Maffra Victorian MX titles run and won.

Bernadette Dunscombe

This is a race report of all the action at Round 2 of the Victorian Motocross Championship written by series commentators, Brad Martin and Kane Atkins.

Saturday

A Lites

Yamaha’s Jake Emanuelli continued his great early season form by posting a 2-1-1 result to grab the Overall. Pirelli Raceline Suzuki rider, Errol Willis, crashes twice and finishes 6th in Moto 1, then while out in front in Moto 2 Errol crashed hard and was lucky to get up and walk away. Series commentator, Brad Martin, spoke to him after the moto and he was fine and looking forward to battling Emanuelli and others in tomorrow’s Under 19s class.

Sam Martin had a great second and third moto, finishing behind Emanuelli. Unfortunately for Martin, 4 points cost him the overall.

Thomas Alexander rode a lot better than he did in Ballarat with a 3-3-4 scorecard and showed consistency on the track. Alex Morris won Moto 1, Kyle McKeddie was fast all day but Matt Van Slooten had two top fives in the day’s first two motos.

Over 30

It was three-from-three for Corey Vanderline, which gives him a perfect series so far with six-out-of-six wins. Steve Powell crashed in the first lap in the second and third motos and fought back to second, but he was no match for Vanderlie and Marco Kroese or a couple of top fives in the B grade Lites and finished in 3rd. Frank Corren dominated the Clubman class on his Honda CRF250.

Over 40

James Graham struggled into the first moto and it was looking like it wasn’t going the be his day when he was involved in a first corner crash in Moto 2. But he got back up and kept going, putting on a remarkable performance to come back and win the race. His final moto win then secured the overall in front of Simon Healey.

B Lites

Luke Lee’s 1-3-1 took the Overall, even after a close call in Moto 2 which startled the youngster for a few laps. Jack Simpson and KTM mounted, Lauchlan Terry, both won motos while Jordan Wallworth had a two second placing in the first two motos. James Brown also continued to impress and now sits only three points behind Terry in the Overall Championship Standings.

C Lites

Darcy Stafford dominated, winning all three motos on his Suzuki RM250 two-stroke and Stephen Krop went 1-2-1. Ben Miller who put on the ride of the day in the final moto, when he crashed in the first turn, came from dead last to pass Krop in the final turn only to lose the front end again and finish in 2nd. His 1-2-2 gives him 3rd Overall and keeping him insight of Stafford in the overall standings.

The track was extremely fast and technical with 2:30 lap times being around the average for the day.

Sunday

C grade 450

Luke Klaver, Dean Ross and Chris Bryant were leading the pack in all motos, but Jamie Robbins was the fastest man out there winning Moto 3. It was Robbins’ second moto ride, however, that was most impressive when he hit the deck three times and was still able to finish in second and only a few bike lengths behind the moto winner, Dean Ross.

B grade

Brodie Sims started where he left off from in Round 1 and dominated the first two motos with lap times that would have him inside the top 10 in the A Grade class. In the final moto, Sims lead from gate to the chequered flag but KTM mounted Lauchlan Terry kept him insight and only finish five seconds behind. Nathan Trigg rounded out the top 3 with a 3-3-4 result.

A grade open

In Moto 2, it was Cam Taylor that set the pace early with Lawson Bopping close behind. Ross Beaton quickly made a pass on Bopping but Bopping didn’t take it lying down, quickly retaliating and moving back into second. The move seemed to unsettle Beaton as Woods quickly passed his and he was relegated to 4th. Bopping got around Taylor and checked out for a big win. In Moto 3 Bopping found himself in the lead early and looked like he was going to take the win again but Woods wasn’t having it. He went creative on his line choices and started reeling in Bopping, making the pass and then adding a big gap between first and second. Woods finished 1st and took the Overall for the day. Bopping was 2nd and Taylor 3rd.

Womens

The battle continues between GMR Motorex KTM rider, Kristy Gillespie, and the Ferntree Gully Peter Stevens baked rider, Maddy Brown. In Moto 1 and 3 Brown checked out early but towards the end of the motos Gillespie would charge back and pass Brown. Brown showing the determination she showed at Round 1 and managed to get Gillespie back. They went back and forth a few times until eventually Brown would make a mistake and Gillespie took the lead to have a perfect six-from-six wins in the 2011 Championship. Charlotte Bolding and Tamika Edwards fought it out for the final podium positions.

Under 19

With championship leader Errol Willis electing to sit out due to the previous days crash, many thought Jake Emanuelli would have had it all his own way considering his performance in the A grade Lites on Saturday. But Suzuki rider Sam Martin came out swinging, winning the first two motos of the day. In the final moto Martin crashed early and could only come get back to 4th — a position that will secure him the overall. Emanuelli was in 2nd position, some 10 seconds behind leader Kyle McKeddie, and put on a late race charge and set some blistering fast lap times to reel McKeddie in. Emanuelli passed him on the second last lap and took the round win with a 2-2-1 over Martin’s 1-1-4 result. It was a fantastic charge by the youngster and it showed why he is currently leading the Under 19s class but also the A grade Lites in the Victorian Championships. Kale Makehem who struggled with starts all weekend rounded out the top 3.

With only a two week break, the series will return for Round 3 at Swan hill on the Queen’s Birthday weekend. The championship is now over the half way point with only two rounds to go. It’s going to be interesting to see if the current championship leaders can hold onto their positions or if another rider step up to grab the Number 1 plate.