Overcast conditions failed to put a dampener on proceedings at Oran Park last weekend as a thrilling spectacle of Supermoto unfolded at the well known track an hour south of the city centre. While rain seemed to fall everywhere else in Sydney the showers somehow managed to stay away from Oran Park which resulted in near perfect conditions for racing.

The Oran Park layout consists of three fast sections of turns and another three slower sections of tar to produce 12 turns on the sealed surface. Overall the circuit measures 1.05km including a dirt section that features four turns, a double jump and two tabletops. The fastest riders were down in the 65 second bracket with young American star Chris Fillmore recording the quickest time of the day, a scintillating 64.906 in the second of three S2 (Up to 450cc) races.

That lap record time was still not good enough to put him on top of Motorex KTM’s Stuart Bennett though as the Orange (NSW) resident blasted his 450 SMR KTM to victory ahead of both Fillmore and other top American stars such as Micky Dymond in that second S2 encounter.

It looked as though Bennett was going to upset the Americans with the overall victory in the S2 class but in the final S2 battle another rider shoved him off the track and put him down in tenth place. That first lap misfortune cost Bennett the chance of taking out the S2 class overall with that honour going to Chris Fillmore but Bennett’s recovery to fifth place earned him enough points to take second overall from American star Micky Dymond.

When it came to the two special International Challenge finals Bennett was again right up the front. Fillmore got an early gap in the first encounter but Bennett didn’t let him get away and stayed within striking distance should Fillmore make any mistakes. But the young American held it together and Bennett had to settle for second place only a second adrift. Micky Dymond on another KTM was 11 seconds adrift of Bennett in third place.

In the second International Challenge final Bennett once again fell foul of another riders mistake when he was punted off the track in turn one. He recovered well but then a loose sprocket bolt added further insult to injury and put paid to any chance of victory.

Bennett was still pleased with the day and is looking forward to lining up against the Americans this weekend at Coffs Harbour, “Great event overall but a bit of a shame that the inclement weather everywhere else in Sydney seemed to have scared the crowd away as they really missed out on a good show.

“We had been led to believe that the Americans would have plenty of speed over us but it was great to see that in fact that was not the case. I managed to run with Fillmore all weekend and got the upper hand on Dymond from time to time so it seems we are not too far behind at all.

“This weekend at Coffs Harbour should be great for sure. The track is a fair bit tighter up there and it will be interesting to see how the Americans adapt as Coffs is the kind of track you either love or hate.

“For spectators Coffs is unbeatable though as it is set in a natural amphitheatre which gives people a great view of the whole circuit. It really is quite a magnificent venue in that regard and there are a lot more passing opportunities than we had at Oran Park last weekend which means the racing should also be even more exciting.”

Young Team Motorex KTM star Ryan Marmont enjoyed another sojourn into Supermoto and again scored some excellent results. Ryan had to start from behind the eight ball in the first International Main final when American rider Micky Dymond accidentally knocked some tyres into Ryan’s path. The youngster recovered well and charged back through the field to a creditable sixth place. In the second final Ryan ran behind Chris Fillmore for most of the race before Micky Dymond pushed him back to third place in the closing stages. Ryan’s results were good enough to make him the second highest Australian points scorer in the International Challenge and he has been encouraged by those great results.

“The Americans were pretty fast so it was a great opportunity to learn off them and I managed to pick up a few things which put me not far off their pace.

“I had a great time and my SMR 450 KTM is going great so this weekend I have also decided to ride the Coffs Harbour event. Hopefully I can pick up more speed and maybe challenge the Americans further.”

Motorex KTM Team Manager Rob Twyerould also pulled on the boots for the day and took home the top spots in both the S1 and Veterans classes. A great double victory from the Baulkham Hills (NSW) resident in one of his rare returns to competition. His day was virtually perfect with five main event race wins from six starts across the two classes.

“I’m very pleased with how my KTM525 performed over two major classes today,” commented Rob.

“The best thing about this sport is anyone can build a Supermoto bike to join in the fun. My KTM started as a standard motocross bike and I added to its performance from KTM’s hard equipment line.

“Supermoto riding is all about fun to me. I don’t ride to win, I ride for the love of the sport, but it’s always a nice reward to finish on the podium”.

This weekend is the final showdown in the USA versus Australia Challenge which will be held at Raleigh Raceway in the picturesque NSW town of Coffs Harbour. Another American has arrived to strengthen the USA effort with top five AMA runner Steve Drew flying in for the event. Drew is a racing legend in America and also took fourth place at the prestigious X-Games event in America which was held recently.

Tickets for the Coffs Harbour event will be available at the gate for $20 per adult and $10 for kids aged 5 to 15 years. Racing starts at 11am.