MX Nats: The 2017 Season So Far

This weekend marks the third instalment of the 2017 Motul MX Nationals at Conondale, and with two rounds already run and won there have been a handful of race wins, fastest qualifiers and podiums that have contributed to the championship so far.

With another huge weekend of racing shortly getting underway at Green Park in Conondale Queensland this weekend, we take a look at the numbers that brought us here, as the Motul MX Nationals puts in the final preparations for a mega round three on the Sunshine Coast.

THOR MX1 CLASS

In the MX1 class, we’ve seen an undeniable dominance from CDR Yamaha’s Dean Ferris. He’s already taken both GoPro Superpole victories – at round one it was by .167 of a second, while at Appin Ferris took the fastest time by .731 seconds ahead of Kirk Gibbs. On top of that, Ferris has won three of the four motos so far this season and incredibly, he secured the second moto win at Round 2 by a whopping 34-second margin. So far, the only man to take a race away from Ferris is the 2015 MX1 Champ Kirk Gibbs who collected the honours in moto one at Appin. As it stands, we’ve had four podium getters across two rounds, Ferris, Gibbs, Todd Waters (Crankt Protein Honda Racing), and Kade Mosig (DPH Motorsport), and heading into Conondale Ferris leads the Thor MX1 championship by a handy 23 points. But with less than a moto in it, every point will count, and Ferris will no doubt be aiming to make it three round wins in a row at Conondale on Sunday.

MOTUL MX2 CLASS

So far this season it’s been a battle of the Yamaha machines and a single standout KTM two-stroke in the Motul MX2 class with Wilson Todd, Jackson Richardson, Egan Mastin and Mitchell Evans all throwing their weight around at both rounds. At Round 1 DPH Motorsport’s Todd claimed the red plate after recording 1,2 results, however, once the championship arrived at Appin it was Serco Yamaha’s Evans who left with a perfect scorecard, going undefeated and in turn tightening up the MX2 championship. So far we have had three riders take spots on the MX2 podium, being Mastin, Todd, and Evans, while Richardson has finished just one position shy in fourth at both Wonthaggi and Appin. As the series heads to Conondale, Todd maintains the red plate by a tiny three points from Evans, meaning Round 3 will be absolutely crucial in the chase for the MX2 title.

PIRELLI MXD CLASS

The explosiveness and unpredictability of the Pirelli MXD class has been evident from the get go so far this season, but three riders who have consistently been there every weekend are Yamalube Yamaha Racing Team’s Cooper Pozniak and Cody Dyce, plus the dark horse Jy Roberts. From Round 1, Pozniak and Dyce qualified in positions one and two, but it was Pozniak who went on to take both moto wins at Wonthaggi. While at Appin Dyce recorded 7-1 results which handed him his first overall round win for the year. So far there have been four different riders who have finished on the Pirelli MXD podium, being Dyce, Pozniak, Roberts and KTM’s Callum Norton. Now, as the championship heads to Queensland for Round 3, Pozniak leads the MXD title chase by only two points with Robert’s consistent race finishes placing him in second in the points standings. Only another two points behind Roberts sits Dyce, making the MXD championship one of the most hotly contested of the MX Nationals. This year, the development class will wrap up their season at Port Macquarie (Round 7), so as the class rapidly approaches the halfway point in their season, this weekend will be more important than ever for red plate holder Pozniak and his fellow competitors.

The third round of the 2017 Motul MX Nationals will take place at Green Park in Conondale this
Sunday, May 7.