Riders details their day at the Raymond Terrace round of the 2015 MX Nationals. Team and privateer competitors can submit comments to [email protected] prior to the Wednesday after events for inclusion in the post-event Quotebook feature.

MX1

Image: Jeff Crow.

Matt Moss (Team Motul Suzuki) – 2nd overall:
It was good to get my first Super Pole win of the season, that was for sure. Obviously the first couple of rounds did not go to plan and to start the day at Raymond Terrace with a Super Pole win was a big help to my confidence. Leading into the round I felt confident, we worked hard during the mid season break and I am starting to find my feet again. It was definitely a good round to figure out where I am with everything and make sure things were working well. To land back on the podium was a great feeling, the bike felt great all day and the team was behind me 100 percent. It was a huge step towards getting back onto that top step overall and to remind everyone what we are capable off and why we have this number one plate on our bike.

Kale Makeham (Team Motul Suzuki) – 11th overall:
To be honest it was a bit of an average day. I qualified 10th and finished 10th in the first moto; I had a small crash at the start of the second moto and worked my way back to 11th. Not amazing results, but not horrible either. I will continue working hard and come back stronger at the next round.

Kirk Gibbs (KTM Motocross Racing Team) – 1st overall:
It was a good day, like I said beforehand, Raymond Terrace hasn’t been the best for me, so to turn it around and have some good luck is a bit of a weight off my shoulders to finally get a win here. First moto I pulled a ripper start, but I just struggled a little bit and just didn’t feel 100 percent confident in the bike, so after that first moto I sat down with a team, Danny did some changes to the suspension and we went in the right direction. It was such a blessing to ride in that second moto. I just had a lot of fun, I was third with a start, and Reardon got past me in the first couple of laps while I was gelling with the bike, and then I started ticking off laps and went into the lead.

Luke Styke (KTM Motocross Racing Team) – 3rd overall:
It was a good weekend, I feel like it was a good rebound from the last two rounds before the break. I found a bit of form towards the end of that first race and put a good charge in, I had good pace and it was a good feeling to catch Mossy and Gibbsy up front. That last moto I got the holeshot and that helps, you know? It’s not real nice getting 450 roost in the face, so that made my race a lot easier. But I made a little mistake over the back of the track and Gibbs snuck up the inside of me. He’s riding good at the moment, so it was good to have a battle with him and have similar pace.

Daniel Reardon (CDR Yamaha) – 4th overall:
I just miscued a rut and went down,” Reardon says of his first race incident. I was sitting comfortably in third as the race settled down, but any chance of a good result went out the window when I hit the deck and dislocated my finger. It was good to rebound in race two and get a decent result but two motos make the day and I needed to get that sorted to finish on the podium at each round.

Kade Mosig (CDR Yamaha) – 7th overall:
A frustrating day today as a small mistake in race two left me with a 10th place finish and not the overall result I wanted. I felt I was riding well and had the speed and fitness to be on the podium today but I can’t afford to make those mistakes in a race and expect to stay in championship contention. Putting together a complete day with no mistakes will be the focus for the final four rounds and hopefully I can get myself right back up near the front in the championship points.

Cody Cooper (Penrite Honda Racing) – 8th overall:
My intensity wasn’t there in the opening laps of both motos and that cost me dearly. My times towards the end of race were on pace which has made it twice as hard to accept. Overall I have improved my fitness during the break, but my speed and intensity still needs work.

Ford Dale (Penrite Honda Racing) – 10th overall:
I am really disappointed in myself. Finishing seventh is a vast improvement on the previous rounds, but it is still far from good enough and the crash in the second race was my fault entirely.

Adam Monea (NPS Monster Energy Kawasaki) – 5th overall:
The first moto didn’t go to plan. I had a bit of a mishap off the start and I was nowhere, so I had to claw back up to finish in sixth position. I had to redeem myself for moto two and get a better start. I’ve been chasing starts all year and I did get a better one in moto two, but after the first few turns a few places swapped with the top five riders.

I was into 4th place and was chasing down 3rd but I had a bit of a mistake with a couple of laps to go so I dropped to 5th. Overall I walked away unharmed and healthy and I’m ready to take on the next round! Were still in a great position and I’m looking forward to the next 4 rounds

Dylan Long (NPS Monster Energy Kawasaki) – 6th overall:
The weekend went really well. I had a solid finish in the first moto, not the result I wanted in the second moto but pretty happy with it overall. Everything is spot-on, the bike is dialled in, the suspension is amazing, it is ridiculously fast and the team is really supportive. It’s been awesome for me and with this support I think we can get up there and get some round wins!

Jesse Dobson (Husqvarna) – 9th overall:
Not real pumped on today. In moto one I had a bit of a wild ride through the whoops on the first lap and crashed to be dead last, like I couldn’t get any more last than I was. I ended up coming through the pack to 11th. I felt like I rode good, but I probably should have been a bit more decisive with some of my passing which left me short time to get inside the top 10. In the second moto and okay start, passed a few guys and sat around seventh, but I ended up dropping down the bottom, just a silly mistake when the rut kind of blew out a little bit and spun me wide. We ended up eighth in that second moto, but it just wasn’t the result is that I wanted.

Aaron Tanti (Craig Anderson Racing Husqvarna) – 23rd overall:
I had one of the best starts I’ve had this season, about five laps, and then I just put it down in a corner and got back up and rode my way to 13th. It was just a little mistake. In the second one I got caught in the first lap pile-up and then I had a flat tyre really early in the moto and I couldn’t do anything about it so I had to pull in. A few guys got flats in that race too. I don’t know whether it was from the rocks or from the steel pipe that was hanging out in one corner. Next round I have to try to eliminate these little mistakes and stay on the bike.

MX2

Image: Jeff Crow.

Luke Clout (Serco Yamaha) – 4th overall:
No doubt it was a frustrating weekend. The rear brake just blew through as I went to do the sight lap and because we had already lined up, we can’t change bikes so I just had to do what I could with the bike the way it was and to finish seventh was a pretty good outcome. Moto two and I just didn’t get the start I needed and was buried on the opening lap. I made it to fourth, but I expect more of myself and that’s not the results I want so I will be working hard to make sure we never have a repeat of this weekend.

Jed Beaton (Serco Yamaha) – 6th overall:
I need to get a start and not get caught up in the carnage that always happens in the opening laps. It’s not bad luck, it’s me putting myself in a bad situation that I need to address. If I can get through the first lap safely and inside the top five, I think I can run the pace of anyone in the class so I have to stop giving them a head start.

Caleb Ward (KTM) – 1st overall:
It was a good day, I got a reasonable start and I knew it was a 30-minute so I didn’t panic and just made my way through. Dylan had about seven seconds on me and was riding really well, but I made a few little mistakes at the end and he managed to get the win. I actually hit neutral in one of the corners at the end and tipped over, so that was one of those random things but second was still decent. Race two I got a perfect start and pretty much checked out, and just kept pulling away every lap. Last year I copped it a little bit for riding the two-stroke and winning in the sand, so it’s good to come down here on a four-stroke and win on hard pack.

Luke Arbon (SD3 Husqvarna) – 5th overall:
I didn’t ride well. In the first moto I just pumped up real bad, and in the second I just rode like a squid for the first half and then bent my gear lever, so then I couldn’t change gears in the last half. After my injury in the break, I think it’s in the back of my head to be a bit careful and I think that is making me struggle a bit. If you don’t make a pass at the right time you get stuck in somebody’s pace. That happened to me that second race, I was behind second place and if I had been able to make that passed straight away, I would be able to finish up there.

Takeshi Katsuya (Sony Action Cam Kawasaki) – 9th overall:
I was running in about fourth place around the first turn of the second moto until I got tangled with another rider. I got pushed forward and my body hit the handlebars, but I managed to push myself to finish the race and get some points. Overall I was hoping to do better but it was a good result considering the crash in moto two.

Matt Ryan (Proformance Kawasaki) – 10th overall:
It was exciting to get the feet wet today and to see where I stack up against the competition. Racing today has given a great opportunity for some more direction in terms of testing and training so that we can finish off the year strong. The second moto went really well. Getting back on the bike and getting a feel for it again felt amazing and seeing as this is the first time I’ve seen a track after my injury, I’m really happy with the result.

Geran Stapleton (Wilson MX Honda) – 11th overall:
It was one of the toughest weekends racing I’ve ever had really. I don’t know how I did it, but I managed to holeshot in moto one, but I just made a silly mistake and went down on lap one, but managed to get back to 12th. In race two, I just didn’t get a very good start, and I really just wanted to survive the race. I just rode around really and ended up in ninth. After coming back from America, I really wanted to see what I had, but I’m just glad I got through, and I’m looking forward to the next round.

Luke Wilson (Wilson MX Honda) – 19th overall:
In moto one, it didn’t really go my way. No excuses, I just didn’t feel comfortable and it was hard to put it all together. In moto two I got a good start and I was feeling really comfortable, and I was sitting in about 10th and managed to get into ninth, but my rear breaks failed and I dropped right back. I am just taking the positives from the weekend, I know I can do it, so I’m just going to keep moving forward. The Honda handled the circuit perfectly, the break failure was just unlucky, so fingers crossed things go my way a bit more at the next round.