Topsy Turvy Day for Serco Yamaha

Media Information: 12 April 2022

Contesting the MX2 division (250cc), round two started out in impressive fashion for the Serco Yamaha pair of Jesse Dobson and Bailey Malkiewicz with the duo taking a 1-2 result respectively in the morning qualifying and giving both riders a confidence boost heading into race one.

To view the Serco Yamaha review: https://youtu.be/oKqtmtppzRY

The high of the 1-2 qualifying was quickly forgotten as Dobson fell in the opening laps of race one and was way down the field and outside the top 20, desperate to secure points. At the same time Malkiewicz also suffered from a fall and dropped from the top three to just inside the top 10 and now left to fight his way towards the top five.  

Malkiewicz worked his way through the pack and by mid race distance he moved into sixth place. Unfortunately, it was there that his charge forward stalled and while he kept working all the way to the end, he was unable to gain any more positions and crossed the finish line in sixth place.

And things were worse for Dobson. He rounded lap one in 33rd place after picking himself from the ground. He put his head down and clawed his way through the field in the hope of gaining some points. By lap seven, he was in the points and picked off a couple more riders on the way home to eventually finish in 12th place. It was a solid come from behind ride that went unnoticed.

Race two and the pendulum swing again. The gates dropped and it was the Serco Yamaha show up the front with Dobson in the lead and Malkiewicz in the top five. Dobson began to stretch the lead and moved out to a two second gap but then the swings continued, and he fell from his YZ250F. He picked up in fourth place, made a quick pass into third and began to hunt the leaders down for a second team. 

With only a handful of laps left and with momentum on his side, Dobson was quickly on the rear wheel of his teammate, who had made his way to second. The Serco pair went at it for a lap or two before Dobson made the pass stick for the final time and he finished the race in second.

The 12-2 results gave him sixth for the round and he holds down fourth in the championship.

“It was a crazy day. Started great, went sideways a couple of times, and finished strong. I’m still trying to work out how I fitted that much stuff into one day,” Jesse said.

“Qualifying was great, moto one was goods riding and terrible result and then I bounced back in moto two only to crash and finish second. My riding is good and I didn’t realise I had a bit of a gap in moto two that I could have just got into a flow and not feel like I was under pressure.

“But, despite the result, I think I have the speed to match it with everyone and I just nee to clean up a few things to be right in the hunt.”

Malkiewicz improved in moto two and stayed on the pace right until the final stages. He moved into second in the early stages and held that position right until the end when Dobson came flying by.

The 6-3 result was good enough to secure third place for Malkiewicz and consolidate his third place in the championship after two rounds.

“Any day on the podium is a good so I can’t complain too much. The first moto I just couldn’t get going when it was on in the final laps. I worked hard to get into the fight but then I just didn’t go on with it when I needed to.

“The second one was better and although Jesse got me at the end, I think I stayed on a more consistent pace, and I felt better on the bike.

“We have a few weeks before round three so looking forward to getting back to work and trying to improve on this result at Albury,” Malkiewicz offers.