Image: Jeff Crow.

KTM’s Caleb Ward has made it four-consecutive MX Nationals MX2 overall victories at Shepparton’s seventh round, despite the pair of moto wins going toward Takeshi Katsuya and Luke Clout.

The early stages of moto one were led by championship leader Jay Wilson, before a charging Katsuya came from behind to take over at the front and that’s where he would remain for his first victory of the season.

Katsuya was chased down by the in-form Caleb Ward until he went down soon after, remounting to finish second over an impressive ride from Nathan Crawford.

Crawford went down in turn one but blasted his way through the field, while Wilson dropped to fourth and Dylan Wills was a solid fifth.

The Serco Yamahas of Jed Beaton and Clout – another caught up in the opening lap melee – were sixth and seventh, while Luke Arbon, Riley Graham and Wade Hunter filled the top 10 placings.

Current series champion Clout made it clear he won’t settle for second in the 2015 series, claiming the second moto win after a race-long duel with red plate holder Wilson.

It was a tight final lap, however Clout was able to remain composed and take the chequered flag ahead of Wilson and Ward, whose consistency resulted in him picking up a fourth-straight round victory overall.

Fourth was Crawford from opening moto winner Katsuya, while Arbon, Beaton, Wills, Jack Simpson and Graham made up the top 10 finishers.

Overall it was Ward who edged out Katsuya by a single point, with Wilson another point further behind in third. Importantly, he was able to stretch his series lead to six points over Clout in fourth overall.

2015 MX Nationals, Australian Motocross Championship
Round seven – Shepparton, VIC

MX2 overall results:
1. Caleb Ward 62
2. Takeshi Katsuya 61
3. Jay Wilson 60
4. Luke Clout 59
5. Nathan Crawford 58
6. Jed Beaton 49
7. Dylan Wills 49
8. Luke Arbon 48
9. Riley Graham 43
10. Wade Hunter 41
11. Jack Simpson 39
12. Joel Wightman 37
13. Geran Stapleton 34
14. Matt Ryan 33
15. Tomas Ravenhorst 31
16. Kurt Gow 29
17. Dylan Gosling 28
18. Ricky Latimer 25
19. Mathew McEntee 22
20. Alex Morris 20

MX2 championship standings:
1. Jay Wilson 403
2. Luke Clout 397
3. Takeshi Katsuya 384
4. Jed Beaton 349
5. Wade Hunter 329
6. Luke Arbon 327
7. Caleb Ward 311
8. Nathan Crawford 292
9. Geran Stapleton 277
10. Dylan Wills 273
11. Jack Simpson 243
12. Riley Graham 243
13. Joel Wightman 232
14. Hamish Harwood 225
15. Kyle Webster 192
16. Tomas Ravenhorst 167
17. Luke Wilson 165
18. Dean Porter 160
19. Alex Morris 149
20. Dylan Leary 142

Click here for detailed results