Wilson MX press release:

Penrite Honda Wilson MX has walked away from Shepparton hopeful of turning things around, after a tough outing at round seven of the MX Nationals over the weekend.

With late confirmation that Luke Wilson would sit out the round, opting to rest his broken thumb, the Wilson MX flag was flown by a solo Geran Stapleton who struggled to gel with the challenging Shepparton conditions. With the morning kicking off in minus four conditions, Stapleton was one of the first riders on track, qualifying in 12th position, setting himself up for what was a challenging day.

In race one, Stapleton came together with Caleb Ward off the start and was forced to the back of the pack. After getting caught up outside of the top ten, Stapleton was unable to find the speed required, crossing the line 15th after 30 mintutes.

In race two, Stapleton was once again caught up in start straight issues – forced to dodge a crash, Stapleton was in dead last after the first lap and forced to make his way through the pack. Despite putting in a solid 20-minute charge, Stapleton finished race two in just outside the top ten in 13th.

At the conclusion of the round, Stapleton suffered one of his toughest outings of the season – finishing in 13th overall at one of the most technical tracks of the season.

Geran Stapleton MX2 – 13th Overall – (15th, 13th)

“I don’t really know how to feel about the weekend to be honest, usually I love riding tracks like that, but I just couldn’t find a good rhythm on the weekend,” he said. “I had a bit of bad luck coming together with riders and having to dodge crashes, but I just seemed to get caught up in the speed of the other riders I was around at the time and couldn’t get out of there. “The track was actually a lot of fun, and I just wished I could have had the results to match it. “We’re all just going to put the weekend behind us, and focus on Nowra and getting a better result there.”

Neale Wilson – Wilson MX Team Manager –

“It was a pretty tough weekend for us. Everything was set up and ready to go, but Geran just couldn’t come to terms with the track – it was that way for a lot of riders to be honest,” he said.
“Geran said to me that he could just not gel with the track, and to be fair it was one of the most technical circuits I have ever seen. “Normally Geran is great in the ruts, but he’s been sick and unable to have a lot of bike time so it’s understandable that it was a tough round for us. “The positive though was that the bike handled the conditions perfectly, and although it was a tough round for us, our setup was very good, which we were happy with. “I’m sure we will bounce back at Nowra and we’ll hopefully have Luke back on board too, so we’ll just put this one behind us.”

The Wilson MX Race Team will now head to Nowra on August 2 for Round seven of the MX Nationals. To stay updated with all team progress, ‘like’ Wilson MX on Facebook, follow their Instagram via Wilson_Mx, or on Twitter via Wilson_Mx. To find your local Penrite Oil stockist simply head to www.penriteoil.com.au/au_locator.php.