The riders faced a huge weekend of racing with the final two rounds taking place on the black sand of Coolum that is renowned for its physical nature on both man and machine.
Wilson came into the final weekend of racing in third place, six points from second and 24 away from the championship lead. His season was still alive but to steal victory would require plenty of luck to come his way.
The weekend got off to a solid start posting 4-3 results in the two races contested on Saturday which netted him third place for the round but lost a few points in the championship chase. After some recovery on Saturday night, Jay was back in action on Sunday and took a nothing to lose attitude into the day.
The MX2 (250cc) field faced the back to back sprint format in the morning consisting of two, eight lap races and then a 10 lap moto to finish off the championship. Wilson raced with plenty of heart to finish with 3-3-2 results which gave him another third for the round and kept him firmly entrenched in third for the championship.
“I gave it my all and have no regrets,” Jay said at days’ end. “The MX2 class has five really fast guys and the racing is so tight that you can ride well and finish fifth in the race but I feel I left everything out there and I’m happy with my season.
“I was fourth last year, so this is a better result and I think the level of my riding was far more consistent this year than it was in 2018. I made the podium seven times, including a round win at Gympie and I was never outside the top five in any round.”
“Thank you to the Yamalube Yamaha Team for creating such a fun environment for me to go racing and all our team sponsors who make this happen. Also, a huge thanks to my wife and family for the effort and sacrifice for me to go racing.
“I’m sore and tired from the weekend, but pretty content with how things went,” Wilson offered.
The weekend starting off in promising fashion for team mate, Richie Evans in the MX1 (450cc) division. After taking a career high fifth place last week in Moree, Evans hit the Coolum circuit full of confidence and charged his way into Saturday’s Superpole event after qualifying in third place in a star-studded field.
He backed that up with two top five results in the back to back sprint motos and mixed it up with the established names of the MX1 class. But the extra intensity took it out of him, and he wasn’t able to maintain the speed for the rest of the weekend. He battled on bravely and finished inside the top 10 in both rounds.
Evans proved consistent this season and he was inside 10 at all bar one round and as a result, he finished up a very respectable seventh place in the championship in his debut MX1 season.
“Looking back over the year, I feel like I learned a lot and made some improvements as the season went on. Things didn’t start well in the mud at Appin, I then broke a chain in Wonthaggi, followed by a virus at Broadford so my first three rounds were a mess.
“The goal for me from the team was around the 5-8 position and I was able to finish seventh so that was good. I would loved to have finished higher and still think I’m capable of a lot more, especially now with a year in the MX1 class, I know there are several things I can improve on.
“Still, I got through the season healthy and now we can turn our attention to supercross.
“Thanks to my mechanic Jed and the Yamalube Yamaha Team for working so hard to keep my bikes in good shape and look forward to Supercross getting underway.”
Photo: Marc Jones
