CDR Rockstar Energy Yamaha's Jay Marmont won Coonabarabran's MX Nationals round.

CDR Rockstar Energy Yamaha’s defending triple Australian Motocross Champion Jay Marmont has captured his first round victory of the 2011 Rockstar Energy Drink MX Nationals season at Coonabarabran in NSW on Sunday, 19 June.

Marmont, 28, has enjoyed a dream run in recent weeks, winning the prestigious Manjimup 15,000 at the beginning of the month in Western Australia before taking out the Queensland State Championship last weekend.

Today though in the MX Nationals’ inaugural event at the Goanna Tracks Complex, Marmont returned to the top on a national level, finishing with 5-1-2-3 results to clinch the overall by a single point from series points leader Dean Ferris.

“We’ve worked so hard for this win,” Marmont commented. “The team and I went back to the drawing boards, worked on a lot of things and got them right.

“I’ve left my run for the championship really late, but I’m not going to give up. The top five guys are so even this year, so it’s definitely tough out there.”

Marmont now sits fourth in the championship chase, 54 points in arrears of Ferris with three rounds remaining, including Coolum’s double-header event that will make up the season finale in July.

Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ferris scored his fifth consecutive podium to stretch his lead in the series to 13 points thanks to 2-3-4-2 finishes, only just falling short of his first win round win of the season.

“I’ll get that overall win one day,” Ferris promised. “I’ve beat them all before, just not on the same day. We’ll keep working on a few things and hopefully win some. It just feels really good to keep that red plate with the series lead.”

Finishing just three points behind Ferris for the round was Marmont’s teammate Josh Coppins, who won moto three but was otherwise plagued by starts or crashes during the motos. Coppins results tally for the round went 3-5-1-4.

Coppins edged out Scotsman Billy Mackenzie for the final podium position by one point, the Monster Energy Kawasaki rider taking out moto victories in races one and four, his day completed with 9-4 results in the middle pair of motos.

American Phil Nicoletti won his first MX Nationals round in the Lites.

In the Motul Pro Lites division it was Monster Energy Kawasaki’s American import Phil Nicoletti who stole the show, racing to a dominant scorecard of 1-1-1-3 for the round in what was his first overall on Australian soil.

“It feels so good to win and the boys at Monster Energy Kawasaki did an awesome job,” Nicoletti said. “Hopefully we can continue this and win some more now that I am getting used to Australia and the formats the series has over here compared to back home.”

Nicoletti won ahead of Serco Yoshimura Yamaha’s 2007 champion Jake Moss, who extended his podium run to three straight. Moss finished with 2-4-3-2 results to beat twin brother Matt for the position.

JDR Motorex KTM’s Matt Moss bounced back from a broken shoulder blade to stretch his Pro Lites point lead to 54, rounding out the podium after finishing the day on a high note with the victory in moto four.

Completing the top five finishers for the round was Team 07 Axis Motorsports Honda’s New Zealand rider Justin McDonald and Berry Sweet Strawberries/Lucas Oil Honda Racing’s Kade Mosig.

Coastal KTM’s Jay Wilson scored his second win in a row in the Pirelli Under 19s development class, the former 85cc Junior World Champion riding high on confidence after taking his first victory at Toowoomba last month.

Wilson’s 2-6-1-6 results handed him the overall, by seven points from GYTR Rockstar Energy Yamaha’s Luke Arbon, who won moto two, while Team 07 Axis Motorsports Honda’s Dylan Peterson took third in a consistent effort.

“It was a good day for me and feels really good to win another overall,” Wilson said. “I feel like I’m getting stronger at every round and my team has been right behind me all along – I just need to thank Coastal KTM and all of our sponsors so much for sticking behind me.”

Championship leader Errol Willis (Raceline Pirelli Suzuki) saw his podium streak snapped with sixth overall after crashing out of moto four, but he still maintains a 38-point buffer in the series after winning moto one. The final moto winner for the day was Jacob Wright, the Honda rookie sealing fourth overall.

Round seven of the 2011 Rockstar Energy Drink MX Nationals will be contested at Albury in New South Wales on Sunday, 3 July. Practice and qualifying will commence at 8:30am with the official opening ceremonies taking place at approximately 10:30am.

Visit www.mxnationals.com.au on the web for complete series and round information on the 2011 season.

2011 Rockstar Energy Drink MX Nationals

Round 6 Results:
Rockstar Energy Drink Pro Open
1. Jay Marmont (CDR Rockstar Energy Yamaha) 83
2. Dean Ferris (Monster Energy Kawasaki) 82
3. Josh Coppins (CDR Rockstar Energy Yamaha) 79
4. Billy Mackenzie (Monster Energy Kawasaki) 78
5. Lawson Bopping (Raceline Pirelli Suzuki) 72
6. Michael Phillips (Carlton Dry Honda Thor Racing) 57
7. Cheyne Boyd (Carlton Dry Honda Thor Racing) 56
8. Cody Cooper (Rockstar Makita Suzuki) 50
9. Todd Waters (Carlton Dry Honda Thor Racing) 48
10. Daniel Reardon (JDR Motorex KTM) 38

Motul Pro Lites
1. Phil Nicoletti (Monster Energy Kawasaki) 95
2. Jake Moss (Serco Yoshimura Yamaha) 82
3. Matt Moss (JDR Motorex KTM) 72
4. Justin McDonald (Team 07 Axis Motorsport Honda) 67
5. Kade Mosig (Berry Sweet Strawberries/Lucas Oil Honda Racing) 62
6. Brenden Harrison (JDR Motorex KTM) 61
7. Cody Mackie (Team 07 Axis Motorsport Honda) 56
8. Daniel McCoy (Rockstar Makita Suzuki) 50
9. Josh Cachia (JDR Motorex KTM) 46
10. Kirk Gibbs (Serco Yoshimura Yamaha) 45

Pirelli Under 19s
1. Jay Wilson (Coastal KTM) 77
2. Luke Arbon (GYTR Rockstar Yamaha) 70
3. Dylan Peterson (Team 07 Axis Motorsport Honda) 66
4. Jacob Wright (Honda Australia) 64
5. Shaun Redhead (GYTR Rockstar Energy Yamaha) 59
6. Errol Willis (Raceline Pirelli Suzuki) 57
7. Kale Makeham (JDR Moss Institute Suzuki) 56
8. Dan Banks (Eco-Pest Control KTM) 47
9. Jake Emanuelli (Yamaha Australia/Hart and Huntington) 47
10. Kyle McKeddie (Mornington Kawasaki) 45

Championship Standings (after 6 of 9 rounds):
Rockstar Energy Drink Pro Open
1. Dean Ferris 461
2. Billy Mackenzie 448
3. Josh Coppins 429
4. Jay Marmont 407
5. Cheyne Boyd 384
6. Michael Phillips 348
7. Lawson Bopping 323
8. Cody Cooper 263
9. Louis Calvin 227
10. Ryan Marmont 206

Motul Pro Lites
1. Matt Moss 419
2. Kirk Gibbs 365
3. Daniel McCoy 345
4.Brenden Harrison 344
5. Phil Nicoletti 339
6. Josh Cachia 312
7. Justin McDonald 302
8. Cody Mackie 294
9. Kade Mosig 292
10. Luke Styke 273

Pirelli Under 19s 1. Errol Willis 464
2. Luke Arbon 426
3. Shaun Redhead 366
4. Dylan Peterson 338
5. Jake Emanuelli 296
6. Kyle McKeddie 286
7. Jay Wilson 285
8. Kale Makeham 215
9. Dan Banks 182
10. Ben George 173