The 2009 Australian Motocross Championship wrapped up at Coolum, Queensland, on Sunday with five champions crowned, one of them a Kiwi.

Jay Marmont (Yamaha) rode to victory in the Pro Open class, winning his second consecutive Australian Pro Open title with his team-mate Cheyne Boyd the rider who came closest to loosening his grip on the No.1 plate.

With 75 points on offer at the weekend, the Pro Open title was always going to come down to the wire but nobody could have predicted just how close that would be.

After taking victory in two of the three motos, Marmont’s 14-point lead coming into the round proved to be enough to keep him safe from Boyd’s onslaught.

New Zealand’s Daryl Hurley (Suzuki) made a rare appearance in the series at Coolum, getting better as the day wore on, finishing 6-4-2 on the day, good for fourth overall.

The Hawera man finished the series ranked No.12 despite contesting just three of the eight rounds.

Fellow Kiwi Damien King (Yamaha) had a difficult day, scoring points in just one race, when he finished 20th in the second open class race on Sunday afternoon.

In the Pro Lites, Matt Moss (Suzuki) rode smart and, with his comfortable points lead, defending champ Luke George (Kawasaki) was unable to catch him despite winning both of the motos.

New Zealand’s Darryll King (Yamaha) was untouchable in the inaugural Veterrans’ Cup class, winning all four motos over the two days and easily clinching the crown from Honda’s Glen Bell.

Throughout 2009 Moss, George and Tye Simmonds (KTM) raised the bar in the Pro Lites class with their on-track battles, over-shadowing even the premier Pro Opens class throughout the season.

Despite a strong build-up, ongoing mechanical dramas and a crash in the final moto kept George out of contention allowing Moss to dominate all three motos.

Palmerston North’s Rhys Carter (Kawasaki) managed 20-16-18 in his three Pro Lites class outings, while fellow Kiwi Hayden Clark (Kawasaki) was unable to finish among the po8ints.

Luke Styke (Yamaha) continued his domination of the Under-19s class, taking two of three race wins on the weekend.

Waikanae’s Michael Menchi managed to finish 17th overall in the Under-19s class on Sunday, thanks to 16-10-18 results.

In the women’s championship, young Tori Dare (Yamaha) has won her first senior Australian women’s motocross championship title ahead of 2008 champ Kristy Gillespie (KTM).

Dare took out three of the four motos with Gillespie only managing to steal one from the 2009 champ.

New Zealand riders Alicia McLauchlan (from Marlborough) and Emma Davis (Taupo) also fought for glory at Coolum with McLauchlan finishing eighth overall on the day thanks to 9-1-0-5 results. McLauchlan finished the series ranked ninth.

Davis, on the comeback from injury finished out of the points at the weekend but, thanks to solid rides at the series opener, she finished 12th overall for the championship.

Pro Open final round – Coolum:

1 Jay Marmont 72 Points

2 Cheyne Boyd 65

3 Andrew McFarlane 60

4 Daryl Hurley 55

5 Craig Anderson 44

6 Adam Monea 41

7 Michael Addison 36

8 Daniel McCoy 35

9 Josh Strang 31

10 Cameron Taylor 30

Pro Open championship standings – Final:

1 Jay Marmont 459 Points

2 Cheyne Boyd 438

3 Andrew McFarlane 373

4 Cody Mackie 323

5 Craig Anderson 279

6 Cameron Taylor 261

7 Michael Addison 250

8 Brent Landman 233

9 Todd Waters 167

10 Beau Ralston 167

11 Riley Graham 148

12 Daryl Hurley 119

13 Peter Boyle 112

14 Kyle DiCecco 110

15 Matt Haworth 109

16 Robbie Marshall 108

17 Louis Calvin 106

18 Justin Carafa 96

19 Ford Dale 82

20 Matt Haskins 77

Pro Lites final round – Coolum:

1 Matt Moss 75 Points

2 Tye Simmonds 60

3 Dean Ferris 55

4 Lawson Bopping 47

5 Ryan Marmont 47

6 Kirk Gibbs 42 33

7 Brock Winston 39

8 Kade Mosig 38 37

9 Lewis Woods 34

10 Lewis Stewart 29

Pro Lites championship standings – Final:

1 Matt Moss 422 Points

2 Tye Simmonds 380

3 Luke George 341

4 Lawson Bopping 288

5 Kirk Gibbs 286

6 Lewis Stewart 226

7 Mitch Hoad 226

8 Lewis Woods 193

9 Ryan Marmont 168

10 Dean Ferris 152

11 Wade Thompson 146

12 Adam Monea 145

13 Kade Mosig 141

14 Christopher Gosselaar 117

15 Danny Anderson 116

16 Nick Murray 114

17 Brock Winston 105

18 Tyson Hauser 94

19 Matt Ryan 82

20 Brenden Harrison 75

Under 19’s final round – Coolum:

1 Luke Styke 66 Points

2 Josh Cachia 54

3 Dylan Peterson 54

4 Ross Beaton 49

5 Luke Arbon 46

6 Harley Quinlan 45

7 Matt Ginders 41

8 Sam Duncanson 41

9 Jason Reed 36

10 Kieran Tisdale 31

Under 19’s championship standings – Final:

1 Luke Styke 362 Points

2 Harley Quinlan 298

3 Josh Cachia 297

4 Ross Beaton 286

5 Luke Arbon 284

6 Dylan Peterson 261

7 Jason Reed 172

8 Josh Kilvington 163

9 Kieran Tisdale 130

10 Dylan Gosling 118

11 Beau Dargel 109

12 Alex Morris 109

13 Matt Ginders 108

14 Timothy Lonsdale 102

15 Cameron Solomon 101

16 Matt VanSooten 97

17 Joel Rizzo 87

18 Harrison Wooding 75

19 Kyle McKeddie 67

20 Josh Adams 54

Words and photo by Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com