HQVA press release:

Husqvarna Factory Support rider Connor Tierney made it his second National win in a row when he won the MXD category at the fifth round of the 2015 Monster Energy MX Nationals series at Coolum, on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.

The Craig Anderson Racing rider powered his Husqvarna TC 250 to a win and a second place to claim top honours on the day from Wilson Todd and KTM’s Jayden Rykers, in the process moving himself to within six points of the national championship lead.

MX2 rookie Nathan Crawford also made it a landmark round, bouncing back from a dogged first-race sixth place to claim his first race win of the year aboard his Husqvarna FC 250, and book the second step of the day’s podium, behind KTM’s Caleb Ward, and ahead of Jay Wilson. MX2 team mate Luke Arbon continued his recent good form with fifth on the day courtesy of 8-5 race finishes.

In the MX1 category, Husqvarna FC 450 rider Jesse Dobson moved a step closer to his season goal of the top five championship finish with 5-6 results on the day. Dobson elevated himself to sixth in the premier category, the 18-year-old further cementing his reputation as a major contender.

Craig Anderson Racing rider and Husqvarna FC 350 pilot Aaron Tanti was unable to achieve the second top-10 finish of his rookie season, instead struggling to 18th overall in the physically demanding conditions.

Jesse Dobson – FC 450: “The day was not too bad but on paper it doesn’t look as good as it was. Qualifying for SuperPole was good but a small crash meant I didn’t set a competitive time. I felt the speed was there today – in the first moto I ran third for over 50% of it. I made a small mistake and was running fourth, then had a crash and that dropped me back to fifth.
I had a decent start in the next one, but I ended up pulling all my tear-offs off over the tunnel jump and had no tear-offs for the whole race, so that was fun. I was behind Styke and Mosig are a bit while they were going at it, but I couldn’t get involved, every time I got close I would get roosted and lose ground because I’m trying to wipe my goggles. Because of my vision I misjudged a turn and ended up on the ground. If we eliminate those small mistakes, there is no reason why I can’t be a top guy.
We’re getting there.”

Aaron Tanti – FC 350: “Not a good day. Silly little mistakes caused by crashing and stuff showed in my results. I got stuck in a first corner pileup on the first moto, then in the second one I was running 13th and had a crash with a few laps to go. I think I was just tired at the end of the moto – that was like the roughest and most energy-consuming track I’ve ever ridden! In the break I’ll work more on my bike fitness and mentally regroup, and hopefully do the next half of the season better.”

Luke Arbon – FC 250 “I qualified pretty average but I felt good out on the track. First moto I made it up to fourth or fifth when everyone was still pretty close, but halfway through the moto I just started making little mistakes for about a 10 minute period, and on the track if you make a mistake in the turn you lose so much time in the straights. I slipped to eighth. Moto two I got another average start, but I dug deep and made a few passes late in the moto for fifth, so there were positives to take away and a few negatives to learn from as well. I’ve got five weeks now, so we’ll go home and do our homework, and come out strong for the second half of the season.”

Nathan Crawford – FC 250 “First moto I got a pretty mediocre start, I crashed in a third corner and went from dead last back to sixth, and it was by far the toughest moto I’ve ever raced. The track was rough, they prepped up real well and it had heaps of moisture in it – it was a motocross track – and I just went for 30 minutes going as fast as I could, trying to get back to the front. I had to dig deep, and if I hadn’t done that I probably wouldn’t be on the podium. I won the last moto which was a good way to go into the break. That was my first win for the year, so that definitely helps with my confidence.”

Connor Tierney – TC 250 “It’s awesome. I’m super pumped, again. In the first moto, Jayden passed me with like two laps to go, we switched the lead a few times, and then I passed him back in the last turn and just got over the line.
In the second one I had a pretty bad start and had to make my way through the pack, so by the time I was in third Jayden and Wilson were pretty far gone. I thought it was a survival race to get points and then Jayden ended up going down, so I took the spot there and then I knew I had it in the bag so I just kept it on two wheels.”

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