American Mike Brown proved to be to good at the second round of the 2015 InsureMyRide Australian Enduro-X Nationals winning all three finals aboard his Husqvarna Australia Off-Road race machine at Sydney Drag way on Saturday night. Brown kicked off the early evenings racing in grand style in front of another good sized crowed who were welcomed to a near perfect Sydney evening for racing. Brown won the opening Pro heat of the day ahead of Mitcham Harper and Yamaha privateer Stefan Granquist, while in the second of the heats it was Active8 Yamaha’s Josh Green who showed he was again in top form after his second place finish at the opening round, claiming the heat win ahead of KTM Off-Road Racing’s Toby Price and CDR Yamaha’s Tom McCormack. When the second round of Pro Heats go underway, it was Price who was spending the weekend traveling back and forth from Sydney to Adelaide due to also racing the Stadium Truck class at the Clipsal 500 who grabbed the heat win from KTM team-mate Daniel Sanders while McCormack secured another third place heat finish. The fourth and final heat of the night saw Brown continue his perfect night taking the win ahead of Green with Harper continuing to show his great form with another top three result.
Grandquist was impressive in the final races of the night after only making the main events via the LCQ – Credit: Aaryn Minerds
With the majority of the field set for the nights three final format, the Last Chance qualifier race provided some great entertainment as a full gate of riders battled for the final four positions in the nights big races. It was Stefan Granquist who moved his way past Suzuki mounted Andrew Wilksch early in the race to take the win in the two lap dash to secure his place in the night main event, with Wilksch holding on for second. Honda’s Jacob Smith finished third while Husqvarna privateer Scott Keegan claimed the final qualifying spot in fourth position. As the Sun disappeared completely from the sky at 8pm, the pro class riders again hit the track, this time to finalise gate pick order in the nights Top Ten Shootout.
Peter Boyle was the first rider to hit the track for the top ten shootout – Credit: Aaryn Minerds
Penrite Honda Racing’s Peter Boyle was the first rider to hit the track, posting a time of 1 minute and 12 seconds, however he was quickly knocked off the top spot by KTM Off-Road Racing’s Tye Simmonds who threw down a lap time some four seconds quicker as the second rider on track after qualifying 9th out of the heats.
Simmonds time held strong until team-mate Toby Price posted a time just over one tenth of a second faster, while Green who was the second to last rider to take to the track for the shootout posted a time two tenths off Simmonds to slot himself into third.
Every rider in the field were quickly relegated a position further down the order when Mike Brown finished his heater lap. The American blitzed the course in 1 minute and five seconds to top the time sheets some 2.7 seconds faster than Price.
Tye Simmonds grabbed the Fox Head Australia Holeshot money with a massive holeshot in the opening final – Credit: Aaryn Minerds
When the gates dropped for the first final of the night it was Simmonds who rocked out of the gate and down the start hill to claim the Fox Head Australia Holeshot and $500 cash and quickly proceeded to put the hammer down and tried his best to gap the field.
However with Brown in second place that was going to be a tough ask and the Rockstar backed American quickly made his way to the lead and never looked back. Simmonds who suffered from a couple of crashes at the opening round held strong to finish in second place.
Peter Boyle was looking solid in third place for the majority of the race until a late race crash put him out of the running with his crash also holding up a fast charging Green who was working his way through from the back of the field.
In the end it was young Victorian Daniel Sanders who finished third ahead of Granquist, with Green finishing in fifth and Price one spot further back in sixth.
Toby Price was on double duty all weekend and after struggling with starts in the first two finals got it all together in the last – Credit: Aaryn Minerds
The second final proved to be a thrilling race despite Brown getting out front from the start. Yamaha’s Green latched on to the rear wheel of Brown from the get go and battled hard all race making several attempts to make a move around the American. Despite his best efforts Green could not find a way through and Brown went on to win the second final from Green.
Simmonds put in another great ride to finish third, while Mitch Harper showed his heat race results were no fluke finishing fourth in the second final just ahead of a inform Granquist while Price had to settle for his second straight sixth place finish after another back of the pack start.
Brown once again made his way to the front in the third and final race and was never challenged as he made it three from three final race wins for the night.
Behind Brown in the final race it was Price who made the most of a good start to finish second, while Green for the second time for the night raced from the back of the field all the way up to third spot in one of the most impressive rides of the night.
Mike Brown was an unstoppable force in Sydney winning everything before him – Credit: Aaryn Minerds
The night however belonged to Brown who further extended his championship lead and has now one five out the six final races.
“It was a good day really, everything went smooth and I couldn’t really have gone much better. Got good starts and everything was working.” ” Brown said. “I have gained a few points now so, that will make it easier for the next race.
“It was a good track, it was nice, but everybody did the same stuff so it was difficult to make time up on people because everybody was about the same speed. It was important to be quick on the start and as quick as you could in between and over the obstacles.
Brown will now head back home for the opening round of the American Endurocross Championship that kicks off this coming weekend.
“I head back home this morning for the first round of the American series, but I’m looking forward to coming back for the next one to try to win the championship for myself and Husky.”
Tye Simmonds despite a big heat crash showed he has the pace to run with Australia’s best Off-Road racers finishing second overall for the night – Credit: Aaryn Minerds
Simmonds was the next across the line giving the ex factory motocross and supercross rider second position overall for the night.
“I’m pretty stoked, that’s for sure.” Simmonds enthused. “I had an even bigger crash than the one in Brisbane – I couldn’t believe it! I was riding over a big heap of loader tyres on the first lap of the heat race and I just came in pretty quick and dropped the front end and yeah, game over, out the front I went. Got a pretty sore neck but nothing too serious.
“I got good starts all night which obviously helped a lot, qualified ninth so I got into the shootout and laid down the third quickest time and went from ninth to third so that was pretty good.
“From that one good lap it all just sort of snowballed into a good night. And I took the $500 for the first holeshot of the night too so that will be enough to pay the fuel on the way home I reckon!”
Rounding out the podium was Green thanks to his superb ride in the final race of the night. Green also maintains second position in the championship standings, 29 points behind Brown with 75 points still avaliable at the final round in Melbourne on the 15th of March.
“It was another good round for me and it was pretty smooth sailing all day,” Green said. “The heats went well and I was able to win one and finish second in the other so I was confident going into the finals and knew that if continued to ride the way I had been, then I would be right in contention.
“The first final was a bit hectic but I managed to make it to fifth while the other two were good and both in the top three which is always the goal in events like this.
“Congratulations to Mike Brown, he is just a bit above us Australian’s at the moment and is riding really well but I have to say it would be nice to beat him at the final round and restore some Aussie pride,” Green added.
Price finished the round in fourth position on the back of his second place in the final race, while Granquist who qualified via the LCQ raced to an impressive 5th position overall for the night.
Sanders ended a nigh of mixed results in sixth position, whith Mitch Harper also suffering from some inconsistend results in the finals after two great heat races, but still finished in a very strong seventh place for the evening.
Tom McCormack finished the night in 8th ahead of Boyle in 9th while Lachlan stanford rounded out the top ten.
Tayla Jones lead home the Women and will take a handy little points lead into the final round in Melbourne – Credit: Aaryn Minerds
In the Women’s final it was Tayla Jones who was on the gas all day who finished ahead of fellow Yamaha rider Jemma Wilson, with Sherco’s Jessica Gardiner rounding out the podim in 3rd. Emelie Karlsson finished fourth ahead of round one winner Kirstie McKinnon who suffered from a handful of crashes.
“I am pretty stoked on tonight’s effort,” Jones said at the end of the night. ” I struggled a little bit in practice but come back pretty strong in the heats, didn’t make to many mistakes which I am happy with and came away with the win in the final.
“I have the first round of the New South Wales Off-Road Championship next week, then I will train full time in the lead up to the final Enduro-X and hopefull come away with the win there and take home the championship. I think I am seven points in front now and hopefully I can keep it.”
Ruben Chadwick proved to be the rider to beat in the Expert class taking the win from Jesse Daley and Sam Rummery. Anthony Solar claimed the win in the Clubma class ahead of Kirby Crick and Adam Baker while Adrian Harry was the fastest of the old men in the Vets class winning ahead of Damian Smith and Lindsay Bond.
Fraser Higlett raced to the win in the Junior class ahead of Luke Straunch as the two riders cleared out from the field with Jack Williams rounding out the podium in third.
The third and final round of the 2015 InsureMyRide Enduro-X Nationals heads to Calder Park in Victoria on the 15th of March.
Pro Class Podium (Left) Tye Simmonds (Centre) Mike Brown (Right) Josh Green
Overall Round Results:
1. Mike Brown – 75pts
2. Tye Simmonds – 60pts
3. Josh Green – 58pts
4. Toby Price – 52pts
5. Stefan Granquist – 50pts
6. Daniel Sanders – 44pts
7. Mitcham Harper – 42pts
8. Tom Mccormack – 38pts
9. Peter Boyle – 35pts
10. Lachlan Stanford – 34pts
11. Dylan Rees – 31pts
12. Scott Keegan – 30pts
13. Jacob Smith – 27pts
14. Andrew Wilksch – 24pts
Championship Standings After Round 2 of 3:
1. Mike Brown – 147pts
2. Josh Green – 118pts
3. Toby Price – 109pts
4. Tye Simmonds – 98pts
5. Daniel Sanders – 97pts
6. Mitcham Harper – 87pts
7. Tom Mccormack – 85pts
8. Lachlan Stanford – 76pts
9. Peter Boyle – 73pts
10. Dylan Rees – 72pts
Women’s Round Results:
1. Tayla Jones – 05:23.377
2. Jemma Wilson +04.857
3. Jessica Gardiner +7.450
4. Emelie Karlsson +21.117
5. Kirstie Mckinnon +41.324
Women’s Championship Standings After Round 2 of 3:
1. Tayla Jones – 47 Pts
2. Kirstie Mckinnon- 41 Pts
3 . Jessica Gardiner – 40 Pts
4. Jemma Wilson – 38 Pts
5. Emelie Karlsson – 36 Pts
Expert Round Results:
1. Ruben Chadwick – 06:17.513
2. Jesse Daley +6.565
3. Sam Rummery +11.614
4. Chris Thomas +15.735
5. Jai Wedlock +18.483
Expert Championship Standings After Round 2 of 3:
1. Ruben Chadwick – 50 Pts
2. Chris Thomas – 40 Pts
3 . Sam Rummery – 36 Pts
4. Jai Wedlock – 36 Pts
5. Jayden Grimshaw – 32 Pts
Clubman Round Results:
1. Anthony Solar – 05:20.100
2. Kirby Crick +20.888
3. Adam Baker +27.419
4. Trent Tucci +42.145
5. Jason Roods +49.361
Clubman Championship Standings After Round 2 of 3:
1. Anthony Solar – 45 Pts
2. Kirby Crick – 40 Pts
3. Jason Roods – 30 Pts
4. James Boyle – 25 Pts
5. Jeremy Sims – 22 Pts
Vets Round Results:
1. Adrian Harry – 05:15.696
2. Damian Smith +19.272
3. Lindsay Bond +21.362
4. Owen Lock +27.725
5. Miller Hinds +40.369
Vets Championship Standings After Round 2 of 3:
1. Adrian Harry – 50 Pts
2. Damian Smith – 42 Pts
3. Owen Lock – 36 Pts
4 . Lee Pearsall – 31 Pts
5. Mark Spencer – 26 Pts
Junior Round Results:
1. Fraser Higlett – 05:00.526
2. Luke Strauch +05.297
3. Jack Williams +27.110
4. Jack Matthews +39.416
5. Deon Javni +54.509
Junior Championship Standings After Round 2 of 3:
1. Fraser Higlett – 50 Pts
2. Luke Strauch – 42 Pts
3. Jack Matthews – 40 Pts
4. Jack Williams – 36 Pts
5. Deon Javni – 31 Pts
For Full Results From Round 2 – CLICK HERE
Article and Images Courtesy of Aaryn Minerds / Fullnoise.com.au
