Eat my mud. American Josh Hansen extended his lead at the top of the Australasian Supercross Championship competition table with a dominant performance in wet and treacherous conditions in Dunedin on Saturday night.
Despite enjoying a useful 32-point buffer over New South Wales rider Jay Marmont going into the fifth round, Hansen was determined not to let the elements erode his advantage.
He rode superbly and proved too classy for the rest of the field, winning both finals by a comfortable margin.
"That was a scary one," Hansen said.
"It was super wet, very muddy and a lot of lappers. Starts were really important and I had to be consistent and smart out there."
While others struggled in the quagmire, Hansen carved a tight path around the sodden track and was one of the few riders to keep his leathers relatively clean.
He had little trouble leaping the "triple" and wowed the 4000-strong crowd when he celebrated winning the first of two finals with an impressive leap over the start-finish jump.
Cameras clicked and people roared as he soared through the air.
Hansen picked up the maximum 50 points and, with two rounds remaining, seemingly has an unassailable lead with 275 competition points.
Marmont is in second place with 229 points and Jake Moss in third on 194 points.
Cody Cooper is the leading New Zealand rider back in 13th place with 83 points.
New South Wales rider Tye Simmonds produced his best performance of the season, grabbing a second and a third place.
The night could have been better but Moss made a great pass on the final corner of the second race to pip Simmonds at the post.
"It was a tough night, but it was good fun racing in the mud," a mud-covered Simmonds said.
"It doesn't rain much in Bourke, so overall it was an awesome night."
The Lites Championship provided the tightest racing of the night.
The battle between Australian Matt Moss and the United Kingdom's Steven Clarke was fascinating.
The pair battled for the lead in the early stages of the first final with Moss eventually emerging with a useful lead.
He appeared to be heading for a comfortable win but Clarke threw caution to the wind and closed the gap.
He took a further risk, cutting the corner on the second last bend and ploughing through a sizeable puddle to snatch the lead.
Moss had more momentum and stole the lead back briefly, but stumbled on the last corner allowing Clarke to take the checkered flagMoss took revenge in the second final, leading from start to finish in an impressive display.
United States rider PJ Larsen claimed second place with Cody Mackie taking third.
Larsen leads the championship, but is only four points ahead of Moss with Ryan Marmont in third place.
The penultimate round of the championship will be held at Parramatta Stadium this Saturday.
