MX Nats Results: Rd.5

Full story and photo courtesy FULLNOISE.COM.AU - Unit's Billy Mackenzie scores a 2nd for the day while Brad Anderson took his first win of the year. Cheyne Boyd locks in a 3rd, while Jay Marmont gets a 5th and extends his series lead.

Racing was lucky to return this passed weekend, as intense weather battered the NSW Coast, and left the track muddy and difficult for riders.

After a dominant performance at the previous round in Toowoomba, Unit team riders were all coming in confident with the exception of Tye Simmonds, who had some concerns after a foot injury the weekend before. However, with the tricky track conditions and some strong overseas riders joining the equation, results were turned on their head.

In the U19's, winner of last round Luke Arbon had a very tough day, with some bad starts and crashes pushing him down the field. Although, A tough fight saw him still pencil a 7th overall for the day, just enough to keep him around the top end of the U19 championship leaderboard, currently running 4th.

In the hotly contested Lites class, PJ Larsen is a standout at every round, and competitors like Unit's Ford Dale are finding it hard to be consistently competitive. Ford has proven he has the speed, but a string of bad luck has relegated him down the field. A dissappointing 12th this week, after a 2nd in Toowoomba has made his job even harder for future rounds.

Kawasaki Racing's Cody Mackie has been able score consistent results at most rounds, and is currently sitting in 4th overall for the Lites Championship. Another Unit athlete, Luke George has been having a really tough time this year trying to get back to strength after a near fatal accident at the last round of the 2009 Championship. But each week, he gets a bit more confidence and proves he can still run with the top 10 pack, so with some luck, by the end of the year we will see hm up around the podium, where he was once a regular. Either way, it is a massive achievement for Luke to even be back on the bike!

In the Pro Opens, 2nd place on the leaderboard Tye Simmonds was in striking distance for the lead, but coming into this round injured his foot at a charity event, and cast shadows over the rest of his championship. Althuogh, on the day, his foot injuries didn't seem to be what stopped Tye from locking in a good result...

“I can’t pinpoint which moto was worse for me at Raymond Terrace, so it’s best I wrap them up into one,” said Simmonds.  “Overall I just had a bad race meeting, and it had nothing to do with the bike, my head space or a few injuries during the week, because I was pain free." 
 
“I’m not one for excuses, so overall I just wasn’t on the gas, and can’t put it down to any one reason.  Obviously I’m really disappointed, but I just need to put it behind me and try and re-group for the next round.”

Tye's JDR Motorex KTM team manager Jay Rynenberg commented that Tye has had alot to deal with coming into this round.

“Tye was on a bit of a downer and he has had better race meetings, but who can blame the guy, with the loss of another close friend during the week to an MX accident, and he did incur an injury last weekend as well.  Tye’s a tough guy though, he will work though this and come back stronger at the next round.”

More luck went the way of Unit | Kawasaki Racing  Team member Billy Mackenzie, who is still riding with a lingering hand injury, managed to pencil a 2nd overall for the day, and help push him closer to the top of the championship standing. Billy is really proving to be the man to beat at recent rounds, and by the end of the season, we will surely see him somewhere on the podium.

• By Allan H