Moss claims Appin, closes in on Waters

For the second time in succession, factory Suzuki teammates Matt Moss and Cody Cooper have claimed the MX1 trifecta in a round of the 2013  Australian Motocross Championship, with the latest outing at Appin (NSW) on July 14.

Last time out at Conondale (Qld) it was Cooper who was the overall victor, but Moss turned the tables in round six with a 65pt haul across the two 30-minute (plus a lap) motos after 1-5 results. Cooper (8-1) finished on 63pts, with the podium completed by KTM’s Kirk Gibbs (63pts, 2-4). The top five was completed by Yamaha’s Lawson Bopping (54pts, 4-6) and Kawasaki’s Adam Monea (53pts, 12-2).

“I’m happy with my form and to win the overall, but I’m really disappointed with that second race,” Moss explained. “The Motul Pirelli Suzuki team went 1-2 and of course I’m really happy with that, but after spending some time in America where the tracks are a lot more wide-open I struggled a bit in the tight stuff. We’ll keep working on these little things and come out swinging for Hervey Bay.”

KTM tyro Todd Waters remains in the championship lead after 7-11 finishes at Appin, just two weeks after breaking his collarbone in a Queensland state event.

>Full results and standings

But Waters will need to bit be fit and firing at Hervey Bay’s round seven on July 28, as Moss is now just 4pts behind him (372 to 376) in the 10-round championship, followed by Mackenzie (340), Cooper (331) and Bopping (320).

Meanwhile, Honda’s recently recruited South African champion Gareth Swanepoel sustained a wrist injury at Appin event and is currently undergoing medical examinations. And Honda’s misery didn’t end there, with its MX2 rider Josh Cachia ruled out of the remainder of the championship due to a wrist injury that requires immediate surgery. Cachia is in third position in the overall MX2 standings.

In the MX2 races, Yamaha’s Luke Styke nailed his fifth round win out of six with another polished performance. Styke shook off some early cobwebs after the six-week break between the rounds to take second in the opening moto, but bounced back to his best in race two to snare a commanding start-to-finish victory. KTM's Kale Makeham was the victor in moto one.