HQVA press release:

SD3 Husqvarna and Husqvarna Factory Support racers fought through tough challenges and continued punching well above their weight as this year’s MX Nationals series resumed with round four at Murray Bridge.

The entire Husqvarna camp was rocked by the news of a severe injury to MX2 championship contender Luke Arbon on Saturday, after the South Australian fractured his C6 vertebra bedding in a new engine on his home track.

Arbon has fortunately suffered no loss of movement, but is set for a lengthy recovery period and everyone involved in Husqvarna’s racing effort in Australia wishes him nothing but good fortune and speedy healing.

The Murray Bridge round of the championship saw guest rider to the SD3 Husqvarna team, decorated international Brett Metcalfe reach the end of his Australian stay, and he signed off with style, posting his second premier class podium aboard the Husqvarna FC 450.

The performance was nothing if not heroic; Metcalfe had been suffering flu for two days and after pushing himself to the limit to get third overall behind Todd Waters and Kirk Gibbs, the Husqvarna racer began vomiting upon his return to the pits until he was administered an intravenous saline drip.

Metcalfe will now leave Australia in preparation for his Canadian national championship campaign which begins in two weeks.

In the MX2 category Husqvarna Factory Support racer Nathan Crawford continued to show ominous form, moving to within a single point of the national championship lead following his second on the day behind Caleb Ward and ahead of Jed Beaton.

The Husqvarna FC250 rider capitalised on strong starts to register 3-2 finishes on the day.

In the MXD category, Husqvarna Factory Support racer Connor Tierney continued battling knee problems on the eve of surgery to remove some troublesome cartilage, and he did quite a job, still managing to win the day and further extend his lead in the championship. Tierney won the day from Wade Kirkland and Cooper Pozniak.

SD3 Husqvarna rider Kaleb Barham finally shook off the effects of niggling injury and posted 5-5 finishes of the day to be sixth in the championship as the series halfway point looms large.
Such is the competitiveness of the Under 19’s category that Barham’s sixth place is in fact just 17 points shy of second place – a fact the Toowoomba rider fully intends to exploit now he is back to full health.

Husqvarna Junior Motocross Racing Team rider Bailey Malkiewicz continued incredible results for the famous crowned H brand, topping the podium in the Yamaha 85cc Cup, winning the day ahead of KTM’s John Bova and Tyler Darby.

Steve McKinnon, SD3 Husqvarna Team Owner – “Metty had the flu go through his house and he picked it up on Friday. It was tough for him but he rode hard today and it tipped him over the edge at the end there – he was physically spent. I got back to the van and he was another shade of white that they haven’t invented yet and was just about to faint, RaceSafe chucked an IV in him and he was good after that, but he needs some time to relax. But he rode so well on a bike which is pretty well stock apart from a pipe. We’re beyond thrilled to have had Brett here for the four rounds. To pull something like this together at the 11th hour, and for him to get a couple of podiums on a box-stock FC450 at 32 years of age – the old guy’s still got it! For myself and Dimity and the team, it’s been a pleasure to have him, he’s been an amazing mentor to Luke and Kaleb and we’re gutted that he’s going, but it was always a four-round deal. Three months ago when we pulled all this together we couldn’t have asked for more. Luke was bedding in an engine on Saturday, on his home track that he’s ridden a million times and just came up short and landed on the point of his head. He had a clean fracture of the C6 vertebra, so there was no displacement at all and no chord damage and he’s got movement in all limbs. He’ll be in hospital for a few days and in a neck brace for a number of weeks, but right now the prognosis is pretty good. It will be a tough recovery, but Luke is a tough cookie so I’m sure he’ll be okay. He’s still in hospital now and working through everything we need to do, but it certainly gave us a scare. Thankfully he will be okay, we’ve just got a lot of water to go under the bridge before then.”

Brett Metcalfe – “I was heartbroken on Saturday, I think Luke’s injury took a big toll on everyone throughout the team, that was a tough one. He’s going to heal up and be okay but it was definitely a low for all of us. I knew it was going to be a battle here. Both of my boys have been sick so there hasn’t been much sleep lately. But it was a great day; we brought big improvements to the SD3 Husqvarna, and the FC450 was awesome today. I had a couple of issues in the first moto riding in the freight train up front; I lost a heap of tear-offs and ran out before halfway. The track was a bit one line in that race and I couldn’t see a damn thing so it was pretty hard to do much. We finished fifth but that wasn’t what we were hoping for. Second moto I got my first holeshot of the series which was awesome, but late in the moto I ran out of my personal fuel tank, but I knew that was probably going to come, with the week that I’ve had leading up with a bit of flu and stuff. I gave it all though and I’m happy to put the SD3 Husky third overall for the day.It’s good to leave the series on a good note, I thoroughly enjoyed the process. The whole SD3 team has been awesome to be around. The way we’ve gone about it I think we did a great job as a team to get to where I ended up here today. In this short time we’ve made great progress. I’m real happy and hopefully will be able to return another time and do some more racing.”

MX1 Championship Points after round 4: 1. Kirk Gibbs 252, 2. Dean Ferris 251, 3. Todd Waters 247, 4. Matt Moss 228, 5. Brett Metcalfe 225, 6. Kade Mosig 187, 7. Dylan Long 185, 8. Daniel Reardon 171, 9. Jay Wilson 152, 10. Jacob Wright 151

Nathan Crawford – “It was a good day, 3-2 for me. Felt like I rode really good all day and my starts were really good. I ended up holeshot in the first moto, and it was the first time I’ve been out front all year, so it was good to get up there and get a little taste. It took me a while to get going in the first moto Caleb ended up passing me and pulling away. I ended up catching him and I was sitting on his rear wheel with two laps to go, but I ended up tucking the front and going down but got going in time to finish third. I was running second behind Jake in the next one, when Caleb came past both of us. I got around Jake but ran out of time and got second overall. I’m one point away from the championship lead now so happy days!”

MX2 Championship Points after round 4: 1. Jed Beaton 232, 2. Nathan Crawford 231, 3. Jake Moss 216, 4. Caleb Ward 212, 5. Wilson Todd 198, 6. Jayden Rykers 188, 7. Kyle Webster 174, 8. Dylan Wills 173, 9. Richie Evans 162, 10. Hamish Harwood 161

Connor Tierney – “I have some cartilage damage and I snapped my ACL completely so I actually hadn’t ridden for a week and a half coming into this round. I came in just trying to get as many points as I can and ended up extending my points lead, so it was awesome! I ended up coming up with the win in the first moto – I put a few sprint laps in at the start and put a pretty good gap on the field and rode my own race. In the second moto I had a terrible start. I got caught up with another rider and ended up almost last in the first turn, but had a real aggressive lap and ended up coming through to second, so that was still alright. I’ve still got the red plate and I extended my points lead so I couldn’t be happier! I’m getting my cartilage fixed up in my knee now; it’s catching real bad and locking on me so it’s not before time.”

Kaleb Barham – “I had a whole lot better experience at Murray Bridge this year than last year. Last year I rode there with a broken shoulder blade, this year I’ve just come off an injury. I really enjoy the nice loamy soil there. I felt I bonded with the track well – got pole position – was a bit unlucky in the motos, but made my way through. We’ve made steps in the right direction so now we’ve got a good break – with a five-week break -we can just regroup and get bike fit again and come out swinging at round six.”

MXD Championship Points after round 4: 1. Connor Tierney 252, 2. Wade Kirkland 227, 3. Cooper Pozniak 220, 4. Jordan Hill 215, 5. Mitchell Evans 212, 6. Kaleb Barham 210, 7. Zak Small 198, 8. Lochie Latimer 184, 9. Hugh McKay 140, 10. Levi McManus 137

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