Once again a cool and wet afternoon greeted riders and fans for the third round of Super X in Launceston, Tasmania. The night started off with another first, with a team relay event that pitted Australia’s best riders against the USA’s best riders. Each rider completed two laps, and had to tag the next rider, who then went flat out for two laps. Team Australia got out of blocks well and lead the event for the first eight laps, with some great rides from Jake and Matt Moss, Tye Simmonds and Jay Marmont. It wasn’t until the last round where Kevin Windham made time on Daniel Reardon and was able to make a pass stick through a rhythm section to give Team USA the win. A great idea that gave some great battles, and another different format of racing.
Once again the one on one eliminator for the number one gate choice provided some great racing, with some big moves on a track that gave riders plenty of line choices. A big talking point was the move Mike Alessi put on Jake Moss. Alessi rode straight at Moss coming into a corner and there was big contact, but Jake still managed to hang on for the victory. Once again it came down to a battle between Windham and Brayton for the number one gate pick, with Brayton leading up until the second last corner, when he washed the front on the entry to the corner and Windham was able to ride past him to the victory.
To the lites class, and Robbie Marshall had put in a great ride in qualifying on his YZ 250, giving him a good gate pick. Unfortunately the other 250 two stroke campaigner Kim Ashkenazi had a big moment in qualifying, casing a triple and breaking his top triple clamp. With none of the Suzuki teams having a clamp to fit his RM 250, Kim was forced to watch the racing from the sidelines. The lites class would be racing two 14
Robbie Marshall
lap races in the double header format. The first moto for the lites was hectic with all the top factory riders doing battle, while Marshall was left with a mid pack start and was forced to work his way forward. He was able to find some good lines and some good traction on a track that was getting very slick in some sections and was able to make it up to 8th place. A solid result. Riders then headed straight to the start line to do it all again after a five minute break. The gate dropped for the second race and Robbie Marshall was able to get a great start, sitting in the top four on the first lap. With Ryan Marmont leading, Robbie Marshall was able to capitalize on a few mistakes from other riders and made his way into second place chasing the leader Ryan Marmont. Marshall then proceeded to do battle with PJ Larsen, Matt Moss and some of Australia’s top factory riders. He was able to settle into a good rhythm sitting comfortably in fourth place up until the last lap. Ryan Marmont then made a huge mistake when battling for the lead with Lawson Bopping, catching a tough block, and going down. Robbie Marshall was able to ride around the outside of Marmont and into third place. Two corners later, Marshall crossed the finish line to finish the second moto of the double header in 3rd. This gave Robbie Marshall fourth place overall for the night, and lifted him inside the top ten in the championship. An awesome result for Robbie Marshall and his YZ 250 two stroke.
For the Open class, the format this week would be survival, with four 8 lap races, with the 5 lowest place riders from each moto dropping out. This saw riders putting it all on the line just to ensure that they were on the line for the next moto. With some great battles in the first three motos, it was the fourth and last moto that everyone had been waiting for. The top five to qualify for this moto was Justin Brayton, Kevin Windham, Josh Hansen, Jay Marmont and Jake Moss. Mike Alessi and Daniel Reardon were surprise omissions, not qualifying through from the third moto. It was Hansen with the holeshot, with Brayton, Marmont and Windham in tow. Unfortunately for Jake Moss he crashed in the first turn and would have to try and catch the pack. He then made another mistake while charging and went down very hard. The battle was then at the front with Brayton putting a clean move on Josh Hansen with 3 laps to go. The two riders then continued to trade positions, up until one of the craziest things you will see at a motocross event. Hansen laid it all on the line to make a pass for the lead after seeing the last lap board. He couldn’t make the pass stick and Brayton put a gap on Hansen. As Brayton rode around expecting to see the checkered flag, he was once again shown the last lap board, and had to complete another lap. Hansen then had to charge to try and bridge the gap that Brayton had on him. He was not able to close that gap enough, and Brayton would hang on for the win. Josh Hansen followed in second place, with Windham in third, Jay Marmont in fourth, and Jake Moss not finishing, but being awarded fifth place. Some great, exciting racing on a great Super X track.
http://www.superx.com.au/super-x-tv/ByDate/Monster-Energy-Super-X-Round-3-Lites-Race-1-/10139/
http://www.superx.com.au/super-x-tv/ByDate/Monster-Energy-Super-X-Round-3-Lites-Race-2/10140/
Round four of Super X heads to New Zealand, with all the teams and riders heading across the Tasman to do battle on November 13th. Stay tuned for the race report from New Zealand.
Monster Energy Super X, the Australasian Supercross Championship is a partnership between Michael Porra, the CEO of Global Action Sports, and Australia’s greatest ever supercross rider, Chad Reed.
