Terex Australian Supercross – Round Three – Toowoomba
— Reed resilient in tough conditions to win Toowoomba Supercross
A crowd of over 6000 braved the wet conditions to witness a clash of the titans at last night’s round three of the Terex Australian Supercross Championships at Toowoomba Showgrounds.
TwoTwo Motorsports’ Chad Reed was again the standout, taking his second win from as many starts and relishing the challenge of the longer and more demanding track layout.
The fan favourite didn’t have it all his own way, however, forced to fend off the charge of Motul Pirelli Suzuki rider Todd Waters who sat on Reed’s tail for much of the pair’s heat race.
Waters made a pass for the lead stick momentarily before Reed re-claimed the advantage and held on to the wave of the chequered flag.
Reed led the Carlton Dry Pro Open Main Event from start to finish, though Waters offered strong opposition in the opening laps.
The pair was eventually split by Carlton Dry Honda Thor Racing’s Ben Townley for the final result, with the New Zealand rider continuing to make ground in his recovery for second overall.
Reed moves to equal third on the Championship points ladder with another maximum points haul from the weekend.
“It’s a pretty good feeling to get the win, I had to try to get a good start but at the same time stay safe,” said Reed.
“I got to the front but had to take my goggles off as the lights were a lot lower than I am used to.
“It was a tough race out there, especially getting past the lappers.
“I want to thank everyone for sticking around in the rain, it was a great crowd.”
Townley was left to rue some small mistakes, finishing just under 10 seconds off Reed as the 20-lap race came to a muddy conclusion.
“I came off a few times, it was crazy,” said Townley. “If I had have kept it on two wheels I could have made a good race of it.
“It has been a long time between drinks for me and a very long year coming back so it felt good to be up the pointy end.
“In these conditions I knew I just had to go out there and go for it.”
The podium finish elevates Townley to equal tenth on the standings.
Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jay Marmont finished the event in fourth, setting the night’s fastest lap by over a half a second, to retain the red plate.He leads the standings by 7 points over CDR Yamaha rider Daniel McCoy, who was a solid fifth last night.
Positions three through to eight are now separated by just 10 points as the series gears up for the final round in Newcastle next weekend.
The Terex Pro Lites Main turned into an epic fight between the three leading factory riders – JDR KTM’s Ryan Marmont, Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Kade Mosig and Carlton Dry Honda Thor Racing’s Gavin Faith.
Marmont prevailed by a 6-second margin, getting the better of a back-and-forth stoush with Mosig.
The KTM rider was pleased to notch up a win after what has been a challenging year.
“I’m really stoked for the JDR team, they have put in a huge effort,” said Marmont.
“The injuries have taken their toll this year but I have been training hard for this Supercross season and it paid off.
“I am really looking forward to next week.”
Mosig admitted that mistakes cost him a chance at his first win of the season.
“I felt good and I was definitely racing out there to win but just made too many mistakes,” said Mosig.
“The conditions were pretty tough so I am really happy to be on the podium.”
Gavin Faith retains the Pro Lites points lead after finishing third.
He was forced into the Last-Chance Qualifier after the timing transponder fell from his bike during his heat, forcing officials to strip him of the win and disqualify him.
It was a minor setback for the standout US rider, who consolidated his lead in the trying conditions.
He heads to Newcastle with a 9-point gap over Marmont and a further 6 points over Mosig.
The Unit Under 19s class saw a new winner, with KTM’s Kale Makeham beating home series leader Hayden Mellross by a margin of just 0.587s.
The pair battled back-and-forth for the duration of the 10-lap race, with Mellross making his way back into contention after a slow start.
The Honda rider went down on the last lap which allowed Makeham to maintain the lead.
Jay Wilson finished on the podium again, the Suzuki rider crossing the line in third around 10 seconds off the pace of the leaders.
Makeham closed the gap to Mellross and now trails the series leader by just 9 points ahead of the final round in Newcastle.
Junior Lites honours went to Aaron Tanti, who held off Dylan Heaton by a 2.624-second margin.
The top three riders were all KTM-mounted, though third-placed Nathan Denny was close to half a minute away from the leaders when the 8-lap race came to a close.
The result marks Tanti’s second win and third podium finish from as many starts, giving him a comfortable 18-point buffer over Brock McLeary ahead of the series final.
The final round of the Terex Australian Supercross Championships will be held at the Newcastle Showground on Saturday November 17.
AUSTRALIAN SUPERCROSS C’SHIP at Toowoomba Showgrounds, Toowoomba. Rd 3: Race Results:
Open: C Reed (Honda) 21m05.326s 1, B Townley (Honda) 21m14.513s 2, T Waters (Suzuki) 21m16.488s 3, J Marmont (Kawasaki) 21m29.586s 4, D McCoy (Yamaha) 21m37.153s 5, C Boyd (Honda) 22m16.748s 6, L Bopping (Yamaha) 22m19.489s 7, J Moss (Honda) 22m35.222s 8, B Ralston (Suzuki) +1 lap 9, T Simmonds (Honda) +1 lap 10.
Lites: R Marmont (KTM) 22m30.060s 1, K Mosig (Kawasaki) 22m36.158s 3, G Faith (Honda) 22m24.255s 3, S Clarke (Suzuki) 23m43.661s 4, K Ashkenazi (Honda) +1 lap 5, L Clout (Yamaha) +1 lap 6, T Potter (KTM) +1 lap 7, C Lucas (Suzuki) +1 lap 8, S Coloumb (Suzuki) +1 lap 9, N Sutherland (Kawasaki) +1 lap 10.Championship Points:
Open: J Marmont (Kawasaki) 65pts 1, D McCoy (Yamaha) 58pts 2, C Reed (Honda) 50pts 3, T Waters (Suzuki) 50pts 4, L Bopping (Yamaha) 50pts 5, J Moss (Honda) 49pts 6, T Simmonds (Honda) 41pts 7, C Boyd (Honda) 40pts 8, B Townley (Honda) 35 pts 9, B MacKenzie (Kawasaki) 35pts 10.
Lites: G Faith (Honda) 70pts 1, R Marmont (KTM) 61pts 2, K Mosig (Kawasaki) 55pts 3, S Clarke (Suzuki) 54pts 4, S Coloumb (Suzuki) 40pts 5, L Clout (Yamaha) 38pts 6, G Stapleton (Honda) 37pts 7, K Ashkenazi (Honda) 34pts 8, N Sutherland (Kawasaki) 33pts 9, T Potter (KTM) 27pts 10. — Carlton Dry Honda Report – Townley flourishes in Toowoomba mire
Carlton Dry Honda Thor Racing’s Ben Townley has made a triumphant return to the podium, relishing Toowoomba’s wet conditions to finish second at the penultimate round of the Terex Australian Supercross Championships last night.
Townley set the fastest lap-time of his heat, before finishing the action packed race second behind fellow Honda rider Jake Moss.
The former World Champion, who was eighth off the start in the final, moved to sixth on the opening lap. He gained another four spots over the next two laps before falling victim to the treacherous conditions.
Back into second on Lap 6 of the 15-lap duel, Townley set some of the fastest laps of the race as he set after race leader Chad Reed.
Townley finished the race second, to claim his first Supercross podium of the year and moves to ninth in the Pro Open championship standings.
“I love these conditions,” Townley said. “I grew up racing on tracks like this so tonight was great for me.
“It was awesome to be back up on the podium. It has been a long time since Conondale and with the focus now on next year’s championships, it is good to know I am heading in the right direction.
“It was crazy out there and I came off a few times. If I had of kept it on two wheels I could of made a really good race of it,” Townley concluded.
Teammate Gavin Faith endured a tough night in the Lites class. The Honda CRF 250 rider won his heat race but was subsequently disqualified because his transponder fell off.
Faith won the last chance qualifier to progress to the final but was impeded by a poor gate option. The championship leader finished the race third, opting to conserve championship points with one round remaining.
“It wasn’t the best night that’s for sure,” Faith lamented “My transponder fell off in the heat race so I was disqualified and had to race the LCQ.
“After being left with the second last gate pick I didn’t get a good start but managed to get up into third on the opening lap.
“The track was becoming really scetchy so after a while I just sat back and thought about the championship,” Faith said.
Faith leads the Pro Lites championship on 70 points, sitting nine points clear of Ryan Marmont in the standings.
Honda Thor Racing’s Under 19’s campaigner Hayden Mellross also endured a tough night. Dropping to 12th after an opening lap crash in his qualifying race Mellross fought hard to claw his way back up the order, eventually finishing fifth.
Mellross made a slow start to the 10-lap final but worked his way into second with two laps to go. Pressuring Kyle Makeham for the race lead the Honda rider went down on the final lap allowing Makeham to hold onto the lead.
Mellross retains the U’19’s red plate and will take an 11-point lead into next weekends final round of the 2012 Terex Australian Supercross Championships at Newcastle Showgrounds.
