After showing tantalising glimpses of his awesome brand of supermoto in the opening three rounds of this year’s Ssangyong-backed Australian title, Husqvarna Racing’s Troy Herfoss (SM450R) finally let loose at Cobden (Vic) on Sunday, March 26.

Herfoss was at his free-wheeling best on the fast and flowing 1.1km circuit, as his pole position (cemented in the one-lap Superpole shootout) translated into a couple of faultless S2 start-to-finish victories over Motorex KTM’s Stuart Bennett (450SMR) in race one and Rodney Taplin (Axis Motorsports Honda CRF450R) in the second hitout.

Herfoss has now won three S2 races in a row, following his last-start win in Newcastle’s round three.

“I’ve been working extremely hard on my fitness, with gym work, time on my practice bike and a few squash games,” said Herfoss, who will now head to America in preparation for that country’s domestic title. “Although the competition is extremely competitive, I feel fitter and more confident than ever – and the results at Cobden showed that.”

Although Herfoss steamrolled though the S2 program, the dual Australian dirt track champion still remains fourth in the standings on 146pts, behind Bennett (167pts), teammate Adam Cini (SM450R, 156pts) and GHR Honda’s Ben Grabham (CRF450R, 154pts).

However, the gap between the quartet is now much tighter – down from 31 to 21pts – with two rounds remaining at Coffs Harbour (April 6) and Darlington Park (June 6).

Besides Herfoss, the rider who probably came out of Cobden with the biggest smirk was Bennett. Despite finishing third overall, Bennett increased his S2 lead from two to 11pts – but this time over Cini instead of Grabham.

After finishing on the podium in five of the opening six S2 races, Grabham struggled to find his A game at Cobden, and finished sixth and seventh in the two 10-lappers.

In race one, Herfoss, Bennett and Taplin, back in form after a lean doubled-header in Newcastle, completed the top three, with 2.041sec separating the trio. Cini was a lonely fourth from Mark Avard (Beringer Yamaha YZ450F).

With Herfoss in scorching form, the result in race two was never in doubt, with the 19-year-old also setting the day’s benchmark of 54.715 on lap four. Taplin wet one better in this one, less than a metre in front of Cini. Bennett was fourth, just on the tail of the Taplin-Cini scrap, with Avard circulating to another fifth in the 13-rider field.

Taplin (126pts) improved one spot to move back into fifth at Cobden, with Avard (119pts), Nick Brain (OTW Racing CRF450R, 83pts) and Darren Herrick (Western Motors CRF450R, 83pts) now filling positions 6-8.

In S1, another rout was played out to perfection by Motorex KTM’s Graham Cheney (450SMR). The inaugural S1 runner-up in 2003 was made to work hardest in race one with a minuscule 0.264sec win over championship leader Cini (Husqvarna Racing SM510R), before the pressure eased with clear-cut victories over Jamie Cunningham (GHR Racing CRF480R) in races two and three.

Meanwhile, Angus Reekie (Elf Racing KTM 525SX) made third spot his own all day – in qualifying and all three six-lappers. And, lo and behold, he’s now third in the S1 standings on 204pts, behind Cini (245pts) and Cunningham (235pts).

With previous third-placed Rob Jones (Suzuki DR-Z480, 173pts) a no-show, Jason Kain (Honda CRF490R, 180pts) also jumped a spot in Victoria - from fifth to fourth – while Cheney moved from seventh to fifth on 180pts. Cheney missed the opening round while recovering from injury.

Finally, Ben Grabham (GHR Racing CRF250R) again clean bowled all the opposition in S3 – the first time in three-and-half years of national Supermoto competition that every championship class has been whitewashed on the same day.

The Bathurst (NSW) rider was again untouchable, with Blake Jacobs (On Two Wheels Motorsports Yamaha YZ250F) the only rider to keep Grabham remotely in the same orbit – in the first few laps at least.

Round four also welcomed two new pilots into the top three – Simon Galloway (Cessnock Motorcycles KTM 250SXF) with a second in race two, and Joe Harvey’s third on his YZ250F in the six-lap finale.

Harvey was third in last year’s E3, but has hitherto struggled to reproduce that same form.

Grabham remains on a blemish-free 300pts, from Jacobs (245pts), Galloway (171pts) and Queenslanders Joel Whitaker (Husqvarna TC210, 158) and Ricky Rice (CRF250R, 158pts). Besides Grabham increasing his lead from 42 to 55pts over Jacobs, Galloway was the biggest mover at Cobden – up four spots from seventh to third.

S2 Championship points
Race 1 Race 2 Total
1 Stuart Bennett 22 18 167
2 Adam Cini 18 20 156
3 Ben Grabham 15 14 154
4 Troy Herfoss 25 25 146
5 Rodney Taplin 20 22 126
6 Mark Avard 16 16 119
7 Nick Brain 14 15 83
8 Darren Herrick 11 8 83
9 Alex Gobert 12 9 76
10 Michael Kirkness 10 12 70

S1 Championship points
Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Total
1 Adam Cini 25 18 14 245
2 Jamie Cunningham 18 22 22 235
3 Angus Reekie 20 20 20 204
4 Jason Kain 15 14 15 182
5 Graham Cheney 22 25 25 180

S3 Championship points
Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Total
1 Ben Grabham 25 25 25 300
2 Blake Jacobs 22 18 22 245
3 Simon Galloway 18 22 18 171
4 Joel Whitaker 11 15 15 158
5 Ricky Rice 16 13 9 158

Juniors
Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Race 4 Total
1 Luke Richards 25 25 16 16 368
2 Nathan Porombka 16 20 20 25 308
3 Alan Macdonald 22 22 22 22 307
4 Cameron Palmer 18 16 25 20 282
5 Jarryd Oram 20 18 18 18 258

Clubman X
Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Total
1 Dallas Drury 25 22 25 200
2 Sam Sproule 0 0 0 178
3 Robert Macdonald 22 25 20 173

Women
Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Total
1 Rebecca Bateman 25 22 25 288
2 Kristy Tripp 22 25 22 276
3 Gina Cleaver 0 171

Vets
Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Total
1 Robert Macdonald 22 25 22 237
2 Scott Cogan 16 22 18 219
3 Jamie Oram 15 0 0 207

Novice
Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Total
1 David Scullard 22 18 22 240
2 Todd Harding 0 190
3 James Young 18 16 25 189