A maiden podium to KTM Motocross Racing Team rider Kyle Peters and an impressive fight back by Jesse Dobson made the third round of the Australian Supercross championship a positive one.
Peters finished third in the SX1 main event, which went to Justin Brayton ahead of Daniel Reardon.
The KTM rider qualified seventh fastest and finished fourth in his heat, before firing his factory KTM450 to a super-fast start in the main, then as the conditions became trickier with track deterioration, the 23-year-old American maintained a more consistent pace than some and brought home his first podium of the series.
After finishing fourth last time out in Toowoomba, last night’s result sees Peters leap frog more places in the rankings of the national championship, in which he now sits in seventh place.
“The night started off pretty good, with a holeshot in their heat, but I made a few mistakes and dropped back a little,” said Peters.
“I made a few changes to the bike and kind of manned up a little in the main and made it happen, I came out second off the start, Reardon got around me, and then about halfway through I started catching him again and ended up third. But it was a good night, for sure. I got fourth of the previous round and third at this one so I’m happy with the progression and want to just keep getting better and better. Adelaide is a really awesome town, I had a lot of fun just going out to dinner and seeing the sights, so I’m excited to end the trip with a podium.”
KTM team mate Jesse Dobson’s supercross season also took a step in the right direction, the young gun climbing as high as sixth place after a mid-pack start before a mid-race contact with a lapper dropped him outside the top ten.
The determined Sunshine Coast rider had been showing phenomenal speed in the whoops all night however, and used his advantage to move back into the top ten and salvage a solid eight place finish.
“It was progress. We qualified sixth, which wasn’t too bad considering I had three crashes in that 10 minute qualifying. In the heat race, I just wanted to stick with my plan of getting through without incident and go into the main with a half decent gate pick,” explained Dobson.
“In the main I was just trying to do 20 solid laps, but unfortunately I got a really bad start and there was a heap of carnage around. I just passed a couple of good guys and was sitting in sixth, but I came up on a lapper in the whoops and I ended up just tagging the rear wheel of him and going down. So I went back to work and ended up eighth.
It’s okay, it’s a result. I’m not happy with it, but it’s something to build off when we go to Melbourne.”
In SX2 racing, Raceline Development Team rider Dylan Wills carded his best result of the championship – a sixth in the SX2 main event, which went to Hayden Mellross, from Gavin Faith and Wade Hunter.
Dylan Wills (KTM 250 SX-F) – “It was a step in the right direction for me. I started off a little bit slow in the main event – a couple of guys came across from the inside of the turn and hit me so I went from top-5 to around 14th. I started off a little bit slowly making passes, but I had Richardson come past me and I just threw the hooks in and followed him through the field. It was good. I ended up making my way to sixth which is my best result yet. But I had a much better 15 laps than the previous round and I felt much better on the bike. It was definitely a step in the right direction.”
Kyle Blunden, KTM Motocross Racing Team Manager – “It feels like a huge step forward for us. Our practice was good, our qualifying didn’t go the way we had hoped, but the heat races went pretty good and the boys ended up with reasonable gate picks. Kyle got off to a flying start in the main and set a bit of a rhythm and did really well. Jesse didn’t get such a great start but he came through, but collided with a lapper on lap seven in the whoops. That set him back a few spots but he managed to make his way back up inside the top 10.
Jesse’s speed in the whoops impressed me, he was unbelievable, and Kyle getting on the podium was fantastic for us. So while it wasn’t a win, it feels like a win. A really good night.”