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Shayne King Racing Press Release:
May 5, 2003.
2003 Australian Motocross Championship
Round 5 Coastal Park Perth , Western Australia.
The weekend just gone saw the fifth and final round of the Maxxis 2003 Australian Motocross Championship held in Perth, Western Australia.
Going into the round Shayne was looking for a good result to ensure a top three finish in the championship, lying in third place overall prior to the weekend Shayne was only eight points behind Honda Australia’s Shane Metcalfe so his immediate goal was to capture second place in the championship behind his older brother (Darryll King, Boost Mobile Yamaha). A good finish would also place Shayne in a good position should Darryll not have a good result, that elusive first place in the championship always at the back of the Kiwi champions mind.
The track well known for its deep sand and whoops was expected to test the riders physical endurance, riders such as Shayne with considerable sand riding experience were expected to come to the fore.
The pundits were not to be dissapointed as the former World Motocross Champion holeshot the start of the first race and led from start to finish!
Race two was a case of deja-vu as Shayne repeated his holeshot and start to finish lead of race one.
Race three was shaping up to be yet another steam roller effort by the New Zealander as he yet again took the start, though he barely got to claim the holeshot before he was hit on the inside by Australian Lee Ellis, also Honda mounted. The collision sent King flying across the track, but he managed to keep upright and carried on, albeit with an unknown amount of damage to his left foot.
With the pain in his foot now quite intense, and the sandy, whooped out conditions taking their toll, Shayne got back up to sixth place and rode out the race in that position to take out the round win and second place overall in the championship.
Speaking after the last race, Shayne said “ I went into this round with an open mind, knowing it would be the most physical race of the season with the deep sand. I was pleasantly surprised to be so much faster than everyone else in timed qualifying, and knew that I still had plenty more in the tank for the races.
When the gate dropped I just went as hard as my mind would let me go in each race and won two out of the three races.
It was dissapointing in race three that Lee Ellis decided to use me as a berm in the first turn, as I had the holeshot and really was looking for a three from three day. My new Bridgestone tyres helped me with the starts and gave me the edge over the other competitors all day long.
I really take my hat off to DK (Darryll King) – he rode very consistently and won the championship. I am really looking forward to the start of the Thumper Nationals in two weeks time, where I am sure we will once again have some close battles with the boys in blue (Team Boost Mobile Yamaha)”.
Final points standings (Provisional)
1. Darryll King (Yamaha) 309 points
2. Shayne King (Honda) 276
3. Shane Metcalfe (Honda) 273
4. Paul Broomfield (Yamaha) 272
5. Jay Marmont (KTM) 24
6. Cheyne Boyd (KTM) 237
7. Danny Ham (Suzuki) 208
8. Mick Cook (Yamaha) 168
9. Nathan Brochtrup (Yamaha) 145
10. Paul Grant (Honda) 141
