HQVA press release:

Husqvarna Australia’s factory support men made the best of appalling conditions as today’s third round of the MX Nationals fell foul of unexpectedly heavy rain.

This morning’s downpour turned a perfectly prepared Broadford track into an almost unrideable quagmire – but for Australia’s toughest professional motocross racers, the show went on regardless.
For the famous crowned ‘H’ brand, it was the MX2 riders who stole the show, with SD3 Husqvarna’s Luke Arbon, and Nathan Crawford finishing third and fourth on the day behind Jed Beaton and Kyle Webster.

It was a deserved podium for Arbon (8-2) who rode intelligently to eighth in a dicey first moto before powering to the runner-up position in the second.

Crawford (4-5) scooped just one point less than Arbon on the day, and his good deeds have moved him to within just three points of the national championship lead after three rounds.
Connor Tierney maintains his lead in the MXD category, despite a disappointing (by his standards) day that gave him 3-10, for sixth on the day.

Fast-starting SD3 rider Kaleb Barham went one better off the back of two blistering holeshots, a 6-5 finish giving him fifth in the U19 class which was won by Mitchell Evans.

In the premier class, Brett Metcalfe endured a tough day at the office on his SD3 Husqvarna FC450, his 5-5 result enough for fifth on the day, and to maintain his fifth place in MX1. Defending champion Kirk Gibbs won the day from Dean Ferris, with Todd Waters third.

Steve McKinnon, SD3 Husqvarna Team Owner – “Luke finished with 8-2 for third overall today, gaining huge championship points – I think we’re only 11 points behind first place. Metty was thereabouts the whole time, we just didn’t have that big blast forward today and I think that was mainly because of the track – it was highly technical and very one-lined. He is a bit hard on himself but I thought he rode very well for 6-6. Kaleb holeshot both races, he just hangs off the back of the thing and lets it drift. But he suffered a little with arm pump today and finished fifth. He looked real good for 6-5. It was a solid day for the SD3 Husqvarna team and in very tough conditions we are happy to get out of here happy, healthy and smiling and heading for our favourite hunting ground, Murray Bridge.”

Brett Metcalfe – “It was just unfortunate, yesterday we walked the track and it looked amazing. But we had a lot of rain and the track this morning was atrocious. Really heavy mud. I actually had a good start in the first Moto but somebody stalled their bike at the end of a rut and I got stuck behind them so I got relegated back to 11th or something. I was able to find a little momentum and start to make some moves, but the track was very difficult to pass on. Very one-lined. It was a challenge. Good starts definitely would have paid today, and I didn’t get ‘em. I’m a little bit frustrated about today for sure. Murray Bridge is my last round with the SD3 Husqvarna team so I’ll definitely knuckle down for the next two weeks and try to come away with a good result.”

MX1 Championship Points after round 3:
1. Dean Ferris 190, 2. Kirk Gibbs 189, 3. Todd Waters 182, 4. Matt Moss 177, 5. Brett Metcalfe 165, 6. Daniel Reardon 146, 7. Dylan Long 139, 8. Jay Wilson 133, 9. Kade Mosig 130, 10. Jacob Wright 106

Luke Arbon – “The first moto for us was wild today because I don’t think people did very many practice laps and the track was just disgusting! It was a battle to get up some of the hills! I got a half decent start but just rode a little bit too tentatively, and ended up eighth, but I didn’t crash and that was the main thing. In the second moto I got a good start but once Jed passed me I tagged onto him for as long as I could and pulled a bit of a gap on third and rode my own race to the end. The track was pretty crazy so I was just happy for it to be over, pretty much. There’s a lot of fast guys this year so just being up there every week is the big thing.”

Nathan Crawford – “Consistency was key today. That track in moto one was an absolute catastrophe. It actually looked pretty good on Saturday, and could have done with a little bit of rain, but clearly not the amount it had. It was one of those days where things could have gone wrong in a big way, so to come out three points away from the championship lead is something I’m pretty happy with – despite not finishing on the box. Now we move on to some tracks which are a bit more my style, and see how we go once we hit the loamier, more sandy style tracks.”

MX2 Championship Points after round 3:
1. Jed Beaton 172. 2. Nathan Crawford 169, 3. Luke Arbon 161, 4. Jake Moss 161, 5. Wilson Todd 148, 6. Jayden Rykers 144, 7. Caleb Ward 142, 8. Kyle Webster 138, 9. Kale Makeham 134, 10. Wade Hunter 130

Connor Tierney – “The track was so deep and so gnarly but I still managed to have a bit of fun out there. In the first race I got off to a bad start and came through the pack and caught up to the leaders, but I was just making too many mistakes in the last few laps. I think I could have won but it didn’t end up that way, so I’m still happy with that. In the second one I don’t know what happened, I had a bit of a crash and just went downhill and I went 3-10. I don’t have any excuses for it, the bike was good, the team was good; I just had a bad race. I think I still have a decent lead in the championship, but obviously not what I wanted to come out with today. I got my first ever overall win at Murray Bridge last year so I’m looking forward to resting up, getting the body back in shape and seeing what we can do there next.”

Kaleb Barham – “Six-five for fifth overall for me today. I got two ripper starts today and got out of there, just rode some consistent laps to try to keep myself in the championship. That first Moto was something I definitely haven’t seen so far, it was very hectic, quite a challenge and something to learn from. I’m definitely looking forward to moving on to Murray Bridge. I’ll be training with Luke and Metty for a couple of weeks now so that should be absolutely unreal to be around them. I’m definitely very fortunate to be a part of this team.”

MXD Championship Points after round 3:
1. Connor Tierney 185, 2. Wade Kirkland 169, 3. Jordan Hill 164, 4. Cooper Pozniak 162, 5. Kaleb Barham 158, 6. Mitchell Evans 157, 7. Zak Small 149, 8. Lochie Latimer 140, 9. Hugh McKay 112, 10. Travis Silk 109

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