StUmPnthqldD23
25th January 2004, 01:03 PM
The Second Round of the SX Nationals kicked of last night at the Townsville Speedway Nth Qld to a packed crowd of around 4000. After much controversy in the runup due a late venue change from the Dairy Farmers Stadium due to torrential rain, the night well and truly lived up to expectation.
Mitch Hoad took out the 125 lites final convicingly after other riders who had the race in the bag made that slightest mistake and ending up eating dirt. Mitch looked well in control after taking the lead and was never challenged and cruised to victory. This result was slightly over shadowed by the carnage in the semi final in which Blake Williams reportedly sustained 2 broken wrists after trynig to jump the triple in first gear. Details of what followed i'm a little unsure of. Front runners including Jono Porter, who was riding very agressively all night, all piled into the triple area after taking action to miss a horrible crash on the final triple landing where Blake Williams was landed on after rolling the final jump with another rider jumping the triple and landing on him. This resulted in both 2 front runners failing to finsh and Jono failing to even wheel his bike back to the pits and didn't compete in the Repacharge.
Jono was riding like a demon but things weren't going his way. several times he suceeded in fighting to the lead from mid pack, only to make a mistake towards the end of a race and only just being able to pick up a podium position. I'm unsure of his health but he proved he will definately be a force in the upcoming rounds.
The Open Final was taken out by Jay Marmont after undoubtably the best race you will ever see. Troy Doran and Jay fought for the lead from the first lap with Dozza getting the upper hand from the start and leading for three quarters of the race. By mid stage Dozza was feeling the heat and Jay was making move after move, block passing only to be passed back including 3 times before the back triple only resulting in Dozza jumping right over top of Jay. In the end the persistance paid off and finally a block pass stuck and Jay was not challenged again whiping his way to victory. The footage should not be missed, next sunday on Channel 10.
Jay on the factory Ktm shone through on the whoops jumipng 4 into them where Dozza and the rest of the field were strugling, this as well as a better line through the Ktm rhythm section before the start finish tabletop made him unbeatable on the night.
Not to be out done, the freestylers made a great show with only 4 riders competing. The setup left a little to be desired and i was left wondering when will freestyle finally be given the respect it deserves for crowd appeal and real skill and given a decent setup.
The runup was a little sketchy and short for the KXF250's but Matt Shubring made it look easy spotting it perfectly on his first hit. Richo the local lad came up a little short and it took the 250 four strokes having quite a few runs at the ramp before finally making the distance actually overjumping the first hit over the 75 foot gap where the whoops section actually followed the bridge which was used as the ramp landing. The contest was definately fought between Richo and Shuie both pulling some awsome tricks. Shuie won over all on 25 points with tricks including the biggest ruler I have ever witnessed.
Richo came in a close second on 24 point always playing the crowd with his customary nose wheelies and can can/ bar hop wheel stands. Richo was really showing it up narrowly missing a speaker while nose wheeling and fially came undone to the crowds much pleasure, this all after the comp was finished and the pro lites were warming up on the start line. This still wasn't enough for Richo hitting the ramp one last time, actually riding through an out stretched red flag which was being waved for some time now with shuie following. This was Richo's final mistake, over jumping and going over the bars though the whoops with shuie following closely. Richo was fine and jumped to his feet with a roar from the crowd, what a show!
(this is just my view, i'm not a professional or anything)
Mitch Hoad took out the 125 lites final convicingly after other riders who had the race in the bag made that slightest mistake and ending up eating dirt. Mitch looked well in control after taking the lead and was never challenged and cruised to victory. This result was slightly over shadowed by the carnage in the semi final in which Blake Williams reportedly sustained 2 broken wrists after trynig to jump the triple in first gear. Details of what followed i'm a little unsure of. Front runners including Jono Porter, who was riding very agressively all night, all piled into the triple area after taking action to miss a horrible crash on the final triple landing where Blake Williams was landed on after rolling the final jump with another rider jumping the triple and landing on him. This resulted in both 2 front runners failing to finsh and Jono failing to even wheel his bike back to the pits and didn't compete in the Repacharge.
Jono was riding like a demon but things weren't going his way. several times he suceeded in fighting to the lead from mid pack, only to make a mistake towards the end of a race and only just being able to pick up a podium position. I'm unsure of his health but he proved he will definately be a force in the upcoming rounds.
The Open Final was taken out by Jay Marmont after undoubtably the best race you will ever see. Troy Doran and Jay fought for the lead from the first lap with Dozza getting the upper hand from the start and leading for three quarters of the race. By mid stage Dozza was feeling the heat and Jay was making move after move, block passing only to be passed back including 3 times before the back triple only resulting in Dozza jumping right over top of Jay. In the end the persistance paid off and finally a block pass stuck and Jay was not challenged again whiping his way to victory. The footage should not be missed, next sunday on Channel 10.
Jay on the factory Ktm shone through on the whoops jumipng 4 into them where Dozza and the rest of the field were strugling, this as well as a better line through the Ktm rhythm section before the start finish tabletop made him unbeatable on the night.
Not to be out done, the freestylers made a great show with only 4 riders competing. The setup left a little to be desired and i was left wondering when will freestyle finally be given the respect it deserves for crowd appeal and real skill and given a decent setup.
The runup was a little sketchy and short for the KXF250's but Matt Shubring made it look easy spotting it perfectly on his first hit. Richo the local lad came up a little short and it took the 250 four strokes having quite a few runs at the ramp before finally making the distance actually overjumping the first hit over the 75 foot gap where the whoops section actually followed the bridge which was used as the ramp landing. The contest was definately fought between Richo and Shuie both pulling some awsome tricks. Shuie won over all on 25 points with tricks including the biggest ruler I have ever witnessed.
Richo came in a close second on 24 point always playing the crowd with his customary nose wheelies and can can/ bar hop wheel stands. Richo was really showing it up narrowly missing a speaker while nose wheeling and fially came undone to the crowds much pleasure, this all after the comp was finished and the pro lites were warming up on the start line. This still wasn't enough for Richo hitting the ramp one last time, actually riding through an out stretched red flag which was being waved for some time now with shuie following. This was Richo's final mistake, over jumping and going over the bars though the whoops with shuie following closely. Richo was fine and jumped to his feet with a roar from the crowd, what a show!
(this is just my view, i'm not a professional or anything)