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HURLEY RACES ALL-NEW 2006 RM250 TO VICTORY
Team Shift Motul Suzuki’s Daryl Hurley claimed his second consecutive win in the 2005 Nokia Supercross Masters Championship in round two at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre (SA) last night.
Hurley piloted the all-new, 2006-model RM250 in its race debut at the Adelaide Supercross Masters event, proving it to be a formidable race machine even at the beginning of its development phase.
“The 2005 RM250 is an awesome racebike and it gave us the opening round win at Brisbane, but I could definitely feel the extra power of the new 2006-model and that made my job a bit easier here tonight,” Australian Motocross Champion, Daryl Hurley said.
Starting the Pro Open Final from gate one after winning his semi-final, Hurley slotted into second place behind fellow New Zealander, Cody Cooper.
Following him through the opening laps, Hurley coolly lined up Cooper and made a decisive passing manoeuvre to claim the top spot.
Assuming the lead, 29-year-old Hurley rode an intelligent race, controlling the competition from the front and was not challenged for the remainder of the 20-lap contest.
“Once I passed Cody (Cooper), I rode conservatively and was still able to pull a gap on him,” Hurley added.
“I saw that TC (Troy Carroll) and Ando (Craig Anderson) had crashed which took some pressure off. The track was very slippery and I didn’t want to push too hard and throw it all away.”
Hurley’s teammate Danny Ham enjoyed an impressive return to form, running at the front of the field all night, and was unlucky not to make it into the Pro Open Final for the second event in a row.
Out-performing Hurley in the opening heats, Ham delivered two second-place finishes and a win in the nights three heats to easily earn himself a place in the semi-final.
Ham was leading the four-lap semi-final sprint until a crash on lap three handed the lead to Hurley and dropped Ham to the rear of the field, thereby eliminating the ultra-fast four-stroke rider from the point-scoring final.
“Since the Brisbane event, I made some changes to my technique and was able to make great starts tonight and I had the pace to take the win,” Danny Ham said.
“Unfortunately, I’m winning the wrong races – I have to do it in the final.
“It’s a disappointing outcome, but I rode well tonight, the bike is great and we’re on track for better results in the next rounds.”
Team Shift Motul Suzuki’s newest Pro Open contender, Luke Burkhart, qualified his RM250 into the night program for his first indoor Supercross event.
Finishing his three heats on equal standing with Matt Moss, the hapless New Zealander was incredibly unfortunate not to make the Pro Open Final after running at the front of the field for much of the evening’s qualifiers.
Moss obtained a higher placing in the third heat, passing through into the final and omitting Burkhart.
“I was riding as well as anyone and feeling good on the track. I made one mistake and was in the wrong place at the wrong time and got caught up in other guys incidents and that ended my night,” Luke Burkhart said.
“This is a learning year for me so that I can come back and have a shot at the title next year.
“I have learned so much and I’ve already improved 100% from the Brisbane round.
Encouraged by the positive debut of the new-model RM250, Team Manager, Jay Foreman is excited about his team’s chances of clinching a second national title for the season.
“Hurley winning on the ’06-model RM250 the first time out is a fantastic result,” Team Shift Motul Suzuki Team Manager, Jay Foreman said.
“We’ve got a six-point advantage, so I’m very happy with the way things are going at the moment.
“Danny and the RM-Z450 were also on the pace tonight; he rode much better than his results indicate. Hammy definitely deserved to be in the Pro Open Final – and if he had been in it, he would have had a real shot at winning the round.
“Luke qualified for his first Pro Open indoor night races and was unlucky not to make it through to the final. It’s a very high-pressure situation - this is good experience for him and he’ll get better results as the season progresses.”
Team Shift Motul Suzuki is now preparing for round three where the 2005 Supercross Masters Championship series reaches its midpoint at the Sydney Superdome (NSW) on Saturday 3 September.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT Simon Meade, Motorcycle Sales Manager
2005 NOKIA SUPERCROSS MASTERS CHAMPIONSHIP:
RESULTS – ROUND 2
