HQVA press release:

Appin was a happy hunting ground for Husqvarna Australia’s youthful factory-backed squad as this year’s Australian MX Nationals championship continued in New South Wales, with podiums in both MX2 and MXD, and a spectacular ride from 18-year-old Jesse Dobson in the premier class.

In just his second year in the big leagues and in only his second national championship round aboard the Husqvarna FC 450, Dobson (4-5) became the first Husqvarna pilot in the history of the MX Nationals to qualify for Super Pole, and achieved his goal of a top five overall finish.

The result has elevated him to seventh place in the MX1 championship, while fellow FC 450 rider, Craig Anderson Racing’s Aaron Tanti (13-11) moved a step closer to his early-season goal of a top 10 finish with 12th on the day.

In the hotly contested MX2 category, Nathan Crawford (3-4) provided Husqvarna’s first MX2 podium of the new season, powering his FC 250 to third behind Luke Clout and Jay Wilson. National number three Luke Arbon somehow achieved 11th overall despite charging from last place in not one, but both motos, in a round which held almost no luck at all for him.

In the MXD category, Husqvarna-mounted rookie Connor Tierney (6-3) proved his recovery from a early-season wrist injury is almost complete, powering his Craig Anderson Racing TC 250 onto the podium, behind Wilson and Toby Stevens.

Jesse Dobson – MX1: “We stayed off the ground and got our ship together – it was good. We went to Super Pole, but I made a few mistakes and ended up coming out with fifth, but I was happy with that, just to get a good gate choice. The first moto we had a little crash battling with Kale Makeham for fifth about half way, but rebounded and finished behind Gibbsy. In the second one we had an okay start and got caught up behind Boppo for a few laps and just ran out of time to get Mosig by the end of the moto. But overall it’s good, I’m quite happy, everything is working and we’ve kind of ironed out those little mistakes from round one and the result was there.”

Aaron Tanti – “I got 13th and 11th for the day. I was running top five for a little while in the first moto, but I must have been holding on too tight and I really hit a wall with my arms and faded back. In the second I ran around eighth off the start, but I made a few mistakes and dropped back to 13th. And the second half of the moto I really put my head down and made a charge, and ended up finishing one place behind Cody Cooper so, my top-10 goal will have to wait another round.”

Nathan Crawford – “I’m pretty pumped with a podium today. I’ve just been working on having fun really. I don’t want to put too much pressure on myself, so I’m just generally concentrating on having fun and letting it come to me. In practice it was super wet and muddy, but I knew the mulch was going to soak up the water and the track turned out real rutty and rough and had multiple lines – it was prepared really well. Top five in the championship is not too bad, but I need to get up there and start battling with the leaders, Clouty and Jay were on it today.”

Luke Arbon – MX2 “In the first moto I came into the turn a little bit hot and clipped someone’s wheel when I was second or third and went down. I had mud all over my grips so it took a while to get that off and be able to ride properly. I had a lot of work to do, but I got back to maybe 11th in the first one from dead last. In the second I was running fifth, then made a mistake coming up the hill and got passed by a couple of guys. They went to the inside next turn so I went outside, but the lines intersected and another dude cleaned us both out. I got up last again, and got back to 13th or 14th. We made some improvements with the bike and I felt better than at the first round, but obviously the results aren’t where we want them to be yet.”

Connor Tierney – MXD “So pumped! First moto I was a little bit stiff, I pulled a pretty good start in second and ran third for nearly the whole moto, then faded back to sixth which I wasn’t real happy with but that’s still better than last weekend. Then in the last moto, I pulled a holeshot, sat in second for the whole moto and just rode my own race. I ended up getting passed on the last lap but that was alright. Super happy with that, it was awesome.”

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