He is the New Zealand MX2 champion for 2014 and now Mangakino’s Kayne Lamont has eyes focussed on talking the Australian crown as well.

The Husqvarna rider from the South Waikato has now made it two outright wins from three starts across the Tasman this year, claiming another valuable win at the third round of 10 in the Monster Energy Australian Motocross Championship at Wonthaggi, in Victoria, at the weekend.

The Husqvarna Red Bull WIL Sport NZ Racing Team rider had a cracking day in perfect conditions at the series opener at Broadford, near Melbourne, in March, taking the MX2 class round win ahead of KTM duo Brendan Harrison, of Australia, and Hamish Harwood, from Takaka, near Nelson.

But Lamont crashed heavily at round two at Appin, in New South Wales, a fortnight ago and was unable to push for a podium finish.

The Husqvarna star certainly rebounded from that set-back in positive fashion at round three at the weekend.

The BikesportNZ.com-supported rider managed 2-1 results from his two MX2 class outings at Wonthaggi on Sunday, thrusting himself back into championship-winning position.

Lamont had slipped from first to fourth position overall in the standings after his unfortunate afternoon at round two, but he is now back up to second spot, just 13 points adrift of leader Luke Clout (Yamaha).

Lamont had seemed to have race one in the bag when he passed race leader Clout just two corners from the end, but momentum did him no favours and he just as quickly lost the advantage.

“We came together in the corner, but I popped out of the rut and he (Clout) managed to hold his line. I was pushed out and slipped back to second again,” said Lamont.

“It was a great track, very similar to Whakatane, and I enjoyed it. I especially liked the big jumps. This was probably one of my favourite tracks.

“I’m pretty much fully healed now after my appendix operation, so I’m back into my training routine and I feel great.”

Fellow Kiwi Harwood (CMR Red Bull KTM) remains in touch with the leaders, in third place overall, two points behind Lamont.

“I want to thank Jeff Leisk in Australia and Patrick Stafford in New Zealand for all their support,” said Lamont. “I also thank Husqvarna, Red Bull, WIL Sport, Philip Parry Contracting, BikesportNZ.com, Workshop Graphics, Motorex, Suspension Tech, Karl Mason Builders, Advance Physiotherapy and Kinetic Planning.”

Meanwhile, in the MX1 class, Kawasaki rider Adam Monea put in a consistent effort to claim overall honours at Wonthaggi.

Beautiful weather and a large crowd of spectators witnessed some fantastic racing in the Monster MX1 class, where the top three riders all finished the day on 60 points.

However on a countback, it was Monea who claimed the round win (3-3 from his two races) ahead of Team Motul Suzuki’ Matt Moss (2-4) and KTM Motocross Race Team’s Kirk Gibbs (1-6).

In the opening MX1 moto, it was a familiar sight with Jake Moss (National Pump Monster Energy Kawasaki) and Matt Moss both streaming to the front from the start gate.

It was Jake who managed to take the holeshot, before being passed by brother Matt just a few corners later.

However on the second lap, Jake Moss went over his bars at the back section of the track, pushing him down to 20th – he finished the race in 17th overall.

CDR Yamaha rider Billy Mackenzie rode up into second place, before he lost control of his handlebars on lap seven and was forced back into seventh position.

At that point the race settled down with Matt Moss leading the way from Monea, Gibbs and Kade Mosig (DPH Motorsport).

It was the first time that Moss had really looked challenged in 2014 when out in front, and the racing was tight for the next seven laps.

That was when the action really heated up.

On lap 15, Monea passed Moss to claim the lead, and two jumps later Gibbs passed Moss relegating the reigning champion to third spot.

But just as Monea’s consistent riding looked like it would pay off, he crashed into a lapped rider and dropped back to third position – where he eventually finished.

Gibbs held on to claim the race win from Moss, with Mosig finishing in fourth and Suzuki privateer Hayden Mellross claiming fifth.

While race one proved to be unpredictable, race two ended up being even moreso.

In the second moto, Mackenzie began the race on the pace taking out the holeshot, and control over the rest of the field.

He shot clear of Matt Moss, Jake Moss, New Zealand MX1 champion Cody Cooper (Penrite Honda Racing) and fellow Kiwi Rhys Carter (Team Motul Suzuki) and lead from start to finish to claim the race win.

The surprise of the moto was witnessing the seeming invincibility of Matt Moss challenged, and the Suzuki leader drifted from second spot to fourth by the end of the race.

He was passed by Jake Moss and Cooper on the third lap of the moto but could not peg them back – younger brother Jake finishing the race in second.

In third place for the moto was Monea, who after a bad start found himself in ninth place and battling mid-field.

But a tenacious effort from the Kawasaki rider saw him claw his way to third by the end of the 30-minute moto, doing enough to take the overall honours on the day.

In the overall championship standings, Matt Moss actually increased his championship lead from Gibbs to be 22 points clear, with Monea a further 14 points behind in third.

© Main photo by Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com

Additional photo courtesy Jeff Crow

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RESULTS:

 

MX1 CLASS:

MX1 Superpole:

1) Matt Moss 1:46.488 (5 points)

2) Cody Cooper 1:46.521 (4 points)

3) Kirk Gibbs 1:46.525 (3 points)

4) Adam Monea 1:46.641 (2 points)

5) Jake Moss 1:46.670 (1 points)

 

MX1 Class Round Results:

1) Adam Monea 60 (30, 30)

2) Matt Moss 60 (32, 28)

3) Kirk Gibbs 60 (35, 25)

4) Billy Mackenzie 56 (21, 35)

5) Kade Mosig 49 (28, 21)

6) Rhys Carter 48 (25, 23)

7) Jake Moss 46
(14, 32)

8) Cody Cooper 45 (19, 26)

9) Hayden Mellross 45 (26, 19)

10) Sam Martin 44 (22, 22)

 

MX1 Class Overall Championship Standings:

1) Matt Moss 238

2) Kirk Gibbs 216

3) Adam Monea 202

4) Jake Moss 186

5) Billy Mackenzie 181

6) Kade Mosig 169

7) Rhys Carter 168

8) Hayden Mellross 159

9) Jay Marmont 156

10) Jacob Wright 142

 

MX2 CLASS:

Round results:

 

1) Kayne Lamont 67 (32, 35)

2) Luke Clout 61 (35, 26)

3) Hamish Harwood 60 (28, 32)

4) Luke Arbon 51 (21, 30)

5) Errol Willis 51 (23, 38)

6) Brenden Harrison 50 (25, 25)

7) Kale Makeham 46 (22, 24)

8) Jay Wilson 45 (24, 21)

9) Geran Stapleton 44 (30, 14)

10) Jake Emanualli 42 (19, 23)

 

MX2 Class Championship Standings:

1) Luke Clout 207

2) Kayne Lamont 194

3) Hamish Harwood 192

4) Brenden Harrison 180

5) Kale Makeham 167

6) Jay Wilson 149

7) Errol Willis 140

8) Wade Hunter 140

9) Luke Arbon 137

10) Ryan Marmont 135