Title decided after moto two at Coolum
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
31 August 2014: Coolum, Queensland
Berry Sweet Husqvarna rider Egan Mastin has claimed the 2014 Monster Energy MX Nationals Pirelli MXD Championship after he finished second overall at the final round in Coolum.
Mastin claimed two seconds and a fifth from his three races to sew up the title in Queensland, while Husqvarna privateer Nathan Crawford finished second overall in the championship after he won all three races on the day.
KTM privateer Jack Simpson finished the championship in third, while Kyle Webster (Cully’s Yamaha) finished the round in third.
Moto 1
In the opening moto of the day, Crawford was pipped to the first corner by Jesse Madden (Tattoo Racing), but unfortunately for Madden he laid his bike down in the corner leaving the Husqvarna pilot to shoot out in front.
Crawford was ruthless from the outset, and quickly set about putting a gap between himself and his nearest rivals.
Behind him, privateer Aaron Tanti moved into second position while another title contender Jack Simpson (Bolton KTM Motorcycles) pushed himself into third.
Series leader Mastin came off the start in the middle of the pack and by the end of the opening lap he was sitting back in ninth.
On the second lap, Simpson moved into second, and after a disappointing qualifying session on Saturday looked as though he was out for redemption.
Ahead of him was dust – Crawford rode himself out of view and into a huge lead, showing his local fans why he is so highly rated.
Jayden Rykers (TRS Racing) had moved from sixth off the start into third position by the end of the second lap, while Mastin managed to navigate his way up into fourth.
KTM pilot Rykers cam right up to the back of Simpson and was pushing hard for second when a slight mistake slipped him back into fourth as he was passed by a calculated Mastin at the end of lap three.
Kyle Webster and Tanti were having a good battle in fifth and sixth positions, while round nine winner and fastest qualifier Wilson Todd shook off a nightmare start to move his way up to seventh.
As promising as he looked, the rest of the race was disappointing for Simpson with Mastin passing him into second on lap five, Rykers passing him into third on lap six and Webster passing him into fourth on lap nine.
From there positions remained unchanged – Crawford racing away to an emphatic first-up win ahead of Maston, Rykers and Webster.
Simpson finished in fifth, Todd in sixth and Tanti in seventh.
Moto 2
In the second race it was Madden once again out the front, taking the holeshot from KTM privateer Luke Abela.
Tanti was right in the mix, while Mastin settled into sixth place and Simpson found himself outside the top-10.
As they settled around the opening lap, by the time they entered lap-two it was Crawford who had moved into the lead from Tanti, Abela, Webster and Mastin.
On the second lap Rykers came down finding himself unable to avoid the bike in front of him around a turn, and he settled back in 10th, while a mistake soon after pushed Tanti right back down the field.
It was all Crawford from that point in – he put a huge lead on the rest of the field and looked an absolute treat around the Coolum circuit.
Behind him was where the championship was being settled as Mastin moved into second place, and bearing a disaster would be enough to take an unassailable lead in the title race.
As Webster worked his way into third position, Simpson moved into fourth place.
The young rider would have been cursing his starts at Coolum, as he needed to finish ahead of Mastin but was a fair way behind third, let alone second.
The rest of the race was drama free – Crawford finished strongly to make it two wins on the trot, Mastin wrapped up the championship finishing the race in second while Webster held on for third.
Simpson recorded a fourth place finish while Rykers finished the race in fifth.
Moto 3
With the number one plate settled, all eyes turned to see what would happen in the battle for championship podium positions when the gates dropped for the third moto.
And the word ‘drama’ would adequately describe what took place off the start line.
While Crawford and Madden headed the field round the first corner, Simpson came to blows in a huge three-bike crash with Lochie Latimer and Jett Anderson.
The trio all went down, and while Anderson was not to take any further part in the race, Simpson resumed the race at the very rear of the field.
As he saw his chance to take second on the podium up in flames, it was Crawford at the other end of the field taking advantage of the mishap – roaring clear and eyeing that second spot.
As he streaked ahead of the field, Crawford was followed by Webster, new champion Mastin, Todd and Rykers.
When they crossed the line heading into lap eight, Todd made the pass on Mastin to get into third position and a lap later Rykers did the same to move into fourth.
Crawford finished strongly to claim a clean-sweep of the round, with Todd ending the race in second and Webster finishing the race in third claiming third overall for the round.
Mastin’s fifth position in the final moto gave him second place overall for the round.
For a full list of results please visit www.mxnationals.com.au.
MXD CLASS:
Round Results:
1) Nathan Crawford 105 (35, 35, 35)
2) Egan Mastin 90 (32, 32, 26)
3) Kyle Webster 88 (28, 30, 30)
4) Jayden Rykers 84 (30, 26, 28)
5) Wilson Todd 82 (25, 25, 32)
6) Jack Simpson 71 (26, 28, 17)
7) Zac Small 70 (21, 24, 25)
8) Brock McLeary 65
(23, 19, 23)
9) Dylan Wills 61 (22, 15, 24)
10) Jesse Madden 61 (20, 20, 21)
Overall Championship Standings:
1) Egan Mastin 603
2) Nathan Crawford 573
3) Jack Simpson 554
4) Wilson Todd 526
5) Jayden Rykers 479
6) Jed Beaton 459
7) Aaron Tanti 437
8) Kyle Webster 431
9) Brock McLeary 419
10) Zak Small 323
– ends –
IMAGE: Jeff Crow / Explorer Media
Media Enquiries:
Andrew Weiss
0402 447 783
andrew@eskimomediagroup.com.au
www.eskimomediagroup.com.au |
