SUPERCROSS: AUS: Masters Championship round two summary

Larocco overwhelms local guns

American supremo Mike Larocco (Honda) lived up to his star billing with a brilliant win in round two of the Australian Supercross Masters Championship at the Sydney SuperDome on Saturday, September 4.

The 33-year-old former world supercross champion -- aka "The Rock" - was a cause celebre in his first Australian outing since 1992, when he represented America at the Motocross des Nations in Manjimup (WA). The all-conquering Larocco (CR250) was undefeated all evening, with his final incision a 2.267sec victory over defending champion Jay Marmont (Motorex KTM 250SX) in the 20-lap final.

"It was fun," said Larocco, who finished third in this year's American supercross title behind Australian Chad Reed and Ricky Carmichael. "The track was challenging and the format was lots of fun," said LaRocco.

"I came here not knowing one name; yes, the opposition was faster than I was expecting."

After trailing Marmont for the first half of the final, Larocco finally moved into the lead on lap 14, and eventually completed his Australian cameo in a shade over nine minutes, with Marmont only a few metres in arrears. In an eight-rider final, which contained five of the same faces which battled it out at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre on August 21, Troy Carroll (CDR/Boost Mobile/Yamaha YZ250) rode to his second successive third place, ahead of Cheyne Boyd (Motorex KTM 250 SX) and Robbie Marshall (Serco Yamaha YZ250) -- the last rider not to be lapped. Danny Ham (Shift Motul Suzuki RM250), reigning number two Troy Dorron (No Fear Honda CR250) and Barry Surawski (CR250) all finished a lap down.

Marmont, who suffered in the lead-up with a nasty throat infection, was a stoic round two figure - and magnanimous in defeat. He said: "In the final I got away quick and tried to pull a gap. He (Larocco) chased me down around two-thirds of the way through and made a clean move for the lead.

"I stayed on his tail hoping he would make a mistake, but he is a class performer and never put a foot wrong."

With two rounds down out of five, Marmont already has forged an 8pt (30 to 22) lead over Carroll, who won last year's Pro Lites title. Ham is third on 18pts from Marshall (13) and Boyd (12).

In the Pro Lites, 19-year-old Ryan Marmont's return to work on his Motorex-backed KTM 125 SX was a brilliant one, as he hammered the field in the 12-lap final -- his final winning margin over second-placed Matt Moss (AXO Yamaha YZ125) a whopping 8.502sec.

The Wollongong (NSW) rider, who missed the opener after elbow surgery, is already a joint championship leader alongside Jye Harvey (No Fear Honda CRF250R) and Cameron Taylor (CDR/Boost Mobile/Yamaha YZ250F) on 15pts, ahead of Daniel Reardon (Whale's Kawasaki KX250F) on 13.

"I wasn't really expecting it to work out as well as it did," said Ryan. "To be honest, I wasn't really pushed in the final; a few guys crashed out and from there on I just cruised home.

"The only serious threat appeared to be coming from Reardon, but then he also went down hard, which left me to have a fairly easy run home."

After his crash, Reardon only completed half of the allotted laps, with a Wade Thompson (Serco Yamaha YZ250F) another non-finisher. That left Harvey to finish a lonely third from Paul Grant (Yamalube Yamaha YZ250F), Brent Landman (Team Kawasaki Australia KX250F) and Cameron Sinclair (KX250F).

Meanwhile, round one winner Taylor failed to make the final after crashing on the final lap of his semi. The 30-year-old's anguish was in contrast to that of 16-year-old Moss, who made the final in only his second-ever Pro Lites outing.

Moss, who finished second in the 2003 Australian 14-U16 85cc motocross title, now finds himself on 12pts, just three behind the trio of championship leaders.

Round three of the Australian Supercross Masters Championship will be held at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre this Saturday night, September 11. Tickets start from $34.20 for adults and $24.20 for children under 15.

Results

<pre> Pro Open 1 Mike Larocco Honda 2 Jay Marmont KTM 3 Troy Carroll Yamaha 4 Cheyne Boyd KTM 5 Robbie Marshall Yamaha 6 Danny Ham Suzuki 7 Troy Dorron Honda 8 Barry Surawski Honda

Pro Lites 1 Ryan Marmont KTM 2 Matt Moss Yamaha 3 Jye Harvey Honda 4 Paul Grant Yamaha 5 Brent Landman Kawasaki 6 Cameron Sinclair Kawasaki DNF Wade Thompson Yamaha DNF Daniel Reardon Kawasaki

-www.ma.org.au