Team Shift Motul Suzuki rider, Daryl Hurley's championship defence ended in disaster at round eight of the 2006 Motocross Nationals in Broadford (VIC), today.

After leading the Motocross Nationals Series from the first round, Hurley's motocross season came to a premature end when the reigning champion suffered a serious knee injury in race one.

Rushed to hospital in Melbourne, Hurley is yet to find out the extent of his injury which will determine if he is able to contest either of the remaining two rounds.

Ironically, Hurley's team-mate Luke Burkhart made his return from injury today at Broadford to put in a solid performance in his first race for nearly two months.

After holding seventh place for the majority of the first 30-minute moto, Burkhart's reduced race fitness began to show as the #99 rider dropped back to 11th in the closing laps.

Riders lined up in the start gates for moto two minus Hurley for the first time this season.

Burkhart made a very strong start to race two aboard the Suzuki RM-Z450 and was challenging for third place on the opening lap.

However, after his two-month injury lay-off, Burkhart continued to struggle with a loss of arm strength and rapidly dropped down the order before retiring at the mid-point of the race.

With only two rounds remaining in the 2006 series, the Motocross Nationals Championship returns to Team Shift Motul Suzuki's home track in Newcastle (NSW) for round nine on 16 July.

LUKE BURKHART -
"It's been a tough weekend, but it's great for me to be back racing my RM-Z450 with Team Shift Motul Suzuki.

"Broadford is a brutal track to come back to; the elevation is so steep it really puts your body under a lot of stress, so I'm pleased how with how well I was able to hold up in the first 30-minute moto.

"Towards the end of the race my arms had barely any strength left and I had to ease off to make it to the finish line.

"I struggled through the second moto until I had to pull out around half distance, but that's about my race fitness and I expect it to come back fairly quickly.

"Clearly it's a disappointing way to finish my day, but it's all about race miles and getting back to my peak fitness in time for the Supercross season.

"The worst part of the weekend was obviously Daryl's injury. no-one wants to see another rider injured, especially not your team-mate. It's a big blow for the Suzuki team.

JAY FOREMAN - TEAM MANAGER
"Daryl qualified quite strongly and was on target for a good result this weekend, so obviously the Suzuki team is pretty devastated.

"We are yet to find out how badly Daryl has injured his knee, but at this stage we don't expect him back for the final two rounds.

"Luke did a great job in the first race today and exceeded the expectations we had for him after such a long break for his wrist injury.

"The RM-Z450 is performing very well and Luke's results should improve as he gets stronger over the next couple of weeks."

2006 AUSTRALIAN MOTOCROSS NATIONALS CHAMPIONSHIP

Pro Open Overall Results - Round 8
1 Cody Cooper 45, 2 Daniel Reardon 38, 3 Cheyne Boyd 38, 4 Matt Moss 37, 5 Darryll King 33, 6 Craig Anderson 31, 7 Lee Ellis 31, 8 Brent Landman 27, 9 Craig Carmichael 24, 10 Shayne King 23

Pro Open Championship points - after Round 8
1 Craig Anderson 338, 2 Daryl Hurley (Suzuki RM-Z450) 313, 3 Cody Cooper 278, 4 Daniel Reardon 271, 5 Darryll King 239, 6 Shayne King 219, 7 Cheyne Boyd 202, 8 Craig Carmichael 163, 9 Peter Boyle 150, 10 Nathan Brochtrup 131