Round two of the Rockstar Senior NSW State Titles was held at Hastings Valley Motorcycle club on Sunday. After a week of rain, most of the track held up well forming deep ruts in the corners and up ramps.

The start straight, which was the worst part affected by the rain and was under 4-5 inch’s of mud. Yamaha’s Tahlia Neilson was there to redeem some valuable points after crashing heavily in Moto 1 of round one. Sitting in 3^rd in the championship heading into the second round, Neilson knew that a 1^st overall was needed to put her back in contention for the title.

With random gate picks for the first moto, Neilson would need to deal with the majority of the mud on the straight. After gaining the jump out of the gate, she was swallowed up by the bog hole which pushed her back to 2^nd last. The single lined track made it tough to make passes, but Tahlia managed to move past the other eleven riders to get up behind home track racer Jacqui Jones in 1^st. Dropping seconds per lap as she became more comfortable on the track. Neilson set the fastest lap time but the bad start took its toll and Neilson finished second.

The track was drying perfectly through out the day and it looked like the girls would be riding a dry, rutted track for the last moto. As they lined up, the thunder and lighting started and the rain fell hard. The track was drenched before the gates had a chance to drop. After getting a blistering start Neilson was second into the first corner behind Jones, who was riding fast on her home track. The demanding conditions unfortunately saw Jones crash on the second lap allowing Tahlia to take the lead. From then on Neilson didn’t look back and won the final moto.

The overall win means Tahlia is now leading the championship by one point, with the final round at Cessnock in August.

“I was really happy to get the win here this weekend, the past few race meets I haven’t been satisfied with my results. I’ve had time to regroup and it was great to take the overall win. The rain made the final moto really tough and I knew I had to ride consistently and keep the bike upright if I wanted to cross the line 1^st, and it paid off. We are looking forward to Cessnock and a close fight for the championship. We would like to thank the Hastings Valley Club for the hard work and an awesome track under very difficult circumstances”

Tahlia’s Major Sponsors: City Coast Motorcycles, Yamaha, HyperFlow Troy Corser radiators, MxRad, Shift, Oakley, Rockstar Energy Drink, Etnies, MX Ink and Doma Pipes.