Dobson and Crawford Battle Bravely in Canberra

The team had to over-come injury and bike issues to salvage what they could from the day and with both riders still inside the top five, its game on from here to the final round at Coolum.

Two weeks ago, Jesse Dobson was laying in the Coolum sand hurt, battle scarred and fearing the worst. After a huge fall at a local event in Queensland, Dobson knew his collar bone was broken as he lay trackside, but unaware of what other injuries he had.

Three days later, he had his collarbone plated and with a 10 day recovery time on an injury like that, Dobson faced a fitness test and a real world test during practice on Sunday morning to see if he body could stand up to the rigours of motocross and the hard packed Canberra circuit.

But his toughness can’t be questioned as Dobson not only raced the Canberra event, he posted some impressive results and lap speed to finish the day in fifth place and keep his championship hopes alive. He claimed a hard fought eighth place in moto one and then continued to impress in moto two with a stunning fifth place finish.

“The last couple of weeks have been a little hectic,” Dobson begins. “It started off well, racing the local event in Coolum and winning the first race, to crashing in race two and not knowing what the outcome was, to being hopeful I could race today and then actually being able to race and be competitive. It’s been a bit draining but I’m glad I was able to get through and get some much needed points.

“I had a plate put in 10 days ago so it was a bit sensitive and sore but the doctors told me it was structurally ok. There were some moments where you wince in pain and any roost hitting me in that area wasn’t fun so to think I may not be able to ride and then end up fifth is a good result, one that I’m both proud of and a little relieved.

“Our next round is at the end of May so I have a chance to give it a bit of a rest and then get back into riding and training as we head for Adelaide. Thanks to the team for standing by me and their support in getting me on the track this weekend,” Dobson ends.

Team mate Nathan Crawford also faced his share of issues over the weekend when his bike developed a mis-fire during the opening race of the MX2 class and he was unable to finish. He started well and was within the top half dozen on the opening lap but then the issue surfaced and he was forced to withdraw from the race.

He leapt onto the spare bike and picked things up and race two to charge home to a strong second place finish. He was fourth on the opening laps but was able to move into second place around the mid-way stage and hold his position to the end in a strong performance. His DNF – 2 results gave him ninth for the day and he holds down fifth in the championship.

“Today was a bit frustrating but sometimes things like that are out of your control and the team did everything they could to fix the issue. We still aren’t sure what caused it but I know the guys will be all over it in the workshop during the week and work out exactly what happened to ensure it doesn’t happen again.

“But it was important I scored good points in race two and I was able to do that. It took me a while to get going as I hadn’t been on the track for so long and I had to search for the lines I liked, but once I settled down, my speed was pretty good and I was able to get to second.

“We can leave Canberra on a positive note and look forward to round three in Adelaide,” Crawford said.