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2005 Australian Motocross
Championship - Round Four - Coolum - Honda Report May 1st, 2005 |
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2005 Australian Motocross
Championship - Round Four - Coolum - Honda Report May 1st, 2005 |
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| With No Fear Honda’s lead
rider, Craig Anderson still out of the competition due to
injury, team mates Cody Cooper and Troy Dorron toiled toward
increasing their standings at this past weekend’s fourth round
of the Australian Motocross Championship. The Team have had their share of misfortune thus far in the series, and though they once again showed the pace required to outrun their nearest rivals, both found themselves battling against the odds at the sandy circuit in Coolum. Cody showed no lingering distress of a torn AC joint sustained two months ago early on the meeting. In qualifying, he was clearly the fastest in the smaller class with a lap time about half a second on the next man. His two motos proved to be a solid but sundry exhibition with a 6th and 4th place finish to equal 5th overall for the day. With his top ten result, the young Kiwi and ’04 Champion gained much needed championship points, but still has some ground to make up over the second half of the series. As is the case at the tight, sandy Queensland circuit, Cooper got caught up in the mayhem of corner one at the drop of the gates in moto1 resulting in a dead last restart for the 20 year old Kiwi. With his usual lightening speed, he did everything necessary to work back up through the field to eventually finish 6th, an excellent result at a notoriously difficult track. The hard ride did take its toll somewhat on Coops even though he has been training hard at home whenever possible with his New Zealand comrades and come moto2, Cody struggled somewhat to catch the top runners including Ryan Marmont, Daniel McCoy and Cameron Taylor. After a top ten start and a decent ride, Coops worked his way up to finish in 4th, a respectable placing for the rider who has had to deal with a difficult first half of the series. “I am still feeling a little bit of left over pain from my shoulder injury but more so as the day goes on. Early on in qualifying and all that, I’m feeling great. I’ll just have to keep working on getting my overall fitness better,” Cody mentioned. Honda cohort Troy Dorron also found himself at the mercy of the pack on the day, ending the meeting with a sense of frustration at his bad luck. The perennial crowd pleaser got a great start first time out and was looking in form in second position until disaster struck - or rather another rider struck - taking him out completely. Troy did manage to get back into the ring however only a few moments later, a second rider crashed into his back end, damaging the rear brake line. From there on, the 33 year old Victorian had to limp around for the duration, somehow managing to finish the race with no rear brakes whatsoever; “a real fluke accident in the way it damaged the brakes,” according to Team Manager Pip Harrison. With a certain frustration perhaps ‘clouding my ability to get the flow back’, Troy had some difficulty finding his rhythm in moto2. He got away just inside the top 10 and finished there as well but was clearly disappointed with his result for the round. “There wasn’t much I could do about the first race. I mean that’s just what happens when you are out there with a whole bunch of other guys. But it is frustrating because it was a one in a million thing that could have happened, and I think I could have gotten to the front and stayed there.” “In moto2, I just never felt comfortable. I don’t know if I was still a bit pissed off about the morning and it affected my focus a little but that happens sometimes.” Doz sits in 7th overall on the ladder at the halfway mark and after twenty years in the game, said he “knows what I need to do now.” Craig Anderson, who now drops to 5th after sitting out two rounds, is scheduled to make his comeback at Tasmania. However nothing is “certain at this point in time,” according to Ando’s orthopaedic surgeon. “If I can race at the next round, you can bet I will be there,” Ando said. Team Manager Harrison explained that the crew will continue to test and develop the bikes, and work on “creating our own luck to some extent.” “It has been a bit frustrating because the boys are working hard and the bikes are great. We have just had to deal with some things outside of our control that are affecting the overall results. But I assure you, we will do whatever we can to change that situation around at the next round.” Round five of the Australian Motocross Championships will be held on Sunday, May 22 in Newcastle, NSW. |
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