DPH Motorsport press release:

The seventh round of the MX Nationals, held in Maitland, NSW was full of ups and downs for the DPH Husqvarna Factory Racing team as they continue to chase both the MX1 (450cc) and MX2 (250cc) national motocross championships. With Todd Waters (FC450), Wilson Todd (FC250) and Bailey Malkiewicz (FC250) all expecting to run at the front, fourth, fifth and seventh overall results respectively fell short of their own goals, despite retaining solid positions in each championship.

Boyd Hocking, DPH Husqvarna team manager: “That was a tough weekend for us. Going in with the championship lead in both classes, we really expected to come out the other side in a stronger position than we have. All three riders have the speed to win races, and they each expect to be at the front and it just didn’t work that way today. Wilson (Todd) retains the championship lead, Todd (Waters) moves to third, while Bailey (Malkiewicz) stays in seventh, so it’s far from a disaster, and if anything, gives us all some things to work on as we head into the final three rounds in Moree and Coolum.”

Todd Waters: “I’m pretty disappointed after that to be honest. Fourth overall is a good result for a bad weekend, but I’ve made no secret of the fact that I want to win races. I was second fastest on-track in qualifying (1:47.112) and ended up with a slightly slower lap than that in superpole for fourth gate pick. In all three races, I managed to move forward on the FC450 after each race start, so there’s positives to take away, but I’ll head back home with some things to concentrate on before Moree.”

Wilson Todd: “Even though I was over a second faster than everyone in qualifying, I just didn’t feel comfortable today in the races. I had a strong position in the first race, and a crash in the second while leading, so it just didn’t come together. I finished fourth and sixth, so it’s far from a disaster and I still keep the lead in the championship, but I expect to win. This gives me some motivation though to put in the work before next round.”

Bailey Malkiewicz: “A bit of a rollercoaster day really. After grabbing the holeshot and leading for six laps, I hit a soft section of the circuit and lost a lot of track position. The track changed a lot through the day, and in the second race we just struggled with set-up and I slid back a few positions to finish fifth after another solid start. I was confident going into the weekend that I could do well, and my race speed backed that up, so I just need to keep concentrating on minimizing mistakes and my overall’s will improve.”

With the eighth round of the MX Nationals set to be held in Moree on July 28, followed quickly by the final double header round in Coolum on August 3 and 4, the DPH Husqvarna Factory Racing team will take the two weeks to prepare to finish out the season as strong as possible.