Kawasaki Racing Team’s Craig Anderson narrowly missed finishing inside the top five at the fifth round of the Monster Energy SuperX Championship at Parramatta Stadium on Saturday 14 November. Craig rode well on his KX450F to finish in 6^th place in front of more than 12,000 fans and retain his 8^th place position in the series. Lites rider Luke Arbon had a round he’s quickly putting behind him, missing out on the top ten due to crashes in the final motos.

Craig Anderson’s day of racing got off to a brilliant start with the multiple Australian Champion clocking the 5^th fastest qualifying time on board his Kawasaki KX450F to secure a good gate pick in the finals.

Racing was gruelling throughout the final four motos with the last 5 riders across the line in each moto unable to progress to the next race. Knowing he couldn’t afford to make any mistakes, Craig finished his first race in 10^th place to progress easily to the second moto. A 6^th place finish in the second moto and Craig was easily through to the third moto. Craig raced well in the third race taking 6th place however with only the first five finishers progressing to the final moto, Craig had to settle for 6^th place for the day.

Craig says, “I’m fairly happy with the result. I felt I was riding as good as the top five guys. The KX450F continues to get better and better as the series goes on so I’m looking forward to New Zealand.”

With the speed and flair that Lites rider Luke Arbon was showing on his KX250F throughout practise at Parramatta, KRT was confident of a strong result from the 17 year old. Luke finished inside the top ten in his first moto taking 9^th place however first lap crashes in the next two races quickly ended his chances of a top ten finish for the round. Luke had to settle for 16^th place for the round and sits in 11^th place in the Championship.

Luke says, “I felt really good and felt confident on the bike but it didn’t go my way tonight. I’m looking forward to Brisbane. I’ve got to have some luck in one of these rounds surely! I’ll be training solidly for the next three weeks and come out strong.”

KRT Manager Brett Whale says, “I’m happy with Ando’s performance. He rode well to finish in 6^th place. An unfortunate result for Luke. He looked good tonight however he was over-trying and that cost him.”

With only the top fifteen Open riders heading over to New Zealand for round 6 of the Monster Energy SuperX Championship, Lites rider Luke Arbon will stay in Australia and train while his teammate Craig Anderson battles it out for even more Championship points at Waikato Stadium, Hamilton, New Zealand on Saturday 21 November.

Although the hard packed Canberra track was not overly suited to KRT’s Craig Anderson and Luke Arbon, both riders still managed to advance a position on the leader board at the 4^th round of the Monster Energy SuperX at Canberra on Sat 7 November.  

Open rider Craig Anderson qualified well in 4^th place on his KX450F and looked on track to finish inside the top 5 at Canberra. The hard packed conditions, unsuited to Craig’s aggressive style of riding, prevented the twelve time Australian Champion from finishing inside the top 5. Craig still finished inside the top ten with his 8-9-9 results throughout the three moto finals leaving him in 9^th position overall for the round. Craig’s consistent points haul throughout the Monster Energy SuperX series advances him to 8^th place overall in the Championship.

Craig says, “I qualified well but I didn’t feel like I could ride to my full potential on the hard track. It’s still good to take away points and move up the ladder. I’m looking forward to moving even further up the leader board at Parramatta in front of a home crowd.”

Proving he is yet to show his true potential in the series, young Lites rider Luke Arbon moves inside the top ten in the Championship even though he suffered a DNF in one of his final motos at Canberra. Luke’s 10-DNF-8 result at the 4^th round still gave the 17 year old enough points to advance him to 10^th overall in the Championship. The unfortunate DNF came about from a final corner incident where Luke was hit from behind by another rider.

KRT Manager Brett Whale says, “It was certainly a tough weekend for Kawasaki at Canberra. We are definitely looking forward to the Sydney round this coming weekend. Ando should put on a good show in front of a home crowd.”

KRT’s Craig Anderson and Luke Arbon will be racing for even more Championship points at the 5^th round of the 2009 Monster Energy SuperX Championships at Parramatta Stadium on Saturday 14 November.