Image: Jeff Crow.

The third installment of the North Privateer Cup took place over the weekend, this time in sunny Queensland for round nine of the Monster Energy MX Nationals.

With no rest for the wicked, the North Cup roared back into action, with Suzuki-backed Hayden Mellross once again taking top honors in the Motul MX1 Class.

“Every weekend it’s a stepping stone for me and everything is starting to come together for me, so it was good to come away with a better result this weekend too,” he said. “The prizes we get every week like chain lube and oil, helps a lot and I’ve certainly been really appreciative of the support that’s been given to this class.

“The privateer cup is an awesome thing. It really helps us kids out who don’t get paid to ride, so I would love to see it again next year.”

With the round reverting back to the traditional 30-minute motos, Mellross took two eighths and collected the maximum 35 points comfortably.

Raymond Terrace runner-up Joel Milesevic (TM) once again took second place behind Mellross, followed by Darcy Jones in third and Scott Green in fourth respectively.

In the Pirelli MX2 class, TM-assisted Joel Evans reclaimed top position, with a 10th and 11th ahead of Mathew McEntee and Zaccari Luzzi (TM) to round out the top three.

“My weekend at Gladstone was a good one,” Evans said. “I was happy to finally crack the top 10 but I wanted to be up battling with those top guys. In moto two I had an awesome start but made a few mistakes in the first couple of corners.

“I was battling with a few of the top guys and loving it for the first five laps or so until I made a stupid mistake trying to hold my position and crashed dropping me back to 14th. I got back up and charged to 11th and was happy to secure my first top ten overall MX Nationals result.

Fourth place in the MX2 Class was claimed by Zane Keleher (KTM) ahead of Yamaha-mounted Matthew Kehl completing the top five.

The final round of the North Cup will now head to Coolum and take place on 30-31 August1.

2014 Monster Energy MX Nationals
Round nine – Gladstone, QLD

MX1 North Cup overall results:
1. Hayden Mellross 35
2. Joel Milesevic 32
3. Darcy Jones 30
4. Scott Green 28

MX1 North Cup championship standings:
1. Hayden Mellross 105
2. Darcy Jones 92
3. Joel Milesevic 90
4. Scott Green 84
5. Daniel McEntee 56


MX2 North Cup overall results:
1. Joel Evans 35
2. Matthew McEntee 32
3. Zaccari Luzzi 30
4. Zane Keleher 28
5. Matthew Kehl 26

MX2 North Cup championship standings:
1. Mathew McEntee 99

2. Joel Evans 98
3. Zaccari Luzzi 92

4. Zane Keleher 82
5. Matthew Kehl 82