Yamaha Motor Australia press release:

Mitch Evans burst through for his maiden MX Nationals round victory after taking the win at round three of the MX Nationals held at the Broadford Motorsport Complex, over the weekend. In doing so he maintained an enviable track record for the Yamalube Yamaha Racing team that has seen them win at the Broadford round in 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015 and now for the final time in 2016.

In what proved to be a fruitful day for the Yamalube Yamaha Racing team, Evans led a team 1-2 in the MXD class with team mate Jordan Hill slotting into second place for the day on what was undoubtedly the toughest track of the year as the venue was lashed with rain and storms just prior to the event.

The water logged track through up all kinds of issues for riders and teams but the Yamalube Yamaha Racing team put together a memorable day as they claw their way back from a tough start to the season.

Evans, who had already won a moto this year, still hadn’t racked up a round win but was determined to right the wrong at Broadford. On a track that really tested the riders, Evans moved through the field steadily in moto one, limiting any mistakes before hitting the front with just two laps to go. He safely navigated the final lap to take the race win.

Moto two was combination of brute force and race smarts for Evans as he mis-timed his jump from the gate and entered the first turn well down the field. But within four corners, Evans muscled his way into the top five and began to stalk the leaders. He moved into second and began to apply pressure to the leader but when he ran off the racing line and into some extremely soft ground, he elected to settle down and take second place for the moto knowing his 1-2 results would be good enough to secure the round victory.

Evans round win now sees him in sixth place on the championship table, 28 points back from the leader.

“It’s taken far too long to get this result,” Evans said after the final race. “After I won the first race, there was no way I wasn’t going to go on and get the round win, so it’s good to finally get it and reward everyone on the team.

“We had a slow start to the season but we are getting it together now and starting to build some momentum which is really important,” Evans ends.

Jordan Hill made it to the podium again, this time taking second place on the day with his 5-1 results. Hill struggled in the opening moto after suffering a poor start but when he finally got some clear track he showed he has plenty of speed to match the race leaders. His hard work in race one saw him move from 12th on the opening lap through to fifth by race end.

Race two and Hill went to the lead by the lap one and never let it go. He came under immense pressure from team mate Evans, but Hill kept his composure and fought off the challenge before stretching out his lead at the end.

After his win at round two at Appin and his second place at Broadford, Hill has now leaped to third place in the championship.

“I’m on the podium again so that’s always good news. Race one was a bit of a fight as I made mistakes on the opening laps and got caught behind slower riders and couldn’t pass due to the wet nature of the track so I knew I had to get a good start in moto two if I wanted to get up here.

“I got a great jump and was second for the first half a lap then got into the lead quickly to I didn’t have to deal with the mud and roost. I saw Mitch coming but I tried to forget about what he was doing and just ride my best laps and that meant I was able to stay focused and not make any mistakes and I got the race win,” Hill explains.

Broadford proved to be one of the most challenging for riders and teams and Yamalube Yamaha Racing Team Manager, Scott Bishop, offered his thanks to the hard work ethic of his crew over the weekend.

“Both Mike and Cory worked extremely hard over the weekend and can take a lot of the credit for the results over the weekend. With the rain, the treacherous track and then the quick turn-around between race one and two meant both guys were under the pump all afternoon but they didn’t miss a beat.

“They riders did the job on the track but were ably back up by the work Mike and Cory did off it. It was a full team effort and one of our more satisfying results in some time,” Bishop ends.

The championship now moves to Murray Bridge in South Australia for round four on May22.

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