A selection of riders detail their night from Adelaide’s third round of the 2016 Australian Supercross Championship. Team and privateer competitors can submit comments to [email protected] prior to the Wednesday after events for inclusion in the post-event Quotebook feature.

SX1

Image: Jeremy Hammer (Foremost Media).

Wil Hahn (National Pump Monster Energy Kawasaki) – fourth:
The whole day went really, really well for me, I felt I rode good in practice and qualifying, then won the heat, but in the main I just didn’t ride how I should have – these guys work too hard for me to go out and ride like that. So, yeah, it was a poor performance on my side and I have no real excuse for it, I just didn’t take what I had all day to the main event, which still resulted in a fourth. I thought they did a really good job with the track and the whoops were really tough – that’s where I lost the race. I like back-to-back races though, look forward to the next one and we will learn from what happened tonight and fix it.

Kade Mosig (National Pump Monster Energy Kawasaki) – seventh:
It’s another sort of average result for me and I don’t really know what’s going on, I’ve been working really hard, I feel like I’m in great shape and I love my bike, but it’s just not been working out for me. I will figure it out, we have three more rounds to go, so we have just ticked by the halfway point and I’m looking forward to Melbourne with a hometown crowd and family there as well. I’ll give it my best shot and it will be good to get into a rhythm.

Luke Wilson (Wilson Coolair Motul Factory Suzuki) – 12th:
From the beginning of this round, we knew it was just a night we needed to get through, and we did that – we got 12th in the main which was what we could manage given that I’m carrying an injury. We got as many points as we could. It was painful at times and it was hard to do, but we got through it. Leading in to the weekend, I wasn’t sure if I was even going to be able to race, so to be able to line up and put in 20 consistent laps in the main event, it’s not a bad effort, so I’m happy walking away from this one and heading in to Melbourne.

Todd Waters (Wilson Coolair Motul Factory Suzuki) – DNF:
It was a bit of a devastating night for me – we had good speed in the heat race, so to go down in the main event in the whoops again is really disappointing. Usually whoops are my strong point, and it’s normally a part of the track that I feel quickest, so I think now we’ll go back and figure some bits and pieces out, maybe try a few different things and hopefully turn it around in Melbourne. Given the preparation that we had we with MXoN, and not having all that much time for supercross our speed is quite good, and we can’t expect too much, but I just want to win, so we’ll reassess and see what we can do at the next round.

Jay Wilson (Crankt Protein Honda Racing Team) – ninth:
The weekend had its highs and lows. We started the morning off on the wrong foot, and really struggled with our set up all day, but when it mattered we managed to iron everything out and put together a solid heat race and main event. We tried something different with our starts last night and it really paid off. In the heat I got the holeshot and in the main I was third through the first turn, so now it’s just about getting used to that pace at the front – a lot of supercross has to do with your start. At the moment I’m no where near where I know I can be, so these last two rounds are going to be about the whole team pulling together to finish off the year strong and show what we’re capable of. Next weekend is a home round for us, and with back to back weekends of racing it will be nice to have less time in airports and more time on the bike preparing – I’m excited to finish off this series with some good results.

Daniel Reardon (CDR Yamaha) – second:
Second place and I’m pretty happy with that. My preparation for this round was a little interrupted after my fall at Toowoomba but the last couple of days things have started to come around and I’m feeling better on the bike. It was a tough track as the whoop section was long and fast and deteriorated during the night. I think every rider had some moments in those and near the end of the final, it was just a matter of getting through them as safely as possible. So, second is good and hopefully I can build from this and finish the last few rounds off strongly.

Dean Ferris (CDR Yamaha) – sixth:
My goal is always to get on the podium and tonight I wasn’t able to do that. It took me a few laps to get back into a good pace after my crash and I came up on a bunch of riders at once that took some time to get past. Like everyone tonight, I struggled a bit in the whoops, especially later on as they got hammered during the night. I’m still in second, so that’s the positive but I want to get back on track and back on the podium at the next round in Melbourne.

Kyle Peters (KTM Motocross Racing Team) – third:
The night started off pretty good, with a holeshot in their heat, but I made a few mistakes and dropped back a little. I made a few changes to the bike and kind of manned up a little in the main and made it happen, I came out second off the start, Reardon got around me, and then about halfway through I started catching him again and ended up third. But it was a good night, for sure. I got fourth of the previous round and third at this one so I’m happy with the progression and want to just keep getting better and better. Adelaide is a really awesome town, I had a lot of fun just going out to dinner and seeing the sights, so I’m excited to end the trip with a podium.

Jesse Dobson (KTM Motocross Racing Team) – eighth:
It was progress. We qualified sixth, which wasn’t too bad considering I had three crashes in that 10-minute qualifying. In the heat race, I just wanted to stick with my plan of getting through without incident and go into the main with a half decent gate pick. In the main I was just trying to do 20 solid laps, but unfortunately I got a really bad start and there was a heap of carnage around. I just passed a couple of good guys and was sitting in sixth, but I came up on a lapper in the whoops and I ended up just tagging the rear wheel of him and going down. So I went back to work and ended up eighth. It’s okay, it’s a result. I’m not happy with it, but it’s something to build off when we go to Melbourne.

Jay Marmont (MXR&D Husqvarna) – fifth:
It was a really good night, I started off the day a little bit rough, just didn’t get into my groove and didn’t qualify the best, but I kind of knew that my qualifying time would be the race pace. I made a few changes to the bike, and we got it a little bit more race ready, and the Husky performed really well all night. In the heat race we came out and straight away we were on race pace with the guys. I finished top three and you probably could have thrown a blanket over us. That gave me a decent gate pick for the main, but I didn’t get the best of starts; probably rounded the bend in around eighth, but I made some quick passes and got myself up to fifth, and from their battled basically for the podium with Peters and Wil Hahn, and just kind of checked out from the rest of the pack. Unfortunately I didn’t make any headway, but in saying that we were actually battling for third rather than just sitting back in fifth this weekend and getting closer towards that pointy end of the field. I was pretty happy to walk away with a good result, obviously a podium is what we are striving for, but right now it’s stepping stones.

Justin Brayton (Honda Genuine Racing) – first:
“The track was awesome and I gelled with it from the start of first practice. My two falls in the heat race were frustrating. The track was super slippery; it was deceiving how slippery it was after they watered it. I still remained positive as my times were the quickest and I actually enjoyed racing the track, it was a great layout. I also raced the dash for cash which was fun and gave me a chance to test the bike and track before the main. The win was awesome – I’m stoked for the team, my family and I. I am slowly seeing the results of the teams and my hard word. I am starting to get comfortable on the bike and I hope to continue to find improvements in myself and bike respectively. We have a solid program in place for the next two weeks – our work is far from done. Everyone is super focused and we continually remind each other that we are only half way as there are still three rounds remaining and a lot of points

Adam Enticknap (Honda Genuine Racing) – 10th:
My pace is there, especially during the week, that’s what is making it so frustrating. We have a plan for this coming week and I hope to be able to turn it around before the next round.

SX2

Image: Jeremy Hammer (Foremost Media).

Wade Hunter (Serco Yamaha) – third:
Tonight was a good main event after a few issues during the afternoon. I had my share of crashes and near misses during qualifying so it was good to be able to turn it around in the main event and finish on the podium. Both Gavin and Hayden were better than me tonight and they rode really well so congratulations to them but my goal is to win one of these things before the year is out.

Wilson Todd (Serco Yamaha) – fourth:
Last round was an eighth, this week it’s a fourth and a lot closer to the front so it’s important to keep moving forward and try to get some good results before the championship is over. Like most of the riders, I found the whoops tough and had a few crashes in them during the day but in the main event I tried to be a smooth and consistent through them as possible and that was the key to getting a better result.

Jackson Richardson (Serco Yamaha) – fifth:
The positive from the night was that fifth was a pretty good result and reasonable damage control in the points considering I crashed in the final. We worked hard all day trying to get the best set up for the whoops as they were the difference out there and I felt I could improve through them. I’m 11 points out of the championship lead so with three rounds to go, it’s time to go after some race wins and put some pressure on.

Dylan Wills (Raceline Pirelli KTM) – sixth:
This round wasn’t too bad actually – we probably started off a bit slow and I struggled in the whoops a bit at the beginning, but we had a relatively good heat race after that. My teammate Jesse and I were right up there in third and fourth in the heat, and we actually came together and I took us both down which was my fault, but we recovered and got 6th and 7th which was not too bad. In the main I got shoved back in the first turn, but I just rode smart, put in 15 consistent laps and ended up sixth. It’s a step in the right direction – those top three guys are really fast at the moment so I’m setting realistic goals and chasing them down. So we’ll just keep pushing forward every weekend.

Jesse Madden (Raceline Pirelli KTM) – DNF:
I was feeling quite good at the start of the day. We worked on a few things after practice and qualifying and I got a lot more comfortable on the bike which was positive. I had a good heat race and then I just made a stupid little mistake in the main event while I was in about 10th and landed on my head, so I had to pull in at about the halfway mark unfortunately. I feel like I’m riding quite well at the moment so a DNF is obviously disappointing, but we’ll go home and work on a few things, head to Melbourne freshened up, and see how we go there.

Nathan Crawford (Husqvarna) – 13th:
In the final I was in fifth and I was catching fourth and third with probably six or so laps to go and then had a pretty decent crash which took me a while to recover from, so I just made it to the finish and that was about it. I was pretty good at that bit of track and I was catching a lot of people there, but I think I pushed the issue a little bit too hard and the front wheel washed on the up ramp. I fell on my shoulder and winded myself a bit. This is my first proper season and I just want to get through the whole thing uninjured. I think last night would have definitely been pretty good if I hadn’t have crashed, I was in fifth and catching the front guys, so I would have been really happy with that. I’m just learning and spending the time riding Supercross and getting my confidence up, but we’ve still got another three rounds so we’ll see what we can do come next round.

Connor Tierney (MXR&D Husqvarna) – 14th:
I’m taking the positives each night and just trying to learn without getting too frustrated with myself. I qualified 16th for the main and got a not-too-bad start, but made an error on the first lap and had a bit of a crash in the back section so I made it hard on myself again. I got through to 14th , which was okay. There are no expectations in my first year of supercross – I’ve never done it before and I just want to get better each round. It’s strange, I feel like I should be up there, but I’ve got a way to go, a lot to learn. Supercross is a whole new level, it’s almost like learning to walk again.

Gavin Faith (Penrite Honda) – second:
I rode as hard as I could, the track was tricky in some areas and I lacked the confidence to go any harder. The team and I will test this week and work on several things together. I know when I am 100 percent comfortable I can get back on top. There is still 75 points up for grabs, so the championship is far from over.

Josh Cachia (Penrite Honda) – ninth:
I am not strong enough to do 15 laps yet, the track required a great deal of strength through the whoops and I was getting tired. I rode within my limits and made sure I finished. The team and I have a plan for this coming weekend and I will work towards it. We continue to maintain the goals we set at the start of the championship.

Kyle Webster (CRF Honda Racing) – seventh:
Luckily I managed to get one good lap in during qualifying, and put down the seventh fastest time. In my heat race I went down in the whoops again, so I pulled in to the pits. That meant I had to go to the LCQ, for the first time ever, but in that race I managed to begin to turn things around and finished the LCQ in second place behind Geran Stapleton. But of course that meant I had 18th gate pick for the final, however I got a big start from the outside and managed to power drift all the way around the outside and came out of the first turn in third! From there I rode a bit tight considering how bad my day had been, but I eventually finished the final in seventh place and overall was pleased with that result, all things considered for the day.

Joel Wightman (CRF Honda Racing) – 10th:
I just didn’t get the start in the final that I needed to be able to run my speed and put down clean laps. I was towards the back of the field and amongst guys quite a bit slower than me. Then early on another rider fell in front of me and I had nowhere to go but to hit him, and I fell off. By the time I got back up I was so far behind, so I just tried to lay down consistent laps and eventually managed to get back up to tenth place by the finish. That keeps me fifth overall in the series, but I feel like I let a good result slip away, considering my speed earlier in day at the Adelaide event.