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2005 Australian Motocross
Championship - Round Three - Toowoomba - Suzuki Report April 25th, 2005 |
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2005 Australian Motocross
Championship - Round Three - Toowoomba - Suzuki Report April 25th, 2005 |
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| Team Shift Motul Suzuki rider,
Daryl Hurley leads the 2005 Maxxis Australian Motocross
Championship after taking second place in round three at Echo
Valley in Toowoomba (QLD). With his main series rival, Craig Anderson sidelined with a broken foot, Hurley was the clear favourite for victory, and as expected the New Zealander took the lead at the start of the first moto. Hurley quickly pulled a gap on the rest of the field and was unchallenged throughout the first Pro Open race, finishing about 15 seconds ahead of his nearest opponents. “I got the holeshot in the first race and just rode away… it was really easy,” Daryl Hurley said. “The RM-Z450 was awesome; the team has made some changes to the motorcycle and it worked brilliantly; the bike was absolutely fantastic throughout the whole race.” Race two was a drama-filled event for Hurley, who again snared the holeshot only to lose the lead a couple of turns later when he landed short off the tabletop and was flung over the handlebars. Stuck under his bike while the entire field passed him by, Hurley rejoined the race in last place and immediately began carving his way through the field, reaching the mid-pack before he had yet another incident. “I had the sun in my eyes and just lost the front end, but fortunately I wasn't hurt and the Suzuki was so strong today that I was able to make up a lot ground on the rest of the field,” Hurley said. Again, the Suzuki rider remounted his RM-Z450 and resumed his charge to the front of the field, ultimately clinching third place in the race and second overall for the event. Hurley's Pro Open team mate, Danny Ham also enjoyed a strong start to race proceedings in Toowoomba as he flew out of the start gates in race one and rounded the first corner just behind his New Zealand counterpart. Unfortunately, Ham crashed from a solid fourth place and dropped back to the mid-field where he rejoined the fray until another accident ended his first race completely. “I was just getting up from the second incident when I was crashed into by another rider which put me out of the moto,” Danny Ham said. After a slow start in race two, Ham produced a sterling ride to work his way through from the mid-field up to fifth position, closing in on fourth place with a margin of only two seconds on the final lap. “I had a couple of really strong rides… I made a great start in race one until crashes put me out of contention and I was on the pace and making up lots of positions in the second moto, so it's disappointing that the results didn't reflect how quick my RM-Z450 really was,” Ham concluded. “We've taken the series lead so, despite not taking the round victory, it's been an extremely positive weekend for Suzuki,” Team Manager, Team Shift Motul Suzuki, Jay Foreman said. “Obviously we were in a strong position to take the Pro Open win here today, but Hurley dominated race one and made an impressive come back after two hard crashes in the second moto… it's clear how good these Suzuki RM-Z450 machines are.” In the Pro Lites class, Team Shift Motul Suzuki's entry, Luke Burkhart had a difficult day aboard his Suzuki RM-Z250 as he struggled with injuries sustained during the previous round in Horsham. Under challenging circumstances, the young kiwi rider managed to salvage two top-ten finishes and score valuable points to keep his championship hopes alive. “It was a tough day… my injuries held me back today which is really disappointing because I know I had the equipment to be much more competitive out there,” Luke Burkhart said. With only a one week interval, the 2005 Australian Motocross Championship remains in Queensland for round four in Coolum on Sunday 1 May.
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