HQVA press release:

Husqvarna’s Factory Support squad riders gave it their all but had to be content with mixed results as the MX Nationals championship visited Nowra, south-west of Sydney, for the eighth of ten rounds.

In the premier class, talented 18-year-old Husqvarna FC 450 rider Jesse Dobson was bitterly disappointed after 8-10 results yielded a result he’s no longer prepared to accept – 10th on the day.
An off-track excursion of his own making in the opening moto and a vigorous moto 2 ‘pass’ by another rider which left him on the ground prevented Dobson from getting a clean moto result in either race, and he must look to Toowoomba in three weeks time for redemption.

Craig Anderson Racing’s Aaron Tanti posted 15-11 results for 13th on the day after he fell and became stuck under his motorcycle in the opening moto. Tanti required ‘rescue’ by a track marshal before he could finish the race, and will also require X-Rays on his ankle this week. He bounced back with gritted teeth however, and took 11th place from the second moto.

In the MX2 class, Nathan Crawford was fourth on the day after an exciting moto one in which he trailed the race winner across the line by less than two seconds. He missed out on the podium by just one place when he finished ninth in the second moto, and he has moved from eighth to seventh in the MX2 championship standings. Fellow MX2 rider Luke Arbon sat out the event with illness.

MXD contender Connor Tierney endured a disappointing weekend by his own standards, courtesy of a preparation affected by injury and illness. Missing his usual edge the exciting Western Australian could only manage 5-6 moto finishes and slipped to third in the Under 19 championship, but he has two rounds left to see what impact he can make on the 23 point deficit to Wilson Todd.

Jesse Dobson – FC 450: “A crapola day. The first moto I had a good start but made a little mistake, got cross-rutted and jumped off the track and ended up stalling the bike. The second moto went all pair shaped. I was sitting in sixth and Gibbsy had just gone down and I felt like I could be a podium guy that moto, but Reardon decided to cut me in half in turn one. I kind of checked up to let him by, but he made sure I hit the ground and from then on it was pear-shaped. But oh well, it’s racing. It’s just stuff you encounter on the road to success, that’s all it is. I haven’t lost confidence – I’m just disappointed in result, I still know 100% that I’m a top guy, we’ve just got to put it all together in the next round and I will be up there.”

Aaron Tanti – FC 350: “It was a pretty good day for me, but I do have to go get some x-rays on my ankle. I didn’t get the best start but I came out of the first two corners alright. In the second lap I ended up running in eighth but then I just had a little crash and the bike ended up on top of me, and I was stuck under my bike until a marshal came and got me, so I pretty much came from last to 15th. Then in the second moto I held tenth for most of it but ended up 11th. I didn’t have the fastest laps, but I only ended up dropping like two seconds from the start to the end of the moto, which is an improvement.”

Connor Tierney – TC 250 “Not a good day, I just struggled this week. I’ve been a bit sick all week, and I just seemed to get worse the closer we got to the weekend. I just didn’t really have a good preparation. I had a big crash the week before and hurt my back pretty bad. I just didn’t go in there 100% and it showed pretty bad in my results. It was a setback and I’ll regroup over the next two weeks and try and come back and make a few more points up.”

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