I wasn’t sure what to call this story, and that’s just perfect, even the spectators were surfing. I was pretty concerned about going ass up with my camera, l am a little uncoordinated at the best of times, but I figured that my elite ability to take a tumble and not spill any beer would come into play, some strong muscle memory there.
Above – The reigning champion during qualifying, he had a rough weekend
Saturdays vibe at Wodonga was a little off, weather concerns and track concerns. It was kinda chilled but also a little serious if that makes sense. The track crew was busy shifting slop off the track, lots of slop. Mates from Queensland were asking me what the weather was going to do, hoping the Victorian would say it won’t rain.
The highlight for me on Saturday was during the track walk, witnessing the excitement of the 85cc riders and their dads, those kids were pumped to be there. Honestly, when I heard that the 85 class was going to be running my thoughts were that I’d rather see the WMX class, but this changed my mind a little.
Senior riders weren’t so pumped. You know when the gumboots come out for track walk it ain’t ideal conditions, a few youngsters no doubt regretting their footwear choices, even our Trent lost a sneaker in the mire. In an obvious “power move” Wilson Todd rocked the track walk in sandals, picking dry lines like the pro he is, I felt this had to play on the mind of his competitors especially archrival Nate Crawford who went with gumboots.
Sunday morning and Mother Nature well and truly hit the brown note, heavy overnight rain lined us up a full mudder. Mudders are memorable and the racing is entertaining with so many incidents changing the race order constantly, but mudders also bring the cruelness of the sport to the fore, broken bikes and broken dreams and even broken hearts. Championships possibly won or lost, a year’s work, a lifetimes work. But in the end, everyone lined up at the gate stared down the same start straight.
Above – The calm before the storm
The Racing.
Those poor 85 kids, and more so those poor Mums and Dads, the race was a disaster. But bloody good on every one of little champions for being out there. The 2nd 85 race was cancelled which was a good call. Expect a lot of cheap 85’s on marketplace coming up!
Above – Worn out 85 riders give way. What a contrast to the MX3 bikes lining up
MX3 saw Yamaha junior race team’s Jake Cannon absolutely dominate race 1, his fastest time almost 10 seconds better than the next best, but a crash in moto 2 and a 10th place finish left him off the podium. Jack Mather the overall winner with 2-1 scores, he now leads the championship, Jacks Raceline Husqvarna teammate Liam Owens was 2nd overall and Gas Gas junior racing team’s Byron Dennis was 3rd .
MX2 winner was Brodie Connelly, setting up the win by putting on an absolute clinic in moto 1, The sound of Brodie’s Honda Racing Australia machine was very Brrrrraaaa while much of the competition sounded very Waaahhh. The Kiwi very smooth on the loud handle, looking after his bike and getting power to the ground, at times making the tough conditions look effortless. KTM Australia’s Kayden Minear in 2nd and getting his first MX2 podium, it’s going to be great to see what this kid can achieve in the sport. Championship leader Wilson Todd rounding out the podium, but now only 8 points clear of teammate Connelly. Nate Crawford went DNF -1. Another disappointment for the KTM Australia rider, Nato has 3 wins a DQ and a DNF for the season so far, that’s a tough scorecard to swallow. He is now 4 th in the championship, 30 points from Todd.
MX1 Winner and new red plate holder was Honda Racing Australia’s Jed Beaton. There was so much happening in this class. Strap in here’s the story.
- Race 1 and Honda’s Kyle Webster gets the holeshot, Dean Ferris close behind and afield of dirty googles following
- Ferris goes down in turn 2
- Beaton quickly passes through to 2 nd
- Almost everyone except Webster crashes, stalls and gets stuck at some stage
- Beaton crashes into a downed lapper and gets stuck for around 30 seconds, but gets up still in 2 nd
- Ferris’s bike begins throwing more smoke than the summernats as he and CDR
Yamaha’s Aaron Tanti swap the points lead several times, Mossy was in the same
battle, the 3 of them providing the best entertainment of the race.
- Raceline Husqvarna’s Todd Waters just plugging away behind the lead Honda duo
- Webster’s bike breaks and Beaton takes the lead
- Tanti’s bike breaks
- Ferris’s bike breaks
- Mossy’s bike breaks
- My head is spinning trying to figure out what the hell is happening
- Beaton wins by a minute or so, from TDub 2 nd and Davey Motorsports KTM rider
Hamish Harwood 3 rd
- Carnage in the pits after all this, mechanics scrambling to prepare spare bikes,
broken bikes being trailered in. Pressure washers working overtime.
Above – Race 1 victory for Beaton
- Race 2 and another Webster holeshot, Trent’s pumped
- Beaton passes his teammate for the lead
- Mossy’s bike breaks, damn he’s had a rough few weeks
- Webster has his first of two crashes, drops back to 5th Trent’s pissed
- Ferris begins to challenge for the lead
- Ferris passes for lead and holds on to win
- Jed gets the overall with a 1-2 score, TDub 2nd and KTM Australia’s Kirk Gibbs 3rd
Above – The battle for the lead in race 2
Jed now leads the championship, 14 points clear of a consistent Gibbs, Ferris a further 3 back. Major disappointment for Aaron Tanti, dropping from 1st to 6th in the Championship with DNF- 7 scores.
Let’s hope for prime conditions at Maitland.
Go Riding
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