Retaining his 2006 Motocross Nationals series lead for the seventh consecutive round, Team Shift Motul Suzuki's Daryl Hurley racked up another race win and claimed second overall in round seven at Toowoomba (QLD), today.

Making a strong start in race one aboard the RM-Z450, Hurley rounded the first corner in third place but, suffering a carburetion issue, his progress was hampered throughout the 30-minute moto.

The Suzuki star rode to the limit of his exceptional ability but was unable to advance up the order and finished in third place, despite producing the fastest lap of the moto.

Making another excellent start in race two, the New Zealander narrowly missed the holeshot and came through turn one hot on the heels of his main series rival, Craig Anderson.

Locked in a fierce duel, Hurley made a pass for the lead, and was re-passed by Anderson as the pair continued trading places back and forth.

In stellar form, Hurley eventually wore Anderson down, pulling away to win with an impressive and demoralising 21.2-second margin.

With three rounds remaining, Hurley holds a six-point advantage in the championship as the Motocross Nationals series heads to Broadford (VIC) for round eight on 9 July.

DARYL HURLEY -
"Overall, I'm pretty happy. The RM-Z450 clearly had the speed today and I would have liked to take two race wins, but I did manage one victory and Suzuki still has the series lead.

"I rode as hard as I could in race one and couldn't do any better than third. We made some changes to the bike for the second race and it was absolutely perfect.

"After a disappointing first race, dominating the second moto was really satisfying."

JAY FOREMAN - TEAM MANAGER
"The Toowoomba track really suits Daryl and the RM-Z450, so the result in race two was exactly what we expected.

"The carburetion issue with the bike was easily fixed, but obviously very disappointing. Daryl did a great job in race one to minimise the points damage and come home in third.

"We were aiming for two race wins and maximum points to give us more of a buffer heading into the final rounds.

"There are another three rounds to go and 153 points up for grabs; we'll just keep chasing race wins and hopefully the title will still be ours at the end."


2006 AUSTRALIAN MOTOCROSS NATIONALS CHAMPIONSHIP

Pro Open Overall Results - Round 7
1 Craig Anderson 47, 2 Daryl Hurley (Suzuki RM-Z450) 45, 3 Daniel Reardon 36, 4 Cody Cooper 36, 5 Cheyne Boyd 34, 6 Shayne King 25, 7 Darryll King 24, 8 Josh Strang 24, 9 Peter Boyle 23, 10 Ford Dale 21

Pro Open Championship points - after Round 7
1 Daryl Hurley (Suzuki RM-Z450) 313, 2 Craig Anderson 307, 3 Daniel Reardon 233, 4 Cody Cooper 232, 5 Darryll King 206, 6 Shayne King 196, 7 Cheyne Boyd 164, 8 Peter Boyle 146, 9 Craig Carmichael 139, 10 Nathan Brochtrup 112