News Release
Suzuki Supreme On Both Sides Of The Tasman
08 April 2008
Could it again be national titles on both sides of the Tasman for New Zealand Suzuki star Daryl Hurley?
There are still a few months to go before that question can be answered but the 32-year-old from Hawera certainly made his intentions clear at the opening round of the Australian Motocross Championships in Tasmania on Sunday.
Riding one of the fabulous new fuel-injected RM-Z450 bikes, Hurley finished 1-2 in the day’s two main races, opening his 2008 account in Australia with a five-point lead over his nearest challenger, many-time former Australian champion Craig Anderson.
Hurley last won the Australian open class title in 2005 but he has had two seasons since that have been blighted by injury.
Battling back from a collarbone injury, he finished runner-up last season, but he looks well on target to again win the main prize after his outright win in Tasmania at the weekend.
With the 2007 New Zealand 500cc motocross title and the 2008 open class supercross crown safely tucked away in his bulging trophy cabinet, Hurley is showing some of the best form of his career as he hits Australia again this season.
The entire Suzuki camp was smiling too when Hurley’s team-mate, fellow Kiwi Luke Burkhart, campaigning an identical RM-Z450 in the big bike class, also impressed in Tasmania on Sunday.
Burkhart is thrilled to step up this year from the RM-Z250 he campaigned with such success in New Zealand all summer, once again alongside Hurley in the Jay Foreman-run official Suzuki team, but this time on an open class machine.
Burkhart finished a strong third and fifth in his two races on Sunday and is fourth overall in the championship standings, just four points behind the third-ranked rider, Jay Marmont.
Hurley took his Suzuki to a commanding win in the day’s first outing, finishing a massive 17 seconds ahead of Anderson (Honda), with Burkhart close behind in third.
The second 16-lap race was a much closer affair with Hurley forced to settle for runner-up spot, albeit just a second behind the surprise winner, Marmont.
After a clean start it quickly became a battle between Hurley, Anderson, Cheyne Boyd, Marmont and Burkhart, with the lead changing every few laps.
A massive battle between Hurley and Anderson developed and, just when it appeared that Hurley had the win in the bag, Marmont overtook him on the last lap to steal the chequered flag.
“I was riding at about 75% at the end of the second race; I thought I was bringing her home and I didn’t know he (Marmont) was in second,” Hurley said.
“I was keeping an eye out for Anderson and didn’t realise he’d crashed and Marmont had come through to second spot. My pit crew were signalling but I couldn’t read the board. The pit area was in a bad place and we were going pretty fast past the boards.
“The track was muddy too because they’d over-watered it. The pit signal thing was a bit of a nightmare.
“But I got the overall and that’s what I came here to do so I’m stoked,” he said.
“It’s so important to get that start and this is the first year I’ve had a good summer in New Zealand so it’s great to be here with no injuries.
“It was a great day for Luke (Burkhart) too. He even passed me at one stage in that second race. It was looking like a Suzuki 1-2 for a while.”
The second round of the 2008 Australian nationals will be held at the Horsham Motorcycle Club, Horsham, Victoria, next weekend (April 13).
