Monster Energy WBR Yamaha racer, Ryder Malinoski, has taken the lead in the AUSX Supercross SX3 championship after winning round four at Marvel Stadium, Melbourne, on Saturday night.
Malinoski entered the round with the momentum off a victory at round three, but also a 19-point deficit in the SX3 championship. On Saturday he produced some sensational racing to pick up the round four victory and some misfortune to his rivals now sees the US based rider, carry a three-point lead into the final round this weekend in Adelaide. After the Sydney round, Malinoski returned to the US to work on his riding and returned to Australia confident he found some pace to claw the points back. His day started slowly went he was around a second a lap off the pace and trying to adapt to the red based, hard-pack clay inside the iconic AFL stadium.
But when the 10 laps main event rolled around, Malinoski burst from the gates, demanded the lead and never let it go. He was challenged, he was pushed, but he kept a cool head, stayed in the moment, and executed a strong race that saw him take the victory by a few seconds.
Meanwhile behind him, his series rival Kayd Kingsford, didn’t get such a great start and made a mistake that cost him several positions, then another a few laps later that resulted in him not being able to finish the race. As a result, Malinoski now carries a three-point lead over Jack Deveson and five points ahead of Kingsford with the final, two moto final this weekend in Adelaide.
“I struggled today in practice and qualifying,” he offers. “The dirt was hard to read, and I didn’t think I could really push on it, so while my results were ok, I was a little off in speed.
“But come the main event, I felt more comfortable and after getting a good start, I was able to settle into a good pace and while the guys behind me were there, they weren’t challenging me, so I could ride my own race.
“I had no idea on what happened to Kayd until after the finish and hope he is ok.
“Thanks to the Monster Energy WBR Yamaha team for all their effort. The guys worked hard at every round and to get some race wins for them feels good. We have a short week before Adelaide next week and I’m really looking forward to racing with the Supercars as everyone said its awesome,” Malinoski ends.
It was a solid performance from teammate, Koby Hantis who raced to a very respectable third place making it a double podium for the Monster Energy WBR Yamaha team.
Hantis was in third in the early laps and piling on the pressure to move forward and into second. He lunged once or twice but then fell as things were really heating up. Fortunately, the top three was well clear and Hantis was able to pick himself up, regain his composure and re-enter the race without dropping a position.
“I’m frustrated with myself,” he fumes at race end. “I was good enough to finish second tonight and thought if I could get behind Ryder, I might be able to make something happened, but I fell and lost a lot of time and that meant winning the race was gone.
“I have had an up and down series, but my riding has been pretty good the last two rounds, so hopefully I can finish it off strong and see if I can climb a few more places in the championship in Adelaide,” he said.
It's been a series that just wasn’t meant to be for Ky Woods. After looking good in the afternoon sessions, when the SX3 main event rolled around. Woods hit a downed rider and severely bent his shift lever making gear changes almost impossible.
He stopped into the mechanics area during the race, and the team found further damage meaning he had no option but to withdraw and call it a night.
“It’s been a tough series where I just can’t seem to get any momentum. But it’s not over yet and we have two more races next weekend to try and get a race win for myself and the WBR Yamaha team,” Woods explains.
The team will move on quickly from the Marvel round with the final and final round of the championship this weekend at Adelaide. Ran in conjunction with the final round of Supercars, over 200,000 people expected into the street circuit and many witnessing Supercross for the first time.
ASX Results
-
ASX Results
Rd 4 – Adelaide
SX3
1st Ryder Malinoski (Monster Energy WBR Yamaha)
2nd Jack Deveson
3rd Koby Hantis (Monster Energy WBR Yamaha)
4th Jet Alsop
5th Riley Burgess
6th Jackson Fuller
7th Heath Davy
8th Max Compton
9th Deegan Rose
10th Travis Laindsay
SX3 Championship Standings
1st Ryder Malinoski- 78 (Yamaha YZ 250F)
2nd Jack Deveson – 75
3rd Kayd Kingsford – 72
4th Jet Alsop - 72
5th Deegan Rose - 61
6th Koby Hantis – 60 (Yamaha YZ250F)
7th Riley Burgess - 55
8th Hayden Downie – 41 (Yamaha YZ250F)
9th Jason West - 39
10th Max Compton - 39