Duffy cleans up in Yamaha 125cc Junior Cup at Murray Bridge

The Yamaha 125cc Junior Cup riders re-joined the National Championship for their second outing of the year yesterday, with KTM’s Regan Duffy taking a clean sweep at Round 5 of the Motul MX Nationals in South Australia.

With Murray Bridge dishing out speed, a deep red sandy surface, and of course epic racing the 125cc Juniors added to the excitement at Round 5, going at it across two motos, with Duffy concluding the day’s proceeding with reason to celebrate.

In qualifying yesterday morning, Husqvarna Australia’s Bailey Malkiewicz secured the fastest time with a 1:52.626, followed by KTM’s Mason Semmens (1:52.995) and Yamaha mounted Jack Kukas (1:55.844).

Unfortunately for Regan Duffy, despite clocking the fastest time during qualifying, the KTM rider was docked three positions at the conclusion of the session due to jumping on the first lap.

But in the first first moto 15-minute moto for the Yamaha 125cc Junior Cup riders, Duffy redeemed himself, the KTM rider getting to the lead early and then staying there for the entire race.

Behind Duffy, Yamaha’s Kukas and KTM mounted Hayden Matterson spread out in second and third positions, followed by Mason Rowe and Alex Larwood.

When the chequered flag was displayed in race one there had been little change to positions, with Duffy securing the opening moto victory from Kukas who held on to finish in second. Third place was taken by Rowe, while Semmens crossed the line in fourth ahead of fastest qualifier Malkiewicz. Matterson, James Scott, Tyler Darby, Larwood and Cooper Sheidow completed the top ten in race one.

In moto two for the Yamaha 125cc Junior Cup class, it was once again KTM’s Duffy who was unstoppable.

The KTM rider battled with Husqvarna’s Malkiewicz for the entire moto, proving that despite the track being the roughest it had been all day yesterday afternoon, that the youngster was more than able to adapt to the conditions.

Second place in race two went to Husqvarna’s Malkiewicz who finished only two seconds behind Duffy, followed by KTM’s Semmens in third. Matterson and Kukas concluded the second moto in fourth and fifth places respectively, while Bova, KTM’s Noah Ferguson, Larwood, Darby and James Scott completed the top ten.

With the results from both races combined yesterday it was Duffy who went undefeated and landed on the top step of the podium, second overall went to Husqvarna’s Malkiewicz while Semmens finished in third at Murray Bridge.

KTM’s Duffy now holds a 12 point lead in the Yamaha 125cc Junior Cup Championship with one round remaining.

Regan Duffy – KTM Australia – Yamaha 125cc Junior Cup Winner – Murray Bridge

“It was the perfect day for us, we went 1-1 for the overall so couldn’t be happier,” Duffy shared.

“I’m really happy with my riding at the moment, and we’ll be heading into the final round with the championship lead, so all in all it was a good day at Murray Bridge.”

Yamaha 125cc Junior Cup Results

1) Regan Duffy – 70 points – KTM

2) Bailey Malkiewicz – 58 points – Husqvarna

3) Mason Semmens – 58 points – KTM

4) Jack Kukas – 58 points – Yamaha

5) Hayden Matterson – 53 points – KTM

6) Mason Rowe – 48 points – KTM

7) Alex Larwood – 45 points – Yamaha

8) Tyler Darby – 45 points – KTM

9) James Scott – 45 points – KTM

10) John Bova – 44 points – KTM

Yamaha 125cc Junior Cup Championship

1) Regan Duffy – 137 points – KTM

2) Mason Semmens – 125 points – KTM

3) Bailey Malkiewicz – 116 points – Husqvarna

4) Hayden Matterson – 105 points – KTM

5) Mason Rowe – 87 points – KTM

6) Tyler Darby – 86 points – KTM

7) Jack Kukas – 84 points – Yamaha

8) Callum McGlade – 77 points – KTM

9) Noah Ferguson – 74 points – KTM

10) Michael Murphy – 73 points – Yamaha

The third and final outing for the Yamaha 125cc Junior Cup category will take place at Coolum in Queensland on August 19-20.