Zak Small and Husqvarna in strong position ahead of Nowra MX Nats

Small extented his lead in the premier class of Queensland’s Sunshine State series at the penultimate round in Chinchilla.
Riding his Husqvarna FC 350, Small used 1-3-1 scores to get the better of an enthralling 350 vs 450 duel against fellow Husqvarna rider, FC 450-mounted Robbie Marshall. Joel Rizzo was third overall.
“In the opens I got the win with 1-3-1. I had to come from dead last in that second moto. I was racing against Robbie on the 450 throughout the day and we had a good race in the last one, together the whole race,” said Small. “He got around me and I just followed him for a bit and learned a bit of him and then went back around him. There doesn’t seem to be much difference between my 350 and 450 – the 350 revs a little harder which suits me more, and I like the lighter feel.”
In the Lites I had a pretty decent sized crash and worked my way back to eighth in the first, then in the second I followed Jake for about 15 minutes until I was passed by another rider in the last two laps and finished third. In the last one I was running fourth when I was taken out by another rider. I extended my led in the Opens, but dropped my lead in the Lites, which sucks, but, we’ll see what happens in Toowoomba I guess.”

The result gives Small (381) a 57-point lead in the premier class championship, ahead of Kerrod Morrissy (324) with Brodie Downes (296) third.
The news wasn’t quite as bright in the MX2 category where poor starts and a non-finish saw Small relinquish the lead in the championship after Jake Moss won the day from Ricky and Lochie Latimer.
Hot on the heels of the leading Pro trio was MXD National championship contender Kaleb Barham aboard the SD3 Husqvarna FC 250.
His growth as a rider having outpaced his grading, Barham was forced to compete for Intermediate class honours, and duly claimed honours in both the MX2 and 125cc classes.Riding in a mixed Intermediate/Pro MX2 class however, Barham was able to chase the pro riders, finishing top five in the first two motos before chasing Jake Moss home for second on the track in the final.
Husqvarna Junior Motocross Racing Team rider Bailey Malkiewicz made the long trip to Queensland well worth it, taking his Husqvarna TC 85 to a demonstrative whitewash of the Minilites 14-15 category, with Mason Rowe and Jayce Cosford rounding out the podium.
He was just as damaging in the Junior Lites 13-15 100-125 class, firing a TC125 to three consecutive victories to win from Jack Kukas and Jake Williams.

Kaleb Barham – “It’s the first round of the Shell series that I’ve done all year but it worked in well, and it’s the same kind of soil as Nowra will be. It was definitely good to see some of the national boys out there. It was a bit of a shame that I’m still graded Intermediate, so I ended up winning both the 125 and 250, but overall out of both classes I’m pretty sure I ended up fourth overall in the 250. I didn’t get the best of starts on the 250 because of the peg draw, but I did what I could do coming through the pack. I got a good start in the last one and ended up coming second behind Jake, so a second behind Mossy was a good way to end off the last race before heading into nationals. It was a good shakedown for us and now I’m definitely looking forward to Nowra this weekend.”