NGK Spark Plugs Australia

Woodstock Honda Thor racers Ford Dale and Todd Waters each wrapped a third place in the nation's capital for round two of the Australian Motocross Championship at Fairburn Park (ACT) today, with Dale third overall for the event and Waters ranked third in the championship standings.

Delivering a standout performance for the round, Dale made a spectacular comeback from a shoulder injury that sidelined him in the opening round to today challenge for race wins and seal his first podium result with Woodstock Honda Thor Racing.

After qualifying third fastest, Dale made amazing starts throughout the new four 15-minute-moto format, but due to separated shoulder flagged throughout the races, leading race one before settling for second place behind reigning champion Jay Marmont. Dale replicated the result in the afternoon's second 15-minute race.

Moto three saw Dale lead from the gate drop to the last corner where he was wrong-footed as he encountered lapped traffic and dropped back to third place.

In a strong start to the final race Dale passed Marmont on lap one before an error saw the Honda racer crash out of position, forcing him to mount a massive charge to finish fourth.

Netting a solid haul of 82-points, Dale's third placing for the round saw the young star climb to seventh overall in the championship.

Entering the round with the weight of the championship lead on his shoulders, 18-year-old rookie Waters showed his star quality with a mature, consistent performance throughout the four sprint races.

Maintaining his composure after a crash in moto one in which he rejoined to finish sixth, Waters fought his way back to cross the finish line third in moto two.

Backing up those results, Waters earned a fourth and fifth place in the remaining two races to score fifth overall for the round, to now sit third in the championship.

Standing in for regular Woodstock Honda Thor racer, Peter Boyle, Brent Landman scored tenth overall on the day with consistent results, finishing in the top ten.

Heading to the home state of Woodstock Honda heroes Waters and Dale , the 2009 Australian Motocross Championship's next stop is in Toowoomba (QLD) for round three on Sunday 17 May.

TODD WATERS:

“I got some good points on the board today, and we're sitting third in the championship, so I'm pretty happy with that.”

“Today, I struggled a bit with the format. The bike was really good and the team was 100%, but the track got really rutted with deep, squared-off ruts and I really struggled to flow in the short races.”

“I'm looking forward to going back the regular format of two 30-minute motos for the next round. I plan to be racing closer to the front and my goal is to get back on the podium and run up with the leaders again in round three.”

FORD DALE:

“It was great to get on the podium for Woodstock Honda today, especially after such a bad run in round one.”

“My bike was perfect, I had good speed and got some great starts and that really helped to get the overall results.”

“My shoulder isn't completely 100% so it was tough to maintain the intensity for the entire moto, but we got through and I'm glad to finally get some points stacked up.”

BRENT LANDMAN:

“Today was an alright result. I didn't really get good starts and took me a little bit to get going in each of the motos, but I got points in all four motos and ended up in the top ten which was my goal for the weekend.”

“It was great to be part of the factory Honda team and I look forward to racing with the Woodstock Honda Thor team next round, too.”

YARRIVE KONSKY - Team Principal:

“I'm extremely excited by the maturity that both Ford and Todd showed on track here in Canberra.”

“They proved again today that they are total contenders with Woodstock Honda Thor.”

“In the three weeks to the next round we will be working closely with them to help them improve their results.”

“With the new four-race format, the importance of a great team was highlighted as there was only minimal time between the four races to prepare both bike and rider.”

“Brad, Mike, Marko, Jeremy and Steve Waters proved invaluable as they worked as a tight cohesive unit and had the bikes and riders prepared and ready for each race.”

OVERALL RESULTS - ROUND 2 :

1 Andrew McFarlane, 2 Jay Marmont, 3 Ford Dale, 4 Cody Mackie, 5 Todd Waters, 6 Cheyne Boyd, 7 Craig Anderson, 8 Cameron Taylor, 9 Michael Addison , 10 Brent Landman

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS (after round 2):

1 Jay Marmont 152, 2 Andrew McFarlane 139, 3 Todd Waters 138, 4 Cody Mackie 120; 5 Cheyne Boyd 113; 6 Craig Anderson 99; 7 Ford Dale 82; 8 Cameron Taylor 82;

9 Michael Addison 80; 10 Brent Landman 77