Last weekend’s Adelaide round of the 2006 Supercross Masters Championship resulted in a respectable season kick-start for the No Fear Honda Team with newest member, Danny ‘Digsy’ Anderson, finishing on the Lite’s podium in third place after a formidable effort.

Each of the riders had their fair share of knocks throughout the proceedings, making it difficult for Honda’s Pro Lite and Pro Open contenders to reach the winner’s spot, however a sum of highlights including veteran Troy Dorron’s resolute efforts left the Honda squad smiling overall.

Consistency was very much the name of the game at the City of Church’s Wayville Showgrounds with riders competing in three motos of varying length, a format typically used at all outdoor venues.

Although he finished a solid fourth overall on the night, Pro Open prospect Craig Anderson’s first outing proved to be less than desirable after a bad pick of the gate for race one.

“I had to start very wide and basically just got shunted out over the berm. From there it was a case of trying to make up as much ground as possible over eight laps.”

Ando managed an eight place finish, and clearly wanted to make amends over the next two battles.

In race two and three, the 27 year old multiple champion pegged great starts, but wasn’t able to hang on to the front runners having to settle for a fourth and third respectively.

“I am a bit disappointed with my result for round one,” he said. “I really should have been able to keep my pace up but couldn’t for various reasons.”

“All I can say is that I have just started to train a lot harder than I ever have before and I think the results will start to show by the time we hit W.A. for round two.”

Joining Ando in the Open class, Cody Cooper showed impressive form on his CR250 2-stroke keeping up with American import Timmy Weigan, and finishing in a close second in the first moto.

Cody’s pace was menacing throughout the night, but hampered starts saw the young Kiwi champion playing catch up over the next two races. A sixth place overall for the night, however, left him feeling positive.

“I’ve had pretty limited preparation time for this series, so I’m happy with the way I went tonight,” the subtle 22 year old commented.

In the Lites showdown, No Fear’s Digsy Anderson made an impressive premiere with the Team after taking away a second and two fourths, one of which required him to recover from a serious coming together with Cameron Taylor on the first corner.

Danny finished on the podium for the first time in the Masters series, and will enter the next round on six points in prestigious company in third position behind Taylor and Mitch Hoad.

“I rode steady all night,” said the youngest member of the Honda squad. “I’ve been working harder than I ever have before in my career, so it is pretty rewarding to come to my first race and have it pay off.”

Long standing Honda man Troy Dorron also put in a hard day’s work after pushing relentlessly to come back from a holeshot dash in both race one and three that put him at the wrong end of the field. Ever the professional, the 33 year old put his head down and made up as much ground as possible.

In moto two, however, Doz didn’t let anyone stand between him and the lead position, and dominated the proceedings from the drop of the gate helping him to secure 5th overall for the round.

“I got dumped pretty hard on that first corner in the third race, and I think I was about a half a lap down,” he said. “But I still managed to finish in the top ten in that moto so I can’t complain about that.”

Honda supported riders including Shane Metcalfe (Open - 8th overall); Lewis Stewart (Lites – 7th); and dual 2005 Juniors Champion Kade Mosig, a newcomer to the series, (Lites – 8th) also helped make for a highly successful night for the manufacturer. In fact Honda riders now make up the majority of points holders in both classes.

The Team will compete in round 2 to be held in Perth on March 25th. For more information, please go to: www.supercrossmasters.com.au