Yamaha Motor Australia press release:

Yamalube Yamaha Racing’s Mitch Evans has pulled off a remarkable comeback to win the 2016 MXD (under 19) MX Nationals championship after a fighting performance in the second half of the series.

After an error riddled start to the year that saw Evans 43 points down from the series leader after race one of round four in Murray Bridge, Evans then went on a second half tear, notching up a succession of six race wins and three round wins to move to the top of the championship table after round nine of the ten round championship.

He entered the final round at the Coolum Pines circuit on the Sunshine Coast 15 points clear of rival, Connor Tierney, in what seemed like a comfortable positon to be in but within the first few laps of the opening moto, it was all bets off and there was work to be done if Evans wanted to secure the championship.

After a mediocre start, Evans began to move forward when he tangled with another rider and went down with arch rival Tierney, also involved in the accident. With both championship contenders laying on the ground, it was a mad panic to get up and get going as quickly as possible. Evans remounted near the very back of the field only to then stall the bike a few laps later and again lose valuable positions.

But he was able to regroup and compose himself and went about doing some damage control on the leader board. Despite having bent and twisted radiators as well as bent handlebars, he charged his way back from 26th place to ninth place, while rival Tierney ran into more issues during the race. Evans finished ninth while Tierney crossed the finish line in 11th, giving the Yamaha rider another two point buffer going into the final moto.

For Evans, the final moto was nothing more than securing the championship. He rounded the first turn just inside the top 10 then patiently picked his way forward as the race progressed. With a 17 point gap, anything inside the top 10 would have secured the championship for Evans but he sliced his way up to fourth by the end of the 20 minute race and took the 2016 MXD championship.

“We certainly made it hard for ourselves today,” commented Evans at the end of the day. “Connor and I got into it a bit out the back but it’s all good as we are both trying to win the championship and things happen on the track. Congratulations to him and his team for some great racing this year.

“This season hasn’t been easy as doing Grade 12 at home means I really have to manage my time well and sometimes school has to come first which means I don’t get to ride as often as I would like. But the team have worked around my schedule, Mike came up and spent some time with me and we managed to get the job done, so I’m pumped.

“Thank you to the Yamalube Yamaha Racing team and our sponsors for everything they do for us. Especially a big thank you to Mike and Cory this year who do a great job on the bikes as well as Yamaha for the support of the MXD class.

“I’m going to race the SX2 class in supercross and I can’t wait for that to start,” Evans signs off.

It wasn’t the final round of the championship that Jordan Hill wished for as he finished up in seventh place for the day with 6-7 results. Hill showed great speed in moto one when he charged his way back from 25th place on lap one after a fall to finish in sixth place in a spirited performance.

Moto two saw the track rough and brutal and the recent shoulder injury to Hill meant he didn’t have the strength to ride in such demanding conditions. He fought on to finish seventh, which meant he ended up finishing seventh in the championship.

“It wasn’t the day I wanted but I learnt a lot this year and was able to improve in a lot of areas of my riding. Missing the round due to my shoulder hurt me in the points but I was able to get back and ride the last two rounds and hopefully I will be back to 100% when supercross starts.

“The team always been in a huge effort so thanks to Cory and Mike for everything they do. I really want to finish the year on a strong note and I enjoy riding supercross do my focus now is to get out there and out in the work and get some good results there,” Hill ends.

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