Josh Hansen dominates mud soaked Dunedin Super X event
Wet and treacherous conditions prevailed at round five of the Monster Energy Super X event in Dunedin tonight, allowing Monster Energy Kawasaki / Pro Circuit’s Josh Hansen, to demonstrate his skill on the slippery track to win both motos in the Double Header final. Rockstar Motul Suzuki’s Matt Moss was the overall winner in the Lites.
Hansen was the only rider to stay relatively clean as he claimed both holeshots and never looked back in the 2, 12 lap final races, pushing him further ahead of CDR Rockstar Yamaha’s Jay Marmont in the overall championship standings.
JDR Motorex KTM’s Tye Simmonds rode the best he has all season to claim second in the first moto and third in the second after a great battle with Rockstar Motul Suzuki’s Jake Moss.
Moss made a great pass on Simmonds on the final corner of the second race to pip Simmonds at the post. Moss and Simmonds tied on round points with Moss claiming second on a count back.
Josh Hansen (USA)
“That was a scary one, especially with points. It was super wet, very muddy and a lot of lappers. Starts were really important and I had to be consistent and smart out there. It’s great to have the support I have behind me. Big thanks to everyone who has made it possible to be here and Troy Carroll from the Kawasaki Racing Team for all his help. This series is really cool and has been a lot of fun.”
Jake Moss (AUS)
“I just pushed hard the whole race and finally got the pass to pull it off. Thanks to all of my family and sponsors for all of their ongoing support.”
Tye Simmonds (AUS)
“It was a tough night, but it was good fun racing in the mud. It doesn’t rain much in Bourke so overall it was an awesome night. I really want to thank RACESAFE for helping me out.”
The first of two eight lap races in the Double Header final for the Lites was a nail biter with Rockstar Motul Suzuki’s Matt Moss and Raceline Pirelli Suzuki’s Steven Clarke engaging in a back and forth battle for the lead, with Clarke the eventual winner after overtaking Moss on the second last corner. Championship leader PJ Larsen was third.
Moss had a dominant win in the second final with Larsen second and Kawasaki Racing Team Cool Air Conditioning’s Cody Mackie third.
Larsen still leads the championship, but is only four points ahead of Moss and JDR Motorex KTM’s Ryan Marmont is third.
The penultimate round of the championship will be held at Parramatta Stadium this Saturday November 27.
OPEN top ten results – Round 5
1. Josh HANSEN – Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki: 25,25 TOTAL: 50
2. Jake MOSS – Team Rockstar Motul Suzuki: 20,22 TOTAL 42
3. Tye SIMMONDS – JDR Motorex KTM: 22,20 TOTAL 42
4. Jay MARMONT – CDR Rockstar Yamaha: 18,18 TOTAL 36
5. Cody COOPER – Rockstar Motul Suzuki: 16,15 TOTAL 31
6. Todd WATERS – Cougar Bourbon Thor Honda: 14,13 TOTAL 27
7. Justin MCDONALD – Honda: 8,16 TOTAL 24
8. Mason PHILLIPS – Fly Team Green Kawasaki: 10,14 TOTAL 24
9. Daniel REARDON – Cougar Bourbon Honda Thor Racing: 13,11 TOTAL 24
10. Daniel McCOY – Coastal KTM Motorex Team: 9,12 TOTAL 21
OPEN top ten results – Top ten championship standings
1. Josh HANSEN – Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki: 275
2. Jay MARMONT – CDR Rockstar Yamaha: 229
3. Jake MOSS – Team Rockstar Motul Suzuki: 194
4. Tye SIMMONDS – JDR Motorex KTM: 191
5. Daniel REARDON – Cougar Bourbon Honda Thor Racing: 162
6. Todd WATERS – Cougar Bourbon Thor Honda: 155
7. Daniel McCOY – Coastal KTM Motorex Team: 148
8. Mike ALESSI – JDR Motorex KTM: 127
9. Justin BRAYTON – Muscle Milk / Toyota JGRMX: 121
10. Lewis WOODS – Top Gear KTM: 112
LITES top ten results – Round 5
1. Matt MOSS – Rockstar Motul Suzuki: 22,25 TOTAL 47
2. Steven CLARKE – Raceline Pirelli Suzuki: 25,18 TOTAL 43
3. P J LARSEN – JDR Motorex KTM: 20,22 TOTAL 42
4. Cody MACKIE – Kawasaki Racing Team Cool Air Conditioning: 16,20 TOTAL 36
5. Luke ARBON – Kawasaki Racing Team Cool Air Conditioning: 15,15 TOTAL 30
6. Ford DALE – Serco Yamaha: 14,14 TOTAL 28
7. Ryan MARMONT – JDR Motorex KTM: 11,16 TOTAL 27
8. Craig SMITH – Timaru Honda Fly Racing Castrol: 12,11 TOTAL 23
9. Kade MOSIG – Cougar Bourbon Thor Honda: 18,0 TOTAL 18
10. Luke STYKE – GTYR Rockstar Yamaha: 7,9 TOTAL 16
LITES – Top ten championship standings
1. P J LARSEN – JDR Motorex KTM: 252
2. Matt MOSS – Team Rockstar Motul Suzuki: 248
3. Ryan MARMONT – JDR Motorex KTM: 203
4. Cody MACKIE – Kawasaki Racing Team Cool Air Conditioning:172
5. Steven CLARKE – Raceline Pirelli Suzuki: 154
6. Lawson BOPPING – Team Rockstar Motul Suzuki: 142
7. Ford DALE – Serco Yamaha: 133
8. Josh CACHIA – Coastal KTM MX Rad: 125
9. Luke STYKE – GTYR Rockstar Yamaha:119
10. Robbie MARSHALL – Yamaha: 117
Michelin Development Series – Top ten championship standings
1. Dylan LONG – KTM / Thor / Motorex / Michelin / One Industries: 75
2. Jake EMANUELLI – Doyle & Shields Yamaha Bairnsdale / Fox: 58
3. Jacob WRIGHT – Honda Jnr Development Team: 57
4. Luke CLOUT – SS Racing / MX Rad / Pirelli / Fox / Link / Rockstar: 47
5. Kurt WATERMAN – Spot On Racing / Bell / Troy Lee Designs / Dragon: 44
6. Jarrad DAVIS – Davis Bikeworx / Motul / Fox / Alpinestar / Dunlop: 39
7. Lenny MAGYAR – Canberra Motorcycle Centre: 34
8. Meghan RUTLEDGE – Moss Institute / Southern Highlands M-c: 34
9. James BOOTH-ELLIOTT – Loose Kid Industries / Ringmaster Images: 32
10. Lincoln NICOL – Prorider Motorcycles / Factory Spec MCD / Comac: 30
— CDR Rockstar Yamaha Report
CDR Rockstar Yamaha’s Jay Marmont overcame wet and soggy conditions in Dunedin New Zealand, to take a hard earned fourth place at round five of the Monster Energy Super X on Saturday Night.
In extremely difficult conditions bought on by constant rain in the lead up to the event, Marmont thrashed through the mud to just miss a spot on the podium in the premier Pro Open category, but kept his top five in every round consistency well intact.
Marmont placed fourth in both Double Header main event races allowing Jake Moss to sneak a little closer in the points chase. But Marmont still maintains a comfortable second place overall in the championship standings with two rounds remaining.
“It wasn’t my best night, that’s for sure,” said the mud splattered Marmont after the event. “The mud was really thick and heavy and it was just hard work out there tonight.”
“The track was quiet rutty and it was difficult to follow. The roost from the bike in front made protecting your vision a priority and the weight of the bike caked in mud made it hard to handle. But no excuses as it was the same for everyone.”
“I would like to have closed the points gap on the series leader, Josh Hansen, but at least I didn’t lose too many to Jake,” finishes the disappointed Marmont.
Marmont’s team mate, US Import Jeff Alessi also endured a tough night at the office and finished well down the points table. Alessi struggled with the wet and sloppy conditions finishing 14th in the opening moto but was unable to finish the final race.
CDR Rockstar Yamaha team owner, Craig Dack puts a positive spin on a rough night for his team.
“The conditions were tough on the riders and something they don’t face very often. While Jay didn’t have the night we were expecting, he still maintained his consistent top five record and didn’t drop too many points to other riders in the championship,” Dack explains.
“For Jeff, just staying on the bike was the key and he found the dirt once too often for a good result.”
The Championship now heads back to Parramatta in Sydney this weekend and the short turn-around from the Dunedin event places plenty of strain on the teams and crew to have the bikes ready after the mudfest in New Zealand.
— Cougar Bourbon Honda Report
The Cougar Bourbon Honda Thor Racing team were left wondering if a black cat had crossed their path after another disappointing evening of results at Round 5 of the Monster Energy Super X Series at Carisbrook Stadium in Dunedin last night.
All three riders struggled in the muddy conditions with Todd Waters fairing the best of the trio, finishing sixth overall in the Open class.
The 20 year old, who was fifth in his heat race, finished the two 10-Lap finals seventh and eighth respectively.
“Last night was hard,” Waters admitted. “Starts were even more important with the lack of visibility.
“I pushed hard in both races to come through and make good of a bad situation.
“I am definitely going to change some things in my program before the final two rounds as I am not happy with these results,” he concluded.
Team-mate and fellow Open class rider Dan Reardon maintained his fifth place championship standing with another top ten round result but acknowledged he was not happy to be finishing races eighth and tenth.
After finishing third in his heat race it looked like the tables had turned for Cougar Bourbon Honda Thor Racings Lites campaigner Kade Mosig, the young Victorian finished fourth in the first leg of the Lites ‘double-header’ final but cross rutted in the second leg and was landed on by another competitor.
Mosig, who was taken to hospital for precautionary checks, said he felt good on his Honda CRF450 but need to finish races.
“Despite the conditions I actually felt really good on the bike tonight and was battling competitively up front through my heat race and the first final,” Mosig explained.
“I cross rutted on the opening lap of the second race and had another competitor come down on top of me and that was it, I was out of the race.
Team Manager Yarrive Konsky acknowledged the team needed to regroup ahead of the final two rounds of the championship.
“We just can’t seem to find our feet at the moment,” Konsky said.
“We have some promising moments then we let ourselves down with silly mistakes
“It is time to forget the past five rounds and treat next weekend as a new beginning. We have to turn things around and aim to finish the year on a high,” he stated.
— JDR Motorex KTM Report
JDR Motorex KTM has continued its form in the 2010 Super X, Australasian Supercross Championship, scoring a superb dual podium in the Open and Lites classes at Dunedin in New Zealand on Saturday evening, 20 November.
Young gun Tye Simmonds gifted the team its first ever Open class podium on the 2011 model KTM 350 SX-F in what were treacherous conditions in the mud, the 18-year-old claiming 2-3 results to clinch third overall in the Double Header main event.
“In the first moto off the start I had second pick of the gate and I was able to work my way into second behind Josh Hansen and stay there for the first final, which I was pretty pumped with,” Simmonds beamed. “In the second one I didn’t get the best start but snuck up the inside into third. On the last lap I was running second and a lapped rider got in the way and Jake Moss passed me to take second in the race and overall, so I ended up third tied on points. It’s a proud moment to put the 350 on the podium, so we need to try and keep the ball rolling from here.”
The result maintained fourth in the series for Simmonds, still in the hunt for the top three overall after tying with main opponent Jake Moss at Dunedin. Also a highlight for Simmonds on the night was the opening heat race victory.
Fellow JDR Motorex KTM rider Mike Alessi finished 13th overall with 6-16 results, his second race spoiled after crashing in the early stages. Despite the Californian’s disappointment, Alessi moved up to eighth in the standings.
In the Lites class, PJ Larsen sealed his fourth podium finish of the season with a solid 3-2 finish, placing him third overall for the round. Larsen was fast in the mud, however slow starts meant he had to battle through the pack during the night.
“I had a good heat race and won, but I didn’t really get the best of starts tonight,” 20-year-old Larsen explained. “I was about 10th or so off the start in the first final but was able to work my way up to third even though I went down once. In moto two I was about eighth on the first lap and got caught up in an incident, but I picked guys off and got up to second so I was third overall for the night.”
Teammate Ryan Marmont rode his KTM 250 SX-F to 10-5 results in what was a difficult night by his standards, although he comfortably remains in third overall for the series with just two rounds remaining.
“It was a tough night,” Marmont reflected. “In the first moto I crashed on the first lap and then worked my way back through, but I regrouped for the second moto and ran around more consistently to get points in that moto. It’s been a difficult round in the mud, but I’m happy to come away with some points and look forward to going back to Sydney into some good weather next weekend.”
JDR Motorex KTM team manager Jay Rynenberg was ecstatic with the result, pleased to see the team on the podium in both main events as they continue to gain momentum in the season’s final stages.
“Anything can happen in a mud race, so many variables come into play, so to come out of the round with the Lites lead again is absolutely fantastic,” Rynenberg commented. “The ball’s still in our court and PJ is really happy with the way he rode. Considering his starts weren’t perfect, he was able to come through the pack and every moto counted for him. Ryan struggled a little bit but was still super consistent and remains third in the series.
“Tye has incorporated a little bit more football-style training into his regime now and I think it’s really paying off,” he continued. “He seems to be having a lot more fun in racing and it showed straight away. As soon as he got out for practice we could tell he was in the zone, so to come away with JDR’s first podium in the Open class was great. As for Mike, the mud race bit him. He had a strong first moto, but in the second one he got caught up with some guys after an average start and went down. All in all though, it’s a great night for JDR Motorex KTM.”
KTM finished as the top Manufacturer in the Open class and second in the Lites for the round, maintaining second in both series. Meanwhile, the JDR Motorex KTM team leads the Lites class Team standings and sits second in the Opens.
The series will now return to Australian soil for the Sydney round at Parramatta Stadium next Saturday night, 27 November.