CRF Honda Racing press release:

As the prestigious Motul MX Nationals series roars towards the sharp end of the season, NSW Hunter Valley young gun Joel Wightman has been flying the flag high for the CRF Honda Racing squad at rounds seven and eight of the Championship staged at Conondale, Queensland (July 17) and Shepparton, Victoria (July 31), to now hold down eighth overall in the hotly contested MX2 category.

Both the Conondale and Shepparton events were held in trying conditions, with wet weather in the build up to the events making for treacherous and testing race tracks that put added pressure on all competitors.

Heavy rains turned the Conondale track into a quagmire, but Wightman fought hard to post 11th and 10th moto placings for 10th overall at the Queensland event, to hoist himself up into eighth overall in the Championship standings.

Rain again impacted yesterday’s eighth round of the Championship at Shepparton, leaving the regional Victorian circuit a rutted and gnarly venue for Australia’s top motocross pilots.

“I qualified 12th, which is my second best performance this year, so that was a positive start to the Shepparton round,” explained Wightman, who put the performance of his Ross McWatters developed CRF250R to good use.

“But then in the first moto I had vision issues after getting filled in with mud following a mid-pack start, but I went on and rode a consistent race and finished 11th.

“In the second moto I made a better start,” Wightman continued, “and was running up in seventh place, before a crash put me back to ninth at the finish, which gave me another 10th overall for the round and keeps me eighth overall in the Championship with just two more rounds to go.”

With a three week break now before the final two MX Nationals rounds roar into life in Queensland at Toowoomba (August 21) and Coolum (August 28), Wightman is looking forward to working hard to complete the Championship in style.

“These next few weeks will give me a chance to work on my starts, which are so important, and then the plan will be to come out swinging at Toowoomba,” Wightman enthuses.

Meanwhile second CRF Honda Racing team rider Kyle Webster endured the kind of luck no rider deserves, after suffering a nasty injury at round seven at Conondale.

Webster, who scored a spectacular MX2 moto win back at round five of the Championship in WA in May, crashed at the Conondale round and got stuck in the mud under his bike, the header pipe resting on his arm and burning him.

“I suffered a third-degree burn which has since required a skin graft,” explains Webster.

“The graft has healed really well but it has meant a couple of weeks off the bike, but hopefully I should be back in the saddle in the next week and back into it.”

With the Conondale injury ruling him out of racing, Webster was left with no option but to watch yesterday’s Shepparton MX Nationals action online.

“I had to watch the Shepparton coverage on NRGTV yesterday, which was so hard to take, because I just hate being on the sidelines,” Webster admitted.

“But it made me way more determined to finish the Championship strong at the final two rounds in Queensland, and then get straight into the Australian Supercross Championship, which kicks off the following month.”

Webster continues to hold down 10th overall in the MX2 Championship standings. CRF Honda Racing will now focus on its next national competition outing, which comes at round nine of the MX Nationals at the Toowoomba circuit in Queensland on August 21.