Winning championships always presents challenges and Yamaha Racing certainly faced a few challenges at round five of the MX Nationals hosted at the Murray Bridge circuit in South Australia. The fast and flowing red clay circuit always makes things interesting and this year was no different.
The round also represented the half way point in the championship and now riders and teams have a four week break before tackling the last half of the year. The break gives riders with any niggling injuries time to recover and teams time to take stick of the opening rounds and make and needed changes.
At the halfway point, Yamaha Racing are in a very strong position in each of the championship classes. Dean Ferris (CDR Yamaha) has a stranglehold on the MX1 class on board his YZ450F, while Wilson Todd (DPH Motorsport), Mitch Evans (Serco Yamaha) and Jackson Richardson (Serco Yamaha) hold down first, second and fourth respectively. Cody Dyce sits second in MXD with Cooper Pozniak in seventh after both Yamalube Yamaha Racing riders experienced an eventful weekend.
View the 'bLU cRU' video wrap of the weekend:
CDR Yamaha- MX1
1st Dean Ferris
Craig Dack – Team Manager
"We are five rounds in and Dean has won all five and holds a 48point lead in the championship so it is very difficult to be critical with our things are going for us. Dean rode another great race in moto one at Murray Bridge and led every lap so it was a real statement from him and his control in the championship.
"Race two and there was a good battle going on with Dean, Kirk Gibbs and Brett Metcalfe on a fast, rough track and add some rain into that and it was a real motocross race. All three were doing a good speed and it made for a good spectacle.
"But what impressed me most from moto two was that 18 months ago, Dean would have been all out to win it and probably would have gone down. Now he shows real maturity in his racing and he knew that by finishing second, he still wins the round, increases his lead in the championship and we come back to fight another day. He picks his battles better and we are impressed with his development in that area.
"The break will keep us busy and Dean has stated he is going to the US to contest a round of their Nationals so it will be interesting to see where he fits in. I believe he is racing well and is capable of top results but while he is there, CDR Yamaha will keep our focus on winning this championship."
Serco Yamaha – MX2
3rd Mitch Evans
6th Jackson Richardson
Gavin Eales – Team Manager
"Round five wasn't easy for us and both riders had to overcome some challenges during the day. Mitch was able to rebound after a disappointing result in the first race where a bad start really set him back a long way in the field. He showed he is a fighter as he charged the entire moto to get back inside the top seven and the confidence gained from catching the leaders in the closing stages no doubt helped.
Moto two was all his. He was fired up and ready to go and as a team we expected this result from him. He was determined to redeem himself and that's exactly what he did and led the race from start to finish.
Jackson finished fourth and fifth in each race but how those results were achieved was vastly different. In race one he dropped back from leading the race to fourth while in race two he charged from last to fifth in possibly his best ride for this season.
We think Jackson just needs to get that first race win under his belt and then he will be away. His roar speed his good, he just needs to relax and rethink his strategy in the first motos.
With the break, we can now take some time to assess things and work with the riders to find out exactly what they need to finish the series off strongly."
Yamalube Yamaha Racing – MXD
9th Cody Dyce
19th Cooper Pozniak
Scott Bishop- Team Manager
"It was a tough round for our guys and probably one of the worst we have had as a team for a very long time. Both riders came into the weekend feeling pretty good and our qualifying went well with both riders inside the top five but during the day, it all came unravelled.
"Cody was fourth in race one and things were starting to get pretty tight with the lead group. He got cross rutted on a jump, speared off the track and then went down. He then got back into the race but was involved in another crash when a rider went down directly in front of him so the best he could manage was 16th place.
"Race two and Cody was up the front and doing ok when himself and Jy Roberts came together with a few corners to go, causing both riders to go down. It was deemed a racing incident by the officials and Cody finished the race in second with a bike that had extensive damage.
"He now sits in second place in the championship but with three rounds to go, I'm sure he will give it everything he has to secure this championship.
"Coop had a consistent opening moto to take fourth and then was in third place in race two when he had to withdraw with a bike issue. As a team, we are devastated, but we have vowed to fight on and get ourselves back to where we belong. The riders and the team don't accept our current position and we will do whatever we can to turn this around."
MX Nationals Championship Standings – After Round Five
MX1
1st Dean Ferris – 356 (Yamaha YZ450F)
2nd Kirk Gibbs – 308
3rd Kade Mosig – 279 (Yamaha YZ450F)
4th Todd Waters – 277
5th Luke Styke – 262
6th Kyle Peters - 230
7th Luke Clout - 223
8th Alexsandr Tonkov -218
9th Brett Metcalfe - 173
10th Kieron Hall -173
MX2
1st Wilson Todd – 311 points (Yamaha YZ250F)
2nd Mitchell Evans – 305 points (Yamaha YZ250F)
3rd Hamish Harwood – 278 points
4th Jackson Richardson – 278 points (Yamaha YZ250F)
5th Egan Mastin – 277 points
6th Dylan Wills – 242 points
7th Kyle Webster – 233 points
8th Aaron Tanti – 217 points (Yamaha YZ250F)
9th Jayden Rykers – 209 points
10th Richie Evans – 205 points (Yamaha YZ250F)
MXD
1st Jy Roberts – 299
2nd Cody Dyce – 293 (Yamaha YZ250F)
3rd Morgan Fogarty – 259
4th Kaleb Barham – 241
5th Isaac Ferguson – 240
6th Hugh Mckay – 226
7th Cooper Pozniak – 225 (Yamaha YZ250F)
8th Brodie Ellis – 201 (Yamaha YZ250F)
9th Jai Constantinou – 196
10th Sam Pelz - 178 (Yamaha YZ250F)
Credits: MXN Images
For further information, please contact:
Scott Bishop
MX / SX Development Supervisor and Racing Communications
Ph: 0408 380 140
Email: scott.bishop@yamaha-motor.com.au