting had clearly been KTM’s Brenden Harrison. The young Queenslander started where he left off on Friday but going straight to the lead in the first 85cc race for 12 and 13 year olds today. Also the same as yesterday Suzuki rider Luke George was running a fine second but Harrison was pulling good ground on his pursuers at every turn. South Australian Yamaha pilot Shaun Williamson was putting in a good showing and was threatening George for second place as the laps progressed, Kade Mosig (Yamaha-VIC) was also running well. Harrison then seemed to control the race from the front and slackened his pace a little which allowed George to close some ground back up on Harrison. George had also left Williamson behind after the young South Australian had earlier challenged him for position. Mosig had also come forward and pushed Williamson back to fourth position. And that is how they crossed the line a lap later. Harrison the winner, George second, Mosig third and Williamson fourth.

Next up were the 9 and 10 year old 65cc pilots and today Shaun Redhead (KTM-WA) made things a lot more difficult for yesterday’s dominator, Luke Arbon (SA-KTM). Redhead, a high jumping Western Australian hit the lead early on and led Arbon a merry chase around what is close to home ground for Arbon. Redhead went on to take a good win with Arbon coming home second and James Booth-Elliot (KTM-SA) coming home in third.

Next out were the thundering four-stroke 250cc machines but New Zealand’s Lance Giles didn’t fair well at turn one and fell heavily bringing out the yellow flags. This time Kawasaki’s Toby Price had finally managed to get away to a good start and led the field around turn one. With the yellow flags waving the young riders showed very cool heads and jumped very short and took it very easy around the area where the rider fell out of harms way. Price quickly built a solid lead over Justin Carafa and Mitchell Pirotta. Jack Daniele was also showing good pace in fourth and the Kawasaki mounted rider was quickly closing on the Yamaha duo of Carafa and Pirotta. But Daniele then had a fall around the back of the circuit and had to pull out of the race. Another rider fell heavily and the red flags came out to put a halt to the race. Much to the relief of Toby Price the race was then declared as a result with Price the winner and Carafa came home second putting the two on equal points after they finished in the reversal of that order in the opening final on Friday which means the two head in to the next deciding final on equal points setting up an exciting finale to the big bore class.

The 9, 10 and 11 year old 85cc pilots then took to the track and Harley Quinlan got off to a great start. The Queensland based Suzuki rider starred on Friday and was looking good for a repeat performance but out to put a stop to that was a hard charging Tye Simmonds (Honda-NSW). The two riders quickly built a gap over third placed Jarryd McNeil (Yamaha-VIC) who was closely pursued by Sven Valley (Honda-NSW) and Keiron Hall (Honda-NSW). Tye Simmonds got the better of Quinlan a couple of laps in to the race and streaked away to a good lead. Meanwhile Keiron Hall put in some good laps to move to a solid third place. As they got the last lap board Simmonds had a healthy lead over Quinlan and that is how the crossed the finish line. HRA rider Keiron Hall came home in third place after recovering well from a poor start.

Ford Dale (Yamaha- QLD) got away well with Matt Moss (Honda-NSW) in the 85cc race for 14 an d 15 year olds but a fall late in lap one brought both riders down and cost them dearly. There to take advantage of that mistake was Suzuki’s Jake Moss (NSW) who hit the lead and pulled a reasonable gap over young Victorian Honda rider Lewis Woods. Also running well in third place was Jamie Richards (Honda0NSW). Matt Moss staged a considerable comeback to push his way back through the field up to a good points scoring position but falls have cost him dearly this weekend. But his brother Jake took the chequered flag for the win from Lewis Woods but Woods scored more points than Jake in the first final which means heading to the final deciding race Woods is the points leader. Matt Moss did incredibly well to make it back up to the final podium spot after pushing Jamie Richards back to fourth.

11 and 12 year old 65cc riders hit the track next and the KTM duo of Todd Waters (QLD) and Josh Cachia (VIC) immediately started to pull away from the field. But it was Todd Waters who took the clear win in the end from Cachia. These two finished a long way in front of Joel Rizzo who came in the third spot.

Brenden Harrison was out next in the 125cc race for 13 and 14 year olds but the young Queensland KTM pilot was not to get his own way this time around as a shocker of a start had him languishing down in tenth place at the end of lap one. Meanwhile out in front Jacob Smith (KTM-NSW) was doing a sterling job to lead the way from Ben Potter (Yamaha-VIC) and South Australia’s Kirk Gibbs (KTM). Jacob Smith was pushed back to fourth a couple of laps in to the race while Kirk Gibbs put in a flyer to move from third to first in a single lap while Ben Potter took second position as they reached the mid-point of the race. Running third at this stage was Jacob Smith who had got back past Mitchell Pirotta (Yamaha-NSW) while Matt Gangell (Honda-SA) was trying to hold off Brenden Harrison for fifth place. Harrison did take that fifth spot on the next lap and immediately started to threaten Pirotta for fourth. Also coming on strong was Gianni Dalle-Molle (Kawasaki-SA) who had actually closed on to the back of Harrison on the penultimate lap. Gibbs took the win from Potter while Smith got third and Pirotta managed to hold off Harrison for fourth. This result meant that Smith was leading on points with one race left to decide who is champion. But the points were tight at the top with a number of riders still in the hunt for the premier prize.

Next up was the championship decider for the 9, 10 and 11 year old 85cc pilots. Young Alex Thomas (Honda-VIC) got a screamer of a holeshot and took the outside line in to turn one before emerging out the other side in the lead. But Tye Simmonds (Honda-NSW) soon took over out in front and romped away to a healthy lead while Harley Quinlan recovered from a poor start to move through the field to second place. Keiron Hall (Honda-NSW) was also coming on strong as the laps progressed and moved up to third position at the midway point of the race and looked to be closing on Quinlan for second before a couple of small falls cost him a lot of time but no positions. Simmonds (66 points) took the win and with that result was the first new champion crowned for the day while Harley Quinlan took second in the race and second overall on 65 points. HRA rider Keiron Hall rounded out the podium in both the race and championship for third overall with 52 points.

Final 85cc – 9-u12 years Championship Points
1. Tye Simmonds 66
2. Harley Quinlan 65
3. Keiron Hall 52
4. Jimmy Stewart 28
5. Jake Pengelly 27
6. Jarryd McNeil 27
7. Sven Valley 22
8. Codey Van Stanke 20
9. Thomas Alexander 20
10. Luke Styke 18

Taking to the grid for the following race were the 15 year old 125 riders. For all these riders this is their last chance at an Australian Junior Championship as next year most will be playing with the big boys on the senior circuit. Ford Dale (Yamaha-QLD) got the holeshot and led the talented field around turn one from Wade Thompson (KTM-SA) and Bronte Holland (Honda-VIC). As they started lap two Dale was just managing to hold off a charging Wade Thompson while Bronte Holland and Matt Moss (Honda-NSW) gave hot pursuit just behind. Thompson hit the front around the back of the circuit and started to pull away but unfortunately for the South Australian he scored no points after a fall in Friday’s opening final and thus was out of the running for the championship. Bronte Holland then moved up to second place in his quest to become national champion as the young Victorian was the points leader heading in to this championship decider. Justin Carafa was putting in another solid performance to move past Ford Dale for third position. Toby Price (Kawasaki-NSW) was making another great charge through the field after recovering from a shocking start. Price won the opening final on Friday but only scored sixth in this morning’s final which looked to have cost him any chance at the title. Wade Thompson then looked to be suffering some machinery problems before falling at the final turn on the penultimate lap and lost a lot of places as a result. His KTM was stuttering badly as he got the last lap board. Holland looked to have the race wrapped up before a turn three fall on the final lap. Holland remounted in fifth position, that fall costing him the title when he looked to have it wrapped up. There to take advantage of that mistake was Victorian Yamaha rider Justin Carafa who with the win combined with a fourth and third from the previous finals, earned enough points to take second place in the 125cc championship for 15 year olds. After an up and down weekend Kawasaki’s Toby Price came home second place and with those 20 points added to his 35 points from the earlier finals managed to take the title by a single point over Carafa who finished with 54 points. Matt Moss came home third in that race after a weekend of ups and downs took fourth overall in the championship with 44 points. HRA rider Bronte Holland looked to have the title all wrapped in that race before his unceremonious meeting with mother earth on the final lap. He did recover to finish well with 47 points overall for third in the championship.

125cc – 15 years – Final Championship Points
1. Toby Price 55
2. Justin Carafa 54
3. Bronte Holland 47
4. Matt Moss 44
5. Wade Thompson 38
6. Ford Dale 34
7. Josh Strang 30
8. Mark Rogers 21
9. Jake Moss 15
10. Beau Laing 15

Next out were the 12 and 13 year old 85cc pilots and streaking away to an early lead was the irrepressible young Queenslander Brenden Harrison with Kade Mosig (Yamaha-VIC) and New Zealand’s Mason Wilkie in hot pursuit. Harrison was looking good for a clean sweep of the 85cc division but Kade Mosig was out to put a stop to that when he moved past Harrison at the midway point of the race. But Mosig had some trouble on the next lap and Harrison moved back past him to take the lead and with it the win and the clean sweep with Mosig coming home second and Shaun Williamson (Yamaha-SA) third. So with that clean sweep Harrison lifts the title with 75 points while Kade Mosig and Luke George both ended up with 45 points.

85cc – 12-u14 years Final Championship Points
1. Brenden Harrison 75
2. Kade Mosig 45
3. Luke George 45
4. Shaun Williamson 37
5. Matt Gangell 33
6. Glen Chapman 30
7. Lawson Bopping 27
8. Kurt Chalker 24
9. Mason Wilkie 22
10. Todd Waters 20

A massive pile up before turn one in the final in the 65cc class for 9 and 10 year olds brought a quarter of the field down with bikes tumbling end over end. But once again it was Shaun Redhead and Luke Arbon running together out in front. But Arbon showed some serious class to lead the race lap after lap while Redhead gave chase but Arbon crashed on the final lap handing the win to young Shaun Redhead from WA.

65cc – 9-u11 years Final Championship Points
1. Shaun Redhead 66
2. Luke Arbon 65
3. Dylan Gosling 33
4. Ben Hussey 31
5. James Booth-Elliott 27
6. Trent Yeo 22
7. William McGregor 20
8. Nathan Whyte 18
9. Brendan Jeffcoat 16
10. Jake Gook 16

The 50cc automatic geared machines were on track next with Jayden Archer (KTM-VIC) leading the way early on but Queensland’s Jackson Richardson (KTM) soon hit the front and Western Australia’s Robbo Lovett (KTM) followed him through in to second place. They finished the race in that order with Hayden Melross (KTM-NSW) rounding out the podium. In the overall championship wash up it was Jackson Richardson who got the nod from Mellross and Archer.

50cc – Auto Division 2 – Final Championship Points
1. Jackson Richardson 92
2. Hayden Mellross 78
3. Jayden Archer 77
4. Robbo Lovett 67
5. Harley Maher 67
6. Liam Harvey 54
7. Brock Abbott 52
8. Aaron Hart 37
9. Jay McIntyre 34
10. Kent Collins 30


Old Noarlunga echoed with the sound of four-stroke thunder next when the 250cc boys took to the circuit for their championship decider. Justin Carafa (Yamaha-VIC) again was the early leader from Kawasaki Toby Price (NSW). Price had already wrapped up the 125cc division for 15 year olds and was out to add to that tally in this 250cc four-stroke final. But trouble befell Carafa on the second lap when a fall and stall cost a lot of time and positions. This left Toby Price way out in front from a horde of Yamaha riders but Gianni Dalle-Molle (SA) put in some great laps to push his Kawasaki through to second place while Beau Laing (Yamaha-QLD) was struggling to hold off another Kawasaki pilot in the shape of Josh Strang (NSW) in order to hold on to third place. Dalle Molle did make it up to second on that lap with while Strang moved up to third and South Australia’s Jack Daniele moved past Laing to take fourth place which meant Kawasaki held the top four positions in this final race. Not bad for a machine that are so new that they are running in basically standard trim out of the box. Justin Carafa had slipped well down the field with his YZ sounding very rough indeed, a great shame for the young Victorian who has put in some great performances this week in South Australia. Price took the clear win from Dalle-Molle with Strang third and Daniele fourth. Price (70 points) took the overall championship win for a well earned, but definitely not easily scored double. Justin Carafa came home with 48 points for a well deserved second overall. Gianni Dalle-Molle and Jack Daniele were next best on an equal tally of 37 points. This class was somewhat survival of the fittest as nearly all the fast boys lost points through crashes or other dramas but plenty of talent was on hand and some of the final points scores do not really do justice to the speed of some of these kids who finished lower down in the points.  But Price was the class of this field, he often had to recover from shocking starts and had to fight his way through the field in most races in order to earn his championships.  And while the others made mistakes, Price rode strong and nobody could fail to be impressed with his strong resolve and cool head under pressure.  Also impressive was the new Kawasaki KX250F which looked to be a better machine than the previously dominant YZ Yamahas.

250cc – Four-Stroke 13-u16 years Final Points
1. Toby Price 70
2. Justin Carafa 48
3. Gianni Dalle-Molle 37
4. Jack Daniele 37
5. Beau Laing 35
6. Josh Strang 31
7. Mitchell Pirotta 30
8. Kirk Gibbs 26
9. Ben Leech 22
10. Mitchell Simpson 20


65cc machines graced the track next with 7 and 8 year olds aboard. Queensland’s Jacob Blomfield dominated this race from start to finish to take the win by a huge margin over Josh Gilbert with Joben Baldwin (KTM-VIC) coming home next.

65cc – 7-u9 years Final Championship Points
1. Jacob Blomfield 125
2. Joben Baldwin 86
3. Josh Gilbert 85
4. Joe Goodwin 63
5. Leroy Tilley 56
6. Corey James 48
7. Ben George 42
8. Luke Clout 39
9. Brad Luff 37
10. Christopher Wright 30

Next out were the youngest kids on the tiny 50cc Division 1 machines. Queensland’s Jake Cooper was the victor here.

50cc Division 1 – 4-u9 years Final Points
1. Jake Cooper 115
2. Tyler Jones 102
3. Wayne Stewart 81
4. Jarrod McArdle 72
5. Brodie Baldwin 52
6. Daniel Barker 48
7. Emily Duncanson 42
8. Jordan Mellross 36
9. Bailey Hartwig 26
10. Elisha Bates 6

The oldest 85cc pilots took to the track for their final next up with a whole swag of talented 14 and 15 year olds eager to do battle around the Old Noarlunga circuit. Ford Dale was the early leader after getting a great holeshot from Lewis Woods (Honda-VIC) and Jamie Richards (Honda-NSW). Ford Dale dominated this race while Woods and Richards continued running strong in second and third while Mark Rogers (Yamaha-NSW) was running a little further back in fourth. But Matt Moss (Honda-NSW) relegated Rogers to fifth position on the penultimate lap before then mounting a challenge on the third placed Jamie Richards. Ford Dale took the clear and dominant win with Lewis Hoods coming home in second place and Matt Moss third. But Lewis Woods’ second place in the final race was enough to earn him the 2003 National Championship in the 14-u16 years division of the 85cc category.

85cc – 14-u16 years Final Championship Points
1. Lewis Woods 65
2. Matt Moss 48
3. Mark Rogers 41
4. Ford Dale 38
5. Tommy Adams 34
6. Adam Monea 29
7. Jake Moss 27
8. Jamie Richards 26
9. Rickie Girdwood 21
10. Paul Humbertson 17

Tye Simmonds (KTM-NSW) was the early leader in the 65cc final for 11 and 12 year olds from Todd Waters (KTM-QLD) and Josh Cachia (KTM-VIC). This remained the running order for the whole race. But in the final championship points it was Todd Waters who took the overall victory with 70 points to Josh Cachia’s 56 point tally. Tye Simmonds took third place.

65cc – 11-u13 years Final Championship Points
1. Todd Waters 70
2. Josh Cachia 56
3. Tye Simmonds 41
4. Harley Quinlan 38
5. Joel Rizzo 35
6. Jarryd McNeil 32
7. Brodie Hartin 27
8. Christopher Nash 21
9. Troy McNally 18
10. Luke Styke 17

The final race of the 2003 titles was the 125cc race for 13 and 14 year olds. South Australia’s Kirk Gibbs (KTM) got away well to an early lead from Ben Potter (Yamaha-VIC) and Jacob Smith (KTM-NSW) and with Queensland star Brenden Harrison running fourth. Harrison then moved up to third on the second lap. Kirk Gibbs fell a couple of laps before the end handing the lead to Jacob Smith who went on take an easy win and with it the 125cc Championship for 13 to under 15 year olds. Brenden Harrison came home in second place in this final race for the week with Gianni Dalle-Molle (Kawasaki-SA) holding off David Baxter (Yamaha-QLD) for third place. In the final championship points it was young Jacob Smith who took his KTM to victory with 61 points over fellows KTM pilot Brenden Harrison who finished with 56 points.

125cc – 13-u15 years Final Championship Points
1. Jacob Smith 61
2. Brenden Harrison 56
3. Gianni Dalle-Molle 42
4. Ben Potter 33
5. Kirk Gibbs 33
6. Matt Haworth 25
7. Kurt Chalker 23
8. David Baxter 22
9. Mitchell Pirotta 16
10. Brenton Keep 16

Next year the event moves to Tasmania.


NB: Please be aware that his report contains results which although are clearly unofficial and very much provisional but correct to the best of our knowledge. A cross-checked report will appear on www.mcnews.com.au later along with full list of results as they come to hand.

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