2004 Australian SX Nationals News

04.03.04 - Round 10 - Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne, Australia

Motorex KTM do the supercross double – Pro Open #1 - Pro Lite #1 A stellar 2004 supercross season concluded for Team Motorex KTM on the highest note in Melbourne on Saturday night.

Motorex KTM rider Jay Marmont had already wrapped up the premier Pro Open category with victory in Brisbane the week before. The showdown in Melbourne at the final round of the SX Nationals was chiefly to decide who would take the #1 plate in the Pro Lite class. Here it was going to come down to the wire between Motorex KTM rider Ryan Marmont, and Brisbane privateer Daniel Reardon.

Everyone’s heart stopped when Ryan Marmont went down hard in his semi final, he looked injured. The race was then red flagged due to another rider needing medical attention. This allowed Ryan to limp back around to the start line to take his place for the re-start. The Wollongong 19-year-old gritted his teeth and went on to take the win in the semi which put him straight through to the final. However, his championship foe Reardon was not so lucky, he came down in his semi and failed to qualify for the main event. This meant that Ryan Marmont only needed to finish in the final in order to lift the #1 plate.

He did better than that. Ryan rode to a strong podium finish and with it clinched the #1 plate to secure the double for the Motorex KTM Team and the Marmont family.

Both the Pro Open Championship Trophy and Pro Lite Championship silverware is set to take pride of place at the Marmont’s Wollongong home.

Ryan Marmont takes us through his night, “In my semi I was away okay before I got landed on. Another rider crashed in to my shoulder from a great height which had me in considerable pain. I didn’t even know if I could start the next race when the red flag came out.

“There was a bit of a delay as the other injured rider was attended to which gave me some time to gather my thoughts. I put my head down at the re-start and managed to take the win which promoted me straight through to the final.

“I went back to the race transporter where my dad (Peter) started to ice my shoulder. Then we heard that Reardon had failed to qualify for the final in his semi. This meant that I only had to finish the final in order to lift the title, but I really wanted at least a podium finish in the race to go with it.

“I was hurting in that final and pushed as hard as I could, but had a fair bit of pain to deal with which definitely held me back. I still managed to score that podium finish though which meant I could lift the title tonight on an even higher note.

“Now our focus turns to the motocross season. We have some good parts coming from overseas to test in the upcoming weeks and I look forward to building up my motocross skills as I am yet to race motocross with the team. We will work hard in the gap between now and when the motocross season starts, we will definitely head in to that series on a positive note with this title win under our belt.”

Ryan’s older brother Jay had already wrapped up the Pro Open title earlier in the series, however the perfectionist was still disappointed not to come away with the race win at the final round. Lapped riders proved his undoing.

Jay explains, “I scored the holeshot tonight and managed to gap the field a little before I made a small mistake that cost me a bit of time. I then got stuck behind some lapped traffic which allowed Danny Ham to close within striking distance. I started riding defensively, but Hammy managed to find a gap up the inside and got the better of me.

“I tried to get him back, but the lapped traffic was not friendly to me tonight so I had to settle for second. I am really disappointed with that, I couldn’t really get a good feeling with the track here, it was really tight and the conditions were quite different to normal. I am just glad to have the Melbourne indoor out of the way as it was a bad round for me last year, so I am glad to end up with a decent result here this year.

“I am really happy for Ryan; he worked hard for this and deserves that #1 trophy more than anyone else out there. I am sorry Reardon’s night ended the way it did, but Ryan has had his share of bad luck this year also.”

Jay now looks to America, “I have signed a deal with Red Bull KTM in America for the next two years, I will head over there shortly to compete in some rounds of the West Coast Supercross on a 125.

“The team wants me over there on the bikes as soon as possible to get me ready for the 2005 and 2006 American seasons. I am stoked that I have scored a ride with a really good team and I hope they look after me well. All going well I hope to earn some championships on American soil to add to the ones I have recently wrapped up in Australia.”

Cheyne Boyd’s aim for the night was to try and secure second overall in the Pro Open Championship. It was not to be for the likeable young Victorian. Boyd got squeezed out early on in the Pro Open final and had to settle for fourth overall in the series.

Boyd, “I really wanted to try and get that second place tonight, I felt good and my fitness has been good but it just didn’t all come together for me.

“I am really disappointed with that, especially when I fought my way in to contention after coming back from all my pre-season injuries and moved up to second place overall a couple of times during the season, only for it to slip from my grasp.

“From here I just have to look to build on this and go forward, hopefully the motocross season is where I can give the team the results they deserve, and the results I know I am capable of.” Motorex KTM Team Manager Rob Twyerould was obviously ecstatic with his young charges. “What an amazing night, to win both titles is just fantastic.

“We had a team meeting before the night got underway where I told the riders and our hard working crew how proud I was of their huge effort throughout this season. Just in order for us to get far enough to challenge for both titles, anything more tonight was just going to be a bonus.

“Then we got the biggest bonus of all when Ryan rode strong through a great deal of pain to get a podium here tonight to wrap up the Pro Lite Championship.

“Cheyne Boyd put in a good effort to try and secure second place in the Pro Open Championship but he came up just short. Hammy got the better start and that was his chances shot.

“A pity Jay couldn’t have finished with a win but he has clearly proved that he is the class rider in this country.

“All in all a fantastic team effort, everyone in the team really contributed to these results tonight, and over the whole series.”

KTM General Manager Jeff Leisk needs little introduction to anyone in motorcycle racing. Leisk is one of only two Australians to win World Motocross races and knows better than most just what it takes to score these types of results.

Jeff Leisk, “The most pleasing thing for me is that Ryan managed to wrap up our first Pro Lites Championship. The momentum towards the new four strokes has been immense, but Ryan had faith in our two-stroke 125SX and committed himself fully to the effort to bring the title home.

“Awesome effort from Ryan to finish the job, his mechanic Jason worked really hard to support him all the way and we came out on top against the odds.

“Obviously Jay winning the Pro Open was a huge achievement also, and part of a huge team effort. Jay’s bikes were perfectly prepared all season by his mechanic Johnny DiStefano “Team Manager Rob Twyerould along with Danny Apro and all the guys in the team pulled together and worked really hard to make this all happen. I really thank them for their efforts. “I believe we did have the best team in this series, and I really hoped we could get this sort of result but actually pulling it off is a great achievement.

“Now our next task is to go off and work hard to get it all together for the upcoming motocross season. There is some really strong competition with New Zealand’s King brothers coming in as favourites, this talented pair have a vast amount of experience at the world championship level and will be no pushover. We have to try and take the challenge to them.

“I am sure it will prove a very exciting motocross season, hopefully we can repeat some of the success we have enjoyed in the supercross events this year. I have confidence in our riders and the team to get the job done.”