Hurley 2nd In MacKay

by Dave · July 2, 2007

Team Shift Motul Suzuki's Daryl Hurley claimed second place in round seven of 2007 Australian Motocross Championship at Gum Valley near Mackay (QLD), this weekend.

Battling a severe head cold, Hurley delivered superb performances under difficult circumstances, making the holeshot in race one before being passed by series leader, Daniel Reardon in the early stages of the moto.

With fellow Suzuki rider, Troy Carroll hot on his heels in third place, Hurley eventually managed to pull a gap and wrapped up the first 30-minute moto in second spot with an 8.049s advantage over Carroll.

The 31-year-old dug deep in moto two, launching into second place out of the start gates, Hurley passed Jay Marmont to assume the lead on lap one.

Further shuffling of positions saw Reardon take the lead ahead of Marmont with Hurley in third as the trio completed the opening lap.

Exhausted, Hurley came under supreme pressure as race two wore on and was forced to use all his resources to hold on to third place, securing second overall for the round.

Carroll piloted his Suzuki RM-Z450 to fourth overall at Gum Valley.

Again stepping up from the U19 Australian Motocross Championship category to represent Team Shift Motul Suzuki, Lawson Bopping's fortunes were less favourable in the Pro Lites class.

Qualifying second fastest, Bopping again proved his outstanding raw speed on the RM-Z250.

Starting moto one strongly inside the top ten, Bopping's day took a turn for the worse as he tangled with a fallen rider in his path and dropped to the rear of the field.

In a valiant and aggressive fight back, Bopping clawed his way back from 33rd into 15th place for race one.

Left with blisters on his hands from his efforts in race one, Bopping made an average start in race two before his blisters burst and acute pain in his hands forced the young rider to withdraw from the race.

The next stop for the 2007 Australian Motocross Championship is at Wonthaggi (VIC) for round eight on Sunday 22 July.

DARYL HURLEY – TEAM SHIFT MOTUL SUZUKI

"With this head cold, I'm glad to have come away with second this weekend; race two was just survival, I had nothing left and was riding just to finish the race.

"This was my first time in Mackay and it's one of the best tracks I've ever ridden in Australia; it's a real natural motocross track.

"It's nice and wide so there are plenty of lines and lots of passing opportunities and it's easier to get by the lappers.

"Next up at Wonthaggi, I really like the circuit. It's a good motocross track – it's wide like Mackay with loads of room for passing.

JAY FOREMAN – TEAM SHIFT MOTUL SUZUKI TEAM MANAGER

"Considering Daryl's condition he was lucky to come away with second overall today – he had riders all over the back of him at the end of moto two and did a great job to hang on third for that race.

"Things just didn't go Lawson's way – that one incident triggered by another rider early in race one was the catalyst that undid his whole weekend.

"Lawson was second quickest in qualifying and began well in moto one, but unfortunately the race results don't reflect the speed of either him or the RM-Z250."