For immediate release: Tuesday, 27 May 2014

Wanneroo runner-up stretches MX Nationals lead for Moss

Reigning Australian Motocross Champion Matt Moss increased his lead for Team Motul Suzuki in the premier MX1 category of the MX Nationals at Wanneroo in Western Australia on Sunday after claiming second overall.

Moss will take a 22-point lead into the halfway point of season 2014, despite battling a severe case of food poisoning throughout all three grueling 20-minute sprint motos in the sands of WA. He rode to an eventual scorecard of 2-4-2 finishes aboard the championship-winning RM-Z450.

"I was happy to finish second with the food poisoning and not having much sleep on Saturday night," Moss explained. "I felt like I rode really good to come away with good points in the championship. I really loved the track and my bike felt incredibly good, so it's good to end the first half of the season on a high note.

"Now it's time to really get going in the final five rounds and try to dominate the rest of the series. Winning races is exactly what we want to do - that's what we'll strive to do from here on out in every single race for the season's second half."

Team Motul Suzuki rookie Rhys Carter had his most difficult outing to date in the MX1 ranks, finishing 17th overall with 23-7-13 results. Despite those troubles in the sands of Wanneroo, Carter sits a solid eighth in the championship standings.

"In the first moto I got a good start, but I hit a false neutral and lost a heap of spots," Carter explained. "A lap later a guy swapped out in front of me and cleaned my front wheel out, so I went down and was basically in last. I came back to 12th, but split a radiator hose at the end of the moto and had to DNF.

"In the second moto things went a lot better for seventh, and then in the last moto as well it was good until I tucked the front battling for fifth when I had a rear brake problem. We are still eighth overall, so as bad as my day was, it could have been a lot worse for the championship. We're still close to sixth and that's where I'd been aiming to be at the end of the year."

The MX Nationals will now take its annual five-week mid-season break, before resuming at Swan Hill in Victoria on Sunday, 29 June.

For further information on Team Motul Suzuki visit www.suzukimotorcycles.com.au on the web; Like Suzuki Motorcycles Australia on Facebook; or follow @suzukiaustralia on Instagram.

Wanneroo MX1 overall results:
1. Billy Mackenzie 95
2. Matt Moss (Team Motul Suzuki) 92
3. Jake Moss 91
4. Kirk Gibbs 84
5. Adam Monea 79
6. Jacob Wright 69
7. Ben Townley 68
8. Sam Martin 66
9. Hayden Mellross 57
10. Jay Marmont 57
17. Rhys Carter (Team Motul Suzuki) 42

Championship standings (after five of 10 rounds):
1. Matt Moss (Team Motul Suzuki) 389
2. Kirk Gibbs 367
3. Jake Moss 343
4. Adam Monea 342
5. Billy Mackenzie 337
6. Kade Mosig 265
7. Hayden Mellross 263
8. Rhys Carter (Team Motul Suzuki) 256
9. Jacob Wright 254
10. Jay Marmont 253

[Ends]