Flashback Friday | 2004 Aussie SX Round One

With Aussie SX 2017 soon to get underway Flashback Friday looks back to the 2004 SX season opener

This was the first round under the stewardship of SEL which was effectively a division of V8 Supercars Australia

Lots of great flashback in this yarn from 2004

And some not so great as Toby Price broke his femur during practice

And sadly a few riders that raced at this event are no longer with us

Images by Phil Smith

Pro Lites Main

Cameron Sinclair got the holeshot in to turn one for the Pro-Lites final, but Daniel McCoy, Adam Cini and Bronte Holland quickly got the better of him.

McCoy then started to pull away to have a 1.2 second lead by the end of the first lap. McCoy then stretched that out to 1.9 seconds by the end of the second lap.

Meanwhile Cini and Holland were having a good battle over second position. That was until the third lap when Cini fell, handing Holland a clear second position while Paul Broomfield moved up in to third thanks to Cini’s mistake.

It was Broomfield’s turn to make a mistake on lap four which pushed him back down the field. McCoy continued on his merry way unchallenged out front.

By lap seven the young Camden rider had nearly five seconds on Holland, while Jye Harvey moved up to third position, four-seconds behind Holland.

Ryan Marmont’s fitness then started to shine through as the young Wollongong rider moved through to third place with only a few laps to run.

Bronte Holland was also coming on stronger as the race progressed and was right on McCoy’s hammer with two laps to run.

Then McCoy came up a little short on the last triple and cased it, while Holland had got big air to jump the whole lot and then landed on the near stationary McCoy. The collision was huge, Holland definitely came out of it the worse. McCoy was able to get up shortly after the impact but Holland was not going anywhere. He was stretchered from the track.

Some heated discussion then unfolded on the track between race officials and various team managers as to whether Ryan Marmont would take the win, as he was the last man left standing when the red flag came out. But the decision on the night went the way of a declared race with standings taken from the lap before the accident, thus McCoy was awarded the win, Holland second and Marmont third.

So McCoy was seemingly the early leader after the opening round of that inaugural SEL managed Australian Supercross Nationals Series and was looking strong.

Bronte Holland had surprised many with his scintillating form and is shaping up as title threat along with Ryan Marmont, Jye Harvey and Adam Cini.

But… A day after the event a bombshell was dropped when McCoy and Holland were relegated to ninth and tenth respectively, due to their race ending crash in the Pro Lite main.

Thus Ryan Marmont was subsequently awarded the win, Jye Harvey second and Daniel Reardon third. A gut blow for McCoy and Holland but a major boon for Marmont.

Pro Lites – Main

1. Marmont 20 pts
2. Harvey 17 pts
3. Reardon 15pts
4. Williams 13pts
5. Cini 11pts
6. Hoad 10pts
7. Broomfield 9pts
8. Sinclair 8pts
9. McCoy 7pts
10. Holland 6pts

Pro Open Main

After that titanic Pro-Lites episode the scene was set for an equally thrilling Pro-Open encounter. With Metcalfe out of the hunt due to his huge crash in the semi it looked as though it would shape up to be a Jay Marmont versus Troy Dorron battle up front.

Jay went in to the first turn in the middle of the pack while Boyd was trying for the inside but got squeezed and had to also enter the pack, but somehow Marmont and Boyd came over the first jump running first and second. Dorron was right with them.

Robbie Marshall hit the deck on lap two to go out of the top running.

Jay then stalled his machine on the third lap which allowed Boyd through for the lead while Jay furiously tried to kick his machine back to life. By the time he got it going he had been shuffled down to sixth place.

Troy Dorron really started to threaten Boyd on lap five while Danny Ham had started to come on strong in third.

Dorron went through to the lead on lap ten, the halfway stage of the race, but the top three were still fairly close.

Then on lap 14 Ham went over a berm which lost him some time, he retained his third position but he was no longer right with Dorron and Boyd.

By lap 15 Dorron had opened up 2.2 seconds on Boyd, who in turn had two seconds on Ham while Marmont was a further four seconds down in fourth place. The board from the KTM mechanics to Jay said ‘PUSH’. The next time around with four laps to go it read ‘Get In There!’

Ham challenged Boyd on lap 17 for second place but had to wait until lap 18 to gain the position.

As they got the last lap board it had become really close with Marmont taking those instructions from his mechanics to heart and joining the battle up front. The top four was covered by less than three seconds at this pinnacle stage of the race.

Then Ham went down, much to his frustration, while Dorron took the win from Boyd, who was nearly block passed in to third by his team-mate at the final corner. But Boyd prevailed with second place, Marmont third. Considering Boyd’s recent injuries that was one very gutsy display of riding.

Dorron left Sydney the Pro Open points leader from Cheyne Boyd and Jay Marmont while Cameron Taylor was the highest placed Yamaha rider with fourth position.

Troy Carroll was expected to be out for up to four weeks following his huge accident in practice while Shane Metcalfe looked likely to be back in action at Townsville next weekend.

Early reports suggested Jay Marmont has a dislocated big toe from his accident.

Pro Open – Main

1. Dorron 20pts
2. Boyd 17pts
3. Marmont 15pts
4. Taylor 13pts
5. Ham 11pts
6. Cook 10pts
7. Brochtrup 9pts
8. Ellis 8pts
9. Marshall 7pts
10. Hibberd 6pts

Juniors

1. Thompson 60pts
2. Dalle-Molle 45pts
3. Dale 41pts
4. Moss 41pts
5. Chapman 31pts
6. Carafa 30pts
7. Harrison 27pts
8. Bopping 22pts
9. Bartley 17pts
10. Carter 16pts