HQVA press release:

Multi-time Australian Motocross Champion Jay Marmont has improved his position in the rankings of the Australian Supercross championship after an impressive fifth-place finish at the second round of the championship in Toowoomba, west of Brisbane.

The respected veteran kicked off his supercross comeback with a hardfought eighth place in the series opener a month ago, and looks to have the cards stacked against him when he fell ill a few days ago.

However, the cream always rises to the top, and when the time came, the Husqvarna FC450 rider metered out 20 smooth laps on a super-technical track to finish the event fifth overall behind Americans Justin Brayton and Wil Hahn, with Dean Ferris the first of the Aussies in third.

In the SX2 category, Nathan Crawford made his return from internal injuries suffered in preparation for the MX Nationals finale, on a track that was claiming more than its fair share of scalps.

The Husqvarna FC250 rider was determined for a solid showing though, and put together an impressive sixth place on the night in an SX2 race won by Jackson Richardson from Hayden Mellross and Geran Stapleton.

Connor Tierney faced extra handicaps in what was only his second ever supercross debut; nursing torn pectoral muscles from midweek training, he battled to 17th. SD3 Husqvarna rider Kaleb Barham was forced to withdraw from the event when the effects of flu became severe.

In the Junior Lites category, a second-Moto fall and DNF spoiled Riley Dukes’ evening, in which he won the first and third races on his Husqvarna FC 250. The solid points haul has, however, elevated Dukes to within six points of the Australian championship lead with four rounds get to run.

Jay Marmont – “It was an up-and-down day to be honest, I was pretty excited going into it, knowing that the track was quite technical, I thought that that would really suit me. One of the rhythm straights caught me off guard in practice and I just tagged one of the offs which sent me flying. I crashed pretty hard and from there didn’t qualify the best. I’ve been sick this week and had hot and cold flushes going into the main but when the gate dropped, I don’t know, I just took off and found myself in a good rhythm and overtook Brayton and Wil Hahn. I was right behind Reardon there, and Hahn and Brayton got me back but I managed to tag onto the back of them and got dragged along pretty well with that front pack. I just rode myself into a comfortable pace and got my 20 laps done, and ended up with a top five, so for me, with how I was feeling at the start of the day, top five is a good result, and puts us in a pretty decent spot in the championship.”

Nathan Crawford – “I’ve been injured so to come back to Supercross was great, I’ve definitely been excited. The track was super gnarly, I thought it was full AMA-spec. I felt a little tight as you would in your first race back. I found it a little hard to flow but I kind of sorted out by the night show. I had a little crash on the last lap of my heat race so I got fourth, but I got a ticket straight to the main which was good. I got the holeshot, and then just tried to do 15 of my own laps. I probably could have gotten fifth but just made a couple of little mistakes. I’m pretty happy with that for my first race back, I haven’t had a lot of experience on Supercross, so sixth isn’t bad, I’d say I fulfilled my goals for the first round back, but Adelaide I will be looking for a little more, that’s for sure.”

Riley Dukes – “It was a good night – I won the first one, which was solid. But I came unstuck in the second and brought it home strong in the last one which was good. I’m still six points behind in second in the championship, but hopefully we can make that up in the next few rounds and come out on top.”

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