Report and results: WSX Perth RD3

In SX1 Eli Tomac took the holeshot but Savatgy was there in second and Roczen third out of turn one. Roczen battled Savatgy as Tomac started pulling away but then Savatgy picked it up and caught Tomac only for Tomac to find his rhythm again and extend the lead to two seconds by the flag. Dean Wilson crashed mid-race but his bike took out Colt Nicholls who went down hard and needed medical attention.

Race two was fantastic with Eli Tomac finally not getting the holeshot and starting fifth just behind Roczen in fourth with Dean Wilson out front! It became a four-way battle for the win with Wilson, Savatgy, Roczen and Tomac, thrilling the fans. Tomac and Roczen went at it for third, Roczen always finding a way back past Tomac and then Savatgy, on lap five, finally finding a way by Wilson for the lead. Roczen followed suit as did Tomac but neither could make the ground back up on Savatgy who took the win and ended Tomac’s win streak.

This is theatre. 🎭

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Normal service was resumed in race three with Tomac back to getting the holeshot and he gradually pulled away from Savatgy to win as Roczen was buried off the start and had to ride hard to work his way into third. Wilson and Aranda rounded out the top five.

In SX2 Shane McElrath won the opening moto but despite the holeshot it was easy as Maxime Desprey kept him honest initially before Schock came through to second and was relling McElrath in with teammate Lopes following until Schock ran into a tuff block and got the material caught in his rear wheel forcing him to not jump the big jumps and ending his chance of the win. Lopes closed in on McElrath but ran out of time to make a move.

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In race two McElrath again holeshot but this time Schock had a bad start with Lopes even further back allowing McElrath to pull away for the win. Cullin Park had to fend off both Schock and Lopes and did so successfully to take second after Schock made a mistake trying to make the pass and that allowed Lopes into third.

McElrath didn’t get the start in race three but Schock and Lopes did! Schock and Lopes started pulling away as McElrath worked his way into third and then it was Lopes turn to get a tuff block caught in his back wheel but unfortunately for Lopes the material got stuck between the wheel and swingarm and ended his race the first time he got a good start all weekend! McElrath caught Schock but couldn’t find a way to make the pass on the final lap as Schock took the win.

Superfinal

Eli Tomac took the drama out of the superfinal by getting the holeshot and pulliung away from Savtagy and Roczen who would find his way past Savatgy to take second. The race for fourth was exciting with McElrath passing Lopes, Schock and Aranda to take fourth on the 250 with Lopes fifth, Schock sixth and Aranda seventh, the Frenchman had a great day in Perth showing his speed. Unfortunately Dean Wilson went down hard in the superfinal leading to a DNF and needing medical attention.

Tomac said: “It was great to see this many people show up we had a solid crowd these two nights. So cool to check out a new part of the world and to see motocross fans everywhere.”

A frustrated Roczen said: “Starts… terrible! My biggest struggle is this kind of dirt…it’s a nightmare for me. I am no new suspension we only had one day of suspension. It’s a tough one trying to learn that, I don’t think with this kind of dirt anything feels amazing but this was just really tough for me. I really tried but I was outside my comfort zone with this one for sure. I need to figure out my starts. The most important thing is we tried and we learn from this and keep working forward.”

McElrath said: “Not a great start (in superfinal), got too anxious on the gate. Bumping and banging, we fought hard. This has been great, a little bit short of what I wanted to do today but we did the best we could.”

SX1 Overall