It was another great day for Motorex KTM team rider Todd Waters as he bagged another pair if wins in the MX1 class, this time at round three of the Australian Motocross Championships at Victoria’s Wonthaggi circuit on Sunday.

Waters extended his lead to 44 over new No.2 rider Matt Moss (Suzuki) – who moved from fifth spot after round two – with Yamaha’s Lawson Bopping still in third spot in the championship chase.

New Zealand MX1 champion Cody Cooper (Suzuki) had a profitable day at Wonbthaggi, finishing fifth overall (thanks to his 2-8 results) and improving his position from sixth to fourth in the championship standings.

Waters missed out on being the fastest qualifier for the first time in the championship, but came back with his second double-moto win of the series. The KTM ace won the first moto from Cooper and Bopping, then took the second ahead of Adam Monea and Moss.

Waters’ KTM team-mate Kirk Gibbs posted seventh and fifth placings to register his highest overall placing in the championship to date (sixth), breaking into the top 10 in what is his first year in MX1.

Winning the overall extended Waters’ early season championship lead to a handy 44 points over Moss and Monea, with Bopping, Cooper and Gibbs rounding out the top six.

“It was another great day of motocross, we thought it would get rougher than it did but it got more square-edgey bumps that really kept us on our toes with settings and tyre choice,” said team manager Rob Twyerould.

“Todd rode really good today but didn’t get all three today – he was still very competitive in Super Pole but was third fastest as one of only three to break into the 42s. He managed to grab three points there which was handy.

“In race one, Todd got a top five start and got through to the lead pretty quick, and then it was like New Zealand with him and Cooper streaking away. Cooper applied a bit of pressure for eight minutes, Todd made a few mistakes which allowed the gap to close then in the lappers he re-focussed and found some new lines and pulled out a three or four second lead to win by two.

In the second Todd came through from a top five start to the lead pretty quickly, but Monea, who knows the track well kept Todd honest and stayed with him until the last 10 minutes when Todd lit the afterburners and powered away to win by six or eight seconds.”

Waters was thrilled with his weekend’s efforts.

“We got two from two today which was great and third in the Super Pole got us some solid points,” said Waters.

“The track was pretty good for us – it got choppy in the hard pack and more rolly in the sandy sort of soil so it was like riding two different disciplines which always makes things a challenge. I had Coops tag along with me for a while in the first moto and Monea in the second which kept me honest and gives me something to work towards coming out for the next round.

“The points I know are important but I’m not really worried about them to tell you the truth – that’s Rob’s job, I’m just out to do the best I can do and wherever that lands me it lands me.”

In the MX2 class it was again Yamaha’s two Lukes – Luke Styke and Luke Clout – who dominated the day, reinforcing their respective positions at No.1 and No.2 in the standings.

Kiwi riders Kayne Lamont (KTM) and Rhys Carter (Suzuki) had solid days, Mangakino’s Lamont finishing 11-7 and Mount Maunganui’s Carter 6-10 in their two races.

Lamont is seventh in the championship standings and Carter is 10th.

In the MX Development (under-19) class, KTM’s Jack Simpson dominated ahead of Kawasaki’s Jesse Dobson, while former national New Zealand junior champion Hamish Harwood (KTM), of Takaka, finished the day third overall with a pair of runner-up results.

Fellow Kiwi Logan Blackburn (Yamaha) finished 15th and 4th for sixth overall in the MXD class on Sunday.

Harwood is second in the championship standings and Blackburn is eighth overall.

MX1 round three results:

1. Todd Waters KTM 73 Pts
2. Matt Moss Suzuki 63 Pts
3. Adam Monea Kawasaki 62 Pts
4. Lawson Bopping Yamaha 59 Pts
5. Cody Cooper Suzuki 55 Pts
6. Kirk Gibbs KTM 50 Pts
7. Ford Dale Honda 48 Pts
8. Daniel McCoy Honda 44 Pts
9. Tye Simmonds Yamaha 42 Pts
10. Robbie Marshall Yamaha 41 Pts
11. Jay Marmont Kawasaki 39 Pts
12. Billy Mackenzie Yamaha 35 Pts
13. Jacob Wright Honda 35 Pts
14. James Booth Elliott Suzuki 33 Pts
15. Sam Martin Suzuki 32 Pts
16. Cheyne Boyd Honda 32 Pts
17. Kieran Tisdale Suzuki 24 Pts
18. Paul Humberston KTM 22 Pts
19. Luke Donnelly Yamaha 20 Pts
20. Mitch Norris Honda 19 Pts
21. Daniel Banks KTM 18 Pts
22. Jake Moss Suzuki 17 Pts
23. Ben Pearce Kawasaki 16 Pts
24. Jason McCarthy Suzuki 16 Pts
25. Charlie Creech Kawasaki 13 Pts
26. Thomas Rushton Honda 13 Pts
27. Cody Mackie Kawasaki 3 Pts
28. Alex Morris Kawasaki 2 Pts

MX1 championship standings after round three of 10:

1. Todd Waters 214 Pts
2. Matt Moss 170 Pts
3. Lawson Bopping 168 Pts
4. Cody Cooper 160 Pts
5. Billy Mackenzie 157 Pts
6. Tye Simmonds 140 Pts
7. Adam Monea 133 Pts
8. Ford Dale 133 Pts
9. Kirk Gibbs 126 Pts
10. Jake Moss 124 Pts
11. Daniel McCoy 122 Pts
12. Jacob Wright 115 Pts
13. Jay Marmont 111 Pts
14. Robbie Marshall 108 Pts
15. Sam Martin 90 Pts
16. James Booth Elliot 89 Pts
17. Codie Macky 86 Pts
18. Cheyne Boyd 72 Pts
19. Keiran Tisdale 48 Pts
20. Paul Humberston 45 Pts

MX2 round three results:

1. Luke Styke Yamaha 67 Pts
2. Luke Clout Yamaha 62 Pts
3. Kale Makeham KTM 58 Pts
4. Josh Cachia Honda 57 Pts
5. Brock Winston KTM 51 Pts
6. Matt Ryan Honda 47 Pts
7. Rhys Carter Suzuki 46 Pts
8. Kayne Lamont KTM 44 Pts
9. Dylan Long KTM 43 Pts
10. Geran Stapleton Suzuki 41 Pts
11. Wade Hunter Suzuki 40 Pts
12. Ryan Marmont Suzuki 39 Pts
13. Takeshi Katsuya Honda 38 Pts
14. kieran scheele Honda 36 Pts
15. Tristen Cachia Honda 31 Pts
16. Kurt Gow Kawasaki 28 Pts
17. Josh Adams KTM 28 Pts
18. Daniel McEntee KTM 25 Pts
19. Luke Wilson Kawasaki 20 Pts
20. Zak Newsome Suzuki 18 Pts
21. John Prutti Suzuki 15 Pts
22. Jedidiah Cornthwaite Honda 15 Pts
23. Joel Green Kawasaki 14 Pts
24. Jordan Flaherty Honda 14 Pts
25. Matt van Slooten Kawasaki 12 Pts
26. Aaron Hart Suzuki 11 Pts
27. Tim Farrell Kawasaki 7 Pts
28. Sam Burns Kawasaki 6 Pts
29. Steven Bowen Honda 3 Pts
30. Levi Addison Yamaha 1 Pts
31. Allister Kent Kawasaki 1 Pts
DNF. Kade Mosig Kawasaki 0 Pts

MX2 Championship standings after round three of 10:

1. Luke Styke 202 Pts
2. Luke Clout 184 Pts
3. Kale Makeham 170 Pts
4. Brock Winsont 160 Pts
5. Josh Cachia 145 Pts
6. Mat Ryan 137 Pts
7. Kayne Lamont 134 Pts
8. Geran Stapleton 131 Pts
9. Takeshi Katsauya 120 Pts
10. Rhys Carter 111 Pts
11. Dylan Long 109 Pts
12. Tristen Cachia 100 Pts
13. Ryan Marmont 97 Pts
14. Wade Hunter 93 Pts
15. Kade Mosig 73 Pts
16. Josh Adams 59 Pts
17. Luke Wilson 51 Pts
18. Zak Newsome 50 Pts
19. Jedidiah Cornthwaite 49 Pts
20. John Prutti 48 Pts

MXD round three results:

1. Jack Simpson KTM 65 Pts
2. Hamish Harwood KTM 64 Pts
3. Joel Dinsdale Yamaha 59 Pts
4. Nick Scott Honda 51 Pts
5. Jay Wilson Yamaha 50 Pts
6. Jake Emanuelli Yamaha 47 Pts
7. Jesse Dobson Kawasaki 44 Pts
8. Logan Blackburn Yamaha 43 Pts
9. Joel Wightman Yamaha 42 Pts
10. Jesse McNally KTM 39 Pts
11. Dakota Court KTM 39 Pts
12. Tomas Ravenhorst KTM 36 Pts
13. Joel Evans Suzuki 36 Pts
14. Aaron Tanti KTM 34 Pts
15. Corey James Yamaha 30 Pts
16. Daniel Sanders Kawasaki 29 Pts
17. Jett Anderson Suzuki 26 Pts
18. Kyle Webster Yamaha 23 Pts
19. Izak Maule Yamaha 22 Pts
20. Meghan Rutledge Kawasaki 21 Pts
21. Nathan Denny KTM 19 Pts
22. Mitchell Nichols KTM 17 Pts
23. Tyler Lange Suzuki 17 Pts
24. Luke Arnold Yamaha 15 Pts
25. Jacob Williams KTM 12 Pts
26. Jesse Madden Yamaha 11 Pts
27. Jordan Bissaker Yamaha 5 Pts
28. Todd Jarratt Kawasaki 5 Pts
29. James Alen KTM 4 Pts
30. Jake Donaher Kawasaki 4 Pts
31. Tyler Goullet Kawasaki 4 Pts
32. Mathew McEntee Honda 3 Pts
33. Bailey Coxon Yamaha 1 Pts
34. Jamie Harvey Suzuki 1 Pts

MXD Championship standings after round three of 10

1. Jack Simpson 132 Pts
2. Hamish Harwood 120 Pts
3. Jesse Dobson 109 Pts
4. Nick Scott 103 Pts
5. Jay Wilson 91 Pts
6. Jake Emanuelli 91 Pts
7. Joel Dinsdale 89 Pts
8. Logan Blackburn 88 Pts
9. Joel Wightman 83 Pts
10. Corey James 82 Pts