Matt Moss and Todd Waters duke it out at Hervey Bay on Sunday. Image: Simon Makker/Makkreative.com.

Tensions rose between MX1 title contenders Matt Moss and Todd Waters during Hervey Bay’s seventh round of the Monster Energy MX Nationals on Sunday, an on-track incident in moto one triggering a heated discussion with officials between motos.

Moss and Waters came together during the first 30-minute moto as they vied to battle through the mid-sector of the top 10, and following the turn of events, both were immediately summonsed to a meeting with series officials to sort their on-track dispute.

It was deemed to be a racing incident and both the Motul Pirelli Suzuki and Motorex KTM teams were content to leave it at that, but it sets up an intriguing race toward the premier class championship for two of Australia’s brightest rising stars.

Moss took ownership of the series leader red plates by two points after finishing second overall yesterday, while Waters continued his race toward full fitness after undergoing mid-season collarbone surgery. He finished fifth overall at Hervey Bay.

“I’m just happy to get a win, happy to get the red plate because that’s what I’ve been working toward for seven rounds now,” Moss explained. “There are three rounds to go, so I’m looking forward to the challenge and what lies ahead. I think Todd and I will battle to the very end, so I’m excited for that.

“Todd had so much confidence heading into the first few rounds and he sort of hosed us at those. But you know, I’m a fighter and I hate people beating me. I went home, did my homework, trained hard and came back. It’s hard to maintain a top level from the start the whole way through.

“He’ll bounce back, he’s had an injury and some bad luck, but so have we all. Todd’s a good guy and I think what happens on the track should stay on the track. We got a bit feisty at each other today, but I said ‘I’ve got no problems with you, I just want to beat you’ [laughs]. I’m happy and we will move forward from here.”

Waters, who switched from Moss’ current Motul Pirelli Suzuki team to a lucrative deal with Motorex KTM for 2013, remains confident he can regain the form that saw him race to three round victories to open the season.

“It’s just time to recover is a massive part for me,” Waters said. “I had a couple of weeks off after Appin, we’re going to Western Australia to race this coming weekend now and we’ll keep the ball rolling. Hopefully I can get back to where I was and defend what we had in the first place. I lost a bit of strength today and that last moto was tough – I’m just not myself right now.

“It’s interesting,” Waters said of his Moss rivalry. “Matt’s come from overseas, he has a lot of experience. Racing in Juniors and stuff I saw him step up to Seniors, so it’s really cool to race with him. We’re both young guys on the 450s, we left what happened today on the track and I have no doubt there’s going to be some hard racing. It will be really good.”