JDR MOTORSPORT:

Following eight rounds, stretching from one side of the country to the other, the 2009 MX Nationals came to a dramatic close at Coolum, Qld last weekend, with JDR Motorsports walking away with two championship podiums (out of three), bringing to a close one of Australia’s most successful debuts to premier-level motocross.

After a season that appeared, from the outside, to have every possible opportunity to fail – with injury, short preparation and up-and-down results – the entire team, with the support of MXRAD, continued to work away under the radar, proving yet again that consistency wins championships – and the final round was no different.

With additional points up for grabs in Coolum, so too, were championship positions and things got off to a great start, with most of the boys showing good form early in practice, turning this into good qualifying positions.

As the U/19s made their return to the series, Josh Cachia had already put his mark on the series, battling with the Yamaha boys all season and was going to leave no stone unturned until that final flag had fell. Cachia impressed early flying out to an impressive second place in moto one, before having a few dramas in race two – falling back to seventh. Moto three saw Cachia pick himself up and finish a creditable third, giving him one of his best overall results to date in second place. Unfortunately for Josh, hell fell just one point shy of second in the series, but still gave JDR its first-ever series podium in third.

In the Pro Lites, the series had not gone quite to plan for both Ryan Marmont and Danny Anderson, but both were out to make amends on the Sunshine Coast. Following an impressive return to racing at Lakes, ‘Doggie’ was on the charge once again – slotting into third in race one. Race fitness was still a downfall for Marmont however, as he slipped back a little to sixth and ninth in motos two and three respectively – finishing fifth overall on the day. Incredibly, even missing several rounds through injury, Marmont still finished inside the top-ten in ninth. An impressive effort, considering his accumulated time on the bike this year.

For Anderson, he would again face the torment of extremely soft terrain, a well known factor of the infamous Coolum Pines MX Track. Whilst things started out promising for ‘Digsy’ in practice and qualifying, he was not able to match the speed of the guys who are accustom to this kind of circuit and could only manage a 15 – 14 – 25 result for the weekend, leaving him in 18th for the round. Despite the lackluster result, Anderson still managed a top-15 result for the series.

Not only did the entire JDR concept have a world of pressure on its shoulders this year, so too respectively did its Pro Open riders in Andrew McFarlane and Beau Ralston. On one end of the scale, you have the seasoned racer, returning from a long and successful stint riding abroad, with all eyes watching his every move, waiting to see whether he can replicate his international performances. Whilst at the other end you have the teenage rookie – stepping straight up into the big league, with a new team, with all eyes waiting and watching for the talent to make good. Despite the pressure, both McFarlane and Ralston went into the final round looking to make one last impression – doing a stella job in the process.

Blasting out early in moto one, ‘Sharky’ did what not many have been able to do thus far this year and split the factory Yamaha one-two of Jay Marmont and Cheyne Boyd, riding to an impressive second place. He then backed up with a creditable third and fourth in motos two and three to finish third outright for the weekend. But more importantly, securing third overall for the championship – a fantastic result for both the returning champ and the team.

For Ralston, things didn’t start so great, missing the jump from the line and forced into a 15th and 28th place finishes in moto one and two respectively. Knowing his last chance to impress was slipping away, Beau got the start in moto three and mixed it up with the more experienced riders to turn in his best performance to date – riding home to an incredible fifth – finishing 15th for the round, but to his credit locked in a top-ten spot for the series – in his debut year.

With its debut MX season in the bag, along with two series trophies, The MXRAD/JDR Motorsports crew will now take a well earned break before entering into full-scale preparation for the inaugural SuperX series – and with everyone in high-spirits, JDR will be looking to continue to bring home more great results in its first Supercross series.

Such a successful debut season could not be possible without the unrelenting support from all of the team’s sponsors. JDR Motorsports would like to extend their appreciation to all of its associated sponsors for their support throughout season 2009.