Race Win For Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Dean Ferris at Sydney Super X
Friday, November 11, 2011 at 8:20AM
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Dean Ferris
Monster Energy Kawasaki rider Dean Ferris overcame crashes in the first two Lites races at Sydney Super X at Campbelltown to take a convincing win in the 3rd and final race on his KX250F. Opens rider Billy Mackenzie worked himself to the front of the pack throughout the majority of his races however crashes were to prevent him from capitalising on his good speed. Under 19’s Kawasaki rider Meghan Rutledge rode well to make the main event where she was involved in a heavy crash with another rider, keeping her out of the points.
With a 3 x 6 lap racing format on the cards for the Lites class at the 3rd round of the Super X Championship, good starts were a must at Campbelltown. After a tough start in the first race, Dean Ferris was left fighting hard to make up places and unfortunately crashed putting himself mid-pack at race end. Putting that behind him, Ferris got off to great start in the second moto only to be taken out on the first turn, dashing his chances of a good finish. Determined to turn his night around, Ferris nailed the start in the final moto, claiming the hole-shot on his Monster Energy Kawasaki KX250F and checking out to lead the entirety of the race to take the win. Ferris’s 11-14-1 results left him in 7th for the night.
An optimistic Dean Ferris says, “It’s great to get the race win but it’s really the overall that counts. I think I showed any doubters tonight that I can ride Supercross in both the mud and the dry.”
“My overall results don’t reflect my speed and race wins but I’ve actually won 33% of the final races this series. I’m one of only 3 riders to win a moto. Perhaps better gate picks could’ve helped to avoid first corner carnage and I probably could’ve made a few smarter decisions plus a bit of luck would be good too. I’m looking at changing up my program a bit and get back on track for Mailtand.”
Showing good speed at Campbelltown, Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Billy Mackenzie looked on track for a strong result in the 3rd round. Another good start for Mackenzie in the first moto meant he was able to find the lead in little time however a small crash was to snatch that lead away leaving Mackenzie in 7th place. Mackenzie bagged the hole-shot in the second race and led for the majority of the moto before being passed. 2nd place looked all tied up until a final lap tangle with another rider put Mackenzie off his bike, leaving him in 5th place. In the final moto, Mackenzie’s bike clicked into neutral on the start straight leaving the Monster Energy Kawasaki rider in last place. Mackenzie fought back to take 12th place. Mackenzie’s 7-5-12 results left him in 6th place for the round and 4th place in the Championship with 2 rounds remaining.
Billy Mackenzie says, “I’m feeling confident with my speed after this round. This was only my second dry Super X meet so I’m still on a learning curve. I know now what I have to work on after seeing the speed of the other guys so I have fresh goals for what I want to achieve from my first full Super X season.”
“The KX450F was getting me off to the best possible starts but this track was a lot more technical than the last dry race I did at Parramatta last year so I learnt a lot and I’m confident to really go for the win now.”
Kawasaki’s Meghan Rutledge crashed hard in Under 19’s practise, with some fearing she had cracked her collarbone. Unperturbed, Rutledge put in a solid performance in her heat race to qualify for the main event where she came out firing. Riding well and on track for a strong finish in the final, disaster struck on the final lap when another rider landed on top of Rutledge in a racing incident on the finish jump. After a few heart-stopping minutes, the gutsy 16 year old got herself back onto her feet to the roar of the crowd. Rutledge was taken to hospital with mild concussion and released the next morning with a clean bill of health and black tyre tracks up her back as a memento.
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Billy Mackenzie
Meghan says, “I can’t remember the crash but others have told me that all I wanted to do was get back on my bike and finish the race. When that wasn’t an option I was determined to walk off the track but somehow they tricked me into getting into the race safe buggy, I think maybe my dad pulled rank on me. It was just a racing incident and I’m just relieved that Jake is OK too. I can’t wait to race at Maitland next week”.
Monster Energy Kawasaki Team Manager Troy Carroll says, “It was an up and down night for us. We qualified respectfully on a dry, dusty and technical track. Dean had a bad start in the first and was really unlucky in the second. He came out and won the third moto and we know that that’s something he can do every week, we’ve just had some bad luck but hopefully that can change at Maitland. Billy was very fast this week but came together with some riders and had some crashes. It didn’t go our way. Like I said last week, all we can do is fix the problems and move forward for next weekend. Hopefully Maitland can be a better round for us.”
With overall results so far not reflecting the team’s speed and ability, Monster Energy Kawasaki head to Maitland, NSW this weekend determined to capture that elusive overall round win and add more race wins to their 2011 Super X campaign.
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