Yamalube Yamaha Racing’s Jay Wilson proved victorious in the MX2 division (250cc) after an action-packed day of racing at round six of the MX Nationals at the newly opened MX farm, in Gympie, Qld.
The twists and turns in the three MX2 motos had the good sized crowd enthralled as five riders finished within a point at the end of the day with the result of the final moto unlocking several points dead locks to determine the final podium positions.
The MX2 class faced the back to back sprint races in the morning with a final 20 minute moto to finish out the day. Things weren’t looking great for Wilson in the back to back motos as crashes, big ones at that, hampered his results. Running second in both seven lap sprints, Wilson was ejected violently from his bike in both races and was left scrambling to pick up the pieces.
He managed to claw his way back to sixth in race one and fifth in race to have him sitting fifth after the first two events. He gridded up for race three wanting to reduce the mistakes and redeem himself with a strong finish to the day. Despite an average start, he charged around the outside of the first turn into a top four position, then a few turns latter, he hit the lead.
He was never headed for the next 20 minutes and as the pack behind changed positions, so did the overall positions. It wasn’t until the riders had finished the race that the points could be confidently tallied.
Wilson took the win with his 5-1 results, tied with Wilson Todd on 61 points but given the round victory due to the better result in the final moto. Third place was also a three- way tie and the MX Farm produced some of the best racing of the season.
“Wow, its just amazing how things work out,” Wilson said with relief. “After the first two motos where I was over riding and crashing, I went into race three just looking to ride well and post a result I could be proud of. Winning the round was the last thing on my mind.
“I didn’t get a great start but made some passes early and managed to hit the lead. I just put down the best laps I could and managed to build a five second lead. It wasn’t until two laps to go that I saw my pitboard that had 1st = 1st that the overall become possible.
“It was my first moto win of the year. I was a bit fortunate to get the overall win, but I will take it and it just goes to show that you have to keep on plugging away, never give up, and anything can happen.
“Thanks to my team and my family for another massive effort and we can now look forward to the next round and keep the podium streak going,” Wilson ends.
Team-mate, Richie Evans had a consistent day in the premier MX1 division where he finished in ninth place with 9-10 results. Evans struggled to gel with the challenging MX Farm layout but kept in the battle across the two motos to finish inside the top 10 in the last three rounds.
Evans remains in ninth on the championship after six rounds but with the points chase tight in the positions above him, there plenty of time to improve his position before the series is over.
“I just felt a bit off all day today, both with my bike and the track,” Evans explains. “My starts were a bit off, I didn’t link the turns up as I would have liked and probably needed to make some changes to my bike to handle the conditions better.
“My goal is top keep improving at every round so I will head home and keep working on things and ensure I’m ready to go for round seven in three weeks’ time.”
Round seven of the MX Nationals takes in another new venue, this time in the dirt bike hub that is the Hunter Valley. The Maitland circuit will host the next round on July 13.
MX2
1st Jay Wilson – 61 (Yamalube Yamaha Racing)
2nd Wilson Todd – 61
3rd Nathan Crawford – 60
4th Aaron Tanti – 60
5th Kyle Webster – 60
6th Dylan Wills – 50
7th Bailey Malkiewicz – 48
8th Morgan Fogarty – 43
9th Isaac Ferguson – 39
10th Tomas Ravenhorst – 38
MX1
1st Todd Waters – 67
2nd Kirk Gibbs – 65
3rd Brett Metcalfe – 60
4th Hayden Mellross – 56
5th Luke Clout – 52
6th Jesse Dobson – 51
7th Jayden Rykers – 46
8th Caleb Ward – 46
9th Richie Evans – 43 (Yamalube Yamaha Racing)
10th Dylan Long – 42
MX2
1st Wilson Todd – 344
2nd Kyle Webster – 320
3rd Jay Wilson – 319 (Yamaha YZ250F)
4th Nathan Crawford – 272 (Yamaha YZ250F)
5th Aaron Tanti – 272 (Yamaha YZ250F)
6th Dylan Wills – 256
7th Bailey Malkiewicz – 246
8th Ricky Latimer – 209
9th Cooper Pozniak – 206
10th Riley Dukes – 202
MX1
1st Todd Waters – 332
2nd Luke Clout – 329 (Yamaha YZ450F)
3rd Hayden Mellross – 327
4th Jayden Rykers – 253
5th Justin Rodbell – 248
6th Kirk Gibbs – 245 (Yamaha YZ450F)
7th Brett Metcalfe – 241
8th Jesse Dobson – 227
9th Richie Evans – 217 (Yamaha YZ450F)
10th Erki Kahro – 190