SUPERCROSS
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Wollongong rider Jay Marmont has been crowned Australian supercross champion for a second consecutive year.
The 29-year-old walked away with his sixth national title in five years on Saturday night with a solid second place at the final stop of the championship at Newcastle.
Riding in front of a 10,000-strong crowd, Marmont couldn't match the pace of local hero and former world champion Chad Reed, but did enough to hold a nine-point buffer in the standings.
"To walk away with the championship is the perfect result," an ecstatic Marmont said last night.
"I was really happy with the way the bike worked during supercross and we got the result."
Despite being the standout rider of the series, Reed missed the first round of the series because of overseas commitments, and as such, needed a minor miracle at Newcastle to take the title.
Marmont said his latest championship trophy would go down as one of the most memorable.
Carrying a badly dislocated thumb into Newcastle from a training accident two weeks ago, the Monster Energy Kawasaki rider chose to suffer in silence at the finale.
With his hand heavily strapped, Marmont finished the Pro Open main event with a comfortable lead over fellow championship contender Daniel McCoy, who finished third.
"I went into the night with nerves with a thumb injury that I was keeping under wraps," Marmont said.
"It was playing a little bit of havoc on my riding, and I was a bit worried about that, to be honest. But then I had a really good heat result, and I was able to put it behind me.
"It did give me a bit of grief and it feels a little bit loose even now.
"I'll probably go and get some X-rays this week on it. I don't think it's too bad but the problem is that it's right where you grip the handlebar.
"I sure wasn't my normal self but I strapped it and it was good enough, so that's OK."
For Marmont, the win made up for a disappointing motocross campaign marred by injury.
"It's been a tough year, especially coming onto a new team after you've won four consecutive motocross championships," Marmont said.
"A lot of people were expecting big things from me on the Kawasaki and I got injured and the season didn't go the way I wanted it.
"I put a lot of effort going into the supercross and the Monster Energy Kawasaki team really stepped up to the plate with helping me get the bike the way I wanted it."
Earlier in the night, Jay's brother Ryan Marmont finished overall runner-up in the Pro Lites title.