Round 1 NZ MX Nationals - Timaru Results

We are back in Auckland 30 hours later.  Back from Timaru to Christchurch this morning (2 hour trip) with all the gear in the Elf Lubricants truck. Mainstream Freight came and picked up the bikes on the specialised aluminium transport frames (thankyou Yamaha) and the linehaul truck is somewhere between Christchurch and Auckland. 

We went and looked at the destruction about the city, especially Manchester Street. 

Sad to see that Sportzone Suzuki at 50 Manchester Street have just closed their doors.

Christchurch City was absolutely choker block with tourists - we were told that the cruise ship QE2 was in.

Awesome Round 1 and a full report is part written and I will complete asap. Lots of stories and interesting info. 

Track was awesome, very fast, with so many options and lines.  I had said the start straight's left, right was too tight but with smaller fields there was not one pile-up - a few 'moments' but not one rider went down.

MX3 explained. Qualifying was 3 laps of practice and when the lead rider approached for lap 4 the green flag went out.  The chequered went out at bang on 30 minutes. It wasn't a matter of qualfying it was a matter of speed.  The qualifying 'cut' was 115% of the average speed of the Top 10.  What really was happening was the shear speed of the top 10 riders made that 115% too high for 21 entries.  Those that did not qualify went into MX3 but they still went racing and still produced some excellent races with 450s, 250s and 125s all in. 

• In MX1 five riders missed - the cut was at 23rd and that was Peter Walker who missed out by 3.92 seconds.
• In MX2 twelve riders missed - the cut was at 26th and that was Scott Henderson who missed out by 0.945
• In the 125 Class four riders missed - the cut was at 23rd and that was Alex Griffith who missed out by 1.39

There was a couple who had crashed or had mechanical issues but the best 'good luck' story was Liam Underwood's from Auckland. He had only done one lap of 125 Class qualifying under the green flag when he sheared off the gear shifter in a rut.  Four laps of the first class out and there was a rut already.  By the time they found another shifter it was all over.  Commentator Neil Ritchie then announced that Liam was 22nd fastest and that he was the last one to make the cut. 

Qualifying Top 10:  Top 4 were MX1 riders as expected but the next 6 were all MX2.  Look who's #6 ?

1. Michael Phillips  1:58.871    CRF450
   
2. Josh Coppins     1:59.583    YZ450
   
3. Cody Cooper      2:00.945    RM450
   
4. Justin McDonald 2:02.555    CRF450
   
5. Luke Burkhart     2:03.260    KTM250F
   
6. Darryll King         2:03.797    YZ250 2-stroke
   
7. Cody Mackie       2:03.865    CRF250 over from Australia
   
8. Daniel McCoy      2:04.247    RM250 over from Australia
9. Kayne Lamont     2:05.138    RM250
   
10. Cameron Dillon   2:05.635    CRf250 

Senior 125 Class: 

• Awesome ride by Martens. 
  
• Hard pressed by Fogarty in Race 2. 
  
• Fogarty was also riding MX1 which was a huge call.
  
• Martens was in 3rd gear on the line in R3 and last off.
  
• Good to see Barr-Smith up the pointy end, hope his tweaked right knee is okay. 
  
• Micah would get the holeshots but was swallowed up.
  
• Excellent result for the young Picard.

Under 21's 125 Class: 



MX2: 

• Very fast these two Aussie visitors but so was DK. 
  
• Burga (Luke B)  was fastest in practice by 3 seconds but then the two Aussies brought the margin down to less than a second.
  
• Burga was troubled by his wrist.
  
• In R3 he got the holeshot and was gone. 
  
• Great to watch Burga, very fast but relaxed rider. 
  
• Like Tony Cooksley said, "he cocks his head at the corner like Nigel Smith did" which is very true. 
  
• Damien King said his shoulder was good but he didn't look that comfortable - don't write him off just yet as he will come right. 
  
• Groombridge has been off the bike for 6 weeks.
  
• Broxy was strong all day.
  
• Lamont looked one of the best of the younger riders and had an awesome 3rd in R1 but then crashed in R2. 
  
• Dillon was sitting in 3rd in R1 and just started Lap 4 when he had the biggest high speed  'over the bars' I have ever seen. Luckily for him he went one way and the bike the other.  Amazingly he got back on the bike and finished and did the next two races. 
  
• Wiki has been riding MX1 but now back in the mix of MX2. 
  
• Dobbyn looked good in R1 but lack of bike fitness at this level took it's toll - he'll be back no doubt.  Strange seeing him in red - found him hard to spot.   

MX1:

• The Top 5 were clearly a step above the rest - their speed was scary trackside with the camera.
• One expects Josh to go well but of the others in MX1, Mike Phillips had the ride of the day. 
• After R1 Josh said he had bike issues but in R2 and R3 he simply chose his moment near the end of the Moto and would pick Mikey P off.  15 years of Euro experience showed. 
  
• When he did attack he would close the gap just so, soo fast. 
  
• Coops had a couple of horror starts but has no problem coming through.
  
• McDonald was a fraction off the pace - Neil Ritchie said he'd had a stomach bug so he'll be back.
• Fogarty did very well riding two classes but my call would be to put him on the KTM125 only as he's the only one to rattle Martens.  He's tough but ....
• Hayden Clark showed plenty of pace but popped his left shoulder out in R1 - he pulled it back in himself okay but the bad news is that was his good one. 
  
• Jared Guthrie deserves a mention.
  

MX3: