2019 Pirelli MX Nationals

Round Nine Coolum

By Trevor Hedge – Images by iKap

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Thor MX1

The Thor MX1 title is on the line this weekend and the two prime combatants in this penultimate battle in what is a ten round war, are DPH Husqvarna’s Todd Waters and CDR Yamaha Monster Energy’s Luke Clout, the gap between the two a slender two championship points heading in to today’s round nine.

Hayden Mellross was also not completely out of the title game, the 23-year-old still in with a chance and only 14-points behind Waters before the gates dropped to commence racing today at Coolum. The Raceline KTM rider had a small crash at Moree but fell awkwardly, tearing his ACL and meniscus in his knee, and also fracturing the neck of his fibula. Mellross still salvaged enough points at Moree to stay in with a chance of championship victory, but it is fair to say that disasters would have to befall Waters and Clout for the injured Mellross to take the #1 plate this weekend.

Championship leader Todd Waters was quickest in the MX1 Raceline Superpole session to head Jesse Dobson and Luke Clout as the three fastest qualifiers as the double-header finale of the 2019 Pirelli MX Nationals got underway at Coolum this morning. 

When the opening MX1 Moto got underway at 1145 on Saturday it only took a couple of turns for Todd Waters to hit the front and start pulling away.

His prime championship rival Luke Clout was in seventh place at the end of lap one, while Mellross was running tenth. 

Dylan Long was in second place ahead of Kirk Gibbs, while Richie Evans was in fourth and Lawson Bopping fifth as they started lap three.  

A couple of laps later Gibbs got the better of Long to move up to second place while Luke Clout progressed to fourth place, but up front Todd Waters looked untouchable. 

And that was how they were ranked at the flag as the opening moto of the two back-to-back conclude. Waters the winner from Gibbs and Long, while Clout was fourth and left eager to make amends in the second stanza. 

MX1 Moto One Results

1. Todd Waters – Husqvarna
2. Kirk Gibbs – Yamaha +6.443s
3. Dylan Long – Kawasaki +15.058s
4. Luke Clout – Yamaha +20.044s
5. Richie Evans – Yamaha +24.971s
6. Connor Tierney – Yamaha +25.077s
7. Caleb Ward – KTM +29.996s
8. Brett Metcalfe – Honda +31.161s
9. Zak Small – Husqvarna +42.402s
10. Hayden Mellross – KTM +52.014s

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MX1 Moto Two

Todd Waters scored the holeshot once again but this time around Luke Clout had got a much better launch and quickly worked his way around Richie Evans to move up to second place and then put his head down to try and chase Waters. 

Waters though had the speed in the sand to clinch the win from Clout while Caleb Ward surprised Kirk Gibbs late in the race and challenged for third place, but Gibbs was able to respond to the challenge and took the flag in third place. 

Todd Waters taking the 35-points from the combined result of those opening two motos while Kirk Gibbs took second and Luke Clout was third. 

MX1 Moto Two Results

1. Todd Waters – Husqvarna
2. Luke Clout – Yamaha +6.269s
3. Kirk Gibbs – Yamaha +13.938s
4. Caleb Ward – KTM +16.164s
5. Richie Evans – Yamaha +21.906s
6. Brett Metcalfe – Honda +23.029s
7. Dylan Long – Kawasaki +23.342s
8. Connor Tierney – Yamaha +37.509s
9. Zak Small – Husqvarna +48.685s
10. Justin Rodbell – Suzuki +55.474s

MX1 Moto One/Two Combined Results

1. Todd Waters
2. Kirk Gibbs
3. Luke Clout
4. Dylan Long
5. Caleb Ward 
6. Richie Evans
7. Brett Metcalfe
8. Connor Tierney
9. Zak Small
10. Charlie Creech

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MX1 Moto Three

Todd Waters looked pretty much unbeatable in the pair of back-to-back motos earlier in the day and the DPH Husqvarna man was again out to assert his authority when the gates dropped for the final moto of this ninth round of the 2019 Pirelli MX Nationals.

Luke Clout was riding aggressively to quickly sweep his way past Richie Evans to progress through to second place, but then a costly mistake saw the championship challenger go down. He rejoined the race 14-seconds down in 14th place, but still had 29-minutes to claw his way back towards the front…

Kirk Gibbs moved up to second place and then Brett Metcalfe followed through to take third place and push Richie Evans back to fourth. Dylan Long was fifth, Connor Tierney sixth and Jesse Dobson sixth with 22-minutes remaning.

Unfortunately Clout’s championship challenge took another hit when another mistake lost him all the ground he had made up and then some. A third of the way through the moto Clout was in 16th place, 45-seconds behind race leader Todd Waters. 

Kirk Gibbs closed in on Todd Waters but the DPH Husqvarna man responded to the challenge and pulled away again from the #5 CDR Yamaha. 

The battle for third place was on in earnest with Dylan Long getting the better of Brett Metcalfe with ten-minutes remaining. Once past though Long pulled away from Metty to score a podium.

Todd Waters went on to take another clear victory and thus a perfect points haul from this penultimate round of the championship. The ultimate finale will play out here again at Coolum tomorrow in this double-header weekend that makes up rounds nine and ten of the 2019 Pirelli MX Nationals. 

Kirk Gibbs took second place in the moto despite a small tumble on the penultimate lap and also took second overall for the round. 

MX1 Moto Three Results

1. Todd Waters – Husqvarna
2. Kirk Gibbs – Yamaha +24.898s
3. Dylan Long – Kawasaki +44.334s
4. Brett Metcalfe – Honda +61.813s
5. Caleb Ward – KTM +74.235s
6. Jesse Dobson – Husqvarna +92.696s
7. Hayden Mellross – KTM +100.712s
8. Connor Tierney – Yamaha +103.940s
9. Josh Adams – 107.936s
10. Luke Clout – 116.230s

Thor MX1 Round Nine Results

1. Todd Waters 70
2. Kirk Gibbs 64
3. Dylan Long 58
4. Brett Metcalfe 52
5. Caleb Ward 52
6. Luke Clout 51
7. Connor Tierney 46
8. Hayden Mellross 44
9. Richie Evans 44
10. Charlie Creech 41

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MX1 Championship Points

1. Todd Waters 495
2. Luke Clout 472
3. Hayden Mellross 452
4. Kirk Gibbs 411
5. Brett Metcalfe 375
6. Justin Rodbell 329
7. Richie Evans 328
8. Jesse Dobson 308
9. Jayden Rykers 300
10. Dylan Long 262

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Pirelli MX2

DPH Husqvarna’s Wilson Todd took an 18-point lead into this penultimate round of the 2019 Pirelli MX2 Championship and extended that lead further in the opening moto today at Coolum.

Kyle Webster was strong early on and looked on course to reduce Todd’s championship lead but as the race progressed Webster was overhauled first by Todd, before later in the moto Nathan Crawford then relegated the Honda man further down to third.

Serco Yamaha’s Nathan Crawford chased Todd hard but the defending champion responded to the challenge and managed his buffer before an exciting final lap that almost saw an upset.

An incredible final lap charge from Kyle Webster saw him overhaul Crawford for second place and the #199 was right on the tail of Todd at the chequered flag but the #1 Husqvarna managed to hold on for victory. 

Despite the late charge up to second Webster seemed disappoined to have lost his flow in the middle of the race that saw his potential victory chances spoiled. Webster had recorded the fastest lap of the race, and they don’t call Western Australian’s Sandgropers for nothing, but Todd had the consistency and the package to hold him at bay. 

MX2 Moto One Results

1. Wilson Todd – Husqvarna 
2. Kyle Webster – Honda +0.760s
3. Nathan Crawford – Yamaha +2.575s
4. Jay Wilson – Yamaha +30.981s
5. Aaron Tanti – Yamaha +45.799s

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MX2 Moto Two Report

Bailey Malkiewicz took the holeshot in the second moto from Kyle Webster with Riley Ward and Morgan Fogarty the top four as the race got underway. Wilson Todd had a rough first lap, leaving the track at one point and half-way around the opening lap the defending champion was down in eighth place, but by lap two he was up to fourth, and was soon hounding Fogarty for third. 

Bailey Malkiewicz was looking strong and with a good chance of taking the win, but a big tumble in the deep sand cost him dearly, and he watched on distraught as Wilson Todd and Kyle Webster swept past him and disappeared into the distance. 

Wilson Todd managed to pull away from Kyle Webster as the race progressed and Jay Wilson moved up to third place ahead of Nathan Crawford who had pushed Morgan Fogarty back to fifth. 

Kyle Webster saved his best for last to throw down the gauntlet to Wilson Todd on the final laps but the defending champion responded to the challenge to again stretch his buffer and went on to take his second win of the day and extend his championship lead over second placed Kyle Webster while Jay Wilson rounded out the podium ahed of Nathan Crawford. 

MX2 Moto Two Results

1. Wilson Todd – Husqvarna
2. Kyle Webster – Honda +5.558s
3. Jay Wilson – Yamaha +9.742s
4. Nathan Crawford – Yamaha +13.701
5. Aaron Tanti – Yamaha +23.408s
6. Dylan Wills – KTM +27.847
7. Morgan Fogarty – KTM +27.865s
8. Ricky Latimer – Yamaha +53.745s
9. Riley Ward – KTM +55.088s
10. Joel Evans – Husqvarna +58.117s

MX2 Round Nine Results

1. Wilson Todd 70
2. Kyle Webster 64
3. Jay Wilson 58
4. Nathan Crawford 58
5. Aaron Tanti 52
6. Ricky Latimer 48
7. Jai Constantinou 42
8. Dylan Wills 41
9. Bailey Malkiewicz 41
10. Lochie Latimer 40

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MX2 Championship Points

1. Wilson Todd 497
2. Kyle Webster 473
3. Jay Wilson 461
4. Nathan Crawford 432
5. Aaron Tanti 408
6. Dylan Wills 377
7. Bailey Malkiewicz 341
8. Ricky Latimer 317
9. Cooper Pozniak 312
10. Joel Evans 283

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Motul MXD

Raceline KTM’s Regan Duffy took a 34-point lead over Max Purvis in to this penultimate round of the 2019 Motul MXD Championships.

Darwin’s Liam Walsh scored the holeshot on the 250 two-stroke in the opening moto while Rhys Budd was also away well. Championship leader Duffy was caught somewhat napping when the gate fell quicker than he had expected, and was outside the top ten as the 27 rider field hit turn one. 

Championship challenger Max Purvis fell shortly after the start but by the end of that first lap the Kiwi youngster had battled back through the pack and was up to 12th place.

Noah Ferguson overhauled Liam Walsh for the race lead on lap two but Regan Duffy started really blasting through the dark sand of Coolum and had started to challenge Ferguson for the lead before going down on lap three. Duffy was up quickly but not before he had been passed by Jayce Cosford, Jai Walker, Max Purvis and Rhys Budd. 

Max Purvis was absolutely flying as he made up all that ground he lost on the opening lap, putting in fastest lap after fastest lap. He was up to fourth position on lap four, and was showing enough speed to propel himself on the podium, with six laps to run he looked fast enough to pull that eight-seconds back on Ferguson. I had hardly finished typing that paragraph before Purvis had dispensed with Cosford and Walker and looked as though he would walk his way into the lead, but then another mistake saw the Kiwi teenager lose time and positions once again. 

It only took a lap for Purvis to work his way back up to second place, that seventh lap was four-seconds faster than any other rider in the field on that particular lap. The gap to race leader Ferguson was now 5.5-seconds with two laps to run. 

With one lap remaining the gap was down to 1.45-seconds, but that was gone in the matter of a few turns as the young Kiwi sucked the stickers of Ferguson’s KTM as he blew past with ease in a display of sensational speed. 

But then another mistake by Purvis on the final lap saw him go off the circuit, allowing Ferguson back to the lead! The two negotiated lapped traffic through the final turns but it was Purvis who took the chequered flag first. Purvis had passed every rider in the race, leaving the track a couple of times, and also falling off once, but still managed to take the win…

Regan Duffy rounded out the podium and saw his championship lead trimmed by five-points.

MXD Race One Results

1. Max Purvis – Yamaha
2. Noah Ferguson – KTM +1.183s
3. Regan Duffy – KTM +1.827s
4. Jai Walker – KTM +14.416s
5. Jayce Cosford – Yamaha +22.50s

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Motul MXD Race Two

Tye Jones scored the holeshot in the second MXD bout but Rhys Budd was quickly through to the lead while Noah Ferguson then pushed Jones further back to third. Max Purvis was fourth ahead of Jayce Cosford, Liam Walsh and Oliver Marchand while Regan Duffy was eighth.

A very loose looking Max Purvis then pulled an amazing double act by taking Budd and Ferguson in one foul swoop to take the race lead. 

Max Purvis made less mistakes this time around, the Kiwi youngster just stood on the pegs as his Yamaha went every which way and loose beneath him, but he just kept it pinned and pointed in the right way to leave the field in his wake.

Even the WA sand experience of Regan Duffy was not enough to constrain the young New Zealander. Duffy had to settle for second place while Noah Ferguson took third. Rhys Budd just missed out on a podium. 

MXD Race Two Results

1. Max Purvis – Yamaha
2. Regan Duffy – KTM +20.450s
3. Noah Ferguson – KTM +32.281s
4. Rhys Budd – Honda +52.675s
5. Jayce Cosford – Yamaha +64.304s
6. Liam Walsh – KTM +72.519s
7. Jai Walker – KTM +80.318s
8. Brodie Ellis – Yamaha +80.073s
9. Mackenzie O’Bree – Yamaha +99.125s
10. Corben Weinert – Yamaha +104.413a

MXD Round Nine Results

1. Purvis 70
2. Duffy 62
3. Ferguson 62
4. Budd 53
5. Cosford 52
6. Walker 52
7. Walsh 48
8. Ellis 47
9. Ashmore 41
10. McMahon 37

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MXD Championship Points

1. Regan Duffy 523
2. Max Purvis 497
3. Rhys Budd 423
4. Noah Ferguson 392
5. Brodie Ellis 378
6. Jai Walker 355
7. Liam Walsh 335
8. Jayce Crosford 329
9. Mason Rowe 310
10. Mackenzie O’Bree 302

Source: MCNews.com.au