ROUND 5 MONSTER ENERGY MX NATIONALS
TweetLKI riders had a mixed bag of results at the fifth round of the Monster Energy MX Nationals at Murray Bridge, SA on the weekend. While the likes of MX Factory Honda’s Justin McDonald scored his best results of the season, the majority of our lads struggled with the rough circuit that seemed to punish those caught back in the pack.
In the MX2 class McDonald was on track for a podium performance with a 4-4 result in the back-to-back motos, but suffered a bad start in the final and had to fight through the pack to eighth position. Despite this, he still finished fourth overall.
Meanwhile, McDonald’s LKI team-mates Errol Willis continues to impress in his rookie MX2 year. He scored a solid fifth place in the first moto, but a 12th in the second and a ninth place in the final saw him finish in 9th overall. Local lad James Booth-Elliot struggled to find his rhythm around the circuit and finished the day in 22nd overall.t
In the premier MX1 class Jake Moss looked set to put a disastrous start to the day (14 th in the first race, then out of the points on the second) when he holeshot the 30-minute moto and battled with the front-runners for half the moto. It all came unstuck when he tangled with series leader Josh Coppins and they both hit the dirt. Josh remounted, but Mossy injured his hand in the incident and was forced to DNF.
Meanwhile, MX Factory’s Swedish import Callie Aspegren continued to find his feet within the MX1 ranks with a 14th Overall.
The LKI up-and-comers struggled in the MXD class, with all our guys finishing outside the top 10. Shaun Redhead made his first serious comeback from a wrist injury with an 11th overall (including a ninth in the gruelling 20-minute final), but Dylan Wills couldn’t find a jump off the gate and finished 17th overall. Victoria’s Wade Hunter also failed to find his rhythm and finished the day in 24th .
The MX Nationals now heads into a five-week break before the series recommences at Hervey Bay, Qld on July 1.
Photography: Simon Makker
