Reardon wins Supercross Championship for Kawasaki
Daniel Reardon has won the 2007 Australian Supercross Championship by a nail-biting tiny margin after a fight back from a main event fall. The Dapto final round also saw Mitch Hoad secure thrid in the Pro lites, after a race win.
Kawasaki Racing Team is rejoicing after Daniel Reardon won the 2007 Pro Open Supercross Championship and Mitch Hoad won the Pro Lites Class final race, securing him a third place victory in the 2007 Pro Lites Supercross Championship on Saturday night.
As the dark clouds set in over the coastal township of Dapto, a committed crowd watched on as Reardon on his KX450F and Hoad on his KX250F, contested their relevant titles in wet, boggy track conditions at the final round of the Australian Supercross Championship.
Battling all the elements and on a surface that paid more of a resemblance to a mud pit rather than a race track, both KRT riders knew that they were going to have to work hard and ride well to achieve their desired podiumfinishes on such a wet, slippery track .Reardon kicked his title campaign off in confident style, placing second in the first Pro Open Heat of the night,finishing behind KTM’s Jay Marmont.
In Heat Two, Reardon got a good start to win the hole shot. Pulling away from the field, Reardon dominated the track. Even though he took a slight tumble midway through the race, he had pulled a large enough gap over his rivals to remount and resume racing still in the lead, crossing the line in first place. After posting promising results in both heat races, KRT’s Championship Title hopes were thrown into chaos in the feature race, when Reardon went down after being caught up in Turn One traffic.
Reardon was close to going a lap down, by the time he managed to rejoin the race at the rear of the field. Regathering his thoughts and his race strategy, Reardon knew he needed to stay consistent and avoid further trouble if he was to have any chance of contending for the race win. With excessive amounts of mud building, Reardon threw away his goggles and let loose on the throttle, pulling out fast, confident laps in such slow, torrential conditions.
Reardon managed to consistently pass leading riders one by one to regain a front running presence and take second place in the main race. “After falling in the first turn and being so far behind the rest of the field, I just tried to ride a sensible race in the really boggy conditions,” said Reardon. “I knew I was passing other riders, but there were so many riders going down everywhere that I really didn’t know where I was placed or who was in front of me. I just wasn’t going to give up nor stop pushing, as I knew I only needed to get a top four finish to secure the Title.
"At lap fifteen my Engineer Charlie indicated to me that I was in fitth place, though I couldn’t really distinguish who the leaders were from the lapped riders. When I crossed the finish line I could see Boyd celebrating the win,but I wasn’t sure where I had finished. When my Team came running onto the track telling me I had done it, I was so relieved.” Reardon said.“After winning last year, I learnt that if you get caught up in all the hype and pressure you make more mistakes.I just wanted to make sure I stayed relaxed and focused when I lined up at the start gates.”
Reardon went on to say, “We have a great Team at Kawasaki and a great group of Supporters and Sponsors. I am just so happy that we have managed to back up our Championship success last year with a win again in2007.”
In Heat One of the Pro Lites Class, Hoad managed a good jump from the start gate to challenge for the hole shot, only to be spat out the side and end up entangled in the fence. Hoad lost valuable time as he battled to free his bike, losing almost half a lap before he resumed racing in last position. As more riders went down in the slippery conditions, Hoad managed to keep his KX250F on two wheels and bring it home in seventh place.
Hoad knew that he would need to get a great start in Heat Two, if he was to keep abreast of the pack where he knew all the carnage would occur. Hoad leapt from the starting gate and challenged Taylor for the lead, dicing between first and second on the opening lap. Hoad kept his machine upright and brought his KX home in second place. In the main race and in such boggy conditions, Hoad managed a good start.
As riders continued to fall by the wayside, Hoad set his sights firmly on staying upright and staying out of trouble, which proved to be the recipe for success. When the chequered flag was waved and as the fireworks lit up the sky, Hoad crossed the line in first place. He punched the air in exhilaration, as this would secure him third place in the Championship, an awesome result considering he spent most of last season sidelined with injury.
“It feels so good to win,” said Hoad. “I have received so much support and encouragement from the Team. It’s been awesome. I have a new mechanic in Marty this year and we really work well together and this is obvious by our result.”
KRT Team Manager, Brett Whale, was ecstatic with his teams result. “This is an awesome result for the Team,” Whale said. “The conditions were so tough on all the riders. The winners tonight were going to be the guys that had the strength and fi tness to hang on right until the very end. Mitch has worked hard all season to prove he has what it takes to win races. He knew he had to dig deep if he
wanted to achieve his goal of winning this event, to secure himself a championship podium result and that is exactly what he did. I’m so pleased for him,” Whale said.
Whale couldn’t speak highly enough of Reardon’s efforts. “This is Dan’s third consecutive Supercross Championship and he just keeps getting better and better. Our hearts sank for Dan when he went down in the first turn. It was so disappointing because he has been so strong at winning the hole shot all season. He was almost a lap down by the time he rejoined the race and with such chaos ahead of him, we knew he would have to pull out something special to get back to the front of the field. And something special he did.
willing to chip in and help the Team out. I know the Team including the riders really appreciate all the support theyWith Boyd in the lead, Dan needed to finish in the top four to retain the Championship Title. To cross the line in third place from such a long way back was an awesome effort.”
Whale associates a large part of the team’s success, to the strong support network surrounding the Team. “The amount of support we receive from our Sponsors, Kawasaki, families and friends is fantastic. Everyone is always receive,” Whale said.
With the first round of the Australian Motocross Championship kicking off on 15 April, KRT will now regroup and focus on giving both riders the best possible opportunity to challenge for their respective Motocross titles.
