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Press Releases from Round One of the 2004 Maxxis Australian Motocross Championship at Barrabool, Victoria on the weekend:
Honda - Press Release:
Round one of the Mr Motocross series proved to be a picture perfect start to the season for the No Fear Honda Team. With a first place finish in the Pro Open class and a one two in Pro Lites, the Team leave Geelong as outright series leader.
Aboard the CRF450, Shayne King dominated the field throughout the day, qualifying in the top spot in the morning and then winning both 30 minute races by day’s end. Brief showers didn’t slow the New Zealand based rider who was clearly in control on the rugged circuit. Race one saw King battle it out with Troy Carroll and his brother Darryll (Yamaha) for a time before pulling away to a comfortable lead. South Australian Shane Metcalfe also showed a great deal of pace as he kept with the leader’s pack to take away third place for the No Fear team.
Second time around, 33 year old King aggressively secured the holeshot and created a sizable gap by the end of lap one, leaving little doubt that he is in top fighting form. Kingy – who trains morning, noon and night – is clearly happy with the result. “Everything went to plan today,” he commented.
“I’ve been looking forward to the start of the series and have been doing everything I can to prepare for it both physically and mentally. The bike ran perfectly and I am really happy to be part of the Team this year. Honda is a very professional outfit and all of the guys, as well as Bec (Lipsett), are pumped at the moment.”
Metcalfe, who also started off the day well, unfortunately got caught up in a mishap with a back marker at the top end of the circuit during race two resulting in a DNF. Metty, who suffered a serious injury earlier this year pulled up a little sore and bruised but was happy with his riding overall. “I didn’t have anywhere to go when the guy in front of me came down. It was just one of those unfortunate situations where I couldn’t avoid it. I’m annoyed though because I was up at the front of the pack before I went over,” Metcalfe said. The Pro Lite class was no less exciting with the top of the field battling hard through the boggy conditions. Cody Cooper rode flawlessly after qualifying second, ultimately walking away with two wins.
Like his Kiwi compatriot, Coops left no doubt that he is a motocross champion in the making as he worked his way up to the front on both occasions.
Yamaha riders Darryll King, Daniel McCoy and Cameron Taylor provided competition as did team mate Troy Dorron who finished 3rd in Moto1 and 2nd in Moto2 to take second place overall for the day. Cody noted that he wasn’t feeling 100% after crashing during practice, however that didn’t stop him from demonstrating his skill in the mud when it counted. “My back was a bit sore from going over the handlebars earlier in the day,” Cooper said. “But I like the track here and it didn’t really hold me back from getting up the front.” Dorron, who is a local to the Geelong area, was obviously comfortable on his home ground, clocking the fastest lap in qualifying at 1:50.9. “I felt good today and other than a minor run off the track during the second race, I’m pretty happy with the way things went,” Doz said.
The crowd were treated to a great show of women’s racing as well with two 15 minute showdowns of the support class included in the program. No Fear rider Rebecca Lipsett faired well with a 5th place finish overall. The 24 year old 2003 ThumperX Champion is thrilled to be part of the factory team and believes the experience she will get from the other professional riders will be immeasurable. “I’m happy to be here,” Bec said. “It is really valuable to be able to talk to the other riders about race strategy and bike set up,” Bec said. “I felt pretty good out there. I’ve been training a lot and am looking forward to the next women’s round at Coolum.”
Recently appointed Technical Team Leader Pip Harrison said the “day went perfectly” as far as he is concerned. **************************************************************************************
Yamaha - Press Release:
Geelong based Motocross team CDR/Boost Mobile/Yamaha have come away from the opening round of the 2004 Mr Motocross Outdoor Series at Geelong’s Barrabool circuit with all four riders boasting top five finishes.
Reigning pro open champion Darryll King was the iron-man of the day taking on both the pro open and pro lites fields, recording strong podium finishes in both classes.
King joined team-mates Daniel McCoy and Cameron Taylor in contesting the pro lites category, then lined up with his other CDR/Boost Mobile/Yamaha team-mate Troy Carroll to take on the pro open field.
The first of the two pro lites motos was red flagged after an accident eight minutes into the race. King got holeshot on the restart with teammate Daniel McCoy getting out in second position while Cameron Taylor fell back in the field after a bad start.
King slipped back to second place behind Cody Cooper mid race and managed to hold his position to the checkered flag while team-mate Cameron Taylor climbed back through the field to finish fifth with Daniel McCoy behind him in sixth.
King’s stamina was put to the test as he swapped his YZ250F for a YZ450F with only a few minutes in between the thirty minute motos to regain his composure and prepare for the first of pro open races.
In the second of the pro lites races King finished fourth behind teammate Cameron Taylor which was enough to give him a podium finish. King was third overall for the round behind Honda’s Cody Cooper and Troy Dorron, Cameron Taylor finished the round fourth with Daniel McCoy fifth.
King said he wasn’t surprised that his main challenger in the pro open was his brother Shayne who led both races from start to finish. “I thought Shayne would be hard to beat today in the pro open class, King said. “I managed to keep up with him for most of the first race but he got a great lead right off the start in the second race. “It was a fun day but I found it very tough doing four races on two bikes. “I came away from this weekend unscathed and with some good championship points. “I think I will need to work a little bit harder in preparing for next weekends races and really work to make sure I am on top of my starts,” King said.
In the first of the two pro open races Troy Carroll got away to a fantastic start onboard his YZ250 but slipped back to fifth by the end of the race. Darryll King challenged his brother Shane for the lead throughout the thirty minute race but had to settle for second when the checkered flag fell.
In race two King got out in second while Carroll was left to fight his way back from middle of the field. With his brother steaming away from the rest of the pack King found himself in a duel with Jay Marmont for second place.
The physical demands of competing in all four races began to take its toll on King and Marmont got the better of him moving into second place. King finished the race in third place which gave him second overall for the round while Carroll clawed his way back to fifth and finished the round in fifth only one point behind KTM’s Cheyne Boyd.
