Dyce finished with 67 points at Shepparton and tie with Callum Norton, with both riders sharing a race win and a second place each. But Norton’s 2-1 beats Dyce’s 1-2 on a count back as moto two acts as a tie breaker in motocross.
But it was an encouraging day for Dyce and his Yamalube Yamaha Team as he returned to form on the rutty, Shepparton circuit. Dyce unleashed the fastest lap in qualifying, nearly two seconds ahead of his rivals and rode that confidence into race one.
He charged his way forward and demanded the race lead in the early stages and never looked back. He continued to extend his lead on each lap and when the 20-minute race finished, he was a comfortable 17 seconds ahead of Norton and his championship rival, Jy Roberts, in third.
Race two didn’t go as smoothly for Dyce who was forced to duck and weave some first corner bar banging and avoid going down. While he was able to keep his machine on two wheels, he was well down the field as they exited the first turn and he had a lot of work ahead of him.
Dyce raced through to fourth by the mid-way point but nearly 20 seconds behind the leaders of Jy Roberts and Callum Norton. Unbeknown to Dyce, Roberts incurred a 15 second penalty for a start line infringement but being 20 seconds behind wasn’t going to change anything.
With his team waving him on from the sidelines, Dyce continued to push hard and by the time the race finished he had narrowed the gap to Roberts, who crossed the line first on track, down to 10 seconds and only seven to Norton.
With the penalty in place, the race was award to Norton with Dyce second and Roberts third.
The gap now sits at five points between Roberts and Dyce as the MX Nationals moves to Port Macquarie for the final round of the MXD (U19) class.
“I didn’t ride well at the last round at Nowra and I just wanted to get back on the track and redeem myself as quickly as possible,” Dyce explains. “It wasn’t even about the result but just riding the way I know I should ride and bringing the same energy and effort to each and every race and I felt I did that today.
“I’m going to run the same plan at the final round and see what happens as I really have nothing to lose. Just give it my all and see where it takes me.
“My bike was awesome today, so thanks to everyone on the Yamalube Yamaha Team for their support and encouragement over the past few weeks,” Dyce ends.
It was a consistent day for team mate Cooper Pozniak who finished the round in fourth place on the back of 4-6 results. Pozniak lacked some of the raw speed in the opening laps but stuck to a good pace for the duration of the moto and saw him gain ground in the championship.
Pozniak now sits fifth in the MXD championship, just one point from fourth and 14 from third so a good performance at the final round could see him on the podium despite facing plenty of challenges throughout the series.
“It was just an average day for me and I felt just a little off in both races,” he starts. “I struggled to get a good flow in the turns early in the race and lost time to the leaders on the first couple of laps. Once the race settled down, I felt better, but it still wasn’t my best day.
“I will continue to work hard over the next couple of weeks and look to finish the championship on a strong note as a podium finish is still within reach.”
The eighth and final round of the MXD championship will take place on July 30 at Port Macquarie in NSW.
