Jesse Dobson press release:

The second round of the MX Nationals, held in Wonthaggi, Victoria have seen Jesse Dobson put in another strong performance over two 16-lap races in the MX1 (450cc) class. A 12th in race one, followed by an 8th in race two sealed 9th overall for the popular 22-year-old Queenslander, despite several set-backs through the day.

With rain early Sunday morning, it was a damp start to the weekend for MX Nationals competitors, however a comfortable Dobson showed impressive speed to become the only privateer to make it through to Superpole and ultimately qualify fifth. Concerned about his bike in race once, Jesse pulled into the mechanics area running fifth, before setting off to finish 12th in conditions that saw more than one race bike in the field overheat and expire. The sandy circuit recovered well through the day and Moto two saw some great bar-to-bar racing and a top ten finish for Dobson.

Jesse Dobson: “Today was tough, but overall really positive. I didn’t realise I made Superpole at the time and rode back to my pit and started getting undressed! I had to rush to get back on the track and I ended up with arm-pump. I had a good start in race one and pushed forward to fifth, but I only have the one bike, so when it started to get hot, I pulled over and my mechanic Aiden helped me clear the radiators rather than wreck it with a race to go, before pushing hard again to finish 12th. I was confident lining up for race two but ended up caught in the first turn pile up after the FC450 jumped out of gear at the start and put me behind. I charged hard to 6th, 20-minutes into the race, but in the last few laps the rear wheel bearings collapsed and I had to work hard to stay on track and make sure I got to finish line. I finished 7th on track, but I was penalised 10-seconds for overtaking a lapped rider outside the track markers, when I was working hard to just keep the bike on track and moving forward, I’ve put my case to the officials for review, so we’ll see what happens there. As much as I’m confident, I surprised myself this weekend and I’m excited for the rest of the season, I’m enjoying racing and going to keep working hard for it!”

Jesse now heads back to his Sunshine Coast base where, with the help of Paul Baericke’s MPE Husqvarna and his mechanic Aiden Porth, the FC450 will be put back into race-ready condition before the third round of the MX Nationals championship, in Broadford, Victoria on April 14.