Yamaha Motor Australia press release:

Round one of the newly branded South Australian Motocross Championships were held under perfect weather conditions up at the MRA (Gillman) Motocross track over the weekend. With the SA YJR team remaining the same from last year, the boys were all familiar in the process and had all had a good pre-season with plenty of new things that they all worked on.

Taj Gow Smith had a rough start to the year but had put his head down in the month leading up to the opening event and came out swinging in race one. He started well and immediately applied pressure to the race leader before taking control and gapping the field. Taj went on from the first moto win and finished with an impressive five race wins out of the six he contested over the weekend showing his talents and hard work are starting to come together nicely.

“I’m stoked to get the win today and my bikes were awesome. It’s good to get some good results at the first round and I’m glad we are finally racing,” said a very happy Gow Smith.

Alex Larwood came into the round with a great lead up having raced a couple Victorian rounds and also the 85cc Cup at the Senior Nationals. Alex got a bad start in moto one and within three laps had charged to the front and soon pulled a big lead.

Races two and three saw Alex pull two holeshots and Alex disappear from the pack with some outstanding riding. Some of the lines he used and the way he attacked the track was very similar to watching some of the Pros.

“Today was a good day, I’m happy to get the win and win all three races. My last two starts were great and I’m looking forward to the next round,” said young Larwood.

With the new format this season, Thomas Larwood will race the 125 class on Saturday and 250F on Sunday on the senior’s day. Thomas rode well on Saturday taking 3-3-1 results to claim third overall on his YZ125 but it could well have been a different story if he hadn’t crashed on the last lap in Moto two while leading.

Sunday saw Thomas on his YZ250F where he struggled with his starts all day and had to battle back in each race to take 4-3-4 results for the day. He finished the round in fourth place but the results don’t show his determination and he is now eager for round two.

“I was very nervous coming into the weekend but I knew if I rode well I could be up front,” Thomas explains. My starts just weren’t happening this weekend but I’ll be working hard to fix that before the next event. I liked the new format as the track on Sunday was a lot different to Saturday and it was a challenge to ride a much rougher track,” he ends.

SAYJR Team Manager Shane Metcalfe was extremely proud of his young chargers today.

“I’m very proud of my boys this weekend as a lot of the training we have been working on really showed this weekend. Both Alex and Taj really lifted to another level and deserved their wins. Thomas rode well but bad starts cost him big time so once he gets settled in I’m hoping all three boys can get the win at the next round.

“It was great to see the Junior 250F class race on Sunday with the senior classes, this should give these kids more experience and really help develop their skills to match those of other states,” commented Metcalfe.

The next round is at Renmark on the 4-5th June which will be where the Junior Nationals will be held in September.