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2005 Australian Motocross
Championship - Round Two - Horsham - Honda Report April 11th, 2005 |
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2005 Australian Motocross
Championship - Round Two - Horsham - Honda Report April 11th, 2005 |
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| With the proverbial
four-seasons-in-one-day hitting Horsham for round two of the
Australian Motocross Championships, No Fear Honda’s Craig
Anderson, Cody Cooper and Troy Dorron each experienced a day of
triumphs, including a podium finish in Pro Open, seasoned with
some minor mechanical and physical setbacks. All riders entered the round in top form with ’04 Pro Lite Champion Cooper in particular ‘feeling fine’ after injuring his AC shoulder joint last month. Although the three top end championship contenders each started off the day well, a series of unpredictable race day events made for an interesting outcome. Continuing to show all signs of being the man to beat after a perfect score at round one, Anderson finished the day second on the podium after first blitzing moto one and then finishing fourth the hard way in moto two after a gut wrenching crash took its toll. Setting the quickest qualifying time with a 1:46.7, ‘Ando’ literally left the competition for dust in the first race of the day under extremely hot and dry conditions. Yamaha’s Darryll King provided the early push, but it was Suzuki’s Kiwi rider Daryl Hurley who slotted into second place trying to catch up to the Honda rider before the end of the 30 minute plus one lap race. Ando was in complete control, however, and motored his CRF450R home seconds ahead of his former AMA rival. Stopping to catch his breath, Anderson said the conditions definitely took their toll. “I was getting pretty dehydrated there toward the end, getting dizzy and the legs were shaking, but I just dug deep to finish up front.” Some recuperation time in the race truck and the Newcastle local was 100% again for the afternoon’s proceedings. Moto two started off in similar fashion with Ando getting a picture perfect start with Shayne King (Moto One Honda) and Hurley once again putting the pressure on. Mid race, a light rain moved in and as the track started to resemble an ice skating rink, the riders began to fall. On the yellow flag, Ando found himself trying to avoid a two rider crash on the down side of the tabletop. With nowhere to go, the 27 year old took a trip over the handlebars getting the wind knocked out of him in the process. After a restart of the race in-full, Ando struggled a bit with a sore leg as a result of the earlier crash, and had to relegate the lead early on to Hurley and the King brothers. He finished fourth, picking up enough points to secure a second place on the podium. “I’m okay now,” Ando commented the next day. “I just have a swollen shin and calf muscle, I think where the footpeg hit me. That crash just took it out of me a bit but I’m actually still happy with my overall results. I finished on the podium and still lead the championship. I’ve had three perfect races, and one average one so far which means just regrouping for the next round.” The Honda Pro Liter crew also had to take the sweet with the sour, with both starting off well and then DNF’ing moto two after miscellaneous problems. Troy Dorron put on a display of mature, skillful racing in moto one as he claimed the win after slotting in behind KTM”s Ryan Marmont, and pegging the lead on the second lap. Cody Cooper, who had set the pace in the morning with the quickest qualifying time was showing no signs of residual pain from his AC injury, and moved in just behind his team mate after getting past Luke Burkhart (Suzuki) and Marmont. The two No Fear riders created a nice gap with Cooper finally getting the better of Dozza at the three quarter mark but a cam belt problem slowed the young Kiwi down to ninth position where he finished. Dorron in the meantime, forged ahead with a flawless ride picking up 25 more points. “It was tough and hot but I got a second wind which saw me through,” Doz commented. “It’s a bit hard at times to keep your focus when you’re up the front of a race, especially when you’ve got a fair lead because its easy to get lazy. I was concentrating very hard in that race.” As the track cooled down significantly under showery conditions, the second moto was far less successful with both riders getting an average start and then failing to finish due to a mechanical problem in Dorron’s case, and two debilitating crashes in Cooper’s. “Someone took me out from behind in the first crash,” Coops explained. “I got back up and started to try and make up time but I came down again. This time my….er….groin area took the brunt of the handlebar so I wasn’t in a position to finish the race if you know what I mean,” he said. National Cup rider Rebecca Lipsett also joined the boys for another round of her class, finishing 31st out of 38th on the day. “I’m finding that I’m really good for the first half of racing, but am losing stamina in the second half so that’s what I need to work on,” she said. “Racing with these guys in the Cup will only help me with more experience for the women’s series once it gets going so its all positive.” |
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