Yamaha rider Jay Marmont is one step closer to taking out his third consecutive Australian Motocross Pro Opens Championship after winning the penultimate seventh round of the 2010 series at Moree NSW on Sunday.

He had his hands full trying to tame Kiwi hero Cody Cooper, the Suzuki man in hot form after his big win at the Tarawera 100 cross-country endurance race near Whakatane, but Cooper (pictured above) was suffering from illness at the weekend and had to settle for third overall on the day.

Even so, with Cooper finishing 1-2-2-11 at Moree it meant it was enough to see him move up from sixth to fourth in the standings.

Marmont won two of the four Pro Open motos while Cooper and Honda-mounted privateer Dean Ferris took one win apiece.

Cooper, who found form in the last round, made light work of the first moto, however he became unstuck by Ferris and Marmont — forced to battle with the pair leaving him with a 1-2-2-11 scorecard for the day.

Coming into the 2010 Series without a factory ride, Ferris finally managed to harness his raw speed, keeping it on two wheels to produce a run of top-three results, placing him second overall in the championship standings heading into the final round at Coolum QLD on July 24-25.

Meanwhile things didn’t go to plan for Cool Air Kawasaki Racing Team’s Scottish import Billy Mackenzie, who, while looking to close the points gap qualified fastest ahead of Ferris and Cooper, however he was unable capitalise on this – his best result for the day a fourth in the last moto.

Also hoping for a better round was Bourke local and Moree Motorcycle Club life member Tye Simmonds.

The JDR Motorex KTM rider sustained an injury earlier in the week and as a result struggled to make the most of his home-track advantage, a second place in the final race his best result for the round.

Only 54 points separate the top five riders and with 150 points up for grabs at the final round fans will be in for a massive weekend of racing!

“It’s great to finally get the overall win,” Marmont said afterwards.

“I worked my butt off in the lead up to this round and the whole team got behind me.

“We changed a few settings on the bike and it’s come up really great.

“These guys were the fastest out there today and they really pushed me so hats off to them and I’m really looking forward to the final round at Coolum in a week’s time.

“It’s great to see Ryan [Jay’s younger brother] get the round win in the Pro Lites class – I couldn’t have him win it without me taking out the round too as he’d hang it on me all week!

Cooper agreed it was a tough day of battling.

“I’ve been sick all week and today I feel so much better than I have for a week, but in that last moto it was like sprinting for 15 minutes and I just wanted to throw up everywhere at the end,” said Cooper.

“Credit to these guys though, they rode great and it’s been awesome coming out to Moree for the round.

“Thanks to everyone for coming out and watching and I hope you all liked it!”

Meanwhile, in the Pro Lites class, JDR Motorex KTM rider Ryan Marmont has won the penultimate round at Moree, with GYTR Rockstar Yamaha rider Ross Beaton taking out the Under 19’s class.

The Pro Lites class certainly threw out a few surprises with a total of nine riders finishing in the top three throughout the four races run.

Consistency paid off for Marmont, who, with a score card of 3-2-7-5, managed to take the round win and step into second place in the championship standings.

Marmont’s team-mate, US rider PJ Larsen, still retains his series lead despite seeming to struggle at Moree, uncharacteristically crashing a number of times and unable to dominate as he has in previous races.

Fans got to see some of Larsen’s form when he won the second race, however, the Championship leader was overshadowed by epic battles from the likes of Serco Yamaha rider and South Australian Kirk Gibbs, his teammate and Queensland local Ford Dale, Cool Air Kawasaki Racing Team’s Cody Mackie, and Marmont.

UK rider Jason Dugan (KTM) looked to be a force to be reckoned with however a DNF in the final moto saw his efforts go unrewarded while KTM’s newest recruit Brendan Harrison reminded everyone of what he was capable of showcasing some serious speed in the early motos.

Larsen now sits a comfortable 84 points ahead of second placed Marmont, with Gibbs a mere four points behind the former Champ heading into the final massive double-header round at Coolum.

The only Kiwi racing this class at Moree was Rotorua’s Michael Phillips (Honda) and he finished 10th overall for the day.

The Kiwi was involved in some drama, involved in a first-corner crash in the third Pro Lites race and he sustained a deep cut to the inside of his elbow which required medical attention.

“I was a bit disappointed with my first two races as the bike was awesome but I suffered arm pump,” Phillips explained.

“It was very pleasing to get back out for the final race and finish third. I felt like I rode a strong race and hopefully I can take that through to the final at Coolum this weekend.

“A big thanks to the Race Safe guys for patching me up and getting me back out for the final race,” he said.

In the Under 19’s class the day belonged to GYTR Rockstar Yamaha rider Ross Beaton, while JDR Motorex KTM’s Josh Cachia has retained his series lead, albeit by only 11 points.

It wasn’t a great day in the office for Cachia with the Kilmore local running into strife several times on the track in a culmination of crashes and poor starts –- however Beaton survived the dynamic MX Sprint format to finish the day with a 2-1-3-3 score card, gaining valuable points and reigning in the series leader.

Best of the Kiwis in the under-19s class was Taupo’s Cameron Dillon (Honda), fifth overall for the day.

RESULTS:

Pro Open round seven results:

1 Jay Marmont – 90

2 Dean Ferris – 87

3 Cody Cooper (NZ) – 79

4 Cheyne Boyd – 65

5 Billy Mackenzie – 59

6 Tye Simmonds – 56

7 Richie Leech – 51

8 Daniel McCoy – 45

9 Riley Graham – 43

10 Todd Waters – 42

11 Louis Calvin – 33

12 Danny Ham – 29

13 Simon Thompson – 29

14 Robbie Marshall – 27

15 Kym Wright – 25

16 Lewis Woods – 19

17 Matt Haworth – 19

18 Brent Landman – 18

19 Zak Newsome – 15

20 Danny Anderson – 15

21 Shaun Scrivner – 10

22 Chase Mosig – 7

23 Beau Ralston – 7

24 Tom Leach – 5

25 Luke Wilson – 4

26 Ben Clark – 3

27 Ben Iles – 2

28 Michael Munro – 0

29 Jamie Shaw – 0

30 Peter Horwood – 0

31 Brendan Brewer – 0

32 Chris Thomas – 0

33 Bryce Loder – 0

34 Nathan Brochtrup – 0

35 Dean Porter – 0

36 Craig Anderson – 0

37 Jamie Woods – 0

Pro Open standings after seven rounds:

1 Jay Marmont 385 Points

2 Dean Ferris 345 Points

3 Billy Mackenzie 338 Points

4 Cody Cooper (NZ) 334 Points

5 Tye Simmonds 331 Points

6 Cheyne Boyd 329 Points

7 Todd Waters 272 Points

8 Daniel McCoy 243 Points

9 Lewis Woods 178 Points

10 Beau Ralston 157 Points

11 Riley Graham 127 Points

12 Andrew McFarlane 111 Points

13 Dean Porter 106 Points

14 Louis Calvin 105 Points

15 Robbie Marshall 96 Points

16 Simon Thompson 92 Points

17 Richie Leech 83 Points

18 Brent Landman 83 Points

19 Danny Anderson 76 Points

20 Craig Anderson 76 Points

Pro Lites round seven results:

1 Ryan Marmont – 72

2 PJ Larsen – 64

3 Cody Mackie – 61

4 Michael Addison – 61

5 Kirk Gibbs – 60

6 Brendan Harrison – 57

7 Ford Dale – 52

8 Jason Dugan – 52

9 Lawson Bopping – 51

10 Michael Phillips (NZ) – 47

11 Luke George – 46

12 Kim Ashkenazi – 41

13 Brock Winston – 39

14 Kade Mosig – 38

15 Lewis Stewart – 28

16 Matti Seistola – 27

17 Kieran Tisdale – 20

18 Matt Ryan – 17

19 Nick Murray – 15

20 Luke Styke – 11

21 Paul Humberston – 8

22 Kale Makeham – 4

23 Mick Macdermid – 4

24 Sam Duncanson – 3

25 Dale Wheeler – 3

26 Tim Vare – 3

27 Matthew Whiley – 0

28 Tim Farrell – 0

29 Joshua Spanos – 0

30 Kurt Chalker – 0

31 Scott Lillis – 0

32 James Blackwood – 0

33 Gianni Dalle-Molle – 0

34 Josh Adams – 0

35 Mitchell Austin – 0

Pro Lites standings after seven rounds:

1 PJ Larsen 421 Points

2 Ryan Marmont 337 Points

3 Kirk Gibbs 333 Points

4 Cody Mackie 332 Points

5 Ford Dale 278 Points

6 Lawson Bopping 270 Points

7 Luke Styke 230 Points

8 Michael Phillips (NZ) 228 Points

9 Kade Mosig 215 206 Points

10 Luke George 207 Points

11 Michael Addison 172 Points

12 Brendan Harrison 138 Points

13 Brock Winston 124 Points

14 Kim Ashkenazi 109 Points

15 Darryll King (NZ) 107 Points

16 Matt Ryan 106 Points

17 Jason Dougan 99 Points

18 Lewis Stewart 98 Points

19 Nick Murray 94 Points

20 Cameron Taylor 77 Points

21 Kieran Tisdale 75 Points

22 Kody Wheeler 65 Points

23 Tim Vare 50 Points

24 Joel Hall 41 Points

Under-19s round seven results:

1 Ross Beaton – 87

2 Harley Quinlan – 82

3 Joshua Cachia – 72

4 Errol Willis – 62

5 Cameron Dillon (NZ) – 51

6 Nicholas Sutherland – 50

7 Matthew Phillips – 48

8 Shaun Redhead – 46

9 John Phillips (NZ) – 44

10 Sam Southey – 44

11 Dylan Peterson – 42

12 Geran Stapleton – 39

13 Corey Lucas – 37

14 Alex Morris – 32

15 Kieran Leigh (NZ) – 23

16 Luke Bond – 18

17 Carl Flynn – 18

18 Mitch Budd – 18

19 Ethan Martens (NZ) – 18

20 Jake Wright – 15

21 Trent Loder – 13

22 Jake Williams – 8

23 Daniel McEntee – 7

24 Brad Partridge – 5

25 Jacob Mcleod – 2

26 Cameron Eastaway – 2

27 Cameron Solomon – 1

28 John Prutti – 0

29 Brodie Hodgson – 0

30 Taylor Wiese – 0

31 Shaun Jennison – 0

32 Kurt Wightman – 0

33 Stephen Spark – 0

34 Brad Potter – 0 0

35 Ty Ogden – 0

36 Sam Burns – 0

37 Brent Dean – 0

38 Ryan Hunt – 0

39 Kyle McKeddie – 0

40 Luke Arbon – 0

Under 19s standings after 7 rounds:

1 Joshua Cachia 406 Points

2 Ross Beaton 395 Points

3 Harley Quinlan 309 Points

4 Dylan Peterson 297 Points

5 Matthew Phillips 296 Points

6 Luke Arbon 231 Points

7 John Phillips (NZ) 222 Points

8 Kieran Leigh (NZ) 218 Points

9 Cameron Dillon (NZ) 192 Points

10 Ethan Martens (NZ) 186 Points

11 Errol Willis 185 Points

12 Hamish Dobbyn (NZ) 177 Points

13 Nicholas Sutherland 159 Points

14 Shaun Redhead 151 Points

15 Sam Southey 139 Points

16 Alex Morris 118 Points

17 Geran Stapleton 98 Points

18 Jake Wright 91 Points

19 Mitch Budd 76 Points

20 Luke Bond 67 Points

21 Corey Lucas 56 Points

© Photos by Kjax Communications and Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com