Race report - Justin McDonald

Hey everyone. Justin here with another riders update for you all. I wrote you guys last, just days before I flew to Adelaide for the fourth round of the Australian Nationals.

I was really looking forward to this one as I had taken a win in the final moto of the previous round. Murray Bridge was the track and it has a pretty loamy surface, much like the Tokaroa circuit. I had a bit of a battle on my hands in moto one with Matt Moss, but I beat him to the line to claim a third. In the second race I grabbed a holeshot, but was unable to keep up with Kirk Gibbs as he was riding sick, so I settled into a good rhythm to claim another third. The track got real rough for the last two motos, which kept me honest and always looking for new lines. I got a fifth in race three, and after fighting to second place I cross rutted a table top and ended up upside down and back in the pack. I caught back up to ninth in the last race which was good enough for a Podium for the overall. I was pretty stoked to get up there in third as it is my best overall result this season.

After the racing on Sunday I drove up the coast to Melbourne which took seven hours, just so I could fly home. I spent the following week doing a bit of training before heading up to Tommy Dillon’s for the club day, but the rain turned his pristine track into a slosh pit, so the club day was cancelled. Everyone was gutted because this track is AMA level moto, and defiantly worth the trip next time it’s on.

After the weekend, Tommy D and I went up to his rutt track and rode until we required headlights to get home.

That brings us to the weekend just been, where I was in Toowoomba, which is a few hours north of Brisbane. I flew in on the Saturday afternoon and was stoked when we rocked up to the track the next morning, only to find the track was under two feet of water, an absolute mud bath.

My day started exactly the way I had in mind with a qualifying result of third, giving me an excellent gate pick for the entire day. Because of the level of water on the track, moto one was more like a jet boat sprint, trying to dodge puddles made it super difficult. Sadly water made its way into the bikes electrics system and caused mayhem. This unavoidable problem caused me to DNF. The conditions on the circuit were so bad that the organizers of the round cancelled the second moto. During this time, Derrick, my mechanic and my little bro lead a team who worked formula one style on my bike, and transformed it, ready for the next race. It was a crazy sight to see, with arms flying everywhere, the boys at team Axis did a great job putting it all together for me. The third moto was still pretty muddy but got the go ahead. I felt confident in the bike and was ready for a decent battle. I got a great start and was slinging mud all over the place during the moto, but held fourth spot by the time the checkers fell. The final moto was tough, as the track was rapidly deteriorating. After a first corner crash, I got up and into a good rhythm, I was able to pass my way into eighth. This gave me a 10th overall for the day.

Special thanks to Derrick for the spannering all weekend, Cayle for his support, John and Mr R from Timaru Honda. Axis Honda for everything, the guys down under from Unit for the support, Dragon Goggles for the 10 thousand tear offs I used in the mud. Also Pirelli Tyres for the traction and Fox for the sick gear.

Justin McDonald # 201