2011 Rockstar Energy Drink MX Nationals Round 1

While the Pro Lite and Under 19 classes had to endure high heat and humidity, the Pro Open class had to slog through torrential rain and a sodden track.

Held at the Victorian State Motorcycling Sports Complex at Broadford, the opening round marked the debut of a number of new riders, new teams, rebranded teams and a new raceday format, so the interest level amongst the crowd was high. All classes were running four motos each, but the schedule for the day saw the Lites and Under 19s classes complete half their quota of races before the Open class riders even hit the track. The finale for the day consisted of the four Pro Open motos, run virtually back to back.

The Under 19s were the first riders out for their practise and qualifying session, where Dylan Peterson (Team 07 Axis Honda) dominated in the hot and dry conditions. Dylan Long (Top Gear KTM), Sam Martin (Byrners Suzuki), Shaun Redhead (GYTR Rockstar Yamaha) and Jay Wilson (Coastal KTM) rounded out the top five. The Pro Lites followed, and their practise and qualifying session saw the Serco Yamaha pair of Ford Dale and Kirk Gibbs record the fastest times. Behind them, Monster Energy Kawasaki's USA recruit, Phil Nicoletti, was third quickest, followed by Daniel McCoy (Rockstar Motul Suzuki) and JDR Motorex KTM's Matt Moss.

While the crowd were arriving and making their way around the glittering new transporters that filled the paddock, the Under 19s made their way to the grid for the day's first 6 lap moto. With 40 riders all attempting to squeeze through the opening left-hander, some carnage was inevitable. Ben George fell at the opening turn, followed soon after by Lewis Reardon, Joel Matthews and Brad Skoric. Meanwhile, GYTR Rockstar Yamaha's Luke Arbon took the holeshot, just ahead of Jacob Mcleod (Grayson Sonter M/C). Soon after, Errol Willis (Raceline Pirelli Suzuki) moved to the front and held a comfortable lead over Arbon until the chequered flag. Redhead finished third despite badly twisting his ankle early in the moto.

With only four minutes allocated between the first finisher crossing the line and the start of the next race, it was a scramble for the back of the field to make it back to the grid in time. The start of Under 19s Moto 2 was almost a carbon copy of the first, with another first corner pile-up, claiming Skoric again, Joel Barry, Anthony Fellks, Mitch Norris and Joel Matthews. The early running was a Yamaha trifecta, with Mcleod securing the holeshot ahead of Arbon and Redhead. Behind them, Willis, Kale Makeham (JDR Moss Institute Suzuki) and Wade Hunter (W.D.R. MX Team Honda) were trying to chase down the leading trio. A fall from Redhead soon after dropped him to virtually last place, but the young Yamaha rider managed to fight his way back through the field to finish in 16th. Up front, Arbon secured the win, but had Willis close behind for the final laps, with Macleod finishing third.

The Pro Lites class were next out, and most eyes were on the JDR Motorex KTM squad. With the returning Matt Moss, the improving Brenden Harrison and last year's Under 19 champion, Josh Cachia, all on the orange bikes, KTM looked like the team to beat. JDR's Lites and Open riders were keen for a victory to honour Andrew McFarlane, the KTM rider who was tragically killed at the Broadford circuit last year. The other Lites title contenders were the Serco Yoshimura Yamaha pair of Kirk Gibbs and Ford Dale. For the opening moto, Cachia secured the holeshot ahead of Moss, while Nicoletti crashed within the first few corners. Struggling to restart his KX, the American rejoined the field a distant last. Gibbs suffered the same problem soon after. Almost a lap down and with no opportunity to salvage any points from the opening moto, Gibbs elected to park his Yamaha and get it ready for the second moto. For the rest of the 7-lap Lites opener, it was a battle of the KTMs, with Moss eventually prevailing over Cachia and Harrison.

Pro Lites Moto 2 started with Harrison and Dale both bolting from the start gate into the opening turn, the latter narrowly taking the holeshot. Hot on their heels were Moss and Luke Styke (AXO Shark Yamaha). An early fall from Cachia put him out of the running, while Nicoletti redeemed his opening moto efforts to be in the top five for most of the race. Harrison and Kayne LaMont (Rockstar Motul Suzuki) were also nipping at the heels of the leaders. Gibbs's bad luck continued when he was hit from behind and spun around, but was able to continue. Despite Moss's blazingly fast 1:35.63 lap, the quickest of all competitors, a few slip ups meant he couldn't close the gap on the consistent Dale, who finished almost 10 seconds clear of the KTM rider, with Styke taking third.

In hot conditions for the Pro Open practise and qualifying session, Josh Coppins (CDR Rockstar Yamaha) showed his years of World MX experience by recording the quickest time, just ahead of Monster Energy Kawasaki's Billy Mackenzie. Cody Cooper (Rockstar Motul Suzuki), Cheyne Boyd (Carlton Dry Honda Racing) and Dean Ferris (Monster Energy Kawasaki) rounded out the top five. Defending Pro Open champion, CDR Rockstar Yamaha's Jay Marmont, qualified in eighth place, only fractionally ahead of his younger brother, Ryan, in his first Open class hitout on the KTM 350 SX-F.

After lunch, the second Under 19 double-header kicked off with a strong start from Arbon, ahead of Jake Emanuelli (Hart & Huntington Yamaha), Dan Banks (Eco-Pest Control KTM), Jacob Wright (LKI Scott Honda) and Redhead. Midway through the moto, Josh Melis (Gecko KTM) had moved up into a podium position, closely followed by Redhead, making up for a poor start, and Willis. Arbon prevailed, despite close attention from Emanuelli, to take the win, with Melis a distant third.

The final Under 19 moto saw Coastal KTM's Jay Wilson take the early lead ahead of Arbon, Willis, Banks and Makeham. Within a lap, Arbon had reeled in Wilson, with Willis and Wright close behind. Wright was the rider on a charge, though, passing Arbon and opening up a six second lead at the chequered flag. Makeham made a late move to claim the final podium slot from Willis. Arbon's 2-1-1-2 results secured the round win, a great start to his season with GYTR Rockstar Yamaha.

The second brace of Pro Lites races kicked off with Cachia taking the holeshot from Nicoletti, Dale and Moss. Gibbs finally had a trouble-free race, but it was his team mate, Dale's turn to experience some bad luck when he crashed heavily and couldn't complete the race. Kawasaki privateer, John Bartley also crashed heavily off one of the jumps and caused a scramble by the other riders as he lay prone in the middle of the track. While Nicoletti was on Cachia's rear wheel early, he eventually dropped back, behind first Moss, then Gibbs. The final dash to the finish line was a desperate one, with Cachia claiming victory by less than half a second from Moss. Less than a second separated the top three placegetters!

Under a darkening sky, the final Pro Lite moto of the day saw the holeshot go the way of Harrison, but Moss soon had his measure and was leading the field by lap two. Still in pain from his fall in the last moto, Dale stalled on the start line, eventually joining the field a distant last. Behind the leading KTM pair, Cachia was battling with Nicoletti, Mackie and Keiron Tisdale (Raceline Pirelli Suzuki) for the final podium slot. Another fast and furious race went the way of Moss, with Gibbs second and Harrison third. Nicoletti and Mackie rounded out the top five after Cachia slipped up on lap three.
The round win went the way of Moss, while podiums from Harrison and Cachia made it a KTM 1-2-3 for the season opener.
"It was the first time I've done these formats with four races back-to-back and I felt really good," 22-year-old Moss said. "It's good that all three of us are on the podium for KTM and we'll keep working hard to stay here on top."

With rain starting to fall, the Pro Open field headed out onto the track for the sighting lap of their opening moto. The addition of heavy rain into the mix arguably favoured the likes of Mackenzie and Cooper, who have proven their pace in sloppy conditions in the past. However, it was Dean Ferris who scored the first Pro Open holeshot, leading Mackenzie, Jay Marmont, Daniel Reardon (JDR Motorex KTM), Ryan Marmont and the Carlton Dry Honda pair of Michael Phillips and Boyd into the opening turn. As the rain got heavier, Mackenzie showed his class, passing his team mate within the first lap and holding the lead, relatively unchallenged, until the finish of the 8 lap moto. Ryan Marmont showed some real skill in the wet to pass Ferris on lap five, holding station until the finish to record an impressive podium in his first Pro Open race. Jay Marmont's charge came unstuck when he discarded his goggles on lap 7 and was hit in the eye by a roosted rock almost immediately after. With blurred vision. Marmont struggled to stay on the pace, dropping two places to finish sixth behind Lawson Bopping (Raceline Pirelli Suzuki) and Phillips. CDR Rockstar Yamaha's Josh Coppins first race was a disaster when a fall on the opening lap dislodged his fuel cap and he spent the remainder of the moto with petrol splashing onto his legs. Under the rules, riders were only permitted to change bikes after the second moto, but as the fuel spillage from Coppins' YZ presented a safety issue, he was permitted to use his spare bike for the second moto.

Under heavy rain, moto 2 got underway and Reardon was the fast starter, taking the early lead ahead of Bopping and Coppins. Cooper went down on the opening lap, eventually rejoining at the tail end of the field. On lap 3, Bopping made his move to pass Reardon for the lead, while behind them, a fall from Ferris opened the door for Mackenzie to challenge Coppins for the final podium slot. Mackenzie made his next move on the final lap, passing Coppins for second place, but couldn't reel in Bopping, who scored his first win in his rookie Pro Open season. Still struggling with his first moto injury, Jay Marmont managed to finish in eighth, while Boyd showed the benefits of a Summer fitness campaign to work his way through the field to claim fourth. A fall from Robbie Marshall (Advanti Motorex Coastal KTM) aggravated a broken collarbone suffered in the lead up to the MX Nats, which forced the young Queenslander to withdraw partway through Moto 3.

A ten minute gap between Motos 2 and 3 allowed teams to change tyres and repair battered bikes, while the riders took a valuable break. Recognising the gruelling conditions, organisers reduced the race distance from eight to six laps for the final two motos.

For Moto 3, Cooper was one of many riders to make tyre changes and the switch paid immediate dividends. The kiwi rider took the lead early and held it unchallenged to the chequered flag. Behind him, Bopping, Mackenzie, Boyd and Ferris were solid, each rider by now adjusting to the conditions. In fact, most riders held station after the opening holeshot as staying upright became the priority. A poor start from Jay Marmont dropped him back to 15th, a position he held to the finish.

For the final moto, the rain had eased, but the track was still sodden and heavily rutted. Once again, Cooper was the class of the field, but hopes of a Suzuki quinella were dashed when Bopping suffered a puncture while running second and fell back through the field to limp across the line in 16th. Cooper recorded another convincing win, with Mackenzie a distant second. Ryan Marmont and Boyd were again strong in the slippery conditions, the latter claiming the final podium place. Coppins was running as high as sixth, but a fall dropped him back to 15th. Ferris and Jay Marmont both recovered from poor starts to finish in fifth and eighth place respectively.

Winning the round with consistent 1-2-3-2 results, Mackenzie was confident he could have won all four motos, but instead focused on remaining upright and earning himself an 18-point lead in the nine-round series.
"It was quite an easy race," Mackenzie said afterward. "It wasn't the easiest of conditions, but once you found your position you just basically had to stay upright, so that's what I did.
"I just made sure I tried to get a good start every time. I felt good in the first race and won and felt I could've won all the races but it's better not to go too crazy and take home the points and the overall for the day."

With an estimated crowd of 3,500 and positive feedback on the track, which held up under both intense heat and rain, the opening round of the 2011 Rockstar Energy Drink MX Nationals was declared an outstanding success. The series heads to Appin, NSW for Round 2 on April 3.


RESULTS - 2011 ROCKSTAR ENERGY DRINK MX NATIONALS – Rd1, Broadford

UNDER 19
1. L. Arbon Yamaha 2-1-1-2
2. E. Willis Suzuki 1-2-5-4
3. S. Redhead Yamaha 3-16-4-6
4. J. Mcleod Yamaha 4-3-11-12
5. J. Wright Honda 11-10-13-1

PRO LITES
1. M. Moss KTM 1-2-2-1
2. B. Harrison KTM 3-5-5-3
3. J. Cachia KTM 2-17-1-6
4. C. Mackie Honda 4-7-9-5
5. P. Nicoletti Kawasaki 18-4-4-4

PRO OPEN
1. B. Mackenzie Kawasaki 1-2-3-2
2. C. Cooper Suzuki 7-14-1-1
3. L. Bopping Suzuki 4-1-2-16
4. C. Boyd Honda 8-4-4-3
5. R. Marmont KTM 2-6-8-4

Full results and regular updates, go to www.mxnationals.com.au