Mason Semmens wins the 2023 Hattah Desert Race

2023 Hattah Desert Race

The 2023 Hattah Desert Race raced into full force over the weekend.  Jack Simpson topped the prologue, with Korey McMahon, Todd Waters, Andrew Wilksch and Nathan Trigg filling out the top five rankings heading into the main event.

Sunday’s eight-lap race began with 22-year-old Semmens (Trail Jesters KTM Racing Team) making a succession of quick moves into third, before steadily hunting down the leaders and moving into the lead at the midway mark.

From there the now US-based Victorian managed the lead until the chequered flag flew to take his first Hattah overall and the 251cc-450cc four-stroke class win.

Mason Semmens – P1

“What a weekend! The prologue went smoothly, managed P7 in the first run and then a nice fourth place in the Top 10 Shootout, which I was happy with and achieved a good starting position for Sunday. I got off to a good start for the main race, had some great battles with Callum and Jack [Simpson], before managing my way into the lead and from there kept chugging along to get the win. I can’t put into words how much this means to me, it’s a dream come true, and I am absolutely stoked!”

Husqvarna FE 501-mounted Jack Simpson finished the 304 km desert race in second outright and won the over 450cc four-stroke class.

Capitalising on a mistake from one of the front-runners early in the race, McMahon moved into third. Despite having a big crash himself on the second lap and the track getting progressively rougher, he continued to punch out fast, consistent times.

The Kurrajong-based pilot finished his eight-lap race in a time of 4h33m32.844s, five minutes behind the class and outright leader. McMahon’s P2 in the 250cc to 450cc four-stroke class and P3 outright capped off a successful desert racing season.

Korey McMahon – P3

“This year’s Hattah was very rough and has to rate as one of the hardest races I’ve ever done! The times blew out a lot with how rough it got… I felt good all the way through the race, but I had a big get-off on the second lap and, as a result, I got stuck behind a couple of riders and was able to get around them in the pits. From that point on, it was about trying to keep it on two wheels, and I’m stoked to finish in the top three outright and achieve my best result at Hattah.”

FMF RPM KTM Racing Team rider Angus Riordan charged to fourth-place outright by race’s end, securing third place in class and climbing an impressive 13 places throughout the race, Corey Hammond completing the top five.

South Australia’s Cooper Sheidow charged off into the desert with intensity as soon as the race began on Sunday morning. He quickly made passes and by the end of the first lap Sheidow had moved himself from 16th to fifth outright, and fourth in class.

He followed that up with his fastest lap for the day to close in on the leading pack. But the energy used to get to the front had taken a toll and after three laps he had consolidated his position as sixth outright and fourth in class.

Cooper Sheidow – P6

“I’m done,” said a dirty and drained Sheidow. “That was tough but happy to get my best result here and I gave it all I had. I made it hard for myself starting so far back and it’s a lesson learned that the Prologue is important. I used a lot of gas getting into a decent position but then I had nothing to attack with, so I had to ride smart and keep a consistent pace. The bike and the team were awesome. Having so many knowledgeable people around makes it so much easier and we pretty much just wheeled the bike out of the truck and raced it. Thanks to everyone on the ShopYamaha team for their efforts as it takes so much to prepare for a race like this.”

Brodie Waters claimed seventh overall, followed by Jye Dickson, Jonte Reynders and Kodi Stepehens.

The class breakdown saw Mason Semmens top the Senior category, with Jack Simpson and Korey McMahon rounding out the podium.

In the 251cc & over 2 stroke class Liam McConnell was the victor, Mathew Horton and Jason Preece second and third respectively.

In the Up to 250 cc 2 stroke class it was Alex Head taking the win from Nash Jones and Zac Slide.

Mason Semmens also took the 251cc-450cc 4 stroke win, McMahon second and Angus Riordan third. Thomas Mason took the Up to 250 cc 4 stroke victory, followed by William Price and Tyran Tomich.

Brad Balkin won the Masters class (45+) ahead of James Graham and Jason Pearce, while Todd Smith was fastest Vetern (35-44yrs), ahead of Steven Powell and Corey Banks.

Jack Simson was the top Over 450 cc 4 stroke, Corey Hammond and Brodie Waters rounding out the top three.

Kodi Stephens won the Under 19s, beating Bill Hargy and Luke Chellas.

Two Ladies classes were run, the four lapper, won by Olivia Kimball ahead of Kellie Catanese and Emma Haylock, and the eight lapper, won by Emma Milesevic, Madi Healey runner-up and Emelie Karlsson third.

Honda’s Emma Milesevic had to fight hard to win her third Hattah Desert Race. Fuel issues and multiple crashes forced Emma to drop from inside of the top fifty to one hundred and thirty-fifth, yet she bounced back to become the class winner and sixty-first outright.

Emma Milesevic

“This was by far my hardest win. We calculated fueling incorrectly and I had so many crashes trying to come back through the pack. I raced for four hours and forty-nine minutes to take the win and it is probably my proudest ride. I had to really dig deep. There were times through the race that were really hard mentally, harder than they were physically, but my family and the Honda team were amazing. Their wisdom and encouragement truly helped. I do not have much time to recover. I am racing this coming weekend in the final round of the state championship – my boss is also racing and that is fun. Hopefully we can win some more titles this weekend on our red bikes.”

Jack Versteegeb topped the Junior Big Wheels overall, Ollie Gear second and Levi Stephens third.

Levi Rossi was the Junior Small Wheel victor, ahead of Declan Smart and Chase Weston.

For Andy Wilksch a crash while passing for sixth saw him retire on lap six after tweaking his back.

Andy Wilksch – DNF

“This year’s Hattah was awesome, a lot of entries and the atmosphere was great. Saturday’s prologue was pretty good, we went fourth with the smooth track, and then for the Shootout the track was fairly different and I just made a few too many mistakes, which put me to ninth. For the race, I got off the line well, made some passes early, then was making a move for sixth, high-sided and tweaked my back. From there it was salvage mode because the track was brutal today, and I made the call just to be conservative to avoid any big mistakes. Considering the year we’ve had with my knee injury, I pulled in on lap six to keep safe and will fight again at the next off-road round.”

Former Australian motocross champion Todd Waters and his Raceline Husqvarna Berry Sweet Racing FE 501 were knocked out of contention while fighting inside the top five outright. On the fourth lap, a tree branch on the inside of a corner struck Waters on the side of his head, knocking him from the bike.

Todd Waters – DNF

“I didn’t see a branch on the inside of a turn and it struck my helmet and knocked me off the back of the bike. I wasn’t in any condition to continue and I was forced to DNF. It hasn’t been a great couple of weeks for me as far as results go, but I’ll take some time to make sure I’m recovered for the ProMX Championship at QMP next month.”

The weekend was full of challenges for the JGR Yamaha Ballards Off-Road team with Jess Gardiner withdrawing from the event on Sunday morning after suffering from illness. Gardiner soldiered through the Saturday Prologue but woke up worse for wear on Sunday morning and reluctantly made the decision not to compete.

2023 Penrite Hattah Desert Race Outright Results

Senior Race Results – Top 10

251cc & over 2 stroke Results

251cc – 450cc 4 stroke Results Top 10

Masters 45Yrs & Over Results Top 10

Over 450cc 4 stroke Results Top 10

Under 19’s Results Top 10

Up to 250cc 2 stroke Results

Up to 250cc 4 stroke Results Top 10

Veterans 35-44Yrs Results Top 10

Ladies Tenacious Women Of Hattah 8 Laps Results

Ladies Tenacious Women Of Hattah 4 Laps Results

Juniors Big Wheel Top 20

Juniors Small Wheel Top 20