Riders detail their day at the Coolum 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.

Kirk Gibbs (KTM Motocross Racing Team) – 4th overall:
It’s really good obviously, but it’s more of a relief than anything, I’ve put in a lot of hard work over the years and obviously to get the first one is great. It’s been a long time coming and I’m just pumped to be able to get one. It’s a win for the team and my family and for everyone really – it’s not just me that wins, it’s my friends and people from all over the place, people who let me ride at their places, people I practice with and my friends as well. All of these people have been behind this championship.

Luke Styke (KTM Motocross Racing Team) – 3rd overall:
I was pretty gutted to go from second in the championship to fourth in the last two rounds. The first one was great, I holeshot and led the whole race until the last two laps when Townley got past me. But in the second, nothing was clicking. I didn’t have any flow so I just pumped up and just rode like a squid, and I paid for it. I guess equal third in the championship isn’t too bad. Anyway, I hope I can get some good results in supercross and just keep moving forward. I won the MX2 championship in 2013, so I can ride it and it’s pretty fun.

Daniel Reardon (CDR Yamaha) – 8th overall:
It wasn’t the best way to finish the championship but I tried my best and still have a passion for racing. I have really enjoyed being back at the track again and I can’t wait for supercross to start. Thank you to CDR Yamaha for giving me the opportunity to return to racing to my sponsors who always stand by me.

Kade Mosig (CDR Yamaha) – 6th overall:
I feel it has been a very positive year for me and the last few round things have really started to click. As a team we kept working hard and developing the bike and my riding improved so the results started to flow. Second is a good result for myself and happy with how the season progressed. I feel we have some real momentum to take into the supercross season and I look forward to getting started on that as soon as possible. Thank you to the CDR Yamaha team and our sponsors for their efforts this year and my mechanic Mike Landman, who always has my back. I will be back next year and hope to go one better.

Adam Monea (NPS Monster Energy Kawasaki) – 2nd overall:
I don’t know whether to believe it or not. I crossed the line happy with my race win and thought I didn’t get the third overall, but if those are the legitimate points, then woo-hoo! I didn’t want to get fourth overall again like last year. It was tough out there with the sun beating and the track being blown. I said to Troy Carroll before the race that something special was going to happen and I had to back that up with a win. I can’t thank the team enough, they put in so much effort and I’m happy with the results. I one-upped my motocross racing this year so hopefully that’s a sign that I’ll do on better and take out the supercross this year as well. Congratulations to Kade and Gibbs for their racing this year, three deserving place-getters this year. In that last race I just wanted a win. While the race was on I was thinking to just do whatever it takes to win and get the best result possible. In the last couple of laps I knew where the competitors were and I wanted to get the win so I focused and made it happen. Myself and the team are always chasing bigger and better but we had a goal coming into the weekend and to meet that goal really gave a sense of accomplishment and reinforcement in bettering myself and that is always a bonus so I am happy how it worked out. I had a couple of hiccups here and there with inconsistent results at the beginning of the series. It goes without saying that to get onto the overall series podium is great but I definitely wanted to get that series title.

Dylan Long (NPS Monster Energy Kawasaki) – 5th overall:
I started as a privateer until I got the opportunity to race with the NPS Monster Energy Kawasaki factory team which has been awesome. I picked up my racing when I got the team ride and it shows the support from a factory team is a great help. The bike was awesome. Extremely fast and all the mechanics know how to manage the suspension and everything else so my KX450F handles amazingly and I couldn’t fault it. It was just awesome. I wanted to stay in the top 10 for the year and I did that and I actually finished a couple of races in the top five, so I’m really happy with that in my first year of racing 450s at a national level. I haven’t finished a year of racing in two years due to injuries so this year I was determined to finish and to do a full year. I know where my speed is now and I’ll be coming into next year looking to take out a place in the top five or even top three.

Cody Cooper (Penrite Honda Racing) – 17th overall:
The team deserved better than this. Ben showed we had the bikes to get the job done and in the final race I proved to myself and the team my speed isn’t the question. I can’t change the past and I need to learn from everything this year. I am getting older and I need to change my training if I am going to be competitive against these young riders.

Ben Townley (Penrite Honda Racing) – 1st overall:
Taking a win at the final round was hard fought. The track was tough and my rivals are riding really well. I am particularly impressed with some of the younger riders coming through. I was happy with my win in the first moto, it wasn’t easy, I had to fight for it. In the second race I rode smart, I came from eighth and caught Adam Monea. I didn’t need to put myself in a vulnerable position so I settled for second. I still have a big month ahead with the MXGP in America and the MXoN in France. I have asked a lot of everyone, coming in mid-season places a lot of pressure on a team and the guys worked really hard to give me what I needed to get the job done. This is the best the team has been.

Kale Makeham (Team Motul Suzuki) – 11th overall:
It was not really the way I wanted to finish out the year, that crash in the first race was a big one. I was coming up to the big double and another rider crossed over in front of me, I lost a little bit of momentum and came up short. It was a big crash but I was lucky not to be hurt. I did hit my head and it left me with a headache, but it could have been a lot worse. After a great start to the season, it has been a tough second half of the year but I am glad to walk way from my first year in the MX1 class inside the top 10 and have learned a lot throughout this championship. I have to thank the team for the opportunity and look forward to taking what I have gained from Motocross and using it during the supercross season. I am really looking forward to supercross.

Egan Mastin (Team Motul Suzuki) – 16th overall:
It was a great weekend out at Coolum and it felt great to qualify in seventh, then back it up in both races running near the front of the field. It was unfortunate to run out of fuel in race one after working my way through the field, but we made up for it in race two with a very good result. Overall I am happy with the results, though I am always aiming to do better. I can’t thank the team enough for this opportunity, Jay and the team have been fantastic to work with and it was a great experience.

Aaron Tanti (Craig Anderson Racing Husqvarna) – 13th overall:
The first moto went pretty sweet, I stayed on my bike, stayed consistent throughout the moto and just ended up 11th while others were like crashing around me. The second moto was a bit of a disaster; I just didn’t get as good a start. Then I had a crash while I was in 12th and it was pretty much just all over from there. But I’ve come away from my first year in Pro Open with 11th overall so I’m pretty happy with that. I’d have loved to have been one more position ahead, but you can’t have everything.

MX2

Image: Jeff Crow.

Luke Clout (Serco Yamaha) – 5th overall:
It wasn’t the best way to finish the championship. Coming into the final round 21 points behind meant a lot of things had to go my way and it was unlikely I would win the championship, but I wanted to win the final round. It just wasn’t meant to be. Congratulations to Jay on a great year. We battled all season and it was good racing him. Thanks to my Serco Yamaha team and Rab for hanging off the pit board. I can now change focus and we can get started on supercross and go after another championship.

Jed Beaton (Serco Yamaha) – 3rd overall:
It’s been too long between podiums. The last couple of weeks, I feel like I have been riding better lately, so it was good to get a podium. I have learnt a lot this year and gained valuable experience that will only benefit my racing. I made some mistakes this year, learnt the importance of consistency and think that with another pre-season of riding and training that I will be in a good position to go after the championship next season. Working with the Serco Yamaha team has been awesome, so thank you to them and all our team sponsors.

Caleb Ward (KTM) – 4th overall:
It wasn’t a top day for me. I struggled with qualifying as per usual – I need to work on that next year. In the first one I started okay but I got pushed wide and buried back in the pack. I worked my way through everyone but by the time I got back to the front, the leaders were too far gone and fourth was the best I could do. In the second I got a pretty horrible start, I was around 20th on the first lap and I tried really hard to pass as many people as I could. I was wishing it was a 30-minute moto because it took too long to get back to the front. Everyone has seen what I can do at Coolum, so the start was pretty much the difference between me dominating on the day and getting fourth overall. Starts are definitely my weakness and I need to fix that for sure.

Nathan Crawford (Husqvarna) – 2nd overall:
I got a third and a second overall today. I believe I rode good today, I got good starts and didn’t want to blow my first few laps. I sort of tensed up a bit as we went on, but that’s just Coolum. Second overall is good, we’ll take it and build. I was pumped to finish off the year on this positive note, that’s for sure. I learnt heaps this year, I got to see what it takes to win a championship, and I know I can put in that work next year. Hopefully all the planets will line up and I’ll be in contention next year. I’d like to thank Husqvarna Australia, who definitely gave me a great opportunity this year, and all my side sponsors including Kenny from Factory Spec suspension, who got my bike working sweet.

Takeshi Katsuya (Sony Action Cam Kawasaki) – 10th overall:
I’m really happy to finish with a podium. Halfway through the season I was so close to being on top, I could have taken the championship lead then. It’s easy to say that but I just wasn’t consistent enough this year. I was very consistent in every Japanese championship that I won. This year I was up and down. It was challenging only having a day to get used to the tracks I hadn’t seen before, compared to the Japanese championship rounds that are usually held over two days, so you get a better chance to learn the tracks. But in saying that, I took a race win at the Shepparton round which was new to me as well. Getting into the grove was the biggest challenge this year. Everything else went really well. I am grateful for having my team mechanic, Yukio Sugimoto, with me at every round along with all the support I received from my sponsors this year. Everyone keeps congratulating me on the great results and I’m happy about third, but still, I wanted first.

Geran Stapleton (Wilson MX Penrite Honda) – 7th overall:
It’s been an up and down year results wise, but it was awesome to finish the year on a high with my weekend at Coolum. I have grown up riding sand tracks so I always like heading to Coolum for the final round and to finish with a top ten result in the MX2 class for the year is pretty good. I can’t thank the whole Wilson MX team enough for having me on board this year – the team and the equipment we have made it all worthwhile and I’m glad we could all finish the season happy and healthy.

Luke Wilson (Wilson MX Penrite Honda) – 28th overall:
The weekend was pretty tough for me, but I’m glad I was able to finish the year relatively healthy. Coolum has never been a favourite track of mine, so I’m pretty happy to have wrapped up the 2015 motocross season, so now we can focus on the 2015 supercross. I had some really good races at the beginning of the year and I felt like I was getting better and better, so it was pretty tough when I injured myself, as it really did hold me back. We have an awesome setup with the Wilson MX team, so it’s been awesome to have been a part of it again in 2015, and I can’t thank the sponsors and supporters enough for allowing us to go racing this year.