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Yamaha’s Darryll King and Honda’s Cody Cooper continued their odysseys towards 2004 Australian Motocross Championship glory in round five at Conondale (Qld) on Sunday, July 4.
King (CDR/Boost Mobile/Yamaha YZ450F) continued his remarkable run of finishing on the podium in all the Pro Open races, completing his Queensland mission with a first and third in the two 14-lappers, which was good enough for overall round honours – just 1pt (45 to 44) in advance of 21-year-old Motorex KTM rider Jay Marmont (450SXR).
While Marmont’s dazzling contribution – he’s now finished second in the last three races – solidified his third position in the Maxxis-backed championship, 20pts in front of Lee Ellis (Honda CRF450R), it also allowed Darryll to edge clear of sibling Shayne (No Fear Honda CRF450R) in the intra-family battle for the number one slot.
After five of eight rounds, Darryll has amassed a formidable 229pts out of a maximum 250, followed by Shayne on 196 and Marmont on 170.
“The first moto was a really tactical race,” said Darryll. “With three laps to go, I thought this is it – if I want to win this one I really need to go for it now and I made a pass to take the lead.
“In race two – well sometimes you have to ride smart and not hang it all out. I feel we are heading for a second championship in a row, so I needed to focus on that.”
In Pro Lites, Cooper (No Fear Honda CRF250R) put behind an underwhelming result in last year’s corresponding round at Conondale to return to the winner’s list for the first time since round three, with his sixth win of the year providing the mainstay in a round-best 47pt haul – but only two in front of main championship rival Cameron Taylor (CDR/Boost Mobile Yamaha YZ250F). The latter won the second moto at Conondale – his second for the year.
Meanwhile, round five’s Pro Open races were nearly identical affairs – in terms of elapsed time anyway. Shayne King’s winning effort in race two was just 0.171sec slower than it took Darryll King to greet the chequered flag in the opening instalment.
Race one saw Shift Motul Suzuki’s Danny Ham (RM250) - one of only two top-tier combatants chasing championship glory on a two-stroke - grab the holeshot before being chased down by the troika of Darryll King and Motorex teammates Cheyne Boyd (450SXR) and Marmont. At the death knell, 35-year-old Darryll, who was the only rider to circulate under the 2:20 barrier, used all his guile to edge out Marmont by 0.014sec despite a last corner blunder, with Boyd another four seconds away in third.
Ham was fourth, which he followed up with a fifth in race two – his best results of the year helping him to jump two championship spots into sixth, behind Boyd (147). Ham’s fellow two-stroke protagonist, Queenslander Troy Carroll (CDR/Boost Mobile/Yamaha YZ250), crashed in race one before a loose coil was to blame for a follow-up DNF – and a drop from equal fifth to seventh on 122pts.
Race two witnessed a classic Shayne King riposte. Fifth in the opener, the 1996 world 500cc motocross champion, who has finished third and second in the past two titles, outclassed Marmont by 7.342sec, with Darryll King third – three different manufacturers on the podium. Boyd, who broke a small bone in his hand at round four in Gilman (SA) on June 27, finished a fighting fourth.
In Pro Lites, not only did Cooper set the fastest lap of the day – a 2:18.718 – but the race two antics of Taylor and the New Zealander would have seen them finish 1-2 in the corresponding Pro Open encounter. The duo was in a riotous mood, with their raw speed leaving third-placed Troy Dorron (No Fear Honda CRF250F) a whopping 30.025sec away in third from Daniel McCoy (CDR/Boost Mobile/Yamaha YZ250F) and Adam Cini (Serco Yamaha YZ250F).
Race one was a little more perfunctory, with Cooper the main firebrand after the demise of early leader Barry Morris (JPI RM-Z250). The Cooper domination manifested in a 18.743sec win over Kawasaki’s Daniel Reardon (Whales Kawasaki/Thor KX250F), followed by Taylor and Robbie Marshall (Serco Yamaha YZ250F).
After the hostilities were over, Cooper’s lead over Taylor edged back out to 16pts (222 to 206), with two-time champion Dorron still third on 172. The trio look set to battle it out for the championship, as the likes of McCoy (134pts) and Reardon (126) aim to finish the season off on a high.
Round five results
Pro Open race one: 14 laps
1 Darryll King Yamaha
2 Jay Marmont KTM
3 Cheyne Boyd KT
4 Danny Ham Suzuki
5 Shayne King Honda
6 Lee Ellis Honda
7 Nathan Brochtrup KTM
8 Troy Carroll Yamaha
9 Mason Phillips Yamaha
10 Thomas Jones Honda
Fastest lap: Darryll King – 2:19.871
Pro Open race two: 14 laps
1 Shayne King
2 Marmont
3 Darryll King
4 Boyd
5 Ham
6 Ellis
7 Phillip
8 Corrie Sargeant Honda
9 Brochtrup
10 Mick Cook Kawasaki
Fastest lap: Shayne King – 2:20.235
Current standings (after five of eight rounds): 1 Darryll King 229 (5 wins); 2 Shayne King 196 (3 wins); 3 Marmont 170; 4 Ellis 150; 5 Boyd 147; 6 Ham 129; 7 Carroll 122; 7 8 Sargeant 114 (1 win); 9 Cook 108; 10 Brochtrup 98.
Pro Lites race one: 14 laps
1 Cody Cooper Honda
2 Daniel Reardon Kawasaki
3 Cameron Taylor Yamaha
4 Robbie Marshall Yamaha
5 Troy Dorron Honda
6 Adam Cini Yamaha
7 Jye Harvey Honda
8 Joseph Hobson Yamaha
9 Warren Smart Honda
10 Jay Johnston Kawasaki
Fastest lap: Cooper – 2:18.968
Pro Lites race two: 14 laps
1 Taylor
2 Cooper
3 Dorron
4 McCoy
5 Cini
6 Reardon
8 Johnston
9 Adam Robinson Kawasaki
10 Mitch Hoad Suzuki
Fastest lap: Cooper – 2:18.718
Current standings (after five of eight rounds): 1 Cooper 222 (6 wins); 2 Taylor 206 (2 wins); 3 Dorron 172 (1 win); 4 McCoy 134; 5 Reardon 126; 6 Cini 118; 7 Harvey 109; 8= Smart, Hoad 105; 10 Marshall 87; 13 Wade Thompson 64 (1 win).
Mark Fattore
Media Manager
Motorcycling Australia
