Yamaha Dominate the Lites at Rosedale SX
Yamaha Dominate the Lites Class at Rosedale Supercross
11th March 2007.
Yamaha Racing’s factory Supercross riders have recorded another good haul of top ten finishes at the penultimate round of the 2007 Australian Supercross Series at Victoria’s Rosedale Speedway this evening.
Northstar Yamaha/Serco Motorsport recruit Robbie Marshall lead the charge winning the 15-lap final through some strategic riding while in the Pro Open class it was CDR/Nokia/Yamaha rider Cheyne Boyd representing Yamaha on the podium in third place. Ford Dale, Daniel McCoy, Jake Moss and Kirk Gibbs also finished inside the top ten in their respective finals.
As the Team’s now prepare for the final round of the series at Dapto Showgrounds in a fortnights time, Yamaha’s championship hopes will lie with Cheyne Boyd in the Pro Open class and Daniel McCoy in the Pro Lites with both riders currently second in their respective categories.
Yamaha Racing Pro Open SX Report
Yamaha Racings Pro Open contenders had their work cut out for them with a series of incidents at the Round 3 of the series threatening to hinder their championship pursuits. CDR/Nokia/Yamaha’s Cheyne Boyd remains in second place in the championship after finishing third tonight while teammate Ford Dale upheld his top ten goal, finishing eighth.
Team 7 SR2 Yamaha Motorsports Shane Metcalfe encountered a first turn pileup which left him back in the pack and with damage to his clutch. After solid performances in the three heat races Boyd, Dale and Metcalfe all advanced to the final with ease. Boyd did not get the ideal start but remained focused on maintaining pace with the race leaders for the majority of the 20-lap race.
“I really didn’t feel like I was at my best tonight,” Boyd said. “I didn’t get the start I was after and I lacked a little aggression in the final.”
“While we didn’t have anything major go wrong it is the little things at this level that really count and can cost you.” “We have one more round to go and I am now seven points down. As we have seen in the past anything can happen I just need to remain focused on my own race and be ready to capitalize when opportunities arise,” Boyd added.
Ford Dale upheld his top ten goals, finishing eighth despite becoming dismounted from his YZ450F on three occasions.
“My goal was to finish inside the top ten and so far we have achieved that at every round,” Dale commented. “To be honest I wasn’t that happy with my racing tonight as I am yet to finish a race without crashing.”
“It is now time for me to re-think my goals and try and work consistency into the game plan.” Dale said.
While Team 7 SR2 Yamaha Motorsports Shane Metcalfe pushed hard to regain positions, he soon encountered problems with his clutch as a direct result of the opening lap incident and was unable to progress through the field further than 15th.
“I got caught up in the first corner mayhem and ended up dead last,” Metcalfe said. “While I did get going again my clutch had sustained some damage in the incident so I was unable to push through as hard as I would have liked.”
“Up until this point my bike was performing brilliantly and I was starting to enjoy the track layout.” Metcalfe explained.
Round Three 2007 Australian Supercross Championship SX OPEN
1Daniel Reardon25
2Jay Marmont22
3Cheyne Boyd20
4Craig Anderson18
5Cody Cooper16
6Nick Geck15
7Troy Carroll14
8Ford Dale13
9Kade Mosig12
10Wade Thompson11
2007 Australian Supercross Championship SX OPEN after 3 Rounds
1Daniel Reardon70
2Cheyne Boyd63
3Jay Marmont62
4Craig Anderson56
5Cody Cooper45
6Ford Dale39
7Nick Geck32
8Kade Mosig32
9Shane Metcalfe30
10Troy Carroll29
Yamaha Racing Pro Lites SX Report
Tonight’s action packed Pro Lites final saw four of the top eight positions filled by Yamaha Racing factory supported riders mounted on Yamaha’s YZ250F Pro lite class weapon. Northstar Yamaha/Serco Motorsport rider Robbie Marshall lead the way, to take his second podium of the year, with a win at the penultimate round of the series.
Serco Yamaha’s Jake Moss and Daniel McCoy finished fifth and sixth respectively after both riders fell victim to some reckless on track conduct in separate incidents, by the same rider.
After failing to finish the final at the previous round, Team 7 M2R Yamaha Motorsports Kirk Gibbs rounded out the Yamaha factory supported riders, finishing a very credible eighth through some consistent riding.
Race winner Robbie Marshall rode a solid race, capitalizing on everyone else’s mistakes, with the win elevating him to fifth in the championship.
“I am really happy to be on the top step of the podium tonight and this really compliments our hard work and success at Round One” said Marshall
“Due to a previous Freestyle display commitment with Showtime Yamaha FMX Team I had to skip Round Two at Avalon and I couldn’t wait to get out there and race this weekend. I feel that I have really started to enjoy my riding again and the results are a tell tail sign of this” commented Marshall.
For the second round in succession Jake Moss found himself at the back of the pack through no fault of his own. The eighteen year old rode faultlessly, passing 15 other competitors to finish in fifth place.
“I got a really good start tonight and was in second,” Moss said. “I tried to make a clean pass for the lead but before I knew it I was taken out and dead last by the time I remounted.”
“I managed to salvage a semi decent result but I have to say I am getting a little bit tired of having to fight my way back from last each week, especially when it is through no fault of my own.”
Teammate Daniel McCoy showed an amazing display of courage to even compete tonight, after having an arthroscopy operation on his knee last Friday following a training incident earlier that week.
With the 2007 title still within reach McCoy defended his decision to ride so early after receiving treatment.
“I was very lucky to actually be out there at all,” McCoy said. “Since the operation last week I did all I could to make sure I was lining up on my YZ250F tonight.
“We just had to make the best of a bad situation. The championship is not lost yet, there are only eight points in it and as we have seen tonight anything can happen.
“Thankfully I have another two weeks for my knee to heal before the final round,” Mc Coy continued.
Kirt Gibbs acknowledged he had a starkly different event compared to the previous round where he was knocked unconscious and unable to complete the final.
“I am really happy with my ride in the final tonight, this is my first top ten Pro Lites result and for once I used my head and put in some good consistent laps to finish the race without crashing.
“My heat races weren’t so good and I ended up having to compete in the last chance qualifier.”
“I won the last chance qualifier by over half a lap which set me up for a good run in the final. We were actually looking at a top five finish but I dropped a couple of places on the closing laps,” Gibbs explained.
Round Three 2007 Australian Supercross Championship SX LITE
1Robbie Marshall25
2Mitch Hoad22
3Ryan Marmont20
4Timmy Weigand18
5Daniel McCoy16
6Jake Moss15
7Lawson Bopping14
8Kirk Gibbs13
9Chris Neilson12
10Grove11
2007 Australian Supercross Championship SX LITE after 3 Rounds
1Ryan Marmont67
2Daniel McCoy59
3Timmy Weigand49
4Mitch Hoad47
5Robbie Marshall45
6Lawson Bopping44
7Luke George40
8Jake Moss33
9Chris Nelson29
10Kirk Gibbs2
