No Fear Honda’s Craig Anderson and Troy Dorron did their team proud in the Open and Lites classes respectively after both finishing third for the round in Gillman, SA.

The hard packed track provided tough conditions for all riders, and after two solidly fought motos each, Ando and Doz both elevated themselves up to second overall in the series.

Whilst consistency paid off for the two factory Honda men, team mate Cody Cooper was clearly the fastest rider on the day, evident early on when he qualified in the Open class with a blistering 1.30.9.

Cody’s form translated superbly when it counted in moto one, taking the holeshot and crossing the finish line comfortably in first, ahead of Daniel Reardon and Anderson.

It looked as though the ’04 Pro Lite Champion would do the same again in moto two, however technical difficulties with the bike slowed Cody to an early retirement and a 9th place round finish.

“Everything felt great today, and I think I would have had the round points in the bag if I hadn’t had to pull off the circuit in moto 2,” Cody said.

“That was just a bit of hard luck. Otherwise, I was really comfortable with the bike all day and felt great.”

While Cody tended to matters with his mechanic, Anderson concreted another 3rd place finish in moto 2 again behind Reardon and series leader Daryl Hurley.

“Today went fairly well for me,” a pleased Ando said. “I rode consistently and felt pretty good all day with my shoulder getting much better.”

“I battled hard with Reardon in the first moto but went off with about 5 minutes to go. That left me on my own. Then in moto 2, I went from 2nd to 7th place in the first lap and pushed hard back up to 3rd.”

“I was pumped to be able to make up that much ground and getting the points to bring me up to 2nd on the ladder was important so I’m happy to have achieved that.”

Ando is now roughly the equivalent to one moto win away from the lead with a gap of 24 points between himself and Hurley going in to round three in three weeks time.

In the Lites division, Dorron had to earn his stripes the hard way as well after getting knocked off early in moto 1 and rejoining the race in last position. He rode extremely hard to finish 8th, passing team mate Danny Anderson who also got caught up at the start.

Moto two, however, proved to be a smoother venture for the veteran with a second place over the line in front of last year’s Champion Cameron Taylor.

Doz was satisfied with his day overall. “I’m up near the leader in the championship with only 8 points between us now. There are plenty more rounds to go which will make it a really interesting series.”

Danny, who finished in the top ten for the round was a little less impressed with his results however.

“I had a tough day and battled with the track as it got more and more rutted. At least I finished both races and that brought me up a few places on the ladder.”

No Fear Honda’s female representative, Rebecca Lipsett, also had her first season outing with the Team in the National Cup.

Bec crashed during qualifying, hurting her hip and back. However, she was still able to finish both of her races in a respectable position out of a field of 38 men and 1 other woman.

“I was pretty annoyed to crash in qualifying,” she said. “That made the rest of the day difficult because I landed hard on my back and was in a bit of pain. I really wanted to race though so I got out there for both motos and was happy to finish them, even if it wasn’t the kind of results I would have hoped for.”

Bec will next compete at round 4 of the series to be held at Conondale, QLD whilst the other riders will next be in full force at Wonthaggi, VIC on April 30th.

“I’d say our weekend was a decent one,” said Team Manager Pip Harrison.

“The circuit was getting pretty torn up through the day and everyone worked very hard for their results. Cody is showing fantastic form and I think we will see a lot more of that through the season.”

Also of worthy mention, junior turned senior this year Kade Mosig (Full Throttle Sports/Scrivens Honda) earned himself 22 points at Gillman, slotting him into the 4th place overall position on the ladder.

Kade continues to demonstrate that he is a champion in the making and since winning both junior titles last year, he has gone from strength to strength.

Whilst Kade moves forward, ten other youngsters also got the chance to live their dreams in the debut of the Mini Mr Motocross series. The unique event provides an opportunity for club based young riders to get out and have a go on a professional circuit whilst geared up in matching No Fear outfits just like their heroes.

Honda provides a fleet of CRF50’s and additional technical support, and the series will continue at selected motocross rounds across the country this year.