Many hours of testing at local Rosebud track paid off for Joe this Saturday when 200 competitors turned up for the 250 four stroke 125 two stroke state MX Championships. Support C and B grade races had to be run as heats but the A grade class just had a full grid of 40 riders. Familiarity and practise turned his starts from mid pack during the first few Australian Championship rounds into top 5 starts all day. Although Cameron Taylor truly showed us why he is multiple Australian champion and Adam Monea put on a great show trying to keep him honest, we finally saw a possible podium finish, the gap from third back to Joe not much in each race. With most of these racers competing in the Pro Class at Newcastle next week, Joe should have some new confidence in the U19's..

Over to him
Victorian MX Titles Rd.2 Rosebud

Round 2 of the Victorian Motocross titles was held at the Rosebud circuit on the Mornington Peninsula. The sandy venue provided a testing day of riding for every competitor with many falling victim to the ruthless nature of the sand. The immaculately prepared circuit soon returned to its usual state of monster whoops and very little time to rest on the circuit with every section quickly becoming extremely rough, creating a physically demanding circuit.

Moto 1

I started very well and quickly moved into the top 5 and felt comfortable, running 4th with Lewis Stewart just ahead of me I was confident that I could hold my pace and get a good result. Unfortunately I dropped my bike in a rut and lost valuable ground on the frontrunners, now battling to stay in the top 5 I had a good race with Lewis Woods and fellow Rosebud member Joel Hall we diced for a number of laps before Joel and I both passed Woods and continue our battle, I held onto Joel for a while before he pulled a slight gap and our positions stayed the same until the chequers. Finishing 5th after crashing was a good result and I hoped to improve in the second moto.

Moto 2

I once again got a great start and was dicing with the leaders from the beginning, moving into fourth position behind Cam Taylor, Adam Monea and Kade Mosig I was feeling great about racing with the state’s best and was keen to show them that I could match their pace. I stuck with them for two laps before settling into 4th place. I was sitting comfortably until I begun to get tired and started making small errors, costing me time on the next competitor Lewis Woods, Woods came past me and I stuck on his wheel and was running well with him until I tried to go round a lapped rider and put my front wheel over a berm. The small crash lost me a lot of time but luckily my Suzuki started first kick and I was away again. As I got up, Joel Hall passed me as did, Lewis Stewart I pushed hard to try and regain a top 5 position but was unable to close the gap between myself and Stewart, finishing the race in 7th place.

Moto 3

The final race of the day started brilliantly for me, my Shinko tyres and ASR suspension enabled me to put the power of the RM-Z to the ground and blast away to another top 5 start. I moved into 4th place after Kade Mosig fell on lap one, leaving Cam Taylor, Adam Monea and Lewis Stewart to fill the podium places. Once again I was presented with the opportunity to push hard and try to stay with the leaders or settle for 4th, choosing the former I put all I had into staying with the front three. I was able to stick with them for a few more laps until I became too exhausted and allowed myself to slip back into the grasp of Lewis Woods, Joel Hall and Matt Hair, conceding three positions in as many laps. I tried extremely hard to get back to where I was but my fitness let me down, limping over the line with barely enough energy to hold myself upright,. A very tiring day but great to finally do battle at the front.