2010 Monster Energy Super X Round 6 - Sydney

Billy Mackenzie, one of the stars of the MX Nationals this year, was making his Super X debut at this round after recovering from a broken collarbone. The super-quick Scottish rider almost upset Jay Marmont's MX championship three-peat this year, so his addition to Super X with the Kawasaki Racing Team was sure to ramp up the competition. A surprise visitor was former MotoGP rider and new recruit to the Yamaha World Superbike team, Marco Melandri. The former 250cc World Champion is a keen off-road rider and spent time in the CDR Rockstar Yamaha tent, chatting with Jay Marmont and the rest of the team. Other news from this round included the announcement that Mike Alessi would be returning to the USA one round early at the request of his US KTM team manager, Roger DeCoster. Alessi had been scheduled to race the entire series, but DeCoster's word is law, so Mike was set to leave after this round.

The Parramatta track was another challenging one, with the longest start straight of the series, a deep rhythm section and tough sand section. Open class riders would run a 'Quad Challenge' format, while the Lites class would run the cut-throat 'Survival' format for the first time at this round.

The opening Lites heat went the way of P.J. Larsen (JDR Motorex KTM), who finished ahead of Ford Dale (Serco Yamaha), who was riding with the #20 plate in honour of Harley Quinlan. Behind him, Josh Cachia (Coastal KTM) was third, ahead of Adam Monea, who was guest riding with Serco Yamaha. The second Lites heat was won by Robbie Marshall (Advanti Assink Excavations Yamaha), from Matt Moss (Rockstar Motul Suzuki), Ryan Marmont (JDR Motorex KTM), Kade Mosig (Cougar Bourbon Thor Honda) and Lawson Bopping (Rockstar Motul Suzuki).

Daniel Reardon made good on the Cougar Bourbon Thor Honda team's promise to turn their average season around by winning the first Open class heat, followed by Mackenzie and Todd Waters (Cougar Bourbon Thor Honda). The second Open class heat went the way of Jake Moss (Rockstar Motul Suzuki). Series leader, Josh Hansen (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki) bounced back from a first corner fall to finish second, while veteran Craig Anderson (Berry Sweet Pro Grip Talon Honda) proved there's still life in the old dog yet, finishing third. Jay Marmont finished fifth in his heat, followed by team mate, Jeff Alessi.

With the bottom five riders dropped from the start gate after each Lites race, the unforgiving Survival format claimed its first major victim in Steven Clarke (Raceline Pirelli Suzuki), the UK rider failing to make the top 15. Errol Willis (Raceline Pirelli Suzuki) and Luke Styke (GYTR Rockstar Yamaha) were the next 'names' to fall, missing the cut for the top ten. Dale, Mosig and Belgian MX2 guest rider, Joel Roelants (Coastal KTM) were the next to be knocked out.

Going into the final five-rider Survival race, Moss, Cachia, Cody Mackie (Kawasaki Racing Team/Cool Air Conditioning), Bopping and Larsen were all in with a shot at the round win. Bopping got the best of the start, and managed to hold off Moss for two laps, but Moss showed his class to ride to a comfortable victory. Bopping finished second, with Cachia a distant third. Larsen collided with Mackie and was forced to retire with front wheel damage after one lap.

Jake Moss was looking strong going into the first Quad Challenge final for the Open class, but the opening holeshot went the way of Waters. When he crashed out, it allowed Hansen to take the lead and eventually, the race. Mackenzie proved he's just as good in supercross as he is in motocross, finishing second, with Marmont third, followed by Moss.

Final 2 was a battle between Marmont and Daniel McCoy (Coastal KTM Motorex), the latter getting the holeshot while Hansen got stuck in the pack. With a bent gear shift lever, Hansen had to run the rest of the race in second gear! In a super-tight contest, McCoy prevailed to finish less than a second ahead of Marmont, with Reardon in third. Jake Moss again finished in fourth place.

Final 3 was a battle of the Kawasakis, with Mackenzie securing the holeshot, closely followed by Hansen. In a tussle for the lead on the final lap, the Scot prevailed, finishing narrowly ahead of Hansen, with Moss third.

The final Quad Challenge race looked like it would be all Mackenzie's, after the Scot got the holeshot ahead of Marmont and Moss. Hansen ran off the track early, effectively ending his chances of taking the round win. Similarly, Marmont's chances of victory came unstuck when he crashed in the sand section. A mistake from Mackenzie soon after gave Moss the chance to grab the lead, which he held for the remainder of the race. Behind him, Mackenzie and Marmont swapped position several times, but the Kawasaki rider finished fractionally ahead of Marmont, with Reardon fourth and Hansen fifth in one of the closest races of the series.

The Open round win went the way of Jake Moss. Mackenzie and Marmont completed the podium, marking the first time in the series that a US rider has finished a round outside of a podium position. Matt's Lites round win made it a double victory for the Moss twins.

Jay Marmont's fall in the final moto proved costly, as the CDR rider would have likely won the round had it not been for that incident. The Cougar Bourbon Thor Honda team had hoped to turn their poor Super X season around at Parramatta, but luck wasn't with them. Reardon performed well, scoring three top four finishes, but teammate Todd Waters crashed heavily in the opening Quad Challenge race, and was taken to hospital with a serious concussion. Jeff Alessi went with a 'back to basics' approach for this round and it seemed to pay off, as the CDR Rockstar Yamaha guest rider finished inside the top ten for all four Quad Challenge motos.

Matt Moss's Lites win moved him back into the championship lead, improving his chances of making back-to-back titles. But with only five points separating Moss and Larsen, either rider was a chance of taking out the title at the final round in Brisbane. Hansen looks likely to take the Open class championship, with Marmont the only other rider in contention to steal the title from the American. With just 75 points on offer for the final round, Jake Moss is too far back to take the title.