Wonthaggi is notorious for its dark chocolate/potting mix sand, the first sand track of the year that would surely show who had been putting in the homework over the off-season fitness wise and who had their bike set-up dialled.

This dark sand track is set only a short distance from the beach and the ditch separating us from our six-fingered friends, and is home for round three of the Monster Energy MX Nationals.

It’s always a strange perspective of the weekend’s racing from the inside of the fence. While trying to admire the skill these guys have and keep up to date on who passed who, who crashed in the first turn, all the while dodging wayward riders, roost and crossing the track to get another shot, I find myself taking very little of the racing in, but get to almost feel the racing while looking through the view finder of my camera.

In years past by round three we can usually start to figure out who is going to be running at the front week in and week out for the remainder of the season, however with such a stacked class in MX1 and MX2, there is no real stand out for me yet.

Dylan Peterson was a big improver under the Monster Energy Kawasaki tent for ninth overall. Image: Simon Makker/Makkreative.com.

And there are still so many questions; ifs, whats and maybes at this point in the championship to really pick out eventual winners and consistent front-runners. Here are a few of my thoughts and standouts from the weekend’s racing:

Dylan Peterson stepped under the Monster Energy Kawasaki rig in place of the injured Billy Mackenzie. Dylan really showed great speed on a track similar to his home track Coolum, so it will be interesting to see how he goes at another sand track in WA next weekend.

Talking to Dylan he mentioned that he is using his suspension as apposed to the stuff Billy had been running, as Billy likes his set up a bit softer than what Peterson prefers. It will be great to see how he can go and how he handles the pressure of a factory team.

BT101’s bike was under the Carlton Dry Honda tent again, which begs the question, will there be a replacement rider in the next couple of races? There are two Honda privateers that I am sure could use the assets of a team like that.

Kirk Gibbs finished off the MX2 podium for the first time this season in sixth overall. Image: Simon Makker/Makkreative.com.

Kirk Gibbs came into the season with a wrist injury, although I did see he had a tough weekend with starts and first lap crashes, was his wrist affected by the rough and taxing track? Or did he just have an ‘off’ weekend?

It was real interesting to see Josh Coppins really pushing in the first two motos, compared to how he rode at the start of last year. It is obvious he is really strong in the 30-minute motos, but in the past sprinting in the first few motos of the day has never really been his style.

Dan Reardon seems to be struggling bad on the KTM 450 and the bike almost seems to be riding him. I wonder if the Dungey 450 will be shipped down under to try and better his results? It’s sad to see a past champion riding/getting ridden like that.

Wanneroo, WA, is the next stop on the calendar and another sand track. I have never been to Wanneroo, but from what I hear the sand is deeper than any of the east coast tracks. Hopefully we have different winner in the MX1 class again and the close racing of the MX2 continues.