Yamalube Yamaha Racing: 1-3 MXD finish at Wonthaggi

The Yamalube Yamaha Racing duo of Cooper Pozniak and Cody Dyce came out firing on all cylinders taking a 1-3 result respectively and announcing their intentions for the year as the first round of the MX Nationals roared to life, on the weekend.

On the rough and challenging Wonthaggi circuit in Victoria, Pozniak proved a revelation finishing with 1-1 results to take the round win and hold an eight-point advantage over his nearest rival.

2017 MX Nationals – Round 1 – MXD Podium

As the opening moto got underway, Pozniak fired his YZ250F to the lead with his team mate Dyce slotting right in behind him. The pair raced away from the field in the early stages as the ripped around the track in a race of their own.

Dyce then made a mistake and went off the track but was deemed not to have taken enough precaution when re-entering and was docked with a 10 second in race penalty. But undeterred, Dyce made the move on his team mate and took over the race lead and put on a charge to regain the 10 seconds taken from him.

But Pozniak stayed within a few seconds of Dyce for the remainder of the moto and when they crossed the line, Dyce was first on track but the five second margin wasn’t enough for Dyce to claim the win. The race was awarded to Cooper Pozniak and Cody Dyce came home in second and a great 1-2 for the team.

Moto two was set to be a carbon copy of the race one with Pozniak again taking the holeshot and leading the race in the early stages. He was challenged by Morgan Forgarty who was able to hit the lead briefly before he fell and handed the lead back to Pozniak.

2017 MX Nationals – Round 1 – Cooper Pozniak

With a comfortable margin back to his nearest competitor, Pozniak rode an intelligent race with one eye on what was going on behind him and another on the track ahead. He eked out an eight second gap over second place and simply monitored it until the checkered flag flew after 12 laps of racing with Pozniak taking the win with his fist in the air.

“My first ever round win,” Pozniak says with triumph. “About a month ago I was in Queensland doing some testing and I fell and injured my hand and thumb so I haven’t been able to ride up until the Monday before round one so to get this win today is unreal and I can’t thank everyone in the team and my family enough. I got awesome starts in both races and my race bike is so strong. It was good to leaving round one after such a positive day and for Cody and myself to both be on the podium shows how hard everyone has worked over the off season.”

Dyce finished the day in third place after two inspirational rides. The only thing that stopped him from winning moto 1 was a 10 second penalty while he produced the race of the day in moto two that had his home town fans on the feet.

Dyce was inside the top three on the opening lap and looking to get to the front ASAP but he lost traction and fell awkwardly from his machine. As he got to his feet and scrambled back to his bike, the entire MXD class roared past and Cody finished the first lap in 39th place and enormous job ahead of him.

2017 MX Nationals – Round 1 – Cody Dyce

But to his credit, he dusted himself off and calmly started working his way back through the pack. At 12 minutes his was up to eighth place but a big final two lap charge saw him move into fourth and finish right on the rear tyre of third in a sensational performance.

While not a day of smooth sailing for Dyce, he showed great maturity in dealing with the adversity and his podium position was a great result in his maiden MXD event.

“I would love to have won the day but that crash in race two didn’t do my any favours. I was too impatient early in the race and even though it was a little mistake, it was costly as the field is still tightly bunched and everyone went past while I was still on the ground. But the plan was to be on the podium at round one and I achieved that today so it’s a good start to the series. The team worked really hard today so thank you to both Cory and Mike for providing us with so much help and support,” Dyce signs off.

The MX Nationals heads for the long ruts Appin Raceway in Sydney where both riders are confident of another good performance and making the most of the great start to the year.

To follow the Yamaha Yamalube Racing Team on social media; www.facebook.com/YamalubeYamahaRacing or @yamalube_yamaha_racing on Instagram.

For a full list of results or more information on the MX Nationals, www.mxnationals.com.au