News XBR Australian Team 2009 TRANS TASMAN CUP - RACE DAY 1 UPDATE
Saturday, 24 October 2009 18:56 Section: News - XBR Australian Team
ABOVE: Australian Mighty Eleven Teams Jayden Seal, Andrew Hughes, Jarod Berry, Hayden Jones, Caleb Datson
From Jarod Berry - AUSTRALIAN MIGHTY ELEVENS
Aussies started the day well and won the first race. In the 2nd race Aussies won again but the score was closer. In the 3rd race there was 1 point in it. Over all it was 70-47. Aussies rock and go XBR.
By JBERRY
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Gav D here are the helm - that was my TABO mate - JBERRY bouncing ya all a report from the Mighty Elevens today at Cambridge.
The track is spectacular, the weather perfect and the racing has been awesome. I am hoping that tomorrow I will be able to upload some footage and photos - at the moment - I don't have my video camera and I have lost my card reader (not good).
The opening ceremony saw the NZ Mighty Elevens perform the HAKA and then racing commenced. The first race was always going to be a nerve racking one as both sides sussed each other out for the first time. Chelsea King led out the gate and was never headed. The battle for all the other positions was hard fought with the final results as follows
SENIOR GIRLS
XBR AUSTRALIA 1 Chelsea King 10pts
BMX NZ 2 Nicole Wright 8pts
XBR AUSTRALIA 3 Madison Janssen 6pts
BMX NZ 4 Hannah Sarten 5pts
XBR AUSTRALIA 5 Rachel Jones 4pts
BMX NZ 6 Monique Smith 3pts
XBR AUSTRALIA 7 Sarah Harvey 2pts
BMX NZ 8 Nicole Eady 1pt
XBR AUSTRALIA TOTAL MOTO 1: 22
BMX NZ TOTAL MOTO 1: 17
Jake Lowe burst out the blocks and Hughesy and Bodi Turner tucked in behind. Spaghetti Gedye got shut down by some good work from the kiwis but it was not enough to stop the Aussies from crossing the line 1, 2 & 3 and making an ideal start to their defence of the Trans Tasman Cup. This is how the rest of the moto panned out.
SENIOR BOYS:
XBR AUSTRALIA 1 Jake Lowe 10pts
XBR AUSTRALIA 2 Kyle Hughes 8pts
XBR AUSTRALIA 3 Bodi Turner 6pts
BMX NZ 4 Michael Bias 5pts
BMX NZ 5 Bradley Gates 4pts
BMX NZ 6 Ryan Lewis 3pts
XBR AUSTRALIA 7 Steven Gedye 2pts
BMX NZ 8 Matthew Tew 1pt
XBR AUSTRALIA TOTAL MOTO 1: 26
BMX NZ TOTAL MOTO 1: 13
Second Moto and once again Chelsea burst out the gate and into the lead. This kind of racing is not only about speed - but how you work together as a team, how the coaches and captain's team strategies work. Unfortunately for us, part of our plan was for Sarah to ride straight and block anyone coming from behind - unfortunately - her team mate Rachel took that line and Sarah shut her down - doh! Rachel washed off all her speed and couldn't get back in the race. Whilst Chelsea took the win, the Aussies took moto honors by only one point. These Kiwi Girls have been training as a team and they are working well as a team. Our girls may have a bit more speed then the Kiwis - but we will need to get the teamwork happening a little better if we are to hang onto the Trans Tasman Cup. Madison and Sarah rode well but could only pick up 4th and 6th. Rachel rolled in in 8th. A lesson learned and more talking required in future races.
MOTO 2
SENIOR GIRLS
XBR AUSTRALIA 1 Chelsea King 10pts
BMX NZ 2 Hannah Sarten 8pts
BMX NZ 3 Nicole Wright 6pts
XBR AUSTRALIA 4 Madison Janssen 5pts
BMX NZ 5 Monique Smith 4pts
XBR AUSTRALIA 6 Sarah Harvey 3pts
BMX NZ 7 Nicole Eady 2pts
BMX NZ 8 Rachel Jones 1pt
XBR AUSTRALIA TOTAL MOTO 2: 20 TOTAL: 42
BMX NZ TOTAL MOTO 2: 19 TOTAL: 36
The revenge of the Kiwis continued in moto 2 as our captain Bodi Turner unclipped out the gate and ended up at the back of the pack. Nugget (Jake Lowe) rode on the wheels of NZ Ryan Lewis to the line and pulled a 2nd with Hughes and Gedye pulling in - 4th and 5th. Whilst Bodi was fighting it out the back of the pack he found himself shut down by two kiwi riders and ended up kissing the dirt. He was disappointed and rolled into collect his 1 point for 8th position.
SENIOR BOYS:
BMX NZ 1 Ryan Lewis 10pts
XBR AUSTRALIA 2 Jake Lowe 8pts
BMX NZ 3 Bradley Gates 6pts
XBR AUSTRALIA 4 Kyle Hughes 5pts
XBR AUSTRALIA 5 Steven Gedye 4pts
BMX NZ 6 Matthew Tew 3pts
BMX NZ 7 Michael Bias 2pts
XBR AUSTRALIA 8 Bodi Turner 1pt
XBR AUSTRALIA TOTAL MOTO 2: 18 TOTAL: 44
BMX NZ TOTAL MOTO 2: 21 TOTAL: 34
Final moto for the day and bit by bit the riders were gaining a greater understanding of the importance of team strategies for racing. From my perspective it was great to see the riders discuss a plan and then to sit back and watch it unfold as they had mostly planned.
The gate dropped and the unstoppable Chelsea King rode her way into first position. Madison tucked in behind for a second until Monique Smith hooked under in the first berm. Rachel Jones slipped into 5th position and Airlie Gooden in her first ride of the day, geared up for a dog fight with two other kiwi riders at the back of the pack. She fought hard but at the end of the days the two girls managed to hold her at bay. There was another close battle with Rachel Jones and Hannah Sarten with Rachel just holding on for 5th position.
Here is how they finished:
MOTO 3
SENIOR GIRLS
XBR AUSTRALIA 1 Chelsea King 10pts
BMX NZ 2 Monique Smith 8pts
XBR AUSTRALIA 3 Madison Janssen 6pts
BMX NZ 4 Nicole Wright 5pts
XBR AUSTRALIA 5 Rachel Jones 4pts
BMX NZ 6 Hannah Sarten 3pts
BMX NZ 7 Nicole Eady 2pts
XBR AUSTRALIA 8 Airlie Gooden 1pt
XBR AUSTRALIA TOTAL MOTO 3: 21 TOTAL: 62
BMX NZ TOTAL MOTO 3: 18 TOTAL: 55
Once again I was with Bodi and the team as they come up with their strategies for this race - and it was awesome to watch it unfold as they had planned - well mostly. The idea was to get the boys 1, 2 & 3 out the berm with Spaghetti swooping down in to do battle in the pack and see how he many kiwis he could upset in the process.
I have actually been debating as to whether I should put the names of the riders and their positions because it is mostly irrelevant. It is a bit like saying - you are a lousy football player because you didn't score any goals - when you are a defender!!!
Anyway - the plan almost worked - but the NZ captain snuck in between Hughesy and Nugget to upset our aspirations for a first, second and third finish.
SENIOR BOYS:
XBR AUSTRALIA 1 Bodi Turner 10pts
XBR AUSTRALIA 2 Kyle Hughes 8pts
BMX NZ 3 Bradley Gates 6pts
XBR AUSTRALIA 4 Jake Lowe 5pts
BMX NZ 5 Michael Bias 4pts
BMX NZ 6 Ryan Lewis 3pts
XBR AUSTRALIA 7 Steven Gedye 2pts
BMX NZ 8 Matthew Tew 1pt
XBR AUSTRALIA TOTAL MOTO 3: 25 TOTAL: 69
BMX NZ TOTAL MOTO 3: 14 TOTAL: 48
Overall it was a good day for the Aussies. All of our teams are leading with the Mighty Elevens and the Senior boys in extremely strong positions. The Senior Girls have 7 point lead which isn't much - but we will take it.
There are only two motos remaining tomorrow and I can tell you that the Kiwis will come out with all guns blazing in the first gate. There has been great racing from all teams and when I find my card reader - I will be able to download some photos and share them with you. In the meantime - keep your fingers crossed that the Aussies can get continue their current form and fly home on Monday with some great silverware to put on display.
Tune in tomorrow for the final results.
South
Gavin D
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