Team Shift Motul Suzuki gathered momentum in the Pro Open and Pro Lites classes with a new rider line-up in the opening round of the 2007 Australian Motocross Championship at Broadford, Victoria at the weekend.
Fielding the revised line-up for the entire 10-round motocross series, Suzuki welcomed back former Australian Champion Daryl Hurley (RM-Z450) to contest the Pro Open class while Luke Burkhart assumed his new mantle aboard the RM-Z250 in the Pro Lites class.
Hurley - returning to the scene of his 2006-season ending collision - had a difficult start to the day beginning with a lap-one crash in the first Pro Open race, but he clawed his way back through the pack and was progressing strongly until a rock struck him in the eye and shattered his goggles, leaving him with severe bruising to his right eye and reduced visibility. He eventually crossed the line in ninth.
He was running in a clear second place in moto two before the race was red-flagged. On the re-start, Hurley took the holeshot and led for several laps until Daniel Reardon made a move for the lead. He held second position and maintained a comfortable gap back to third-placed Cheyne Boyd until the final lap of the race when he had a minor crash as a result of the reduced visibility in his injured right eye and Boyd slipped by relegating the Kiwi rider to third, which sealed fifth overall.
With limited time on his new RM-Z250 race machine, Burkhart got his championship assault off to a solid start, qualifying third fastest in the ultra-competitive Lites class.
The season-opening Lites race didn’t begin as smoothly for the young New Zealander as he tangled with Cody Mackie at the start, rejoining the fray in second-last place.
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