Marmont shooting for back-to-back titles

The old sporting adage that "it's harder to stay on top than get there" will be echoing in CDR Yamaha rider Jay Marmont's ears when the 2009 Australian Motocross Championship begins in Wodonga (Vic) on April 4-5.

Marmont won last year's hard-fought championship, aka the MX Nationals, from Daryl Hurley and teammate Cheyne Boyd, and he knows that 2009 will be yet another massive examination as he looks to become the first rider to go back-to-back since Darryll King in 2004.

“My main goal is to go out there and try to win as many races as I can, be consistent and try and take another Championship,” Marmont said. “This year it’s also a lot more than that: it’s always harder to defend a championship than going for your first one.

“Cheyne Boyd is coming into the season uninjured, Todd Waters has found some serious speed lately, and you’ve got Craig Anderson and Andrew McFarlane who have won many Australian championships before and they know what they’ve got to do.

“I think this year it’ll be who can just stick in there and be consistent, but we’ll have to see what happens at the first few rounds.”

“Sometimes it can be a little bit too much (running the No. 1 plate), but I like running it: it’s the best number to have on the track!”

Five riders who finished inside the top 10 will return in 2009, with Marmont and Boyd joined by Cameron Taylor (Shift Motul Suzuki), privateer Michael Addison (Honda) and the experienced Craig Anderson, who's switched to the Kawasaki Racing Team after severing ties with Honda.

As well, former world 250cc motocross runner-up Andrew McFarlane (RAD Yamaha) is back in town for the first time since 2000, and his presence will add yet more spark to the Pro Open battle.

McFarlane, who has been riddled with injury over the last few seasons, can turn fields inside-out when all his planets are aligned, but Marmont will be the biggest target courtesy of his No.1 plate - although he's not a clear favourite like Chad Reed was in the recent Super X title.

Marmont won five races in last year's campaign, the same number as the fast-finishing Boyd.

Even when Marmont wasn't greeting the chequered flag, he was always scoring big points, and in the end he ran out an easy 40pt winner over Hurley, who just held off Boyd. Anderson and Taylor rounded out the top five.

Hurley, the 2005 Aussie champion, is now semi-retired and back home in New Zealand - although he still may compete in a few one-off rounds.

However, the abbreviated presence by Hurley really does spell the end of a magical era where he and his New Zealand cohorts, Darryll King and Shayne King, always took it up to the Aussies.

Boyd will be one rider desperate to dethrone Marmont in 2009, and he knows his best form is more than enough to circulate at the front consistently.

Of all the Pro Open riders, no one is as decorated as Anderson, who won the last of his four Pro Open titles in 2006.

And he actually led last year's championship after the opening four rounds before cracks started to appear with injury and mechanical problems.

His enthusiasm has now been rekindled after the switch to the fuel injected KX450F, and he'll be determined to jump out of the box in Wodonga and prove the best is not yet behind him.

That also holds for McFarlane, who was beyond reproach as Australia's best motocross rider when he left for Europe at the end of 2000. During that era, riders like Reed, Byrne and Anderson regularly succumbed to the feisty Queenslander.

Those halcyon days of pure domination are probably behind him, but a fit and fast McFarlane will be a potent force and certainly capable of winning the championship.

Meanwhile, Peter Boyle will compete in Wodonga for Woodstock Honda Thor Racing, in line with his plan to race motocross where his national enduro commitments allow. Boyle's Pro Open teammates will be Ford Dale and Waters.

After competing in the opening few rounds of this year's AMA Supercross Championship, Queenslander Troy Carroll (Cool Air Kawasaki) has returned home for the MX Nationals, and the three-time Pro Lites (nee 125cc) champion could be a real surprise packet.

Daniel McCoy, last year's sixth-place finisher, is also back in town after severing ties with his American team, and he could be a late entrant.

The last four Pro Open titles have been won by different manufacturers - Suzuki in 2005, followed by Honda, Kawasaki and Yamaha.

In Wodonga, there will be three 20-minute (plus a lap) races for Pro Open, with the Pro Lites battles 15-minute (plus a lap) affairs.

Like Pro Open, there is no rider destined for absolute pre-eminence in Pro Lites, although 16-year-old Tye Simmonds (Motorex KTM) has taken all before him in a number of pre-season events - Pro Open included.

Whether the extra pressure of an Australian championship reduces his productivity remains to be seen, and the likes of reigning champion Luke George (Kawasaki Racing Team), Adam Monea (Kawasaki), Kade Mosig (Motorex KTM), Dean Ferris (Woodstock Honda Thor Racing), Matt Moss (Shift Motul Suzuki) and Ryan Marmont (RAD Yamaha) will be ready to pounce on any mistake.

Simmonds won last year's U19 title, which is now the main feeder class for the open classes.

Moss is also in a rich vein of form, and easily won the Pro Lites title in Super X.

"I’ve been waiting a long time for the season to start and show just how good tthe Suzuki is," said Moss. "After winning the SuperX title, it has made me all the more determined to win the motocross crown.”

Meanwhile, last year's No. 4, Dean Ferris (Woodstock Thor Honda Racing), will miss round one as he continues to recover from a broken arm.

Reigning Australian women's motocross champion, Kristy Gillespie (KTM), will compete as a wildcard in the Pro Lites in front of her home town fans.

"Accepting a wildcard entry will be great training for the women's nationals," said Gillespie. "Being from the local area, it's a great way for me to help promote the sport here.

"The sport is not very mainstream around here, but over the last couple of years it's been getting more and more coverage in the local media, so if I can help and get the sport out there then that's great.

"I know I'm not going to go out there and smoke everyone, but it'll certainly be good practice."

Other Pro Lites stars in Wodonga will include American Chris Gosselaar (Cool Air Kawasaki), Serco Yamaha duo Mitch Hoad and Kirk Gibbs, and Shift Motul Suzuki's Lawson Bopping.

Practice and qualifying begins at the 1.6km circuit on Saturday afternoon, with 11 races on Sunday: three apiece for Pro Open, Pro Lites and U19, and two for 85cc riders, which will double as a qualifying event for this year's world junior title in New Zealand.

Admission is $10 per car on Saturday. Gates open at midday. On Sunday its $30 for adults, $70 for a family two adults and two children), and $15 for children 5-15 years.

For more information on the 2009 MX Nationals, click here.