A selection of riders detail round one of the 2017 Australian Supercross Championship in Queensland. Team and privateer competitors can submit comments to [email protected] by Monday afternoon after events for inclusion in the post-event Quotebook feature.

SX1

Image: Jeremy Hammer (Foremost Media).

Dean Ferris (CDR Yamaha) – Second overall:
I didn’t feel great on the track all afternoon but I was able to get focussed before final and turn things around which was pleasing. It was our first race on the new bike and both Dylan and I were right there at the start and it works unbelievably well on the track. Dan and I had a great race and it was a shame we just let Justin get away in those early laps. It’s the same podium as we had here last year and the three of us had some awesome races in 2016 so hopefully it’s the same this year as I enjoy racing with both these guys. I have the Motocross of Nations this weekend so once that is done I can focus solely on Supercross and start to make some big improvements.

Dylan Long (CDR Yamaha) – Seventh overall:
While the result wasn’t great, I felt like I rode pretty well and the new 2018 YZ450F was awesome. Apart from the one fall at the start of the main event, my laps were good and fitness has been the best it’s been all year. Next round the aim is to improve on tonight and if I get another start like that, capitalise on it and get myself onto the podium in a mistake free race. Thank you to the CDR Yamaha team and the promoters for a great night in front of a big crowd.

Nick Schmidt (Wilson Coolair Motul Factory Suzuki) – 14th overall:
My speed was there this weekend. I qualified well and the times were good. I was sort of just getting used to racing Down Under, it’s a little different to what we race back home. I like the challenge of being here, last night we just needed to get those first race jitters out of the way. I rode a little tight and I just needed to focus on doing what I do and getting the results. I had some bad luck in the heat race and tipped it over a couple of times, and made some little mistakes. In the main event I got a good jump and I was in fourth for a while but I made a mistake and it cost me. I was down a couple of laps after that so I just used the rest of the race to see where my speed was at. I know what I need to work on now, we have a little break, and I’m just looking forward to getting to round two, seeing what we can do and putting the Suzuki on the podium where it belongs.

Luke Wilson (Wilson Coolair Motul Factory Suzuki) – 13th overall:
This weekend was a round to forget. I guess Jimboomba is usually a good one for me, but after taking the year off and coming back I thought things were going to go better. Nothing happened for me tonight. Coming back to my first race and just having every one else around me, it just didn’t seem to work so we have some things to work on. I need to spend the next couple of weeks figuring some things out, and come to round two fresh and ready to go.

Kade Mosig (DPH Motorsport Yamaha) – 10th overall:
I felt good all day today, and I’m happy to carry my strong starts towards the end of the motocross season into supercross, but it was tough to go from battling for the lead to almost last, but that’s racing. I had nowhere to go when Dylan (Long) went down, so I just concentrated on turning out consistent laps and moving through the field as fast as I could tonight.

Luke Clout (Crankt Protein Honda Racing) – Fourth overall:
I’m a little bit disappointed to go down, but to come back to fourth and ride the way I did, I’m pretty happy. I know I have to go home and do some work, but I know I’m right there. I know my speed is around the podium, so I’m just going to go home, work hard and get on the box. The plan is to just keep riding well and see how we go.

Todd Waters (Crankt Protein Honda Racing) – Fifth overall:
We got a good start in the heat race earlier and ended up getting third there. I haven’t ridden supercross for a long time, so I’m just dipping my feet and I think the season will be good. Luke went down in the first turn and I was caught up in that, so I went from last to fifth at the end of the final. That’s racing though and that’s how it goes. I’ve got two weeks and I’ve been working on all of my motos and stuff now, so it’s now time to bring some intensity in. Apart from that everything is good, we’ve got the bike in a happy place, so we’ll just keep working.

Justin Brayton (Penrite Honda Racing) – First overall:
My Honda 450 was amazing, everything was working well and I felt settled all day. The team worked well together which is a credit to our team manager Jay Foreman as the team is made up of people from all over Australia and the world.

Jesse Dobson (Penrite Honda Racing) – 12th overall:
I felt my day was going well. I am disappointed I made so many mistakes in the final as I genuinely thought I was riding well. I have taken a lot away from this weekend and will work hard going into round two on minimising my mistakes over 20 laps.

Joel Wightman (Penrite CRF Honda Racing) – Ninth overall:
It’s been a while, so it felt awesome to be back at the races and especially at a supercross. I’ve been looking forward to being on a 450 in Supercross for so long now and I really enjoyed the event. I was happy to be running as high as fourth and then settle into sixth for consecutive laps, and I can certainly take away plenty of positives from Jimboomba and hopefully put them into practice for round two. It was just a lack of recent race time and race fitness due to my injuries that cost me late in the race, when I made a few mistakes a couple of laps in a row on a long rhythm section, which certainly cost me time in the last part of the race and put me in ninth place at the finish. Still, it was a solid start to the series.

SX2

Image: Jeremy Hammer (Foremost Media).

Egan Mastin (KTM Motocross Racing Team) – DNS:
I was excited to get the day started and start with the new team. The start of the day was good and I actually felt comfortable, everything was going well and I was happy with the bike. My foot came off in one of the sections during qualifying and I went over the ’bars and hit my head pretty hard. It wasn’t my night, but I’m going to take the positives from the start of the day and focus on what’s next from there. I couldn’t ask for a better team to be on, they’re an awesome group of people and we’re already talking about how to make things better, so we’ll be putting the work in over the next two weeks and I’m very excited to keep learning.

Kyle Webster (Penrite CRF Honda Racing) – 11th overall:
I definitely lacked some intensity from not having enough time on the bike while I was injured recently. In the final I was in a reasonable position and started to get into a good groove, but then I got a bit sketchy in the whoops and went down. The crash twisted up the front end a bit and I could only manage an 11th place finish at the flag. It certainly wasn’t the result I was hoping for but with a couple of weeks before the next round, I’ll be putting in the effort to deliver the results we are really capable of.

Jayden Rykers (Raceline Pirelli KTM) – 20th overall:
The whole day started off relatively good, especially when you could say in some sense that this is my first supercross. We found a good base with the team – then I qualified fastest in my group in the afternoon which put me in 13th, and then my heat race went well. I got up the inside and worked my way in to fourth which I was happy with. I was really happy up until the main event. I didn’t get a good start and I lost traction on one of the doubles about seven laps in and I had a bit of a crash – I found it hard to get the bike going after that and I dropped back. All in all, the day was good up until the main event but I’m happy to walk out of here healthy. We have a good break now to work on our weaknesses so we’ll keep building.

Jay Wilson (Raceline Pirelli KTM) – Fourth overall:
I’m really happy with how the first round went. Finishing one position shy of the SX2 podium is a solid way to start the season, and means that we have good points going in to Melbourne. I had a good lead up to the weekend, and it was sort of nice having everyone except those in my corner count me out – it meant I could just focus on doing my job without any added pressure and it paid off. I got second in my heat race, and fourth in the main which is nice and consistent and exactly what we wanted to achieve. Obviously a podium would have been the perfect scenario but you need to be smart in supercross, particularly at the first round. The KTM 250 SX-F was flawless last night. We made a couple of small changes throughout the day, and by the time we got to the main we had one of the strongest bikes out there. I’m excited to see where we can go from here.

Wilson Todd (DPH Motorsport Yamaha) – Fifth overall:
After feeling pretty strong through the day, I knew I had the speed to be able to run at the front come the final, but I didn’t get out of the gate and had my work cut out for me from the start, once I did get going I got into a good rhythm and made some passes to work my way to 5th by the time I crossed the line.

Hayden Mellross (DPH Motosport Yamaha) – First overall:
I’m really happy to start the season off like this. I felt really good all day on track, and I knew that I would be able to maintain some consistent, strong laps come the final. I got off the gate well, but I still came through in fourth so used my speed in the whoops to make passes each lap, before working my way towards Gavin Faith. Once I made the pass, I was able to stick to my plan and to come away with a 10 second winning margin.

Jackson Richardson (Serco Yamaha) – Sixth overall:
Sixth on paper doesn’t look great but I think there is a lot to work with and still plenty of improvements that can and will be made. As much as you can keep up the off-bike training through injury, you can beat pure bike time especially in race conditions, and with a bit of a break until the next round, I will be in much better shape in Melbourne. So, it back to Cairns and to keep working hard and be 100 percent for round two.

Mitch Evans (Serco Yamaha) – Third overall:
I didn’t finish off the motocross season as well as I would have liked so I was pretty determined to get things rolling in the right direction here. We made a few changes to the bike throughout the day and my goal here was really to get out of Jimboomba safely as the last two times I have been here, I have crashed out. So, I’m stoked to get on the podium and the fact that I was able to close in on Gavin at the end of the race gives me some confidence going into the rest of the championship. Thank you to Serco Yamaha and my family for the huge effort getting ready for supercross and I look forward to some good racing at the coming rounds.