Local and international racing wrap

Last weekend was a huge one for motorcycle racing around the world, led by the return of MotoGP after a five-month recess.

Valentino Rossi was the winner, while Troy Corser was in the thick of the world superbike action in Spain. Other events included:

YAMAHA AUSTRALIAN FOUR-DAY ENDURO, PORTLAND, NSW
Toby Price led KTM to a whitewash of the (A4DE), winning outright (and the E2 class) from Yamaha's Stefan Merriman and team-mate Jarrod Bewley.

A Merriman crash on day three saw Price move into the lead, which he didn't relinquish on the final motocross test.

"I'm stoked that all my hard work has paid off with a win at the A4DE," said Price.  "It was a team effort, and these guys really helped me achieve my outright win.

"The A4DE didn't start as planned, and I had a crash on day one, but I just told myself that's part of racing and continued on chasing Stefan Merriman, who was leading the E2 class and outright.

"The second day went well, and I lost a little bit of time to Merriman, but the third day I picked it up, and worked out what to do, and it all went from there.  I got a good start in the final moto, and was sitting in second for a bit on a lap, but then everything clicked and I got it together and zoned in for the win.

"The terrain was awesome we were lucky to have had the rain moulding the tracks to near perfect condition.  The KTM 450 EXC was an unbelievable bike, and it did its job to get me across the line in first.  It's all in the set up of the bike to help you feel comfortable and the KTM boys had my set up perfect, and I just feel really thankful to them for that.  

"This is my first ever A4DE win, I came close last year as runner up and thankfully this year the dream came true."

Bewley dominated the E1 class, while Ben Grabham (KTM) was an emphatic winner in E3.

Class
E1 - Bewley, Phillips, Adrian Smith (Yamaha)
E2 - Price, Merriam, Milner
E3 - Grabham, Braico, Mitcham Harper (KTM)
Veterans' -- Brad Williscroft (KTM); Rohan Crouch (Honda); Jason Cater (Yamaha)
Masters' - Geoff Ballard (Yamaha), David Cash (Yamaha), Vaughan Style (Husaberg)
Women's - Jessica Gardiner (Yamaha), Jemma Wilson (Yamaha), Alison Parker (Yamaha)

VIKING GROUP AUSTRALIAN SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP, DARWIN, NT
Team Suzuki rider Josh Waters mastered heat, humidity and a tropical downpour to dominate the second round of the Australian Superbike Championship at the Northern Territory's Hidden Valley Race Circuit on April 9-11.

The reigning Australian Superbike Champion won both superbike races after starting from pole position, claiming a new lap record for the 2.9km Darwin circuit in the second of Sunday's two races.

Waters' clean sweep and maximum points haul has rocketed the 23-year-old from eighth in the points' standings to third place overall and just 9pts behind championship leader Wayne Maxwell.

Waters was in dominating form on his GSX-R1000 at Hidden Valley, winning both races after topping every practice and qualifying session and emerging on top in Saturday's Superpole shootout.

The opening race, held on a wet track, saw two red flags, with results eventually declared after lap eight - but with only half points awarded.

Nevertheless, polesitter Waters still claimed his first win of the season from Glenn Allerton (Honda) and Robbie Bugden (Suzuki).

Waters then led from start to finish in race two from Bryan Staring (Honda) and Allerton.

"That was the weekend we needed to really get back into the championship chase," said Waters. "We came in a long way down on Wayne (Maxwell) and needed to win to keep the pressure on.

"The team did an awesome job to get the bike ready in all conditions; the wet race was just about survival and staying on the bike.

"The second race was much better and I found a good rhythm off the start and settled into it.

"We made up some position in the championship and leave here in third, which is good. Queensland Raceway is the next target; hopefully we're able to keep fighting forward."

Championship leader Wayne Maxwell (Honda) flashed across the line third in race two, but a 10-seocnd penalty for jumping the start saw him officially finish seventh.

In supersport, Suzuki duo Troy Herfoss and Brodie Waters took a win apiece, with Triumph's Christian Casella also finishing on the podium in both races.

A total of 8676 Territorians witnessed the first stand-alone Australian Superbike Championship meeting at Hidden Valley, the first of a five-year deal.

The next round of the Viking Group Australian Superbike Championship will be held at Queensland Raceway (Qld) from June 3-6.

Click on the following link for full results from Hidden Valley.

ENDURO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, SPAIN
Australian Chris Hollis' debut in the championship was a sobering one as he finished with 14-DNF results, while his experienced Husqvarna team-mate Antoine Meo traded wins with Johnny Aubert (KTM).

Mike Ahola (Honda) and Ivan Cervantes (KTM) also shared the honours in E2, and David Knight (KTM) put the sword to the field in E3.

Australia's Josh Green (TM) is 16th overall after the opening round of the juniors.

AMA SUPERCROSS, HOUSTON, TEXAS
In his first competitive outing since breaking his hand in January, Chad Reed (Kawasaki) has finished fourth at round 13 in Houston.

A bad start in the 20-lap 'Main Event' left Reed back in 15th after the first turn, but he meticulously picked off 11 riders to finish the event behind team-mate and race winner Ryan Villopoto, Kevin Windham (Honda) and Ivan Tedesco (Honda).

Australia's other rider, Michael Byrne (Yamaha), was 14th.

"I really didn't have any expectations heading into this race," Reed said. "I just wanted to go out, race and have fun.

"Having not raced for three months my main focus was to work on race fitness and not get involved in an incident that could potentially make or break someone's championship.  

"It was awesome to be back out there in front of the fans. At any other time I would be bitterly disappointed to not be standing on the box but after 12 weeks away from racing I don't think it is such a bad result to miss the podium by one place."

Brett Metcalfe (Honda) was fourth in the Lites class, the same position he holds in the championship.

The AMA supercross caravan will reconvene in St Louis on April 17.