Jay Marmont takes out his first ever Monster Energy Super X title

Monday 21 November: It was nonstop action at the final round of the Monster Energy Super X, the Australasian Supercross Championship, in Ipswich on Saturday night. We also publish Mike Porra's retort to comments made by Chad Reed and Fluid PR.

Both CDR Rockstar Yamaha’s Jay Marmont and JDR Motorex KTM’s Matt Moss claimed championship victories in front of a packed and animated crowd at North Ipswich Stadium.

Marmont went into the final round five points in front of JDR Motorex KTM’s Tye Simmonds and it was obvious he meant business all day long, looking dominant every time he entered the track. It was no different in the 20 lap final as he took the holeshot and checked out for the win, which gave him his first ever Monster Energy Super X championship to add to his record breaking fourth straight national motocross championship earlier in the year.

In the battle for the remainder Open class podium places Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Billy Mackenzie held second place at the start of the race, but a minor mistake allowed Simmonds to catch up and make a pass. Simmonds couldn’t match the pace of Jay to make any ground on this year’s Super X champion, but finished with a comfortable second in tonight’s race and the series overall.

Hart & Huntington / Insure My Ride’s Chris Blose finished the race in third after he overtook Mackenzie, who he had a stoush with after a collision in the man vs man race earlier in the night. Dan McCoy finished sixth, which was enough for him to finish third overall.

"I am over the moon! I have had nervous jitters all week and worrying that something would go wrong with the bike or I would crash, so I am so glad to have ridden well and finish with a win. I really want to congratulate Tye [Simmonds] and Dan [McCoy] who both rode great all series. A huge thanks you to my team for all their hard work and of course my family for all of their support,” said Marmont.

Photos credit: Shayne Rice

Kiwi Mike Phillips was 10th on the night and came home 10th overall.

OPEN top 10 results – Round 5
1. Jay MARMONT – CDR Rockstar Yamaha: 25
2. Tye SIMMONDS - JDR Motorex KTM: 22
3. Chris BLOSE – Hart & Huntington / Insure My Ride: 20
4. Billy MACKENZIE – Monster Energy Kawasaki: 18
5. Todd WATERS – Carlton Dry Thor Honda Racing: 16
6. Dan MCCOY – Team Motul Pirelli Suzuki: 15
7. Craig ANDERSON – Berry Sweet Lucas Oil Honda: 14
8. Lewis WOODS - Tope Gear KTM: 13
9. Ryan MARMONT – JDR Motorex KTM: 12
10. Michael PHILLIPS - Carlton Dry Thor Honda Racing: 11

OPEN top 10 Championship standings
1. Jay MARMONT – CDR Rockstar Yamaha: 105
2. Tye SIMMONDS - JDR Motorex KTM: 97
3. Dan MCCOY – Team Motul Pirelli Suzuki: 87
4. Billy MACKENZIE – Monster Energy Kawasaki: 79
5. Lawson BOPPING – Raceline Pirelli Suzuki: 74
6. Todd WATERS – Carlton Dry Thor Honda Racing: 72
7. Chris BLOSE – Hart & Huntington / Insure My Ride: 67
8. Ryan MARMONT – JDR Motorex KTM: 64
9. Daniel REARDON – JDR Motorex KTM: 55
10. Michael PHILLIPS - Carlton Dry Thor Honda Racing: 50

LITES:
Matt Moss entered the final round with a solid 10 point
l

ead over his closest competitor, Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Dean Ferris, so was feeling confident as he lined up for the 15 lap final.

America’s Carlton Dry Thor Honda’s Gavin Faith took the holeshot just ahead of Moss and held a good lead over Moss for most of the race, but Moss kept gaining on him and eventually overtook him on the second last lap to take the win and the overall championship. Faith held on for second and Kirk Gibbs was third.

Faith finished second overall in the championship two points ahead of Luke Styke in third.

"It’s great to get the win. I want to give a big thanks to the JDR team. They took the championship away from me last year, but I signed with them at the start of this year Photo credit: Shayne Rice and have now managed to win the motocross and supercross.
We are one big happy family and we have got the number one plate so now let’s go to America and do it over there,” said Moss.

LITES top 10 results – Round 5
1. Matt MOSS – JDR Motorex KTM: 25
2. Gavin FAITH – Carlton Dry THOR Honda: 22
3. Kirk GIBBS - Suzuki: 20
4. Luke ARBON – GYTR Rockstar Yamaha: 18
5. Luke STYKE – Serco Yamaha: 16
6. Jackson RICHARDSON – Honda: 15
7. Robbie MARSHALL – Coastal KTM: 14
8. Adam MONEA – Team 07 Axis Motorsport: 13
9. Dean FERRIS – Monster Energy Kawasaki: 12
10. Ben GEORGE – Yamaha: 11

LITES – Top 10 Championship standings
1. Matt MOSS – JDR Motorex KTM: 118
2. Gavin FAITH – Carlton Dry THOR Honda: 89
3. Luke STYKE – Serco Yamaha: 87
4. Brendan HARRISON – JDR Motorex KTM: 70
5. Luke ARBON – GYTR Rockstar Yamaha: 70
6. Adam MONEA – Team 07 Axis Motorsport: 70
7. Steven CLARKE – Team Motul Pirelli Suzuki: 68
8. Dean FERRIS – Monster Energy Kawasaki: 64
9. Robbie MARSHALL – Coastal KTM: 61
10. Kirk GIBBS - Suzuki: 57

Under 19s:
Geran Stapleton won the Under 19s final ahead of Jarrad Davis and Sam Martin, but it was Errol Willis who continued with this year’s double championship trend by winning his second Under 19’s of the year with Stapleton second and Corey Lucas third overall.

UNDER 19s top 10 results – Round 5
1. Geran STAPLETON - Thor Honda Smart, Breese High Performance, Dragon, 2112, BLS: 25
2. Jarrad DAVIS – Yamaha: 22
3. Sam MARTIN – 20
4. Mitch NORRIS: 18
5. Tristen CACHIA - Coastal KTM, Advanti Motorex KTM, Hart & Huntington:16
6. Sam DUNCANSON – Yamaha: 15
7. Errol WILLIS - Raceline Pirelli Suzuki: 14
8. Lincoln Nicol – KTM: 13
9. Ben PARRINGTON – Suzuki: 12
10. Corey LUCAS - Hart & Huntington, ONE Industries, Ringmaster, Novik, Torc 1: 11

UNDER 19s top 10 results – Championship standings
1. Errol WILLIS - Raceline Pirelli Suzuki: 89
2. Geran STAPLETON - Thor Honda Smart, Breese High Performance, Dragon, 2112, BLS: 75
3. Corey LUCAS - Hart & Huntington, ONE Industries, Ringmaster, Novik, Torc 1: 59
4. Sam DUNCANSON – Yamaha: 58
5. Mitch NORRIS - Yamaha: 55
6. Tristen CACHIA - Coastal KTM, Advanti Motorex KTM, Hart & Huntington: 54
7. Jarrad DAVIS – Yamaha: 52
8. Thomas Larsen MOSS – Yamaha: 48
9. Sam MARTIN – Suzuki: 47
10. Jake WILLIAMS - WPS, ECM,J-Design, Hart & Huntington: 34

Michelin Development Series:
Hayden Mellross had a dominant win in the Michelin Development Series final with Kurt Waterman second and Billy Jackson third. The third place finish was just enough for Jackson to take out the championship by one point over Mellross and Waterman finished third.

Kiwi Haki Waller was 8th on the night.

Michelin Development Series top 10 results – Round 5
1. Hayden MELLROSS – Honda Junior Development Team: 25
2. Kurt WATERMAN – Honda: 22
3. Billy JACKSON – Yamaha Junior Racing: 20
4. Joel WIGHTMAN – Pro-Moto Suspension, Mudgee Honda Centre:18
5. Nathan CRAWFORD:16
6. Lenny MAGYAR: 15
7. Aaron HART – JDR Moss Institute Suzuki: 14
8. Haki WALLER – KTM: 13
9. Mitchell NICHOLS – Hotondo Homes, KTM Bairnsdale: 12
10. Jake DONAHER – Honda: 11

Michelin Development Series top 10 Championship standings
1. Billy JACKSON – Yamaha Junior Racing: 80
2. Hayden MELLROSS – Honda Junior Development Team: 79
3. Kurt WATERMAN – Honda: 72
4. Joel WIGHTMAN – Pro-Moto Suspension, Mudgee Honda Centre: 71
5. Lenny MAGYAR: 61
6. Mitchell NICHOLS - Hotondo Homes, KTM Bairnsdale: 44
7. Aaron HART – JDR Moss Institute Suzuki: 43
8. Joel DINSDALE - Yamaha Junior Racing: 40
9. Jake DONAHER – Honda: 39
10. Nathan CRAWFORD: 31

An Open Letter from Super X CEO Mike Porra (Published: 16/11/2011)

I had hoped that I would not have to enter a public discussion regarding the business of Super X, but following the twitter and radio comments made by Chad Reed and Fluid PR’s Matt Cousins, I am compelled to set the record straight.

I will start with Chad’s comment "Dude straight up told me to my face that he didn’t need me! I didn’t make a difference.”

This is simply untrue and makes no sense.
The only reason I took on Super X in the first place was because Chad was my partner.
The fact is that Chad was contracted for 3 years (the 3rd year in 2010 was ‘best endeavours to race,’ which in legal terms means he must race unless he is injured or faces financial ruin if he honors his agreement).
We had built the entire operation in 2008/2009/2010 around Chad racing, including all costs and all budgeted revenue.
Despite our desperate pleas for Chad to honour his agreement in 2010 (including an offer to pay substantial uncontracted additional fees), he did not turn up after the first race in Newcastle.
As a result, 2010 was a financial disaster and we were forced to liquidate that company and with it the partnership with Chad. Obviously, by his non-appearance Chad had made it abundantly clear that he wanted no further part in the series. We had, we believe, an open and shut legal case against Chad for breach of contract, but chose not to pursue this out of respect for his American manager, Steve Aestephan, with whom we have a strong relationship.
Never at any stage did I tell Chad I did not want him. The truth is quite the opposite, with Chad failing to honour his commitments to the company and the sport. This was 100% Chad’s decision to walk away. Chad also says I told him "to his face,” yet Chad had not spoken to me since 2008 and we had no direct communication of any sort for the last 2 years of the partnership.
Chad next stated that the "smallest crowd when he was riding in Super X was 10,000, and now it’s like 1,000”. This is also blatantly untrue.
In year 1, 3 of the races were well under 10,000 (Adelaide, Wollongong & Townsville).
In year 2, 6 of the 7 races were well under 10,000 (average of between 6 & 7,000), with only Brisbane at 10,000+.
This year, none of the races have been 1,000, as stated by Chad. In fact, 3 of the first 4 races were 400% higher than Chad’s stated figure.
Chad continues to be highly critical of the race formats, recently tweeting "All the riders will be hoping for rain every week just so they don’t have to race some lame 6 lappers or some stupid survival race.”
The simple truth is that our extensive research of fans that have been to our events is conclusive on this. The vast majority prefer the shorter, varied formats than just running traditional 20 lappers. It is interesting to see that our 3 race format was used in the US this year at the highly successful Monster Cup, and I have no doubt that you will continue to see more of this kind of racing worldwide in the near future. This will be the evolution of this sport.
Chad has also been critical of the tracks, re-tweeting this recently - "Just left Melb SX track is lame.”
The tracks this year have used the same quantity of dirt as previous years (apart from Maitland which was reduced slightly because of crowd size). The tracks this year have been well received by teams, riders, fans and even highly knowledgable fans such as contributors to moto websites.
Chad has also been critical of the decision to televise the series on one week delay as opposed to Live.
This surprises me because Chad had told me from the start of our partnership that he believed we should not be televising Super X live.
Given the costs of the television coverage, I think we have done the right thing by the industry to ensure a high quality 2 hour telecast is aired within 7 days of the actual event. This is something we could have dropped, given the financial losses past and current, but we have continued to provide this service.
Chad also says that there is "next to no advertising and a dude that has no idea about moto or what the fans expect.”
Again here, what Chad says is untrue.
We have had a solid mainstream advertising schedule in all markets, including prime time TV advertising and several large space press ads in Australia’s 3 largest newspapers (Brisbane Courier Mail, Sydney Sunday Telegraph, Melbourne Herald Sun) with a combined readership of almost 6 million people, plus heavy radio schedules on networks such as MMM in Sydney, Melbourne & Brisbane.
To say I have no idea about moto or what the fans expect is harsh, unfair and untrue.
I have been heavily involved with moto now for 5 years and FMX for 10 years. I have invested more financially into moto than anyone in the history of this sport in Australia. Let me be clear on this point; my company has invested many millions of dollars into Super X over the past 4 years.
Chad was not required to invest in Super X for his partnership (Chad’s requirement was to ride for 3 years). I find it very disappointing personally and for the sport that these untruths are being told. Just because I disagree with Chad on formats does not mean ‘I have no idea’.
One thing I do understand is the fans. As a company, we pride ourselves on our approach to fan research. The projects in the sporting arena which I have undertaken over the years, including the Uncle Toby’s Iron Man, the Crusty Demons live tours, Nitro Circus Live worldwide & Super X have been based around constant and in depth research of the fans of the sport.
We have done this with Super X and the fans have clearly said they prefer the variety and excitement of the shorter formats.
Clearly, this year is a very tough year for Super X. The retail economy worldwide, including Australia, is very tough and we have not been helped by the weather.
For 5 years now, the series has not come close to breaking even financially and yet we have stuck with the sport and we are doing the best we can. This year will be no different.
I thank all the fans for their mostly very constructive comments on forums (all of which I read), and I know they are passionate to see this sport succeed.
I don’t know what the future holds for us, as this year has been very disappointing, but I can say that I have grown to love the sport of supercross and I am doing everything I can to help make it succeed.