Kiwi riders now lead two out of three classes in the Australian Motocross Championships after the latest round of racing.

A solid fourth overall on the day has ensured Motueka’s Josh Coppins continues to lead the premier Pro Open class after the weekend’s sixth round of 10 at Hervey Bay in Queensland, but he’s now joined as a class leader across the Tasman by Mangakino’s Kayne Lamont.

For Lamont (pictured above) it was a particularly special day, the BikesportNZ.com rider gifting himself an extra birthday present on what was also his 19th birthday.

The teenager took his CMR Red Bull KTM 250 to dominate Sunday’s racing in the under-19 class at Hervey Bay on Sunday, rocketing himself up from second and into the No.1 spot in the championship with just four rounds remaining.

“I qualified third fastest on the very sandy track but then managed to put myself in second spot at the start of the first race,” said Lamont.

“I then got past the leader (Australia’s 2009 junior 85cc world champion Jay Wilson) and opened up a good lead.”

Lamont followed that win by finishing second and third in the following two races, enough to win the day by seven points from fellow KTM rider Kale Makeham.

Previous championship leader Wilson finished the day only fourth overall, slipping back to 19 points behind Lamont in the title chase.

“I’ve gone from nine points behind to 19 points in front. It has been a great day,” said Lamont, who coped extremely well with the 25-degree temperatures at Hervey Bay.

“I want to thank the CMR race team, Shift apparel, Dragon goggles, Jeff Leisk at KTM Australia, BikesportNZ.com, John Appel and the Cachia family for their support.”

Also racing in the under-19 class in Australia this season, Rangiora’s national junior motocross champion Micah McGoldrick (CMR Red Bull KTM) finished the day 21st overall. He is now 25th overall in the championship standings.

Meanwhile, Coppins needed to dig deep to finish 6-3-5 in his three Pro Open Class outings.

The 35-year-old former Grand Prix star lost some ground on his main rival for the title – Suzuki’s Todd Waters, who ended the day at Hervey Bay runner-up to Coppins’ Yamaha team-mate Lawson Bopping – but the Kiwi still enjoys a comfortable 12-point lead over Waters at the top of the standings.

Fellow Kiwi Cody Cooper (Suzuki), from Mount Maunganui, won the day’s second Pro Open Class race but he finished the day eighth overall and remains fifth in the championship standings.

Rotorua’s Michael Phillips (Honda) was 12th overall on Sunday and he is 16th in the rankings.

Atiamuri’s Dion Picard (Suzuki) made his debut in the big bike class, finishing the day at Hervey Bay 15th overall. He makes his first impact at 26th position in the championship rankings.

In the Lites (MX2 or 250cc) class, Yamaha’s Luke Styke upholds the honours for Australia as he continues to lead the championship chase. Styke won the day at Hervey Bay with 1-1-4 results and his championship lead has gone from 32 points to a whopping 46 points over Honda’s Ford Dale.

The two Kiwis in this class – Christchurch’s Justin McDonald (Honda) and Queenstown’s Scotty Columb (Suzuki) – are now ranked eighth and ninth overall respectively.

Columb finished 6-11-2 in his three races at Hervey Bay, good enough for sixth overall on the day, and McDonald mustered 12-7-12 results to finish 12th overall on the day.

Results from round 6 at Hervey Bay, Queensland:

MX1 Overall Results:

1. Lawson Bopping 72

2. Todd Waters 60

3. Brad Anderson 53

4. Josh Coppins (NZ) 51

5. Daniel Reardon 49

6. Dean Porter 46

7. Jake Moss 39

8. Cody Cooper (NZ) 37

9. Dylan Peterson 34

10. Craig Anderson 33

11. Aden de Jager 32

12. Mike Phillips (NZ) 28

13. Beau Ralston 26

14. Daniel McCoy 25

15. Dion Picard (NZ) 17

16. Mick Cook 12

17. Jordan Flaherty 11

18. Thomas Rushton 8

19. Zak Newsome 8

20. Luke Wilson 7

21. Timothy Kelly 7

22. Tim Farrell 2

MX2 Overall Results:

1. Luke Styke 68

2. Kirk Gibbs 55

3. Ford Dale 54

4. Kade Mosig 50

5. Adam Monea 49

6. Scott Columb (NZ) 47

7. Cheyne Boyd 39

8. Josh Cachia 38

9. Lewis Woods 38

10. Luke Arbon 32

11. Brock Winston 32

12. Justin McDonald (NZ) 32

13. Errol Willis 22

14. Corey Lucas 21

15. Nick Murray 20

16. Tristen Cachia 15

17. Peter Boyle 14

18. Casey Turner 10

19. Steve Duncanson 8

20. Luke Weaver 8

21. Tom McCormack 5

22. Jack Pritchard 4

23. Levi Addison 1

24. Mathew McEntee 1

MXD Overall Results:

1. Kayne Lamont (NZ) 67

2. Kale Makeham 60

3. Joel Milesevic 54

4. Jay Wilson 48

5. Wade Hunter 45

6. Dylan Long 39

7. Sam Martin 37

8. Ben George 34

9. Nicklas Scott 33

10. Mitch Norris 28

11. Rhys Hobson 27

12. Jarrad Davis 26

13. Dylan Leary 25

14. Shaun Redhead 25

15. Jake Wright 25

16. Josh Melis 18

17. Joel Evans 11

18. Dylan Hickling 11

19. Dylan Wills 8

20. Daniel Banks 8

21. Micah McGoldrick (NZ) 7

22. Daniel Livsey 6

23. Dakota Court 5

24. Jordan Bissaker 5

25. Mitch Budd 4

26. Tyson Cherry 4

27. Scott Mann 3

 

MX1 Championship Standings (after 6 of 10 rounds):

1. Josh Coppins 352

2. Todd Waters 340

3. Brad Anderson 27

4. Lawson Bopping 327

5. Cody Cooper 269

6. Tye Simmonds 234

7. Jake Moss 210

8. Jay Marmont 207

9. Daniel Reardon 196

10. Daniel McCoy 189

11. Dean Porter 185

12. Dylan Peterson 130

13. Calle Aspegren 112

14. Craig Anderson 97

15. Beau Ralston 84

16. Mike Phillips 78

17. Ben Townley 75

18. Aden de Jager 65

19. Tim Vare 61

20. Gordon Crockard 59

 

MX2 Championship Standings (after 6 of 10 rounds):

1. Luke Styke 374

2. Ford Dale 328

3. Cheyne Boyd 297

4. Josh Cachia 296

5. Kirk Gibbs 284

6. Kade Mosig 283

7. Adam Monea 264

8. Justin McDonald 224

9. Scott Columb 215

10. Lewis Woods 211

11. Errol Willis 190

12. Luke Arbon 153

13. Nick Murray 139

14. Brock Winston 131

15. Ryan Marmont 91

16. Geran Stapleton 84

17. Corey Lucas 66

18. Peter Boyle 49

19. Richard Egerton 34

20. Tristen Cachia 26

 

MXD Championship Standings (after 5 of 9 rounds):

1. Kayne Lamont 284

2. Dylan Long 265

3. Sam Martin 241

4. Dylan Leary 234

5. Kale Makeham 231

6. Joel Milesevic 230

7. Jay Wilson 225

8. Mitch Norris 151

9. Jarrad Davis 128

10. Wade Hunter 126

11. Mitch Budd 120

12. Dylan Wills 111

13. Ben George 97

14. John Phillips 88

15. Dion Picard 87

16. Rhys Hobson 70

17. Joe Gillespie 68

18. Josh Melis 67

19. Michael Crugnale 60

20. Shaun Redhead 49

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