Motorsport: Lamont chips away at rival

Mangakinos Kayne Lamont (Husqvarna TC250) is closing in on the lead in Australia. Photo/Andy McGechan

It was a case of the good, the bad and the ugly for Kiwi hero Kayne Lamont at the latest round of the Australian Motocross Championships.

The good aspect of racing for Mangakino's Lamont on Sunday was that the Husqvarna Red Bull WIL Sport BikesportNZ.com rider convincingly won the first of two MX2 (250cc) class races at the Murray Bridge circuit, in South Australia.

But then came the bad Lamont was caught in a first-turn skirmish at the start of race two and dropped his bike.

He picked up his Husqvarna TC250 and saw the handlebars and levers bent out of shape.

By the time he'd managed to straighten it all out, he was last away by quite a considerable distance.

He set out after the disappearing pack and incredibly passed more than 20 riders before settling for 11th position at race end.

And the ugly part of Lamont's weekend?

Well, the ugly truth is the New Zealand MX2 champion has moved only one point closer to the top of the championship standings.

Lamont, 20, finished the day second equal overall, behind fellow Husqvarna rider Luke Arbon and level with Brenden Harrison.

Lamont had started the weekend 13 points adrift of championship leader Luke Clout and now he is 12 points behind. But at least he's making advances in the right direction.

Clout finished the day fourth overall at Murray Bridge.

"The track surface was quite a lot like Tokoroa today, soft in places but reasonably firm in others, but I'm really looking forward to the next round at Wanneroo," he said about the track on the outskirts of Perth next weekend.

"It's quite sandy and a lot like the Taupo track at home. There will be three races for each of the classes next round too, instead of just the two, and so my chances of gaining ground look better as long as I don't have more bad luck. I'm a little sore after the crash but I have plenty of time to recover and I'm feeling very strong. I'll be fighting fit at Wanneroo."