There's one round left to go in the 2011 Australian Super X series and while things are beginning to really tighten up in the Open class, with multiple winners throughout the first four rounds, the Lites class looks to belong solely to Matt Moss.
I've been in Australia going on two weeks and so far I've been nothing but impressed with the effort put into the Super X series. Sure, it's completely different to that of the U.S., and if compared directly to the AMA series may seem a bit small, but in all the Super X series is quite impressive.
Lucky for the riders and fans, we finally caught a break in round 4, as the beautiful Australian skies cleared for one of the only dry races of the series this season. And as the skies began to clear a rather unlikely Open class hero stood in its wake, stepping up to take his first overall of the season and move to within striking distance of the top three. Lawson Bopping has put together a rather impressive season so far, and he put the icing on the cake over the weekend with his first overall win over Jay Marmont and American, Chris Blose.
Open Breakdown
In the first moto of the Triple Challenge Final (they race three main event in Super X) Tye Simmonds jumped out front early, but was quickly overtaken by Blose and Bopping. Blose would take the first win after fending off Bopping, leaving the series leader, Simmonds in third.
In the second moto, Jay Marmont took to the lead early and never looked back. However, after a disappointing first heat, it was Bopping who was set up for the overall after another second place finish. Bopping would take the third and final holeshot of the evening in front of Marmont and Blose, but would eventually give the lead position to Marmont and be forced to take his third second place finish of the day, leaving Blose in third. However, consistency paid off for Bopping as he was able to take his maiden win of the season and move into fourth in the championship. As for Marmont, he too benefited from a brilliant race weekend by taking the lead in the championship over Simmonds. Marmont now leads by five points heading into the 2011 Australasian Supercross Championship next weekend at North Ipswich Stadium.
OPEN top ten results - Round 4
1. Lawson BOPPING - Raceline Pirelli Suzuki: 66
2. JAY MARMONT - CDR Rockstar Yamaha: 63
3. Chris BLOSE - Hart & Huntington / Insure My Ride: 50
4. Todd WATERS - Carlton Dry Thor Honda Racing: 50
5. Daniel REARDON - JDR Motorex KTM: 47
6. Tye SIMMONDS - JDR Motorex KTM: 47
7. Cody MACKIE - Team Axis 07 Motorsports: 44
8. Dan MCCOY - Team Motul Pirelli Suzuki: 41
9. Billy MACKENZIE - Monster Energy Kawasaki: 40
10. Ryan MARMONT - JDR Motorex KTM: 31
OPEN Championship standings
1. Jay MARMONT - CDR Rockstar Yamaha: 80
2. Tye SIMMONDS - JDR Motorex KTM: 75
3. Dan MCCOY - Team Motul Pirelli Suzuki: 72
4. Lawson BOPPING - Raceline Pirelli Suzuki: 65
5. Billy MACKENZIE - Monster Energy Kawasaki: 61
6. Todd WATERS - Carlton Dry Thor Honda Racing: 56
7. Daniel REARDON - JDR Motorex KTM: 55
8. Ryan MARMONT - JDR Motorex KTM: 52
9. Chris BLOSE - Hart & Huntington / Insure My Ride: 47
10. Michael PHILLIPS - Carlton Dry Thor Honda Racing: 39
Lites Breakdown
While things are really starting to heat up in the Open class, Matt Moss is benefiting from the inconsistency of his competition in the Lites class. Moss is in control of the Lites championship by 10 points over Monster Energy Kawasaki's, Dean Ferris and barring a catastrophe at the final round, looks to have things locked up.
Things didn't look extremely promising for Moss early on in round 4, though. American rookie, Gavin Faith took the first moto win after overtaking Steven Clarke early in the race while Moss was forced to settle for second. Moss would also settle for second in the second moto as his closest competition for the championship, Dean Ferris, took to a commanding lead early and sealed up the moto win. And while Moss was able to take the third moto win (thus the overall) it was only due to the inconsistency of his competition. Gavin Faith and Brendan Harrison looked strong early, but both crashed out while battling for the lead. This gave the top spot to Steven Clarke, but a nasty crash over a triple put Clarke out of the race with a broke collarbone. Fortunately for Moss, he was there to take over the lead spot from Clarke and extend his points lead in the championship.
Be sure and check back in next Monday for extensive coverage of the 2011 Super X finals from North Ipswich.
LITES top 10 results - Round 4
1. Matt MOSS - JDR Motorex KTM: 69
2. Dean FERRIS - Monster Energy Kawasaki: 59
3. Luke ARBON - GYTR Rockstar Yamaha: 51
4. Gavin FAITH - Carlton Dry THOR Honda: 49
5. Adam MONEA - Team 07 Axis Motorsport: 38
6. Steven CLARKE - Team Motul Pirelli Suzuki: 38
7. Robbie MARSHALL - Coastal KTM: 37
8. Luke STYKE - Serco Yamaha: 36
9. Lucas SUTHERLAND - Suzuki: 33
10. Nicholas SUTHERLAND - Suzuki: 32
LITES - Top 10 Championship standings
1. Matt MOSS - JDR Motorex KTM: 93
2. Luke STYKE - Serco Yamaha: 71
3. Brendan HARRISON - JDR Motorex KTM: 70
4. Steven CLARKE - Team Motul Pirelli Suzuki: 68
5. Gavin FAITH - Carlton Dry THOR Honda: 67
6. Adam MONEA - Team 07 Axis Motorsport: 57
7. Dean FERRIS - Monster Energy Kawasaki: 52
8. Luke ARBON - GYTR Rockstar Yamaha: 52
9. Robbie MARSHALL - Coastal KTM: 47
10. Kirk GIBBS - Suzuki: 37
