HQVA press release:

They haven’t all had textbook winter breaks, but as Australia’s most important motocross series, the Monster Energy MX Nationals resumes this weekend, the young men of Husqvarna’s Factory Support squad all have one thing in common – they are coming …ready or not.

Raymond Terrace north of Newcastle is the location for this weekend’s round six of the ten-round national championship series, and the squad’s two MX1 category contenders, Husqvarna FC 450 rider Jesse Dobson and Husqvarna FC 350 pilot Aaron Tanti are performing well in the premier class.

Last time out, 18-year-old Dobson moved a step closer to his season goal of a top five championship finish when he elevated himself to sixth in the premier category, while Craig Anderson Racing’s Tanti is determined to establish himself as a regular top-10 performer.

MX2 sees some of the toughest racing there is, and right before the break, Husqvarna FC 250-mounted rookie Nathan Crawford claimed his first race win of the year – a crucial confidence boost to a young man who is never there to make up the numbers.

His Husqvarna team mate Luke Arbon, who finished third in last year’s MX2 championship, is something of an unknown quantity as he goes to the venue this weekend having suffered a head injury over the winter break, but also as the 2014 Raymond Terrace winner.

MXD rider Connor Tierney logged his second National win in a row at Coolum before the break, and he and his Craig Anderson Racing Husqvarna TC 250 have moved handily to within six points of the national championship lead as hostilities resume this weekend.

Jesse Dobson – FC 450: “Everyone says their mid-season break has been awesome and gone to plan – mine really hasn’t for various reasons, but if everything goes to plan there’s no reason why I can’t be inside the top five. If I’m not on the ground I’m inside the top five and the speed is there every time, so the pieces are all laying there. If I can put them together on the day there’s no reason why I can’t podium. We were close at Coolum.”

Aaron Tanti – FC 350: “The winter break has been pretty crazy – riding, training, working. I’ve pretty much ridden every single chance I’ve gotten through the break to try to improve on the little things I needed to improve on. This round is a local round for me, and I like Raymond Terrace too. The goal for me this weekend is to get into the top 10, and then to stay there throughout the last few rounds of the season.”

Luke Arbon – FC 250 “My break’s been a little bit up and down, riding and testing was going really well, but then I had a big crash at a state title here and knocked myself out. I was dizzy for about a week and a half and didn’t ride for about 10 days. I had a lot of pain to touch the area, and it was a bit scary. I went and got a brain scan to make sure there was no bleeding or swelling, but it’s all good now. We’ve changed the bike up a bit and got a bit more testing under our belt and I feel like we’re back stronger than we were before so, ready to go.
I won at Raymond Terrace last year and I wasn’t really riding that great, so this year I’m hoping to definitely get up on the box.”

Nathan Crawford – FC 250 “I’ve been training hard and spending time on the bike, probably not as much as I would have liked to but we’ll make do with what we’ve got, I just can’t wait to get back behind the gates, it’s been a few weeks now and I’ve been working on my core and everything I can do to make myself better on the bike so I’m excited to get back to the races. I got second there last year, but Raymond Terrace is not really one of my preferred tracks, I have fun riding there, but it just seems to be one of those surfaces where it’s hard to get everything working. I’m definitely going there with a positive attitude though. I finished off the first five rounds in second place, so hopefully I can begin where I left off. I’m still really looking for that win; I haven’t had one of those yet this year, so I’m just really trying to get that job done.”

Connor Tierney – TC 250 “I’ve been over here for the last week and a half doing some riding with Ando. I’ve been working hard over the break and I feel like I’m in a good spot with it. Raymond Terrace is not too far from Ando’s, so I’ve gone there a few times and I’m pretty confident with the track. I’ve never raced there before, so it’s still a little bit new because everything forms up differently on a race day, let alone a national. So we’ll see how we go. The championship situation is good, I’ve just got to be consistent and try to keep up the top there and try to gain some points, it’s a long series and we are only half way there. You’ve got to be consistent.”

For more information on Husqvarna motorcycles visit www.husqvarna-motorcycles.com.