With the proverbial
four-seasons-in-one-day hitting Horsham for round two of the Australian
Motocross Championships, No Fear Honda’s Craig Anderson, Cody
Cooper and Troy Dorron each experienced a day of triumphs, including
a podium finish in Pro Open, seasoned with some minor mechanical
and physical setbacks.
All riders entered
the round in top form with ’04 Pro Lite Champion Cooper in
particular ‘feeling fine’ after injuring his AC shoulder
joint last month.
Although the
three top end championship contenders each started off the day well,
a series of unpredictable race day events made for an interesting
outcome.
Continuing to
show all signs of being the man to beat after a perfect score at
round one, Anderson finished the day second on the podium after
first blitzing moto one and then finishing fourth the hard way in
moto two after a gut wrenching crash took its toll.
Setting the
quickest qualifying time with a 1:46.7, ‘Ando’ literally
left the competition for dust in the first race of the day under
extremely hot and dry conditions.
Yamaha’s
Darryll King provided the early push, but it was Suzuki’s
Kiwi rider Daryl Hurley who slotted into second place trying to
catch up to the Honda rider before the end of the 30 minute plus
one lap race. Ando was in complete control, however, and motored
his CRF450R home seconds ahead of his former AMA rival.
Stopping to
catch his breath, Anderson said the conditions definitely took their
toll. “I was getting pretty dehydrated there toward the end,
getting dizzy and the legs were shaking, but I just dug deep to
finish up front.”
Some recuperation
time in the race truck and the Newcastle local was 100% again for
the afternoon’s proceedings. Moto two started off in similar
fashion with Ando getting a picture perfect start with Shayne King
(Moto One Honda) and Hurley once again putting the pressure on.
Mid race, a
light rain moved in and as the track started to resemble an ice
skating rink, the riders began to fall. On the yellow flag, Ando
found himself trying to avoid a two rider crash on the down side
of the tabletop. With nowhere to go, the 27 year old took a trip
over the handlebars getting the wind knocked out of him in the process.
After a restart
of the race in-full, Ando struggled a bit with a sore leg as a result
of the earlier crash, and had to relegate the lead early on to Hurley
and the King brothers. He finished fourth, picking up enough points
to secure a second place on the podium.
“I’m
okay now,” Ando commented the next day. “I just have
a swollen shin and calf muscle, I think where the footpeg hit me.
That crash just took it out of me a bit but I’m actually still
happy with my overall results. I finished on the podium and still
lead the championship. I’ve had three perfect races, and one
average one so far which means just regrouping for the next round.”
The Honda Pro
Liter crew also had to take the sweet with the sour, with both starting
off well and then DNF’ing moto two after miscellaneous problems.
Troy Dorron
put on a display of mature, skillful racing in moto one as he claimed
the win after slotting in behind KTM”s Ryan Marmont, and pegging
the lead on the second lap.
Cody Cooper,
who had set the pace in the morning with the quickest qualifying
time was showing no signs of residual pain from his AC injury, and
moved in just behind his team mate after getting past Luke Burkhart
(Suzuki) and Marmont.
The two No Fear
riders created a nice gap with Cooper finally getting the better
of Dozza at the three quarter mark but a cam belt problem slowed
the young Kiwi down to ninth position where he finished.
Dorron in the
meantime, forged ahead with a flawless ride picking up 25 more points.
“It was tough and hot but I got a second wind which saw me
through,” Doz commented. “It’s a bit hard at times
to keep your focus when you’re up the front of a race, especially
when you’ve got a fair lead because its easy to get lazy.
I was concentrating very hard in that race.”
As the track
cooled down significantly under showery conditions, the second moto
was far less successful with both riders getting an average start
and then failing to finish due to a mechanical problem in Dorron’s
case, and two debilitating crashes in Cooper’s.
“Someone
took me out from behind in the first crash,” Coops explained.
“I got back up and started to try and make up time but I came
down again. This time my….er….groin area took the brunt
of the handlebar so I wasn’t in a position to finish the race
if you know what I mean,” he said.
National Cup
rider Rebecca Lipsett also joined the boys for another round of
her class, finishing 31st out of 38th on the day. “I’m
finding that I’m really good for the first half of racing,
but am losing stamina in the second half so that’s what I
need to work on,” she said. “Racing with these guys
in the Cup will only help me with more experience for the women’s
series once it gets going so its all positive.”
Team standings
after Round 2:
Craig Anderson – 1st (leads by two points)
Cody Cooper – 18th
Troy Dorron – 9th
