The action never stopped all weekend as round two of the Shell Advance Sunshine State Series hit Coolum with the GYTR/ Yamaha Queensland Dealer Team right in the middle of it. Hot, humid conditions and a gnarly track greeted the riders and provided a great days’ racing.
Simon Thompson (Wurths Motorcycles) bounced back after a tough opening round at Hervey Bay to take a moto victory in the final Pro Open race of the day, beating several nationally ranked riders along the way. He also posted the best lap time of the moto and combine that with his fourth in moto one and Thompson claimed third overall in a very tight knit bunch with only two points separating the top three riders. He also contested the Pro Lites division and showed great speed, finished the day in sixth overall.
"With all the rain at Rockhamton lately I have found it hard to get some bike time. But I was fortunate enough to spend some time at Nick Gecks place in the last week and that has really helped. Serco Yamaha has helped me with my bikes and they are running awesome. I am not fit enough yet, but I am getting better every week," Said Thompson
After a long lay off with injury, Harley Quinlan (Gladstone Motorcycles) returned to the racetrack for the first time in 2008 and didn’t disappoint. In accordance with Motorcycling Queensland policy, riders leaving the junior ranks can only enter Clubman or Intermediate grades. Quinlan, electing to only ride his YZ250F, make easy work of the Intermediate Lites class with a 1-1 performance and had winning margins of around 20 seconds in both motos.
"I am just excited to be back racing again. Today was just about getting some good laps in and building on my race fitness and we did that so I am happy. Each week will only get better from here," Quinlan said.
Scott Jackson (Pro Yamaha) is also in a rebuilding phase after a 12 month layoff and continues his road to full recovery. Despite some falls, Scott still posted some top 10 results in both Pro Open and Pro Lites competition is looking better on the bike every week.
"I had a couple of falls in the early races, but otherwise things went pretty well considering the level of competition here. Coolum is the track my knee let go at last year, so I am glad to get through it safely and look forward to the next event."
And for Nick Geck (Pro Griffin Yamaha), it just wasn’t his day. First turn pile ups, getting hung up on other peoples problems and then a massive crash will dicing for a podium spot in the final Pro Lites moto really took the wind out of his sales. His only moto without incident came right at the end of the day when he posted a seventh in the final Pro Open moto.
"My first turn crash on the 450 was big enough, but the Lites crash when that rider bounced across in front of my on the start straight table top and I flew straight into him, that one really hurt. Today wasn’t the real Nick Geck, next week will be much better," says a sore and sorry Geck.
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COMING UP
March 1- Round 3 Sunshine State Series- Munduberra
March 22/23 – Round 1 QLD Motocross Championships – Townsville
March 29/ 30 – Round 2 QLD Motocross Championships- Gladstone
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ROUND 2- RESULTS
COOLUM
PRO LITES
1st Ryan Marmont
2nd Lawson Bopping
3rd Michael Addison
6th Simon Thompson
9th Scott Jackson
PRO OPEN
1st Stephen Smith
2nd Todd Waters
3rd Simon Thompson
10th Nick Geck
INTERMEDIATE LITES
1st Harley Quinlan
2nd Joel Rizzo
3rd Luke Wilson |
